What did I learn this week? I ask myself this question at the end of every week and then turn my attention to the details of the week ahead. It’s a habit I practice and document in my playbook. While recording a podcast with Ryan Hawk, the host of The Learning Leader Show, we connected. Especially on one specific topic. Helping leaders get better. Since we both work with leaders, we are very interested in how they navigate time and priorities. We advise leaders in the ways of mastering their schedules and priorities yet some respond by saying “You don’t

It’s a Saturday morning at the pool. I volunteered to be a timer for my grandson and a couple of his teammates. Meanwhile, athletes are in the water preparing to swim the mile. As the event is about to begin, a thought crosses my mind: “I don’t think I have ever swam a mile”. I’m amazed at my grandson’s progress in this sport. He is creating a name for himself. NO one is putting pressure on him to be in the pool at 5:30am, six days a week, just to be back in the pool later that afternoon. He does

The idea that unforgiveness is a sin may be too harsh for you to digest even though I maintain its veracity.  If so, at least start by considering it a weakness. To withhold forgiveness is weakness. Is it that simple? I think not. It’s not just a weakness, It is a destructive weapon that knows no boundaries. It’s cancerous. Perhaps even more destructive than the original offense because by withholding forgiveness, a sin is empowered to live on. It not only lives but morphs into all kinds of darkness in the lives of numerous people penetrating generations yet to come.

If you’re a sports fan, you know retaliation is the foul that is almost always noticed and penalized by the referee. No matter the protest afterward, it’s the retaliator not the original offender most often punished. Then again, there is the make-up call. An honest referee knows what’s going on. If he believes the protest, the original offender better not provide any reason whatsoever for the zebra to stop play. And so goes life. We seek to find justice yet always fall a bit short. If you have ever broken up a fight on the playground, you will hear the

The secular world would like to destroy the word sin. She likes the phrase “poor decisions”. To sin is certainly a poor decision but not all poor decisions are sin. Let’s keep it simple. There are three kinds of sin: childish, adolescent, and adult. Little kids sin but the damage is not usually too severe. They lie, hit, bite, and steal. At first, parents are a little shocked they gave birth to a demon-like child. Once reality sets in, character development becomes the goal. It’s not too hard to forgive a kid. Adolescents sin too. The sins of teenagers are more tricky because they

I’ve been told repeatedly that I ask tough questions. I like hard. I don’t like easy. Easy is boring. Easy does not grow me. It makes me soft, lazy, and unready for the faithful challenges ahead. So, carrying on from last week, let me ask you: “What is your purpose?” As you step into the new year, what is your purpose? Perhaps you are walking into a new job or opportunity of some kind. Maybe you are entering a whole new chapter in your life. Or maybe, everything seems as it always has and you can’t quite commit all of