Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Eric Kelly
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000020
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00:01 If you are working in Corporate America
00:02 and you just can't figure out how to apply 00:04 your Christianity in the workplace, 00:06 stay tuned... our guest has answers for you... 00:10 My name is Yvonne Lewis and you're watching 00:12 Urban Report... 00:34 Hello and welcome to Urban Report... 00:37 My guest today is Eric Kelly... 00:40 Eric is a noted Author and Lecturer 00:42 his experience in competing in the Athletic and Corporate 00:46 arenas has given him keen insight 00:48 into human behavior he's authored 3 books, 00:51 "Pepper in the Salt Shaker: One Man's Spiritual Journey 00:55 through Corporate America," 00:56 "The Corporate Survivor Handbook," 00:58 and in his latest work... "Winning the Game," 01:01 he shares interesting perspectives 01:04 on what it takes to have a great life... 01:06 as a speaker he has delivered Programs 01:08 in the United States, Europe, South America, Africa 01:11 and the Middle East... 01:13 Eric Kelly, welcome to Urban Report... 01:16 Hi Yvonne, thanks for having me thank you... 01:19 Oh sure... sure... we're glad to have you here, 01:22 tell us Eric, before we get started 01:26 talking about your books 01:27 and Corporate America 01:29 and all that... tell us a little bit about 01:30 Eric Kelly... who is Eric Kelly? 01:34 Well, a few years ago... well, maybe 01:38 more than a few years ago, I was born to a Minister 01:41 a Seventh-day Adventist Minister and I grew up a "Preacher's Kid" 01:46 A PK... most things... you were warned 01:49 about it... your parents warned you about it... 01:51 I was taught to do all the right things... 01:54 I was taught the right way, I went to Sabbath School, 01:57 I went to Church, 01:59 I remembered all my 02:01 Memory Verses for Thirteenth Sabbath 02:03 and I grew up a typical Church Kid... 02:06 but the interesting thing was, 02:09 is that I grew up... 02:10 I knew I believed... there was a God... 02:12 I believed He was there... 02:13 but I was young... I wanted to have fun... 02:16 and I can't really say that I internalized 02:18 the way that I should have... as I got older... 02:22 went to work... came out of School... 02:24 went into the workplace... and ran into 02:27 really rough situations, I met God on my knees for real, 02:32 much later on in life... 02:34 Hmmm... so, let's talk a little bit about the adolescent years, 02:42 as a "PK" because we know that PK's have certain challenges 02:47 I mean... we know... I mean... it's just not the easiest life 02:52 contrary to what some might think... 02:55 a PK has a difficult time sometimes... 02:58 what was it about your upbringing 03:01 that kind of led you away from that relationship with the Lord? 03:05 Well, the one thing that I appreciated about my parents 03:10 is they never preached at me about the Church 03:14 they always talked about Jesus, because you were a 03:19 Minister's kid, you knew more secrets 03:23 about the workings of the Church Organization 03:26 and the people in Church than probably anybody else... 03:30 you know... who was doing what, what was right... 03:33 and honestly the more that you saw... 03:36 many times you saw adults 03:39 acting in ways contrary 03:41 to what you were being taught in Sabbath School... 03:44 so it wasn't the principle... 03:46 it was that... in anything... 03:49 more is caught than taught... Ah... aha... 03:55 so, in your household... your parents were wise 03:59 and they focused on relationship 04:02 your relationship and who Jesus was... 04:05 versus just rules... 04:08 Absolutely... one of the beliefs that I was raised with 04:14 is that if you can stay connected to Christ... 04:16 which I had no concept of at that time... 04:18 but if you can stay connected to Christ... 04:21 He'll do all the rest and everything else is details 04:24 so, I still believe I have now, except that 04:27 I've learned it the hard way... 04:28 Okay... and let's talk about that hard way... 04:31 because... it's not about sensationalism 04:35 but it's actually to show people that you can 04:39 have some hard knocks, and then experience success... 04:42 many people who are in the valley of despair... 04:48 need to know... 04:50 that... that is just a temporary situation... 04:53 so, if you wouldn't mind sharing a bit of the 04:55 hard knocks with us... so that our viewers 04:57 can kind of know that... they're looking at someone 05:00 that's been through something, what did Eric Kelly go through? 