When I hear stories of people that are taking the risk to trust God and start a church I am personally motivated to want to jump in to help make it happen. As a church planter, I am excited about a new launch in one of my favorite cities. Soul City Church will be launching in the city of Chicago in 2010 and they are committed to helping people become all of whom God created them to be. I believe in Jarrett & Jeanne Stevens – they spent 12 years at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL and 3 ½ years at North Point Community Church in Atlanta, GA. I’m excited to see the vision of this church reach many people in the city of Chicago and beyond and I have decided that I want to be a part of the story of seeing this Church start. I am asking you to consider making a year-end gift to assist their efforts.

I have a unique interest and stake in their success. I love the energy in a church plant and how it can reach people currently not being reached in a community. We have seen that first hand. This plant, however, has the potential to impact my family directly. My youngest son Nate is now in the city of Chicago as a student at Moody Bible College. As a church planter’s kid, he has frequently shared his heart for the city and the need for more churches to reach the thousands of people he sees everyday.

One immediate need the church has is for some creative workspace. To do this will take money, as all churches do. The estimated cost is $6000. Soul City, much like Grace Community Church, will be designed to reach people other churches are not, with methods of ministry no one else is using. I am certain people all over the city of Chicago are looking for a place like Soul City Church, but right now they many not even know it. I have seen how Inspiring environments breed dreams and great ideas. Your gift will help this church create a work / meeting space in which staff, leaders, and volunteers can gather, pray, dream, work and implement the vision of Soul City Church.

Please consider a generous donation today. Click on yearendstart.com and you can donate right now. I think the investment will make eternal differences in the city of Chicago.

We had the deal of all deals presented to our church a few months ago. Because of the people involved I can’t share details, but it was one of those “too good to be true” scenarios. It came from nowhere and totally rocked my world for a few weeks. I personally had 80 to 100 hours invested. It was going to be huge for our church and community.

I love a dream and I’m not afraid to take a risk, but I had sought tons of wisdom, the staff was excited, and the potential for ministry would have been incredible. It seemed like a wise direction for the church and was days from becoming reality. The only thing left to do was sign the papers.

Almost as soon as the deal arrived, through no fault of our own, the deal fell through.

Thankfully, from my business and life experience, I have learned to deal with disappointment, but at first, this seemed like a huge loss.  Over the next few days I began to process what had happened and the energy I had “wasted”.

Here are 5 things I learned from the experience:

• The process taught me important leadership and negotiation skills.
• The brainstorming and prayer process as a church staff brought us closer together.
• We learned more about who we are as a church and what we value most.
• Those involved in the process outside our church gained new knowledge and respect for our church.
• The momentum that started within our staff about the possibilities will have lasting value as we transfer it to other avenues.

Ultimately, what I learned is that it wasn’t wasted energy after all. There were valuable lessons gained from what appeared to be a negative experience.  Those lessons will make me a better leader and pastor.

I wonder if perhaps other disappointments in life have similar principles to be learned…

What do you think?

For more thoughts on leadership, click HERE.

Hey guess what? Breaking news occurred this week. Perhaps you heard it. In fact, how could you miss it?

The breaking news involves Tiger Woods. You may have heard all the rumors, watched ESPN and all the other newscasts try to get “to the bottom” of the story, or even read that Tiger personally admits he disappointed his family by not being true to the values he believes.

That is really not, however, the real story here. Do you want the truth? I have it!

TIGER WOODS IS NOT PERFECT. HE IS JUST A MAN.

One of my favorite Bible verses is James 5:17 which says, “Elijah was just like us.”

This week we received a great reminder not to put our ultimate trust in any man or woman, but to continue to place our hope in the One who sets the stars in place; the only true God.

Who are you trusting today?

I have spent the last couple years working on a Master’s in Organizational Leadership at Eastern University.  I am thankful to be nearing the end of my program now, but one thing I will miss is my frequent trips to the city of Philadelphia.  I have learned to love Philly.  In spite of being one of the largest cities in the United States, Philly has a very friendly, residential feel to it.

I am frequently asked for travel tips for the city, so I thought I would share my top 10 suggestions.  Knowing you will automatically track down the touristy historical spots, I decided to share my picks that may or may not be in on the standard weekend tour, but places that you do not want to miss.  Philly is an excellent city in which to walk, so if you are only visiting Philly for a short time, put your walking shoes on and check out:

The museum area – Even if you are not a museum lover, this side of the city is beautiful and a must see.

