At 17, he already had two powerful dreams about his future. In those dreams, he saw his brothers and parents bowing before him. When he shared his dreams with his brothers, they were enraged and they hated him from that day onwards. Even his father was quite curious as to what the meaning of those dreams were.

Everything seemingly, started to go wrong for him from that point in his life. He was sold into slavery by his own brothers, betrayed by his Masters wife and totally forgotten by the very person he helped in prison. As it turned out, God was all the while working behind the scenes to bring to pass those dreams he had.

Indeed, after 22 long years, he finally saw the fulfilment of those dreams. His brothers came bowing before him and didn’t even recognise him. Evidently, God had so transformed him that his bitter past couldn’t be remotely compared with who he has become.

So, what are some of the lessons we can learn from Joseph’s attitude that made him overcome intense adversity? Here are four principles we can apply to our own lives in times of adversity on our journey towards destiny land.

• Be willing to serve other people even when you are hurting: - Joseph could easily have started the blame game by accusing God for allowing his brothers to inflict this terrible ordeal on him. As the most loved child by his father, he suddenly found himself serving as a slave in Egypt. However, his attitude was different; he rolled his sleeves and gave his best in Potiphar’s house. It wasn’t long before he was promoted and soon began to run all the of his master’s affairs. Even when we’ve been wrongly treated, it’s important to maintain a good attitude by serving others, knowing that God who is just will eventually fight our case in his own time.
• Maintain your Integrity: - The true character of a person really comes to the fore when the pressure is on. It wasn’t long before Potiphar’s wife started to cast an evil eye on Joseph. She tried to seduce him into committing adultery and when he refused to give in, she lied to her husband about what really happened. Even though Joseph eventually found himself in prison because he refused to compromise, he still maintained a godly attitude and refused to be bitter. It’s important to stick to the Godly principles we’ve held unto even under pressure because whatever we compromise to get, we will eventually loose. God sees and knows everything we go through. He also observes our reactions and responses when we suffer unjustly. He will honour us if we honour him in all things. He will surely take care of every situation when we cast all our cares on him.
• Rest in the Justice of God: - There is no point taking matters into our own hands and trying to defend ourselves when we’ve been wronged. Yes, the Justice of God doesn’t work like the way human justice works but it is as sure as God himself because the scriptures tell us that RIGHTEOUSNESS and JUSTICE are the foundation of his Throne (Psalm 89:14). It may seem like it’s taking forever for God to act on our behalf but we should always rest in the fact that, the Omniscient God knows exactly what he’s doing. It took 22 long years but Joseph saw his brothers bowing to him eventually. We inevitably mess up God’s plan when we take matters into our own hands. Let us trust God and rest in his Grace and he will come through for us
• Walk in Forgiveness: - One of the greatest favours we can do to ourselves is to forgive our perpetrators. When we walk in unforgiveness and bitterness, we tie the hands of God and he’s unable to work on our behalf and restore us back to the place of fellowship with him. In fact, unforgiveness is like a slow cancer that eats away our joy and peace. It is now a proven fact that harbouring bitterness in our hearts is one of the major causes of various sicknesses in the human body. Joseph could easily have been bitter but he instead chose to help his brothers and their entire families by caring for them exclusively in Goshen. He eventually came to appreciate all that he went through as the plan of God for good even though his brothers meant it for evil. Yes, his brothers lived with what they did but Joseph always tried to assure them of his forgiveness. When we desire to obey God regardless of the circumstance, we create the environment for him to work out his purposes and eventually glorify his name in our lives. Forgiveness is a unique strength of character and not a sign of weakness. We actually exhibit the nature of God when we choose to let go.

God is indeed the same yesterday, today and will be the same God tomorrow. If he did it for Joseph, he will do it for us as long as we put these same principles into action. Let us show the world that there is a better way to live. Let’s shine the LIGHT of God in this dark world. Shalom!!!

Yes, the number of goals may be a new record which I think he can better in the years ahead, but it’s more the manner and the sheer class with which he scored the goals that made many a football enthusiast admire this rare talent that has emerged in this generation.

