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Praise
God
Praise
The
attention span of a typical human is ten praises
six promises
or one
preachment. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Praise
Praise
is a natural and necessary response to fully enjoy the object that is praised.
For example
when watching a football game on television
it is a natural
response to praise a tremendous play. To shout WOW! After and acrobatic catch
in the end zone is not only natural
but necessary to fully enjoy the
spectacular play. If you do not believe that it is necessary
the next time you
watch a football game try to not express yourself at all. You will quickly find
that you do not enjoy the action nearly as much as you do when you have the
freedom to express yourself in praise and excitement. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Praise
”It
is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful
they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to
have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is;
to come suddenly
at the turn of the road
upon some mountain valley of
unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you
care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and
find no one to share it with.” – C.S. Lewis
Praise
One
Sunday morning after the service a woman came up to the pastor and thanked him
for the encouraging sermon he had preached. In response he said
“Why
don’t
thank me
thank the Lord.”
She said
“Well
I thought
of that
but it wasn’t quite that good.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Praise
The attention span of a
typical human is ten praises
six promises
or one preachment. ── Michael P.
Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
The Duke of Wellington
the British military leader who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo
was not an easy
man to serve under. He was brilliant
demanding
and not one to shower his
subordinates with compliments. Yet even Wellington realized that his methods
left something to be desired. In his old age a young lady asked him what
if
anything
he would do differently if he had his life to live over again.
Wellington thought for a moment
then replied. "I'd give more praise
"
he said.
Bits & Pieces
March 31
1994
p. 24.
Everyone needs recognition
for his accomplishments
but few people make the need known quite as clearly as
the little boy who said to his father: "Let's play darts. I'll throw and
you say "Wonderful!'"
Bits & Pieces
December 9
1993
p. 24.
I think we delight to
praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the
enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another
how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.
C.S. Lewis.
A compliment can be a
great motivator
particularly if you put a little thought into the why
when
and how of delivering it. Be sure to comment whenever someone on your staff
keeps working in the face of rejection
handles a difficult situation well
catches an error
given another employee a helping hand
sells a particular
product for the first time
or gives you a lead that proves fruitful. Most of
the time
a compliment should be given in public
either at a meeting or on the
company bulletin board. If the situation is delicate
convey your praise
through a personal note that the employee can share with his family. As with
all rewards
praise should be given immediately after good performance to provide
the greatest reinforcement.
Bits & Pieces
May 27
1993
p. 12.
John Wesley was about 21
years of age when he went to Oxford University. He came from a Christian home
and he was gifted with a keen mind and good looks. Yet in those days he was a
bit snobbish and sarcastic. One night
however
something happened that set in
motion a change in Wesley's heart. While speaking with a porter
he discovered
that the poor fellow had only one coat and lived in such impoverished
conditions that he didn't even have a bed. Yet he was an unusually happy person
filled with gratitude to God. Wesley
being immature
thoughtlessly joked
about the man's misfortunes. "And what else do you thank God for?" he
said with a touch of sarcasm. The porter smiled
and in the spirit of
meekness replied with joy
"I thank Him that He has given me my life and
being
a heart to love Him
and above all a constant desire to serve Him!"
Deeply moved
Wesley recognized that this man knew the meaning of true
thankfulness.
Many years later
in 1791
John Wesley lay on his deathbed at the age of 88. Those who gathered around him
realized how well he had learned the lesson of praising God in every
circumstance. Despite Wesley's extreme weakness
he began singing the hymn
"I'll Praise My Maker While I've Breath."
Our Daily Bread.
That's precisely what
happens to a church when its leaders don't pray -- its ministry becomes
powerless and ineffective. E.M. Bounds emphasized the need for a ministry of
prayer within the church when he wrote
"It may be laid down as an axiom
that God needs
first of all
leaders in the church
who will be first in
prayer
men with whom prayer is habitual and characteristic
men who know the
primacy of prayer. But even more than a habit of prayer
and more than prayer
being characteristic of them
church leaders are to be men whose lives are made
and molded by prayer
whose heart and life are made up of prayer. These are the
men -- the only men -- God can use in the furtherance of his kingdom and the
implanting of His message in the hearts of men."
Our Daily Bread.
A conference at a
Presbyterian church in Omaha. People were given helium filled balloons and told
to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the
joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians
they weren't free to say
"Hallelujah
Praise the Lord." All through the service balloons
ascended
but when it was over 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased. Let your
balloon go.
Bruce Larson
Luke
p. 43.
A body is not crippled
'til its heart has ceased to praise. Louis Albert Banks tells of an elderly
Christian man
a fine singer
who learned that he had cancer of the tongue and
that surgery was required. In the hospital after everything was ready for the
operation
the man said to the doctor
"Are you sure I will never sing
again?" The surgeon found it difficult to answer his question. He simply
shook his head no. The patient then asked if he could sit up for a moment.
