The Word of Life

 

Scouts are encouraged to be readers. We read books, articles, and blogs on success, Scouting, the outdoors, and our particular field of study. Too often, the one book we do not read is the only one that can change us: the Bible.

Every principle I have talked about in these readings are found in the Scriptures. I do not give you all the chapters and verses because I want you to search them out for yourself. As a believer, the Bible is your handbook for success. If you are ever told something contrary to what Scripture teaches, do not embrace it. No matter who (and that includes me) tells you. However, you will never know if you do not study the book.

“We also need a regular, systematic study of the Scriptures. We cannot maintain our spiritual life without it any more than we can maintain our physical bodies without proper nourishment.”

G. Campbell Morgan

1863-1945

Evangelist

 

Pastor and educator R.A. Torrey said, “Every Christian who does not study, really study, the Bible every day is a fool.” How can you think that you can make the right choices, have a clear vision, or achieve your dreams when you do not know what God expects of you? 

Many people, even Scouts, do not read the Bible because they think it is boring or not relevant to them. You will find no book more relevant and more helpful to the achievement of your dream than Scripture. D.L. Moody said, “I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me.” The Bible teaches success, how to fight the battles of life, victorious living, and so much more.

I challenge you to make it a habit to read the Scriptures every day. Just read a few chapters in a systematic study. You are not filling a quota but learning lessons for life. Get a good study book to help you. There are tons of good Bible study material out there. Seek out what God has for you. Take notes, live the principles you learn, and promise you your life will be transformed, and you will have the power to move forward and achieve anything.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU083120 Freedom Paradox

Christmas 2020

Prayer Power

 

In all my dealings with people, the most common concern they have is praying – or should I say the lack of prayer. Scouts are Reverent, but they are also busy people, and there are times we are always on the run. When faced with a busy day, our prayer time is the first and most expendable thing to go. The reality is it’s the only thing we do in the course of our day that is not expendable.

“Prayer – secret, fervent, believing prayer – lies at the root of all personal godliness.”

William Carey

1761-1834

Missionary

 

I believe there are three areas concerning prayer that most people stumble on. 1) When to pray, 2) How to pray, and 3) What to pray. Let’s look at them:

·         When to pray:  I have heard that it is best to pray early in the morning, and then I heard late at night. I have heard that it is best to have times during the day to pray. No wonder people are confused. I have always believed that you know for yourself when the best time is. Missionary J. Hudson Taylor said, “Whatever is your best time of day, give that to communion with God.” He deserves your best.

·         How to pray:  I am not one for kneeling when I pray. Not because I do not respect being in the presence of the Lord, it is because if I kneel, I will fall asleep. I am the most alert when I pace. God knows that, and He would rather I was awake and attentive than fighting sleep. Billy Graham said, “It is not the body’s posture, but the heart’s attitude that counts when we pray.”

·         What to pray:  Scouts learn that there is nothing that is outside of God’s concern. That means that we pray for everything. Yes, God has given you wisdom and the ability to make decisions. I am not saying you pray to wear the red shirt or blue, but I am saying that you pray for all directions and guidance. As Charles Wesley said, “To God, your every wants in instant prayer display, Pray always; pray, and never faint; Pray, without ceasing, pray.”

Remember that you need to pray. It is not for God’s sake that we come to Him but for our own. As C.S. Lewis said, “Prayer does not change God; it changes me.”

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU082620 Your Lable

 

Food for the Hungry Mind

 

When it comes to nutrition, you can look at the Food Pyramid to see what you should eat daily to maintain good health. However, when it comes to the mind and heart, we seldom think about what we are consuming. The health of your mind and heart depends on the information you put into it. Scouts learn what they should NOT be feeding our minds and heart. We know what is wrong and unhealthy and work at avoiding them. What is it that we should be taking in?

“There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit,

no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.”

Ronald Reagan

1911-2004

The 40^th U.S. President

 

I want to suggest and diet for your heart and mind in four primary groups. These groups will help you keep healthy and build good mental and spiritual health. They are:

·         Stimulation: Every day, you need to take in things that stimulate your mind. Find something that causes you to think and use your mental muscle. Good, meaningful conversations with other Scouts and Scouters. Good reading material and watching programs that make you think. Be curious about the world around you. Games are also useful to help develop your thinking habits. Benjamin Franklin said, “Games lubricate the body and the mind.”

·         Positive Information:  Be sure you have useful positive input every day. You are reading books and articles about Scouting that are motivating and encouraging. Remember that the more positive you are, the more positive others will be toward you. Tom Stoppard said, “A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.”

