ARE YOU A FUTUROLOGIST?

"People who look down on other people don't end up being looked up to." - Robert Half

Futurologists are people who predict what will happen in the future: some of their predictions may come true, while others may not. For example, its been predicted that some babies born today will live to the age of 150. Check this out. In 1962 Decca Recording Company rejected the Beatles. They said, "We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." In 1977 Ken Olson, Chairman of Digital Equipment Co., said, "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."

Anyone who has been around for any length of time - no matter how recent - must have heard of the Beatles massive success after it was predicted they'd fail. Ken Olson's prediction about the "non-need" of computers in the home is so wrong. Almost everyone today in the world, has a

MEMBER, OR BELIEVER?

"An entrepreneur assumes the risk and is dedicated and committed to the success of whatever he or she undertakes." - Victor Kiam

 

 

It is very common - lately I've discovered - to find people everywhere, who will only want to identify with the good, or benefits ONLY in any venture, but not with the consequences. As a result we are faced with a situation where we only have 'members' those who just belong, instead of 'believers,' people who are down with the full package.

A number of years ago Norman Cousins wrote an editorial in Saturday Review in which he reported a conversation he had on a trip in India. He was talking with a Hindu priest named Satis Prasad. The man said he wanted to come to our country to work as a missionary among the Americans. Cousins assumed that he meant that he wanted to convert Americans to the Hindu religion, but when asked, Satis Prasad said, "Oh no, I would like to convert them to the Christian religion. Christianity cannot survive in the abstract. It needs not membership, but believers. The people of your country may claim they believe in

DECIDE. COMMIT. SUCCEED.

"Commitment is an act, not a word." - Jean-Paul Sartre

When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to march to the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat. Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing left for them to do but to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did.

People are usually ecstatic on the stands during football matches involving their teams,

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

"A true friend encourages us, comforts us, supports us like a big easy chair, offering us a safe refuge from the world." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

True Friendship

Bits & Pieces, of January 9, 1992 has the story. When Jan Paderewski was to leave his native Poland to play his first recital in London, he asked an influential compatriot to give him a letter of introduction to a leading figure in Britain's musical world, who might be of assistance should anything go amiss. The letter was handed to him in a sealed envelope. He hoped that everything would proceed smoothly and he would not have to use it. He did not; his debut was a success and no snags developed. Some years later, while going through his papers, Paderewski came upon the letter and opened it. It read: "This will introduce Jan Paderewski, who plays the piano, for which he demonstrates no conspicuous talent."

This is a true story. Some years ago, a young man was shocked to discover that he was passed for a promotion, for which everyone knew

A SINGLE NAIL

"Give anyone an inch, and they'll take a mile..." - Anonymous

On page 35 of Dale A. Hays, Leadership, Vol. X, No. 3 is the following illustration. In a recent trip to Haiti, I heard a Haitian pastor illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ. His parable: A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door. After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became un-live-able, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

You know it is funny how that very many people, wish to serve God,