The Monday Memo from John Stanko

My Latest Ministry Update

Since 1991, I have worked to provide resources to help you and people all over the world like you to find and fulfill your God-given purpose. Here are some of the ways you can benefit from and get in touch with those resources in the days to come:

KENYA UPDATE: I posted the latest update from my work in Kenya on my blog. You can read about the work we are doing with orphans there, and you can read through a history of our work by viewing all my Kenya entries here. Once you have read, I ask that you donate generously to help us continue the work. You can do this through my website using PayPal or by sending a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.

KENYA COLLECTIONS:  I collect items of need for Kenya year-round and ship them over once a year to found libraries and equip schools. Items collected include shoes (men's, women's, kid's, dress, casual, new and used), books (fiction and non-fiction, non-textbooks, new or used), used but in-working-order laptops, educational supplies, undergarments for children, musical instruments, and art supplies. Contact me for pickup or drop items off at Allegheny Center Alliance Church on the North Side of Pittsburgh.

KENYA TRIP: The deadline for applications for the 2015 Kenya trip is Sunday, September 28. The final information meeting will be held for those interested in going on that day as well, at 12:30 PM on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Let me know if you will be attending. You can read about past trips on my travel blog.

COMING TO DALLAS TEXAS: I will be conducting a purpose seminar in Dallas on Saturday, September 20 from 10 to 12:30 at 8115 Preston Road in Dallas (this is a board room in an office complex and not a church or nonprofit organization). I am sponsoring this myself with the help of my friend, John Mogk, and the admission is free, but you do need to register! I need to hear that you are coming no later than Thursday, September 18 at 5 PM. Just send me an email and I will send you a confirmation!

PITTSBURGH SEMINAR: I will be hosting a purpose seminar here in Pittsburgh on Saturday, October 4 from noon to 4:30. Space is limited to 40 people but admission is free! Once again, I ask that you send me an email to let me know you will be there. My email address is johnstanko@gmail.com. The sessions are held in the Children's MInistry facility at Allegheny Center Alliance Church.

CREATIVITY GROUP: Last year I began a once-a-month meeting of creative people who get together for encouragement, teaching, and feedback on their work. The group is called G1 (short for Genesis 1) since we are created in the image of the Creator. The upcoming meetings are September 27, October 25 and November 22 (all Saturdays) from 1PM to 3PM in Pittsburgh on the North Side. Again, just let me know you are coming. The group has created a Facebook page for you to access.

RADIO: I currently host or co-host four weekly radio shows: one is on a local AM station and three are strictly Internet productions. You can tune in to Ministry Beat on Tuesdays at 4PM, Urban Heroes on Wednesday at 8AM, Leadership Talk on Friday at 4PM and Wake Up to Purpose at 8AM on Saturday morning on WPIT-730AM (you can listen to this online or using the WPIT mobile app anywhere in the world; archived shows are available on my website). If you cannot listen live (and most can't) all these shows are placed in an archive, which you can access at your convenience on the link provided.

MESSAGES: You can listen to or watch messages I have spoken at my local church on the church's website or other messages in my own website archives.

BOOKS: I currently have 20 books in publication, three of which are devotionals published this year. The devotionals make a great gift to yourself or others, for they keep on giving every day of the year! You can see all my books on Amazon and most are available in paper or Kindle versions. The three new devotionals are A String of Pearls: Wisdom for Productive People, A Daily Taste of Proverbs and What Would Jesus Ask You Today? 

PURPOSECOACH: I am available for one-on-one purpose mentoring, personality assessments, 360-degree profiles and creativity coaching. I am also available to speak or consult with your company or organization around the topics of purpose, team building, leadership development and strategic planning.

THE PACIFIC INSTITUTE: I am a certified facilitator for the cognitive learning programs offered through The Pacific Institute, a world leader in personal development and leadership training.

