by Patricia Terrell | May 17, 2014 | Podcast, Survival
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James Arthur Williams shares his incredible journey where during childhood, being intelligent and following the spiritual teachings of his parents got him laughed at and teased until he felt forced to adopt and embrace a thug mentality to survive in the projects.
James questioned “Why did his parents suffer and struggle so much when they loved the Lord with all their hearts and they made so many sacrifices for God while his peers who lived the total opposite of God’s word seemed to acquire money, status, and the good life?”
James was unable to rationalize this in his mind and chose to please and gain acceptance from his peers in the hood and began chasing a masked lifestyle that was opposed to his God-given potential.
James is no different from the millions of people who chase materialistic things, lifestyles, and religions to please their parents, partners, or peers.
Many people wake up unhappy, unfulfilled, and unable to identify the person reflecting back in their bathroom mirror. James was that person for many years, but one significant event caused him to transform his life. Learn about that significant event and what actions James had to take to save his life by reading his book “From Thug To Scholar.”
“From Thug To Scholar” will inspire you to transform and unmask your true potential. It is filled with life lessons and fascinating journeys of how James was able to unmask and go from a thug to a scholar. His life lessons and fascinating journeys are sure to give you many “aha” moments of how you can unmask and reach your God-given potential!
by Patricia Terrell | May 3, 2014 | Communicating, Podcast
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Taming The Tongue: The Power of Words And Their Ability to Create or Destroy Life
According to Pastor Alfonzo King Surrett, Jr., “Words are the primary tool through which we are able to express our feelings, desires, beliefs, needs, and thoughts to others.”
Most of us under-estimate or do not realize how powerful words are and the tremendous impact they have on our lives. The Bible says in Proverbs Chapter 18:21 that the power of life and death are in the tongue. Now, more than ever, we need to focus on “Taming Our Tongues” because with social media, texting, and the internet; we are spewing out more words than any time in our history.
We can learn a lot about ourselves and others by paying attention to the words being used.
- What do your words say about you?
- Do your words emit positive or negative energy?
- If you were to pose the above questions to people you interact with on a daily basis (home, work, play) what would they say?
If we use words to gossip, speak of lack, hatred, judgment, make threats, find fault in anything, or use profanity, then those words are emitting negative energy. On the other hand if we use words to speak of love, patience, joy, peace, forgiveness, understanding; those words breath life into the world.
A farmer does not plant an apple seed and expect to get a peach tree. Therefore, we should not plant the word seeds of negativity with expectations of reaping a good harvest.
If I may quote Pastor Alfonzo, “Start today by speaking words of life and not words of death; words of faith and not words of fear; words that build up and not words that tear down; the Word of God and not the words of Satan.”
Bio: Pastor Alfonzo King Surrett Jr.
Alfonzo King Surrett Jr. is the Senior Pastor of Calvary Community Church, located at 16341 South Park Avenue in South Holland, IL; and he a former president of The South Holland Ministers Association.
Also known as Pastor Alfonzo, he is also a professional singer, writer and producer who has worked with many well-known recording artists in both the secular and religious music industry. He has sung on many award winning national television and radio commercials for companies such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company, The U.S. Navy, and many others. His talents eventually led him to a recording contract with MCA records; and he co-produced, and sang with C.G.I. Record’s contemporary gospel group Committed.
Pastor Alfonzo is the author and publisher of the book titled “Profanity, What Did You Really Say?”, which gives an understanding of the negative affects of profanity; and two other books that are soon to be released titled, “The Great Omission”, which deals with the need for creative evangelism; and “The Power Of A Persistent Woman”, which focuses on women who were victorious as a result of their godly persistence. Pastor Alfonzo also has written Sunday School lessons, Vacation Bible School lessons, and devotionals for Urban Ministries Inc.; which is the largest African American publisher of religious materials in the world.
