Moved

Just a quick reminder to let you know that my new Blog is now at www.5feet20.com. I hope to see you there!

Jim

Changes

I have been Blogging at this site for almost four years now and I am so thankful for all of you who read what I have to say. I really appreciate each of you very much.

I have recently gone through an overhaul of my website...actually it is a brand new website which is still a bit in process. As a result, I will no longer be blogging here, but at my new site. So...I am inviting you to visit me at www.5feet20.com - where I have my latest new post. If you would like to receive my posts in your email, you can sign up here. It takes about 11 seconds.

Thanks everyone--I look forward to seeing you at www.5feet20.com! Again, if you'd like to receive my posts via email, you can do so here.

Genuine Article

I have been told that bank tellers used to be trained to detect counterfeit bills by putting the tellers in a room and showing them genuine currency. They were taught the nuances of each type of bill and they were encouraged to touch, smell and study every square millimeter of each bill.

After they were trained they were tested. The tellers were put in front of a conveyor belt loaded with genuine bills. Occasionally someone would insert a counterfeit bill onto the belt. The tellers would immediately look at it, pull it off, and say, “I can't tell you why, but something's not right about this bill. This must be a counterfeit."

The reason they were able to detect the fakes was that they had spent so much time with the real deal. They knew what the genuine article was all about so anything that didn't match up to it exactly stuck out like a sore thumb.

The same principle holds true in our lives. We are bombarded with so much information today that it is sometimes difficult to discern what is true and what is not. The Word of God is truth. Just like these tellers, we need to spend time in it so that we know what is genuine and what is fake.

If you want to see a cool way that I recently learned to do this, here is a link to a message I gave in our church a couple months ago.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

Wise Counsel

At the beginning of the year I began on a new book project that I am very excited about. I am still searching for a title but the overall premise of the book is how to find peace in the midst of chaos. The title I have right now is The Quest for Peace, How to Remain Calm in This Chaotic World (By the way, I am open to title suggestions--please add them in the comments section!).

This summer I finished with the first draft and gave it to several people to get their editorial feedback. I had asked for comments on any theological issues they have, any places where it seemed slow or boring and any places where there wrer grammatical errors or typos. I asked that they get back to me by this past weekend. So, Monday I spent a good portion of my day pouring over the comments and suggestions.

What I found amazing was that very few people had the same corrections when it came to spelling or grammar issues. It seemed that most errors were only found by one person while they were skipped over by the others. When combined, I had quite a few corrections to make and I was so thankful that all five of the readers had provided their input. Even though the book has several more stages to go through, had I only asked a couple of people or, worse yet, had I not asked for any help, this book would have probably contained many errors.

The same holds true in our lives. When faced with a tough decision, it is wise to get other trusted advisers involved.

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Proverbs 15:22

Pretty Small

I don’t know about you but I have a tendency to think more highly about myself than I should. I sometimes feel that I am so talented and so important or that everything is up to me and I don’t need any help. This is pride, the chief sin in the Bible. I sometimes think I could be the poster child for pride.

My wife took this picture of me a night or two ago. It's something I need to look at with regularity to remind me that, in the greater scheme of things, I truly am really small and I do need lots of help (for those of you who don't know, I'm freakishly tall at 6 feet, 8 and ½ inches tall).

The same is true of all of us...we all need help and can do nothing without Him. Jesus reminded us of this when He said:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

A Senior Moment

It's that time of year when I annually read about Ohio State football seniors who cannot believe that this is their final season as a Buckeye. Dane Sanzenbacher, a Buckeye senior from Toledo, said this about his career, "I just shake my head thinking about it. Those four years have absolutely flown by - good times, tough times - it all seems to go by so fast." (Click here to read entire story)

I can totally relate to what Sanzenbacher is saying. I distinctly remember my first two years at The University of Toledo. I used to dread basketball practice each day and it felt like my career would never come to an end (This may sound odd, but it wasn't a lot of fun most days...in fact it felt like a tough job much of the time). In spite of my feelings, before I knew it, I was a senior.

Now I look back and it has been over 25 years since I suited up, yet it seems like yesterday...although my body begs to differ!