Of course, we all knew about his ability already but his display yesterday has put him in another League. The way in which he made the difficult act of scoring spectacular goals look so easy was just a joy to watch. One was a left foot lob, another a delightful right foot lob, then a careful control from an acute angel, a laser-guided placement with his left foot and then a drive through a number of opposing players. His unique sense of picking the right moments in games to do what he does best is simply quite extraordinary.

He has often been compared with the Legendary Pele and his fellow country man Diego Maradona as to who is the greatest player ever but I will dare to say that even these legends will secretly admit that it’s just a matter of time before this boy from the backside of Rosario, Argentina supersedes their achievements if he hasn’t already done so. Considering the fact that Messi is only 24 years of age and has at least 10 years of top flight football in him, the prospect of what he could achieve can be incredible.

It’s almost inconceivable that the world would never have seen what happened yesterday had it not been for the Barcelona scouts who intervened to save his career when he was being given up on. River Plate, one of the biggest clubs in the Argentine First Division who wanted to sign him from Newell Old Boys Club in Rosario, soon discovered that his inability to endure playing for 90 minutes was due to the absence of a growth hormone that hindered his normal physical development as a person. He looked so tiny for his age at the time that, they were not sure if he could develop physically to meet the demands of the modern game even though his talent was never in dispute. The money needed to put him on a special dieting programme was just too much they couldn’t afford it.  They gave up on him but thankfully, he was spotted and taken to Barcelona’s La Masia’s training academy and the rest, they say, is history.

Talking about humble beginnings, his first contract was signed on a white handkerchief because his Dad was so frustrated with the directors of Barcelona at the time due to their indecision about his son’s future that, he gave Charles Rexach, the Director of football at the time a brief window of opportunity to make up his mind. Either they give him an answer there and then or forget about Messi forever once they fly back to Argentina.  His exploits today has proven that it doesn’t matter where you begin in life but rather, it’s about you believing in your unique abilities and giftings given to you by God regardless of your size, age, race or gender.

As great as the current Barcelona team is at the moment, it is my firm conviction that if you pluck Messi out of this team, they would not have achieved as much as they have. He brings a certain quality to the team which puts them way above any other team at the moment. When games are tight, he is the only one that can come up with some special instinctive play capable of breaking down opposing teams whereby creating opportunities to score goals.

The flip side of the above argument is that, even the greatest players will find it very difficult to perform at their optimum when they are either surrounded by mediocre players or the team they find themselves in doesn’t play to their strengths.  This may well be the reason why he is yet to hit the same dizzy heights with the Argentine National Team as he’s done time and time again with his Club side.

With all that he’s achieve so far, hearing him speak just makes you believe why he may go on to accomplish much more.  He seems to exude this important virtue of humility which is vital not only to help get you to the top of your game but more importantly, to stay there. There isn’t any air of “superstardom” about him. His lifestyle is just simple, both on and off the pitch. I’m yet to hear any news about Messi involved in any “off the pitch” incidents that you so often associate with English Premiership players. He just seems to enjoy playing in huge stadia as much as he did when he played on the streets of Rosario.

So is he the greatest player ever? The legendary Pele seems to think he is the best by far in the world at the moment. Most football Managers, fellow professionals and the football community at large seem to think he is the best ever even though he’s yet to lead Argentina to Word Cup glory.  I would not dispute that either. I think we haven’t seen the best of him yet. He is simply sublime.

Music is a powerful tool. It does something to the human soul and spirit that words cannot explain. Researchers have even concluded that, when the emotionally disturbed have been surrounded with soft music, their health and wellbeing have dramatically improved. Like every good thing, we know it originates from God. In fact, Lucifer, who later became known as Satan when he was overthrown from heaven as a result of his rebellion, was an embodiment of musical instruments when he was created (Ezekiel 28:13, Isaiah 14:11 NKJV). No wonder he has perverted this wonderful tool and he is using it to destroy so many lives today. Indeed, the Bible has a lot to say about the use of music as far as our Worship lives are concern.

