"The Apprentice" is required
viewing for some
business school students across the country as
their professors are using the
show as a starting point for discussion on
successful business practices.
Certainly Trump knows something about success.
He also knows something about
failure. In the early '90's Trump was $900
million in the hole. Today his
accumulated wealth is in the 2.5 to $5 billion
range.
The Donald has “Seven Rules
of Success.” The third one might
be the most important, it is, "You cannot stop
if there is a concrete wall
in front of you, you have to go through it. You
can never, ever give up or even
think in terms of giving up." A rule Trump
obviously lives by. He didn't
give up, even when his situation looked
hopeless. He continued to pursue his
dream of accumulating wealth.
—Newsweek, Mar 1, 2004, pgs
48-57 Illustration by Jim L.
Wilson
If Trump can be persistent in
such an unimportant goal like
accumulating wealth, shouldn't we be even more
persistent in the goals we have
that spring out of our Christian faith?
1 Cor. 1:8 (MsgB) “And not
only that, but God himself is
right alongside to keep you steady and on track
until things are all wrapped up
by Jesus.”
________________________________________
ENDURANCE
In his book, Out of the
Whirlwind, Mark Tabb explains how to
become a person that can endure. “One of my
daughters can run circles around
me.” Tabb writes, “I may be able to take her in
a quick sprint because my legs
are longer than hers, but if we run any distance
at all I fold as she leaves me
in the dirt. Maybe it has something to do with
the fact she runs several miles
every day, topping off the week with a
five-or-eight-mile run every Saturday.
Over the course of the summer she'll log between
250 and 300 miles. She has
endurance because she is willing to put up with
the pain.
God builds spiritual stamina
in us the same way. He takes us
through difficult times to build us up, to
stretch us to our limit, in order
that he might make us stronger.”
Out of the Whirlwind p.135
Illustration by Jim L. Wilson
1 Peter 1:7 NIV “These have
come so that your faith—of
greater worth than gold, which perishes even
though refined by fire—may be
proved genuine and may result in praise, glory
and honor when Jesus Christ is
revealed.”
For more information on “Out
of the Whirlwind” by Mark Tabb,
go to
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/080542721X/fm082-20
________________________________________
ENDURANCE
The news of the rescue of
nine Pennsylvania miners during
the final week of July 2002 lifted the spirit of
a nation yearning for good
news. Their survival is an amazing story that
was only possible because of two
things. One, they didn’t go it alone. According
to Mayhugh, one of the miners,
the miners tied themselves together so they
would “live or die as a group.”
"Everybody had strong moments," he said. "At any
certain time
maybe one guy got down, and then the rest pulled
together and then that guy
would get back up and maybe somebody else would
feel a little weaker. But it
was a team effort. That's the only way it
could've been."
The other reason they
survived was their determination. Dr.
Russell Dumire, a trauma surgeon at Conemaugh
Memorial Medical Center that
treated the survivors said, "These people had
the inner will to go on and
I think that's what pulled them through," Randy
Popernack, a cousin of
Mark Popernack, one of the survivors had this to
say about the spirit of
miners. "I am mining people," he said. "Never
give up. Never
give up."
Luke 21:19 NASB "By your
endurance you will gain your
lives.”
ENDURANCE
In his book, "My Time at Bat:
A Story of
Perseverance", Chuck Hinton writes, "It's best
to get into the game
from the beginning to the end. Sometimes you let
your emotions get the best of
you, and your really get down on yourself. You
soon learn that you are not
going to excel all of the time, but you must
take things as they are and keep a
positive attitude, for there will be another
chance for you to do your part,
and that is a promise."
—"My Time at Bat: A Story of
Perseverance", p.
116. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson
Psalms 138:8 (CEV) [8] You,
Lord, will always treat me with
kindness. Your love never fails. You have made
us what we are. Don't give up on
us now!
________________________________________
ENDURANCE
On Monday, October 10, 2005,
Johnny Wilson raised $30,000.00
for the victims of Hurricane Katrina by swimming
from Alcatraz Island to San
Francisco's shoreline. The nine-year-old boy
endured the 53-degree choppy,
shark infested water. He finished the 1.4-mile
swim in less than two hours to
the cheers of his schoolmates who yelled, "Go,
Johnny! Go, Johnny!"
from the shoreline.
As Johnny fatigued from the
cold and physical exertion, he
kept telling himself, "I'm almost there, I'm
almost there."
