It came from the Bible!

I have purposely tried to leave out my faith mostly because for a large part PEOPLE have a misconception that CHRISTIANS think that they are perfect because they follow JESUS CHRIST. 

       Thankfully THAT'S FALSE! I follow the Word of God because I am a busted and broken individual. There has only been one person to walk this earth that has ever been perfect and His name was Jesus Christ. 

Now that I have made my proclamation stick with me. I'm from the south but I promise the thumping of my Bible is over. 

I bring this up because I don't always have the best attitude, wording, MOUTH, or even ideals. When I do start to stray I look into the Bible and I find little gems of wisdom. Now I'm going to break down Matthew 5:14 in relation to the fire department. You don't have to believe in Jesus to get what I'm gonna say here. If you want you can just write me off and read the rest of what i have to say to have more ammunition to hate me. That's OK. I respect your right to have your own opinion. For the rest of ya, HERE WE GO...

Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden...

I was first brought to this notion in church at Jacksonville NC's First Baptist Church by Pastor Jason Brinker. The first part is a gentle reminder. It basically means people pay attention to whats going on. YOU can mean you personally, as a company, or even your whole department. For this discussion were going to go with the literal. LIGHT is substituted with example. YOU ARE THE EXAMPLE... you still with me? THE WORLD were going to call your community/department. 

So part one is now UNDERSTOOD as follows: YOU ARE THE EXAMPLE TO THE DEPARTMENT.

LETS GET TO PART TWO...

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden

Now A CITY were going to call your crew. ON A HILL isn't exactly going to be replaced but rather understood. I want you to understand in this text its referring to standards. We strive to hold ourselves "UP TO HIGH standards." As we read "cannot be HIDDEN" this too needs to be understood. Its explaining that your actions and TRUTH/STANDARDS will outweigh and dark that can be cast over you by others.

Some companies have mythical reputations.

The US Navy SEAL Trident is awarded to those that prove
they can stand up to the highest standards of the military.

In part the second phrase of the scripture is UNDERSTOOD as: YOUR CREWS HIGH STANDARDS WILL OUTSHINE ANY DOUBT OF OTHERS.

Matthew 5:14 now reads: You are the example to the department, Your crews high standards will outshine any doubt of others.

This has been a theme of allot of others now internet famous. By no means am I trying to reinvent the wheel. I'm just giving you a different way to understand and back the message. Simply, BE A LIGHT. Be a flood light, box light; hell, be a candle. I don't care. Just be a light and draw people into the message. When someone comes to you all high and mighty saying you're just drinking the Kool-Aid and getting all this "garbage" from the internet you now have a shot to fire back with. This didn't come from the internet, IT CAME FROM THE BIBLE!

LEARN, TEACH, GROW

Cpl. Bowen, USMC

I'm sitting at work tonight in a position I have grown comfortable with. I had the opportunity today to work with a Marine from Truck 31 in Brooklyn. Solid dude as most I get to work with are. We bs'd most of the morning with stories of my home town and how much we hated it. lol Good times were had by all. It was after lunch I saw something that made me think back to what I SHOULD be doing. Matt had printed out an article and placed the copy in a set of protective cover sheets. I asked him, "hey man is that the one on the NY Hook? I haven't read it yet. Is it any good?" "yea." he replied. "I'm printing it out so all the new guys we get coming through to do their book can read it."

That's when it had hit me. I have been in such a "rut" and having a one track mind that I forgot what I'm supposed to be doing here. Learn, Teach, Grow. I have been spending so much time at work "learning" how I THOUGHT things around me were wrong. Instead of wasting that time I should have been spending time working on things I KNEW were right. I came up with excuses as to why we hadn't done anything for the day or why "youtube will do today..." Today was the day I was gonna turn that damn leaf back over and get into doing what I'm here to do. LEARN, TEACH, GROW.



I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH I TALK AT THAT WALL WITH NO EFFECT I'M GONNA KEEP TALKING. I'm not talking to hear myself talk, make myself look "SALTY" *sidebar* (IF YOU USE THAT STUPID WORD YOU JUST MAKE YOURSELF LOOK LIKE AN ASS). I'm talking to the wall for the slim chance that SOMEONE will hear my faint cries for higher standards of performance on the other side.

My minion

So with my new found flame of inspiration from Cpl. Bowen, as he demanded he be addressed as, I got to work. He had such a novel idea. Why WASTE the 5 or ten minutes it would take to find these great articles we had read over time when we can just put them all in one binder and say "here read this." I pulled from the great Willie Wines & Mark VonAppen as well as the great standards from Urban Firefighter. reading back over many of them to relearn tidbits of knowledge. It was amazing to me to read something I had read dozens of times before and still pick out something new.

I compiled some of what I thought were great fire starters (pun intended) and put them in my own little book.I hope to add to it as time goes on and even go back to read some of the stuff for a third, forth, and tenth time. I just want to get back to doing here what I was placed here to do. LEARN, TEACH, & GROW. I've been cutting out the last two parts for long enough. I have a good spot, an even better reason to make it home, and a whole lot of wall to talk to.

LEARN   TEACH   GROW