Schuylkill River Trail is a 130-miles long stretching along the historic Schuylkill River from downtown Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to Valley Forge National Park.  This is a runner and biker’s dream, but a must see even if just to walk a mile or so.  Be sure to get to the trail early and watch the rowing clubs practice behind boathouse row along the Fairmount Park stretch of the trail.

Sabrina’s Café -  Located in the heart of the Italian street markets on Christian Street, just off 9^th street has absolutely some of the best meals I have ever had at reasonable prices.  Known for breakfast, I think their chef knocks dinner meals out of the park.

Italian markets on 9^th Street -  The culture here is alive and well.  Featuring great Italian restaurants, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, even if you are not buying you will enjoy the atmosphere.

Pat and Geno’s -  You will no doubt have Philly cheese steaks while in town.  I recommend you try several places.  I have other “favorites”, but these are the two famous ones and the ones you’ll want to say you tried.  Located on 9^th Street down from the Italian markets, I have my pick of the two in case you can’t hold but one.  Read that post HERE.

South Street -  At night or during the day, there is always something happening here.  For true people watching, this is where the tourists are walking.

Reading Terminal Market - I never get tired of this place.  It’s great for food, people watching, and culture.  The Amish shops have incredible food at reasonable prices, but there are also many other award-winning places to eat.   One of my favorite places is DiNic’s. Try their cheesesteak!  I also like the chocolate in the Reading Terminal.

Rittenhouse Square Area -  Located on Walnut Street (and other streets), this is a small park, but has lots of character.  If the weather is pretty the place will be packed and be a great place to sit and people watch.  The area around it has some of the nicest places to live in downtown Philly and great restaurants are nearby.

SEPTA – The regional rail system in Philly makes getting out of the city and discovering historic, quaint villages an easy, fun, and inexpensive day or half-day trip from center city.  Try places like Manayunk and Chestnut Hill.

Chinatown – Again, culture and people watching is the best activity here.  I’m not a Chinese food fan, but I understand there are some great ones here.

I didn’t mention shopping on Walnut or Chestnut Streets, but if Cheryl is with me, that’s a must do area.  Also McGillian’s Pub is one of my favorite places to watch a game and grab some inexpensive grub!

What did I miss?

For a fun family few days, check out the great options available in Philadelphia!  Then share your findings with me!

Cheryl and I love to travel.  One experience we have enjoyed over the years is our time staying in bed and breakfasts.  In this post, I want to dismiss the false impression that real men do not stay in B & B’s.

For those that do not know me, I would not normally be considered a “soft” man.  (No joking allowed here from our staff…Remember I have power!)  I am not into many things considered “girly”.  Cheryl and I often joke that she could have chosen romantic or comedic. Well…at least I keep her laughing!   Still, depending on the place we are visiting, this man often prefers to stay in a bed and breakfast to a hotel.

Here are 5 reasons why:

B & B’s are more private. The greatest fear I have heard men mention is the lack of privacy, but in most B & B’s I have felt more separated from other guests than in a standard hotel. (We make sure to always ask for a private bath.)

B & B’s have great food. If you like breakfast, which would you rather have, the make your own waffle/store-bought pastry breakfast, or a gourmet breakfast cooked by wanna-be chefs?

B & B’s are often more comfortable. Many of the rooms that we have stayed in are almost like getting the luxury suite at a nice hotel.

B& B’s make the wife happy. Speaking on behalf of most the men I know, that’s always a good thing!  J

B & B’s feel European. If you have ever spent much time in Europe you know that the average traveler there is accustomed to bed and breakfast stays.  There is probably a B & B near you.  You can pretend you are traveling Internationally.

Surprise your wife with a weekend getaway!  Book a stay in a bed and breakfast and surprise her with a night away. Here’s a great resource to find a bed and breakfast next time you travel:  Bbonline.com

What have your experiences been with bed and breakfasts?

For more posts on marriage, click HERE.

 
According to my official survey, the all time favorite Sesame Street character is:

Drum roll please….

 

Ernie with 22%
Cookie Monster with 19%
Grover with 15%

I’m kind of sad Mumford the Magician got none. I like him. Actually this is not a very statistically verifiable survey. I had just under 100 respondents, which is about 25% of my daily readership. I guess most of my readers are not too concerned about Sesame Street.

I think, however, that there are lessons to be learned from their 40 years of generating an audience and accomplishing their vision.

Read my previous Happy Birthday post HERE.

Do you love Sesame Street? If not, what is your preferred children’s educational show?

Happy birthday Sesame Street!