05:04 One of the things that I remember first... 05:08 when you're young and you're strong... 05:11 and you're in your 20s... you believe that you can 05:15 conquer the world... Hmmm... 05:16 you believe that you're bullet-proof... 05:19 I competed in Martial Arts and loved athletics 05:23 so, I felt like pretty much I could handle almost anything, 05:27 when I went to work in Corporate America... 05:30 for a large... large Corporation I looked to see 05:34 how the people that got promoted, 05:37 the things that they did, 05:39 and I said, "Okay, I'm going to copy these folks... because 05:42 I'm smart... I'm strong... I can do 05:45 a lot of different things... I want to move up 05:47 in the Organization... " when you move up, 05:49 you make more money... there's more prestige, 05:51 and so on and so on... and so I set my hat to move up 05:55 now as many, many, many young minority employees 06:01 find out when they get to the workplace, 06:03 there are some added challenges and burdens... 06:05 and you're not going to be able to do it on your own, 06:09 there's just too much out there... 06:10 there are only two forces, in the world... 06:15 and one is the force of good, which is driven 06:19 by the blood of Jesus Christ, 06:21 and the other is the force of evil... which is driven by Satan 06:26 and all of us wake up every day giving our lives over 06:31 to one of those forces, when I got to work, 06:34 I wasn't particularly worried about turning my life 06:37 over to God everyday... I knew where He was... 06:40 I believed in Him, 06:41 but I wasn't really trying to be 06:43 a Christian... a good Christian, I wanted to have fun 06:46 and enjoy life... when I got to work... 06:49 I met people... who not only were not trying to 06:52 turn their lives over to God, 06:54 they weren't even thinking about it... 06:57 and when you run into the dark side... 07:01 you will be utterly destroyed and defeated 07:04 unless you've got the armor of God protecting you... 07:07 I got caught up in a lot of things... 07:11 I found out... at one time that I was passed over 07:14 for promotions... I looked at the people 07:16 who were being promoted, they were all friends 07:18 of whoever was in charge... 07:21 absolutely none of them looked like me 07:23 and I got to a point where I was very discouraged, 07:27 I didn't pray, however, for God to do... 07:30 His supernatural work, I fought it on my own... 07:34 Now, what was your relationship with the Lord 07:37 at that point in time, or did you have one? 07:40 I was a Churchgoer... and if I ran into you at Church, 07:45 you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference 07:48 between me and anybody else that goes to Church... 07:50 I get... "Happy Sabbath" 07:52 "Sister Yvonne, isn't God good?" 07:56 "Yes, He is... " and then I would go... 08:00 be at the party by 11:30... Yeah... yes 08:03 so, that's not... not typical... 08:07 of a lot of folks that go to Church... 08:09 what I do know is that God is going to create a... 08:14 He's going to allow... 08:15 a "Damascus Experience" to knock you off your donkey... 08:20 and you will either have to push against Him... 08:22 but you are going to learn a lesson... 08:24 somewhere in your journey... He's going to come get you... 08:28 Ah... I like that... I like that phrase... 08:30 "He's going to come get you... " He is... 08:32 Yes... yes... so how did He come get you? 08:35 Well, I got to a point where I was totally disillusioned 08:40 in fact, I went in for a "Performance Review" 08:44 and Sister Yvonne, I had worked so hard... 08:48 and I had incredible results... and I sat down with my Manager, 08:53 and my Manager said, "I can write your appraisal... " 08:59 because I was a Supervisor at that time... 09:02 he said, "I can write your appraisal... in a way that says 09:07 they were successful... because of you... 09:11 or they were successful... in spite of you... " 09:16 Wow! I was in my early 20s... 09:19 I was absolutely shattered... 09:22 I thought that if I made the numbers... 09:25 got the results... that the whole world 09:27 would fall down and worship me, and here is a boss telling me... 09:32 even though your numbers are good... 09:34 I can make it so... that it looks like they're good 09:39 in spite of whatever else you did... 09:42 that you were not the cause, 09:44 you were not the factor that made the difference... 09:46 Now, was there a personal issue between you and your Supervisor, 09:51 why was he coming off like that, 09:53 I mean, what was the motivation behind that? 09:55 I think, he was a bit naive... 