I am a little too old and lot too cynical to be swept away by the latest fad in Christendom. I have sat on the sidelines while Jabez prayed, millions were purpose driven and others found their best life. I guess I was just left behind. Others were incredibly excited by one or all of these phenomenons. So I was more than a little surprised to find that God has rocked my world through a ministry I knew little about. Their books and materials have not become an entire section at your local Christian superstore. And that is a shame. Because they have a message that needs to be heard by most of us. The organization is called Leadership Catalyst and they have an incredible book called TrueFaced.  I don’t think I have ever had a book (not included in the original 66) impact me as much as this one. Here is how strongly I feel about this book and
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I keep having a recurring dream about the Congressional hearings with the Big 3 Automakers. I know. I need a hobby. But I imagine that the CEO of General Motors is addressing the Congressional panel. GM Dude: “So that is how much money we have to get right away.” Congressman: (HUGE Sigh)   “I’m not sure we can do that deal.”   (Looks up and rubs chin)   “Let me go talk to my General Manager and see if he will go for this.”   (Gets up and leaves the CEO shifting awkwardly) Wouldn’t that be a moment of healing for all of us who sat in the chair while a car salesman went to “talk” to some wizard behind the curtain? I suspect my little dream will not come true. But I have been having another dream that has a little better chance to happen. A dream that we would learn to trust God as we face difficult times. This is
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This series was well received last year. You may view this as a repeat. I prefer to think of it as re-gifting. Blessings and Merry Christmas!    Dave We are fast approaching the hardest day of the year for most men. Many of us men give gifts to our significant others with fear and trembling. Humor writer Dave Barry relates the confusion most men deal with when giving a gift to their wife. He could tell by her reaction to the gift that she had not been dreaming of getting an auto emergency kit, even though it was the deluxe model with booster cables and an air compressor. Clearly, this violated an important rule, but the man had idea what the rule was, and his wife was too upset to tell him. Barry continues his thoughtful treatise… So why is the Christmas season so difficult for men? There are many complex reasons, by which I mean: women. The problem goes back to the very first Christmas. We
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There has been a politically correct Christmas greeting that has circulated the internet for the past couple of years. Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most joyous traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, but with respect for the religious persuasion of others who choose to practice their own religion as well as those who choose not to practice a religion at all. Perhaps that should be adopted as official “safe“ greeting for all people who are spinally challenged. This year’s big Christmas controversy has been the suddenly in your face anti-religion tactics launched by some atheists. I wrote about what I considered to be a mildly amusing advertising campaign by atheists in Washington D.C. But some people in Washington state have taken a rather ugly turn in their attempt to have a voice during the Christmas season. A group called Freedom From Religion placed this sign near a nativity scene
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During one Christmas past I posted a story about the decision by a Wisconsin elementary school to rewrite the lyrics of “Silent Night” to make it acceptable for the “winter program”. The unfortunate choice for a new title was “Cold in the Night”. And the new lyrics went something like this. Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm. That is wrong on so many levels. Why not just have the kids sing “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” and go on home. Some things just shouldn’t be done. It is like the old Jim Croce song…”you don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, you don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don’t rewrite Silent Night” (New Revised Version). Re-reading that post brought to mind a legend I had heard all of my life involving the real song “Silent
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Today’s Peanuts comic strip in the Dallas Morning News featured Linus, Charley Brown and Snoopy all laying down and propped up against a big tree. Linus, the philosopher, offers this question. “If you work real hard and you get everything you’ve always wanted, it it worth it?” Charley Brown looks thoughtful but Snoopy the pragmatist has an immediate reaction. “Not if your dog doesn’t like you.” Hard to argue with that. If your dog doesn’t like you there is a pretty good chance you are a miserable human being. Since I am widely known as a deep thinker I meditated on today’s Peanuts strip. Snoopy is certainly spot on in his analysis. But I would suggest the question impacts other relationships as well. If your pursuit of possessions causes you to not have time to love your wife well then it is not worth it. If you cannot spend quality time with friends and family it is not worth it.If you cannot find
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Today is a revisit of a “Christmas Classic” from Christmas past. How does a blog become a classic? 1) It is your blog, your site, you pay the server charge and you can call it whatever you want2) You have no time to write today Enjoy! And Merry Christmas! One of my contributions with this modest little blog is to continually ask the tough questions. While listening to  “Away in a Manger” on the all Christmas radio station my inquiring mind kicked in. You likely know verse three of the song. The cattle are lowingThe poor Baby wakesBut little Lord JesusNo crying He makes As I listened an important series of difficult and probing inquiries popped into my head. What noise, exactly, were the cattle making when they started lowing? Was this normal cow talk? Did lowing just sound more intelligent than mooing for the lyric writer or is lowing a more godly cow sound? And then the most important question came to mind. What is wrong with me? I can’t answer the last
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