Don’t discount the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace. How you are perceived by your manager and coworkers plays a large role in things as minor as your day-to-day happiness at the office and as major as the future of your career.

No matter how hard you work or how many brilliant ideas you may have, if you can’t connect with the people who work around you, your professional life will suffer. The good news is that there are several concrete things that you can do to improve your social skills and become closer to your colleagues. All of these tools will ultimately help you succeed in today’s working world.

1- Smile. Few people want to be around someone who is always down in the dumps. Do your best to be friendly and upbeat with your coworkers. Maintain a positive, cheerful attitude about work and about life. Smile often. The positive energy you radiate will draw others to you.

2- Be appreciative. Find one positive thing about everyone you work with and let them hear it. Be generous with praise and kind words of encouragement. Say thank you when someone helps you. Make colleagues feel welcome when they call or stop by your office. If you let others know that they are appreciated, they’ll want to give you their best.

3- Pay attention to others. Observe what’s going on in other people’s lives. Acknowledge their happy milestones, and express concern and sympathy for difficult situations such as an illness or death. Make eye contact and address people by their first names. Ask others for their opinions.

4- Practice active listening. To actively listen is to demonstrate that you intend to hear and understand another’s point of view. It means restating, in your own words, what the other person has said. In this way, you know that you understood their meaning and they know that your responses are more than lip service. Your coworkers will appreciate knowing that you really do listen to what they have to say.

5- Bring people together. Create an environment that encourages others to work together. Treat everyone equally, and don't play favorites. Avoid talking about others behind their backs. Follow up on other people's suggestions or requests. When you make a statement or announcement, check to see that you have been understood. If folks see you as someone solid and fair, they will grow to trust you.

6- Resolve conflicts. Take a step beyond simply bringing people together, and become someone who resolves conflicts when they arise. Learn how to be an effective mediator. If coworkers bicker over personal or professional disagreements, arrange to sit down with both parties and help sort out their differences. By taking on such a leadership role, you will garner respect and admiration from those around you.

7- Communicate clearly. Pay close attention to both what you say and how you say it. A clear and effective communicator avoids misunderstandings with coworkers, collegues, and associates. Verbal eloquence projects an image of intelligence and maturity, no matter what your age. If you tend to blurt out anything that comes to mind, people won’t put much weight on your words or opinions.

8- Humor them. Don’t be afraid to be funny or clever. Most people are drawn to a person that can make them laugh. Use your sense of humor as an effective tool to lower barriers and gain people’s affection.

9- See it from their side. Empathy means being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel. Try to view situations and responses from another person’s perspective. This can be accomplished through staying in touch with your own emotions; those who are cut off from their own feelings are often unable to empathize with others.

10- Don't complain. There is nothing worse than a chronic complainer or whiner. If you simply have to vent about something, save it for your diary. If you must verbalize your grievances, vent to your personal friends and family, and keep it short. Spare those around you, or else you’ll get a bad reputation.

Seven Signs of the End," or is such an idea simply the opinion of kooks who stand on street corners waving signs reading, "The End Is Near"? Believe it or not, according to the Bible, yes, there will be an end. Jesus Christ promised His followers, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).

Are there any legitimate and observable "signs" indicative of this approaching finale? Once again, the answer is yes. While many supposed "signs" appear daily on the covers of our nation's tabloids, here are seven true biblical signs worth listing:

1- Global Environmental Crisis: The Bible reveals that when God finally drops the curtain on human history, He will finally "destroy them that destroy the earth" (Revelation 11:18). In other words, before the end, mankind will be destroying the very planet we live on. This implies a global environmental crisis resulting from the growth of mega-cities, deforestation, a disappearing ozone layer, and earth-damaging man made pollutants.

2- Out-of-control Violence: Jesus Christ said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be before the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:37). What was it like in Noah's day before the flood? Here's the answer: "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:11). "And God said to Noah, the end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth" (Genesis 6:13). Thus "violence" was rampant in Noah's day, just like today.

