Tiger Illusions

Illusion - A deceptive appearance; a false show, by which a person is or may be deceived, or his expectations disappointed; mockery.

In the past month or so, most of our Tiger Illusions have probably been completely dashed.

More than likely, we have all discovered that the things we wanted to believe about Tiger Woods and/or maybe were even told to believe about him (largely by our sports media and large advertising conglomerates) just weren't true. They were Tiger Illusions.

Yes, he still remains one of the most famous athletes of all time.

Yes, he still remains one of the wealthiest athletes to have ever played the game of golf (or any other "game" for that matter!).

Yes, he will probably be remembered in history as one of the most astonishing sports figures ever, someone who truly mastered his game. At the top of his game, he is far better than his competition. No one else really even comes close to Tiger when he plays at his best!

But now, all of the incredible personal accomplishments of Tiger Woods are being completely overshadowed and/or somewhat discredited by his surprising (and numerous?) moral failures. This is yet another very sad entry to the world's Hall of Shame, an all too popular destination for way too many famous personalities these days. How sad...

Why is it that someone (like Tiger Woods) can fall so far and so fast in the eyes of so many? I mean, this guy has practically gone from first to worst in an incredibly short amount of time. It is amazing to see how quickly people dumped Tiger.

So, why did this happen? I believe it's because of the grand illusions created for Tiger by our media and advertisers. They all had a vested interest in keeping the illusion going.

In light of what has been disclosed in the past month about Tiger Woods and his apparent numerous illicit affairs and one-night stands, don't you think that lots of people probably knew about these blemishes on his otherwise squeaky clean image? Why didn't any of them come forward earlier and straighten things out for all of us? Why were these details about Tiger's life kept quiet and secretive for so long? Why were so many people unwilling to talk about any of this until Tiger and his wife had their middle-of-the-night tif in late November?

I believe that lust for power/money and a insatiable desire on the part of many to become part of the great Tiger Woods illusion is why.

You see, once an illusion is created, there's a lot invested in maintaining that illusion. Oftentimes illusions make a boatload of money for a lot of people beyond the one who the illusion is all about. Soon, there is so much money invested in the illusion that everyone who knows the real truth about the person is unwilling to cut off their ticket to stardom and/or wealth by debunking the illusion. There is no incentive for them in letting everyone know the truth. That is, of course, until the first person is brave enough to speak up. Then, watch everyone come out of the woodwork telling all of what they know about the person the illusion was created for. It really snowballs and sometimes gets ugly.

Tiger Illusions are now dashed. But, I am wondering how many other deceptive appearances are out there? Who else is putting on a false show, deceiving us by their mockery? What other illusion has been created by our media that will be found out next November (if not sooner)? Hmmm?

What's your favorite Christmas song?

About a week ago, our immediate family had an early Christmas gathering where we exchanged a few gifts and enjoyed some really great food/hospitality together. It was such a fun time and a real blessing for me personally! Towards the end of that wonderful evening, all eight of us (plus Peter and Kristen's cute little puppy!) piled into the minivan and traveled a short distance to look at a fantastic Christmas lights display (complete with synchronized music on the radio!) together. It was wonderful!

In the midst of listening to the great music on the radio and looking at the incredible lighting display, we started asking one another, "What's your favorite Christmas song?"

One by one we offered our favorites. Mine was Joy to the World, Ellen's was O Come All Ye Faithful, Peter and Annie's was O Holy Night, Kristen said Away in a Manger , and now I am forgetting the others that got mentioned (but I think Andy may have said Hark the Herald Angels Sing ). Sorry, Katie and Nathan!

Anyway, I am wondering, what's your favorite Christmas song?

I remember so vividly the first Christmas after I became a Christian many years ago. All of a sudden, the words of the Christmas carols that I had sung all of my life meant so much more to me! The theology contained in Christmas songs is so fantastic, especially if you are a believer in Jesus Christ! Wow. What a blessing!

And to think that during this great time of year, millions (if not billions?) of people all around the world sing songs about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the celebration/remembrance of His birth at Christmas time! I love that!

Well, fast forward to the other morning as I was driving nonchalantly to my office. On the radio station I was listening to came my new favorite Christmas song! It touched me in such a special way! I had forgotten about this song when we were sharing our favorite Christmas songs in the minivan that night. How could I have forgotten this one?

The song I am referring to is Mark Lowery's Mary, Did You Know? and the lyrics go like this:

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered
will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby
you kissed the face of God?

Mary, did you know...

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak,
the praises of The Lamb!

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
That sleeping Child you're holding
is the Great, I AM.

Wow.

Aren't those words powerful?

Don't these lyrics just give you goose bumps and cause you to want to fall on your knees and praise God for Christ's coming?

Or is it just me?

What's your favorite Christmas song?

Don't miss the spiritual importance of Christmas this year! Listen to the Christmas songs and think deeply about the theology contained within them. It's fantastic!

Christmas Time - He, He, He, He versus Ho, Ho, Ho...

It's Christmas time and I really love this time of year!

I love all the preparations for it - taking a photo of our children/family for the annual Christmas card; writing the annual Christmas card letter; planning all the extra events that happen with our family and friends during this time of year; making lists of people I want to buy gifts for and/or send special greetings to; determining how much time to take off from my job in order to help make it a special time for others; and reading in Matthew and Luke about how the very first Christmas took place, so long ago on a cold, winter night in a Bethlehem stable.

I also love all the activities of it - singing favorite Christmas carols throughout the month, not just in church, but also in all the stores while shopping; attending multiple Christmas parties and gift exchanges with family/friends, focusing on delighting others with "presence" versus just the presents; bringing my sweet mother-in-law (and other family members and friends) into our home to celebrate this holiday with us, sharing the joy and blessings that we are experiencing because of this incredibly important time of year; adapting to a slower pace at work, putting that phase of my life into a much lower gear for awhile so that I can focus on what is really important; observing my incredible wife Ellen working harder than normal, filling our house with an abundance of delicious foods/goodies to share with family/neighbors/friends (and unfortunately eating way too many of them myself!); giving gifts to the really special people in my life after doing some relaxed shopping for family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers; and spending time in prayer thanking God for His special gift to the world so many long years ago.

I love all the extras you can do because of it - saying "Merry Christmas!" to everyone because after all, everyone knows it's Christmas time; purposefully smiling at people who appear to be all together way too grumpy during this time of year, telling them with your smile that it's Christmas time and they shouldn't let their current burdens (or even their sometimes self-imposed problems?) keep others from experiencing the incredible joy of the season; surprising people with small, unexpected gifts, telling them with your gift that you value them and wanted to let them know that; exhibiting peace in the midst of a world that has way too much turmoil, just because you know that Christmas means a lot more than just Santa Claus and Black Friday shopping for bargains/deals; and asking God to make this Christmas even more special to you because it's so easy to forget why we celebrate and who this "holy-day" is really all about.

Yes, Christmas is a glorious time of the year! One that I really love.

Several years ago, I shared with my family a way I was taught to speak the truth of the Gospel in 10 words or less. It's a way for us all to understand the true meaning of Christmas (which is all about faith in the revelation of God's Son, Jesus Christ, who was born at Christmas). It's based on some words in I Corinthians 15:1-8, and can easily be remembered by the catchy phrase He, He, He, He. The "He" is Jesus. It goes like this:

He came.
He died.
He rose.
He lives.

It's just that simple! And that's what Christmas time is really all about. That's why I love this time of year so much!

So, this year, I am trying to focus on the He, He, He, He of Christmas versus the Ho, Ho, Ho.

How about you? What are you focused on? Don't miss the real reason for this blessed season...

Longing for a simpler time in life...

Sitting in a hotel breakfast area as I write this, longing for a simpler time in life...

We're traveling this pre-Thanksgiving holiday and today finds us at a Hampton Inn in Las Cruces, New Mexico (hurray for numerous business travels that garner hotel points and free stays!). Four of us are on our way to visiting more extended family in Tucson today through Tuesday morning, and then we will head to the Phoenix area for time with my parents and other family interactions there. I love the fact that I have a family to spend time with. I also love the idea of "road trips" like this, and we have done dozens of them over the years.

But, as I sit here still a bit stressed out over the past week of work and the over 700 miles we traveled yesterday, a bit concerned for my daughter Katie in Delhi, India, on a short-term mission trip this week, and while observing other traveling families in this lobby breakfast area with their small children in tow, I'm reminisching about and longing for a simpler time in life.

A time when my family was always all together.

A time when we actually did everything together.

A time when all of us seemed to be completely in sync with one another.