09:58 we were working in an urban setting, 10:00 he was a good old country boy, he wasn't... 10:02 to say that he woke up every morning with malice 10:06 and malicious intent in his heart... probably didn't... 10:09 but he walked into a setting that he was not 10:12 terribly familiar with... and he didn't really have to 10:16 worry about it because he was the boss... 10:19 Right... right... so what happened... 10:21 how did you deal with that situation? 10:25 I found a way to feel good going home... 10:27 I had some friends that introduced me 10:30 to a couple of things... and if you are on your way home 10:33 and you partake of these little goodies... 10:35 by the time you get back to wherever it is you're going... 10:38 you feel pretty good... and whatever the stress 10:41 of that day is... it is gone... 10:43 Ah... so that was your introduction 10:46 into substance abuse... Yeah... absolutely... 10:50 I see... I see... What I now do with Memory Verses 10:53 I did with something else back then... 10:55 Okay, okay, well tell us a little bit about that... 10:59 how are you using Memory Verses 11:01 to help ease the stress of the day, 11:04 Well, when there is job stress 11:07 and so many of us 11:09 are going through job stress, except most of us 11:12 get our pay check from work... and that's how we live, 11:17 some of us weren't so wise... 11:19 make a lot of bills 11:20 on that one pay check... and that's how we live... 11:23 so, anything that threatens that... 11:26 is really... it scares us... it makes us uneasy... 11:32 doesn't feel good, so today... 11:36 if I'm faithful to business challenge... 11:38 I open up my Promise Book, and I read 11:40 that God's going to take care of me... 11:42 "I am your strength... " 11:44 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me... " 11:46 "I am your God... I will protect you... " 11:48 "Run into the arms of the Lord, He'll encircle you... " 11:53 there are so many things that I read 11:55 in the Promise Book now... that soothe me 11:59 and give me ease in my spirit, 12:01 back then... I didn't know the Word, 12:03 I wasn't reading the Word, 12:05 so I reached for... 12:06 what somebody else told me would make me feel better... 12:08 Yes, yes... and that's... it's so interesting how... 12:14 we substitute... substances for what is real 12:19 what's real... is the love of God 12:21 what's real is the guidance and compassion 12:25 and just the presence of God... 12:29 and so, you know, 12:31 but we can always find these other substitutes for it 12:34 and they never really quite work as you found out... 12:39 so how did you find out that that the substance abuse 12:43 was not the answer... 12:44 how did you find the Lord for yourself? 12:46 Well, a couple of things happened... 12:48 what I remembered most 12:51 and I'll put a plug in there for Christian education, 12:54 if I can... and anybody that went to School 12:56 with me knows... I wasn't terribly concerned 12:59 about Christian education, or if I was even a Christian... 13:02 but there are things... being programmed... 13:07 into you... even if you don't think they are 13:12 while you're in that setting... I could still remember... 13:16 some Friday nights... 13:17 in Meran Hall 13:19 when I went to Oakwood University... 13:21 where the singing would be there there would be a spiritual 13:25 atmosphere... and in the midst of my problems 13:29 I could remember... hearing 13:32 a room full of people 13:35 singing in four-part harmony... because everybody 13:38 in that entire School could sing... 13:41 "The Footprints of Jesus" Oh yes... 13:43 I could remember... all of the songs we sang... 13:48 and what it felt like to go hear someone... 13:51 you know like... Wintley Phipps sing... 13:55 and I remembered that... and even in my stupors at times, 14:01 I said, "I want to get that back" 14:04 Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... 14:06 I remembered my mom singing songs to me... 14:09 I remembered Memory Verses... and I remembered my dad 14:12 telling me one time, "There's no place so low... 14:17 that you can go... that God cannot come get you. " 14:21 Wow! that's beautiful... that's beautiful... 14:26 one day I called home... and I was at the bottom... 14:29 I was at the end of the string, I was done... 14:32 life was over... and I called my parents 14:35 and I said... "Folks, I am so messed up... " 14:38 and I thank God for Christian parents... 