Happy Valentine's Day 2009!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iKIllCs5LE

Enjoy this.....and the weekend.

Turning 100

What a week, this one was, it was something else, it was rewarding, frustrating, intense and profitable. I look back at prayer and events that happened and see Christ thru all of it. Even starting a bible study group with some men at work that I am praying how God will use this. Let me encourage you that in this tough times that the same Lord Jesus Christ sits on the throne and He is waiting to hear from you and to be with you every step of the way if you will ask Him. Always wanting to lead us thru the good times and the troubling times and speaking of a life well lived,

When I get up on Sunday mornings I click on WMBW 88.9 and listen to Billy Graham's message. This weekend @ the Cove in a private ceremony George Beverly Shea turns 100. What a life lived! What an amazing story and man living for Christ. I have a link below for more info about this special birthday celebration

http://www.billygraham.org/News_Article.asp?ArticleID=459

The Top 200 jobs today and info about them:


http://www.careercast.com/jobs/content/JobsRated_Top200Jobs



Marriages suffer during this downturn, as I have heard lawyers say divorces are down but couples are waiting holding onto what they have......here is good article from Family Culture Watch:


http://www.familylifeculturewatch.com/



Some of the best sports news of the week was that Don Sutton was able to get out of his contract with MASN (Washington Nationals baseball) and to come back to Atlanta! Story here:


http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/01/27/braves_sutton.html





BRIDGEBUILDER GIFT: here is a link to print 2009's Braves schedule:


http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/atl/schedule/printable_schedule.jsp



First Gottfried @ Alabama left, then Felton was let go @ UGA and of course you start worrying about Paul Hewitt @ Tech especially after three OT losses. Bradley of the AJC says he is safe:


http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bradley/entries/2009/01/30/like_it_or_not_hewitt_is_safe.html




Say it ain't so Furman, Bisher says Braves may need more than 31 pitchers, did you hear this week that ALL the Tampa Bay Rays spring games are sold out in Port Charlotte? Wow.....here is Bisher's column


http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bisher/entries/2009/01/30/31_pitchers_may_not_be_enough.html




Obama names Josh Dubois to faith based post:


http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3805&Itemid=53



Josh Dubois article during campaign:


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121883753433545501.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

While Jacksonville State returns to open @ Georgia Tech this fall, it was announced this week that we will open @ Florida in 2012....for more on Jax State sports see the Go Jax State forum on the right on links
http://www.jsugamecocksports.com/news/2009/1/26/FB_0126093224.aspx

Great article on Kurt Warner's future and his relationship with Christ:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/cards/2009-01-29-warner-future_N.htm

May God Bless you and your family this week. May you seek and pursue Him a new way each day.......

It Was The Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

I thought of this from A Tale of Two Cities this week. These are challenging times. Man's greed is consuming more and more people from poor leadership and unethical business practices and desire for things to keep up with the Jones.....while it is very tough it is still a wonderful time to be alive and it is a matter of perspective. Take time today to encourage someone you know has lost a job. I have been there and it is so appreciated and the right thing to do.
Most jobs aren't in the paper, but through networking.
This past week in a leadership class I teach went listed the challenges we face today in the world. After the list was made of job losses, lower wages, doing more with less-I pulled out my list from five years ago and read it to the class and the list was almost the same. The point was to let them know that there have always been times like these, yes this downturn is deeper and there will be another in 10 years. What will be interesting is by that time all the baby boomers will be totally out of the economy and we will have a severe labor shortage.
Chattanooga's addition of VW is a blessing for the area and right now estimates are around 1500 jobs making cars, 26 vendors locating plants in and around the area bringing 2500-5000 jobs and then 2500-5000 jobs to help with that from schools to everything else. TVA will be needing I hear about 2500 people in about five years.....and much more. This area will have alot of growth after this downturn.
What you don't hear alot about is how do we prevent another? and keep your eye on inflation. It is ok now but we will need to watch and gauge it.
By all means limit your time watching the regular media discuss this. Especially local telepromoter readers...they have no clue to business and will depress the heck out of you.