I know that my longings are on the edge of kind of dreamy and possibly not very realistic (it probably wasn't as easy as I'm remembering it), but that's what's going on in my thoughts as I smile at the cutest little children around me and how they appear to be responding with such bold faith and trust in their parents for everything.

But, life isn't that simple right now. Everyone grows up and moves on. Everyone heads off to new personal and professional pursuits (as they should). Everyone changes based on the environments they are in and who they are currently influenced by. Life goes on. And that's O.K.

But, the fact remains, I'm still longing for a simpler time in life...

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I'm just not very good at "small talk"

I love people, I really do. I love being around people also. I have a lot of really great people in my life. Don't know what I'd be like if it weren't for the people God placed around me in my family, my neighborhood, my church, my work, etc. But, I'm just not very good at "small talk."

Maybe that is why I love doing this - writing once a week on this blog. I can take the time to carefully compose my thoughts, think deeply about a subject that means something special to me, and then write (hopefully intelligently?) about what is really on this heart of mine. Although I am using a lot of words in this blog, there's really not much "small talk" here...

But, I feel guilty about not being very good at "small talk." Isn't "small talk" how we relate to one another and find out more about each other? Does everything we say to each other need to have deep meaning and/or an agenda? Can't we just share thoughts and ideas with one another without being judged?

Let me ask you this. Do we gravitate more towards "small talk" because we are afraid to tell other people around us what we are really thinking? What we really believe about each other and about life? Is our "small talk" just a mask that we hide behind these days for fear that others might really discover who we are?

Or, is all of our "small talk" only what we give ourselves time for - just shallow, brief conversations that mean very little because we are in such a doggone hurry all the time?

Seems like it didn't used to be this way. Seems like when I was growing up in a small town in Iowa, people usually had meaningful and thoughtful conversations. Didn't they?

In a day and age of abundant forms/tools of communication (even excessive maybe?), and with the multiple opportunities we have each day to communicate with each other (cell phones, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.), why is it that it feels like we are actually communicating less and less? Isn't a lot of what we communicate with one another really just "small talk" and/or somewhat meaningless conversation/words? Where's the depth?

Do you know what I really, really like? When someone I know (in my family, my neighborhood, my church or my work) just wants to get together to talk deeply about important things in this life. Maybe over a long cup of coffee. Maybe over a meal. Maybe on a long drive across the country. Maybe on a camping trip when all the other "noises" we deal with most everyday are somewhat quiet and/or non-existent...

There are days when I long for a more Little House on the Prairie type lifestyle, where all you had around you was your own family and the words you shared with one another intimately, day in, day out. No telephones. No television. No Facebook postings and/or status updates. Not a lot of "small talk," but rather abundant times of sharing with each other, living close to each other, believing in shared/common values and inviting one another to be even more open with each other as the days went by and as you grew in this life. All without fear of what the other person might think about what you might have to say. Because you were family and you all were primarily looking out for the good of one another.

I'm just not very good at "small talk." But, if you want to sit down and go really deep in conversation with me, let's get together and do it!

I need a new favorite color...

Everyone has their favorite color. Mine used to be green. Not any more...

Green was such a perfect favorite color for me. Green implied growth and I'm a real pro-growth guy (economic growth, spiritual growth, growth in intelligence/understanding, etc.). Green also conjured up wonderful images of plants and "landscape," so appropriate for my chosen profession of Landscape Architecture. Additionally, green very often caused me to think of my home state, Iowa, and all the green grass, corn and soybean fields there. Finally, not everyone liked green as their favorite color either, which helped make me kind of distinctive/unusual (as though I needed assistance in being unusual...). Green was such a great favorite color for me, and for such a long time, too!

But, green is no longer a color. Unfortunately, green has now become a policy position, a political statement, a marketing strategy, a religion, and for some, even a calling or a sacred (?) cause to save the planet (ever heard of Al Gore?).

So, if you are reading this, help me. Please! I need a new favorite color...

I'm going to rule out the "colors" black and white first. Too many racial overtones and misunderstandings associated with these two. Plus, they are really non-colors, aren't they? How can you say that your favorite color is black or white when each are really non-colors? If I'm messed up here and one of these should be my new favorite color, let me know.

I'm also going to rule out gray. Gray is the color my hair is becoming and/or has already turned to. I'm not that concerned about it, but just because I'm getting closer to becoming a "senior citizen," I don't think my favorite color should be gray. What do you think?

I'd love to say that brown is my new favorite color because I like it and it reminds me of another of my favorites - chocolate. But, I really don't need to think about chocolate very much as it doesn't really do me any favors when it comes to my weight. Plus, everytime I tell people (especially my kids!) that the tuxedos the guys wore at our wedding almost 29 years ago were brown, they respond with disbelief in that choice and laugh. So, my new favorite color can't be brown.

What about purple? That's the color of my son Peter and his bride Kristen's alma mater - Abilene Christian University. It's also kind of a trendy color, I think? No. Can't be purple. Sorry folks. Although I am confident in my manhood and try not to be sexist, I still consider purple to be a female color.

Orange is nice, but burnt orange implies being a fan of the University of Texas (which I am not). Orange also has too much association with Halloween, doesn't it? So, I guess it can't be orange.

What's left? Red, Blue and Yellow - the primary colors. I like that. Maybe my next favorite color should be one of these?

Red is good. There is a lot of talk these days about red states and their association with being Republican and conservative. That makes a lot of sense for me. But, then again. Red also used to have several negative connotations - Red Communist, Red Chinese, Blood Red, etc. So, maybe not red?

Blue? Well, blue is my wife's favorite color and I really like it, too. But, since I'm not a blue state kind of guy, I don't really "sing the blues" very much, and since so many people like blue, maybe it's not unusual/distinctive enough for me? What do you think?

Finally, how about yellow? Why not yellow? I need a new favorite color... Should it be yellow? There is a really cool Cold Play song that I like about yellow. Sunshine is yellow and I love sunshine and lots of it? But, can I get past the problems associated with this color: yellow-bellied coward; yellow/jaundiced; yellow infections; etc. Oh me, oh my. What's the right answer?

I need a new favorite color... Send me your thoughts on which one I should choose, O.K.? Thanks in advance.

Don't Drink the Kool-Aid?

Have you ever heard the expression, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid?" Where did that oft-used expression come from anyway? Even though I lived through that time and experience (I remember hearing about it on the news), I still had to do a little research (thanks to the Internet) to refresh my memory of the not so pleasant details.

About 31 years ago this month, an extremely charismatic and compelling leader named Jim Jones orchestrated the largest mass suicide ever of over 900 members of his People's Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, South America. He had become convinced that "committing an act of revolution suicide to protest the conditions of an inhumane world" was the only thing they could do. His twisted philosophies and totally unconventional ideas aligned with communism and socialism had failed him and the People's Temple at every turn along the way. They had been forced to move as a group several times - from Indiana to California, and then finally to Guyana, South America to escape the intense scrutiny of many who began to see how far off-base this group was becoming. Unfortunately, Jones still had enough influence and power over these 900+ people (including over 275 children) that the last act of the People's Temple was to obediently "drink the Kool-Aid" containing a sedative and cyanide poison. All because their charismatic leader told them to do so. They had completely put all their faith and trust in their leader, in spite of all his failed ideas and philosophies. He had garnered that much control over them. So much control that they were even willing to take their own lives (and the precious lives of their very own children).

Sadly, the People's Temple members were found by authorities several days later laying side by side, dead because they believed with their very lives in the strong, but terribly misguided urgings of their charismatic leader Jim Jones.

So what? Is there anything we can learn from this significant episode in our history? Well, here's a few of the take-aways I have from this event:

- Beware of extremely charismatic and compelling leaders. Listen to them carefully, but make sure to think before you follow any of their ideas.

- No matter how bad or inhumane the condition of this world gets, suicide is never the answer, no matter who it is that tells you it is.

- Twisted philosophies and unconventional ideas aligned with communism and socialism have never worked or turned out positively, no matter how lofty and well-meaning the original goal was of helping others.

- If the philosophies and ideas of a charismatic leader never achieve long-lasing success, thereby forcing that leader to "keep moving" and never land solidly anywhere, that ought to be a pretty good indicator of being on the wrong track.

- No charismatic leader should be given the power to convince you to turn off your brain and do something really stupid.

Be smart. Don't drink the Kool-Aid!

Wise Guys

I spent most of the day Friday and Saturday with a bunch of wise guys. There names are: Mike, Brian, Jeff, Dirk, John, Dan, Eddie, and Mark (Earl was missing, on assignment elsewhere in the country sharing his elder wisdom with another church).