14:41 who are more loving than they are... judgmental... 14:44 because I didn't need a judge I didn't need a sermon 14:47 on what I had done... 14:48 I knew more than anybody else, 14:51 and my Dad said something to me... 14:53 that's the reason why... probably... 14:55 I can talk to you today... 14:56 the first thing he said was, "I love you... " 15:00 not... "We spent money on your education... " 15:03 not, "You've fallen so far below the standard... " 15:07 but... "I love you," the second thing he said was 15:10 "God loves you," and the third thing... 15:15 and this was so odd to me... he said, 15:17 "You are no worse than anybody else... " 15:20 Hmmm... then he hung the phone up... 15:23 then my mom told me, I think he stayed on his knees 15:26 for about four hours afterwards... 15:28 but that love is what brought me to want to know... 15:33 if he loves me... and God loves me 15:35 and I am so far away from where I should be... 15:38 then, I need to pursue this line because 15:42 if they love me like that... then God loves me more... 15:44 I think... maybe I can survive this... 15:46 Yes... yes... so... he said, he loved you, God loved you 15:53 and nobody was basically... 15:56 you're not worse than anybody else... 15:57 "Nobody is better than you" Nobody is better than you... 16:00 Nope... and so that must have given you 16:03 something to kind of hold on to 16:05 to kind of anchor yourself to... It did... 16:09 and so... did you begin reading the Word from there 16:12 what was the thought process like... after that? 16:14 I was in a spot where I couldn't go anywhere for a while 16:18 and I started reading the story of Paul... 16:22 and I actually wrote my first sermon 16:26 in a pretty rough place... and it was about 16:30 Saul being knocked off his donkey... 16:33 he actually killed followers of Christ... 16:36 and in the end... wrote much of the New Testament 16:40 Right... and I said, 16:41 "If God can turn his life around He can do something with me... " 16:44 Yes... yes... and that's one of the things 16:47 that's so encouraging about the Word... 16:49 that... again... it's not meant 16:52 it's actually meant to show 16:54 that if God can take a murderer, if He can take an adulterer, 16:58 He can take these different types of sinners... 17:01 of course He can do that for us, we're all sinners... 17:05 saved by grace... so, you know, That's true... 17:08 those stories in the Bible are really relevant today... 17:11 so you decided... we're going to fast forward 17:14 a little bit... and look at you 17:18 taking Christianity into the workplace... 17:20 what made you decide to write about the workplace? 17:23 Well, that's where I had to find God first... for myself... 17:29 Hmmm... I realized that 17:31 I wasn't the only Christian that went to work... 17:35 Were some hiding their lights under a bushel? 17:38 There were a couple of people 17:40 that you didn't necessarily know firsthand 17:44 that they were Christians when they got to the workplace. 17:47 One of my former Pastors called it 17:49 "The Christian Witness Protection Program" 17:51 You know... he said... some Christians are in the 17:55 Witness Protection Program... which is true... 17:57 so you decided 17:59 that you weren't going to be... so what did you do? 18:01 First of all... there were a couple of habits 18:04 that... when I read... made a difference... 18:07 every morning... I would get up and read... 18:10 not to be holy and impress anybody... 18:13 because nobody sees this, but I realized 18:15 that Satan is waiting for me at work... 18:18 it might be a co-worker that steals my idea... 18:21 a supervisor that thinks that they are God... 18:24 another co-worker that's stabbing me in the back 18:27 while they're taking me to lunch... 18:29 there are a million things at work... 18:31 and if I don't have the Word in me... 18:33 I'm going in there unarmed, I'm naked against some 18:36 pretty powerful evil forces... 18:38 Wow, and you know, that's such a good point, 18:41 Brother Eric, because people tend to... 18:44 kind of pooh-pooh the idea that there's evil... 18:49 there are evil forces... and they think that... you know 18:53 "Oh you are just over-reacting, it's not that deep... " 18:57 when you talk about demonic forces 19:00 the force of evil that actually is there... 19:04 just as the force of good... just as the Holy Spirit is there 19:07 the enemy is there... and like you said... 19:10 he's waiting for you in the workplace... 19:12 he'll work through a co-worker he'll work through a boss, 19:15 and if you don't arm yourself in the morning... 