Pudge

I was saddened this morning when I heard that Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez had been traded by the Tigers to the New York Yankees. Pudge came to Detroit 4 1/2 years ago and has really helped to turn the team around. Not only has he done this with his stellar play and great work ethic, but he has done it with class. It is no surprise that he is leaving the organization with that same classy style.

"My 4 1/2 years in a Detroit uniform were very good, very nice," Rodriguez said. "People thought Detroit was never going to be a winning team. And guess what? We played in the World Series. We hired a good manager, one of the best managers in the game. It's unbelievable."

I contrast that with words I heard from Manny Ramirez this morning that he spoke about his team, the Boston Red Sox:

"The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me," Ramirez said. "During my years here, I've seen how they [the Red Sox] have mistreated other great players when they didn't want them to try to turn the fans against them.

"The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy," Ramirez added. "I love Boston fans, but the Red Sox don't deserve me. I'm not talking about money. Mental peace has no price, and I don't have peace here."

Thanks Pudge for all you've done and thanks for being a great leader by example! I'll miss seeing you with the old English "D" on your chest.

The Sky Is Falling!

In the Toledo area gas prices have come down recently. Last week I even saw them sniff the $3.50 range. This was about a week after hearing on the radio that prices could hit $3.50 by year end because of the decrease in the price of crude oil and the decrease in demand (I guess our local gas stations didn’t know they could wait until year end to lower their prices to the current levels).

About a month prior to that, I had heard that we could see prices close to $6.00 per gallon within the next year.

Along the same lines, 30 years or so ago, I remember the media talking about how the earth could be covered by ice within the next 100 years as the earth was cooling down so fast. Today, all we hear about is global warming.

So how do you know what is true?

Certainly not from the media. We must realize that the "sky must be falling" for them to sell papers. The only place you can find absolute truth is in the Bible. Anything else is pure speculation.

Passion

Yesterday at church, Andrew Smith did a great job of explaining the importance of passion in our lives. This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I love to see people passionate about what they do. I love to see people chasing their passions.

Andrew had a large, ordinary looking flower pot sitting on the table next to him. Throughout the service, I kept wondering what he was going to do with it.

He finally went over to the pot and explained that the pot was just like us. Sometimes we can feel like we are going through the motions and we can feel just like an empty pot sitting on a table.

He then pulled out some flowers and some potting soil and began to transfer the flowers to the pot, transforming this plain, ordinary pot into a beautiful thing.

As soon as the flowers found their new home in the pot, Andrew explained that the pot was fulfilling its purpose. Cool stuff.

He concluded the service by challenging us to chase down our passions, even if it meant being impractical. That hit me hard. I realized that I had not been encouraging my daughter Molly to chase her dreams.

She dreams of working in the music industry somewhere because she really is passionate about music. I haven’t discouraged her from this but I haven’t been overly enthusiastic about it either. You see, I’m a pretty practical kind of guy and working in the music industry sounds anything but practical.

When we got home, I told Molly that I really want her to chase her dreams and her passions. I told her I want her to continue pursuing the music thing but I want her to look for ways to do something for God while doing it. I apologized for not supporting her more. I think she was appreciative of this. Hopefully, this will be a lesson I can hang onto.

Too Much of a Good Thing

This is what our hanging baskets on the outside of our porch looked like this past weekend before I fertilized them.

Several days later, here is the result:



I guess I over-fertilized.

Fertilizer is a good thing but when there is too much of it, it can have an ill-effect. This is true with a lot of "good" things in our lives. When we do too much of it it can actually be harmful.

Reading the Bible is certainly something we should do. It truly is our owners manual for life. Going to church is also good as we are able to support and build up others. But if all we did was read our Bibles and go to church, how could we impact those who need God?

Jesus was a great example of this. He knew the Word, but more importantly, He DID the Word. He actually did life with others, where they were. Through this He changed the world!

Responsibility

Did you hear about this? It seems a Tennessee man was at church and says he was so consumed by the spirit of God that he fell and hit his head. I love it when people are passionate about things, especially when they are passionate about God (even so passionate that they fall down while worshiping). If that was the end of the story, that would be pretty cool.

However, as Paul Harvey would say, "And now, the rest of the story..." Now this man is suing Lakewind Church for $2.5 million in damages for medical bills, lost time off work and pain and suffering.

Whatever happened to people stepping up and taking responsibility for their own actions?

To read the rest of the story, go here.