These wise guys are my fellow elders at Chase Oaks Church.

What an impressive group of godly men! It was such a privilege to spend time with all of them on a "retreat" from our normal daily activities. They definitely provided a lot encouragement for me and definitely refilled my tank for leadership of our church!

However, one of these wise guys in particular will be the primary subject of this post. His name is Mike.

I've known and admired Mike for about 19 or 20 years. All of that time he and his sweet wife Sharon have faithfully served our church as an elder couple. They have been extremely dedicated servant leaders. They have been (and still are) an inspiration to me and so many others. They continually show me and so many others what servant leadership looks like. The wisdom that spills out of their mouths, and the clarity of their thoughts in the things that they do, is truly a wonderful blessing in my life (and in the lives of so many others). I'm going to share a little secret with all of you reading this. When I grow up, I want to be just like Mike.

I want to be as faithful and loving as he has been to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I want to be as honest and courageous as he has been in all of his business dealings throughout the years.

I want to be as selfless and giving as he has been to his wife and children/grandchildren from the day they were married/born.

I want to be the student of Scripture that he has been so that any wisdom that spills out of my mouth is unquestionably from the Lord, not just from me.

I want to be as humble as he is in spite of all the accomplishments he has been a part of here on earth.

I want to have as much integrity/energy/flexibility that he has when I am his age and in his stage of life.

I want to show Christ to others by the way I live, just as Mike has for so many years.

I am mindful of the fact that if he were to read this, Mike would be somewhat embarrassed and would not like the attention these words bring to him. That's just the way he is. But, sometimes you need to call out certain wise guys and tell them how much they mean to you and how much you admire them anyway.

I could write similar things about the other wise guys I spent the weekend with, but Mike, this one's for you! Thanks for being one of the wise guys I really love to be around.

A Glance Behind

Sometimes it is helpful to take a glance behind. Sometimes we get so caught up in moving forward, totally focused on where we are moving to, that we miss the real benefits of taking a glance behind.

That's why it is so important for us to study history. World history in particular. We can learn a lot from spending the time to take a glance behind.

This year as a part of his 10th grade home education, my son Nathan is studying World History with my wife. Just this past week, the two of them were in a chapter that was discussing the Roman Republic. The enduring influence of the Roman Empire is reflected pervasively in our contemporary language, literature, legal codes, government, architecture, engineering, medicine, sports, arts, etc. Much of what the Roman Empire was all about is so deeply embedded in our culture that we sometimes fail to acknowledge how much we are indebted to ancient Rome. We miss it if we fail to take a glance behind.

Consider most common languages of the world today (including English, for example). Most of these languages are taken from Latin. Without Latin, you could not have read much of the past few sentences/paragraphs.

But even beyond that, the Roman Empire was a really big deal. It was the most powerful global force in its time. It lasted over 500 years, and was more important than any other world power during most of that time.

But, somewhere along the way, something happened. At some point in time, the Roman Empire fell, and now we only read about it in the history books (if we take a glance behind, that is).

My wife, Ellen, read something to me out of their World History book the other day and it seemed too significant not to mention in this blog. It was at the end of the chapter they were studying on the Roman Republic. Here is what the book had to say:

During these years of the republic, Rome grew from a small city along the Tiber to become the master of the Mediterranean world. New prosperity and power resulted from Rome's conquests. But with her rise to prominence, Rome was faced with new challenges. The Roman historian Livy described their predicament: "For true it is that the less men's wealth was, the less was their greed. Of late, riches have brought in avarice, and excessive pleasures, the longing to carry wantonness and license to the point of ruin for oneself and of universal destruction."

The foundation of the republic began to crumble. Traditional values, such as discipline, personal morality, and respect for authority, diminished. Citizens who once served their country with a sense of patriotic duty and responsibility now sought their own selfish interests. Corruption in government abounded. The breakdown of the moral fiber of the republic encouraged the use of force to settle Rome's problems.

In the midst of economic and political disorder, the Romans allowed the powers of the state to increase. They surrendered many of their rights and freedoms to obtain political and economic stability. The republic that offered so much liberty and rule by the people was replaced by tremendous government control and rule by emperors.

Now I ask you, does that sound at all familiar to you when you consider what is happening today in the United States? Do you think that we as a nation might benefit from studying about what caused the Roman Empire to fall so that we can avoid having the same fate happen to us? Hmmmmmmm.

Sometimes it's great to take a glance behind. There is a saying that goes something like this: "If you don't learn from history, you are bound to repeat it."

God forbid that we should fall into the same trap that caused the Roman Empire to fall...

Study Hard!

Remember when you were in middle school or high school and your teachers or your parents (and for some of you, they were one-in-the-same!) told you to study hard? And why was that? Why did they keep telling you that?

Well, more than likely it was said to generally keep you occupied and out of trouble! But, it may have also been said to make sure that you were fully prepared when school's "pop quizes" or tests came along. Then, when they did, you were really glad that you had studied hard because the "pop quizes" or tests didn't freak you out as much. Remember that?

So, what about those of us who are no longer in middle school or high school (or college for that matter)? Does the fact that we are no longer in an academic setting mean that we don't need to study hard anymore?

From my experience, I would definitely say "No." As a matter of fact, I find that I have an even greater need to study hard these days as my life marches on into the future . You see, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I am studying God's Word - The Bible. Doing so helps me better navigate the successes and challenges of this life. God's Word prepares me fully for what lies ahead. I really never know exactly when life's "pop quizes" or tests will come. Neither do you. But, one thing is for certain. They will come. And, oftentimes we don't see them coming until they are right on top of us. Then, it is kind of late to "cram for the exam." When a success or challenge is right upon you, you're sure glad that you've been studying (or sometimes regretting that you haven't)!

Several dear people in our lives (Christ followers) have had incredible and sometimes unexpected tests thrust upon them in the last few months. The tests I am referring to are much more difficult than the ones you may have had in Biology or Algebra when you were in high school! It has been interesting (and oftentimes inspiring) to watch how these really special people have handled their particular tests. The ones who have developed disciplined habits of studying hard (God's Word), seem to have managed their tests a lot better than those who haven't developed the habit. I think there is a definite correlation for this.

Does that mean that if you study hard the "pop quizes" or tests of life are somehow made easy? No. But for Christ followers, God's Word usually contains all the answers we need for the "pop quizes" and tests of this life. If you don't believe me, I challenge you to try it (studying God's Word hard) and see if it doesn't make a big difference in your life. If you are a Christ follower (and even if you aren't), what have you got to lose? If you try it, I'm convinced that you'll see a difference the next time a success or challenge comes your way.

Study hard! You never know when life's "pop quizes" or tests are going to come your way. I want to be fully prepared for them, don't you?

Why I love going to major league baseball games...

We went to the Texas Rangers' final home game of the season this afternoon in Arlington, Texas. We had great seats down the first base line, up in the "shade" of an overhang of the stadium, with a really cool breeze blowing in on us from the west (very pleasant since the temperatures got into the 90's late in the game). We really enjoyed the afternoon and the game. Well, at least until the top of the ninth innning. But, more about that later...

All throughout the game I kept remarking to my wife, Ellen, about how much I loved the experience of being at that game. I especially love the games at the Rangers' Stadium, The Ballpark in Arlington. Here's a few of the primary reasons why I love going to major league baseball games:

• Before the game even begins, you sometimes get a chance to see batting practice and/or watch how all the players get themselves ready to play the game. It is really fascinating to observe how each player has developed their own peculiar routine for a warm-up. It takes a lot of good conditioning and intense discipline to be a major league baseball player. I admire those who do it greatly!


• Also before the game begins, someone (or some group) sings the National Anthem and everyone in the stadium sings along with them, looking at a flag of the United States of America while we do it. We get to take off our ball caps, put our right hands over our hearts and reflect on what a great country this is. I love patriotic moments like that, don't you? It is so good for the soul to sing this song and be reminded of the privilege we all have of living in the United States of America. In my humble opinion, there is no better place in all the world to be a citizen and to live. No place else like America!


• Baseball is a team sport. It requires a lot of hard work and cooperation from two to nine players simultaneously on the field in order to be successful and win. In this day and age of so many people living as "islands" and basically unwilling to do what it takes to play well on a team, baseball is a great reminder of the importance of teamwork in this life.


• A baseball game usually takes between three to four hours to play the full nine innings. If you want to sit there and just be quiet for that entire time, you can. If you want to stand up and clap your hands and/or start the "wave" or shout out to one of the players, you can do that, too. The point is that for those three to four hours, you are free to just let the rest of the troubles/hassles of your life go by and happen without you. That stuff just has to wait when you are at a game. You need to take breaks from life and when you're at a baseball game, you really aren't available for doing work or any of the other activities that keep you so busy during other times. Baseball is kind of like "fishing" to me. You can just sit there and not have to say anything or do anything if you don't want to for those three to four hours. I like that...