19:17 before you go to battle, it's like... 19:20 you're going to battle every day That's true... 19:23 so you have to arm yourself every day... every morning... 19:26 what would you say to our viewers who would say... 19:29 "I don't have time to do that in the morning" 19:32 what would you say to them? 19:33 You don't have time... not to... Come on... 19:38 here's the war, Sister Yvonne, here's the war... 19:42 the war is not about your job or your car or your house 19:46 or the material things that we are able to get 19:49 from the money we make... the war is about your soul... 19:53 Hmmm... Satan will come after you... 19:55 he'll come after you in your house, 19:58 if you and your spouse and your children 20:00 aren't getting up every morning 20:02 and asking God to be there with you, 20:04 you will turn on each other, and evil will be in your house, 20:07 at work... those other people, 20:09 if they are not getting up every day... 20:12 communing with God... they can be used 20:15 by the adversary... the war is for your soul... 20:18 and I don't want to say... "I'm scaring... " 20:20 when this whole work is done, 20:21 when every office building is done, 20:23 when every contract is made, 20:28 when every car is finished being built... 20:30 this world is going to melt... Hmmm... 20:33 and only the choices that we've made... 20:36 to be connected to Christ, will keep us... 20:39 your job is going down, 20:41 there are people that trusted their jobs... 20:42 they loved their business cards, they were important... 20:46 they were Vice Presidents and Directors... 20:48 their jobs went away... Yes... 20:50 all of a sudden... they didn't even know who they were 20:52 Yes... because their identity 20:54 was in work... it wasn't in Christ... 20:56 That is so true... and that's... 20:59 I think one of the things that you realized 21:01 and I guess they say, "Youth is wasted on the young" 21:04 because as you get older... you realize 21:07 how important... 21:09 your relationship with the Lord is 21:12 versus achievement... not that you shouldn't achieve, 21:15 because achievement is critical, I mean... you must be the best 21:18 that you can be... at whatever stage you're in 21:21 I believe that... but the most important thing 21:24 is your relationship with Christ because 21:27 that's what's going to last... 21:28 that's what is going to take you into eternity... 21:31 not how many letters are behind your name 21:33 or what positions you held, in various Organizations 21:40 it is... in the long run... when you stand before the Savior 21:46 what is your relationship with Him... 21:50 Is he going to say, "Welcome" or is he going to say, 21:53 "Depart from me, I never knew you... " 21:55 and so, what you're telling us is that... 21:58 you have made it... 22:01 a part of your daily routine... 22:04 to connect with the Savior before you go into battle... 22:08 What else should you do? 22:10 I trust God 22:13 for everything... 22:16 and that's not a "Holy Statement" 22:18 when I realized how evil it is in the workplace... 22:21 and when you understand stock options and grants 22:23 and how the Corporate world works... 22:25 there's only one thing that runs Corporate America... 22:27 that's money... that's all it is... 22:30 Hmmm... and Christ said... 22:32 "Seek ye first the kingdom... " 22:34 he said, "I'll give you the rest" 22:36 we're fighting to climb a Corporate ladder 22:39 when God wants to put many of us... 22:42 on an elevator and move us up... 22:44 I love that... okay go ahead continue... that's good... 22:50 He wants to move us up... because He wants people 22:53 in key positions that will witness for Him... 22:56 Hmmm... He wants you in that top spot 22:59 well He can only put you there, 23:02 if your focus is... 23:05 "I'm going to influence and witness for Christ... " 23:08 if your focus is just that you can floss... 23:11 and get a bigger car... and a bigger house... 23:14 He's not going to help you out with that though... 23:18 That is such a good point though 23:20 that the Lord wants us to be in these positions 23:25 where we can have more influence for Him... 23:29 Yes... it's not about us... 23:31 it's about Him... it's about helping others 23:33 to get to know Him... so that they can be saved... 23:36 so when you were in... are you still in 23:40 Corporate America... let our viewers know where you are now 23:43 I still am... I run a Consulting Practice 23:46 in fact I just finished a 23:49 Conference today that's what is behind me... 23:51 with Leaders from the Gas and Oil Industry... 