This is a great reminder to me of how precious and how short life is...it truly is but a mist. So Carpe Diem!

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
James 4:14

Just Ask Kenny Rogers

Tate Publishing is the company I selected to publish my first book, Bleedership, Biblical First-Aid for Leaders. They are a group of some really neat people who do a great job.

I remember speaking with Richard Tate, the company's founder when I was trying to choose a publisher. He told me something that really stuck with me. He said, "Jim, don't think that by having this book published that you are all of a sudden going to get rich. This is just the beginning. You will need to work to help market it." I didn't fully understand this until after my book was released and I attended the Christian Booksellers Convention in Denver. There I found out that I really was a tiny minnow in an enormous ocean. Richard was right, it was going to take a lot of effort. And this is true in anything we do.

Tate sends out a regular newsletter to their authors and in the past issue were these words on this very topic from Richard:

The sad issue today is that many new authors and artists think that because they have a good book or great music that it should just “happen” for them and that it is the total responsibility of the publisher or label to do all the work. It takes work, persistence, and lots of effort by the author or artist alongside their publisher and label. Trust me, it is all worth it, and Rita and I have a million good memories as a result of those years and made a fine living on the road. You can as well if that is your dream – and if you are willing to work with your team.

Last fall I was outside our house standing in the driveway talking with my son Ryan, who is the effective President and CEO of our companies, when my cell phone rang. The voice on the other end was our good friend and country music legend Kenny Rogers. He was calling about his upcoming trip to our location and wanted to go over a few things with me and Ryan. Here is the “kicker” to the conversation.

I said, “Kenny, you sound a bit tired, my friend!”

He replied, “Just a bit, Richard. We have the Fiftieth Anniversary tour coming up in January with Dolly Parton, and I have been working ten hours a day on the phone and on the computer calling venues, newspapers, radio and TV stations, and promoters working to get the crowds out. I have been doing this for half a century and it is still a lot of work.”

Kirt Webster, who works with us out of Nashville and manages Dolly Parton, told me at our dinner there recently, “Richard, I have never seen anyone work harder than Dolly. She is after it hours and hours every day to stay successful.”

Lee Greenwood, who is a new part of our music and publishing family and the author of “God Bless the USA,” told us in the conference room at his last visit that he worked for years and years in every kind of venue that would book him, large or small, before his career took off and he became the legend he is today.

Two-time country music entertainer of the year Neal McCoy is doing several projects with us. He was Entertainer of the Year TWICE and said to me from his bus one night after a packed out show, “It took me thirteen years, Richard, before I had a hit. Thirteen years of any and every kind of gig until things took off. I work harder today than ever to keep us on the road doing what I love.”

We love our relationship with the Oak Ridge Boys and their long time manager Jim Halsey. I was visiting with Joe Bonsall when the “Boys” were here recently (they still do over 100 shows a year), and I asked him what he would tell some of our new and aspiring authors and artists. He did not even hesitate. “They have to be willing to work. They have to be willing to sing or speak to 5 just like they would to 5,000. Most people think they should get their break because of the record label. Not so. It takes the label and the artist working hard every day. You don’t deserve that booking, you have to work for it and it HAS to be about your music or the message of your book first of all.”

Our marketing and publicists work hard to make each artist and each author as successful as possible. But the biggest mistake I see authors and artists make is to think they deserve it, and it should just “happen.” It takes hard work even after you have become a legend in the industry.

Just ask Kenny Rogers.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.

Hebrews 10:36

Fertile Soil

Believe it or not, I am going to talk about the landscaping project in our front yard again. First I posted about the project which seemed like it would never end. Then I wrote about the fact that before I knew it there was grass growing. A couple weeks ago I discussed the weeds that have cropped up.

Well, in order to begin this project, my son and I needed to move the stone that was already down (we put this down instead of wood mulch). This stone was moved on a sidewalk on the side of our garage until we could find a new home for it.