• At the Rangers' games, we usually sing "Deep in the Heart of Texas" after a few innings. And when we do, we get to clap our hands and all sing this fun song. I love it because it reminds me of how much I love living in the great state of Texas!


• At the seventh inning stretch, the game stops for a moment, the players stop playing and then everyone in the stadium gives their attention to someone (or some group) who sings "God Bless America." This tradition was started after 9-11-2001, and I still get goose bumps (and sometimes even shed a few tears) when I hear the words of that song sung by an entire stadium. Once again, another great reminder of how blessed we are to be Americans and living in this great country of ours!


• I love seeing all the children and families at the Rangers' games. Some kids wear their baseball/softball gloves and hope to be lucky enough to catch a foul ball. Very few of them do, but the hope of that possibility occuring is so great! Parents who bring their kids to the baseball game seem to really love being there and "treating" their offspring with the very special occasion of being at a major league baseball game. Whenever I go, I am reminded once again of all the fond memories of the many times we took our children out to the games as they were growing up. Oh how special that always was for our family!


• Late in the game, between halves of innings, we usually do two of my favorite things at the ball park. These are "Kiss-Cam," and dancing to "Cotton-Eyed Joe." The cameramen in the stadium try to catch a guy and a girl sitting next to each other on their camera, and then dare them to kiss since the whole stadium is watching them! It is really cool to see some of these couples (especially the older ones!) really love kissing the person sitting next to them. What's really great is that the entire stadium smiles when this is going on. It is so much fun to be in a place where everyone is smiling and having just a great moment of clean entertainment! Then, we usually all dance in the places where we have been sitting to the familiar "Hee-Haw" tune. Once again, how can you not smile and dance when you're at a baseball game and everyone else is smiling and dancing, too? How many places in life does this happen?
• The best part about going to a major league baseball game might be sitting outside and enjoying the weather at the ball park; the clouds and the shadow patterns as they roll across the field, etc. Have you noticed lately how easy it is these days to just sit inside and waste days away watching junk on TV, or taking in some movie or DVD with no redeeming value, or letting time erode while catching up on Facebook, etc.? All the while missing the experience of being in the wonderful out of doors? I'm convinced that we'd all be a lot better off these days if we spent a lot more time outside, away from electronics and digital gadgets. Why don't we spend more time outside? It's a shame that we don't.
• Another great thing about going to a major league baseball game is that common people go to baseball games. It is still affordable for the "common man." Baseball games are not played in some extravagant palace that charges an arm and a leg to park or for tickets to get in. There are still "bleacher seats" out in center field, and even if you only have a few bucks to spend, you can still go to a major league baseball game (at least you can in Texas anyway!). That's a good thing!
• Frequently, the outcome of the game is not clear until the very end of the game. As a spectator, you are held there in suspense until the last out because sometimes a game can turn on a dime and the outcome can change very quickly. Even if one team is ahead by a lot, the other team still has a chance to come back. You can be very nervous for the home team, even when it appears that they have the game in the bag, because you never know who might hit a long home run or make a diving catch to win the game. It's exciting all the way to the end! You always get your money's worth!
• Finally, even if your team doesn't win the game, you've still been entertained and enjoyed the company of the people you came with to the game anyway. Maybe you even had a chance to make some new acquaintances of some of the other "common" people at the game sitting around you. Going to a baseball game is always good, even if your team doesn't quite hang onto the game. Even if you're disappointed, you're still glad you came out for the game (at least most of the time).

Those are a few of the reasons why I love going to major league baseball games. Have you been to one lately? If not, why not? You don't know what you are missing! Wholesome entertainment and an activity that is really good for the soul.

Don't Forget Where You've Come From...

The above photo is the "wallpaper" I've assigned to the laptop I use nearly everyday. I love this photo! It reminds me everytime I power up the computer of where I've come from. I think that is so important. You see, a long time ago, I grew up on a farm in central Iowa. That is who I am.

This particular shot, taken in 2008, is looking out into my Dad's field on our 200-acre home place. This is just one of the fields I used to help plow and disc, and then plant and harvest corn and soybeans when I was a kid. This photo was also taken from the place where our family's barn, corn cribs, machine sheds and house are located, looking generally to the north on a beautiful day. This location is where I used to park the car I drove when I was in high school and/or home from college (we didn't have garages for our cars, only for the farm machinery).

The silver maple and mulberry trees you see in this photo are some of the ones I used to climb and play in when there wasn't much else to do on the farm. Many of the rocks/boulders we pulled out of the fields are piled/stacked along the fencerow at the base of these trees (along with some old farm implements and/or miscellaneous equipment no longer, or seldom, in use).

The sky and the clouds in this photo are very typical of what you can see all the time in Iowa.

So many thoughts and memories flood into my brain everytime I see this photo! It reminds me not to forget where I've come from. That's so important to me these days.

Why? Well, in another week or so, I will have lived with my family in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex for 24 years. I remember the first time we visited some relatives in this area back in 1982. I remarked to my wife, "I could never live here!" We were in the midst of some really crazy Metroplex traffic on LBJ and/or Central Expressway at the time, and it was really frightening to me back then.

Well, about three years later, we had actually moved here (be careful what you say "never" to). And, several times after that I would frequently look out from my office at LBJ and Hillcrest and say to myself, "What's a farm boy from Iowa doing in a place like this?" I guess I've since made the adjustment.

However, adjusting to the environment you are placed in is one thing. Becoming somebody completely different than who you are and where you've come from is something else.

You really can't deny or hide where you've come from. It shapes you, it affects you, it has already determined a lot about you. And I'm here to state that most all of that is a very good thing (at least for me).

For example, because of my farm background and humble beginnings, I'm really not all that impressed with flash and glitz and glammer. Never have been. I'm also not that impressed with "wealth" (or really the blatant conspicuous consumption people do these days to try and convince you they are rich, even though most of what they have was bought with credit). I grew up with a lot of wealthy farmers, my Dad being one of them. But, to meet him, you'd never know that he has a lot of money. I like that authenticity.

I'm also a pretty loyal, faithful guy. When you grow up on a farm in Iowa, you just take a lot of the things in your life as "givens" and don't worry too much about trying to change any of them. I know that I had dreams when I was a kid, and I am probably living some of them out right now. But, I don't ever remember sitting there on the farm and wishing I was someplace else. I was taught that you make the best of the situation you find yourself in. People just didn't spend their days wishing they were someplace else. We were in Iowa, for goodness sake! Why would you want to be anyplace else anyway? :-)

I'm so grateful for my upbringing and the place where I've come from. Being an Iowa farm boy has really shaped my life in so many ways and there's nothing I can do to change that. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't want to even if I could!

Don't forget where you've come from...

Dreams of a soon-to-be 55 year old...

For some reason, this has been my week to ponder "dreams." You know, those things that you think about all the time and really want to do? Those things that you will almost sacrifice anything for because they seemingly mean that much to you? Those things that you fantasize about doing to bring about dramatic changes in your current life - maybe taking on a brand new direction and/or accepting a brand new (and difficult) challenge? Maybe you have dreams like that? Maybe not.

Through a combination of circumstances (both work-related and family-related), and following a viewing of the movie Julie & Julia yesterday (yes, men, I took a bullet for all of us guys; went to see a morning chick flick on a rainy day with my wife), I decided to write this blog today about "dreams." I've entitled it dreams of a soon-to-be 55 year old (and the bold and italics were especially done for one particular couple of you reading this!).

Actually, I guess I've never really been much of a "dreamer." Oh sure, I've had dreams over the years. For example, I dreamed of being an artist and going to college, of marrying my best friend, of becoming a father, of being named a vice president (and senior vice president) at HDR, of having a leadership position at my church, and of witnessing my children go to and graduate from college, etc. All these dreams have already come true. I'm grateful to God for that!

But, there have also been a lot of dreams that turned into disappointments for me, things that never materialized or happened (at least not so far). For example, here's a sampling of what I'm talking about: I never grew taller than five foot eight inches; I never became a great athlete; I never developed exceptional musical talents as my two sisters did; I never developed a close, day-to-day, interdependent relationship with my Dad (at least not yet); and I never was able to start my own business and/or work in a small landscape architectural design firm. All these dreams just weren't for me. Looking back at them from the other side, I'm grateful to God for that, too!