23:54 because I ended up 23:56 being in that Industry for so long... 24:00 I kind of have connections there and now as a Consultant 24:03 I go in and out of Corporations, and I do consulting work 24:06 on Training, Employee Development... 24:08 Organizational Development, Succession Planning, 24:10 those types of things... 24:12 anything with Industrial-site background... 24:15 Wow! that's wonderful... so you are really... 24:18 now you're involved in the Corporate world... 24:22 but yet, you still are holding on 24:24 to your relationship with the Lord and letting 24:28 the principles that you get 24:30 and extrapolate from the Word, you are applying those 24:34 in the Workplace... 24:35 can you give us an example of how you can 24:39 utilize those principles in the workplace... 24:42 I'll give you an example... and God has blessed me 24:48 with work in so many different places... 24:50 and I had... so many influential roles, 24:52 I was going into a meeting, and I jealously guarded... 24:58 and I worked for someone who understood 25:00 that I was not going to work on Sabbath... 25:02 it wasn't going to happen... 25:03 I had no issues from this person on Sabbath... 25:09 by the way... the further up you move in an Organization, 25:13 the least pressure... you have to work on a specific day 25:17 because when you are Director or Vice President 25:19 of a Corporation... they say... 25:21 "You must accomplish this... " 25:22 then pretty much they're counting on you 25:24 to do it... your way... 25:26 so usually there may be a couple of social issues 25:29 you can always bow out of those... 25:31 but basically... at a certain level... 25:33 the Sabbath really wasn't an issue... 25:34 I had been going to work quite a few Sundays 25:37 but it wasn't an issue... 25:38 But Brother Eric, I need to say for those viewers 25:41 who don't know what Sabbath is, 25:42 it's from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday... 25:45 those hours... according to the Fourth Commandment... 25:47 the Seventh day is the Sabbath, so, I just want to make sure 25:51 that people understand 25:52 what we are talking about when we say, "The Sabbath" 25:54 we're not talking about Sunday, we're talking about Saturday, 25:56 from Sunset Friday... to Sunset Saturday... 25:59 Absolutely... Okay, all right, go ahead, sorry 26:01 and there was a measure of respect for that... 26:05 not really a lot of issues... but one day... 26:09 we were going into a meeting, 26:10 and some information had gotten out... 26:12 and he knew that we were going to be quizzed... 26:14 so, he looked at us and said, 26:16 "You're going to have to lie when you go into this meeting. " 26:20 Now, I can come to Church and I can say... 26:26 "God is good Sister Yvonne... " 26:28 I can give you all the little Church talk... 26:32 Right... but if earlier that week... 26:35 for my job's sake... whatever that is... 26:39 I lie... I am still breaking one of the Commandments 26:44 That's right... that's right... I'm going to have to 26:47 fast forward you because we only have about a minute left 26:49 so, please tell us... what did you do? 26:51 I asked God... I said, "God, I'm going to walk in here 26:54 and tell the truth... and I have no clue 26:56 what he's going to do... but there's no way 26:58 that I'm going to tell a lie" Wow! 27:01 I did tell the truth... but there was no real consequence 27:05 because it never blew up 27:06 to the level that he was expecting anyway... 27:08 Praise the Lord... see... that's... 27:11 it's so important for us to remember... 27:14 that if we just do what God says, He honors that... 27:18 even if the consequence might seem negative, 27:21 you know... God can work it all out... 27:24 thank you so much Brother Eric, you did a marvelous job... 27:27 you have to come back and talk to us again... 27:29 I'd be glad to... thank you... Thank you... 27:31 Viewers know that wherever you are 27:34 you can let your light shine for Jesus... 27:36 He wants to be a part of every aspect of your life, 27:40 why not let Him in today? 27:42 If you're not sure quite how to do it, 27:44 contact us here at 3ABN for prayer and support... 27:47 our number is on the screen... 27:49 Well, we've reached the end of another Urban Report... 27:53 Tune in next time... where we'll have another 27:56 hopefully very interesting and inspiring Program for you... 28:02 if you don't tune in... you know... 28:04 it just wouldn't be the same without you... |
Revised 2015-06-22