When Life Goes Pop . . .

. . . because someday it will!

It was bound to happen sometime.  I’ve had my new road bike a month or so and been out on about a dozen rides.  I saw the troublesome looking rock as I rode through the mud and debris that was trailing out from the construction site, but too late.  I could not avoid it, and sure enough, pop!  There went the back tire tube.  That was deflating. Bike

But that’s life, isn’t it?  Live long enough and compile enough life experience and some time some place things are going to go “pop!”  It’s not a matter of if, but when.  It may be nothing more than an inner tube, but it may be something way more . .  that lab report you’ve been waiting on; that call at 2 a.m. (nothing good ever happens that time of day); that “pop!” to your smooth ride through life’s current chapter.  What do you do when life goes pop? Continue reading

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Filed under Christian Faith, Cycling

Our Need for White Space

The idea of “white space” may have had its origin in the field of publishing and design, but it has become a metaphor in other disciplines, including the Christ following way of life.  In design work (think newspaper, magazine or website) white space is the portion of the page left unmarked.  It’s the margin or the space between columns and pictures that gives your eye an opportunity to rest.

The business world took white space on as a metaphor, and talks about it as opportunity – that place “where no one is in charge”, leaving room for creativity and passion to emerge. Businesses that give their employees a certain amount of white space often find them more engaged and energized in their work. Continue reading

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Living a Leadership Legacy

Today was a good day.  It wasn’t good because I accomplished things of great significance.  It was good because I got to listen to how God is at work in the lives of others. And I got to  think about, and give thanks for, how God has been at work in my life through the influence of others.  Let me explain. tree

In the world of basketball, long tenured and successful coaches often have a coaching tree.  That is they have a list of persons who’ve both played or coached for them that have gone on to take the coaching reins elsewhere and become successful.  Well, today I spent some time in my leadership tree.

Leadership tree? Continue reading

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Living an Easter Life

EasterThe season that follows Easter in the church year is called “Eastertide”.  In our house we’ve been talking about this week in terms of it being Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday, Easter Wednesday . . .   So, while the culture and world around us packs up the Easter season and moves on – to the latest news cycle, presidential primary, MLB season, or whatever – and while churches and pastors slow in their reporting (er- bragging?) about Easter Sunday attendance and hope they might see at least two-thirds of those folks again this Sunday . . . I’d like to linger a bit with Easter’s news and implications.

Every day after Easter is a day of hope and victory for those who follow Christ. Continue reading

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Filed under Christian Faith, Holy Days

Brief Encounter – Lasting Impact

Each year during Holy Week I try to spend time reading and reflecting on Jesus’ last days – not as one who preaches or teaches, but as a Christ follower – one who seeks to understand and identify with what Jesus went through for me (for you).  This morning as I read Luke 23 I began to think about the lasting impact Jesus had in his very brief encounters with so many different people during his last hours.

There is a phrase that we hear used during this week: “Three days that changed the world.”  In historic church lingo these days are called the Triduum, the three day period from late Maundy Thursday/Good Friday to Easter Sunday.  Truly these three days did change the world – but they also changed lives. Continue reading

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Filed under Christian Faith, Holy Days