“Avoiding situations where you do not have to admit publicly that you don’t know something hinders learning.” (Thomas, Robert J.  Leader to Leader Vol. 50, Fall  2008)

To succeed in any endeavor requires having the right information at the right time.  Many companies and individual who fail blame it on a lack of good and timely information.  However, their failure may not be a flawed information system, but a chink in the character armor.

Individuals who are serious about walking the character path have to frequently drink from the well of learning.  Yet, far too often because of pride and a maintaining an image, they refuse to admit they don’t know what to do.  They attempt to bluff their way through the situation.  Imagine a marathoner on a warm day refusing any water offered to him along the way because he is fearful accepting a water will make him to appear under conditioned.  Due to dehydration the marathoner does not complete marathon.  Later, he explains that he could have finished the course if it had not been such a hot day.  While the heat may have been a factor, it was not the deciding factor.  The real culprit was his pride.

Many people blame their failure on their circumstances when the real issue is a character flaw.  People of character are aware they do not have all of the answers, so they drink freely from the spring of knowledge and information. When you admit you do not know you invite some who does know to fill your cup.

Today, if you encounter a situation when you don’t know something, admit it.  You are not only more likely to find the answer but also will be a better person.

Read 4 Life Truths by clicking on the Pastor’s blog on http://www.dawsonchurch.org

Sitting across from me in a Tel Aviv airport terminal, a lady engaged in conversation spoke loudly enough that several of us sitting nearby could hear her side of the conversation. It was 4:00 AM—not the time of day you want to hear anyone talk, let alone a stranger.  For much of the conversation she was describing a person who I assume was her new work supervisor. According to the woman, the difference between the new supervisor and the former one was daylight and dark and it sounded as though the new guy was a close runner-up to Jesus in the goodness derby.  One statement in particular attracted my attention: “Our new supervisor has such good character, he never ever gets angry.”

While I doubt the complete accuracy of this description, implied was an evaluation of the nature of character.  If this lady was suggesting that anger is a character flaw, she does not understand character.

Many people believe that to be “mellow” is always a character virtue and to have emotions flavored with the spice of anger is always bad.  Uncontrolled and misdirected anger is wrong, but anger expressed correctly and directed at evil is a virtue.

Last month one of America’s most prolific writers on the Holocaust died. Dr. Franklin Littell wrote from more than a historical perspective, he specifically addressed how Christians did and can contribute to persecution through latent prejudice and failure to act on the teaching of Jesus.  Though popularly unrecognized, Littell’s writing influenced not only his own denomination but many other Christian organizations concerning the need to aggressively work for justice.

His life’s work was the result of anger. In 1939 while participating in a conference in Europe, he attended a Nazi rally as a 21-year-old man. Watching Hitler being presented in almost god-like proportions and hearing the vilification of Jews and the glorification, he became so repelled that he left the rally.  His anger first repelled him from what he had seen but eventually drove him to be more aware of what ought to be and what could be.

If you cannot be angry about wrong, injustice, the suffering of innocents, and sin, don’t assume that is sign of virtue. Again, while anger can be very destructive if wrongly expressed and misdirected, proper anger can be evidence of good character.

In a previous century religious leaders frequently called this kind of anger “righteous indignation.” Our generation appears to have forgotten it is right to be angry about wrong. To truly have this kind of holy anger requires discernment, good decision-making, and discipline. But we will talk about those three in a later post on the character path.

Ephesians 4:26a says,  “Be ye angry, and sin not.” 

Today, remember that there’s more to good character than winning congeniality contests.
Gary Fenton
Characterpath.com

Here is a post you need to read! This was written by Rob Eaker who is definitely on the character path. -Gary Fenton

The recently released 2008 Annual Report for one of the world’s largest and most well-respected companies opens with the following words: “Dear Fellow Owners, 2008 was a tough year and we expect 2009 to be even tougher.”  The report acknowledges that the company failed to anticipate the “global financial system failure and its continuing economic fallout.”  Yet, according to the report, the company’s executives are committed to understanding the dynamics of a changed marketplace and staking out a new presence for the company: “Successful companies won’t just ‘hunker down’; they will seek out new opportunities in a reset world.” 

