The one thing which hasn’t been taught enough about and nobody really wants to hear about is - HUMILITY! And the one element the Lord is looking for in His Children before He can pour forth His financial riches, is, “the meekness in spirit”.

Pride is a terrible thing and it can keep God’s Child, (you), from going on to maturity, which will definitely keep you from coming into financial abundance and recognition!

But what has this to do with Biblical Economy? Well, everything, really. You see Saint, would you trust your five year old with a vast inheritance? I don’t think so. Well, neither would God. He really is not interested in leaving His money to a bunch of spiritual babies!

How you treat people; how you handle and manage people; and how you respond under pressure all form part of maturity. Also included in the process, is how you handle money (is it yours or is it God’s to begin with); and how you manage time and possessions. And less we forget, maturity is a PROCESS. It takes time, years, many years. Very few things are “microwave” fast with God.

The area of pride is especially an area which takes effort, a lot of effort to work on. Are we sorry for what we did wrong or are we sorry we got caught? Perhaps we are only sorry for the shame and discomfort the situation has caused us. Whatever the case, are we sincerely sorry? Are we sorry enough to try “to never do it again?” Are we humble enough to recognize that we can’t help but “do it again” except for the Grace of God?

Remember dearly beloved, a spiritually mature person KNOWS he or she will do mistakes. This person also knows he/she may even sin on occasion, but not as a rule. This is part of a maturing PROCESS. This is part of the journey! Hallelujah!

The road to God’s promotion is not an easy one. It takes time, sweat and tears many times. But of one thing a Christian can be assured: when he/she has given up trying to promote themself and allows God’s crucifying process have it’s way in their life, no one can ever take that promotion away from them. No one. And if they appear to have lost it, it was simply God’s time to go to another level, another promotion. Hallelujah!

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord which exercises loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23,24.

Beverly Anne Sanchez, is online editor/publisher of KingdomXchange.com and sister site, ChristePublishers.com. She is administrator of the Covenant Ministry of the Lion and the Lamb in Miami, Florida and has written for several years for web sites such Suite101, Themes, Epinions and This Christian Life majoring on the topic of Biblical Economics and prospering in the End-times and other related areas.

Organizations are made up of people. As an
employer or networker a large part of your
success hinges on the success of the organization
behind you. No man is an island after all.

Building that organization can be a challenge as
we tend to believe that everyone thinks like we
do. The problems arise when it dawns on us that
they don’t. As individuals, we
each have our own agendas. Our own wants, needs
and desires. The big picture we carry
ourselves is not the same picture the members of
our organization carries.

So how do we get a team to work?

First the same principles apply if you’re
building a new team or taking on an exsisiting
team.

The first step is to talk to your people. Let
them know what you want to accomplish and the
benefits of accomplishing it. In the
conversation ask they feel about that, what their
own wants or needs are. Then ask them what ideas
they have for achieving the goals. The key to
all this is to listen to what they have to say.
Write it down if you have to.

This little step will allow you accomplish a
number of things.

Our opinions, thoughts and ideas are important
to use. We build rapport quickly with others who
are open to hearing what we have to say.
When others really listen with an open mind to
our ideas we suddenly develop a personal stake in
the outcome of the gaols.

Because we are being asked for our thoughts,
ideas and opinions and we answer, our answers
reveal to to the person who is asking our own
strengths and weaknesses. This allows that person
to figure out how best to let us work.

When you’re able to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of each team member you’ll be able see
which teaching method you’ll need to teach each
one. You’ll also be able to see which tasks will
be handled best by which members.
If you assign a task to someone and they seem to
be struggling, it’s possible you didn’t give
clear instructions. The other possibility is
that you missed proper identification of their
strengths. For their best interest and that of
the team change what you have them doing. People
will always work best and get better results when
they work from a position of strength.

One more little detail that makes a huge
difference in helping to build and maintain team
cohesiveness. Take the time to tell them thank
you on a regular basis. Everyone likes to feel
appreciated and acknowledged. The results of
your actions will show themselves in the results
of your teams’ performance.

When you get more bills than fun stuff in the mail everyday, you know you may finally hit that point where things get overwhelming. The bills keep coming, and there may not be enough money coming in. You need to pay off bills fast without losing your sanity.

If you want to pay off bills fast and don’t have any extra money coming in, you’ll need to put a lot of focus and effort into a debt payoff plan. There are debt consolidation services available at no cost to you, but you can work to pay off your debts on your own too.