Here is a great article this week from USA TODAY that has a business teacher pointing out some things all leaders need to remember:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/01/ask-the-dumb-qu.html


Now to A Tale of Two broadcasters. I am thrilled to see this week that Vin Scully, voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers was named best Sportscaster of All Time this week. He is a gift to the game and one of the great things about having XM Radio is listening to him in the summer. You feel like you have known him your whole life. I thought it was really neat that when Major League Baseball Network launched they had Don Larsen's perfect game on from 1956 and Vin Scully and Mel Allen called the game....wow....wow...."how about that?" as Mel would say. Here is the story:
http://sportsblogs.latimes.com/sports_baseball_dodgers/2009/01/vin-scully-name.html



Then to Charles Barkley who had to take a leave of action for being drunk and soliciting in Old Scottsdale, AZ. Here is the opening with Ernie and Kenny this week:



Ernie Johnson: "As you can see from the shot, we are missing a member of this panel that you normally see, and that being Charles Barkley. ... You all have heard what went on, and Charles has got some personal issues, and legal issues he's got to take care of. He's on a leave of absence from TNT at this time. And, I mean, we love Charles. He's our buddy. Everybody on this crew does. And there are times you'd like to rear back and give him a kick in the butt, which is one of those times right now. But also we support him every step of the way."





Kenny Smith: "I agree with you Ernie, I think the one thing -- I don't know if the biblical term is correct, but there is a chaotic moment, or a chaos moment, where you either you believe or you don't believe because something happened in your life. I think Charles is at one of those moments where -- how is he going to be remembered? How is he going to be remembered, as someone on the ancillary things, or the substance of who he really is? And from what we know -- a great guy, great heart. Giving, caring, understanding. But when you go through these cycles, you can be remembered for something else. And he's bigger than that, he's bigger than this, and it's the time now for him to get to this moment and grow, and move on, and be something better. And we look forward to seeing that."





Ernie Johnson: "At some point, we will have Charles back here. Until then, we just wish him the best."

Charles Barkley has been talking, partying, betting and living life full out. The problem is that he has no one to show him or hold him accountable. So he is out of control. This incident will show you if he is teachable. I personally think every man is. Charles needs to decide if this will be the incident that takes away alot of his income or will it be something even worse? He is has always been in the batters box and due for this and it is no surprise. He was a great NBA player but he doesn't know everything. None of us do.......it is a journey....Pray that Ernie and Kenny's Christian influence can help him.

Next blog on the UAW. Great article this week so come back and we will discuss.

*Live each day full out. Understand that in the Christian life challenges are normal. How do you react to them? How do you help others think thru questions? Are you encouraging others?
Until the next blog, may you seek the Lord in a fresh new way and just be silent and listen to Him and let Him know if you are upset, confused, worried and distraught. He already knows that and is just waiting for you to ask Him to help. Remember His ways or not our ways. But his love and grace is everlasting. .............

"sleeping from sorrow"

This morning as I drove to work I was listening to the gospel of Luke on my audio bible and I heard this verse, “When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow”, and the word “sorrow” struck me for the first time. In the garden of Gethsemane before Jesus was arrested, He went off alone to pray and when He returned He found the disciples sleeping. Jesus used the words “sleeping from sorrow”. That’s not something you hear every day, is it? So, why were they sleeping from sorrow? And who were they sorrowful for?

The first question is rather obvious, they were sorrowful because the Lord had just told them he was going away and that He would suffer and die a terrible death. He also told them that they would all scatter like a covey of quail when he was arrested….. which they did.

The second question is a little more difficult. Who were they sorrowful for? Was it Jesus or themselves?

I think the key lies in the word sleeping. Jesus told them they needed to be in prayer and not sleeping. In prayer not just for Him, but for their very life, because they were fixing to enter into a conflict they never bargained for. But asleep they were nonetheless. You see, for the disciples things were not turning out the way they wanted. When they signed on to this band of brothers, they thought God’s Kingdom had come and the hard part was already over. But now all of a sudden things had changed for the worse. They felt helplessly tired.

Jesus’ hour was at hand……was there never a time more important than now to be in prayer? The scriptures say they could not even watch one hour as Jesus prayed. To sleep at such a time seems to say they were sorrowful for themselves. If that sounds too hard, it’s really not. I can understand this, because I can relate to such a sleep.

I too, like the disciples, find myself sleeping from sorrow when things get really bad. When I’m really tired and all of a sudden my health or job is threatened, sleep can become like a fix to me like a fix is to a junky. At this point as I write this some of Paul’s words echo in my mind, “O wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” When we truly see ourselves for what we really are, depraved to our very core, our eyes are open to the need for a savior.