This company’s stance toward dealing with adversity in the marketplace carries significance for individuals’ character development.  Here are three things to consider:

1. When adversity strikes, we must come to terms with where we are now.  An inability to admit past mistakes and to agree with the reality of our current situation will lead to character stagnation.  Jesus tells the story of a shrewd manager who was accused of making poor business decisions.  But the manager didn’t “hunker down” or attempt to defend himself; rather, he said to himself, “What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg” (Luke 16:3).  In other words, he agreed with the reality of his situation.  Only then was he able to effect a plan of action and to receive the praise of his master.  

2. We must learn to harness the power of failure.  Those who desire to develop their character see failure as a mighty force propelling them forward, not a heavy weight holding them back.  Churchill defined success as “going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”  Even though it is necessary to understand where we are now and how we have failed in the past, we don’t focus solely on those failures.  Rather, we learn from the failures and move forward with a confident recognition of how to avoid making the same mistakes again, resulting in better decision making.

3. A renewed perspective leads us to new opportunities.  We should be thankful for failure because it gives us the opportunity to understand reality more clearly.  Failures expose faulty vision.  Being fitted with clearer vision allows us to focus our energies on what is truly important—things that are right, good and pure.  George Bernard Shaw stated, “This is true joy in life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” 

Indeed, 2009 may prove to be a tough year, but that doesn’t mean it must be devoid of opportunity. Today, like the company mentioned above, take one more step down the character path by assessing the reality of your current situation, even embracing your failures, so that you will be better equipped to seize today’s opportunities and be “used up” in a mighty endeavor.

People on the character path know the difference between vision and fantasy.

Vision and fantasy have little in common except they are future focused. They are opposing and competing forces in the battle for good character.

Vision is about making a positive contribution in the future. Vision involves setting goals, developing and implementing strategies, and constant evaluation and correction. The visionary is doing all of these things in order to make a contribution for the good of humanity and to live out God’s calling to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Some folks develop a strategy to do so but most just hope they are at the right place at the right time. They hope they get lucky in relationships, possessions and in positions. They frequently think about how they will enjoy these privileges and how they can position themselves where fantasy will fall into their place.

Fantasy includes pornography, the lottery, prostitution, insider trading, and exploiting people by implying they are friends when you only want to use them to move you one step closer to receiving privilege.

The solution to the present economic recession is not fantasy but vision. It is easier to project this truth upon government leaders and forget that it begins with each of us individually. A person of vision will develop a strategy to use their gifts, passion, family and business for the good of humanity and the glory of God.

Proverbs 28:19 says, “He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.”

Take a step with me today down the character path by rejecting the temptation to dwell on fantasy, and instead dwell on the vision God has given you.
Gary Fenton
Characterpath.com

Surely you have seen a thought provoking slogan which is frequently displayed in the offices of many dental health professionals: “Ignore your teeth and they will go away.” 

To keep healthy teeth requires daily attention and frequent check-ups. Good teeth may be a gift of God, but good teeth for all your life also includes good care. Good character is similar. If you were so fortunate to be born into a family in which good character traits were taught and modeled, you received a character gift. But good character is never maintained by accident. It is the result of careful daily attention. Most major character failures do not occur suddenly, they are the result of allowing marginal habits and infected attitudes to create cavities in your character.  

We need frequent check-ups. Here are three good questions that have helped me to do a character self-examination.

First, I asked myself the question, “Do I always have to be right?” People who feel they must always be right are in the first stage of self-deception. If you think you are always right you will soon lie to others to prove you are right. If you cannot admit you are wrong, you are developing a character cavity. By the way, if you listen carefully, both your friends and enemies will help you become aware of this.

