Lots of thoughts lately about next steps for the FREEDOM TOUR. How can we do more for the kids at the Home of Hope? Who can we bring into the circle? Where is God leading us? All great, meaningful questions worth asking, but as I scan the list of What’s Next possibilities I realize I need to add […]
Continue readingAuthor: Rich
Why We Should All Throw Stones
The FREEDOM TOUR has a tradition regarding stones. At the beginning of each tour we ask each rider to select two stones. On one they write something they’d like to leave behind at the end of the ride. On the other, a lesson they want to carry with them after the tour concludes. Each team […]
Continue readingGreat Advice From The Cheshire Cat
I’m a bit of a Lewis Carroll fan. He’s best remembered as the author of Alice In Wonderland, but he was also a mathematician who incorporated a good deal of logical argument into his writing. I used a lot of his writing in math lessons; Humpty Dumpty, The Mad Hatter, and The Queen Of Hearts always inspired curiosity. […]
Continue readingThirty
HAPPY MONDAY! A sermon challenge prompts today’s word-of-the-week… THIRTY Our pastor challenged us to pray for our city for 30 days. The number rattled in my head, and I wonder what choices I’ll make in the next 30 seconds that will change someone’s path for the next 30 years? A decision, a comment, a choice. Saying yes […]
Continue readingI Am Not A Victim. Are You?
The 22 kids at the Home of Hope are victims. Or they were victims until the folks at Project Rescue removed them from a situation over which they had absolutely no control. As you might imagine, I get a lot of questions about the notion of being a victim, whether I felt like a victim, etc. I know the precise time and […]
Continue readingWhy Is The Other Guy So Unreasonable?
It’s awfully easy to say, “You’re wrong. You’re an idiot. You’re a loser.” Not all that useful, though. Shouting at the guy on the other side (who thinks you’re wrong) isn’t likely to close the gap. If your only goal is to sound cool to your own team by belittling the losers on the other […]
Continue readingMoving Or Organizing?
I’m not a fan of rules. During the last decade or so of my career as a classroom teacher I discovered that the reasons behind a lot of rules were “it’s just common sense,” “that’s how I like to do it,” “we’ve always done it that way,” or “because I said so.” Those didn’t seem like they […]
Continue readingWhat If Something’s Not Quite Aligned?
A few weeks ago my bike’s rear derailleur got slightly out of adjustment. It wasn’t bad enough to make the bike unrideable, but you could tell something was a tiny bit off. You couldn’t see anything wrong, but the chain just didn’t quite feel right. It took about a quarter-turn of an adjustment screw to get everything […]
Continue readingHundred
HAPPY MONDAY! A parable inspires today’s word-of-the-week… HUNDRED Which sheep are you? Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he […]
Continue readingWhat’s The Deal With Taking Sides?
Seems like everyone’s taking sides. We’re divided along political lines, racial lines, gender, social, ethnic, cultural, generational lines. We’ve drawn lines everywhere, and it seems like everyone is supposed to pick a side. Stranger still, we’re all pretty sure God’s on our side. Thing is, dividing and taking sides isn’t what God does. We have […]
Continue readingWhose Truth Is It?
I believe in absolute truth. I also know humans view truth through the imperfect lens of their own experience. As the picture indicates, it’s impossible to consider truth independent of the perspective of the observer. Truth is a cylinder. From my perspective, it’s a circle. You’re certain it’s a square. I’ve observed that people of good will […]
Continue readingDon’t Stare At The Score
How much money did we raise? When you get involved with something like the FREEDOM TOUR you need a scoreboard. Dollars collected. Miles covered. People involved. Those numbers matter. You keep score so you can track progress and write reports. But it’s important not to stare at the scoreboard. Focusing on results is a great way to […]
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