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Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is. I love chocolate especially dark chocolate. I love chocolate even though it has little redeeming nutritional value. My friend Nate debated me on this point. “The cocoa bean has proven nutritional value,” he said. “It probably does,” I replied, “but do chocolate covered caramels, double chocolate fudge ice cream, or chocolate brownies have nutritional value?”  What these foods lack in nutrition they make up in taste and enjoyment. Each is on my Top 10 chocolate list! Sometimes we…

Disciplemakers should be tree-huggers, people who admire and learn from our leaf-bearing friends. No one is a bigger tree-hugger than author Suzanne Simard. Dr. Simard is a professor of forest ecology in the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Forestry. She has spent her life among trees. For generations, her family made its living cutting down trees. Their survival depended on the logging trade. Trees are in her blood. Simard’s first job as a college student was to inspect the new plantings that replaced the…

Re-thinking goal setting Stacked on top of my desk was a decade of my life recorded in a motley collection of journals. My sabbatical goal was to read these journals to trace God’s work in my life. What did I discover as I read? I soon realized that I’m the consummate goal setter. About every four months I recorded a new set of goals. I worked hard at writing these goals. I polished the wording to make them memorable. Some goals remained the same over…

It’s December and Christmas is almost here. I’m a huge Christmas fan. I love how neighborhoods and shopping malls explode in color. I walk through the shops savoring the decorations and soaking in the holiday music. For me, there’s a silent “wow” about the whole season. I know some downplay the pomp of Christmas. They’re concerned that we’ve bought into the values of our consumer culture. I say, “Bah! Humbug!” Let’s enjoy the wild frenzy of lights and decorations. Let’s be generous about giving gifts….

I’m an HGTV junkie. I love watching home remodeling shows. No matter the quality of the home about to be “flipped” there’s typically one thing you can be assured of — there’s always a hidden cost to the home. Termites lie hidden in the walls, the foundation is sloping, or mold is covered by wallpaper. These hidden costs build anticipation to the show’s plot line but they’re disappointments to the remodelers. Disciplemaking has a hidden cost. We rightly extoll the thrill of the Great Commission…

Disciplemaking is like ballroom dancing. There’s an elegance and structure to this beautiful dance of growth. In traditional ballroom dancing, there’s an established leader and a follower. In traditional disciplemaking, the “disciplemaker” typically takes the lead while the one being “discipled” follows.  Just as ballroom dancing differs from couple to couple so no disciplemaking ministry is exactly alike. Like the dancers we have varying styles. One disciplemaking style follows a structured, logical approach to helping someone grow. There’s almost a prescribed choreography to this dance….

A Gray Hair Manifesto Movie westerns traditionally have this iconic scene — the hero slowly rides off into the sunset never to be seen again. As we age, it’s easy to think that’s how our lives will be — we retire and slowly ride off into the sunset never to be seen again. Instead of embracing our age we depart from life, looking for the sunset to retire to. There’s no sunsets in the future for this gray-haired alongsider! We will all face a sunset….

“Trump!” you yell as you triumphantly lay down your hand of cards. You win the hand  and the game is over. Our Lord has a trump card to play when it comes to leadership. Winning at His leadership “game” requires a different “hand” than is typically played. What’s the trump card that wins His leadership game? The card may surprise you. If leadership is defined by whether one has a following then this leader was head and shoulders above everyone else. He took a group…

Finding a radio station in my new car shouldn’t be hard. The car is great but the salesperson didn’t tell me how to tune to a radio station. I discovered that listening to the radio required an owner’s manual. In my 2014 car, you push a button for AM or FM and find the channel by turning a dial. In my new one, you first go to the home screen, pull down the menu, select AM or FM, and scroll down all the available channels…

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You know those missionary letters and updates you receive from people like me? We follow a simple formula describing a dramatic ministry success story that encourages you to keep praying and giving.  While it’s important to celebrate God’s successes we seldom talk about our missteps or failures, our OOPS. After all, who wants to give to a ministry that broadcasts failures. Fifty years of experience has taught me that failures lead to wisdom. In fact,…