·         Godly Input:  Spend time in the Word of God (the Bible) and prayer every day. Find a good devotional to read that helps you develop a healthy walk with the Lord. Evangelist A.W. Pink said, “Daily living by faith on Christ is what makes the difference between the sickly and the healthy Christian, between the defeated and the victorious saint.”

·         Learning:  Henry Ford said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” Learn something new every day. Take classes or start a project. If you are learning, you are alive.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU082420 Expensive Gifts

The Success Habit

 

We have all heard someone say they are a “creature of habit.” The fact is, we are all creatures of habit. We are very aware of some habits and others we never notice, but they are habits all the same. Look at things like how you get dressed, how you go to or from work, even the way you eat – all habits that we do without thinking about them. Novelist Agatha Christie said, “Curious things habits.  People themselves never knew they had them.”

Scouts learn to understand that the habits we form in our thinking have more impact on our lives than the habits we perform. A person can avoid behavioral habits like drugs, drinking, and sexual bondage and still be a slave to fear, anger, and negative thinking. Nineteenth-Century pastor and educator Alexander Vinet said, “Habits of thought are not less tyrannical than other habits, and a time comes when return is impossible, even to the strongest will.”

“Successful people are simply those with successful habits.”

Brian Tracy

Author

 

It takes far more than will power to change a bad thinking habit. You can feed yourself a day full of positive affirmations and still find the night full of fear and negative thinking. A man or woman can change his or her behavior, but only God's power can change the heart. Even Scouts can buy into the trick that all you have to do is stop thinking negatively and start thinking positively to have a good thinking habit. It is more than that. Fear and anger are heart problems, not behavior problems. Only the power of Christ Jesus in a person's life can change the heart and bring peace and confidence.

Some may say, “But I am a Christian, and my life belongs to Christ, and yet I still have fear and anger in me.” That is usually because you see the peace and positive thinking that Christ brings, as a rule, to follow rather than a life to live. Some see Christ’s instruction to be at peace as a command and try on their own to follow it. It is not a rule, but a direction on how to live and, therefore, will keep itself. Frank Crane said, “Habits are safer than rules; you don’t have to watch them. And you don’t have to keep them either. They keep you.”

Once you have built a positive and healthy habit, you do not have to fight the inner battle. It is how you live, how you look at the world, and how you react to things that happen around you. Live a life of victory and maintain good habits in your heart, as well as in your behavior.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU081920 Questioning Teachers

 

Cleaning Out the Garbage

 

Addictions are not anything new. People have suffered from addictions since man has been on the earth. The human condition is such that we are truly creatures of habit. Some habits are good, and some are bad – but all are habits. Charles Noble correctly said, "First, we make our habits, then our habits make us."It all comes down to whether you want to control your habits or have your habits control you.

Scouts come to understand that there is a difference between doing something from habit and an addiction. Addictions are never acceptable. The addiction can be to chemicals like drugs, alcohol, food, or medication, or they can have more of an emotional base like that of bad relationships, sex, fame, pride, or greed. No matter nature, all addictions take you out of control and make you a slave. American Historian Christopher Lasch said, "Drugs are merely the most obvious form of addiction in our society. Drug addiction is one of the things that undermine traditional values."Addictions make people weak and unable to live lives of victory.

"God doesn't seek for golden vessels, and does not ask for silver ones,

but He must have clean ones."

D. L. Moody

1837-1899

Evangelist

 

Scouts learn that the overcoming of addictions is the making of a better, more moral society. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children." Scouting principles are not just for now but also to make a better future for our children and our children's children. One of Scouting's motivators is to create a more moral and wholesome society to live in. That means that we must remove the unclean habits of our life and be an example to others.

Scouting realizes that there will always be people who are slaves to addictions of every kind. We understand that there will be evil and wickedness in the world until the Lord returns; however, that is not a reason for giving in to uncleanness. Scouts know that even if they only clean up their act, that is one less person in the world doing wrong. The way to a better world is only through making ourselves better. It will not happen by passing laws or controlling people; it only occurs with a transformed life: the Holy Spirit's work. Let it start with us. As German Philosopher Johanna Wolfgang von Goethe said, "Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the world will be clean."

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU081720 Lessons of Childhood

Clean Mind / Clean Heart

 

If you asked ten people what a clean mind is, at least 8 of them would tell you something about the absents of sexual thoughts. When it comes to our mind's state, it seems that sex is the first thing to be looked at. Many people spend a good deal of their time thinking about sex or sexual things. However, I believe that there is a more significant threat to our mind's health, and it comes in the form of anger, resentment, envy, and selfishness.

