upward & inward

I am privileged and blessed to have an accountability partner who is willing to speak the blunt truth to me with the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Knowing that I needed such a partner as I arrived in Wichita, I slowly realized that accountability is not bounded by time zones and locations. And, there are few people I trust to hold and take me to account more than my buddy Guy. Guy and I have known each other nearly 13 years after meeting and working together at HP in the OpenView software business. He mentored me as a new manager and we both saw some exciting and tough times during the dot.com boom and hey-days of the late 90s and early 2000s. We have run (literally) 100s of miles together talking, laughing, releasing stress, and found ourselves running faster and faster as our focus and zeal in the conversation drove us. He's one of the few men in this world I can truly call a friend. We agreed to have regular conversations over the phone and, as we began, it's be...

No matter how synchronized a video may seem in one venue, it may not be in another venue. The announcement video didn't work in the Auditorium this morning. Need to work with the technical team to discover how we can avoid this in the future. The church is weathering the change and transition brought on by God's moving of some seasoned team members . As I've written previously, change is coming and will continue to come . It's good to see God working through the maturity of the congregation to ride the change of the present to arrive at the next station of the future. No matter how clearly one communicates, there is ALWAYS the opportunity for the message to be misunderstood. Backing up important words that are spoken with words written is a wise habit to develop. When I smell smoke I suspect fire. When I hear thunder I assume that lightning has struck. And when I see joy in the midst of trial, a lack of fear in times of uncertainty, I know that God is working in the liv...

Wow. This is a true story of a father and a son who have saved each other lives in many ways. Here is an excerpt from the Team Hoyt site : "Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America. "It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk. "For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but hea...

Congratulations to Allyson and Raif on their engagement (to be married)!!! These two are good folks and I'm so happy for both of them.

Attention, attention. My bride, sweet Sherry Smith, now has a blog. Go here to read her first posting. Way to go, Sherry!

Painful situations, no matter how long ago experienced, can come back in a rush of emotion when similar circumstances present themselves. However, with each breath and in every situation, disregarding the familiarity, we must seek to be sensitive to God's wisdom and direction. In this way, we can give Him glory for His healing of the past, direction of the present, and preparation for the future. Even the strongest leaders need other leaders to remind them that if God is for us, who can be against us? Just because we're going through a tough time, doesn't mean that God isn't leading us toward something better. When we seek to consistently and constantly give God the glory (and not try to take it for ourselves), we are living out His purposes for us while also opening ourselves to receive and recognize His ongoing blessings. Nothing is by chance. Happenstance is a convenient excuse to avoid giving God the credit for His amazing ability to balance free will with His sov...

Wow. I wrote previously that change was coming. Little did I know that it would be so soon and so much. Within a few weeks of each other, two Senior Staff members have made the difficult decision to follow God’s leading to pastoral positions outside Central Community Church. They are Pastor Tim Kraft and Pastor Greg Capsel. After a series of conversations with Pastor Tim Kraft concerning his spiritual gifts and passions in ministry, he has made the decision to resign from Central Community Church and begin pursuing a role as a Senior Pastor. Having known Tim for many years, I know how he loves to preach, teach and to shepherd God’s people and I’m excited for what God will continue to do through Tim and Sherril as they show us all what it means to step out in faith. He has been a blessing to me and the rest of the team at Central as he has helped kick-start Celebrate Recovery (CR) and the Volunteer Success program while continuing to build the First Touch Ministries. While I am sad to ...

While we were on vacation, we visited a dear friend and sister, Emma Miller. While we were talking, I caught this little guy working really hard to get some food out of a bird feeder just outside Emma's kitchen window. He had to climb onto the roof and down the chain to get at this food and hung there for several minutes as he filled his tummy. Looking at this focused squirrel (which I always thought illustrated the epitome of a lack of focus) I realized that many of us will do some pretty daring things if we're properly motivated. So, leader, does Christ motivate you? Does He motivate me? If so, what daring thing are we doing for His glory?

We've been on vacation at Breckenridge all week. What a great time! While it was sunny and very nice, we were at 9700 feet above sea level - and in June, this can still mean snow. This morning, as we left, here is the scene from our balcony overlooking the pool. Praise God for how he shakes things up!