The answer will always be the same and will never change, Jesus will always be there for us. He will give us the power to live above our circumstance, and show us that there is always a way of escape for those that trust in Him…….that is the promise of God. - Gary

Don't fly at Christmas and Some Year End Thoughts

This is one of the best quotes I have read in the last few weeks about air travel, I have really felt for those folks. Yesterday in Atlanta they had a problem with air traffic and could only land one plane at a time......this is from today's NY Times and this is about the O' Hare issues from weather.

“I tell myself every year: ‘Don’t fly during Christmas week, don’t fly on Christmas week,’ and every year my sister turns on the guilt trip and I fall for it,” said David Kilpatrick of Eugene, Ore., who struggled this week to get to Baltimore from the snowy Pacific Northwest only to find himself stranded at O’Hare on Friday on a returning layover with his wife and 3-year-old son. “Next year, she’s coming to us, God as my witness. Never, never, never, never, never again. Never.”

I don't blame him.

Quote from Frank Rich column (NY Times) on the choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at Obama's swearing in ceremony (12/27/08):

"You can’t blame V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop and an early Obama booster, for feeling as if he’d been slapped in the face. “I’m all for Rick Warren being at the table,” he told The Times, but “we’re talking about putting someone up front and center at what will be the most-watched inauguration in history, and asking his blessing on the nation. And the God that he’s praying to is not the God that I know.”

Old V. just doesn't get the bible does he? Take it a step further and he really doesn't understand the bible or history. He is living what he wants to believe not what the words says.

I mean he must have picked up another version. I have even heard Bill O'Reilly say that Jesus didn't have anything to say about homosexuality. I think he did as he spoke about marriage between a man and a woman all the time to Jews who knew that homosexuality was a sin just like adultery.....just like when Paul talked about sin issues with the Corinth church amidst a pagan culture things haven't changed. Prop 8' s defeat shocked people. Genesis and what had God brought about a helpmate for man is quite clear. It has resounding impact today on our culture and it is the ultimate story of God's protection and deliverance of authority. (He is the head) and we have trouble with that. He set it up in a beautiful way. Profound.

This summer at Promise Keepers Larry Jackson nailed those things that were provided in the Old Testament that we will deal with as men and Satan tempted Jesus with them too.

1) Lust of the flesh 2) Lust of the eyes and 3) Pride of Life

Look around right now and see how that is affecting all of us. Recession-lust of the eyes to have more, pride of life-all about self......pornography-lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes....adultery-lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes...marriage failures-pride of life---me--me---me....not you.

Rick Warren was a solid choice and I have heard evangelicals upset but these are the same people who have been jealous of him for years since Purpose Driven Life came out. (Woe to someone who would write a book about this an actually affect people's lives today in a tough to break thru culture)

Church people would argue with a wall if it would talk back. Focus here is not on the right things.

I'm not saying I am smarter than V. Gene Robinson on this. I am just saying that I have looked at the word from the beginning, see God in my life and have no problem with whomever a modern day king chooses for one prayer when there are millions of prayers going up everyday. Trillions for a lost and dying world that needs the grace of a loving God.

What are you praying for today? Are you listening? Are you patient in waiting on God?

I love what Richard Swenson (Margin) had to say about our patience today. In the old days if we missed a stagecoach we would have to wait a week to catch another one.......can you imagine that today?

Be Still.....reflect on scripture....let God speak....get out of the way...remember what Solomon said about there being nothing new under the sun....there isn't....

May 2009 be a year where amongst all the turmoil of this world you ask God to lead you, guide you in His way- not yours....if you have issues you are dealing with- look at the right hand side of this site and click on Are You Troubled and Need Help? and they are several excellent links to help you and I.

Top Christian News Stories of 2008:

http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/11597255/

It is Well With My Soul

This time of year is cold and we are chased indoors. Time to remember what the summer will hold. Here is a clip of the Cadets of Bergen County playing It is Well With My Soul
somewhere on tour post show during the summer of 2007.

A reminder that summer is coming soon and so is another drum and bugle corps season across the country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCeruXgOES0&feature=related

Merry Christmas!

Hank

I Pity The Future

There is a great scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where he is pretending to be Abe Fromon, sausage king of Chicago and has a run in with the concerige where he utters the line, "I pity the future."
Well, right now in certain areas I do. You probably have heard alot about the generations stuff today. For example, there are five generations in the church today, four in the workplace.