3- Out-of-control Sex: Again, Jesus Christ said, "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot…Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:28, 30). What was it like in Lot's day before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Here's the answer: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 7). Thus "fornication" (sex outside of marriage), and "going after strange flesh" (homosexuality), were the primary sins of those ancient cities. It's a no-brainer that through television, Playboy, Internet pornography, etc., our world is experiencing an unprecedented deluge of sexual perversion.

4- Increasing Stress, Confusion, Heart Disease: Jesus also declared, "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coming upon the earth" (Luke 21:25, 26). People are stressed-out everywhere, confusion reigns, and the Number 1 cause of death is heart disease. Jesus Christ saw it coming, that's why He predicted global "distress," "perplexity" and "men's hearts failing them for fear." Fear also raises blood cholesterol.

5- Increasing Knowledge: The prophetic book of Daniel declares, "But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4). This passage reveals planet Earth will enter its "time of the end." Then, "knowledge shall be increased." In our modern era - more than any time in recorded history - knowledge has increased beyond previous generations.

6- False Teaching and Global Religious Confusion: Paul predicted "the time will come" when the majority "shall turn their ears away from the truth and shall turn to fables" (2 Timothy 4:4). God's final book - the Revelation - predicts the rise of a global, multi-layered, conglomerate religious system called "Babylon," which literally means, "confusion." Heaven's end-time message proclaims, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (Revelation 14:8). This mysterious, highly symbolic prophecy reveals that "all nations" will become drunk with "Babylon's wine" - meaning the worldwide false teachings of deceptive religions which lead away from the simplicity of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ.
7- The Global Preaching of the Gospel: "And this gospel [the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ] shall be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14). With the aid of radio, television and satellite networks, God's message of salvation through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is now spreading around planet Earth. Thus, in the midst of Bad News, there's Good News! We have a Savior who loves us, gave His life for us, rose from the dead for us, and will someday return to take us home.

Starting and managing a business takes motivation, desire, talent, research and planning. The purpose of any business that’s operated by a Christian should be to glorify God, not just to make a profit.

If you’re more concerned with pursuing riches than serving God, you cease to be useful to God. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth"(Matthew 6:24).

Like a chess game, success in small business requires decisive and correct moves, so develop a plan.

Get started by listing your reasons for wanting to go into business.


Determine the type of business that is right for you, based on your talents, skills, time availability, and interests.


Identify the niche your business would fill.


Develop a pre-business checklist to answer questions about location, finances, insurance, equipment and supply needs, and legal structure.


Establish a budget, even if your idea is several years in the future. Be cautious about borrowing to start any new venture.


Never borrow against your home or retirement account. Don’t deplete savings accounts, or cash in IRAs or cash savings bonds to fund new ventures. Debt makes it difficult for a new business to break even. If God wants you to develop this idea, He will provide a way to finance it without having to jeopardize your future.
Existing business
If you are interested in purchasing an existing business, it’s best to have a lot of experience in that business. Carefully examine the records and books. This is very important and would be worth the money an accountant may charge for this service.

Determining the value of a business is very difficult and what a business is actually worth seldom brings that price. In addition to property value (get three fair market appraisals) and the cost of inventory, the business worth should be about four times its net yearly earnings. After deducting your salary, a business should be able to pay itself off in 5 to 7 years. If it can’t, it’s probably overpriced and not a good buy.

Home based business
Before becoming involved with any home-based venture:

Get the names of the principals of the business opportunity and the home office of the company.


Contact the Better Business Bureau in the state where they are located and the attorney general or the state securities office of that state. Ask if any complaints have been filed against the company before you make any decision to become a part of that company.


God knows your needs and the desires of your heart. Trust Him to show you the business that will fit your talents and needs and will honor His name.
Starting your own business can be very challenging and rewarding. If you are successful it gives you a chance to take control of your future, achieve a great sense of personal satisfaction, and reap financial rewards.

But remember, in order to be successful in the eyes of the Lord, the business must be established for the purpose of glorifying and honoring Him.