This morning I’m sitting in a Holiday Inn Express in Las Vegas, Nevada. My wife and I stayed here last night on our way home from Zion National Park, where we celebrated Thanksgiving with our extended family. Holiday Inn Express offers a free breakfast to their guests. In my opinion, it’s one of the better breakfasts in midrange hotels. I know a lot about the Holiday Inn Express breakfasts because I recently ate them for six consecutive days. You see,... Read more
A few years ago I learned something that has changed my life. Maybe it has changed the lives of others too, at least a bit. What I learned was a simple kind of “thank you” that turns out to make a big difference. I learned about this simple “thank you” from Howard E. Butt, Jr. when he was president of the H.E. Butt Foundation, where I worked for seven years. During that stretch of time, I regularly met with Howard... Read more
In a recent trip to New York, I saw a curious sight. Across the street from my hotel was a brownstone that housed a modest church. Attached to the church was a large cross. Embedded in the cross were neon lights that proclaimed: SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT. During the day, the letters were rather difficult to read. At night, however, they blazed with the cruciform news: SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT. Ironically, this news shone brightly in the neighborhood... Read more
In my last blog post, I told the story of the time when my teenage son, Nathan, met Eugene Peterson. It was a sweet story of about a man of genuine humility and care for others. This story about Eugene reminds me of another Laity Lodge story. I’ve called it “Unflinching Hospitality,” and in a few moments you’ll see why. We at Laity Lodge were committed to showing hospitality to all of our guests. This wasn’t a strategy for getting... Read more
I just heard that influential author, extraordinary Bible translator, and beloved pastor Eugene Peterson died. In the days to come, there will be many accolades and testimonies, all pointing to the grace-filled life of this man. I want to add one story to the collection. I’m calling it “Eugene Peterson, When Nobody Was Looking.” Strictly speaking, I was looking. But the point is that I know something about how Eugene lived when he wasn’t “on,” when he wasn’t writing or... Read more
I have a sweet tooth. It’s part of my genetic makeup. Give me something sweet to eat and I’ll enjoy it. Give my a plate of cookies and soon they’ll be gone . . . all of them. Similarly with a bowl of M&Ms or a carton of gelato. If you don’t believe me, just ask my wife. Among my favorite sweets are pumpkin muffins. I don’t eat them all year, however. Only in the Fall. I’m a stickler for... Read more
Jesus said we’re to love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen to that! No argument here. But I do have a question: How? How, really, can we love our neighbors? How can we love our neighbors in ways that will actually feeling loving to them? How can we tangibly love the neighbors who live across the street, or whose office is next to ours at work, or who regularly wait on us at the local diner? I started thinking about these... Read more
In my last blog post, I noted and commented on Jeff Bezos’s dislike of the phrase “work-life balance.” Bezos prefers speaking of “work-life harmony” or “work-life circle.”There isn’t a “strict trade off” between work and life, according to Bezos. Rather, when one has a strong work-life circle then one brings “tremendous energy” both to work and to home. I don’t like the phrase “work-life balance” either. I agree with Bezos that it’s too simple to think in terms of balance between... Read more
In a recent interview published in Business Insider, Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, holds forth on the topic of work-life balance and why he doesn’t like this familiar formulation: This work-life harmony thing is what I try to teach young employees and actually senior executives at Amazon too. But especially the people coming in. I get asked about work-life balance all the time. And my view is, that’s a debilitating phrase because it implies there’s a strict trade-off. And the reality is,... Read more
Do you ever wish preachers would preach to themselves? I think they often do, actually, even without knowing it. And this might be quite revealing. Allow me to explain. I have been watching with sadness what has happened in the life of Bill Hybels. Though I try to think of people as innocent until proven guilty, the preponderance of accusations of sexual inappropriateness against Hybels leads me to believe that he did often step over the line, many lines, actually.... Read more
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