TELEVISION: I am currently launching a new television show called Your PurposeQuest. This is a show designed to help you find purpose through the stories of my guests. The show can be seen locally on the Pittsburgh Community Channel. Never fear, however, if you cannot get that channel. Just go to my Vimeo channel and you can watch it any time from anywhere in the world.

WEBSITE: My website, PurposeQuest, is chock full of tools to help you find your purpose. Go there to take a purpose assessment and to see all the latest resources to help you be a person of purpose.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL: I write every day and post it for your devotional enjoyment and spiritual growth. This year's devotional is The Leadership Walk. You can subscribe to receive it every day or simply go there to check it out from time to time. I also post that daily devotional on Linkedin.

NEW TESTAMENT DEVOTIONAL: I have completed a verse-by-verse devotional of the entire New Testament, which is available on my Bible blog or on my website. I edit these on a regular basis and you can subscribe to receive those updates at the Bible blog site.

SOCIAL MEDIA: I have three Facebook pages - my personal page, one for my ministry PurposeQuest International and one called Feeding Widows and Orphans in Africa. My personal page is maxed out, but you can go to the other pages and register a 'like' so you can stay in touch with what's happening. I am also on Twitter at @johnstanko.

CONTRIBUTIONS: If you notice, most of what I listed above is free of charge. I seldom ask, but if you would like to contribute to my personal support and ministry, you can do so through my website or by sending a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.

Thank you and I pray the Lord will use the resources and programs above to encourage and equip you for purposeful living.

Monday Memo 356: A Little at a Time

Today I am on my way to the Christian Booksellers Convention to premier my new book, The Faith Files: The Gospels.  This is the first of three volumes that looks at every verse on faith in the New Testament, and there are a lot of them.  I first wrote The Faith Files in 2001 and made the notes available to those who were receiving The Monday Memo. That is how I got started sending out my weekly Bible studies.  (See the end of this Memo to find out how you can order a copy.)

When I finish working on Matthew later this year, I will complete my nineteenth New Testament book, doing a verse-by-verse study.  It all started, however, with The Faith Files.  If you have a project and don't know where to start - which should include just about everyone reading this Memo - I urge you to read on.  If you don't think you can accomplish a lot by doing a little at a time, I urge you to read on as well.

HYPOCRITE!

In 2001, I was revising my first book, Life is a Gold Mine. At the end of the section faith, I urged readers to study all that Jesus and Paul had to say about faith as a way to increase their own faith.  When I read that, I thought, "Hypocrite!"  I was recommending that others do something that I had never done!  I decided to rectify that by doing the study, which I thought would take a few days.

I looked up every verse in the New Testament that had the words faith, believe, believes, believing, unbelief, unbelieving and trust and found that there were hundreds of them!  What I thought would take a few days required a few months!  As I was compiling my notes on each verse and passage, I asked those who were reading The Monday Memo if they would like to receive my notes on what I came to call The Faith Files.  Hundreds of people said they did.  I would send out the notes every week to my mailing list that I compiled and maintained on my personal computer.  It was a lot of work and I have never charged any money for any of my studies, and I have sent out millions of them. 

You can see the unpublished portions of The Faith Files on my new website.

WHY STOP THERE?

After I completed my study of faith, I had an idea.  I had always said that "one day" I wanted to write commentaries on the Bible.  I decided to start such a study, determining that I would look at four verses every day and write some devotional material for those verses.  At the end of every week, I would send out those notes to those who were already getting The Faith Files.  The list continued to grow and today about 6,000 people receive my weekly studies.

You can see the past studies in the archives of my new site or subscribe to the weekly studies (currently from Matthew) on the site where those are posted every week. 

So by studying four verses every day since 2002, I have completed studies of 19 New Testament books!  Lord willing, I will have the entire New Testament completed by the end of 2009.  Writing about four verses a day every day has enabled me to accomplish a huge task a little at a time.  I exercise faith every day I sit down to write that I will see something in every verse and also see ways to help the reader apply those verses on that particular day. 

