on noticing others (fred smith)

Good post from breakfastwithfred.com, which sends out practical advice from that great Dallas businessman and motivator, Fred Smith (now deceased):

I regularly eat in restaurants before 6am. It is always gratifying to find someone who is cheerful at that early hour. It may be a waitress, hostess, or customer. Yet I am ashamed to admit how rarely I tell the person how much it means to meet a friendly individual first thing in the morning. Doubtless this person is making a genuine effort to do this. Lately, I have made an effort to recognize this good trait.

I complimented the woman who poured my second cup of coffee at the cafeteria for doing it with great style. As I spoke the words, she began glowing, knowing her skill had been acknowledged.

Bill Mead, former CEO of Campbell Taggart, had a unique sensitivity to extraordinary, though small, abilities of others. Consequently, he was welcomed by all. He showed me part of relationship excellence is growing in the recognition of superior qualities in others. Superior is enough; genius isn’t necessary.

My good friend, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones makes a big deal out of saying “thank you for that smile.” I often think when I am in Dallas traffic how far a smile goes when someone lets me change lanes. I have noticed the habit of waving thanks has started to become common place ----I like that. When we wave we let the other person know we know we didn’t get it done by ourselves….not a bad thing to recognize.

Once, a friend repeatedly thanked a grouchy news vendor who never returned the gratitude. When the man was asked why he kept on thanking the vendor he said,
“I can’t let him control my manners.”

When we rationalize ingratitude by saying, “If others are not noticing the good I do, why should I notice the good they do?” This is definitely not the attitude of excellence. How much better it is for us start the good.

I challenge you to take one day and use each and every opportunity to recognize others…whether they return the thanks or not. It will change you, I promise.

One quick word of caution: be specific and be real avoiding the phoniness of flattery. As a golfer there is nothing worse than playing with someone who insists on complimenting every shot, good or bad. One of the most amusing and distasteful rounds I ever played was with a salesman who consistently complimented his prospect’s 122 shots after giving him everything within 20 feet of the cup.

clement quotes hebrews

Clement of Rome wrote to the church in Corinth around AD 90. This is perhaps the same Clement, companion of Paul, mentioned in Philippians 4:3. Many hold him to be the first bishop / pope in Rome, aka St. Clement I. Clement quotes from the letter to the Hebrews. Origin suggested that Clement was in fact the writer (as transcriber or amanuensis) of Hebrews. Perhaps this letter began as a "word of exhortation" given by Paul at the synagogue (Heb 13:22; cf Acts 13:15) which then became a circular letter for the churches. Other possible authors of Hebrews include Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos. The theology is Pauline, but the transcriber is obviously second-generation (Heb. 2:3-4). At any rate, this early church leader in Rome, is already quoting Hebrews in his letter in AD 90: CHAPTER 36 ALL BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Savior, even Jesus Christ, the High Prie...

Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...

sword and trowel

"From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me." (Nehemiah 4:16-18 ESV) The great London preacher, Charles Spurgeon, published a monthly magazine called The Sword and The Trowel; A record of combat with sin and of labour for the Lord. It was published from 1865 to 1892. The cover of the journal had a drawing taken from Nehemiah 4, which included both a trowel (representing the work) and a sword (representing the fight). The sword was necessary to protect what the men with trowels were building. These citizen-soldier-builders would successfully complete the wall aroun...

my burg

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