Lost Potential

09 Apr , 2009 No Comments

I found out this morning that Nick Adenhart, a young pitcher for the Angels, was killed last night in a tragic car accident. I had watched Baseball Tonight last week as they raved about Adenhart and I quickly picked him up for my fantasy baseball team. They projected him to be a pitching phenom and he was already off to an amazing season. He pitched six scoreless innings yesterday in only his fourth major-league start. He was 22 years old.

In fantasy baseball terms, he was one of those diamond-in-the-rough players that starts out obscure and then has the ability to make your entire season since nobody drafted him or expected him to do anything. And that is only fantasy baseball. I can’t imagine how sad the Angels are. But that is only a sport. I really can’t imagine how heartbroken his family must be. To have someone with so much ahead of him and so much to look forward to. It is a good reminder to us to embrace the moments we have now. My prayers and sympathies go out to his family and loved ones.

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14

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Summer Reading

07 Apr , 2009 No Comments

Over the past few years now I’ve kind of developed a seasonal reading schedule that I do in between my normal reading. In the winter, I read a biography (or two) and in the summer I try and catch up on a literary classic. This summer, I’m going to begin with a book that talks about the importance of reading classic literature (The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership), and then launch into a few classics that I’ve never read.

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The Truth About Babies

03 Apr , 2009 No Comments

NEW YORK—A new study published in The Journal Of Pediatric Medicine found that a shocking 98 percent of all infants suffer from bipolar disorder. “The majority of our subjects, regardless of size, sex, or race, exhibited extreme mood swings, often crying one minute and then giggling playfully the next,” the study’s author Dr. Steven Gregory told reporters. “Additionally we found that most babies had trouble concentrating during the day, often struggled to sleep at night, and could not be counted on to take care of themselves—all classic symptoms of manic depression.” Gregory added that nearly 100 percent of infants appear to suffer from the poor motor skills and impaired speech associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Thanks to my friend Josh for sending this to me.

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God’s World in Our World

02 Apr , 2009 No Comments

“When we focus on the gospel primarily as another world to come after we die, we are missing a massive part of the story. We’re missing the part that is good news to a real person. The afterlife is an important part of the story and is good news when you’re dying, or have a friend who has just passed, or if you happen to be under great persecution and can’t even think beyond your prison cell. But when people aren’t in close proximity to death, they need to see the difference that God’s world makes in their world.” – Hugh Halter in the Tangible Kingdom

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Storm Updates

01 Apr , 2009 No Comments

Well, I’ve learned a whole lot about my Blackberry Storm since I last posted about it. For one, I’ve been shown an amazing new website called Data Dude where he gives you free advice and downloads for Verizon phones. Seriously, if you have Verizon you have to check this out! (It is like a free version of Crackberry). You can even email the guy with questions. In addition, I’ve learned two tricks that allow my phone to work far better than it was. So, if you have a Blackberry Storm, here are my two important words of wisdom:

  1. Pull out the battery at least once a week. This will reset the phone completely and will keep it from getting bogged down in anything. Kind of like restarting your computer. (this fixed a problem I was having for over a month)
  2. Hold down the menu key for at least 3 seconds to see a list of programs that you have open. I learned that when you hit the end key to back out of a program, it keeps the program running in the background. This slows down the phone. You need to open the program and hit “close” to actually stop it running. Who knew?

Thanks to my friend Danny for imparting Storm wisdom to me and for the heads up on this stuff. Who knew the older guys could show us younger guys a thing or two about technology?

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A Week Unlike Any Other

25 Mar , 2009 No Comments

As many of you know by now, Central finally reached the point where we needed to let some of our staff go as a result of the economy. I’ve never experienced anything like this personally, and I haven’t even met a person in leadership who has. For me, it makes sense logically of what had to be done, but the emotions of it are difficult to push through. I have been so encouraged by the response of our staff through this, both those who had to let people go, and those that found themselves suddenly without a job. I get the sense that God is working powerfully around us in ways that nobody can see. And I am beyond excited that it seems that collectively we all seem to be trusting and relying on Him more. I’ve been able to see a beautiful picture of the Church through this in a time where you’d expect it to go bad. It’s good to know that when the economy tanks, God doesn’t. My prayers go out to our remaining staff and the new challenges we face. My prayers go out to the families of all those who have been affected by the layoffs. I pray that unity continues to prevail.

Click here to read a great perspective from a staff member with the difficult task of leading in this situation. Click here to read a great perspective of a former staff member whose trust in God and character has been revealed through this.

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