Jan 25, 2012
Appetite
Okay, I'm going to let you in on some of the excitement that my wife, Roxann, and I have in our private conversations. Here's a common conversation of ours. "Where do you want to eat?" "I don't know. Where do you want to eat?" "I don't know. You decide." Yes, we're boring. But, I bet you can you relate! Right?! Inevitably, as we repeat that mind-numbing conversation, one of us mentions how we wish we could go to Chick-fil-a or the Cheesecake Factory...two restaurants that we're alw...
Jan 20, 2012
Last Laugh
It's true. Following God and trusting His Word can make us a laughing stock...especially in our unbelieving, politically correct world. But, why would it be any different for us than it was for the One we're following. They laughed at Jesus. Checkout Mark 5:40. But, don't stop there because the story doesn't end with them laughing. It ends with Jesus raising a little girl from the dead. Think about it. From the human perspective, it was crazy talk to refer to a dead girl as "sleepin...
Jan 17, 2012
Why Do I Keep Watching?
I am so sick of the news. It's mind-numbing redundancy. Soap operas are fast moving and changing in contrast with the news these days. And yet, I keep watching and reading it. When I turn my TV on, I instinctively turn it to a news channel. The same tends to be true with the radio and even my computer. Are you kidding me? I keep doing what I hate, and it's making me question my own sanity. Hmmmm! Sound familiar? I'm finding this isn't a news thing...or a Brad thing. It's a nature th...
Jan 13, 2012
Appreciation without Application
Most of us love music. Though we have very different tastes, we share an appreciation for how music adds to our lives...enjoyment, inspiration, and beauty. And yet, for most of us, music doesn't define us. We listen to it, but we don't live by it. We know and even sing the words, but we don't generally apply them to the way we live our lives. And, this makes sense. After all, most music is more committed to expressing feeling than truth. It's more about creating beautiful art than shar...
Dec 30, 2011
My Best Reads didn’t make the Biggest Impact
Since I threw out the value of reading in a recent blog, I thought that it may be potentially beneficial to share some of the more impacting reads of my past year. As context, I think it's important to share a couple of thoughts. First, the better books and/or reading experiences weren't always the most impacting. In fact, this is often true. Many of the books that I enjoy the most are far from the most impacting or memorable. Of course, reasons abound. (e.g. I enjoyed them because ...
Dec 29, 2011
Just Because the Calendar Changes…
My wife, Roxann, does a whiteboard calendar for each month of our lives and hangs it in our kitchen. (Just what I need...a constant reminder of our thin-margined life.) Anyway, I'm always blown away at how quickly she has to pull it down and record the next month. It sometimes feels like my days are moving so quickly that I could cool a room with the breeze from the turning pages of the calendar. In the words of Bob Dylan, "the times they are a-changin." But, just because the calendar...
Dec 8, 2011
Less is More
For those of us driven for success or significance, we'll do just about anything to achieve it. By nature, this would include sacrificing issues of integrity and morality because getting ahead is the primary value. For those of us who have opened our lives to the nature transforming power of Christ, we tend to leverage everything we can to achieve our desired greatness while trying to maintain our commitment to integrity and morality. (The original disciples are a great example of this...
Dec 5, 2011
When the Horse is Dead…
Dismount! It's one of my all-time favorite leadership cliches! It's simple, funny, relevant, and profound. When something no longer works, we should stop wasting our time, energy, and resources working it. So true! It's in the spirit of this cliche that I'm writing this post. I'm wondering if the social media horse...(at least for me)...is dead? Seriously! My Facebook page, twitter, and blog require a major commitment of time, energy, and creativity that could be invested in a...
Dec 1, 2011
Creativity & Criticism
We just experienced our very first snowfall. And, once again, I was reminded that God's an artist....an unbelievably creative artist. And yet, not surprisingly, the immediate response from many was to pan His creative expression. Amazing, isn...
Nov 24, 2011
Thanksgiving
Though it's possible to harbor a spirit of ingratitude, it's...how can I put this delicately...DUMB! Seriously, not only does it make life miserable, it defies reality. Yes, of course, there are people who have hurt us, circumstances that have detoured us from our dreams, and realities in this world that can make sane and caring people angry...very angry. BUT, we have been gifted life. And, though it comes with some shadows, it's an incomparable gift. Today, we're alive. Serious...
Apr 28, 2011
The Power of an Invitation
Easter is behind us, but the impact is eternal. There are so many stories of life change. And, most of them thank me and/or our phenomenal team of staff and volunteers for what we did. (And, I have to admit...our team is amazing. They gave so much to make our 11 Easter services beyond any superlative I could assign it. I am so grateful to them for their passionate commitment and to God for gifting us with these awe inspiring people. I'm humbled by the privilege I have to serve with the...
Apr 1, 2011
“Winning”
It's sad, but here's the reality. Charlie Sheen isn't alone in having, (how can I say this sensitively), a bizarre view of what it means to be "winning." Our culture tends to get it wrong as well. I think it's absolutely essential that those ...
Feb 28, 2011
Out of the Ashes
Today, Chris Tomlin's song, "Our God", took on new meaning in my life...and the life of our team here in India. We had the privilege, (and I mean privilege), of spending time in two very special ministry homes. The first was a special home for kids with aids. They are the kids of young ladies enslaved in and ravaged by prostitution. They are kids now being rescued and loved by some modern day heroes of the faith. From my description so far, you'd think it was a place of sadness and ...
Feb 17, 2011
Sinlicious
I gave a talk last night at NorthRidge that is creating more chatter than normal...in the social media world...but also in me. I actually woke up still thinking about it this morning. I really do believe it's a huge deal for believers that, unfortunately, is being missed. Sin is the great enemy of life. (By sin, I'm not talking of petty little preferences that some believers and pastors try to make a sin. I'm talking about sin...declaring independence from God; rebelling against Him...
Dec 9, 2010
“Work Smart”
I'm sure most of us have heard the old saying "work smart not hard." Of course, as with most famous sayings, there is an intended truth and an unintended error. The error here is that, if we work smart, we can achieve our full potential without working hard. WRONG! Though there may be occasional exceptions to this, just as lightening does occasionally strike twice and a few have struck it rich through the lottery, the rule is that it takes working smart and hard. For me, the saying ...