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BOB JONES

Coach / Author / Communicator /  Check out the popular posts page, for a curated list of top stories.

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Powering A New Habit Off the Launching Pad

In October we encouraged people at North Pointe to become a "Minute Manager (MM)." The commitment was to form a habit of praying one minute everyday. We manage minutes...God manages miracles. Managing minutes is a way you can experience the power of "praying without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17) How are you doing with your habit of prayer? Have you had lift-off? How are you doing with any new habit you've started? "Breaking and making new habits is like the launch of a spacecraft like Apollo 11. To get to the moon those astronauts literally had to break out of the tremendous gravity pull of the earth. More energy was spent in the first few minutes of lift-off and the first…
Bob Jones
November 6, 2013
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IS THERE A STARMAKER?

The numbers are in and they are out of this world. According to a study released by astronomers from the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Hawaii, there are likely "tens of billions" of Earth-like planets in our Milky Way galaxy. Consider that the Milky Way is just a typical galaxy within our universe, which contains hundreds of billions of galaxies. With tens of billions of Earth-like planets in each galaxy, our entire universe must contain billions of billions of Earth-like planets. Wow! (That’s the best scientific response I can give.) How The Numbers Add Up 1. Maybe we're not alone. Andrew Howard, astronomer at the University of Hawaii, says the new estimate of planets means there are 40…
Bob Jones
November 4, 2013
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5 COMMITMENTS YOU NEED TO MAKE TO YOURSELF

* Do you put off doing things that you need to do? * Can’t imagine how you could ever deal with so much clutter on your desk or in your closets? * Don’t know how to choose the perfect work-out program? * Wanting to read and pray everyday but can't find the right time? So you do...nothing. I’ve been there. Everyone has. But not everyone STOPS there. The secret to getting ahead is getting started. 5 Commitments To Make To Yourself TODAY: COMMITMENT #1: Today, I will take responsibility. Nothing in your personal, physical, professional and financial life will change until you start making changes. People are really, really good at self-deception (lying to ourselves keeps us from pain). The…
Bob Jones
November 3, 2013
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11 INSIGHTS TO PERSONALITY AND TEMPERAMENT

Dating couples always lie to each other. They don't mean to. They just want to put their best face forward. That's why people who are dating should keep both eyes open before they marry and then keep one eye closed after they marry. Assessing personality and temperament is one way to keep both eyes open. Assessments aren't a perfect science but they do provide valuable insight into the people who are closest to you (and why you love'em or not). Personality Types 1. The Golden Retriever (Peaceful Phlegmatic) is steady, reliable, balanced, content, loyal and carries others burdens, resists change, is unenthusiastic, and can be boring. 2. The Lion (Powerful Choleric) is confident, assertive, competitive, decisive, domineering, independent, self-reliant and…
Bob Jones
November 2, 2013
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11 Sayings to Fuel Your Fire

All fires need fuel. Self-motivation is the key to success. How do some of the world's most motivated and successful people do it?   11 Sayings to Fuel Your Fire: 1.  "Are you gonna fuel your faith or fuel your fear? I'm all about fueling my faith, especially when it's hard to do so." Carrie-Anne Moss 2. "I am building a fire and everyday I train I add more fuel. At just the right moment I light the match."  Mia Hamm 3. "We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey." Kenji Miyazawa 4."The brain God gave you is intended to throw fuel on the fire of your affections for God. It's really good at it if…
Bob Jones
November 1, 2013
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Personal Transformation: Making the Changes You Want

My life revolves around transformation. I help people change their beliefs and their thinking. All of the success I’ve seen involves faith, love and hope. There have been some instantaneous, miraculous examples of change but mostly they've been from persevering, intentional, daily choices that lead to change. What do you want to change? 1. Change happens when we know enough to want to or hurt enough to have to. For most, it’s the “hurt” factor. Pain is a powerful motivator. That’s just the way life is. Pain can be a good thing. It’s one of God’s ways of getting our attention. C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pain.” You may be reading this because…
Bob Jones
October 30, 2013
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Guest Post – Why Are We Afraid to Embrace the Different?

This is a guest post from Cindy Keating. Cindy is a singer-songwriter, worship leader, blogger, speaker and a long time attender of North Pointe. She loves to create conversation at redcarpetlife.me – an online community premised on the belief that we are all leaders of worship. By finding our true contentment in Christ, we can experience everyday “red carpet” moments simply by seeing our day-to-day tasks as our greatest opportunities for worship. "It’s the eye contact that lingers a little too long, the hug that squeezes a little too hard, the handshake that practically rips your arm off, the pause that befalls a conversation where we feel the need to say, “Anyhow…” It’s that fake sentence that has become a…
Bob Jones
October 27, 2013
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Habits Got You? 4 Insights for Change

Every morning I am first into our kitchen. I take two mugs out of the cupboard... prepare them with coffee and hot chocolate... unplug my phone from the charger... click on my YouVersion Bible app... read the North Pointe portion of the Bible for the day... and journal my insights. That pattern has been the first 15 minutes of most everyday for as long as I can remember. My actions are not choices I make each day but habits that are embedded in the fabric of my “routine.” Your daily actions are the result of settled habits. You can change your life by changing your habits. 4 Insights To The Power Of Habits 1. Our most basic actions are not…
Bob Jones
October 26, 2013
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WILL PRAYING EVERYDAY HELP YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED?

"We knew we'd be OK because you were praying." These were the words that greeted my wife, Jocelyn, after she was held up at gunpoint in the bank where she worked. When the bad guy came in to the tellers area he picked Jocelyn's wicket for the stick-up. He was wearing a balaclava and shouted, "Give me all the money!" He sighted a rifle in her face. People started crying. With most everyone else down on the floor she coolly bagged the money. He made his getaway and her co-workers came to her side. One of them told her, "We knew you'd be praying so we felt safe." Jocelyn told them, "Praying? I had no time for praying. I had…
Bob Jones
October 25, 2013
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The Minute Manager of Prayer

  You'd be amazed what you can accomplish in a minute. What holds a lot of people back from prayer is the feeling that if I can't go into isolation and completely focus and pray for an hour, my prayer won't count. As a pastor, my typical day is formed around minutes, not hours of prayer. As a pastor I live in the shadow of men like Martin Luther who is quoted as saying, "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." (Rev. Luther may have done that only a few times in his life, but his quote has become a benchmark regarding the priority of prayer, especially for pastors.) Luther also…
Bob Jones
October 23, 2013