Category Archives: Uncategorized

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A Little Time Away

Becky, Jack and I are heading back to Missouri this week to see family and for a little R&R.  Both my family and Becky’s family live within driving distance of each other, so Jack is able to see both sets of grandparents when we go back.  This trip though is doubly special as we are going to take a day to head back to Illinois (where I was born) to see my grandparents.

Also hoping to get some time swimming and riding four-wheelers at our family farm, along with hitting up a few Midwest restaurants you can’t find up here in New England.

I’ll post some pictures when I get back.

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The Right to Lead

At first glance it seems like a good book for a graduation gift, or great coffee table decor, but when you open The Right to Lead you find that it is much more.  In this short book John Maxwell retells great stories of sacrifice and risk, shares poignant quotes regarding vision and integrity, and speaks to the necessity of action, determination, and service on the part of every leader.

A few of my favorite quotes from the book…

You will never do anything in this world without courage.  – James Allen

We set young leaders up for a fall if we encourage them to envision what they can do before they consider the kind of person they should be.  – R. Ruth Barton

Being the first to cross the finish line makes you a winner in only phase of life.  It’s what you do after you cross the line that really counts.  – Ralph Boston, Olympic Gold Medalist

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stand at times of challenge.  – Martin Luther King Jr.

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.  – Vince Lombardi

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.  It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever the cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.  – Arthur Ashe

There are dozens of other great quotes in this short book.  If your looking for a short, easy read on leadership this is a great book to pick up.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

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10 Year Anniversary

Becky and I celebrated our 10 year dating anniversary yesterday. I still remember our first date.  I splurged big that night, with a super romantic dinner at….Chuck E. Cheese!  Okay, so maybe that isn’t exactly splurging.  Honestly, the reason I chose Chuck E. Cheese is because I was so nervous to be taking Becky out that I thought it would be a little less nerve racking to take her some place fun.  We actually had a great time, and now 10 years later we’re happily married!

Looking forward to the next 10 years dating my wife. Hopefully, we hit up a few restaurants nicer than Chuck E. Cheese in the years to come.

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Ignorance Is Costly

Ignorance can be expensive.  Ask the guy who just paid someone $95 to tell him that there was a switch in his house that accidenitly got flipped, and turned off the heat.  I thought the furnance was broke.  It wasn’t powering on.  The switch next the heater was on, the breaker was fine, but now I know there is an emergency switch upstairs that turns the furnace off as well.  Now I know…but it cost me.

$95 is a lot to have someone teach you about the emergency switch to the heater.  But $95 is nothing compared to what others pay for their ignorance.  Parents, ignorant of how to parent, end up with unruly kids.  Spouses, ignorant of how relationships work, end up with troubled marriages.  Students, ignorant of how to study, end up with poor grades.  People, ignorant of God’s love, end up in an eternity of pain.  You get the idea.

Ignorance is expensive.  It cost me $95, but it cost others a whole lot more.  Maybe there are some areas we should work on gaining some wisdom in?

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Where is God?

Hope.  Not everyone has it, but that is why this book is so important.  Dr. Townsend’s main goal in writing Where is God? is that people would walk away with an “increased sense of hope”, and if you read this book you will.

Although the question of “if God is real, why is this happening to me?” has been asked by millions of people, it is a question we still struggle to answer.  In Where is God? a clear Biblical response to this question is given.  Anyone who is going through a difficult time, or is counseling someone going through a difficult time, would find this book to be a valuable resource.

Pastors especially will find this book helpful.  I discovered some new ideas for counseling, and illustrations for preaching while reading the book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

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Linchpin

I just finished reading Linchpin by Seth Godin.  To say I found the book a great read would be an understatement.  In fact, I would say this is one of the most important books I read in quite a while.  I would recommend this book to anyone.

In the book Seth challenges you to give up living an ordinary, mundane life and become someone who is remarkable.  He challenges you to be extraordinary, which results in you becoming indispensable…a linchpin.

