Connection Central

Hey Word Alive Family! Thanks for a great prayer meeting last night. I really believe we released power to the school systems, teachers, students, and parents last night.

Thanks to those who shared our first Wednesday night bible study. We talked on the Seven Faces of God’s Good Intention for us and in doing so referenced Dr. Wayne Dyer.

I received this excerpt in an email and wanted to pass it along to you all. Creativity is your nature. You can work with the Spirit of God and connect to a great and fulfilling life. Check out this short article.

Excerpt from: The Simple Truths of Service,
by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz


No one can make you serve customers well. That's because great service is a choice. Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said:

"I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk, I'd like you to read my mission statement."

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:



This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, "Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf."

My friend said jokingly, "No, I'd prefer a soft drink."

Wally smiled and said, "No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice."

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, "I'll take a Diet Coke"

Handing him his drink, Wally said, "If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today."

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. "These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio."

As if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of the day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights, or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

"Tell me, Wally," my amazed friend asked the driver, "have you always served customers like this?"

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

"That hit me right between the eyes," said Wally. "Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more."

"I take it this has paid off for you," Harvey said.

"It sure had," Wally replied. "My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action."

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Johnny the Bagger and Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. They decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about you?

Wednesday Night Corporate Prayer and The WAY starts back this Wednesday!

Wednesday Night Corporate Prayer is a time when we come together as a body to worship and pray. It's part of our Fast Food program--we join in prayer, fast a meal, and then give the money we would have spent on the meal to feed hungry people right here in our community and all over the world. Wednesday Night Prayer is streamed live at WordAlive.org so you can also watch from home. The service starts at 6:00 p.m.

After Prayer, we are starting a Bible Study in the Main Sanctuary at 7:00 p.m. Be sure to stick around and join in as we dig deeper into the Word.

In TamaHall, The WAY will be fired up and ready for the Fall season. They have awesome services and totally rock out with student-led worship. If you're a junior high or high school student and you haven't checked out the WAY, you need to go see what it's all about! The WAY starts at 6:00 p.m.

At WAIO Gadsden, Prayer also begins at 6:00 p.m. with large-group Bible Study following at 7:00. Youth in Gadsden begins at 7:00 p.m.

See you Wednesday night!

On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, animals, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life

I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life.."

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands.
You need to be able to throw something back


I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you but, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

One of the roadblocks to harmony in family life is when siblings act foolishly and end up hurting or offending each other. Foolishness may be demonstrated by teasing and playing around beyond what's appropriate or wanted. Usually one person wants to stop before the other. Angry words and tears often bring an end to what started out as fun. Incorporating a "Stop Rule" in your family will help children, and parents for that matter, know when to quit.

The Stop Rule is simply this: When a child wants to be done with a teasing or tickling game, that child just says, "Stop" and the other child must stop the game. Even parents need to stop when a child doesn't want to be teased anymore. In fact, a good way to teach this rule is for a parent to tickle a child and stop immediately when the child says “Stop.”

Of course, to make this work, you as a parent need to be available to enforce the rule. When you hear one child say, "Stop," watch and see if you are needed to step in to enforce the rule.

The Stop Rule teaches children the value of their words. When someone is relentlessly teasing, your child will know that his or her personal boundaries are being violated and want to seek help. This is a helpful rule for creating boundaries in relationships between siblings or playmates and it teaches children adult solutions for solving their childhood problems.


For more practical ideas on helping siblings deal with foolishness, consider the book, Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes, In You and Your Kids by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.

by Rick Warren

“I believed, so I said, ‘I am completely ruined!’” (Psalm 116:10 NCV).

Did you know that admitting your hopelessness to God can be a statement of faith? Trusting God yet feeling despair at the same time, David wrote, “I believed, so I said, ‘I am completely ruined!’” (Psalm 116:10 NCV).

This sounds like a contradiction: I trust God, but I’m wiped out! David’s frankness actually reveals deep faith: First, he believed in God. Second, he believed God would listen to his prayer. Third, he believed God would let him say what he felt and still love him.

Focus on who God is—his unchanging nature. Regardless of circumstances and how you feel, hang on to God’s unchanging character. Remind yourself what you know to be eternally true about God: He is good, He loves you, He is with you, He knows what you’re going through, He cares, and He has a good plan for your life. Raymond Edman said, “Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.”

When Job’s life fell apart, and God was silent, Job still found reasons to praise God:

• He is good and loving (Job 10:12).
• He is all-powerful (Job 42:2; 37:5, 23).
• He notices every detail of my life (Job 23:10; 31:4).
• He is in control (Job 34:13).
• He has a plan for my life (Job 23:14).
• He will save me (Job 19:25).

Trust God to keep His promises. During times of spiritual dryness you must patiently rely on the promises of God, not your emotions, and realize that He is taking you to a deeper level of maturity. A friendship based on emotion is shallow indeed.

So don’t be troubled by trouble. Circumstances cannot change the character of God. God’s grace is still in full force; He is still for you, even when you don’t feel it. In the absence of confirming circumstances, Job held on to God’s Word. He said, “I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12 NIV).

This trust in God’s Word caused Job to remain faithful even though nothing made sense. His faith was strong in the midst of pain: “God may kill me, but still I will trust Him” (Job 13:15 CEV).

You can learn more about how to expand your faith by reading The Purpose Driven Life.

CALLING ALL LIFE GROUP LEADERS!

Have you wanted to see a ministry or small group expression at Word Alive and wondered how to make it happen?  This is your chance. 

Fall Season of LIFE Groups begins in six weeks.  If you would like to lead a LIFE Group focusing on sports, hobbies, bible studies, fellowship, prayer, service or…  just use the comment section of your Connection Card to let us know and we will contact you with the details to help make it happen.

Word Alive is welcoming back Sadhu Sundar and Neville Johnson!

Sadhu Sundar from India and Neville Johnson of Australia are two powerful prophetic voices who have spoken great things over our church. This weekend they're returning for a time of powerful impartation.

We're anticipating a weekend of exciting new revelation as they join us in our new Connection facility.

Service Schedule:
Saturday 6:00 pm: Sadhu Sundar
Sunday 9:00 am & 11:15 am: Neville Johnson
Sunday 6:00 pm: Sadhu Sundar

All services will be available online through our live streaming, so if you can't make any of the services you can log on and watch from home.

It's going to be a great weekend! We look forward to seeing you here!