Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Humility



I am currently in Kansas City for a meeting today. Yesterday I attended the onething conference put on by the International House of Prayer. There are 20,000 plus youth in attendance here, most on fire for God.

Last night, Loren Cunningham addressed the crowd. He is the founder of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) which is celebrating its 50 year anniversary. They are the largest mission organization in the world. He has been very good friends with people like Bill Bright, Billy Graham and Oral Roberts. He has impacted more people for Christ than most who have ever lived. Yet, he remains incredibly humble. Last night, he sluffed off all his accolades and gave credit to God and others.

That humility is one of the main reasons he is such a great leader.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6b

Monday, December 28, 2009

Urban Renewal

I must admit before getting started that I am not a fan of the Florida Gators. In fact, I kind of dislike them. It probably stems from the fact that they clobbered my beloved Buckeyes in the national championship game several years ago. I know, I'm a sore loser (and I probably need to get a life).

With that being said, I do respect what they have done. I also respect Urban Meyer, their very successful coach.

This weekend he shocked the college football world by announcing that he was resigning at the age of 45 to take care of his health. Then, within 24 hours, he announced that he will take the offer the university gave him of a sabbatical before returning to the team.

The impression I got from hearing his press conference was that he was burned out. It also appears that it is all or nothing with Meyer and that he clearly works way too much. Some reporters said it was a true 24/7 job with him. This had apparently caught up with him causing him to collapse after this year's SEC Championship Game.

Over his five years at Florida, Meyer has won two national championships and has the highest winning percentage of any active coach--quite impressive. So, this could not have been an easy decision. He is at the top of his game. Plus he makes $4 million per year. He has "success" in the world's eyes. Yet, he is stepping down. He obviously sees that all this "success" isn't worth much if he doesn't have his health or his family to share it with.

I applaud Urban Meyer for making this decision.

Heading into this new year, this can be a great lesson for all of us who are driven personalities. Balance between work and life is so important. We must make time to live, laugh and love...and to rest and renew.

Carpe Diem!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas Blessings


Merry Christmas to you!

Check out this short video which contains my prayer for you...many blessings this Christmas and in the coming new year!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Encourage Someone Today


Have you ever felt down and been encouraged by someone? Perhaps it was a kind word or a gift. Maybe it was just them listening and understanding. Regardless, they made a difference in your life at that moment.

Check out the short video above for a reminder of the difference we can make in the lives of others through very simple acts.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up...
1 Thessalonians 5:11a

Friday, December 18, 2009

Life Is But A Mist

I have been a golf fan since my younger days and I loved to follow Jack Nicklaus. I'm not sure exactly why. It could have been because he went to Ohio State and was a Buckeye. It could have been because of his charisma or the fact that he seemed like a good guy. Nevertheless, he was my guy.

I never thought that his record for major golf championships would be broken in my lifetime. Jack has 18 championships to his credit in the four biggies played each year. When Nicklaus was playing, the next closest active player was Tom Watson at 8, so his record seemed insurmountable.

Then along came Tiger Woods who now stands at 14 championships. Up until a few weeks ago, I figured, as did the rest of the world, that he would eclipse Nicklaus' mark by a wide margin. Woods is relatively young and it seemed like a no-brainer that he would soon fly by Nicklaus.

Well, now I'm not so sure. With Tiger's troubles coming to light recently, I don't believe anyone knows what will happen with him. Shoot, he may never play again, we just don't know.

Also in the news was the sad death of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, Chris Henry, 26. Apparently he was arguing with his fiancee and jumped or fell out of a moving pickup truck and was killed. What a shame.

While sad, both of these stories can be a great lesson to all of us. We don't know what tomorrow holds, only the Lord does. So, let's make today count!

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
James 4:13-16

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Perseverance

In 1992, Derek Redmond, Britain's star sprinter was looking to get into the finals of the 400 meter event at the Olympic Games in Barcelona.

His career was filled with injuries and this day would be no different as he tore his hamstring. Check out the short video above for a great picture of what perseverance is all about. It's about pressing on through our pain and adversity, knowing that our Heavenly Father is going to help us along the way.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Sharpening the Saw

Yesterday, as I mentioned in my previous post, I got two or less hours of sleep before leading our 3rd Tuesday Truth At Work group that morning. I arrived back to my office around 12:30 and tried to catch up on some stuff that came up while I was away the prior few days. I really wanted to get caught up.

