We Got COMPANY!

The people you surround yourself with can do one of two things—edify you or bring you down.  In my diagnosis, there’s really no middle ground because if someone is idle within your life, they aren’t edifying you in any way. The people we CHOOSE to surround ourselves with, is actually one of the biggest decisions we can make day-to-day.

Consider even very basic components of life. If you’re someone who generally doesn’t use perverse language, but constantly surrounds themselves with people who do, you will find that it will rub off. You may find yourself in a position where perverse language is coming to your mind/out of your mouth and you don’t even realize why. Or if you’re married or about to be married, and you’re constantly around singles or even folks that are married that look at women/men in an impure manner, it will probably rub off on you and you’ll feel enabled in doing so. “Bad company corrupts good character.” This is a FACT that many don’t want to grasp/believe because people generally want to be enabled in habits that are easy to stay in, rather than be challenged in areas that aren’t easy.

Straight up, the company you keep says something about who you are and it DOES have an affect on you. Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright who is considered to have written the first modern novel made the very famous quote: “Tell me what company you keep and I'll tell you what you are.” This everyday life concept seems very trivial, but if you want to be better, you HAVE to surround yourself with people that will MAKE you better.

“Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” ~Proverbs 11:14

††YOUR COMPANY COUNTS††

~M.A.^2~

Life's Priority

“Whatever you truly consider yourself to be above everything else, will take PRIORITY over everything else. “-Marcus Akins

Is that statement true? Of course the thought of how one prioritizes is a relative concept. However, as I say so often, your life should line up with what you say your priorities are. We live in a time where you can have MANY titles. I consider myself to be a son, brother, songwriter, producer, worship leader, blogger, etc. But before ANY of those come into play, I am a MAN OF GOD first. Those other “titles” stem off of who I am FIRST. Those other titles should NOT compromise who I am FIRST. That’s where the priority comes in. Will the things lower on the totem poll become bigger than where your character lies?

One of my favorite columnists/bloggers named Eric Zorn gave a simple, yet profound mandate when he said: “Don’t waste your breath proclaiming what’s really important to you. How you spend your time says it all.” If you consider yourself to be a father first and a chef third, but spend ALL your time cooking and no time with your offspring, something isn’t right there. Words only mean something when the actions behind them validate. There is NOTHING more true than that.

So I urge you, STICK to your priority list. Even if they change, stay true to what comes first. With that being said, you will HAVE to say “no” to some things. The minute your obvious no becomes a possible yes, your priorities have changed.

“Keep in mind that you are always saying 'no' to something. If it isn't to the apparent, urgent things in your life, it is probably to the most fundamental, highly important things. Even when the urgent is good, the good can keep you from your best, keep you from your unique contribution, if you let it.”-Steven Covey

††Know Better, Do Better††

~M.A.~

The Measuring Stick

What is right? What is wrong? What changes the two over time?

“The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.” ~William Safire

I’m not sure what your personal measuring stick is as it relates to what’s “right” and what’s “wrong”, but I often wonder how that measuring stick varies from issue to issue. We have the tendency to allow what’s going on in our lives or how we’re feeling at a particular time, to change our standard of what’s right and wrong. I’ve often heard the axiom, “there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things.” I know that saying refers to procedures and not to the complexity of an act, but regardless, the complexity of what you do is either right or wrong—no matter what way it’s measured.

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, former Oklahoma quarterback and Baptist minister J.C. Watts is quoted as saying “Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.” Which kind of person are you? And be REAL with yourself. In the journey for self-improvement, we have to understand what needs to be improved. Do we REALLY want to do the right thing? Once again, one’s perception of what’s right and wrong is relative, but TRUTHFULLY we ALL know what’s wrong. And usually if you have to think twice about it, it’s probably wrong. RIGHT!?

I try to pattern myself after Jesus, who (through my beliefs) did NO wrong. So when thinking of what your particular measuring stick is, who will you pattern your right-to-wrong meter after? Let’s just try to get better.

More right, less wrong.

“The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology.” ~Red Auerbach

††Live Better, Be Better††

~M.A.~

L.O.V.E or D.E.A.T.H

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.  ~Mother Teresa

Love is a subject that most think is talked about too often, and even as I type this I’m thinking to myself “how many times has love probably been blogged about?” I’m not going to go into an analysis of if love is an emotion as some think it is. I just want to stir thoughts on how “deep” love is perceived. Is “love” as serious as some people think it is, or as small as others think it is?

A colleague of mine recently had an in-class discussion with one of my undergrad professors on a small, yet invigorating idea about what love truly encompasses. When my professor made the exclamation that he “loves money,” my colleague simply said: “would you die for money?” My professor laughed and quickly said “no”. My colleague then said: “well if you wouldn’t die for it, then you don’t really love it.” My professor was against this particular notion until my colleague asked if my professor loved his wife, and when my professor said yes, my colleague asked the same question of if he would die for her. He said yes, and there was never really a consensus on what “love” really is.

