"A truck driver was delivering 100 penguins to the zoo when his truck broke down. He quickly flagged down a passing truck and said, Here’s $500, take these penguins to the zoo. The next day, the first driver spotted the penguins walking down the street behind the second driver. Furious, he said, “I gave you $500 to take them to the zoo!” “I did,” he replied, “But I had money left over so I’m taking them out to eat too”.
That story illustrates how important clear communication is and how much time can be wasted when we don’t communicate clearly.
One thing we can do to communicate better is always having a notepad beside the phone. We often end up scrounging for an envelope or some other floating slip of paper to jot down important information. These randomly scrawled notes get misplaced or thrown away. Instead, invest a dollar into a telephone message pad and train your family to use it. Decide where you will put notes so the person will be sure to get them.
A good message system helps us redeem the time.
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"The 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule of time management says that in any undertaking 20% of the activity will produce 80% of the results. For example, a good salesman knows 20% of his clients will produce 80% of his sales, while the remaining 80% of clients produce only 20% of sales.
In the church world 20% of the people take 80% of the pastor’s time
20% of the people give 80% of the money
while another 20% will do 80% of the work.
at church picnics 20% of the people eat 80% of the food.
Well, that one might be a little off, but you get the idea.
To be an effective Christian, identify the 20% of today’s tasks that will most advance God’s kingdom. Then focus on accomplishing these high payoff activities. If we do those top 20% and nothing more, we can end our day with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, knowing we’ve redeemed the time.
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"One of the largest numbers ever named is 10 duotrigintilllion. Its a one followed by 100 zeros or 10 to the 100th power. That’s more than the estimated number of atoms in the universe. And yet, 10 duotrigintillion years is only the beginning of eternity.
The concept of infinite time throughout eternity gives us a powerful reason to redeem the time in this life. When souls leave this world they spend the next 10 doutrigintillion years and beyond in either heaven or hell. How we as Christians spend our time could change someone’s eternal destiny.
How will you spend time today that will matter in eternity? Can you give a tract, help at your church, or do good works in the name of Christ? Will you squander time today on temporary things of this world, or will you consider the next 10 duotrigintillion years to come redeem the time?
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"Ethem Sahin was playing dominos in the cafe of a small Turkish village when he was suddenly knocked unconscious by a cow which fell through the roof. A USA Today article tells how Ethem didn’t believe his friends when they later told him he had been hit by a falling cow.
What Etham did discover is that life can be very unpredictable. That’s why its generally not a good practice to rigidly schedule every moment of your day. We need to allow for flexible or free time along with structured time.
God often works through unexpected and unplanned divine appointments. Its a good strategy to leave some open time each day to respond to crises or to special opportunities which God brings our way. If we don’t plan for them, God still has ways to get our attention. But building in flex time may mean He won’t have to go to such udder extremes to get that attention and help us redeem the time.
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