We began the moving project last weekend and before the first shovel hit the first stone, the above picture is what we found. There were actually weeds growing in these rocks (see above). I reached down to pull them out and noticed how easily I could remove them. You see, just prior to this I was removing some weeds in the area where these stones were going to go. It took an incredible amount of effort to remove these weeds.

I was reminded of Jesus’ parable of the farmer who was planting his seed. He was showing us that that there would be different types of Christians:

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Jesus was showing us that some people will be just like the weeds growing in our rocks with very shallow roots and easy to dislodge (“But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.” – Matthew 13:21).

He also mentions there are three other types of people. One who doesn’t understand the word at all, another who lets the worries of this life choke out the word and a third who will be like most of my other weeds, with deep roots and very difficult to remove—these people will produce a nice crop. So which are you going to be?

Growth

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a 5 ton pile of dirt that I had dumped on my driveway. the reason I did this was to re-landscape an area in my front yard. The area above is the almost finished project. The only thing left is for the grass to fill-in completely.

When I planted the grass, I did everything I was told to do with it. I spread the seed. I fertilized. I raked it in lightly. I watered it several times per day (and it has rained like crazy this month!). Yet, after ten days, I saw nothing, not even a little sprout of green anywhere.

So, I called the place where I purchased the seed. I was told to give it a couple more days as the ground has been cooler than normal (I guess because of global warming--lol). So when I got home that evening, I looked again, and grass was coming up--yea!

Each day I look out there to check its progress. Most days it just seems like there is no change. But over the course of a week, the change is pretty drastic.

Much like the spiritual growth path we all are on. There are some days when it just seems like nothing is happening, or it seems like we are moving backward! But, if we continue to seek after God, over the course of time He is fertilizing and watering and before we know it, we are much further than we ever thought possible.

True Freedom - Part 2

Today I took my daughter Kristin's dog, Tysen, for a walk. He's still a puppy and doesn't quite know how to do the leash thing yet, so truthfully, he took me for a walk. Tysen is a Yorkie-Poo and only weighs about 10 pounds, yet he dragged me around because of his eagerness.

Anyway, on the back end of our two mile jaunt, we encountered a very large black Labrador. It was clear to me that he was contained by an invisible fence system, but Tysen didn't know this. Because Tysen thinks everyone is happy to see him, he went charging full bore toward his new found friend. The black lab was not pleased and charged at him with a loud and deep bark. Tysen timidly backed off. As we proceeded on, the lab followed us along his owner's property, but due to his unseen boundaries, he was not able to reach Tysen. I believe that Tysen thought the "limitation" of his leash was keeping him from danger. Because he knew he was out of harm's way, with each step it seemed that Tysen regained more confidence.

I believe Tysen was actually thankful for his leash. Much like I wrote several weeks ago about my daughter, Molly, I think he saw for the first time in his young life that, rather than being a hindrance, his leash was protecting him and actually giving him more freedom.

To quote my earlier post, Jesus came, not just to save us, but to give us life to the full. The Biblical mandates of how to live life are there, not to restrict us, but to give us true freedom.

"Free" sex has not caused true freedom. It has caused millions of cases of sexually transmitted diseases. It has created millions of broken homes and hearts.

"Free" use of alcohol and drugs has not brought freedom. It has caused millions of deaths and broken lives...and homes. I know some addicts who tell me regularly that they feel like they're in a prison.

The same is true for everything that we choose to do on our own that goes against God's mandates for us. Just like Tysen, you and I will need to learn this one way or another.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
The words of Jesus, John 10:10b

The Trap of Isolation

I have the amazing privilege of leading an organization called Truth at Work in the Toledo area. In Truth at Work we put together roundtable groups of business leaders who act as a board of advisors to one another to help each other to grow their businesses while at the same time helping them to grow personally and spiritually. These are extremely powerful.

Yesterday, our 2nd Tuesday group met (they meet the 2nd Tuesday of every month) for the usual four hour meeting. Once again, it was incredible.

We had a new member join the group and he was in attendance for the first time. He was someone whom I had spoken to about Truth at Work about 15 months earlier and he kept putting it off because he said he couldn't focus on anything with the economy doing what it was doing. Besides, he said he wouldn't be able to afford anything else anyway.

