The Awana Games

Awana is a Christian youth organization. It meets once a week at a selected church, where parents bring their children to be taught the Word of God and engage in different sports and recreational activities. They celebrate the "Awana Games" once a year. I had the privilege of attending the Awana Games today. I saw hundreds of children between the ages of five and ten participate in this joyful, athletic and competitive sports activity which was held at Shadow Mountain Church in El Cajon, California. It was so tremendous! I will never forget this fun-filled function on this St. Patricks day weekend. The one thing that is foremost in my mind is the spirit of the event. Yes, the spirit, the atmosphere. I greeted many friendly people. I witnessed no arguments, or angry, bitter, drunk, loaded or belligerent people. I saw no beer stands. I smelled no marijuana. I have no doubt that many present have participated in the aforementioned. However, their attendance to this event indicates that they have decided to make choices that are better and more fulfilling for themselves and their families. I will not hesitate to declare why this event was so special. The reason it was, and will continue to be in the future is because this function honored Jesus Christ. This creates a "no lose" proposition. With Jesus you can only win. He is the greatest gift to the human race. With no pun intended.......He is also the greatest gift to the children's competitive races I witnessed today. Praise the name of Jesus!

What Is Your Value?

What if a car engine was only able to allow the car that it is in to travel one-fourth of a mile per gallon of gasoline? Would you like to own that car? If you would like to own it, I doubt that you would drive it very often. Machines require maintenance, power, and trained people to be able to operate them. Machines serve a purpose. They are designed for productivity and to make life more comfortable. From the point of view of economics, when a machine is more costly to maintain and operate than what it produces or provides, then the owner of that machine ceases to use it. This is common sense. What about people? Well, they have intrinsic value. Intrinsic value? Does this mean that individuals have no need to be productive human beings? I know that people are not machines. However, if people are not trained/taught to be productive, we are in serious trouble. Please check this quote by Martin H. Fischer, a German-born American physician and author.......... "A machine has value only as it produces more than it consumes, so check your value to the community. "

"The Willingness To Learn"

How willing are you? How bad do you want it? Is it worth it for you to pay the price? So......pay the price. During my coaching days, I used to always tell my players: "You need to want it more than they want it." As the saying goes: "Knowledge is power." In order to acquire knowledge, one needs to learn. In order to learn, one needs to want to learn. As the Prophet Hosea states: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Do you want to have knowledge? Of course you do. In order to have it, one must acquire it. To acquire it, one must learn it. To learn it, one must want to. RD............ "The capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill; The WILLINGNESS to learn is a choice." Unknown

Netanyahu's Visit

The following letter is a comment I wrote to a news outlet regarding Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the United States. Here it is.......... "Netanyahu, in my opinion, is the greatest speaker on this planet. Most politicians have not been through what Benjamin has been through. He is definitely a great leader who speaks from a vantage point far different from any leader in this world. He is not just about rhetoric. He represents a man who loves his country. His words reflect the desire for his country to survive. How many countries do you know of whose enemies are so fierce that they are determined to see their demise? Israel is a hated nation, even in spite of the fact that it is a blessing to this world. I worship no man. All men have faults. I worship the one and only God whose “name is above every name.” But I will say this about Benjamin Netanyahu.........his words will be memorable."