Leadership Tips & Training Continual Feast

I love to receive emails and phone calls from leaders all across the world! They always have wonderful testimonies to share about the success of their First Place members. Many times the good report is followed by, "but, there is this one member who…!" The leader goes on to describe this one member who has a negative attitude, which is affecting the other members in the class. Attitude is everything! John Maxwell has said, "The negative attitude can spread like a cancer." When one member or leader has a negative attitude then death will follow – death of vision, death of a dream, death of hope and the list goes on. It is the responsibility of the leader to model a positive attitude and to stop a negative attitude before it takes over the entire class.

I have recently discovered a verse that has revolutionized my attitude and I hope it will do the same for you and your members. Proverbs 15:15,says, "All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast." (NAS) The week I was memorizing and meditating on this verse I was to fly to California for a workshop. The morning my plane was to depart I arrived at the airport two hours early due to all the extra security. I check my bags and went through the security line with ease. It was going to be a great day! Shortly after this thought went through my mind I was greeted at the gate with the word, "Cancelled" flashing at the check-in desk. The waiting area sat eerily vacant and my first instinct was to panic and enter into a really bad day. The Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder and the words of Proverbs 15:15 swept through my mind. I laughed out loud and then looked around to see if anyone had seen me! God was up to something! He was calling me to try His Word and see if it is true. So, I took the challenge and set out to prove His Word. At that moment I chose to have a cheerful heart and looked to see what feast might await me.

After standing in a long line for about 30 minutes I discovered that all flights to Dallas had been cancelled due to bad weather. My itinerary had called for a stop over in Dallas and then on to Oakland. As I stepped up to the counter, I greeted the clerk with a smile, as I had chosen to be cheerful. She said, "I am sorry but you will have to change airlines and you will be on a non-stop flight, arriving in Oakland two hours early. My dimples deepened as I grinned even bigger and said to myself, "Continual feast!" I entered the airplane and discovered that I had the entire row of seats all to myself. I was able to read, study and rest for the entire three hour flight. It was quite a feast! I had tried God’s Word, chosen to obey its truth, and I found it to be true. People can choose to be afflicted or choose to be cheerful- it is a choice.

Negative attitudes are contagious and will spread like a cancer in your First Place class, if left unchecked. However, by choosing to believe and live out God’s Word through a positive attitude a continual feast awaits!
Here is to a continual feast!

Nancy Taylor
Leadership Training Director



Nancy Taylor is the First Place Leadership Training Director and joined the First Place staff in 1997. Nancy teaches leadership principles to First Place Leaders throughout the country and at Houston's First Baptist Church where she coordinates all the First Place groups. Nancy also speaks at First Place workshops, rallies, retreats, and conferences, where she delights her audiences with humor and encourages them with boldness. She writes a monthly article, which includes helpful tips for leaders, for the First Place E-newsletter, and was a contributing writer to the Today is the First Day devotional book. Nancy is the resident First Place Bible Concordance because of her love for Scripture memory.