However, it’s of outmost importance that we don’t substitute music for worship and vice versa. God’s intention was, and still is for us to use music as one of the ways to EXPRESS our worship to Him. Remember, true worship is a sum total of our daily walk of obedience to God and his word. It is a LIFESTYLE and not an EVENT. Music then becomes a vehicle by which we lavishly express our deep seated feelings of appreciation for God not so much for what he does for us, but just because of who he is. There are numerous verses in the Book of Psalms that will attest to this fact. For instance, the psalmist made this declaration; “Clap your hands all ye people, shout unto God with a voice of triumph”. Psalm 47:1

As we continually demonstrate our love for God by our obedience and we in turn experience his goodness, it becomes almost impossible to not verbalise it. Music becomes a perfect tool for expressing our gratitude. A song, a shout, a clap or a dance alongside instrumental accompaniment becomes a worthy sacrifice acceptable to God.

It is my personally believe that, our times of worship when we congregate together in our churches should be called “worship expression times” because that is what it really is. We should never satisfy our consciences by engaging in all the expressive actions when our hearts and lifestyles are opposed to biblical principles. That will be self-deception and a waste of our time.

When we all endeavour to walk before God in all sincerity and truth, we’ll truly experience heaven on earth when we gather together. Any musical expression from a yielded vessel becomes an avenue for God to use in granting us victory in our daily lives. Remember, music is to be used as a medium of expressing our worship and not an end it itself.

For the Pentecostals or Charismatics, the exuberant expression of dancing to contemporary music and an emotional expression with lifted hands will constitute a “good worship time”.

While all the above may be true in the context of expressing our love for God, mere external demonstrations without a corresponding lifestyle is not the true bible definition of what worship is supposed to be.

When Jesus met the woman from Samaria at the well in the Gospel John Chapter 4, he told her there was no need to go to a specific place to perform some form of ritual to satisfy the requirements of worship. He said true worshipers must do so in spirit and in truth.

Worship is essentially a demonstration of our love for God and the only way we can do that effectively is to walk in daily and hourly obedience to his commandments. Jesus said if we love him, we will keep his commandments. In other words, the true test of love for God is simple obedience.

God’s word commands us to give, forgive, honour our parent, walk in humility, shun immorality and many more. So out of respect and honour for God, we choose to obey him. The implication is that, his word takes precedence over any other thing or whatever society may be saying. That for me is true worship. In other words, what God says is WORTH more than anything else.

When our lifestyles are guided by biblical principles and instructions, then and only then will external EXPERSSIONS be meaningful and worthwhile. What is the point in trying to show off something we don’t live or believe in? That is clear hypocrisy and God’s word warns us against living in that manner.

Remember, it is only those who obey his commandments who will experience his blessing and not those who are only interested in hearing them but do nothing with it. Truth is being authentic, trustworthy and genuine. God want’s our worship to be real and that is the only way the world will be won for Christ.

Let’s take up the challenge and let our worship of God be real by walking in daily obedience.

It is very naive for us Christians to assume that just coming into a church service or a Christian gathering, raising up hands and singing Christian or “worship” songs constitutes worship. How wrong!!! Infact, when we lift up our hands during our corporate gatherings or devotional times in worship expression, it isn’t meant to be a religious exercise. Rather, it should symbolise the utter surrender of our hearts to God sacrificially.

Worship therefore, is our response to God for who he is and the least we can do is to yield our entire lives unreservedly to him for no other reason than the fact that he is God. In other words, while praise is based on the Acts of God, we worship him because of his Character.

The following statements define perfectly what I believe the heart of worship is from God’s perspective.

• True worship is an attitude of the heart or a lifestyle that is totally yielded to the Lord Jesus in absolute obedience to him and his word.
• It is a life of whole-hearted, sincere and pure devotion to the Lord Jesus.
• It is a heart attitude of awe and reverence, where the overwhelming desire is to do and submit to the will of God, in whatever form or shape by the help and Grace of God.
• This unconditional devotion to God is not based on anything that the Lord has done or will do, but simply based on who God Is.
• It is having the right motives behind what we do i.e., the heart behind our actions must be right.

