A really (really) expensive watch, a wilderness fishing trip, a hand painted (literally hand painted) picture from my child, a signed book from one of my heroes. These would certainly all be in the running for the best Christmas present I’ve ever received. But none of them were. Even though […]

What everyone wants is the very thing that we need more than we realize. Rest. True biblical rest. A real break from the weight and pressure of life and work. It’s interesting, though, that we run from rest, the very thing we want and need so badly. But running from […]

The Sermon on the Mount has always captivated me. More than likely, this is because I love it when a proven leader delivers a distilled executive summary or brief, and that is exactly what Jesus does in Matthew 5-7. Jesus pulled His “leadership team” (a mixed bag that included former […]

We all operate with a framework for navigating life and work. For some it is a well-defined, intentional set of core beliefs and truth. For some it is an ever-evolving bowl of beliefs and experiences. For others, it is just “go with your gut” and make sure you don’t harm […]

I’m not a soldier. No, Colonel Jessup, I’ve never picked up a weapon and stood a post. I’ve never fought in a great battle, never landed in hostile territory, and have never really worn a military uniform of any kind. I’m also not an especially gifted athlete. I crank out a few miles every week […]

We like to think of our leaders as always knowing what to do and when to do it. In real life, however, leaders get overwhelmed and confused just as much as the rest of us. Maybe more. Nearly three thousand years ago, a new king arose in the Middle East—Jehoshaphat of […]

Do you have an “I’ll get to this eventually” stack in your office? Mine’s in my home office / work-out room. My home office is a huge converted room over the garage and has the feel of a finished attic, even though it was never an attic. As you enter […]

Maybe you’re familiar with the story I’m referring to. It’s found in Genesis 32 in the Old Testament. Alone for the night, the patriarch Jacob is confronted by “a Mysterious Man,” and the two wrestle for hours. Toward the end of the night, the God-man touches Jacob’s hip, and Jacob […]

One blueberry bagel, double toasted, with fruit spread on the side. This morning I was eating a bagel in the same local cafe where my son, Kile, and I talked about life over breakfast for more than three years. Here is the back story. My dad was mostly absent from […]

300 feet. 2 seconds. These numbers may not mean much to you, but if you were a pilot sitting on the deck of an aircraft carrier, they would mean a great deal. 300 feet. That’s the entire length of a runway in front of you. That’s all the distance available to […]