Every year I make an opening talk at the conference and today’s blog is an excerpt. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another…” Hebrews 10:24 Nothing could be more important than the ability to “consider” one another, for right now not only our country feels divided on every issue but we as friends and family are encouraged to choose sides in ways that separate us from each other. There is a mean spirit in the land that tells us not to consider others but…

While my father served as a mentor to many over his life, I asked him to share what he had looked for in a mentor when he was young. What were his criteria? Dad continued mentoring through www.breakfastwithfred.com into his late 80’s giving great insight into the selection process of mentoring. He passed away in 2007 leaving a legacy of wisdom, integrity, strength, and insight.   It’s important to find the right mentor. Over the years I have identified seven qualities I look for: 1. Do they have wisdom from experience? Scripture says young men are for strength, old men for wisdom. A mentor must understand the principles of life…

For me, few things are more satisfying than spending time with young people starting a company or non-profit. While most of the conversation is about start-up, I try to get around to the topic of what happens when it grows. One of the most useful tools for understanding the lifecycle of an organization is that developed by Dr. Ichak Adizes, the founder of the Adizes Institute in Santa Barbara. We all begin at the same place: an idea born in response to an opportunity. The new idea becomes an infant dependent on the resources of the founder and that stage may last months or years depending on the growth. We…

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem, “Spring and Fall,” tells the story of a young girl, Margaret, and her grief over trees dropping their leaves in the Fall. Of course, he takes it to a much deeper level, in the end, to describe her discovering for the first time that, like all of us, she is mortal. Like leaves falling, there are other predictable and regular changes – and losses – in our lives. What makes them easier is knowing what is lost will return. Every year when we take down the Christmas lights I have a twinge of that. Putting away the boat and the first frost are reminders of something…

Every morning when my father stepped inside his office he looked directly at a wall with six portraits and below the pictures was a mirror. When he was younger he had carefully picked six individuals with specific character traits he wanted to emulate and weave into his life. He added the mirror to help him determine if he was making progress. I did not set out to do that but as I look around my own office I have pictures of several men whose character and examples I have admired and also been fortunate to have had as friends.  There is Peter Drucker, Lyle Schaller, Dr. Ben Fisch, David Hubbard,…

Thirty years ago we convened a group of friends from around the country and they became the “Dream Team” charged with thinking about the possibility of what would eventually become The Gathering. We spent two days filling up newsprint sheets and hanging them on the walls of the hotel conference room. Following all the usual steps of brainstorming and strategic planning, we asked great questions and speculated about customers, values, niches, and brands. Still, just one thing remains for sure in my mind – our common desire that we do not become an “elite” group or what one team member called “a Bohemian Grove for Christian donors.” In the years…

William Bridges wrote  “Transitions” 35 years ago and reading it helped me think about the difference between “change” and “transition.” It did not seem like much at the time but the distinction is important. Change happens all the time, and it doesn’t matter if it is small (switch grocers) or large (death of a spouse or a loss of a job). On the other hand, transition is psychological and is a process whereby people gradually accept the new situation and the adjustments that come with it. What matters most is making the transition from one thing to another. Every transition has three stages: The ending, the wilderness (or neutral zone) and the new beginning. To make a…

Marilyn and I often pass each other walking in the mornings. She comes out her front door and turns to the right going up the hill as I am coming down from my home. Sometimes we only wave and smile as I am always listening to something on headphones and distracted. Other times I stop and briefly ask how she is doing. She doesn’t have the same compulsion to make this time well spent with podcasts or NPR. She simply walks her course every morning in silence. Her husband, Frank, died several years ago after a long bout with cancer and a host of other complications. Even though she now…

Many years ago, a friend and I set up a new fund for our giving to ministries. While both of us had our favorites, we wanted to do something other than simply write checks to those select few. We started looking for a way to create categories for our giving, thinking that would give us some guidance and diversity. After a search, we landed on Matthew 25 and the parable of the sheep and the goats. It looked like there were six acts of showing mercy (hunger, water, strangers, clothing, sickness, prison) that made the eternal difference and, wanting to be on the right side, we chose to name the…

I’ve made light of country and western music for as long as I can remember. The titles like “I’ll Be Over You When The Grass Grows Over Me” are catchy but embarrassing. As well, it seemed so blatantly hypocritical to sing about carrying on Saturday night at the honkytonks while the next track would be “Just A Little Talk With Jesus Makes It Right.”  The world of country music is filled with paradox and contradictions. But my opinion has begun to change after listening to “The King of Tears,” the latest episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast, “Revisionist History.” On the way home from Dallas I listened to Malcolm discuss the reasons…