In May of 2008, however, while reading my favorite magazine (World), I came across a wonderful article about the pastoral author Eugene Peterson and said to myself, "That's my dream! That's how I'd love to live someday." So, let me fill you in on what the article said about his life and how he spends his days since retiring from being a full-time pastor.

First, Eugene Peterson and his wife live in Montana (one of my favorite places in all the world!), in a house that his father built in 1947. It is on a mountain lake near Glacier National Park. All three of his children and their families live within four hours of this place and frequently visit whenever they can. He and his wife attend a small church nearby and many of the people he worships with there he's known for many, many years through his father.

Peterson and his wife live out a patient and deliberate lifestyle, one he tried to teach others while he was a pastor in Maryland. They like quiet, they like rhythm. The rituals of their daily life have a quality of sacredness.

He is an early riser, up at five or six most weekdays. He makes a pot of coffee, prepares a thermos for his wife, and then takes it to her on his way to his study. For the next hour and a half they are by themselves, separately praying and reading the Scriptures. Following that, he gets dressed and then takes a lovely, quarter-mile walk down a country road to get his newspaper. Making this walk throughout the year (regardless of the weather) keeps him in touch with the seasons and the animals.

Peterson and his wife prepare breakfast together. After breakfast he goes to his study to write, working until 1:00 p.m. or so. He claims to work as hard as he ever has, avoiding unnecessary interruptions as much as he can. No e-mails during this time.

Following this, Peterson and his wife eat lunch and then take "liturgical naps." After this they either walk the wooded trails nearby or cross-country ski, kayak, canoe, etc. They are pretty much outside most of all afternoons.

At about six in the evening, Peterson builds a fire in the woodstove, and then he and his wife begin preparations for supper. Then they read aloud to each other for an hour and a half (I absolutely LOVE that), reading various novels and memoirs. When they're done reading, they finish their dinner prepartions, eat and go to bed. Very simple. Their daily schedule changes somewhat for Sundays, with only attending church services and visiting friends on the docket. Very little else.

Well, that's my dream. Living intentionally. Making a conscious choice about how to live. Being completely at odds with the busyness of American life.

Hey, I can dream can't I? What about you? What are your dreams? Would love to hear about them...

The Importance of Having a Focal Point

About seven months after my lovely wife Ellen and I were married, we also found out that "we" were pregnant. Actually, it was only Ellen that was truly pregnant (I did my part, and then the rest was up to her). But, back then (in the last half of 1981), it was a "we" proposition to have a baby. Husbands/fathers were finally allowed into the hospital birthing rooms after several decades of being totally restricted to the waiting rooms - all while the women they loved more than anything in all the world went through a pretty demanding and oftentimes painful physical experience (to say the least!). I can't imagine what that must have been like to be a guy in the 30's, 40's and 50's who just had to sit there and wait for the doctor to come out and tell them that he was a father. How dumb was that?

No, in 1981, we were so much more progressive than that (yeah, right!). Men were now allowed to be an integral part of the whole birthing process with their wives. As a matter of fact, men weren't just allowed, it was downright "expected" that all husbands/fathers be there to actively participate in the birth of their children. That's where the Lamaze natural child-birth classes came in.

As soon as you found out "you" were pregnant, "you" had to find a class to attend as a couple to prepare you for what you would both experience when the birth of your baby happened. This was not optional for too many men in 1981. Nope. She was "expecting," and you were "expected."

But, I'll never forget our Lamaze classes. We had the best instructor! She was an absolute HOOT. She made it so much fun to learn about natural child-birth! Seriously, we laughed a lot in those classes! :-)

Anyway, one of the most critically important strategies she taught us was the importance of having a focal point. You see, in the middle of the actual labor and birthing process, my sweet bride Ellen would need to have a focal point to help her concentrate so that she would not be too distracted by what was happening to the rest of her body (like that would even be possible?). I think we chose a picture on the wall to be her focal point. We were such amateurs the first time, or at least I was! Poor Ellen...

This morning at church our pastor/speaker mentioned in his message entitled "A Change in Perspective" that we need to have a focal point when it comes to our work. He said that we need to see our work as art, and that we need to see our work as worship. If we have a focal point (something/someone beyond just our work being only just plain work), then this is easier for us to do.

That made me think about blogging about the importance of having a focal point.

How many of you find it really hard these days to stay laser focused on the important tasks at hand, not allowing yourself to get easily distracted by urgent or silly stuff in your life? How many times have you been so conflicted by the pain you are going through and/or the sometimes really unimportant tasks that you are asked to do that you give up on what you know you should be focusing on?

Just like in child-birth, when the going got tough, and when there were a whole bunch of things around Ellen that would have easily caused her to be distracted, when she turned her complete attention toward her focal point, she was able to manage and make it through the tough times and the pain. She was able to set her mind on what was to come at the end of the pain (a new life!) by letting her focal point keep her on track.

What's your focal point? What are you focusing on to help you navigate through all the pain and distractions and nonsense that want to take you off course? Is your focal point something/someone that helps you see beyond just the here and now? In light of eternity, a lot of the stuff we allow to distract us here seems so very unimportant, doesn't it?

Maybe it's time you rediscover what you may have once known through your Lamaze classes - that is the importance of having a focal point. In this life, a focal point will help you be effective when everything around you is strange, confusing, painful and/or distracting. Think about it.

I agree with Solomon - Part 2

The following wisdom from Solomon is contained in the Bible's book of Proverbs - Chapter 22, verse 1:

"A good name is to be more desired than great wealth,
Favor is better than silver and gold."

I don't know about you, but I sometimes dream about what it might be like to have great wealth. Truth is, I'm already blessed beyond imagination and very well-off by the world's standards. All of my family's needs are more than taken care of and they have been for a very long time (thanks to the Lord blessing us abundantly!). But, living where we do in the north Dallas/Plano area (and/or anywhere else in the United States?), it is sometimes hard for us to remember that. There's always someone (or lots of people?) who appear to have more "wealth" than we do.

I am oftentimes curious about those people who appear to have great wealth. What's that like on a day-to-day basis? What do they do with it? How do they manage it? What's does it feel like to have considerable material and monetary excess beyond what you really need? I wonder? Or, is this idea of great wealth only just a modern day fairy tale - an illusion based on tricks and debt? Is great wealth something that people dream about, but never really ever achieve? Hmmmm... I wonder.

Back to Solomon's words, they say that a good name was to be more desired than great wealth. And that favor is better than silver or gold.

May I remind you that Solomon did in fact have great wealth. He may have been one of the richest men who ever lived on planet earth! So, if he said something about great wealth, he was speaking from first-hand knowledge and experience. He actually had great wealth and knew what he was talking about.

But a good name? That's really better than great wealth? Seems way too simple, doesn't it?

A lot of us might be saying to ourselves about now: "Just let me try great wealth first and then I'll let you know if this guy Solomon knew what he was talking about. Let me experience great wealth for awhile and then I'll tell you if he was telling the truth."

Sometimes we can think we are so smart. Sometimes we can distort our very short lives here on earth, completely magnifying them way beyond their actual importance, to levels that are totally out of proportion. Sometimes we can think that what we are doing right now is somehow more significant than what has happened in all of history. Get serious. While your life is important to many people, and while what you are doing is somewhat significant for right now, very few of us will be remembered in history books 50 years after we are gone. Most of what we are doing and/or experiencing in our individual lives has been experienced before. Maybe numerous times. Don't kid yourself. You and I aren't the smartest people who ever lived. As a matter of fact, Solomon had a corner on that market, too. He was considered the smartest man who ever lived.

But, how much do you value having a good name? Is your name in fact "good?" What does that even mean? Good according to who? And what about favor? Whose favor is better than silver and gold?

I'll have to admit, I am a people-pleaser. I probably fuss more about what other people think about me than I should. Truth is, there is only one person that really matters when it comes to yours and my name being good. If we are going to fuss about anything, it should be about whether we are honoring the Lord of the Universe with our lives, and if others are giving Him the glory and honor He deserves based on our lives and actions. That would be our good name, if you please. Nothing else really matters much at all.

Do you believe that? If you do, what are you going to do to make sure that your name is good with the one who really counts? Whose favor are you going after? In the grand scheme of things there probably isn't anything more important than this. Think about it...

I agree with Solomon (again) - A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, and favor is better than silver or gold.

Health and care and reform

I'm feeling pretty lousy today. I see by the Sunday paper that "Fungus" is really high here in the Dallas area. So, that must be what is causing my allergies to make me feel so bad. Darn fungus...

