Issue #199

Posted: September 18th, 2008

Welcome to Issue #199 of “A Christian Networker’s Perspective” Newsletter.

In today’s issue:

1. Welcome – Re-launch update

2. Article – Principle of Celebration

3. Other Articles Around the Web

1. Re-launch of A Christian Networker’s Perspective – and NEW FORMAT!

If you are an email subscriber you’ll no doubt have noticed that your email only included a link to this site, rather than the full email.

I’m not happy with the quality of the email format yet, so I’m testing this method of delivery. I’m looking at the possibilities of a new background theme, or a new email delivery system.

There will be continued improvements over the next few months as I look to provide the best information to the most people possible.

Thanks for coming. Your feedback, in the comments section of this post, would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Danny Gamache

2. The Principle of Celebration

Celebration is a valuable process in business, and yet one we don’t do enough of. In traditional business you can celebrate when your company achieves a goal, when your employees complete a project or make a big sale, or when your local community has a big event. Unfortunately most businesses do not do this enough, and therefore employees doing feel recognized, and goals get completed without any special recognition – people simply move on to the next goal but with a lower level of motivation.

In the home business world, celebrating success is even more important. People who work in a home business are independent business owners but need to come together to celebrate.

In your home business you can celebrate when:

someone gets their first new customer
someone books their first appointment
you or someone on your team advances their business to the next leadership status
you reach your goal for the month

It is important that you determine benchmarks for when to celebrate. Often your company’s compensation structure will help you do that, but you can go beyond the compensation structure when you celebrate.

In our business we celebrate whenever:

someone enrolls four new customers in a month
someone enrolls eight new customers in a month
someone reaches a total of 20 customers
someone advances to the first leadership level or helps other people to do the same
someone burns their mortgage that they paid off using business income

Each of these examples are benchmarks. They are set because they are important in growing our business, because they can be challenging, and because they are worthy or recognition. It is important that you set benchmarks in your business about when you will celebrate – both for your own achievements, and for those of your team members.

Scriptures are filled with examples of how celebration is important.

Jesus

To many it was surprising that Jesus celebrated so much. The Pharisees called him “a gluttonous man, and a drunkard (Luke 7:34).” Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding celebration (John 2:1-11). Throughout the Gospels we often see Jesus going to people’s homes for a feast. All of these are acts of celebration.

The Prodigal Son

Many examples that Jesus shares about celebration come when people return to God and find the Kingdom. One such story is in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). When the son returns the father calls out his servants and asks them to “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry (v.22-23).” The other son protested this lavish expense for his brother, but the parable ends with a clear defense of the celebration. When something worth celebrating happened, it was a good thing to celebrate.

Old Testament Law

We can see God’s desire for celebration throughout the Old Testament law as well. The people of Israel are called to celebrate with various feasts throughout the year. Leviticus 23 describes several of these times.

The feasts were often proclaimed as a celebration and a reminder for what God has done in the past. Celebrate this as a festival to the LORD for seven days each year: “This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 23:41-43).’” This celebration is a reminder about the exodus from Egypt!

Connecting Business and Scripture

Clearly the call of Scriptures is to celebrate what God has done and what God is doing. The same premise can be true in your business – you can celebrate business success because of what God is doing. If we truly believe that all things are from God, then the blessings in our business are from God. Celebrate with thankfulness.

Danny Gamache

http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com