Immediately after the meeting, he came up to me and said, "I wish I had gotten involved in this when you first told me about this. I had no idea how helpful this would be to me!"

I know what he was feeling. He felt like he just took a big drink after being in the desert for days. He felt like he was no longer alone. He felt encouraged.

This is not a surprise. In 1 Peter 5 we are told that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Whenever I have watched a lion chasing its prey on TV, let's say a zebra, I see the lion going after the zebra that is by itself because that one is seen as weaker and more vulnerable. So, the devil tries to isolate us so he can devour us. In fact, the word "devil" actually means to tear or divide.

I encourage you that when you are feeling like you don't want to be around anyone for long periods of time, to fight through that feeling and gather among friends. Especially if those friends can encourage you, hold you accountable and provide you with wise counsel.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:25

The Extra Mile

This morning in our 3rd Tuesday Truth At Work roundtable group we had some great discussions. One of the things we spent a lot of time on was employee performance and when to keep or let go a struggling employee or someone who has certain issues.

This is something that gets brought up fairly regularly...the tension between servanthood and stewardship. The servant wants to keep a trouble employee and rehabilitate them and that is a noble cause.

However, leaders are given stewardship responsibilities over their company or department. So, the health of the overall group really trumps the health of the individual. In other words, if keeping an employee does damage to the overall company, oftentimes that person needs to go. Sounds harsh, but better to sacrifice one than many.

The bottom line is, if you are someone who is working for someone else, you need to take ownership of what you do so that you are not one that your boss is struggling to keep. The most valuable employees are those who do the job, and then some...the people who go the extra mile. They make a leader's job easy.

Whether on the job or not, whatever you are doing, are you willing to go the extra mile?

"If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles."

Jesus in Matthew 5:41

Cheat Work, Not Home

Last week, I showed a video from the 2006 Willow Creek Leadership Summit for our Truth At Work groups. The session was Andy Stanley's talk on The Best Leadership Decision I Have Ever Made.

During the session, Stanley talked about when he was getting his church up and running and the incredible effort it took. He talked about the long hours he and his team was investing. He said he had the attitude, "If I don't, it won't." In other words, it was all up to him. He felt that if he leaned toward home, nothing would get done at work.

Sound familiar? It does for me.

Then he received a revelation from God.

God revealed to him that Andy was instructed to love his wife (Ephesians 5), not his church. He also received insight in Matthew 16 when Jesus says, "On this rock I will build my church..." Andy said, "OK, so Jesus is promising to build the church, not Andy."

Andy said it was out of those revelations that his greatest leadership decision materialized. He decided to cheat the church (or work) and not his home. He made a deal with God which went something like this: OK God. You command me to love my wife and you say that you are going to build the church, so here's my deal. You have me for 45 hours per week to get this church thing done. If you can't build the church with 45 of my hours, well, I guess it wasn't meant to be. He decided to cheat the church rather than his family.

After making this decision, what he found out was that this forced him to operate in his sweet spot, doing what he does best. He also found out that his organization began to thrive because he was only doing what only he could do.

Andy shared one more thing which I think is relevant to all of us who are leaders. Those who love their businesses and not their families, have neither great business nor great families. Wow.

I must admit, I am now doing quite a bit of soul searching and taking a very close look at how I'm spending my time.

Work Harder on Yourself

Yesterday, I drove to Indianapolis with some Toledo Truth At Work members to visit with an incredible company who does a great job of incorporating their faith into their corporate culture.

One of the things that stuck out to me is that they have a phrase which they share with their employees regularly, "Work harder on yourself than you do on your job." It is even on pieces of correspondence with employees.

Let me ask you this, have you ever worked for a company with this sort of attitude? Nope, me neither. Most companies I have worked for have had the exact opposite attitude. They gave me the impression that they wanted me and my coworkers to work ONLY on our jobs and they didn't give a rip about us as people. If it were up to them, they would have liked us to sleep at our jobs.