However, it seemed I just couldn't get much done. I felt like I was running in quicksand and getting nowhere fast. So, I decided to take a nap.

I then went to a production my son was involved in at school last night and came home and immediately went back to bed and had a great night's sleep.

Today, I had another Truth At Work group to lead and I am now in my office making some nice headway on my tasks.

Stephen Covey's seventh habit in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is Sharpen the Saw. He says that we must rest or refresh in order to be most effective. This is obviously a Biblical principle as well (see the 10 commandments). In the book, he tells the following story:

He's walking through the woods and he hears a sawing noise. He investigates and finds a guy sweating profusely as he tries to cut down a tree. He says to him, "What are you doing?"

The man replies, "I'm cutting down this tree, you dummy!"

Stephen says, "No, I mean, it looks like you have been working hard. How long have you been at this?"

"Two hours."

"Why don't you take some time to sharpen the saw? It will make things go much faster and easier."

"I don't have time to do that--I've got to get this tree cut down!"

Yesterday afternoon when I was trying to get my work done, I had the same attitude as that tree cutter. I could have worked for hours without getting much done. What I really needed was to sharpen my saw which in my case was getting some sleep.

How sharp is your saw?

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Exodus 20:11a

Monday, December 14, 2009

It's a Not To Worry

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days. Today is my wonderful mother's 70th birthday. My wife and I and my three sisters along with my two brothers-in-law planned a 5 day trip to her favorite place on earth, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. The incredible thing about this is that my mom knew nothing of it until we called her at 2:30 AM while we were on our way to pick her up. She was told to not ask questions, but to simply take a shower. We then arrived and presented her with a new outfit for her to wear (my sisters had done some shopping and purchased clothing for her for the trip which was already packed for her) and off we went for the airport.

She (and we) had a wonderful time and are now almost home. However, the trip to St. Thomas was very eventful with lots of stuff happening at home which had me a bit stressed. There was nothing I could do about it, yet I was stressed. My wife kept trying to encourage me with a statement that my mother used to "encourage" me when I was younger, "It's a not to worry." This is one of her axioms for life even to this day.

Well, everything ended up just fine.

Now let me tell you about our trip home which began around Noon today.

We had arranged for a local taxi driver, whom we had befriended, to take us to the airport. I had asked that we leave for the airport about two and a half hours early; however, he said we didn’t need to leave until one and a half hours before our flight. We compromised and agreed on two hours.

Well, he was late. We found ourselves departing our condo one and a half hours before our flight (I guess he was going to get his way, no matter what!). We then got stuck in traffic and I was anything but peaceful.

When we finally arrived at the airport we had a little less than an hour before our flight departed, or so we thought. When we got to the gate, we saw that our flight had been moved up by fifteen minutes, yikes! So we waited in line and I have to admit, I was a little worried. I knew I could do nothing, yet, peace was not coming to me.

When we got to the counter, they couldn’t find our reservation. After a few minutes of searching the computer, they found us. Then, we had trouble getting through customs and security (we must look like a high risk!). As I was putting my shoes back on, my shoelace broke which slowed me a little further.

When we finally got to the gate, it was five minutes past when our flight was supposed to leave. Thankfully, they held it for us which does not happen often.

I am now sitting in Newark’s airport which we are connecting through to Detroit. Our two hour layover has now turned in to a six hour layover which will put us home sometime around 3:30 or 4 AM. I then need to leave my house two and a half hours later to set up and lead a four hour meeting. Oh well, it’s a not to worry!

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:34

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Leading By Example

In college, I played basketball for The University of Toledo. When I was a freshman, I was much like a scared kitten. I tried to just stay out of every one's way. I didn't have a clue about much of anything, especially leadership.

UT has a freshman on their team this year who amazes me. Jake Barnett's playing ability is not the thing that impresses me (although he is very good). It is his leadership that I marvel at.

As this article in The Toledo Blade shares, Jake was named by his teammates as a captain of the team. The first time a freshman has held that mantle in school history.