Isn't it amazing how we can take our health so for granted sometimes? I would dare say that a couple of days ago, I wasn't even thinking about my health - about how bad I felt; about whether I would be able to get some good sleep this afternoon/tonight or not; and/or about when I might start to feel "normal" again, etc. A couple of days ago my health wasn't even on my radar. But today, I am feeling totally out-of-whack and basically unable to concentrate on much of anything else.

I'm ashamed to admit that when I'm not feeling very good, everyone else is supposed to really care a lot about that (and me!). How dare they go about their lives being healthy and living normally when I feel so bad! Don't they realize how bad I feel? Hurrumph!

Too often when someone else's health has been bad, I'm afraid I haven't always been as compassionate or sympathetic as I should have been about that. When your own health is in pretty good shape, it is sometimes pretty hard for us to truly care about someone else's that isn't. Am I the only one out here who has this problem? Am I the only one that is this selfish?

This week my sister, Debb, goes in for brain surgery. She has a large Meningioma. This is a growth connected to her brain - not into her brain, just connected to it. She's known that she's had this benign tumor for several years. But, now it has grown so large that it is pushing out her skull and deforming it. Therefore, they are going to cut open the back of her skull, remove as much of the tumor as they can (hopefully all of it) and then try to put everything back together again (including a titanium plate to replace the part of her skull they cut out). It's a serious medical event and could potentially compromise her otherwise good health. This is something I really care about, and I will be praying in earnest that all the doctors/surgeons have exceptional skill during this surgery. I will also be praying that she is able to fully recover from this and be completely restored to good health once again.

With so much of the news these days filled with the topic of healthcare reform, I am wondering if the greatest reform needed might be in the hearts/minds of all of us towards one another. Maybe it isn't the government or the insurance companies that need to fix what ails us? Maybe it's that we need to start to care more about the health of those around us and reform our way of thinking about who's really responsible for standing by our loved ones and neighbors when they go through trials with their health? Maybe each of us needs to stop whining/fussing so much about our own health and recognize that everyone has times when they won't feel so good? Maybe we all need to figure out how we can care for others, instead of only selfishly focusing on how we feel ourselves?

One thing is for certain. Healthcare reform is needed. But, what the government is offering is not the answer we need. What the insurance companies are offering is not what we need. Each of us just needs to stop long enough to thank God for the good health we already have been blessed with , and then look around for who we can care for that is truly hurting.

Now that's the kind of health and care and reform that will really last in this country.

Your life needs to be sustainable

Sustainable is a huge buzz word these days, especially in the world of architecture and design where my work is. Frankly, I'm really weary of hearing about it. I'm also really tired of being made to feel guilty for doing something I love to do or want to do because it is somehow deemed by "green" folks as not sustainable.

Let me ask you this: Other than creating a lot of news/press about it, plus creating a lot of new jobs for people to monitor/watch how sustainable we all are (or aren't), what exactly has been accomplished by all the buzz about and money spent on sustainable stuff over the past 10-20 years anyway? Maybe it's hard to measure the effects? Maybe we won't know for quite awhile whether our actions and/or changes to them are really making a difference in this regard? But, I digress...

I did hear a good use of the word sustainable at The 2009 Leadership Summit on August 6th. Bill Hybells said, "Your life needs to be sustainable."

This speaker was referring to leaders and how they need to measure what they are doing at all times to make sure that what they are doing can be maintained and/or if the pace/activities they currently are keeping/doing will eventually cause them to fail.

I'm afraid to admit that there have been several times in the past few weeks where I have had to ask myself if my life was sustainable?

There are a lot of needs out there that need addressing. There are a lot of people out there that are hurting. There are many, many places where each of us should be plugging in to make a difference in people's lives. But, your life also needs to be sustainable.

It is so easy to volunteer to start something and to say, "Yes, count me in. I'll help." But, how many times do we volunteer without counting the costs and then as time goes by, we can't keep our commitments because our life really isn't sustainable at that pace?

If you are a "people-pleaser" like me, this just kills you. You want to jump in and be involved in good activities and be a part of something that is successful and really makes a difference in people's lives. But, the nasty little secret about involvement is that if you start, but don't continue and follow-through completely on your commitment, it is almost worse than if you hadn't signed up to participate in the first place.

Our church is currently looking for 500 mentors to commit to being a part of a Title One school student's life. The commitment is for 30 minutes per week for the whole school year. Part of me really wants to do this. Part of me is somewhat afraid to jump on the bandwagon and commit. Why? Because statistics show that students who have had mentors in the past who started, but failed to fulfill their commitment as mentors, actually suffer greatly from those brief commitments. They actually become a negative in their lives (versus a positive). How terrible to be somewhat responsible for causing a young child to have a worse situation in their life because I failed to follow-through on my small commitment to them.

That is why I am asking myself today, "Is my life sustainable?" With my church, family, job/career and other commitments I've already agreed to and/or are in the middle of and can't remove myself from, have I crossed over into a non-sustainable condition? What impact will my agreeing to do this next thing have on people if for some reason I can't follow through and do it fully and with excellence? What do I need to give up in order to make room for this new commitment? What impact will giving up another commitment have on the people who are counting on me fulfilling that commitment if I take on this new one?

Your life needs to be sustainable. Is it? Think about it...

Greatness AND Weakness

The origin of the thoughts I am about to write probably came from some things I heard at The 2009 Leadership Summit on Friday of this week. Specifically, one of the speakers, David Gergen, in an interview with Bill Hybells spoke words from his book Eyewitness to Power, wherein he tells of the experiences of working very closely with four different American presidents in the White House.

Gergen was asked what he thought was the greatness of each of the four presidents he served. For Nixon he said it was his strategic mind; for Ford he said it was his decency; for Reagan he said it was his hopeful/optimistic outlook; and for Clinton he said it was his resiliency.

Gergen was also asked what he thought was the weakness of each of the four presidents he served. For Nixon he said it was his demons and the dark side of his life; for Ford he said it was his naivete and the fact that he didn't fully understand that politics was a rough sport; for Reagan he said it was his occasional detachment from important details; and for Clinton he said it was his severe character flaws.

Wherever we are, each of us can have moments of greatness. Likewise, wherever we are, each of us will have areas of weakness.

In our human condition, we cannot completely escape areas of weakness. Gergen said that maturity in leadership was a matter of coming to grips with our flaws, and then making sure to put adequate protections in place against them.

Some people who exhibit greatness have been successful in doing this; many have not.

Fast forward to the somewhat heart-breaking news of yesterday regarding the Texas Rangers' superstar baseball player Josh Hamilton. A player whose talent and skills have aptly been described as greatness by many. You can find out more about it on the front page of the Sports Section in the Dallas Morning News today.

Apparently, for one night in January during Major League Baseball's spring training in Arizona, Hamilton willingly slipped back into some of his old lifestyle patterns that previously got him in trouble (involving alcohol and partying), and actual photos from that not-so-flattering brief episode in his life appeared on the internet this week fully exposing his weakness.

Even though he and others had put adequate protections in place to help him keep his areas of weakness in check, he chose to literally "drive right through the stop signs" and slip back into the dangers of his areas of weakness anyway. Now the whole world knows.

However, the model/example that Josh Hamilton displayed in handling this story with the news/sports media is perhaps the best part of his true greatness. He admitted his error. He didn't try to hide it. He declared that what he had done back in January was wrong and asked all those he hurt and/or disappointed by his actions for forgiveness. He openly acknowledged that he still has an area of weakness with alcohol. He admitted that when he lets himself get out from under the protections that are in place to help him with this area of weakness, he will fail.

So what? What's the message here? Well, for me there are several things.

- All of us can have moments of greatness; look for these opportunities to shine. Use the talents you have been given and don't waste them.
- All of us have areas of weakness. Those areas don't necessarily disqualify you from greatness, but you must acknowledge them and then seek to protect yourself from these areas. If you don't, they will totally wipe out any moments of greatness you may have had in the past or will have in the future.
- All of us need to openly admit failure when it happens and seek the forgiveness of those we've hurt/disappointed when our areas of weakness have overshadowed our moments of greatness.

One final word from David Gergen. Oh, if only we would hear what he has to say and apply it to our everyday lives in this country. He said that we need to be much more forgiving and less invasive in people's private lives. But, we need to be very demanding in their public lives.

Greatness and weakness. What are you going to do with the talents you have been given? What are you going to do to protect yourself from areas where you are weak?

There really is no such thing as "free"

It was my father-in-law, F. B. Anderson, who first taught me the lesson that there really is no such thing as "free." His blunt words hurt at the time he said them, but they have stuck with me longer than I would have imagined. It was a lesson in economics I needed to learn. It's a lesson many of us need to learn today.