First, call all of your credit card companies. What you want to do is talk them into lowering your interest rates. Most times, it’s the high interest rate which prevents us from paying off credit card debt. If you only pay the minimum payment, you may be paying mainly interest and very little of your actual credit card balance.

Talking your credit card company into lowering your debt is not hard. Most companies will want to work with you, because the alternative is that they may not get any money at all. If you can’t reason with them, then you may need to threaten to take your balance elsewhere. Credit card companies are always competing for your business, and most will offer you a low rate for a specific trial period.

After you’ve lowered your interest rates, get a notebook and all of your bills. You’ll want to list your bills in order of smallest to largest and then list the minimum monthly payment next to each balance.

You’re going to start paying off your bills by paying off the smallest amount first, and then adding that monthly payment with the next largest bill until that one is paid off. If you pay a total of $1000 a month for your outstanding balances, you will continue to pay a total of $1000 until all of your bills are paid off. This is what’s called a debt snowball. You keep combining your monthly payments until you’re debt free!

To pay off bills fast, you’ll need a lot of focus and a solid plan. If you feel too overwhelmed, call a debt consolidation service to walk you through the process.

For more information on paying off bills and cleaning up your credit score, visit http://FixMyCreditReport.blogspot.com

Santa Monica Mountains - How do I love you? Let me count the ways. This is less of a trip report than a love letter!

After going through a divorce in my mid 40s, I joined the singles group at my church, in Torrance, CA. They were into all kinds of outdoor activities and I started going with them. Many of those activities were in the Santa Monica Mountains.

I learned to mountain bike in Sullivan Canyon. This was one of my first activities there, and became one of my favorite ones. My first ride was up the fire road (Farmer’s Ridge?) to the old Nike Station, then across the ridge and ride down Sullivan Canyon. It was a favorite weekend activity with the group for years. Sullivan was always changing due to the spring rains. We also rode up it, and down the ridge for a change, or both up and down the canyon. The Whoop de Doos were another fun ride, on a ridge to the northeast of Sullivan, as well as Sullivan ridge, above Rustic Canyon and the Backbone Trail.

Somewhere along the line, somebody told me you could do it at night with lights - a whole new world opened up! My friend Milana and I did weekly Monday night rides for years. I could out climb her, but couldn’t keep her in sight on the way down. My longest ride there was from Redondo Beach to Sunset Blvd., to Will Rogers State Park, up the Backbone Trail, down Sullivan and then returning the same way. It was a solo ride, I started in the afternoon and I got home after 1:00 am. My worst scare was another solo ride up Sullivan Canyon, when I decided to explore a small side trail. I had new clipless pedals and wasn’t used to them. Crossing a small ditch, I couldn’t get one foot free and fell into the ditch and fractured a kidney. Another trip to the emergency room and a day in ICU, followed by 30 days of bed rest.

The Santa Monicas were a favorite hiking place as well. I started out hiking the same trails we mountain biked, then hiked every trial I could find. Rustic Canyon was a favorite, as well as the Backbone Trail from Will Rogers State Park. The old Nazi site in Rustic Canyon was always fun, especially the 500 steps going back up to the road. All the trails around Topanga State Park and up to Point Mugu, including Sandstone Peak, the highest point in the Santa Monicas, at a towering 3,111 feet. I started night hiking there with the Twilight Hikers, and then spent countless nights out there alone, exploring all the trails I knew, this time at night, usually without a light. The glow from the city lights was usually enough to see by. For years I led night hikes for our church group, for SCARABS, an adventure racing club, and for about a year, monthly full moon hikes for a friend who worked at Backpacker Magazine. Later I spent more time hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains, but never will forget the Santa Monicas.

When some friends said they were going rock climbing, I asked if I could go with them. We went to Stoney Point and I fell in love with Rock Climbing. It was the only thing that kept us from mountain biking every Saturday. The Pot Holes were one of my favorites, including the crack there. My greatest victory was when I was able to climb the A-Frame, my first 5.9 climb. The Jesus Wall and many others I can’t remember now, but all great memories. We also climbed some at Point Mugu and then a few trips to Big Bear, Castle Rock, I think it was. One of the greatest things about climbing in the Santa Monicas was doing it with my son, Luke. He was only about 14 at the time, but was a good climber and the group trusted him to belay, which really made me feel good.

I hadn’t run since I was in track in high school, but Kathy, one of my friends, was into running. We ran a lot in Topanga State Park, and I did my first trail 10K there, The Tough Topanga 10K, with Milana and others. The SCARAB group was doing night runs to the Nike site, and beyond, from Mulholland Drive, and I ran with them some. From this start, came weekly runs on the Woodchip Path in the South Bay, and I ran in a number of 10Ks and even did a half marathon. This last spring, I was the trail sweep for a friend who put on a 50K run on the Backbone Trail.