The Body of Christ

Check out this amazing short video:

If any one of those parachutists was not doing their job, the entire stunt would not have worked. What a great reminder that we all have a role to play in the body of Christ!

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27

Playing To An Audience Of One

I have a real problem with people criticizing others when they have never been in the same situation. That is probably why I was rooting so hard for Greg Norman to keep himself together and win the British Open yesterday.

He didn't get it done but he really had an incredible week. Had he won, at age 53, he would have been the oldest champion of a major golf tournament in history.

His career disappointments are well documented, from Larry Mize chipping in at Augusta to snatch a green jacket from him in a playoff at The Masters to Bob Tway's hole out from a bunker at Inverness to win the PGA. Most notably is his collapse at The Masters where he lost a 6 shot lead in the final round to Nick Faldo.

Many have called him one of golf's greatest "chokers." This is the stuff that gets me upset. The people who have called him this have never been in the same position to know what it feels like.

I can only imagine the pressure he felt to win yesterday. It could have taken away many of the negative thoughts that others have of him and changed his legacy in golf. That is a lot to think about and may have contributed to his less than stellar performance on Sunday.

Two things I take from this. One, I applaud Norman's perseverance. He was in there fighting away. He took a chance and I think still came out victorious as this article states. Second, I think about how often we fight to improve our image, the way others view us. This is sad. We should all be playing for an audience of One.

He Gets It!

In my men's group this morning, Stu shared with us a story about how he had a really cool conversation with one of his company's distributors that led to a discussion about God. He went on to say that he has no idea whether it had an impact on this guy or not.

Well, knowing Stu and the way he is constantly looking for ways to help others, I can almost guarantee that it did have a positive impact.

One of my passions is faith in the workplace, the fact that we can live out our faith 24/7...even at work. That is what God calls us to do in the Bible. I know many people who go to church on Sunday and put on their "Christian hat" and then hang it on the peg on their way out of church so they can put it back on next Sunday. That is sad. We can and should be wearing our Christian hats all the time!

Stu gets that! We can all learn from him! When we do, we will notice a renewed energy about our work and everything we do. The reason for this? Because we will realize that everything we do has a greater purpose.

Just Do It!

I met with a friend of mine yesterday who is going through some difficult stuff. I challenged him last week to get four things done which we both felt would help move him along toward getting out of the situation he is in. I told him that I wanted to see that he had done these things by the time we got together the following week.

He got two of the four things done but those were big steps. In fact, yesterday morning he said he woke up and didn't feel like doing anything. He felt paralyzed, like he was being sucked into his "pit." He said he just decided to do the thing he needed to do in spite of the way he was feeling.

I met with him immediately after this appointment and he said something pretty revealing. He shared, "Jim, I felt terrible when I got up. But after following through on what I knew was the right thing to do, my entire outlook has changed. I now have hope."

Wow, what a statement! I am very proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone!

This applies to each and every one of us. We can't let our feelings control us. When we know we need to do something and it is the right thing to do, even if we don't feel like it, we need to follow the advice of Nike and Just Do It!

Passion

I didn't watch any of it but the American League defeated the National League for the 11th straight year in baseball's All Star Game. The game was the longest in major league history as it took 15 innings to decide the winner.

The American League champion will once again have home field advantage in the World Series at the end of the season. On SportsCenter on ESPN this morning, I was struck by how passionate the sportscasters were discussing this game. They were up in arms because they don't think the All Star game should determine home field advantage--they think it should simply be an exhibition game.

Their argument was that because it actually means something, managers will do things not normally done during an exhibition game because they want to win. This, they contend puts players' health at risk.

The way they were discussing this was if world peace depended on a solution to this "problem." I thought about how truly unimportant this was in the greater scheme of life. Yet, I watched intently.

I think I was interested in what they had to say because of one word: Passion. These guys had passion about what they were talking about. You could tell they believed in what they were saying.

We are instructed to do things with passion--to the best of our abilities. So what will you be passionate about?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Colossians 3:23

Let Your Yes Be Yes

I have been a Brett Favre fan for a long time. I'm not sure why, but I think I just liked the way he played...gritty, determined, tough and he was always a team player.

Favre retired from the Green Bay Packers earlier this year much to the chagrin of their loyal fans. This past weekend, word was leaked that he wanted to return to the team. This has caused major disruption to the Packers as their up and coming quarterback, Aaron Rodgers is scheduled to be the starter this year. The team wants to show support of Rodgers because he is their future at that position, yet they also don't want to tarnish the legacy that Favre has attained.