One quick thought from the book as a tease…

“Would your organization be more successful if your employees were more obedient?  Or consider for a second: would you be more successful if your employees artistic, motivated, connected, aware, passionate and genuine?  You can’t have both of course.”

You can have people who follow the rules precisely and do exactly what is asked of them, or you can have people with passion and energy.  People who don’t just appease the status quo, but who wants to take the organization beyond where it is at now.

Again, I would recommend the book to anyone.  You can pick up a copy at Amazon.

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Faith Case: Investigating the Truth

For the past 9 weeks we have been working through Faith Case: Investigating the Truth in Kid’s Church at Calvary, and it has been a great experience.   This curriculum which walks through the 16 Fundamental Truths of the Assemblies of God in 12 lessons, has been engaging for the kids, easy to teach, and just might be some of the best curriculum to come out of AG headquarters.

One example of the kids liking it…. I was recently over at a family from the church’s house and asked the kids what they enjoyed most about KidZone.  One kid gave me the typical “I love the games!”, another said she loved the songs (i.e. worship), but the third said she loved Mr. Trench from the videos.  When she said she loved Mr. Trench from the FaithCase videos, both her siblings said “Oh yeah, we love him too!”  I even pressed them to see if they remembered some of the lessons, and they were able to recall everyone of them that they were there for.

If you want to pick up a copy of Faith Case, it is available from Gospel Publishing (www.gospelpublishing.com) for $120.

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Favorite iPhone Apps

I was recently asked what some of my favorite iPhone apps are.  Here is my current list….

1. Amazon.com –  When I hear about a book (or just about anything) I want, I can add it to my wishlist right away from my phone.

2.  Amazon Kindle – I haven’t read a lot of books digitally yet, but I love having my books automatically synced between my phone, work and personal computers.

3. Bank of America – Most of my personal banking accounts are held at Bank of America, so this app allows me to do some mobile banking.

4. BBC World News – I use a few different news apps, but this is the one I frequent most often.

5.  Dropbox – Dropbox allows me to access files stored on my computer when I am away from my desk.

6. eWallet – eWallet is where I keep all my personal and work usernames and passwords.  I am one of those people that has a different password for almost everything, so occasionally I forget one and have to look it up.

7. Facebook – I am not the biggest Facebook user, but I usually check in once a day.  Quite often that is while I am waiting somewhere and only have access to my phone.

8. Mint – I use mint.com to handle my personal finances.  This  app allows me to keep up to-to-date on all my accounts.

9. Pandora – I use Pandora more on my desktop than on my phone, but it is my favorite music streaming service.

10. PhotoShop Mobile – This is a newer one for me, but for a iPhone app it has some pretty amazing photo editing abilities.

11. Twitterrific – Keeps me up to-to-date on what is going on in Twitterverse.

12. YouVersion Bible – In my opionion, hands down the best Bible software out there for the iPhone.  40 plus translations of the Bible, reading plans, and much more.

13. WordPress – This allows me to manage the blog on the road.

14. xMarks – xMarks keeps my bookmarks in sync between my work and personal computers, and my phone.

These are my favorites.  What are yours? What am I missing?

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Blog Makeover

My blog has been in need of some updating, so I gave it a facelift this week.   Hope you like the changes! The new format will allow me more flexibility in promoting upcoming events at the church and I also think it looks a whole lot sharper.

Let me know your thoughts!?

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Sharing

Today I was so proud of my son.  The weather was actually decent, so we headed to the park for this first time this year.  While we were playing in the sandpit a giant Goliath of a 5 year old girl attacked and took a shovel right out of another 2 year old girls hand.  The little girl, who had just been robbed, immediately started balling her eyes out.

Without missing a beat Jack, realizing what just happened, walked over and offered his shovel to the girl who just had hers taken away. I was blown away by his willing to share, but even more so by his realizing the desire to make the girl feel better.