Needless to say, I have learned a lot since I began writing those studies in 2001 and I hope my readers have, too.  Now I excited to start publishing those studies with this first volume of The Faith Files. I know it is the first of many volumes to come.

So what about you?  What can you accomplish if you do just a little every day? I have found that most people won't be anything because they can't see how to do everything.  They won't give a little because they can't give a lot. Won't devote a little time because they don't have huge chunks of time.  I decided to do what I could do every day -- four verses -- and now the end of my project is in sight.  There's no telling what you can do if you apply the same principle. 

Stop procrastinating and take one step at a time.  If you keep putting one foot in front of the other, who knows how far you can go.  The Chinese say that the journey of a 1,000 miles starts with the first step.  Why not take your first steps this week?  Have a great week. I know I will.

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THE FAITH FILES: I have 100 copies of The Faith Files in stock right now.  I will send you a copy of The Faith Files for any contribution that you make to my ministry while supplies last.  That's right, you read correctly.  Just remember that your gifts help me publish every week and distribute my studies and my purpose message all over the world.  Send any contribution and get this new volume that can best be summed up as follows:

“Without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

•    Does your faith affect your everyday life?
•    How do you know if you have faith?
•    Is there anything you can do to increase your faith?

The Faith Files are designed to help you answer these and many more questions where your faith is concerned.  John Stanko wants you to not just know what you believe but know how to apply it to your business, family, life and ministry.

In this first of three volumes, John Stanko looks at every verse that mentions faith in the four gospels.  He then makes some observations and poses questions that help you understand how to apply your faith today, right now, where you are and with what you have.  You can use The Faith Files for personal or small group study, but it is guaranteed to help you exercise more God-pleasing faith.

Simply go to the Contributions page on my site and use PayPal to contribute by credit card or check. Make sure you include your address and we will get your copy of The Faith Files off right away.  Don't miss the great opportunity to have the first of many Bible study volumes that I will publish. 

NEW WEBSITE:  I sent out my special Memo last week outlining the features of my new site. If you haven't checked out the new site, please do so, and make sure you take the free PurposeQuest Assessment that is available on the home page. 

RADIO SHOW:  Don't miss the upcoming broadcast of my radio show, Your PurposeQuest: The Power of a Focused Life, this coming Wednesday, July 9 at 9 AM Eastern time on the Voice America network.  You don't need any special equipment or software.  Just go to their website and click on their flagship station and I will be on for a live broadcast.  The show will air at 2 PM in the UK, 3 PM in Zimbabwe and South Africa, 4 PM in Kenya and 9 PM in Singapore. Then it will be broadcast again 12 hours later, and after that it can be listened to or downloaded from the archive section.  The show airs every Wednesday at the same time.

You can download and listen to the first three shows by going to station's archives.

Feel free to email me your questions for the show, or you can call me when the show is live at 1.866.472.5787.  Here is a description of the next show: 

Episode Nine: Purpose from Tragedy

Most people will never have to face the decision that Gail and Tony McWilliams had to face. Gail was advised to either abort her baby or lose her eyesight.  They decided to proceed with the birth and Gail did indeed go blind.  Yet that was not the end, but only the beginning of a work and ministry that is now called Generations Global.  Join John as he talks to Gail about the power of purpose that can emerge even from a personal tragedy on the next edition of Your PurposeQuest: The Power of a Focused Life.

The Monday Memo 253

Before I left Zimbabwe last week, I did a book review for the Victory Business Forum.  The book was Jack Canfield's The Success Principles.  How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, which I read and enjoyed last year.  The book outlines 65 principles that, according to Canfield, will bring you success if you apply them in your life.  I didn't know success was that complicated until I read the book.  In some ways, the 65 principles made me tired just reading about them, let alone applying them.  (You can order your own copy by clicking on the title above. I am only kidding; I really did enjoy the book.)