You see, Ellen and I were young married "kids" living in our first home that happened to only be four blocks away from my in-laws. We were learning all sorts of things about the responsibilities of owning our own home (versus renting), including how and where to buy stuff on a small budget, etc. I remember somewhat "bragging" to F. B. about a seemingly smart purchase I had made of some bags of mulch for our yard. I told him that I had bought them at such and such a place (I forget the name of it now), and that I had purchased the first bag for "x" dollars and the next one for only a penny! Almost "free" I told him. He looked at me with a look that quickly said to me, "You poor dumb kid!" And then told me this: "All they are doing is selling you the one bag for about what it costs them for two, and then letting you believe you are getting the second bag for only a penny." Boy, did I ever feel stupid.

We all could use a little bit of my father-in-law's old-fashioned, basic economic wisdom today. There really is no such thing as "free."

Have you noticed how today people expect a lot of things to be "free" and/or cost them very little? Whatever happened to the time-tested principles of basic economics in this country? Have we all forgotten what we learned in school about economics (or were we even ever taught the basics of how free-market economies work?)?

This is how I remember basic economics being explained to me. If I make something of value, I can then offer it for sale. It will sell if there is a demand for that product and I have priced it correctly. I expect that by selling my product at a fair price, I will recover my costs and still make a profit. The profit I make on each purchase will help me make more and better products in the future. In a very simple sense, that is how our free-market economy works.

Unfortunately, it seems as though many of us have forgotten these basics. How long do you think people can stay in business if they make products and/or offer goods and services but don't get any money back in return? Who is going to pay their bills and the people who work for them if they give everything away? Isn't it kind of naive and unrealistic to think that we can all get stuff for "free?"

Thanks, F. B. I haven't forgotten the lesson you taught me long ago. There really is no such thing as "free." I sure hope more people learn this lesson, too.

Are we living Nineteen Eighty-Four?

I had to run a quick errand the other day on the way to work. I needed to stop by a wholesale plumbing supply place to pick up something that we had already ordered and paid for. As I waited for the man behind the counter to locate and then retrieve my faucet so that I could be on my way, I thought to myself, "Are we living Nineteen Eighty-Four?" Here's a few reasons why I'd say that.

You see, there were three other gentlemen and a lady in that big room besides me (and the man helping me). Each of them had already started their work day. Each of them was passively staring at their computer screen, apparently not very interested or engaged in their work. Each of them looked like they weren't quite sure what they were supposed to be doing. They definitely were not talking to each other (or to me, for that matter). Each one appeared to have a relatively sad expression on their face also. Within the same big room was a big screen television, mounted high on the wall and blaring annoyingly. It was Matt Lauer on one of the morning shows interviewing some relatively young whiz kid (?) who had written something about what we might all have to do when gas in this country hits $20 a gallon. This guy was outlining the changes that will be progressively required of us as we march toward this outrageous (but arbitrary and imaginative) cost for gasoline. Let me tell you, it was just plain depressing!

By the way, where we live, gas prices seem to be going down lately versus rising. So, one might ask, "Why was this considered newsworthy and made out to be a big story?" Hmmmm.

That's when I thought to myself again, "Are we living Nineteen Eighty-Four?"

Some of you reading this are probably scratching your heads now and wondering to yourself, "What in the world is he talking about?"

Well, 60 years ago, an English writer by the name of George Orwell published an incredible book entitled "Nineteen Eighty-Four." When I was in high school in the late 60's/early 70's, everyone was required to read it. It's a fascinating book! If you haven't ever read it, you really should.

Basically, Orwell wrote a dystopian novel - that's opposed to a utopian one. It focuses on a repressive, totalitarian regime set in the future - 1984. The story follows the life of one seemingly insignificant man, a character named Winston Smith, who as a civil servant was assigned the task of perpetuating the ruling regime's propaganda by falsifying records and political literature. Smith gradually grows disillusioned with his meager existence as a civil servant. He eventually begins a rebellion against "the system," leading to his eventual arrest and torture.

Undoubtedly, lots of you have heard about some of the concepts from this book. Frequently people will refer to something as being "Orwellian." Or, perhaps you've heard the terms "Big Brother" and/or "the Thought Police?" They are from Orwell's book.

Not to be an alarmist here, but there are times when I really get concerned about how much power cable news media (not to mention news/information in print and on the Internet) has over some of us. Just like the people I briefly encountered in that wholesale plumbing supply place the other day, sometimes we just sit and involuntarily take it all in - whatever the media decides to give us, we accept. Sadly, some of us frequently believe it all to be true, too.

These days, there are multiple televisions blaring in many public places - usually tuned-in to CNN or some other 24/7 cable news channel? They command a lot of our attention and wield a lot of power over some of us. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell called that "Newspeak," and they even had their own language, called "Ingsoc." They also had the "Ministry of Plenty," responsible for rationing and controlling food and goods; the "Ministry of Peace," responsible for perpetuating war; and the "Ministry of Love," responsible for the identification, monitoring, arrest and torture of dissidents, real or imagined (just to name a few).

Orwell died from the complications of tuberculosis not long after his book was published. In a closing statement to the New York Times Book Review back in 1949 he had these parting words to say: "...totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere."

Are we living Nineteen Eighty-Four? Think about it.

Do I want to be brave or safe?

The past couple of months have been very, very interesting for me. Sometimes you go through times like this and later look back on them and declare them to be a series of seminal moments in your life. This may be one of those times. I'm not sure yet, but it could very well be. How else do you explain some of the unique events and relatively unexplained "God moments" that have occurred in my life?

It may have all started by reading Mark Levine's very compelling book Liberty and Tyranny, or it may have been by plowing through Richard Stearns' fantastic book The Hole in Our Gospel. It may have continued with possibly a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New Zealand in late June to attend a leadership conference on "Soul Care," or a quick business trip to Ottawa, Canada, soon after returning from down under to dialogue with several colleagues there. As I contemplated and prayed for our daughter Katie's incredible and significant mission trip to India planned for this November and Nathan's mission trip and time spent at an orphanage in Chihuahua, Mexico, this past week, I began to realize that I needed to start paying much more attention to the message I seemed to be getting from God. Finally, an unusual occurance while at lunch with a friend this past Friday, and then finishing Gary Haugen's terrific book Just Courage this morning seemed to tie it all together, forcing me to face a really, really tough question for my life. I believe that God orchestrated all of this for me, and has been continually trying to help me "get it" through these experiences. Even one of the pastors at our church asked this same question of all of us at services on Friday night - Do I want to be brave or safe?

According to Haugen's book, all followers of Christ need to clarify important choices in life. And he believes that for those who have received the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, the choice of the age for us is this: Do we want to be brave or safe?

According to Haugen, followers of Christ need to understand that they simply can't be both. He says that there are four things that hold us back from being brave versus being safe - Comfort, Security, Control and Success.

If we are more concerned about our own personal comforts in this life, we will be much less prepared to experience the adventures God may have planned for us.

If we are more preoccuppied with our own personal security in this life, we will be much less likely to step out in faith, trusting God to carry us through to the other side of the moment.

If we are so into controlling our own lives and the environments that we find ourselves in, we will be less likely to see and experience the miracles that God is already performing in our midst.

If we are so driven by achieving success in this life, we will probably miss out on experiencing a deep and abiding knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Do you want to be brave or safe?

I'm hoping that God is now moving me closer and closer to being brave. I would hate to miss out on the abundant life by only thinking "safe."

Poll numbers, junk science and other untruths

Has anyone else noticed lately how there seem to be polls out there for just about anything? Who creates these polls, and why are they created? More importantly, who votes in them? I've never voted in the polls seen in newspapers or on other media outlets (except maybe for some random internet polling?). Have you?

I guess polls are what we as a society want these days for truth. If a majority of people in a poll believe something or think a certain way, it must be truth, right? Isn't that how it works?

Has anyone else also noticed that it appears as though you can get the final results of a poll to say just about whatever you want them to say, just by carefully establishing "who" asks the questions, then by carefully controlling "who" answers them, then cleverly disguising "what" your original bias/starting point-of-view really is, and voila! The poll tells you just what you hoped it would! Completely different groups can issue results of polls and get their particular results to say just what they want them to say, even if their results are completely opposite of what some other poll tells you. It just depends on whose poll you look at and decide to trust.

I hate to be cynical, but I really don't put a lot of stock in poll numbers for truth.

Likewise, there is a lot of junk science out there these days. You can find a lot of so-called "scientists" claiming truth at complete opposite ends of an issue. In my simple way of thinking, there really can't be truth very often at completely opposite ends of an issue. Someone must be lying.

Just like the polls, you can get final results of an experiment/hypothesis to say just about whatever you want them to say just by establishing what data you use (and which data you conveniently ignore). Then, you disguise your original bias/starting point-of-view well and the results speak for themselves, right?

Once again, I hate to be cynical, but I really don't put a lot of stock in junk science for truth either.

There are a lot of other untruths out there these days, too. Don't be fooled by them! Lots of people are being fooled by them each and every day. It's really sad...

So, where can we find real truth then? Call me old-fashioned, but for me truth has to be truth both now and a hundred/thousand years ago. Anybody who claims "new" truth even though it just doesn't line up with (or sometimes even completely disregards) historical truth to me is very suspect. I do believe there can be and are new discoveries, but the times that we live in can't be continually making new discoveries that totally disregard historical truths. Smart as we may think we are in this society, we aren't that smart! It just doesn't make sense.

For that reason (and a lot of others!), I really depend on one book for real truth - the Bible. Name for me any other book that has been around as long as it has and is still relevant to our lives each and every day that we live? Precious few books can even come close to making such a claim. It is remarkable to me that you can literally discover a truth for just about any and all subjects in the 66 books contained the Bible. Whether it be about the origins of life, family relationships (including marriage and children), what foods to eat, how our criminal justice system should work, what to do about the poor in our midst, the good and bad of politics, poetry, music, healthcare, your finances, etc. It's amazing! If you haven't opened up this magnificent book in awhile and searched for the truths contained therein, you really ought to.

Poll numbers, junk science and other untruths. Don't be fooled by them! Counter-balance what the secular world has to offer you as truth by looking at the real truths contained in the Bible. Those truths will still be around a hundred/thousand years from now, whereas a lot of the stuff our society mistakenly declares as truth today will be long gone.

Unimportant Things

As some of you may already be aware, I recently took a trip to New Zealand to participate in and attend a Leadership Roundtable Conference sponsored by Living Stones Leadership Ministries for pastors, elders and other leaders of churches. The overall theme of the event was "Soul Care." We, as church leaders, discussed and then challenged one another concerning the condition of our souls. Each of the terrific speakers gave much needed wake-up calls, so necessary sometimes for our spiritual lives. Personally, this came at a time when I really needed it! I have also continued to be challenged by the words that were spoken in New Zealand ever since returning to Texas.

If you have accepted the grace of God in your life and received the marvelous gift of salvation paid for by the precious blood of Jesus on the cross, I ask you - "What is the condition of YOUR soul?" Have you even thought about your soul recently?

Why is it that we followers of Christ get so easily distracted by unimportant things? Why are we frequently allowing unimportant things to lead us away from our high calling - that is to live lives that bring glory to God, and to tell others about the free gift of salvation?

I am reminded of a great song written several years ago by Paul Smith entitled "Unimportant Things." Read the lyrics below:

Feelings for the moment
They come and then they're gone.
And time shows signs of frailty
To the face that once was strong.
Diamonds don't shine bright enough
To satisfy your soul.
Foolish are the ones who seek
Treasures wrapped in gold.

Why do we face one day
In search of things that slip away
When all that really matters is YOU.
All that really matters is YOU.

It's so easy to live for
Unimportant things.
To lose sight of heaven
As we chase our manmade dreams.
Lord, free us to focus
On what life really means.
And teach us to look past
Unimportant things.

There is so much love to find here
If we take YOUR point-of-view.
So much hope to live for
If we fix our eyes on YOU.
You give comfort beyond any reason
Compassion for our pain.
And mercy that is strong enough
To cleanse our guilty stains.

Why do we waste one day
In search of things that slip away
When all that really matters is YOU.
All that really matters is YOU.

It's so easy to live for
Unimportant things.
To lose sight of heaven
As we chase our manmade dreams.
Lord, free us to focus
On what life really means.
And teach us to look past
Unimportant things.

The condition of your soul is important. As a matter of fact, in light of eternity, it is the most important thing.

How's your soul today?

Please commit with me today to spending more time on your "Soul Care" than maybe you've done recently. It really is the most important thing you can do.

The Oftentimes Tragic Lives of the Rich and Famous

The headline news of this past week included reports of the deaths of at least three rich and famous people - Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. Each one made a lot of money in their time. Each one also made relatively significant marks on our society (if not the world!). They were rich and famous! But in the end, their wealth and notoreity still did not allow them to escape what is inevitable for all of us - that is, physical death.

Why is it that so many of us admire people like this and make it our goal to be like them - to be rich and famous? Have we ever really taken the time to discover what it's really like to be in their shoes - to be rich and famous? Each one of these three individuals were a part of my growing up. I, too, admired each of them at some point in my life. However, I would submit that the lives of these three people (as is so often the case for those who are rich and famous) were testimonies of how tragic things can get because of money and fame. If we really looked at what happens to these people - I mean really looked into the true details of their lives - I am guessing that many of us wouldn't want to have any part of being rich and famous.

Take Ed McMahon for example. He was Johnny Carson's faithful side-kick on the Tonight Show for 30+ years. Always laughing, always smiling, always well-dressed, always happy, always on television and in the limelight, etc. Not a care in the world, right? Well, that's what we all thought was going on in his life. But, if you pulled back the curtains on his personal life and away from the bright lights of the television cameras, there was a lot of heartache and tragedy. Two failed marriages before his third, one of his six children died very young, and near the end of his life a couple of years ago he actually needed financial help from a merciful Donald Trump to even be able to stay in his Beverly Hills mansion. After all the money he made through the years, he was bankrupt at the end. How tragic...

And what about Farrah Fawcett? This Texas girl from Corpus Christi was dubbed one of the ten most beautiful co-eds in America while attending the university in Austin in the 1970's. This designation launched her career in show business, specifically as one of "Charlie's Angels" on the television show with that name. Following one season in that limelight, she became arguably the woman that every woman in America (if not the world) wanted to (and tried to) look like. Every man in America (and the world) knew about the beauty of Farrah Fawcett. From her stunningly gorgeous figure to her thick, blonde, tossled hair, she was considered every man's ideal woman. One incredible photo of her in a fabulous, red swimsuit sold millions and millions of copies (probably all to teenage boys and young men). It appeared as though she was completely at the top of the world - everything was going her way, right? But, after the initial fortune and fame she enjoyed, her life thereafter also included a lot of tragedy. A failed marriage after six years to Lee Majors, a very limited acting career with very little evidence of greatness following several more dramatic parts in a few movies, an out-of-wedlock child (currently serving time for a drug-possession charge in the Los Angeles County Jail) with her long-time partner but never her married spouse Ryan O'Neal, and a persistent lack of respect and privacy over the past few years while dealing with the terrible effects of and costly treatment for anal cancer (including a more secretive trip to Germany to get some relief from the news cameras). From all the reports you can read off the internet, it would appear as though her life ended with unhappiness and a lot of dissatisfaction (not to mention way too early).

Finally, there is the tragic life of Michael Jackson. I distinctly remember seeing he and his four other brothers on TV when they broke out as The Jackson Five in the 1970's (when Michael was only 8 or 9 years old). Wow. They were so good! What great talent! I couldn't get enough of them. My sister and I used to sit and listen to their albums over and over again. And up until the early 80's, Michael seemed to be at the top of his game and more incredible as a musician and dancer every moment he lived. Did you know that he actually lived at home with his parents until he was close to 30, even after making millions and millions of dollars? But then, with all that fortune and fame, what happened to Michael Jackson? It's not a very pretty picture to look at the final 15-20 years of his life. Being rich and famous seemed to really, really change him, and in my opinion not for the better. Michael died at the much too young age of fifty with over 30-40 million dollars in debt, and with a besmirched and sordid reputation involving alleged child molestation, persistent troubles with harmful prescription drug use and unexplained physical disfigurations to his face/body from who knows what treatments he experimented with over the years. Another extremely tragic life...

So, what can we all learn from all of this you say? Here's my thoughts in a nutshell. Be careful what you ask for. Being rich and famous might seem like a great thing to strive for, that is until you actually get there yourself. I'm sure that none of these three - Ed, Farrah or Michael - set out to have lives full of disappointments, heartaches and tragedies. But, that is what seems to find a lot of the rich and famous.

I think I'll start thanking God today for the abundance that I currently enjoy and realize that much more than that might not be very good (or healthy) for me in the long run.

If you have a minute, check out what Proverbs 15:16, Proverbs 16:18 and Proverbs 30:7-9 have to say. Good words from King Solomon down through the ages. Good words for each of us today.