Second, “What am I learning about myself?” People of good character have self-awareness. If you are only learning information, acquiring skills, or gaining insight into the strengths and weaknesses of others, you will eventually make character mistakes. However, if you are learning your own strengths and weaknesses, you will know where your temptations are. Self-awareness is not only a key to success, it is significant step toward good character.  Recently, when I used this question as part of my daily prayer journal, I realized that I was much less disciplined than I thought I was. Interestingly enough it came as I was doing some writing on the subject of self-discipline. I had some great insight that I really felt that others needed to hear, but I realized that I was not practicing the ideas myself. To be disciplined does not mean I have consistent daily routine, but it means I choose to give time and energy to actions which reflect my values.

Third, “Can I laugh at myself?” People with bad character take themselves too seriously and life too lightly. People of good character realize life is the most serious endeavor but can still laugh at themselves. People who cannot laugh at themselves usually find humor in laughing at others. Humor is healthy but ridicule is an abscess that needs to be removed. If you can laugh at yourself you don’t have to lie about yourself.

Take a step with me today down the character path, by doing character self-examination.
Gary Fenton
Characterpath.com

 

More than one political pundit has given this advice to our national leaders, but we need to apply it individually. If we survive this economic downturn and then return to the habits and attitudes we had before the recession, we have wasted a great opportunity. This is an excellent occasion to reboot your value system and to install some new programming in your mind and heart regarding money.   Use the present situation to reset your attitude toward worth and possessions by:

1. Realizing your real worth is not determined by what you own but who you are. If you are child of God and a person of integrity, your real worth has not diminished.

2. Increasing your investments in people. Allen Levi, the song writer, recently observed that when children draw pictures of their homes usually the people are disproportionately larger than the houses. Levi suggests it is because the children intuitively know that the people are more important to their home than their houses.  Alternatively, we adults often say that people are more important than possessions, but proceed to work longer hours and spend less time with our families so we can have more things.  Four years ago, a professional baseball player signed with a new team.  His new contract increased his annual income from 2.1 million to 2.6 million.  The move meant that the player would be away from his family not only when his team plays on the road, but when his new team plays at home. He said at the time, “I will only be away from my family about 80 days a year more than I am now.”  I read recently that this athlete’s wife is filing for divorce. Would this be any less tragic had it been a salesman who increased his income from $85,000 to $100,000?

3. Determining to use your money on things and experiences you and others need rather than what you want.  A financial advisor estimated that 98% of people who are financially distressed could have avoided their dire circumstances if they had only purchased what they needed. The rare exceptions are those who have large financial emergencies. Is it ever right to go in debt to purchase an HD flat screen television or name-brand anything rather than house brand?

Don’t waste this economic crisis, if you do you will soon have another one.
Use today wisely and you will be taking a step down the characterpath!
Gary Fenton
Characterpath.com

P.S.  You may want to check out the song writer Allen Levi at www.allenlevi.com.       
Also for a light and inspiring book on leadership try Running with the Bulls without Getting Trampled, by Dr. Tim Irwin.

“This community is not riddled with corruption and ethical flaw because it is dishonest. This town knows no better.”  From the Archiblog Posted by John Archibald — The Birmingham News, January 08, 2009

In a scathing rebuke of city and county elected leadership, the provocative Birmingham News columnist, John Archibald, identifies a major flaw not only in our city, but in our country.  While some people are knowingly corrupt, many others perceive their corruption is acceptable normal behavior. It is not that people have misplaced their moral compass; they don’t even know there is a moral compass.  Instead of knowing right from wrong, we spend our time, money and energy explaining the difference between what is legal and illegal. Before we castigate our Birmingham city and Jefferson County officials for the massive legal bills they have run up, we should be aware that many small businesses and large corporations spend significant amounts on legal issues without ever spending money teaching and training regarding what is right or wrong.