Our times of worship in our church services must actually be a true expression of our on-going day-to-day life of obedience and devotion and not an end in itself. If this is the case, then our expression of worship becomes powerful and meaningful and it ascends unto the Lord as sweet incense and a memorial before him.

True worship; or rebuilding the broken altars of our hearts means allowing God to transform us and remoulding our character to enable the fruit of the Spirit to shine forth in our lives.

It is more than just singing songs to the Lord. In fact, the songs we sing must be a reflection of what we really are inside and how we truly live or desire to live on a daily basis. Only then will the fire of God come down and consume all the impurities in our sacrifice and bring out the life of God through us.

It’s been quite a journey but I’m grateful to God for the strength and grace to have put this together finally.

It’s a book that attempts to question the “unspoken” definition of worship in the church today and brings out the heart of God on this subject from the perspective of the bible. Whereas some may have confined worship to only what takes place in a church building, that is only the tip of the iceberg. It promises to be a fascinating read and I encourage you to to pick up a copy  and allow the contents to inspire to develop a closer walk with God

The book is available  in both Paperback and eBook format. All the details about how to purchase your copy are available on the book’s website; brokenaltars.net

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A FREE PDF copy of the First Chapter is available for download by following the simple instructions on the Link below;

Download Chapter One for FREE

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Let me know your thoughts by leaving your comments on the blog or on the feedback page of the book’s website.

Having moved into the Emirates Stadium 3 seasons ago, he knew there wouldn’t be funds to sign so called ‘marquee’ players. The investment that had gone into building the new stadium meant that there would be constrains on the club’s finances. Even when funds were available to spend, it had to be used wisely as there was a huge debt to be repaid. He kept a salary structure that the club adhered to very strictly.

After letting key players like Thierry Henry and Patrick Viera go, he began to sign young talented players around the globe to build a new team that will compete for honours in the coming years. Some were visibly talented, others had hidden potential that needed time to become the finished article. He new these players needed time and patience to win titles. While fans were often frustrated with the progress of the team, he had to keep believing and reiterating that this team will come good.Some players like Flamini and Hleb felt they couldn’t stick around any longer so they moved on. To give his vision every chance of succeeding, almost all the young players under 25 years of age have signed long term contracts. Also, the financial security guaranteed by the move to the Emirates Stadium in terms of match day proceeds will give the club the ability to compete with any team around the world. It’s already yeilding results as the financial statements in the last 2 years have been very excellent.

The season is not yet over, but this young Arsenal team are still in 3 competitions and there is every chance they can win a trophy this season. But the most exciting thing is that, the pool of young and talented players coming through at the club is cause for great optimism. The experience that these young players get, playing in competitions like the Carling Cup especially and the Champions league will prove invaluable in the coming years.

Looking around the premier league today, no other club is developing young players for the future like the way Arsene is doing it at Arsenal. I really fear for teams like Chelsea and Liverpool who don’t seem to be doing anything at all in terms of youth development. We’ll have to wait and see what happens when players like Drogba, Lampard, Terry cannot compete in the Premier league anymore. Can the signing of £40 million plus players be sustainable in the years ahead? I doubt it in the current financial climate! In that light, it is only the visionaries who have prepared for the future who will stand out.

I am strongly convinced that Arsene has set Arsenal on the right track and it won’t be long until the fans start smiling again. keep faith all you Gunners out there and your stars will shine again soon.

PS: For more updates and resources on exclusive soccer news, don’t forget to check out soccer online.

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The Characteristics of a Professional Golfer

That is only one side of the story though. There are a number of ingredients that are required to produce a successful professional golfer.