I’m not sure if I agree with my colleague on the notion that assumed PHYSICAL death is what defines love. But I do believe when you love someone/something that SOMETHING does have to die. SACRIFICE! Regardless of what your belief system is, you should DAILY think about what love really means to you and WHY people hunger for something SO much. Can you TRULY love something/someone without something dying in the process? SELAH!

Love is not singular except in syllable.  ~Marvin Taylor

†John 15:13†

††Get Your Faith Up††

~M.A.~

State of Being>Feeling

Is the notion that “your attitude determines your altitude” valid? A lot of times we get in the “I’m feeling bad, so my day is going bad” mode, which isn’t the most strong mindset you can have. Overcoming feelings with your actual state of being shows TRUE STRENGTH. Just think if everybody acted off the way that they felt 100% of the time. The world would be in absolute disarray. And though that’s the common instinct of a general person, it’s feeble to believe that it MUST be that way. If you’re FEELING vulnerable, you don’t have to ACT vulnerable. If you’re FEELING scared, a scared person is not WHO YOU ARE. The idea that we are defined by our feelings is a LIE.

Just think in a sense of a marriage. If one or both spouses acted off the way that they felt at a given time, the divorce rate would be off the charts (more so than it is already). If a husband got upset with their wife because they felt slighted and requested a divorce, their immediate state of being would become a divorced man, not a slighted man. Your attitude SHOULD determine your state of being more than your feelings do, but that’s often not the case when your feelings determine our attitude. If that’s the day-by-day reality for you, your emotions may be driving your life more than you are. Selah. (THINK ON THAT.)

I challenge you to ignore your feelings and recognize what’s real. If you feel tired, your state of being is still BLESSED because you’re alive to tell somebody how you’re “feeling”. Recognize what’s REAL!

“Being an optimist after you’ve got everything you want doesn’t count.” ~Kin Hubbard

††Keep The Faith, Hope and Love Alive††

~~M.A.~~

Steve Jobs on the Ipad 2

"We've been working on this for a while and I didn't want to miss this." ~Steve Jobs (March 2, 2011 conference release of the Ipad 2)


These were the words of a fatigued, yet determined Steve Jobs. He was said to have been on his sickbed for an extended period of time leading up to the release of the Ipad 2. He was definitely there in the flesh with updated info on the Iphones, Ibooks, and the original Ipad. He seemed in great spirits as he said  "There's a lot of stuff going on and it's all good." 


"The Ipad is not just a personal computer, it's beyond that," said an apple consumer on the strip shown at the release. The Ipad 2 has undoubtable buzz that won't be silenced anytime soon. The frenzy over the second generation Ipad is almost as amazing as the fact that Jobs made his way to the release despite his illness. As he described all of the new features of the Ipad 2 (the camera, chip and faster speeds), all I could think was how determined he was to see the birthing of what he created. He's an example that nothing can really stop you when you're determined.


"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't." ~Henry Ward Beecher


~M.A.~

Whose responsible? You?

“Arrogance diminishes wisdom” ~Arabian Proverb

What is your definition of “arrogance?” Do you often say that my confidence is mistaken for arrogance? What does that really mean? These are all rhetorical questions, but this one isn’t—where is the line drawn between “confidence” and “arrogance?” A friend of mine is quoted as saying “Arrogance is confidence with NO humility. So I guess the line would be humility or the lack thereof.” Another one of my friends is quoted as saying “You can still have humility and be confident...there is no humility in arrogance.” These two perspectives would allude to the assertion that humility is the line drawn between arrogance and confidence; that if you’re confident, but have NO humility, the arrogance is highlighted. #SELAH

Another perspective given by a close friend is that “Confidence is having faith. Arrogance is idolizing.” Which would imply that arrogance is TOTALLY rooted from self. Displaced confidence could very well be rooted from self as well, but the DEPTH of this idea would be that your confidence lies elsewhere. Whether you believe in God or not, the mainstay idea is that confidence requires another party--Arrogance doesn’t. The denotative meaning of “confidence” is “the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust.” #SELAH

My particular belief system falls under the concept of the denotative meaning. I rely on something and someone BIGGER than me. When you start getting the thought that something is controlled by YOU with no other party, that’s where the arrogance factor comes in. My confidence is rooted in something ETERNAL—GOD! I’m not stupid enough to just have confidence in myself. I need the BIGGER. #SELAH

Of course the depths and complexity of the idea of arrogance can go way further than this. Whatever your perspective on the issue, make sure your life lines with the perspective—that’s the key.

“The truest characters of ignorance are vanity, pride and arrogance.” ~Samuel Butler

††Keep the FAITH, HOPE & LOVE alive††

~M.A.~