Pastor Alfonzo is the Chairman of the Board of Managers for P.A.C.E. Institute (Programmed Activities for Correctional Education) at Cook County Jail; and he is a member of the Board of Directors of The Safer Foundation. In addition, Alfonzo is a member if C.O.R.E. (Commission On Race and Ethnicity) for The Reformed Church in America; and he is the vice-president of Z-Odyssey Productions.
Pastor Alfonzo is committed to racial reconciliation and multicultural ministry. Prior to coming to Calvary Reformed Church, Pastor Alfonzo was the Assistant Pastor of Bethel Church of Harvey IL. On January 1, 2006 Bethel Church (predominately African American) merged with Calvary Reformed Church (predominately Caucasian) and became Calvary Community Church. Pastor Alfonzo and Calvary Community Church have been featured in several newspapers and magazines for their efforts in multicultural ministry. Pastor Alfonzo has been interviewed on radio and television on the subject of the dynamics of multicultural worship. The vision of Calvary Community Church is “To be a visible example of the Kingdom of God in South Holland, IL and beyond”.
Copy and paste the following link in your browser to view Pastor Alfonzo’s website:
calvarysouthholland.com
Pastor Alfonzo sang on the following award winning (CLIO Award) Coca Cola commercial. Click the link below to view the award winning video.
StreetSong30CocaCola_Surrett
by Patricia Terrell | Apr 26, 2014 | Change, Podcast
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Is Change Really That Difficult?
Many people are facing life threatening situations and still will not embrace new behaviors that could save their lives. Many people dread getting up five days out of the week because they hate their jobs, yet they refuse to look for a new one. Many couples elect to live in an unhappy home environment and refuse to make changes that could lead to happiness. The guests on today’s show offered some interesting insights regarding why many of us find it difficult to change even when it could be the best thing for us and lead to happiness and success. Check out their brief bios and read their prescription for how we can take the “Difficulty” out of “Change” and start moving closer to living the life we desire and deserve.
Taking the “Difficulty” out of “Change” begins with thinking differently about change. You must first embrace the fact that it is normal to feel uncomfortable when you step out of your comfort zone or have to let go of something you want to hold on to. These thoughts and feelings are on “autopilot.”
So the next thing you must do is start reprogramming those thoughts on autopilot. How do you do this? By making a conscious effort to find everything positive that could result from your situation. Write them down so you can access them when you need to. Say them out loud the moment the negative thoughts begin to surface and focus on the positive benefits every time.
Now, instead of focusing on what you have to endure or give up, which makes “Change” appear difficult, you will now be focusing on the positive benefits you will derive, and “Change” will gradually become more exciting and exhilarating!
Change appears to be difficult because as children we were conditioned to believe that stepping outside of our comfort zone for any reason, was uncomfortable.
We learned to feel a sense of loss when we had to let go of things we were not ready to release.
These feelings and behaviors about change are now on “autopilot” and part of our subconscious minds. The very moment that change becomes necessary, our immediate reaction is to view it as negative and difficult, even before we’ve had a chance to think it through. Often times, we never think about it at all, we simply react.
So what should we do? We must learn to disassociate change with difficulty. Taking the difficulty out of change begins with thinking differently about change. How do we start thinking differently about change? We start thinking differently about change by making a conscious effort some important steps:
9 Steps To Take The Difficulty Out Of Change
- Pause when confronted with change.
- Find quiet time to think about what has to change.
- Think about and/or write down everything positive that could result from the change.
- Make the list accessible so you can access them when you begin to feel negative or overwhelmed by the change.
- Speak them out loud the moment the negative thoughts begin to surface.
- Practice focusing on the positive benefits every time.
- Get creative.
- Have the courage to ask for help.
- Pray to God to change your outlook.
Now, instead of focusing on the negative aspect of what you have to endure or give up, which makes change appear difficult, you will now be focusing on the positive benefits you will derive, and change will gradually become less difficult and more exciting!
James Arthur Williams shares his incredible journey where during childhood, being intelligent and following the spiritual teachings of his parents got him laughed at and teased until he felt forced to adopt and embrace a thug mentality to survive in the projects.