Our singles group went on some camping trips at Leo Carrillo State Park, which led to backpacking in the Grand Canyon and then hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Many of our training hikes for the local L.A. peaks, as well as Whitney, and the Grand Canyon were in Rustic Canyon.

So many people living in the Los Angeles area complain about the hectic life in the Big City, the crowds, crime and traffic. Well the traffic caused problems getting there, but I could be in the Santa Monica Mountains in a hour or less most of the time, and coming home late at night only took about 30 minutes. It is a whole different world, just minutes off the 405 freeway, waiting to give relief to all who are looking for it.

I love you, Santa Monica Mountains!

Vic Hanson is the founder of Adventure Cotahuasi Tours, which offers pre-planned and custom adventure travel tours in Cotahuasi Canyon and other areas of Peru.
If you are interested in your own adventure in Peru, check us out!
http://www.adventurecotahuasi.com

It’s not all “Bull-jargon”

Fees have names that not always suggest what they cover. Underwriting, for example, may mean one thing to the unwary, but in finance it means the act of analyzing the information and situation of a borrower and determining the correct “package” or set of conditions for the loan he is applying for.

Escrow is the middleman, who takes care of all the procedures and handles the legal documents for a transaction and the disbursement of funds. Forbearance is the act of manifesting in writing, the lender’s will not to carry out legal action on a mortgage with missed payments.

So, Everything Has Its Meaning

A special term may suggest something to the profane customer and have a totally different meaning. Likewise, the fine print or small writing: Don’t pretend you understand all it says, just out of not wanting to show your lack of knowledge. Whatever you don’t understand, ask. Take a copy home and consult whatever you don’t know or are not sure about, with someone who does know.

There are also expressions that complicate matters for you, the borrower. But then again, you are not expected to be expert loan agents. Just know what you are in for. Know what to expect during the term of the loan. Principally, what you are entitled to, whether it is a refinancing to change the duration or change the character of the interest rate from fixed to adjustable or vice versa. You must know what you are not allowed to do and what you are expected to do under certain circumstances.

Consider This

“Herein”, “whereby”, “hereafter”, “inasmuch” and “hereinafter” sound so stupid to a profane ear. More often than not, they confuse people and even make them think it is the opposite of what they really mean. They are placed, so to speak, so that there will not be any misunderstanding… to a knowledgeable loan agent or an attorney. Not to us, simple beings. But then, if we don’t know a word or expression, let’s ask, folks!

PMI

Private Mortgage Insurance is meant to cover only the payments that correspond to the portion of the loan up to 20% of the value of the house you are purchasing. It does not last the whole loan. So, it is important to know, that as from a certain date, you will not have that expense any more and that your lender is obliged to communicate this to you.

One thing that misguides even those who are supposed to be familiar with these matters is the APR. It is not what its name suggests. It means Annual Percentage Rate but it is not only the interest rate, but a set of fees added to the rate and proportionally distributed on a yearly basis. It is even confusing to the loan agents, sometimes. Does that make you feel better? Even so, don’t be shy. Ask whatever it may be a dozen times. You won’t get turned down for that.

Jessica Peterson writes finance articles for Yourloanservices.com where she shares her knowledge about how to get money for a starting-up business, consolidating any kind of debt, repairing a home even with a bad credit history and more.

Yes, it is true that people are getting paid to do surveys every day. What has happened is that the market researchers who used to mail their survey out through the US Postal System are now using the Internet. The Net is both faster and cheaper.

To get enough volunteers the survey makers are offering to pay for surveys taken. So you or anyone who is a consumer can now get paid to do surveys. (The only people who don’t qualify as consumers are either in prisons, asylums or cemeteries!)

So, how does it work? What do you need to do to get paid to do surveys?

Here is your checklist:

1. You will need a guide company to steer you to the good survey makers (out of some 700+ that are out there!) You could find them yourself but it would take a lot longer and you would have to spend time sorting them out. Some are good, some O.K., and some are bad ones you want to avoid. The guide companies (paid survey sites) have developed lists which they continually maintain. They know which ones are the good ones. You pay a small fee to become a member and they will guide you to the ones who will make you money and away from the time-wasters.