On November 10, 2009, the longest running children’s television show will be 40 years old.   You can read more about it HERE.  The fictional neighborhood characters have been engaging and teaching children most of my life.  I was 5 years old when Sesame Street hit our black and white, rabbit-eared television for the first time.  For a compilation news coverage from multiple sources to detail the history and evolution of the show and examining how these changes have affected the relevance of the show, click HERE.

What I love about this program is that in spite of competition from other shows and other things that draw kid’s attention, Sesame Street isn’t giving up their vision that if you capture the child’s mind you can teach them has never changed. The also have a great, fun website for children of all ages.  Click HERE for that link.

Today they are revamping some of their format, but their desire is ultimately to achieve the same results.

Just for fun, play along with me and tell me who your favorite character of all time is from Sesame Street.  I’ve created a fast, two question survey.

Click on this sentence to be taken to the survey. (I will share the results soon, so answer quickly please.)

Did you watch Sesame Street when you were younger?  Do you watch it today?  Do your kids?

For more thoughts about parenting click HERE.

Here are 10 lessons it took me years to understand:

1. If you have to impress the friend, he or she isn’t much of a friend.
2. “Just once” probably is a bigger deal than led to believe.
3. The sooner you decide to get your life headed in the right direction the more time you have to enjoy it.
4. There are few shortcuts to success.
5. Hard times come naturally in life…determine early to use them for God’s glory and to help others.
6. Kids grow up too fast. Enjoy them at each stage.
7. There is wisdom with age. Always be willing to learn from those who have lived and experienced more of life.
8. The longer you wait to forgive someone the longer it takes to heal your heart.
9. If you don’t act on what you feel led to do, because of fear or indecision, someone else will and you will miss the blessing.
10. More success in the world does not automatically bring more happiness, more success with the things that matter most does.

What are some lessons it took you a while to learn?

I enjoyed meeting some of the people that I admire online this week at Cultivate Conference in Chicago. Names that appear bigger than life to me, because I enjoy their blogs and work so much, were up close and personal. I shook the hands of people like, Jon Acuff, Kem Meyer, Scott McClellan, Kent Shaffer, Tony Steward and Rhett Smith.

I think the humbling thing for me was the reminder that these are real people. I heard a couple of their stories. They have real stories too.

Sometimes I think we tend to forget that behind the bigger than life appearance a strong web presence gives someone are real people with real stories…and real problems and challenges to life.

That’s true for all of us…

That’s true for me….

The fact is that I blog a lot. (Some would say too much.) There may be the tendency to believe I know what I’m talking about sometimes….

…Sometimes I actually do…

…Many times its because I learned a lesson the hard way…

But with everyone that has an online presence, including in my case, it’s important to remember that the online presence may not be a complete picture of reality. We can seem to have it all together through our blogs…but behind the computer sits real people with real stories…and real problems and real challenges to life.

What’s your current problem or challenge?  Do you clean it up well online?

I shop with my wife.  I get criticized often by other men that say I put pressure on them to live up to that standard with their own wives.  I explain that a shopping mall is not necessarily my preferred place to be on a Saturday, but I love my wife and I love spending time with her.  She likes to shop, so many Saturdays I find myself somewhere shopping with her.  My blog readership, according to my recent reader survey, is at least 50% women, so today I want to address you in this issue. My goal as always is to improve and strengthen marriages.  Spending time together always helps this occur. (Well…almost always…)

Here are some tips if you want to get your man to shop with you:

• Give him a mission.  Men love a purpose.  We are hunters by nature.  Tell us exactly what you are looking for, that you haven’t been able to find it anywhere and that you need his help finding it.  Then get out of his way and let him hunt!
• Understand his limit.  When enough is enough, let him eat.
• Feed him well.
• Let him carry packages to the car. It gives him something to do.
  
• Include a stop for him (if he’s up to it). If he wants to look at tools for a while don’t complain if he looked at dresses.
• Don’t push stores he doesn’t like.    Save those for the girls trips. (Personally, I don’t care for the candle shops or soaps and lotion shops.  To me if you smell one, you’ve smelled them all.)
• Give him credit for going and don’t expect it to be his favorite way to spend a day. Recognize he is doing it out of love for you, not for the activity.
• Give him time to enjoy the things he enjoys doing at other times. Do them with him if he wants you to…and don’t complain if you do participate.

Girls: Does your husband shop with you?  What are your tips for us?

Guys:  Do you shop with your wives?  What keeps you going?

For more tips on marriage, click HERE