The other day, I wrote about a young man I met when he was in a mentoring program I ran, who died last week as a result of gun violence. Later that same day, I had some suspicions confirmed about an old friend of mine — this person is deep into a drug habit that is creating complete chaos and ruin. This person has cut ties with the support system that could offer help, presumably out of shame, pride, and probably no... Read more

Last night, I got some bad news. Someone I once knew, briefly, is dead.   Leander was a most likely a gang member, just seventeen when he died, carrying a loaded weapon — one that he never used — to a back to school party. Perhaps he knew he was being targeted.   A few years ago, I had the distinct honor and privilege to help lead a group of volunteers from my church in a mentoring program. The kids, who were... Read more

I just spent two days at the Global Leadership Summit, a huge live event produced by The Willow Creek Association that takes place in Illinois and is simulcast to hundreds of locations throughout North America. In the fall, the Summit events take place in 65+ countries, according to their website.   This is my third time attending, and it’s absolutely amazing. Every time I go, my brain gets a new groove, my mind is expanded, and I walk away with... Read more

I totally love this simple little video making the rounds on Facebook these days of an Israeli couple singing to the baby. It’s pure love, pure joy, pure humanity at it’s best. I can’t help but think how wonderful it would be if we could all just listen to each other, and hear the songs like this we’re each singing. We’re not all as different as we’d like to believe.   ______________________________________________________________________ On another note, I’m really, really excited to tell... Read more

Bloggers note: Sometimes I write a blog post and it comes nice and neat in a little package. Other times, the words meander and take huge detours of thought, intersecting only rarely with each other. This piece, I’m afraid, might be the latter. I know readers prefer that I have a point, but Mark Yaconelli’s book, The Gift of Hard Things, is such a moving, beautiful construction, I had a hard time sticking to one theme, other than that God... Read more

Here’s a quick one, and I’d love your comments and input.   So this whole Facebook live thing — I want to give it a try. But I never know what to talk about. I always feel pretty goofy. When I write, I figure, hey, I’ll just slap this up there and if no one wants to read it, whatevs.   But the whole Facebook live thing is — well — out there. So here’s what I want to know... Read more

The glass ceiling finally has a crack in it. I can’t help but wonder if any of those shards of glass will turn into some diamonds when they start falling on our heads? I hope so.   Meanwhile, let’s not pretend that male privilege isn’t still a thing. After all, a woman won the nomination for president of United States, and the newspapers all over put a picture of her husband on the front cover — yet nobody talked about what... Read more