Our culture is built on the premise of temptation. When Pastor Nelson authored his study on Ecclesiastes 20 years ago, it was reported that by the age of 35, the average person saw about 150,000 commercials. That’s about 75,000 minutes or two months of a person’s life. The very economic engine of America is built on our dissatisfaction of what we already possess. It’s not what we have, it’s what we don’t have that matters. Contentment in this world is elusive. The house is never big enough, the checking account is never full enough, and the care is never new enough. There are two ways to lear ..read more

For this month’s focus on “Living in an Insane World”, let’s consider Randy Guttenberger’s book Managing Your Crazy Self: Turning your Turbulence into Tranquility.  Guttenberger’s book is designed to give insights into how the brain is wired and how you can manage your constantly working instinctive brain.  This is our greatest challenge. Knowledge fosters a healthy mind.  A healthy mind fosters healthy relationships.  Healthy relationships foster a healthy society. Click here for Guttenberger’s advice on Managing Your Crazy Self The post Managing Your Crazy Self appeared ..read more

John Maxwell wrote, “I have dedicated my life to adding value to people. I believe that to succeed, a person needs only four things. You can remember them by thinking of the word REAL.” Consider how to become a REAL success: Relationships: The greatest skill needed for success is the ability to get along with other people. It impacts every aspect of a person’s life. Your relationships make you or they break you. Equipping: One of the most significant lessons Maxwell has learned is that those closest to you determine the level of your success. If your dreams are great, you achieve them only w ..read more

When we consider this month’s focus on “Living in an Insane World”, it’s an appropriate time to look at Tod Bolsinger’s Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory.  As Bolsinger puts it, “Seminary didn’t prepare me for this!” Consider a time when churches functioned primarily as vendors of religious services for a Christian culture.  At the time, the primary leadership toolbox was: Teaching to provide Christian education Liturgics for leading Christian services Pastoral care for offering Christian counsel and support In this changing world, we need to add ..read more

As Pastor Tommy Nelson explains, injustice in our world seems out of control. Do you ever wonder what kind of God could sit back and watch criminals freed on technicalities and the innocent sentenced to a death penalty?  Do you ever question how the King of the Universe could withhold a baby from a loving Christian couple while hormonally charged teenagers get pregnant after a one-night stand? But is instant justice the answer?  Do we truly want God to mete out judgment after every moral infraction? After all, what happens when we slip up? Solomon explains that a life well lived is ..read more

Several things came together for this particular post.  First, when I completed my review of Linda Hill and Kent Lineback’s Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader on the first year anniversary of my job with Space Center Houston, I reflected on the many great bosses I’ve had over the course of my career. Second, since the month of March is designated Women’s History Month, we celebrate the courageous women who have helped our Nation build a fairer, more just society. As this year’s Presidential proclamation puts it, “Throughout history, the vision and achievements ..read more

A consistent—and perhaps reasonable—question that is commonly asked is this: “Why do bad things happen to me when I love God and am trying to do the right thing?”  In the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon shows that no matter how you slice it, the sovereignty of God lies behind everything that happens.   The existence of evil is one of the great philosophical problems of all time: How did evil come into existence from an all-holy God?  Pastor Tommy Nelson explains that Solomon’s four themes in this chapter are as follows: God is wise; God is mysterious; enjoy today; a ..read more

On February 27, 2023, I started a new role as Vice President of Human Resources for Space Center Houston—following a 30-year Federal career in Human Resources, mostly with NASA.  In honor of my first anniversary, I thought it was appropriate to summarize Linda Hill and Kent Lineback’s Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader. If you were a high performer in your work before becoming a manager, you may find the journey into management particularly difficult. Because of previous success, stars are understandably reluctant to give up the attitudes and practices they thi ..read more

This has been quite a month. On January 25th, Jennifer and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary; and we celebrated her birthday just last week.  Jennifer is an extraordinary woman (see my previous posts on “Jennifer: A Leader After God’s Heart”; 4 Leadership Jewels from my wife, Jennifer; and my family life). So, it’s appropriate to turn our focus to twelve extraordinary women of the Bible, and what God wants us to learn from them. All these women ultimately became extraordinary not because of any natural qualities of their own, but because the one true God whom they worshiped is gr ..read more

In the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon pursues intellectualism.  In this second chapter, he moves to hedonism and on to materialism.  Pastor Tommy Nelson argues that this is the same pattern followed by many college students.  In their Freshman year, they pursue intellectualism.  As Sophomores, hedonism.  Then, as juniors, Materialism.  Hopefully, they, too, learn that none of these pursuits will lead to “a life well lived” (the title of Nelson’s book on Ecclesiastes). According to Hebrew scholar Walt Kaiser, the term “better” should not be in Ecclesiastes ..read more