• Desire – In order for a golfer to be successful there must be a burning desire. Without the passion and competitive spirit driving you, chances are that a golfer will never succeed. The player will quickly tire of the game and lay it to the side. A successful golfer will continually replay the day’s shots in their mind honing it and desiring to improve upon it. There will be an excitement about going out on the course the next time.
• Practice – Practice! Practice! Practice! Everyone has heard that practice makes perfect, but the hours that must be invested in golf to become a professional golfer are many and different for everyone. There is simply no substitute for swinging the club. That is where all of the theory and coaching come into action.
• Work Ethic – This is where the perfectionist attitude must show up. Listening to your coach, studying video of your shot, analyzing your own imperfections, watching other golfers, and then applying it. This can get tiresome, but those that strive to be professional golfers relentlessly study, observe and apply. Even practice can become mundane for common people, but for the professional golfer if is honing time. This is where all of the studying and critiquing can manifest.
• Natural Talent – Without some natural talent, the other three characteristics discussed here will still fall short. All of the want-to, practice, and work will only get you so far. You must have some level of natural ability to work with.

Becoming professional golfer quality is only half of the battle.

You must find your way into the professional tour. There are a number of ways to accomplish this.

1. Finish within the top 30 at the annual Qualifying Tournament.
2. Win an approved PGA TOUR, or co-sponsored, event.
3. Finish among the top 125 players on the official money list in a year.
4. During the course of a PGA TOUR season, win an amount of official money equal to the amount won in the preceding year by the 125th finisher on the official money list. Upon completion of this step you are considered a registered PGA apprentice.
5. Finish in the top 20 of the official Nationwide Tour money list.

If you are a professional or have a USGA handicap of 2 or less, you can participate in an open qualifying round conducted by the PGA Section where a PGA Tour event is being played. Those with the four lowest scores will normally advance to that event. The open qualifying round is generally held the Monday of tournament week.

The PGA Section qualifying round is also held in association with most PGA TOUR open events. This is for all PGA members who belong to the Section in which the event is being played. The two lowest scorers advance to the event. The Monday before the tournament week is again usually used for this competition. Exempted from this event and allowed into the PGA tour is the current Section champion or player of the year.

Becoming A Member Of The PGA Of America Is Also No Cake Walk.

You must become a registered apprentice and proceed through the PGA Professional Golf Management (PGA/PGM)TM Program in order to become a PGA member. This is the criteria to register into the PGA/PGMTM Program:

• Meet the Eligible Employment requirements, which means that you must be eligibly employed at the time of registration for six months of the preceding 12 months. Participating in an amateur event will forfeit all work experience credits earned before the event.
• Satisfy the Playing Abilities Test, PAT, requirement.
• Submit a signed apprentice registration form verifying employment and documenting your review of the Professional Readiness Orientation (PRO).
• You must pay all apprentice fees for National and your Section and purchase the Level 1 Kit to become an apprentice.
• Acceptable Progress is defined by successful completion of each Level’s Checkpoint. The Level 1 Checkpoint has to be successfully completed within two years of the Level 1 start date to remain in good standing. The Level 2 Checkpoint must be completed within four years of the Level 1 start date. Finally, the Level 3 Checkpoint must be successfully completed within six years of the Level 1 start date. Apprentices have only eight years from their Level 1 start date to graduate from the PGA PGM Program and get elected to membership.
• Have a high school diploma or be at least 18 years of age and high school equivalency completed. You are eligible for educational credits toward PGA membership with a college degree.
• U.S. Citizen or resident alien status is required.
• You must have earned a total of 36 work experience credits plus have fulfilled the PGA/PGMTM Program.
• A four year college degree will receive 12 credits and six credits for a two year college degree.
  Again, work experience earned prior to participating in an amateur event will be forfeited.

While playing golf professionally is an extremely desirable career, anyone that is considering this undertaking must understand the difficulties they will face. The work that is necessary to accomplish such a lofty goal can be daunting, but enjoying the fruits of such a labor can also be breathtaking.

You can access more resources and information about pursuing a career in golf or just relaxing with golf at this link, playing golf professionally . For resources on many other relevant materials, check out our online resource bank.