Category Archives: Leadership

January 20, 2025 · 11:23 am

On King, the “King of Kings” and those who would be king.

Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. (Psalm 146:3-4 NRSV)

Today, January 20, 2025, is MLK Day, a United States national holiday first observed in 1986, honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King, an ordained Baptist pastor (1948), is of course known for his role leading the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. History has shown that he was an imperfect person who was investigated by the FBI for extramarital affairs. Nonetheless, his imprint on history is significant and lasting, as he used his considerable gifts in oratory, mobilization and peaceful, nonviolent protest to get the attention of a nation and turn the tide in America’s prejudicial treatment of people of color. Sadly, this prophet of change did not get to see the full fruits of his labors come about as he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Today, January 20, 2025, is also Inauguration Day in these United States, as the 47th President, Donald J. Trump, will return to office for a second term. Trump is just the second president, joining Grover Cleveland, to serve two non-consecutive terms in the White House. This is just the second time the inauguration of the U.S. President has fallen on MLK Day. Ironically, Trump’s inauguration will be held in the Capitol rotunda, just four years after that place was the scene of a riotous uprising by insurrectionists he incited to “stop the steal” – a phrase he used to propagate the falsity of his having won the 2020 election, which he did not.

Read more: On King, the “King of Kings” and those who would be king.

Trump, like King (and the rest of us), is an imperfect person. He too has been investigated by the FBI, though for differing reasons. He is on his third marriage, and in May of 2023 was convicted by a jury in a civil suit for sexual abuse and defamation. In May of 2024 he was also found guilty of 34 felony crimes by a New York jury of his peers in what’s been called a “hush money” case designed to influence his 2016 election. He is the first convicted felon to have been elected President of the United States. It should be noted that Trump continues to maintain his innocence and appeal these convictions.

I find it ironic that these two men, one named King, and the other who would like to rule as a king, are tied together by a day that is recognized for different reasons. The MLK holiday is designed to be a day of remembrance and service in honor of one who spoke truth to power. He called for a people who had historically been treated unjustly and inhumanely to be recognized as equal and given their unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The inauguration of a U.S. President is a day filled with speeches, prayers, and the vitriol of campaign promises to be kept. When it involves the incoming President replacing an incumbent from an opposing party, it often signals a new direction and political approach to the issues news makers and politicians have succeeded in elevating before the electorate.

Trump, like King, but very different from King, has succeeded in the art of oratory and communication. While the tenor and tone of his messages (social media posts and rally speeches) often take a much darker approach, he has succeeded in using various mediums to connect with people. He has a very loyal base of supporters, many of whom have felt disenfranchised by the progressive American agenda of those who Trump has labeled “the enemy”. Trump has learned how to stoke the fires of such feelings and does it with success. This often aligns him with persons with whom he shares very little in the way of background, socio-economic status or even true faith identity. One of his most notable techniques is to repeat a falsehood so many times and with such conviction that people believe it to be true. He does not speak truth to power, but in power has been known to abuse truth for the propagation of his own agenda.

As the reader may by now have unraveled, I am no fan of Donald J. Trump. I do not look forward to the next four years of bluster and chaos that he will unleash on our nation. I am sorry to see him returned to the Oval Office. I have a different viewpoint from his on many of the foundational issues about which he pontificates. And I cringe at the methods he has used to scare, mock and belittle people into allegiance or silence. I pray for our nation and especially for those who may be in positions of service to thwart some of this man’s worst instincts and efforts. And, I pray that the weight and responsibility of the office might awaken in him some sense of statesmanship and service befitting a President.

As this day, January 20, 2025, approached I kept finding myself thinking about a different kind of king. Jesus is the King of Kings. He is the only anointed one worthy of our worship, complete allegiance and devotion. He is the Prince of Peace, a just ruler who is friend to all. He is a Savior who gave his life for all of humankind. In Him I put my hope, my trust and my future.

I came across Psalm 146 in the weeks leading up to today as I spent some time in prayer and morning devotions. It was as though verses 3 and 4 jumped off the page at me. No human ruler, prince, president or king is capable of delivering humankind or solving our problems. Some govern more justly and equitably than others. Some speak more eloquently and forcefully than others. But none of them – no pastor, no politician, no leader, no one – will succeed in the way or mission that Jesus does. He alone is who we are to keep our eyes on. He alone is who we are to listen to. His words are worthy our contemplation. His directives are our marching orders. His corrections are for our improvement. His example is ours to emulate. He is the King of Kings, the only true King, the righteous One, the Chosen.

