Not everyone develops the ability to think about their own thinking, but those who do distinguish themselves intellectually. So also, those who decide about their own deciding distinguish themselves morally. What are the principles that guide my decision making? How have my past decisions shaped my current reality? What do today's decisions mean for my future and the generations that will follow me? What is the cost of indecision? In these pages Pastor Alexis Johnson lays out these and many other valuable considerations for decision-making pathways that bring honor to God and distinction to our lives. This work represents more than diligent study.It represents the lessons gleaned from decades of wise living and offered in love. Pastor Alexis Johnson is one of the most deliberate people that I know. His life and reputation truly bear the fruit of the "power of decisions". -Dr. Shannon Mason, MSEd, Ph.D/ Mission Strategist. This book is about the decisions that you make every moment of every day. Decisions are cumulative. No decision that you make is inconsequential. You will never see one rain drop fall out of the sky. Our thoughts/decisions accumulate and metaphorically become like clouds. Within a cloud, water droplets combine with one another, causing the droplets to grow. When these water droplets get too heavy to stay suspended in the cloud, they fall to earth as rain. So it is with each thought. As it merges with other thoughts, they come together and form the "rainfall" of a decision. God Himself made a decision to hold back the rain from coming on the earth because He had no man to till the ground. It was not until He made man and put him in the Garden east-ward of Eden that He allowed the rain to come. By then, He had a man to keep it and to cultivate it. The original man made a decision to keep the Garden, maintain and cultivate it, thus causing growth. He was also instructed by his Creator to subdue and have dominion over every living thing moving upon the earth. With this kind of responsibility, our emotions must be grounded in knowing our purpose for existence. According to neuroscientist and professor Dr. Antonio Damasio, "emotions are inextricably linked to thoughts and together they drive the decision-making process. We need emotional input to make decisions. If we lacked the capacity to fell (as certain brain-damaged patients do), we would become incapable of making decisions. Emotion and feeling interact in the thought process, creating a kind of bridge between the rational and non-rational dynamic." {Dr. Antonio Damasio bigthink.com} Healthy emotions interacting with rational thoughts are essential to our decision-making. In our decision -making we need to be careful to monitor those emotions and feeling that are derived from our fleshly appetites. Of course, appetite is a normal, vital component of our God-created human-ness. According to neuro-psycho-pharmacology research, our appetites can affect our decision making, with inevitable positive or negative ramifications. {sciencedaily.com} Our decisions are, in part, a product of our past, informed by our present, and reflect our anticipated future. To shape our future, we must consider our decision-making potential. Our decisions do have the power-the power to bring good or harm, and thus, the power to impact our generation and future generations. A single good decision can turn our lives into triumph; a single bad decision can turn our lives into chaos. Unfortunately, our first human parents, Adam and Eve, made an irrational decision based on a thought process that succumbed to Satan's appeal to their emotions. The human race is still living out of that decision. Whether appetite-based decisions, or Spirit-let decisions, we will be exploring, "The Power of Decisions." "If you want to change your future, change your decisions" Your future is in your hands; that is your decision. Alexis Johnson