My first entry-level professional job paid enough for a decent apartment with a sofa and TV. As far as I was concerned, this was the good life, and planning for the upcoming weekend was about as far out as I could comprehend. Luckily for me, I married a brave, visionary woman who was wise and encouraging and saw the greater potential for our future that I couldn’t always see for myself. She believed in me, nudging me along through my doubts... Read more
I have a friend at a major research university who teaches on Thursday aftenoons 3-5, and when he learned my hours of teaching he asked with a snarl “How do you get anything done?” I have another friend, a high school driver’s education teacher who never reads a book but who teaches from 7:20am to 3:30pm with a one hour break and who also coaches after school, who asks me regularly, “Is It because you can’t stand the pressure that... Read more
Christians, Muslim Extremists, and Lies in E-Mails Americans are on edge with the Islamic State (aka ISIS or ISIL) advancing through Iraq and killing people in mass executions, taking over city after city. This includes two of the country’s very important cities, Mosul and Qaraqosh. Mosul is ancient Nineveh and Iraq’s second largest city. It fell on July 7, when ISIS came into the city and warned Christians that they had three choices: convert to Islam, pay jizya (a poll... Read more
“The average person checks his cell phone 150 times each day. Is it any wonder that we feel unfocused and distracted?” Marcus Goodyear asks this question in the series of posts at The High Calling on “Vocation Focus.” Todd Lake reminds us of Frederick Buechner’s famous quote that we should look for our calling in the place “where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” And then offers this insight: “Often, we think of this as finding the... Read more
Leadership Journal’s “LJ Live” Event in Denver: “REDEEMING WORK.” Back on March 13 in Chicago, I took part in the first “Redeeming Work” event that Leadership Journal has been hosting around the country. Skye Jethani, Drew Dyck and the entire Leadership Journal team started out on the right foot at that event which featured our friend Amy Sherman. Well they have continued these “LJ Live” Events in Minneapolis/St. Paul and then in Denver, and there are planning to do at... Read more
None of us know the heart of hearts, especially and even our own hearts. The ancient wisdom is that the heart is deceitful above all things. We lie to ourselves about ourselves, perniciously and with profound, far-reaching and destructive consequences. All of us, all day long. I have no new insight on the Ray Rice story. Like many, I watched the video of him knocking his wife unconscious, a blow to her brain that left her senseless on the floor... Read more
I recently spent a couple of hours thinking about my job instead of actually doing it. I mulled over the current state of affairs at work, my priorities, my recent accomplishments, where my time is being spent, and so on. I guess you could say I was reflecting. To some of you, this may sound like a colossally assinine waste of time, but self-reflection is actually one of the defining qualities of a high-performance leader. Which I am attempting to be, and I... Read more
Film Review: “About Time” – Directed by Richard Curtis Time travel. In films today, such a topic is usually connected with CGI special effects and a dystopian future or an abuse of the power to travel back through time for devious purposes. Tell me, if I told you that a movie is about a 21-year old guy who is told by his father that he can travel back in time to any point in his past and change what happened, would you... Read more
Over the Summer of 2014, I worked with the Student Success Center at Bethel College to contribute to their new program called “Career and Calling Milestones.” The four pillars of the program are: Identity, Experience, Skills, and Calling. I wrote the “Calling” portion of the program. For each year in college (Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors), I created Bible studies, worksheets, and reflection papers that students in the program will do that build upon each other. Our hope is that these exercises will help them identify... Read more
Hi Bob, It’s me. Bob. I know! Right? Freaky that I’d write you from the future! No, I don’t have a TARDIS for travelling through time. It’s just that the community at The High Calling are writing our younger selves to give you some advice as you grow up. I’m writing you this as I turn 50 years old. Yep. You made it to half a century! But you nearly didn’t. In 2006, you will nearly die. You will have a... Read more
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