So, whether, dear reader, my monologue has offended you or emboldened you, I would ask that you pause to reflect on this day, about the only King who is a position of authority over our lives that truly matters. All other kings and wannabe kings will turn to dust as their plans perish. But to this King, King Jesus, “every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.

May God be with our new President, our nation, our world, and each person who is made in God’s image.

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August 11, 2024 · 5:49 pm

What I Have Learned in 40 Years of Marriage

Today my wife and I have been married for 40 years!  That seems like a long time, yet it also seems that it was just last week we said, “I do”. 

Coming up to this milestone I’ve been thinking about those years, filled with so many experiences, people and places, and what I’ve learned in that time.  What I’ve learned about marriage? About my spouse? About myself? About life?

So, here’s a list of 40 thoughts that in some way partly encapsulate my learnings:

  1. People are more important than projects.  The most important person in my life is my spouse. That hasn’t changed despite children, grandchildren, friends, etc.
  2. It is not good for man (especially this man) to be alone.  I learned this one the hard way. No job is worth separation – even if the separation is planned or supposed to be temporary.
  3. Family matters way more than career and other superfluous goals.
  4. Ministry is much easier when one’s life partner also feels called.
  5. Sometimes silence speaks more than words.  This can be true both positively and negatively.
  6. That “do not let the sun go down on your anger” scripture? (Eph. 4:26) Good advice.
  7. Being married to “the queen of small talk” is a gift when one is an introvert.
  8. Teachers need about a two-week adjustment period when school is out for summer or starting back up in the fall.  Just stay out of the way, be helpful, and be understanding.
  9. Some of the things that seemed important and worrisome, can age into funny memories.
  10. As long as you share common core values, its ok to have other interests, habits and hobbies.
  11. Be flexible.
  12. Learning to say “I’m sorry” or “I was wrong” early in a relationship will avoid a lot of grief along the way.
  13. There is no greater sorrow than your child’s sorrow, no greater joy than your child’s joy.  Having a spouse with whom to share this is a blessing.
  14. Change should be expected in any relationship, especially a long tenured marriage.
  15. Being married to your best friend is always having someone in your corner.
  16. Big decisions are best made after sleeping on it.
  17. When you say “yes” to a job, you should give that job your best effort.  There’s no excuse for not working hard.
  18. When you work at something you love, it hardly seems like work.  Marriage is work, but it needn’t be toilsome.
  19. Marriage is like a book – lot’s of chapters, some more interesting than others, but each essential to the story.
  20. Communication is to a marriage what water is to a fish.
  21. It truly doesn’t help to worry about tomorrow, each day does have enough trouble of it’s own.  (Matthew 6:34)
  22. If it makes your spouse feel better to watch the breaking weather report ad nauseum, put in your headphones or go to the other room.
  23. If it makes your spouse feel better to read all the latest Boilermaker news – you’ve got a pretty great spouse!
  24. When in public your teacher spouse is identified, stopped and talked to; just realize how many lives she’s helped shape and form and be thankful!
  25. Tell your wife “I’ll be in the car” before you leave to go to the car.
  26. Don’t wait until after you turn on the water to brush your teeth before you share something important.
  27. Understand this: Cleaning is to Lori what lawn and garden work is to Dan – a happy place!
  28. Moses had Aaron; Dan had Lori.  Neither one would’ve made it in ministry without their person.
  29. A farmer once told me as we welcomed our first child: “Dan, with every child you’re going to drop another rung down the ladder.” Three kids and soon to be five grandkids later, I’m just thankful she keeps me on the ladder
  30. Cereal can be good for supper, not just breakfast.
  31. Life is better when you travel in pairs.  (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 7; Luke 10:1)
  32. In hindsight, God’s got this!
  33. Being married to someone who can close down any public building because there’s someone to talk to, you get used to it.  Builds patience.
  34. Always make friends with the custodian.  These are important people who work hard and deserve respect. 
  35. The sun will come out tomorrow.  Might be behind the clouds, or only seen in a “sun break”, but it’s out there somewhere.
  36. The “love language” thing?  It’s valid. We don’t all give or receive love in the same way.  It’s worth learning your spouses love language.
  37. In the end “it’s just money”.  Generosity wears better than an attitude of scarcity.
  38. You can never imagine where and what a lifetime together will reveal, be thankful you get to explore it a day at a time.
  39. On their 40th Anniversary I asked my father-in-law when he and my mother-in-law had been most happy.  He said, in his dry wit, five minutes here, five minutes there.  But you know?  Those five minutes add up – be happy!
  40. “For better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health” is a vow to be lived into and to stick with.  Easier said than done?  Not really.  Not when you love the one who’s meeting you part-way.

Happy Anniversary!