There are now a contingent of fans who want Favre back and there are others who see him as a whiner.

Though I have respected Favre his entire career, I happen to be in the latter category. I think what he is doing is very detrimental to the team. It's as if he is saying everything is about Brett Favre.

It's a shame that it has come to this. I hope his reputation isn't tainted by this act of selfishness.

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5:37

Failing Forward

Have you ever been around someone who says, "I'm not good enough yet to do that"? Or how about, "He does it so much better than I can, so I'll let him do it"?

I know many such people and I in fact have been like this at times. Perfectionists.

Being a perfectionist can be crippling. If we buy into the lie that "if it can't be done perfectly, it shouldn't be done at all" we will never do anything.

Those who are very good at something have obviously failed many times in order to perfect their craft. The only way you will get better is to do something...now--even if it is not that great. You will eventually get better. And in almost every case, something done poorly is worth more than something not done at all. Someone once told me that the key to growth is to Fail Forward.

Here is what Zig Ziglar says about this topic:

Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Doing Poorly

Chances are superb that when you saw the heading of this article you did a double-take and thought to yourself, "That is ridiculous!" But, let us think together and I believe you will agree that the observation is correct. Look at it this way: If you were to quit any endeavor because you did miserably on the first try, your life would be infinitely poorer. Think of it this way: When you watch sports professionals, whether golf, tennis or any other sport, play near-perfect games, you probably stand in amazement. What you're watching is an individual who has literally hit thousands of golf balls, or tennis balls, many of them poorly, and has taken hundreds of lessons from teaching pros to improve his or her game. They understood from the beginning that if they were going to play good golf or tennis, they would play a lot of poor games along the way.

The same applies in every area of life. Most sales professionals probably blew many sales before they became consummate professionals. They understood that every call, whether they made or missed the sale, was a marvelous learning experience. They understood that if it was worth doing, it was worth doing poorly - until they learned to do it well.

The same can be said of the exceptional teacher or the master chef. Each undoubtedly made many mistakes along the way, but they considered those "mistakes" learning experiences. So, whatever your endeavor, just remember that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly until you can learn to do it well. Buy that idea and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Dreaming

The Dreamgiver by Bruce Wilkinson is one of my favorite books. In it Wilkinson shares a parable about a guy named Ordinary who lives in the town of Familiar. He wakes up every day and goes to the Job and then comes home every night and watches the Box. Sound familiar?

Then one night, Ordinary is visited by the Dreamgiver and his life is forever changed. He gets a dream for his future. What separates Ordinary from most everyone else in Familiar is that he decides to chase his dream.

The book goes on to show the challenges and the joys that Ordinary experiences during his journey. It truly is a great read and very inspirational.

The reason I like this book so much is probably because I'm a dreamer. I like to look at situations as they might be. Some might say I'm naive and that it is a weakness. Perhaps that's true; however, I prefer to look on the bright side of things. It certainly is more fun than the alternative.

I believe that each of us has a dream and that we were made for greatness. I also believe that our gifts, talents and passions give us an indication of what our dream is. God has wired each of us a certain way on purpose and for a purpose. Check out this short video which talks about our dreams - click here.

So what's your dream?

The American Dream

Casting Crowns has a great song called American Dream in which they describe a husband and father who works long hours so that he and his family can have all sorts of toys. At the end of the song, he finally decides it is not worth it and he chooses to spend more time with his family.

I think many of us can relate to this song because we are told by the world to work harder so we can accumulate more stuff. You know, "He who dies with the most toys wins!"

It is so hard in today's society to not be drawn to financial wealth and the neat things it can buy. Trust me, I know this. Prior to becoming a Christ follower, money was my god. I felt that the only way I could find security and peace was in having enough money in the bank or in investments. After all, with money I wouldn't have any worries or stress, right?

As I accumulated money I found that the stress in my life actually increased. That is what put me on a quest to find peace. That road thankfully led me to Christ.

However, though I now know that finances cannot bring me security, I still find myself at times (although pretty rare now) longing for more wealth, for the American dream.

The Barna Group recently did a study on what people perceive to need in order to have an ideal life, or the American dream. The results surprised me. I was expecting to see a lot of "things" listed but instead this is what they found:

There were six specific conditions that at least three-quarters of all adults identified as being very important elements in their ideal life. Those included having good physical health (listed by 85%), living with a high degree of integrity (also 85%), having one marriage partner for life (80%), having a clear purpose for living (77%), having a close relationship with God (75%), and having close, personal friendships (74%).