Likewise, many religious leaders rant about the lack of absolutes in postmodern culture.  Yet, these leaders often are caught doing wrong and avoiding right. Other religious folks make everything an absolute and, thereby, lose their voice when speaking on moral issues. The old printer’s proverb, “Emphasizing everything is emphasizing nothing,” still rings true. How do we instill the principles of right and wrong in community values?  Here are some ways to start:

1. Begin by recognizing that there are moral absolutes. While matters of preference are relative, not everything is a matter of preference. It is wrong to harm you neighbor even if it is legal. It is right to feed the hungry and care for the needy even if it is not tax deductible. “Pay to play” politics is not only illegal it’s wrong, even if the pay comes through legal political action committees. This does not mean we don’t give to political action committees but that we don’t require something in return.

2. Develop a short list of moral absolutes. Not everything is morally wrong. It is neither morally wrong to have a losing football season nor morally right to buy a winning season. For a good short list see the Ten Commandments.  Surely in a state in which most citizens know the 11 starters on both defense and offense of their favorite football team, we can keep track of 10 moral absolutes. Remember one commandment per manual digit.

3. Daily examine your life to see if you are practicing moral absolutes or just preaching them.

4. Teach your children the basic moral absolutes of life.

5. Encourage your employer to do character training in the work place. This is more than information on how to avoid a law suit; it’s about doing right and avoiding wrong.

From Wall Street to Main Street, from the Halls of Congress to City Hall, and even from the board room to the bedroom, character is the issue. This week teach and practice moral behavior and you will take one more step down the character path.

My apologies to those outside of the Birmingham and Jefferson County area who are unfamiliar with the political and financial chaos of city and county, but I still think you can get the point of this blog post. In brief, Jefferson County in Alabama has more per capita debt than any county in the nation, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois is concerned our elected officials are giving politicians a bad reputation. (Just kidding about the Blagojevich comment.  He has not said that, yet!)

Gary Fenton
Characterpath.com

About this time every year a number of religious writers get their constituencies all stirred up by warning about the many ways the unprincipled secular media, the defenders of political correctness, and the fearful government bureaucrats are either stealing or hiding the true meaning of Christmas.  The evidence they present for their case is some corporate mogul forbidding employees to say “Merry Christmas,” or the press release of an organization going to court to remove the public display of a nativity scene.  Certainly, I am in favor of saying “Merry Christmas” and displaying nativity scenes in public. Neither of these, however, are evidence that the true meaning of Christmas is taken away. No one can ever take away from us the true meaning of Christmas, but we can neglect and ignore the true meaning of Christmas to the extent that we feel it has been taken away from us.

Real people of character do more than just defend Christmas traditions; they bring the Christmas story to life by the way they live. How do we bring the Christmas story to life?

Christmas is about God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. When we seek to live the Godly life in our world by holy personal conduct, feeding the hungry and defending the powerless, allowing the Spirit of God to live in us and our relationships, openly pointing the way to Jesus the Christ, we are telling the Christmas story.

When we greet, receive, and welcome people in the name of the Lord, we are giving a stronger message than a mere “Merry Christmas.” Recently, I observed a mature lady in Target stop a young mother with a very small child in the grocery cart. The mother and the child were not the best dressed and the content of the tattoos on the young mother’s arm suggested that she was not likely to be asked to portray Mary in a church nativity scene. The mature lady said to the young mother, “God surely has blessed you with a beautiful child. I know you must thank God daily for her.” The young mother teared up and responded, “No, but I will.” I did not hear the rest of the conversation as I walked on. 

Later, I saw the mature lady on another aisle and I complimented her on what she had done and she responded, “That is my ministry. So many young mothers never think about the where the gift of life came from.”  Her words truly demonstrated “God with us” in a way more meaningful than “Merry Christmas!”

This holy day and holiday season remember not only to exhibit character, but remember when you live the words of Jesus, you are a character in someone’s Christmas story!
Gary Fenton
Characterpath.com

During difficult and challenging economic times most of our interest and energy are directed toward surviving. The question we are trying to answer is “how can I keep what I have without losing anything of great value until economy improves?’

People of character do not focus on surviving but on contributing to good of humanity.  What should people of character be doing in these challenging economic times?