Today I am going to show you the difference between mine and this younger one.
A good friend and I were having breakfast one morning and one of the conversations that the table of six young people at the table across from us were having was about missing work that day and how several were going to skip work.

This is something I would never have considered. My parents would have made sure of it but I have always wanted to work. There are things that come from it. I couldn't imagine slacking from work in my day and just the sheer thought of explainin that to my manager.

Skip ahead to shopping at the Riverchase Galleria on the day before Thanksgiving and watching Build A Bear implode due to lack of employees. They were two to three short and it took my wife and girls 90 minutes to make their way thru their annual tradition of getting a new BABear.
Fast forward to Cracker Barrel two days later after some intense Black Friday shopping and we are seated amongst five tables that haven't been cleaned at 8pm at night. The reason I lean on the younger generation here is that that I haven't seen older people ever cleaning tables at CB just the young ones. This one was hurting. Good food, good service....
Here is my theory. You have probably heard of the "helicopter parents" that watch over their kids in college. Every move has been orchestrated for years. Well, my theory is that you also have alot of kids that are just doing as they please. They watch things they shouldn't be watching at their age, play video games that they have no business playing, and why should it be any different for them to blow off a job? Its a pretty day, and they go from fast food to fast food job never learning any real work ethic and not really caring.

This is going to be a tough wake up call for them when they have to decide on a career. Mom and Dad today aren't going to say much as long as they are pulling some change down at a entry level job but when they start to get into college it could be interesting. I don't think they see the problem this creates for their manager or supervisor. Nor do they care, but when you are continually late or not at work you start to put yourself in a position to be liberated.

In the Letter to the Ephesians that Paul wrote to the Christians there (6:4) he asked the "fathers to not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
Fathers are called to teach their children the word of God so they will know what to stand on in this world. There are a couple of areas that Dads need to watch against with their children.

1st is overprotection. There are things we are protecting our kids from and there are things thru relationships that they will have to learn. But, they being taught the word of God it will help them make that decision as well as their heart condition.

Next is discouraging them. Doing this continually is going to affect their self-esteem as well as their confidence. You are their dad, not their best friend. You need to encourage them as God gifts them. Cruel words, actions or neglect are not things you need to do as a dad.

Thirdly is micromanaging them. We learned this as soon as the twins arrived that we needed to schedule but all be in agreement. For example, if we did everything and pushed them into everything we wouldn't have a family we would have a transportation service. Don't be pulled into the "Wants" side of the world. Carefully plan and don't forget time for bible study. Help them learn how to study on their own. See how God has gifted them but don't mistake your parenting versus what the Jones are doing. Ask God and seek Him if you have questions.

Harvard and Yale were established to teach men to be in the ministry. Times change don't they?
In fact, Harvard was started because the thinking was Yale was becoming to liberal. Dartmouth was established to teach missionaries. Little different today at colleges who are no more supermarkets of knowledge than what they once were. I know in my field, I could care less where you went to school, what value do you bring?

John Meador said several years ago at a night service at the Park that your children need to hear these three things:
1) I love you
2) I am proud of you
3) You do this well

I worry about many youngsters that I see in retail work environments as they don't have even enough gumption to understand what customer service is or care. After we get thru this recession we will run smack dab into a shortage of workers as the boomers retire and it will get really tough from a talent standpoint to staff some of these jobs. 2011 to 2012 will show this.


Parents today need to be thinking about these things in my opinion. The world is not going to do anything but challenge you to think like it. God thinks about things differently.
As a man, dad or husband you are here on this earth for a short time. This is your training ground. Heaven is your destination. Show your children what Paul said. Instruct them around scripture, if you don't know it get into it. Where do you start? As David Lawson says ,"just pick it up and start reading." Ask God to speak to you thru what you are reading. If you are a dad I would start in Ephesians....
You will not be able to understand the Christ Life fully until you know what the word of God says about it. I know this by experience.

Oh and about the coming event in Washington in January, this person gets it right. The last big 1 million plus event in Washington was PK. It was historical and so will this event in January:

http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/belief-blog/2008/Nov/24/set-record-straight-crowd-counts-mall/

May God Bless you today and grant you the desire to know Him more by learning more about His word..