"I've had many good times singing the praises of God
" he said.
"And now you tell me I can never sing again. I have one song that will be
my last. It will be of gratitude and praise to God." There in the doctor's
presence the man sang softly the words of Isaac Watts' hymn
"I'll praise
my Maker while I've breath
/ And when my voice is lost in death
/ Praise shall
employ my nobler power;/ My days of praise shall ne'er be past
/ While life
and thought
and being last
/ Or immortality endures."
Our Daily Bread.
I have never forgotten
that Daystar began his Great Insurrection by frowning and skipping his morning
Alleluias. It must have seemed minor at the time
but hell grows out of
paradise gone sour. Joy is a discipline
and fallen angels were always those
who grew negligent with their praise.
Calvin Miller
The
Valiant Papers
p. 18.
Andor Foldes is now
seventy-two
but he recalls how praise made all the difference for him early in
his career. His first recollection of an affirming word was at age seven when
his father kissed him and thanked him for helping in the garden. He remembers
it over six decades later
as though it were yesterday.
But the account of another
kiss that changed his life says a great deal about our inner need for purpose.
At age sixteen
living in Budapest
Foldes was already a skilled pianist. But
he was at his personal all-time low because of a conflict with his piano
teacher. In the midst of that very troubled year
however
one of the most
renowned pianists of the day came to the city to perform. Emil von Sauer was
not only famous because of his abilities at the piano
but he could also claim
the notoriety of being the last surviving pupil of Franz Liszt.
Sauer requested that young
Foldes play for him. Foldes obliged the master with some of the most difficult
works of Bach
Beethoven
and Schumann. When he finished
Sauer walked over to
him and kissed him on the forehead.
"My son
" he
said
"when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on
the forehead after my first lesson
saying
'Take good care of this kiss -- it
comes from Beethoven
who gave it me after hearing me play.' I have waited for
years to pass on this sacred heritage
but now I feel you deserve it."
Tim Kimmel
Little
House on the Freeway
pp. 41-42.
Academy Award-winning
actor Charlton Heston has not always had rave reviews. He says he learned
"The most valuable single truth about criticism" from Laurence
Olivier: We'd done a blank-verse play on Broadway...and the blank verse was not
Shakespeare. The critics slaughtered us--before the opening-night party we were
doomed. Forty minutes later I found myself alone in a restaurant with Olivier
and a bottle of brandy. I was young
green and striving for mature detachment.
"Well
" I said philosophically
I suppose you learn how to forget the
bad notices."
Olivier gripped my elbow..
"Laddie!" he said. "What's much harder
and far more
important...you have to learn to forget the good ones." He was
right.
American Film
January 1992.
The brilliant physician
and writer Oliver Wendell Holmes
Sr.
and his brother John represent two
radically different views on the subject of flattery. Dr. Holmes loved to
collect compliments
and when he was older he indulged his pastime by saying to
someone who had just praised his work
"I am a trifle deaf
you know. Do
you mind repeating that a little louder?"
John
however
was
unassuming and content to be in his older brother's shadow. He once said that
the only compliment he ever received came when he was six. The maid was
brushing his hair when she observed to his mother that little John wasn't all
that cross-eyed!
Source Unknown.
I think we delight to
praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the
enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. If it were possible for a created
soul fully to 'appreciate
' that is
to love and delight in
the worthiest
object of all
and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect
expression
then that soul would be in supreme blessedness. To praise God fully
we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God
drowned in
dissolved
by that delight which
far from remaining pent up within ourselves as
incommunicable bliss
flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and
perfect expression. Our joy is no more separable from the praise in which it
liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable
from the brightness it sheds.
C.S. Lewis.
He who praises everybody
praises nobody.
Samuel Johnson.
The citizens of Feldkirch
Austria
didn't know what to do. Napoleon's massive army was preparing to
attack. Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town
which
was situated on the Austrian border. A council of citizens was hastily summoned
to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white
flag of surrender. It happened to be Easter Sunday
and the people had gathered
in the local church.
The pastor rose and said
"Friends
we have been counting on our own strength
and apparently that
has failed. As this is the day of our Lord's resurrection
let us just ring the
bells
have our services as usual
and leave the matter in His hands. We know
only our weakness
and not the power of God to defend us."
The council accepted his
plan and the church bells rang. The enemy
hearing the sudden peal
concluded
that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before
the service ended
the enemy broke camp and left.
Source Unknown.
Practical tips for
praising one another: be specific. Describe
don't evaluate. Be sincere
avoid
exaggeration. Don't overlook written praise. Give a gift for no reason at all.
Plan a special person's party. Praise often.
Dave and Claudia Arp.
My grandfather once told
me that there are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take
the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was less
competition there.
Indira Gandhi
Bits and
Pieces
April 1990
p. 11.