One principle in particular caught my eye, however, and that was the principle that was related to purpose.  Principle two is "Be Clear Why You're Here" and included "The Life Purpose Exercise" that I thought I would share with you this week.  I am always looking for things that can help you define your purpose, so I pass this on hoping it will do just that.  Take a few minutes this week and see what you come up with from this exercise.

1.  List two of your unique personal qualities, such as enthusiasm and creativity.

2.  List one or two ways you enjoy expressing those qualities when interacting with others, such as to support and to inspire. 

3.  Assume the world is perfect right now.  What does this world look like?  How is everyone interacting with everyone else?  What does it feel like?  Write your answer as a statement, in the present tense, describing the ultimate condition, the perfect world as you see it and feel it.  Remember, a perfect world is a fun place to be.

EXAMPLE:  Everyone is freely expressing their own unique talents.  Everyone is working in harmony.  Everyone is expressing love.

4.  Combine the three prior subdivisions of this paragraph into a single statement. 

EXAMPLE:  My purpose is to use my creativity and enthusiasm to support and inspire others to freely express their talents in a harmonious and loving way.

Canfield urges his readers to read their purpose statement from this exercise every day.  He even suggests that artistic or visual people draw or paint a symbol or picture that represents their life purpose.  I would think that this could lead to you developing a personal logo or coat of arms that would describe and embody your purpose statement.

If this exercise helps you, please go to the Monday Memo blog (just click on the word "blog") where you can enter your statement for others to learn from in the comments section at the end of this posted Memo.  If this exercise doesn't help you, don't give up.  Purpose is a quest and you never know when your breakthrough will come.  Keep reading, keep seeking and keep asking quality questions.  In time, you will clarify your purpose and the seeking will only serve to enhance your appreciation of what you have.  In the meantime, I hope you have a great week! 

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1.  You may want to check out Canfield's site for further information on his success principles. 

2.  Happy Fourth of July to my American readers.  Happy World Cup watching to the rest of the world!

3.  Below is the July update from my book, A Daily Dose of Proverbs. 

4.  Here is my schedule for the next three months.   Let me know if you would like to meet for a purpose session when I am in your area.

July 6-10 -- Virginia Beach, Virginia

July 12-13 -- Denver, Colorado

July 17-19 -- Dallas, Texas

July 27-30 -- Maywood, New Jersey

August 7-11 -- Seattle, Washington

August 25-28 -- Johannesburg, South Africa

August 28-September 3 -- Harare, Zimbabwe

September 4-13 -- Israel

September 13-25 -- Harare, Zimbabwe

September 26 and 27 -- The Netherlands

Also, I am still leading a cruise retracing the steps of the apostle Paul from October 26-November 3.  If you are interested in being part of that cruise, email me and let me know.

5.  If you need to change your address to which this Memo is sent, hit the unsubscribe link below this automatic Feedblitz mail out.  Then go to this link and enter your new email address in the box in the right hand column.  You can add a gift subscription by going to the link and adding the new email address of the person you think would benefit from The Monday Memo. 

And the archives of past Monday Memos through number 240 can still be located on my website.  All others after that are located at my new Monday Memo blog. 

6  If you would like to unsubscribe, just click the link below (if you receive this as an automatic message). 

7.  You can subscribe to automatically receive my regular blog posts by going to the site and entering your email below where it says "your email address."  Once you do, you will receive a confirmation email and can also easily unsubscribe at any time. 

8.  We are almost finished with our study of First Corinthians (three weeks to go), which I send out every week. When we finish, we will automatically move into Second Corinthians.  These studies focus on four verses every day.  When I send them out, I send out a week's worth of verses.  I never make my studies technical; they are always practical and include questions to help you apply what you read every day.  If you would like to subscribe, go to the site and enter your email address.  I have all my previous studies available for free on my website.

July Proverbs:  Download July.doc

 

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