"There was a respect factor there for us as a whole group that we have for Jake," junior forward Justin Anyijong said. "That's why we did that. We don't look at him as a freshman. We look at him as one of our leaders."

Jake is the first one in the gym before practice and the last one to leave. Now I found out that after games, he goes back out on the floor to work on his shooting. Amazing. After practice, I think I was the first one in the locker room!

I was talking with one of the assistant coaches at UT and he told me that from day one, Jake has been a leader. In fact, he said that he came in and organized a Bible study for the team and has changed the entire team atmosphere. That sort of thing from a freshman is unheard of. And, it's very cool!

It's clear that Jake Barnett is not only going to have an impact out on the floor during his career at UT, but also in the lives of many!

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12

Monday, December 07, 2009

Shoes In Africa

I was talking with a friend of mine on Friday who lost his job a couple of months ago. He was telling me that there's really nothing out there for him in his area of expertise.

Most people who are in that situation mope around and complain. But my conversation with Pat was very encouraging for me because he was recounting all of the other opportunities that lay before him. None of them are really in the field he is experienced in, yet he is looking at this situation as very exciting, with a "I can't wait to see what you are going to do God!" attitude.

I shared with him that this reminded me of a story I heard about a shoe company who hired two salesmen to sell shoes for them in Africa. They trained them and sent them on their way with order forms in hand.

About a month later, one of the salesmen returned home with no orders written. He dejectedly told his manager, "There is no way to sell shoes in Africa. No one wears shoes over there!"

Another month went by and nobody from the company had heard from salesman #2. Then a package arrived from him. In the package was a stack of order forms and payments along with a message that said, "Please send more order forms ASAP! No one wears shoes here! The opportunities are endless!"

So what kind of attitude are you going to choose?

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Nothing to Hide

I started in my men's accountability group/bible study six years ago. I was terrified the first day. I had no idea what to expect.

I was a guy who kept everything to himself. I wanted everyone to think that everything was going great and that I had no issues. I was a walking facade.

When we began, guys began to share some pretty intimate details about their life, including their issues. My immediate thought was that this was pretty weird. But I have to admit, a part of me was saying this was really cool.

It came my turn to share. I surprised myself by revealing some things that I had been holding on to and trying to carry all by myself.

Immediately afterwards, I felt a tremendous relief, as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I remember calling my wife after the meeting and saying, "What have I been doing all my life without this!" It provided that much relief to me.

I have now come to a place where I realize that everyone has issues. Some are bigger than others, yet we all have 'em. Even Tiger Woods.

Tiger was involved in a minor car accident a few days ago in his driveway which seems pretty strange. He has remained silent about it which has added more fuel to the fire in the media. Yesterday, however, he released an apology of sorts:

"I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart," Woods said on his Web site. "I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone."

I am sure Tiger feels a bit better after releasing this apology; however, I bet he still feels like he is in a prison of sorts because he is trying to keep whatever happened hidden.

There are now rumors of marital infidelity on Woods' part. Even if this is true, I believe Tiger would feel much more free if it was out in the open. Only when it is brought into the light can true healing take place.

I know that Tiger has a lot more at stake than I do or just about anyone else and it's real easy for me to say this, not being in his shoes. However, just because he is one of the most famous people on earth, does not mean that certain axioms don't apply to him. One such axiom that applies here is this one that a good friend of mine shared with me, "When you've got nothing to hide, you are the most free person in the world."

"For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open."
Luke 8:17

Workaholic

You might be a workaholic if you ever do this...or think of doing this. Watch this 29 second video:



Wednesday, December 02, 2009

The Answer Is No

Do you ever feel like God's answers to your prayers seems to be "No" a lot more than "Yes"? Did you ever consider that He probably has a good reason for that?

It could be that what you are asking for doesn't line up with His will. Or it could be that He knows what is best for you (just like you do as a parent). I'll bet if you looked at some of your requests in the past, you can say, "I sure am glad He didn't give me what I was asking for then!"

No matter what, God has your best interests at heart at all times. Watch this short video for a glimpse of this.


Lord, help us to be "so be it" Christians - people who are joyful at all times - people who pray continually and people who are thankful in all circumstances!

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18