First, while recognizing the seriousness of the situation, people of character do not despair, but cling tightly to hope. Despair not only indicates a lack of character, it also negatively impacts the character of others. You have heard the old cliché often used to delineate the difference between optimism and pessimism.  The pessimist looks at half of glass of water and says it half empty while the optimist observes the same glass container water and it declares that is half full.  Yet, people of character go beyond mere optimism and understand they need to find a way to use this water.   The person of character uses difficult times to build stronger character and to help others know the joy of the character driven life.  The current state of the economy is an opportunity for improvement not in your financial condition but in the condition of your character. 

Second, we can take stock, not in our financial holdings and investments, but in our living according to our values, the things we really value in life.  Far too often we say there are things more important than money, then live as if money is the most important issue in our lives. An acquaintance of mine several years ago went through a major financial catastrophe.   He and his wife had to change what they did for fun. They were forced to eliminate travel and to sell their home at the beach. At age 52 he adopted a dramatically reduced lifestyle.  He said he was amazed how much more he enjoyed new simple pleasures like reading, local travel, and getting to know family and neighbors. As a couple they learned how live on less and enjoy life more. He said that for years he had said health and friends were his most valuable assets, yet he had not lived like it.  Financially difficult times can make you aware of just how wealthy you really are.

Finally, engage the people in your life. Many folks are overwhelmed by the bad economic news and are allowing it to vacuum the joy of life out of them. You won’t impact them with a lecture, but you can open the door to hope by listening when they talk to you.  Listen, really listen.  When you do, they will be open to hear you briefly share, and invite them to experience, the real values of loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul and your neighbor as yourself.

Join me in using these difficult finanical times to live accoding to your real values and you will take one more step down the character path.
Gary Fenton
Characterpath.com

                  For additional insight read “How to Pray for the Economy” on the pastor’s blog at www.dawsonchurch.org.

Over the last three weeks Americans have carefully watched the stock market go up and down—primarily down—and in so doing have seen our financial value decline.  If you could quantify and qualify whether your character is of higher value than it was several weeks ago, how are you doing?

All of us would like to think that we possess good character that is for the most part improving. We admit occasionally that we have momentary lapses in good character, like the occasional blip on the stock market, and in a couple of days we return to our basic good values.

Yet, despite what we may believe, good character is always a work in progress.  It is not a constant and it is not always improving.   The quality of our character is going up and down more than we think.  While the decline in the value of our stocks can be easily measured, the decline in character often occurs without our awareness. Is there any indicator that the value of your character may be declining?

One sign that our character may be receding in value is when we continually become suspicious of everyone.  When you don’t trust you may be headed down the slippery slope of bad character. Obviously, we cannot and should not trust everyone.  But if we don’t trust anyone, and attempt to sanctify the spirits of suspicion by saying we are just being realistic, our relationships will become dysfunctional.  If you are looking for reasons not to trust you will find them in every person and in every organization.  Below are three steps to overcoming this nature of suspicion:

The first step is to look for the good in everyone. Yes, all people are sinners and have flaws in their lives that will eventually be evident, sometimes more evident than their good character traits. Certainly, you shouldn’t be naïve or blind to vice and only see virtue.  When you meet people and interact with organizations, however, look first for the good they are doing.

Second, when you find yourself suspicious or untrusting of someone, ask yourself why. Is there a legitimate reason or is just because you disagree with them. Disagreement with a person’s views or even dislike for their personality is not adequate reason to distrust them.

Third, seek to be a trustworthy person. People who can be trusted usually find it easier to trust as they are realistically aware that all people are capable of both good and evil.

Healthy trusting of others will help you take a step down the character path.
Gary Fenton
Characterpath.com

Related Quote:
When Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, was asked what was the most significant lesson learned from eBay, he replied, “The remarkable fact that 135 million people have learned they can trust a complete stranger.  That’s had an incredible impact.  People have more in common than they think.” –Stephen M. R. Covey