Celebrate Freedom Teaching Letter January 2011
Submitted by T Howe on January 15, 2011 - 11:00am
Hello again! I pray that this letter has arrived at the perfect time to encourage you in your journey to Celebrate Freedom! Last month I encouraged you to build up your faith by meditating on the Word of God. I also reminded you that when a seed is planted in the ground, change has to take place in the seed before it sprouts. The same is true in us—before we can see the harvest, we need to change.
So what changes do we need to make? Let’s start by looking at our faith. Sometimes we think we have great faith, but we become frustrated when we don’t see anything happening. James 2:17 says, “…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Simply put, we can’t demonstrate faith without action.
I’d like to share some practical changes I made that may help you add action to your faith. These changes, along with sowing in faith, resulted in my income increasing 900% in just five years.
So here it is—the first, and most important, nugget of practical advice—to see change and personal growth, you must spend lots of quality time each week with those who are already successful.
Most of what I’ll be writing about in the months to come was obtained by spending thousands of hours with some very successful people—quality time spent with Pastors Gary and Drenda, learning about faith, and how they run multiple, successful businesses, and hours spent with Joni Lamb, Darren Hardy, Jim Rohn, John Maxwell, Kenneth Copeland, Brian Tracy, King Solomon, and countless others.
Now, I assume you’ve figured out that I’ve never personally met King Solomon. In fact, I’ve spent very little time in person with Pastors Gary and Drenda, but I’ve spent countless hours learning from the wisdom captured in their audio CDs, as well as reading, and re-reading Pastor’s books. I spent only 30 seconds with Joni Lamb as she autographed her book Surrender All for me, but I spent hours learning from her as I read that book. I’ve never even met any of the other people I listed, but I’ve learned plenty from each of them. Thanks to the awesome power of self-education, I now run a multi-million dollar company despite having never attended college. That same power is available to you, too, through audio CDs and books.
Do you want to run your own business? How many books have you read or audios have you listened to on the subject? Have you listened to Pastor Gary’s Open for Business or read Fixing the Money Thing? What about John Maxwell’s books on leadership? Most everything you need to learn is already available!
Now, before you tell me that you don’t have the time or the money, let me ask you—how much time to you spend watching TV? How much time do you spend driving and listening to music or talk radio (instead of an educational audio series?) As for not having the money, how much is your cable bill? Would you be willing to cancel the cable if it meant the difference between staying where you’re at, and living your dream? If you don’t want to invest in buying books, then go to your local library! Most libraries have a great selection of business books and audios.
I know from experience that the time and money you invest in reading books and listening to audios will return amazing dividends. Last month, I applied some of the advice Pastor Gary shares in his book Fixing the Money Thing. This one idea, to refinance my house, is now saving me $412 per month in interest; that’s $4,944 per year! That’s a pretty good return on a $20 book!
And, don’t forget your Bible! Solomon was the wisest and richest man who ever lived; if you don’t already read a chapter of Proverbs every day, start today.
Remember, whenever you read a secular book, make sure to weigh the author’s advice against the Word of God. Make sure to always keep faith and the Word of God at the center. Make the decision that you’re going to begin your own lifetime journey of self-development and change today.
As we continue to grow and change, we will Celebrate Freedom!
Tim Howe
Campaign Director
So what changes do we need to make? Let’s start by looking at our faith. Sometimes we think we have great faith, but we become frustrated when we don’t see anything happening. James 2:17 says, “…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Simply put, we can’t demonstrate faith without action.
I’d like to share some practical changes I made that may help you add action to your faith. These changes, along with sowing in faith, resulted in my income increasing 900% in just five years.
So here it is—the first, and most important, nugget of practical advice—to see change and personal growth, you must spend lots of quality time each week with those who are already successful.
Most of what I’ll be writing about in the months to come was obtained by spending thousands of hours with some very successful people—quality time spent with Pastors Gary and Drenda, learning about faith, and how they run multiple, successful businesses, and hours spent with Joni Lamb, Darren Hardy, Jim Rohn, John Maxwell, Kenneth Copeland, Brian Tracy, King Solomon, and countless others.
Now, I assume you’ve figured out that I’ve never personally met King Solomon. In fact, I’ve spent very little time in person with Pastors Gary and Drenda, but I’ve spent countless hours learning from the wisdom captured in their audio CDs, as well as reading, and re-reading Pastor’s books. I spent only 30 seconds with Joni Lamb as she autographed her book Surrender All for me, but I spent hours learning from her as I read that book. I’ve never even met any of the other people I listed, but I’ve learned plenty from each of them. Thanks to the awesome power of self-education, I now run a multi-million dollar company despite having never attended college. That same power is available to you, too, through audio CDs and books.
Do you want to run your own business? How many books have you read or audios have you listened to on the subject? Have you listened to Pastor Gary’s Open for Business or read Fixing the Money Thing? What about John Maxwell’s books on leadership? Most everything you need to learn is already available!
Now, before you tell me that you don’t have the time or the money, let me ask you—how much time to you spend watching TV? How much time do you spend driving and listening to music or talk radio (instead of an educational audio series?) As for not having the money, how much is your cable bill? Would you be willing to cancel the cable if it meant the difference between staying where you’re at, and living your dream? If you don’t want to invest in buying books, then go to your local library! Most libraries have a great selection of business books and audios.
I know from experience that the time and money you invest in reading books and listening to audios will return amazing dividends. Last month, I applied some of the advice Pastor Gary shares in his book Fixing the Money Thing. This one idea, to refinance my house, is now saving me $412 per month in interest; that’s $4,944 per year! That’s a pretty good return on a $20 book!
And, don’t forget your Bible! Solomon was the wisest and richest man who ever lived; if you don’t already read a chapter of Proverbs every day, start today.
Remember, whenever you read a secular book, make sure to weigh the author’s advice against the Word of God. Make sure to always keep faith and the Word of God at the center. Make the decision that you’re going to begin your own lifetime journey of self-development and change today.
As we continue to grow and change, we will Celebrate Freedom!
Tim Howe
Campaign Director