2. Pick out a good guide company. Look for one that is good-sized, has been around for awhile, is growing, has a good 60 to 90 day guarantee backed up by a financial company and has a low refund rate on its membership fees. The refund rate is important because it is the best indicator of client satisfaction. Happy clients don’t demand refunds. Unhappy clients do. So look for a low refund rate — 3-5% range is best. Avoid high refund rates - anything over 10% should be a red (stop!) flag.

3. When you first start up with your guide company they will give you their list of recommended survey makers. To get paid to do surveys you will need to register with all of these, or, failing that, with as many as you can. This is a critical step. Surveys are aimed at a particular subset of the population. If the questions are about facial makeup for ladies, they only want to send the questionnaires out to ladies who use makeup. Other surveys are aimed at men or young married couples, etc.

The survey makers need to know the demographic details of every applicant (address, age, sex, hobbies, etc.) so they can properly target their surveys. To get paid to do surveys, you must be on the survey makers’ lists. To get on their lists they must have your application on file and your info in their data bases.

4. Set yourself up a free e-mail account for use exclusively with paid surveys. Use that address on all your applications. Then check your inbox daily, answer all correspondence and accept survey offers when they come in. Keep a physical file of copies of checks you receive and deposits to your PayPal account.

Get paid to do surveys and enjoy the money you make! You won’t likely get rich from it but you can expect $200 to $600 a month in cash and merchandise. That makes a nice income supplement for very little work!

To learn more about making money with paid online surveys visit: Paid Online Surveys

To learn more about comparing paid survey companies to
pick the best for yourself, visit: Paid Survey Review
Jorge Chavez is an experienced paid survey expert at:
http://surveysentinel.ya23.com

When aiming to establish a business like and ethical presence online, in order to generate sales you Must Give :-

6. Your shopping cart or order page the options of accepting as many secure forms of payments as possible whether credit cards, debit cards, online line cheques, snail mail cheques - preferably banker’s draft. Accept orders through various forms of media i.e e-mail, snail mail, fax, text message, telephone etc;

7. An absolutely professional structure to your webpages i.e logo, ease of navigation, faq’s etc;

8. An idea of exactly what you would want the visitor to buy from you ahead of any free or complimentary offer you may have on your website. These freebies should be a post transaction thrown-in as a “thank you, please buy from me again” method of marketing.

9. Assurance that you have exactly what the visitor is looking for. The relevancy by search approach as promoted by Google and their Page Ranking strategy is being applied here( that’s a whole new episode by itself).

10. Attention to the methods and approaches in advertising strategies. Evaluating consistently and improve the “psychological impact” element of your ad copies.

And Now For The Freebie

Here’s the freebie : 7 tips when launching or considering to join an affiliate program:

When Starting Your own or joining an affiliate program on must have or give :

1. A reasonable knowledge and accurate information on the product you are marketing. weak,semi-strong and strong A.C.C.U.R.A.T.E information should be given here.

2. Available resources ( financing for working capital included ) for the product.

3. Knowledge of what the current cycle of the product is i.e is this the “cash cow” stage or the “dead turkey” stage of existence?. No use trying to ride a dead log upstream .

4. Logistics i.e what methods do buyers normally purchase this product through and how is it delivered.

5.Geographics - location, location, loation a tie-in to logistics.

6.Demographics - who ? what is the typical earning of the purchasers. who buy the product ? Is is housewifes, teenagers,over 40 etc, etc, etc;

7.The highest responsive medium of communication - audio or visual, psychological emotional etc; what type of online or offline method of marketing would be best suited for the product in question.

These are the main areas along a list of finer points.

An integrated knowledge of the above will assist the affiliate marketer in determining on the “HOW” to promote any product he or she sees fit to represent.

Royan Shaw is a writer at heart who takes pride in research and providing accurate information even from a perceptive point of view. An accounting and financial background he is a computer internet enthusiast who designed the 43-21 buget strategy for webmasters. Mr shaw latest online project can be found at http://www.search4article.com

You may have heard that if you drive a red car you are more likely to get a speeding or other traffic ticket. This is just one of the myths and urban legends that are believed about what effect the color of your car may have.

1. Red cars get more tickets. There is no proof that people who drive red cars are any more likely to receive a traffic citation. Now if your car is a red corvette or mustang it might be that the driver is doing something that attracts attention, like speeding or driving recklessly. Someone driving a red pickup truck may go for years without getting a ticket or even being pulled over by the police.
2. Black cars are stolen more often. Black is popular with high performance cars and more manufacturers make their top selling models black. Thieves tend to steal cars that are a particular make and model, not a specific color.
3. Green cars are traded in or resold more quickly than any other color. This has not been observed by car dealers. Cars are generally traded in because the owner is purchasing a newer car or a car of another make and model.
4. Yellow cars are more easily seen by other drivers, resulting in fewer accidents. Again, this is just an urban legend. Other drivers should be on the lookout for cars of all colors.
5. Blue cars have the best resale value. This is not true. Cars with low miles and in good condition will sell for more.
6. Brown cars are driven by people who are set in their ways and are very inflexible with their dealings with others. Stubborn people drive cars of all colors.
7. White cars are the safest ones to own. There is no evidence to support this idea.