Businessman W. Clement Stone defined bondage this way: "Bondage is – subjection to external influences and internal negative thoughts and attitudes."When we allow our thoughts to be dominated by negativity and uncleanness, we keep ourselves in bondage. There is no freedom to the man or woman who is imprisoned in their mind. Scouts learn that true freedom is not what is on the outside but the inside. A person can have no restrictions on their life and yet be a slave.

"Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals."

James Naismith

1861-1939

Educator

 

Scouts train their minds and keep harmful and unclean out of their thought habits. Radio Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll said, "The secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence. It's a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us free." 

I have always found it interesting that the one thing we have full power over – our minds – is the one thing we allow so many other things to control. We are influenced by movies, books, music, and society. For some, they surrender their mind to every wind that blows through and does little to control their thinking habits.

Scouting believes that their mental health is as essential as physical health. They feed their mind positive, wholesome information, and purposely avoid any negative or unclean thinking. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, "Great thoughts and a pure heart, that is what we should ask from God." With great thoughts and a pure heart, you can achieve anything. Once you have your head cleaned up, the rest is just detail stuff. 

All greatness first starts in mind. If the mind is unclean, all your actions will be unclean. Augustus Hare said, "As to the pure all things are pure, even so to the impure all things are impure."Keep your mind clean and healthy, and success will be yours.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU081220 Grow Up

 

Keeping the Temple

 

Scouts learn that they must take care of their bodies and keep them healthy and functioning. After all, as Jim Rohn said, “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” If you are weak and sick all the time, you will find it very difficult to successfully achieving your dreams. Even if those dreams do not require a lot of physical activity, it is hard to do anything when you do not feel well.

Taking care of your body is not a hard thing to do. It would help if you treated it like the temple scripture says it is. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” If we are temples, should we not treat our bodies with the respect that requires? Musician Henry Rollins put it when he said, “Keep your blood clean, your body lean, and your mind sharp.”

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body,

 it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”

John F. Kennedy

1917-1963

35^th U.S. President

 

Success expert Tony Robbins always talks of the body being the vehicle we drive to success. We cannot run out of steam when we are driving up the hill of success. Robbins said, “The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel, and the more you will use your talents to produce outstanding results.” The better you feel, the better you will perform, the more energy you will have to preserver, and the happier you will be with the results.

Let’s face it; Scouts need to know that when your body is in shape and your energy level high, you feel great. There is nothing better than that feeling of being unstoppable when you are pursuing your dream. 

There are four keys to gaining a strong and healthy body: 1) Eat right. 2) Exercise and move around. 3) Get adequate rest. 4) Live a simple life. The last one is essential. The more complicated your life, the harder it is to stay fit. Albert Einstein said, “I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.”

This body you have is the only one you get. Take care of it. Treat it like a temple. Could you keep it clean, healthy, and useable? Scouts learn that the better you care for your body, the better your life will be.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU081020 The Impossible

You Become What You Eat

 

Now, I am sure you expect me to tell you to stop eating junk food, go vegetarian, and never drink coffee again. Well, I am not doing that. You see, I believe that you have the right and freedom to choose what you eat. I wouldn't say I like it when people or the government tells us what we can and cannot do. 

You have to understand that with choice comes responsibility. You cannot just do what you want and not deal with the consequences of your action. Scouts and Scouters learn that just because they can do something does not mean they should. You can eat Twinkies until they come out of your ears, but you have to deal with the harm that can do to your body.

"You’ve got bad eating habits is you use a grocery cart in 7-Eleven.”

Dennis Miller

Comedian

 

I, like many Scouters, have struggled with eating right and my weight. In 2001, I had heart surgery and, since then, had to be more aware of my diet. I eat well, low-fat foods, and most organics. My problem was I would eat a lot at one time. I am not one for diets but found that regular exercise and proper portions do the trick.

The key to eating right is to use wisdom as to what you eat. Deep-fried foods and Twinkies are not a wise choice. However, you don’t have to eat like a rabbit either. Dave Barry said, “Eating rice cakes is like chewing on a foam coffee cup, only less filling.” There is a lot of good tasty food out there you can enjoy. I believe that every diet can work; the problem is never the diet; it is your ability and willingness to follow it. That being true, I think we can create our diet, stay with it, and win the battle.

There is also an abundance of material out there to help you know what foods are acceptable, how much to eat, and how to exercise. Don’t think you know it all; use the wisdom God has given to others. My friend, author, and fitness expert John M. Rowley has a great blog I often go to for guidance and advice. 

Remember that you can make choices; make them wisely. Food is the fuel that you need to run. Do not be giving yourself bad fuel and expect top performance. Eat right, and you will enjoy the results, not because you have to or because others are forcing you but because you make a choice.  

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey