Real Limitations or Lies?

I love the story from Hans Christian Andersen: The Emperor’s New Clothes. The story goes that man years ago, there lived an emperor who was exceedingly vain. He spent all his wealth on the finest clothing. Two con artists hatched a plan to swindle the emperor. They were weavers, and they offered to create clothing for the…

Butterflies in Your Stomach

I heard a great quote last week: “It’s okay to have butterflies in your stomach. Just get them to fly in formation.” Any time you attempt something new, it’s natural to get scared. It’s normal to feel a bit of fear associated with a risk. But fear is not a bad thing. It keeps you from…

Where Do We Put 1000 People with Food

We were in the planning stages for Echo Conference, when we found out we didn’t have a place for dinner during the first night of the conference. We would have around 1000 people at the conference and we planned to provide a meal for them. Unfortunately, the church where we were hosting the event informed…

Just Do the Work

I’m writing two books right now. One is a co-writing project about guest services in church. It’s with a fairly notable individual and I can’t wait until we get it all together and out into the world. The second one is a personal book project my literary agent and I decided would be a good…

The Value of Your Background

I was visiting a church one Sunday. It was rainy that morning, and on top of that it was the day Daylight Savings Time began. That meant everyone had lost an hour of sleep, so the day was ultra gloomy. The service was relatively full, even with all the elements working against the church, so…

The Worst Mistake in Basketball History

It was the fourth quarter in the championship game. The Bulls were gathered around coach, Phil Jackson, trying to figure out how to win this game. Phil looked to Michael Jordan and said, “Obviously, you have to make the shot. We only have a few seconds to make this happen, and I know you’re the…

Embracing My Weaknesses

That’s part of why I’m good at writing. I can see things from different perspectives and identify how they fit together. That’s what God has given me the natural inclination to do. And I’m at my very best when I’m functioning in that role. Sometimes that comes out as writing a book, and sometimes that…