So drive any color car that you like. If you speed you will probably get a ticket. Trade it in when you like. Take care of your car and the resale value will be the highest it can be. Stay out of other driver’s blind spots so they can see you. Be flexible when dealing with others. Always drive safely and courteously and obey all laws. And most of all, enjoy your car, whatever color it is, and the time you spend driving it. Driving is a privilege, not a right. Be kind to other drivers and you will enjoy this privilege even more.

Connie Ragen Green is a Real Estate Broker and State Certified Residential Appraiser in California and has bought and sold over 100 properties since 1983. She has driven over 1 million miles since she got her license in 1971. Visit her at http://www.BuyRealEstateforProfit.com for more information about buying and selling real estate. Connie drives a blue car during the week and a white one on the weekends.

The low cost and fast response time of the Internet are changing the way that public opinion and consumer opinion surveys are being done. Survey makers like the short turnaround times, generally 24 hours, and low cost of taking surveys online. Their only problem was finding enough volunteer survey takers to fill out their databases so that they could cover almost all demographic requirements.

To make a useful, valid survey they need more than just the names and email addresses of people willing to fill out the questionnaires. They need a complete demographic profile on each person so that they can identify people in the target population. For survey-takers, answering all the demographic profile questions on an application starts to be something like work. Who needs it? Nobody wants to be bothered by all that.

The motivational problem has been solved by offering to pay survey takers for their opinions, in cash. The survey makers get a large enough data base and fast answers. The survey-taking consumer public gets checks in the mail. Everyone benefits.

The survey marketplace is highly fractionated with over 700 companies making surveys in the U.S. alone. Money changing hands, lots of players, mostly unknown to each other, a lucrative new business area — the scamsters and marginal players trying to make a buck out of the new setup were not long in coming.

Former direct sales companies re-invented themselves as “Survey Makers” to get the full profile info of a group of consumers so they could better sell their wares to them! Hucksters started running ads, “Make $5,000 a month taking paid surveys! (Just send me $50 and I’ll show you how!)” Yeah, right.

But the real business is there and continues to grow. Tens of thousands of surveys are conducted every week. Tens of thousands of survey takers are getting checks in the mail.

When you get around the rip-off artists to where the real commercial action is, you find that you can convert your opinion, your 2-cents worth, into real money! All you need is a good paid survey guide company (beware of wannabees and fly-by-nighters), an email address and an Internet connection. Oh. Yes. And a place where you can cash your checks!

To learn more about making money with paid online surveys visit: Paid Online Surveys

To learn more about comparing paid survey companies to
pick the best for yourself, visit: Paid Survey Review
Jorge Chavez is an experienced paid survey expert at:
http://surveysentinel.ya23.com

Reading the right books on different subjects can broaden our mind. Your mind is exposed to different cultures, traditions around the world. Through reading, you get an opportunity to closely understand the cultures, traditions and practices exist in different countries. Reading translated works from other languages will help you to understand the lifestyle, history of the countries from which the book is originally written. Moreover, reading helps you to improve your language also.

Reading helps you to look into the past, to closely observe mankind’s travel to this modern world. Reading helps you to travel in a time machine; it helps you to talk to our ancestors. It reveals many secrets for us.

Reading is totally different from the experience of watching a movie, or listening to radio. Both these activities require our partial involvement. Reading requires our mind’s total involvement during the reading process. So select a calm and quite place for reading. If you are reading a book on a hard subject, this is especially important. A small distraction can turn your mind’s involvement from the reading. Make it a habit to read the preface of any book you are going to read. It helps you to understand what the book is really about. It gives an overview about the book, the subject it handles etc. When you read the preface you get an overall idea about the book and it helps you to decide whether to read the whole book or not.

A good book helps to improve our lifestyle, our outlook towards the whole life. Bible is a good example of this. Bible contains the rise and fall of many civilizations; its contents also help one to make changes in his or her life.

Search for fine gifts around the world.

Gijo George Visit http://www.giftsspace.com/easySearch.php?words=Soap for handmade soaps