Jim spoke tonight about how God is the origin of generosity. From beginning to end, the Bible is filled with examples of God's giving nature. As we transitioned into our communion time, I shared with the church an acronym I first heard back in high school. It's an easy way to remember the meaning of grace: God's Riches At Christ's Expense Grace is God allowing us to share in his goodness, even when we didn't deserve it. John Newton was the captain of a ship that carried slaves between West Africa and England. The slaves were transported under awful conditions. While sailing home on one particular voyage, Newton encountered a violent storm. Convinced the ship was lost and about to sink, Newton cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us." He later referred to that moment as his "great deliverance." While not a religious man prior to that, he became a…
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Hope and I went to our first NFL game last night: Broncos vs. Giants. While I'm not a fully converted Broncos fan (too much sand left between my toes), I'm definitely NOT a New York Giants fan. The atmosphere (sans the drunk guy directly behind Hope) was fun and exciting. We were blessed to have been given free seats by a lady in our church. And they were great seats, too. The atmosphere is definitely different than that of a professional baseball game. Baseball fans are a bit more subdued, perhaps because they pay less money on average to see a single game than football fans do. If you're going to plunk down over $100 a ticket, you might as well as paint your face and wear a horse on your head (or tape them to your shoulders as the "Bronconator" did). Baseball fans have eighty-one games to make a…
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This is from Mac Lake and is called "Six Conversations Leaders Need to Have." You interact with your staff everyday, you pass them in the halls, you pop into their office or even go to lunch together on occasion. But how intentional are those interactions? Intentional interactions with those we lead create development opportunities that increase their leadership productivity. But too often leaders neglect meeting with the individuals on their team because they dont know what to talk about. So here are six conversations you need to have with the individuals on your team. I’ll write more on each of these later but for now here is the concept and one question each to get the conversation started. 1. The Strengths Conversation. What are your strengths and what percentage of your time do you feel you operate in your strengths? 2. The Passion Conversation. What are you most passionate about…
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In the spirit of Thanksgiving more than turkey, I thought I'd share a few words of thanks. No particular order, but each is important. Thank you ... to my parents for raising me with good values, good humor, and a good foundation. You may be gone but your memory is alive and well. Thank you ... to my wife for sticking with me for nearly 19 years. I'm glad it's not true that married start looking alike the longer they've been married -- more for your sake than mine. Thank you ... to my two daughters for bringing joy and laughter into our home in their own unique ways. I hope for you more than you'll ever know. Thank you ... to the churches that I have blessed to serve over the last 19 years. It's been a privilege I have never taken for granted. Thank you ... to the…
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