—http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051011/ap_on_fe_st/young_swimmer
Illustration
by Jim L. Wilson
When trials make you want to
give up, remember Johnny's
words, "I'm almost there, I'm almost there" and
keep swimming.
Luke 22:32 (HCSB) "But I have
prayed for you that your
faith may not fail. And you, when you have
turned back, strengthen your
brothers."
________________________________________
ENDURANCE
They sure don't make things
like they used to.The North Fort
Worth Historical Society recently celebrated the
birthday of a light bulb that
has burned continuously since September 21,
1908.Though the 40-watt bulb has
burned for 96 years, it only sold for a few
cents.
The bulb is made of thick
glass and sturdy carbon filament.
When it was first illuminated, a stagehand
posted a sign asking the bulb not be
turned off. It now has it's own independent
power supply.
Though the bulb has lasted 96
years, it does not hold the
record for the longest continuously burning bulb
in the world. The Guinness
Book of World Records says the official record
belongs to a 4-watt bulb that
has been burning at a firehouse in California
since 1901.
Sarah Biles the administrator
of the museum where the Texas
bulb now burns says, "We have no idea why it has
lasted so long. That is
the wonderful mystery of it." Biles adds, "Our
bulb as a unique past
and can hold its own, even if it is number two."
—Reuters, Lightbulb Burns for
96 Years, September 21. 2004. Illustration
by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.
Quality lasts.Many a light
has burned bright, then flickered
and gone dim, but the true test of quality is
endurance. No, I'm not talking
about a light bulb in Texas now, I'm talking
about the importance of being a
shining, continuous testimony into a dark world
throughout a lifetime.
Matthew 5:14-16 (NASB)"You
are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor
do men light a lamp, and put it
under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand;
and it gives light to all who are
in the house. [16] Let your light shine before
men in such a way that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father who
is in heaven."
ENDURANCE/DETERMINATION
On December 26, 2004, Fahmi
Yunus was talking to his mother
in Indonesia's Aceh Province when she felt a
tremor that turned out to precede
the tsunami that would devastate the area. Yunus
cut the phone conversation
short to allow his mother time to get out of the
house. That was the last time
he spoke to his family. When Yunus got home to
Banda Aceh, he learned that his
parents and his pregnant wife were among the
thousands swept away by the waves.
He spent three months searching for them, and
decided to set aside his own
grief and look for ways to help others.
Six months after the tragedy,
Yunus is halfway around the
world at Southern New Hampshire University's
School of Community Economic
Development. At the school, he is learning
skills that will help him help
others by offering graduate students training to
help rebuild their homelands.
Yunus is one of five students accepted for the
scholarships, and one of three
who were able to get the necessary visas to
attend this summer.
Yunus will be heading home
soon to put his plan to develop
mobile schools into action before returning to
the United States to complete
his coursework next summer. Yunus says thus far
he only has ideas. He added,
"I have to talk with my community, to discuss
this with my community."
A long-standing conflict
between the Indonesian government
and Acehnese reels has made it difficult for
humanitarian agencies to work in
the area. Yunus hopes to coordinate peace talks
in the area. He says he will
accept whatever happens. Yunus says, "The
important thing is how we adapt.
My parents taught me how to be patient."
—http://www.cnn.com,
Education programs help with tsunmai
recovery, July 27, 2005. Illustration by Jim L.
Wilson and Jim Sandell.
2 Peter 1:5-8 (NRSV) "For
this very reason, you must
make every effort to support your faith with
goodness, and goodness with
knowledge, [6] and knowledge with self-control,
and self-control with
endurance, and endurance with godliness, [7] and
godliness with mutual
affection, and mutual affection with love. [8]
For if these things are yours
and are increasing among you, they keep you from
being ineffective and
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
ENDURANCE
NASA ground controllers
successfully sent commands to the
Voyager I spacecraft activating thrusters that
had been dormant for 3 years.
Engineers with the Voyager project wanted to
see if the alternate thrusters
could keep the spacecraft’s antennas pointed
toward Earth. Voyager 1 was
launched in 1997 and in now traveling through
interstellar space. The thrusters
that had been used to keep the craft pointed
home had been degrading and
researchers did not want to lose contact.
Voyager 2 is not far behind Voyager 1
and NASA said the thruster test worked so
well, they will try it on Voyager 2
soon. –Jim Wilson and Jim Sandell