How refreshing. So what do you need for your ideal life?

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:21

Complacency

I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday who is very involved in the youth soccer league in our community. He was telling me about another friend of ours whose son was just cut from his team during tryouts.

Rich said he was shocked that our friend's son was cut because he is one of the better players and has been playing for years. Then he found out that he went into tryouts knowing he was going to make the team so he just did a lot of goofing around.

The coach saw this as not being a team player and being undisciplined so he cut him.

As it ended up, two players left that team to join another team so he was allowed to join the team again. But what a great life lesson for him! What a great life lesson for us!

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23-24

God At Work

This past year I was privileged to be chairman of the 19th annual National Day Of Prayer Breakfast held in Toledo. The event was a great success.

This year I am serving on the committee while Bob Borcherdt, a great friend of mine and college basketball teammate serves as chairman.

We met last Friday to discuss the possibility of taking this to a whole new level and doing something that could help the entire area from a leadership perspective. Bob had an in with John Maxwell and asked if we should pursue that.

We all said "Yes!" We all agreed that this was a long shot to say the least and the only way it was going to happen was if God made it happen. Afterall, John Maxwell is probably the best-known teacher on leadership in the world and he is very difficult to book.

So despite the odds, Bob and a couple of others from the team crafted a great letter to send to John Maxwell's manager. Yesterday (5 days after the letter was sent), we heard that John has agreed to come for the event! He will also put on a 4 hour workshop that day (May 7th) in the afternoon.

Wow!

We as a committee are still stunned and we almost have a sense of, "Yikes, what did we get ourselves in to?" We know much work is in front of us but we also know that God is making this happen and we just mostly have to stay out of His way.

Cool stuff!

Truth At Work

Yesterday was an exciting day for me.

I heard back from Truth At Work that my application had been accepted and I was officially a Chapter President for Truth At Work for NW Ohio and SE Michigan.

I will be working on building roundtable groups with Christian business owners and leaders in the area.

This all started when I was chairman of this year’s National Day of Prayer Breakfast in Toledo. Our speaker for that event was Ray Hilbert from Truth At Work in Indianapolis.

After the breakfast, Ray and I spent a couple hours getting to know one another at a local Bob Evans. Little did I know that during our brief time together God was going to show up in such a big way.

We discussed the possibility of starting the Truth At Work concept in the Toledo area and I was very excited. It was as if God was telling me that this is what He has been preparing me for. So I decided to go to Indianapolis to observe one of their half-day sessions. This included a group of business owners and key executives who gather together each month to discuss issues that are critical to their personal, business and spiritual success. During this executive roundtable the group was guided through a highly structured and proven program that helped them advise one another on how to handle critical business and personal issues from a Biblical perspective.

I was so impressed by what I saw that I came back and shared this information with a few Christian business owners and leaders I know. I have received very strong and positive feedback.

I have discovered that Truth At Work has expanded to several cities throughout the U.S and I am now working to bring it to the NW Ohio and SE Michigan area. Very exciting stuff--Yea God!

Waiting

Have you ever been to a restaurant by yourself and had to wait for someone to show up? I have plenty of times and it has sometimes felt awkward, especially when I failed to bring something to do. While everyone else is happily chatting and eating away, I find myself looking over the menu for the 13th time.

Does it make you feel better when your party shows up and gives you the excuse for why they were late? No, me neither.

Feeling this way has made my desire to never be late increase. I know I don’t like it when others are late so I certainly don’t want to cause someone else to feel that way. In addition, I try to not make excuses for my lateness when I am tardy, although I still find myself slipping into excuse mode from time to time.

If you are the excuse making type, you might like these actual excuses told to bosses for being late to work. But do me a favor, please don’t use them!

1. While rowing across the river to work, I got lost in the fog.
2. Someone stole all my daffodils.
3. I had to go audition for American Idol.
4. My ex-husband stole my car so I couldn't drive to work.
5. My route to work was shut down by a presidential motorcade.
6. I have transient amnesia and couldn't remember my job.
7. I was indicted for securities fraud this morning.
8. The line was too long at Starbucks.
9. I was trying to get my gun back from the police.
10. I didn't have money for gas because all of the pawnshops were closed.