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June 18, 2024 · 2:47 pm

Passageways: When Going Forward is Hard, but Going Back Would be Disastrous

When I was a kid our family often spent weekends camping at McCormick’s Creek State Park. The park has a variety of hiking trails and other attractions, but the one I was most drawn to was Wolf Cave. According to the park’s website “Wolf Cave was formed as underground water dissolved the limestone bedrock and carved out a network of passageways. Over the years Wolf Cave became exposed by the powerful forces of erosion. The cave is now dry because the underground stream it once carried has carved lower passageways.”

While I trust this explanation of the cave’s origin, as a kid all I knew was this was a “way cool” cave that you could actually go through from one side to the other. If memory serves, the opening of the cave – which is rather broad and squat – invites you to enter on bended knee. Through travelers are quickly funneled from the breadth of that opening into a single file channel of rocky outcrops and curves. The close formed ceiling of the cave causes you to watch your head (learned that the hard way), while the mud packed floor bids creeping footfalls that are sometimes accompanied by the suction of water. All of this is enhanced by total darkness, perhaps pierced by a flashlight if you were fortunate to have planned ahead.

I’m not sure my age when I first ventured through the cave, but I doubt I was yet ten years old. I do remember keeping touch with older siblings who were both ahead and behind me, and having the sensation of wanting to turn around more than once. That, however, was not an option for more than one reason. First, there were multiple people in line behind us and crawling back against that current of strangers was a foreboding thought. Second, the humiliation of turning back without completing the mission would have forever stained my reputation and self-esteem. (Who am I kidding, I wasn’t thinking in those terms. I just didn’t want to be called a “sissy” by my family!)

So, we pressed on. The confined passageway eventually yields to a more spacious great room at the cave’s opposite end. However, to exit that room back into the great outdoors one has to crawl through a small opening – which (as luck would have it) was filled with rain water on my pilot spelunking adventure.

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June 18, 2024 · 2:44 pm

Passageways

As an amateur photographer I have been drawn to images of passageways. These visual prompts can also make you reflect on the life passageways common to human experience. In this section of my blog I’m inviting you to consider both some passageways I’ve photographed, and others I will invite us to reflect on.

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January 3, 2023 · 10:41 am

Goals Help Us Move Forward

Are you a goal setter? A new year is often a time when persons put some thought into what they hope to accomplish on the blank canvass of a fresh calendar. Whether engaged in with intentionality or as a passing musing while on a long drive, there is something about looking out the windshield into another year that prompts us to reflect. In doing so, we may consider what we want, need, or hope to accomplish with the gift of this next year. Setting a few goals can make a difference toward these thoughts becoming more than mere wishful thinking.

Perhaps you’ve heard about SMART goals? SMART is an acronym that can help one realistically establish direction in goal setting. SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. These are the kinds of goals that can propel an individual or organization forward. For example, let’s say I have a goal to get in better physical shape in 2023. Phrased in this way, the goal is admirable, but not too particular from the general “wish” of many people. If I want to improve my goal in a way that fits the SMART framework, I might edit it as follows: In 2023 I will work to lose 10 pounds by June 1, while following a heart healthy diet, exercising 45 minutes 5 days a week, averaging eight hours of sleep per night, using a health app on my smartphone for accountability. With this wording, I’ve created a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound goal.

I promise you that there are multitudes of folks with good intentions contemplating gym memberships as the new year begins, but those with SMART goals will likely follow through on those intentions at a much higher rate than those without. So, if this is true of our behavior individually, what about congregationally? Should we, as a church, have goals? Would it help for us to be as specific and thoughtful about our ministry goals as we might be concerning our individual goals? What does a SMART church goal even look like?

We will never know if we don’t attempt to formulate one. Would such a conversation energize your leadership team? Could you, as a leader, bring up the topic and invite others to collaborate with you around it? I’m guessing almost every congregation might benefit from some goal setting in one area or another. Here are some potential general arenas of ministry that might be ripe for goals: Evangelism (introducing others to a relationship with Jesus Christ), Discipleship (helping believers grow in faith formation), Stewardship (educating and shaping disciples in their practices of giving), Missional expression (taking steps as a congregation toward greater outward expressions of ministry with the community), Fellowship (working to build relationships, provide tools for reconciliation as needed, and strengthen true expressions of covenantal community).

Any of those general ministry areas would benefit from reflection on Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound goal setting. So why not have the conversation? Pick one or two areas of ministry that you feel led to work toward together in 2023 and begin formulating goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Be sure to incorporate times of prayer (collective and individual) into the process, so the goals that emerge are led of God. In this process you will unleash imagination, energize participation, and realistically set direction for the coming days, weeks and months.

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