In spending several hours with some of this company's leadership, I can tell you that they walk their talk. They encourage and reward employees for reading leadership books, attending classes, volunteering in the community and going on mission trips. I talked with some employees who just returned from building houses in Mexico and they were stoked. They said it was the greatest experience of their lives. They even have free lunch Wednesdays where they buy lunch for each of their employees.

They have over 1600 employees and they are only 11 years old. They have been on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in the US for the past several years. In walking around, it was clear that the employees wanted to be there.

The results show that this company's philosophy is paying dividends. And why shouldn't it? The people obviously feel cared for. This will in turn make them care more about the company. Jesus' advice about the golden rule was right on, even for leaders of companies!

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

Matthew 7:12

The Power of Leadership

According to a new survey released in January by national workplace expert Lynn Taylor, author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant –TOT (John Wiley & Sons), U.S. employees spend 19.2 hours a week (13 hours during the work week and 6.2 hours on the weekend) worrying about “what a boss says or does.” Click here to read more.

That number is staggering to me. Almost half of the work week spent worrying about their boss. Sad.

Though that number of hours is shocking to me, it shouldn't be. I spent a couple of years with a boss who was the king of all tyrants. He's the guy I wrote about in Bleedership, Biblical First-Aid for Leaders in which I contrasted his leadership style with the leadership styles of the great leaders in the Bible.

He was our president and I was vice-president of sales. I saw first-hand the negative effect a tyrannical boss can have on an organization, and not just emotionally. My boss hurt the company's bottom-line...significantly.

Like most companies, we had a mission statement. Something that was nice and flowery, something that sounded really good to clients. However, what we found is that informally, our mission statement changed. It became, Do whatever it takes to avoid the wrath of our boss. I'm serious about this.

This became the way we made decisions. What will make him less mad? Whatever the answer was to that question is how we proceeded. We were so afraid to make a mistake and make our boss angry that it paralyzed us and the company suffered.

On the other hand, our previous leader did things quite a bit differently. He allowed his team to do their jobs the way they thought was best and he allowed them to fail. He also saw his primary role as to remove obstacles so that we could more effectively do our jobs. As a result, we felt like trusted members of the team and we wanted to work that much harder. That team thrived and so did the company.

And then it came crashing down. That's the power of leadership--so lead well!

Patience and Faith

Approximately once per month I conduct a Private Briefing for those interested in learning more about Truth At Work. This morning was one of those mornings.

My awesome bride accompanies me to these meetings to help me get setup and to greet the guests and give them name tags, etc... (Did I mention to you that she is awesome?)

Because of the snow we received over the past several days, we decided to take Connie's car because it has four wheel drive. We arrived at the location of our briefing at around 7 AM (for the 7:30 meeting) only for me to realize that the keys to the building were at home on my key chain...D'OH!

We live 15 minutes away which means we would be returning at the start of our meeting if all went well (which also means that a locked building would be all that would greet our guests if they were early). So, we rushed back home and called our oldest daughter who is 21 (and amazing) and asked her to grab my keys and start driving toward us. She did so which saved us close to 10 minutes (did I mention my daughter is amazing?).

We turned around with keys in hand and tried to hurry as best we could, yet it seemed like everyone wanted to pull out in front of us and drive extra slow this morning...Ugh! It seems each vehicle in front of us could have had a sign on it like the truck above. My patience, and my faith, were being put to the test.

All the while, I was praying and reminding myself that I can do nothing about the situation. In my head I knew that God had it figured out and that I needed to just release it to Him, yet I was trying to control the situation from where I sat. Not only did I find out that was impossible, all it did was create more unwelcome anxiety in me.

Though stressed at times, in the end, I did a fairly good job of remaining calm (nowhere near perfect, but better than I used to be!). We arrived back at our location with five minutes to spare and only two cars were waiting on us in the parking lot. We quickly got setup and started only five minutes late with 12 in attendance.

The meeting went great and two big lessons were once again learned by me:
1. Always bring your keys if you need to unlock something
2. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Definition of Success

I was asked way back in October, I think, by a friend of mine if I would come and speak to a group of business leaders. My friend owns a very successful business and he decided that he would gather business leaders together to hear speakers who can speak on different business topics. He felt this would encourage the community and could possibly even help his business. The first three of his get-togethers have been very successful with about 50 leaders at each event.

This morning was my turn to speak and I had been looking forward to it as this is something I really enjoy doing. When I woke up this morning I saw there was around an inch of fresh snow on the ground and it was very windy outside. I didn't think much of it though.

When I arrived, it became apparent that the blustery weather was keeping people home. By the name badges that were prepared, it looked like there was over 50 people registered. Yet, only a fraction of that showed, probably 15-20 people.

From my perspective, it appeared that the morning went very well. It seemed like everyone was engaged and having fun and I believe they all took something from our time together. In addition, many gave me some very nice feedback which is always nice.

On my way back to my office I was reflecting on my morning I received a revelation of sorts. Typically, I would have been quite discouraged that so few people showed up to hear me speak. I would have viewed the event as a failure. Today was different. I believe God is trying to teach me to change my definition of success. He wants me to just do my part and leave the results up to Him.

I have not "arrived" by any means, but for today I am trusting Him that the people that He wanted there were there. I am viewing the morning as a success. Thank you Lord!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Accountability

In my post on Friday I talked about the different faces we all have: the public face, the private face and the personal face. I mentioned that the closer these three faces are to one another the more healthy we are and the more integrity we will have.

Saying we are going to work on this is one thing. Actually doing something about it is another.

One of the things I do for a living is to lead monthly roundtable groups of Christian business leaders. As part of each four hour session, we include a time of accountability. During this time, each member is to share what they want to accomplish during this next month in their personal life and in their business. They will then give a report next month on how they did. If they got it done, we celebrate. If not, they pay a penalty which is usual a stiff financial fine. This drives true change!

I bring this up because as humans, we all have a tendency to do the easy things first and to let the tough things slide. Bringing our three faces in line with one another is definitely not an easy thing and it is certainly not a natural thing for us to do. So, we will need help. We will need accountability.

We all need people in our lives who we can share everything with, who will love us anyway and will care enough about us that they will hold us accountable to doing what is right.

Do you have 1-3 people like this in your life? If not, I encourage you to seek them out.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

Pain's Purpose

On Sunday, our pastor delivered a message about how God can, and often, uses our pain from our past to help others who are going through some tough times in their lives. During his sermon he said, "There is a purpose behind your pain. Your greatest contribution or ministry will probably not come from your strengths. It will come from your struggles."

As I reflected on my life, I had to agree with him. One of the toughest periods of my life was when I was VP of Sales for a company in town. I had a boss who was an absolute tyrant. He would rant, rave and cuss at me and others. He would throw things. He even once ripped the thermostat off the wall when he was hot. It was an extremely unhealthy environment. I was stressed beyond the max and it impacted every area of my life, and maybe most of all my family.

However, looking back on this I am so thankful that God placed my boss in my life. While it was brutal, it led to me writing the book Bleedership, Biblical First-Aid for Leaders in which I contrast my boss' leadership style with that of the great leaders in the Bible. As a result of that, the trajectory of my life has been changed drastically. I know that through my tough times there are some people who have been helped.

If you are going through a period of difficulty, know that God is preparing you for ministry, to impact others. God never wastes a hurt!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

The Power of Community

As many of you know, I lead an organization in the Toledo area called Truth At Work. We work with Christian business leaders to help them to grow their organizations in a God-honoring way, while at the same time helping them to grow personally and spiritually.

This is all done through four hour long monthly roundtable meetings in which 12-15 peers act as a board of advisers to one another. As a result of these meetings many ideas are developed both on the business and personal side of things.

The thing that has become apparent to me over this past year is the incredible power of community. When things are tough, as they are now in our economy, our natural tendency is to hole up by ourselves to weather the storm. That is not what God wants from us. He wants us to do life together because he knows we need the encouragement. The way I look at it, life is like this formula:

Me + Community + God = unlimited potential

In the above video, Lynn Fruth shares that he pays a substantial sum of money each month to be a part of this group...and he'd pay ten times that amount because of what he gets out of it! I hope this encourages you to surround yourself with other Christ-centered individuals.

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12