Thoughts from Within

There may not be a man more responsible for the destruction of America than Mark Zuckerberg. I'm sure at the onset of beginning Facebook, this wasn't Zuckerberg's intent. I doubt it is his intent even today, but he unknowingly founded a company that has evolved into a platform that daily divides the American people further and further into a plethora of radical groups. A platform . That is exactly what it is. An online stage once created to share insights and stay connected with friends and family, Facebook- and all similar social media platforms- has developed into a platform where the most timid of us openly proclaim our unsolicited, and usually flawed opinions on topics that we really have no business even mentioning. Unfounded opinions that create anger and stir up controversy, and there is no repercussion for anything we type or the tone in which we deliver it because the comments are veiled in online anonymity. It sure is easy to bully and shame others when you n...

I love sports. Not all sports... just American ones... baseball, American football, basketball. Don't hate me, but you can have your soccer and hockey. Now, as to the aforementioned sports.. they appeal to me. They have for as long as I can remember. I was around ten or eleven when I really began to take note of certain athletes. Ones I aspired to be like. My favorite growing up was Bo Jackson. He was a two-sport athlete -- football and baseball. He was a beast of a man. He was big and powerful, yet, on the ball diamond, he had a grace about him. He took swings that were mighty, yet smooth. His form in the batter's box was impeccable. In the outfield, he could chase down what would normally be gap-bound doubles with ease. If you've followed sports going back to the late '80s and early '90's, you may even remember the highlight of Bo making a catch on the dead run and running up the side of the outfield wall because his momentum couldn't be stopped. On the...

This time of year is definitely an emotional roller coaster for the administrator of a Christian school. The end of the year is quickly approaching and we look back on all the successes of the last 10 months. Academic programs, fine arts competitions, educator's conferences, legislative tasks, Christmas programs, Spirit Week, achievement testing, classroom activities, administrative accomplishments, student progress… the list could go on. This year ’ s staff has been the best one ever—a team of dedicated, hard-working, enthusiastic teachers who have sacrificed so much for such little monetary compensation. Our students have excelled academically and – I ’ d like to say—spiritually over the past school year. Grades are up, spirits are high and camaraderie is at its peak. All in all… it has been a fantastic year. The best one yet in our 13-year existence. All that said, what could possibly get me down? Well, it ’ s commitment time. The time of year when our current parents...

In 1939, Academy award-winning director Frank Capra, produced and directed a film starring Jimmy Stewart entitled Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In the film, Stewart’s character, Jefferson Smith, goes to Washington D.C. as a wide-eyed idealist completely naïve to the political process. In the end, Smith stands behind his convictions and elicits change in the capital’s business-as-usual attitude. In mid-September, I too, went to Washington. It was my first time visiting our capital city, and like Smith, I was wide-eyed and naïve. Over the years, I have had a growing interest in politics and the process by which our government operates. I had some knowledge – what one gets from civics classes and news sources– but my time in D.C. really allowed me to gain a better grasp on our federal government and how our Founders intended it to operate. The purpose of my visit was to spend a week on Capitol Hill lobbying on behalf of the Buckeye Christian School Organization (BCSO) and the...

If you are married, the title of this blog probably caught your attention. Well, with Valentine's Day soon approaching and with "love being in the air"... these are my thoughts from within ... The general opinion of marriage today is that it is difficult. It takes a lot of hard work to sustain. That it is not always so blissful. In fact, the hard work that is said it takes to make a marriage work is often cited as the reason so many marriages end in divorce. After our wedding, I remember a certain couple who- week after week- kept asking my wife and I if "the honeymoon was over," suggesting that the happiness we were enjoying would wane over time. Both my wife and I were very disheartened at this suggestion. Not because we feared our joy would lessen over time, but because everyone else- it seemed- shared the same outlook on their marriage. But for my wife and me, it hasn't come to that. In thirteen years, our passion for each other hasn't weaken...

"One of the hardest duties to handle as a leader is that of delegation; because- too often- the passion he has for seeing a task performed exceptionally well is not shared by those to whom he has delegated it. But a good leader will recognize his limitations and delegate anyway, always taking note of who can be trusted and who cannot. So, if one is called upon over and over again to assigned tasks... he should consider that a compliment and a testament of his trustworthy character. Conversely, if he is never called upon for a delegated task, perhaps his trustworthiness has been called into question." --Anonymous Having worked in a leadership position of a ministry for thirteen years, I haven't always had an easy time giving over responsibility to others. I get it honestly. My dad, a pastor of 30 years, had a difficult time with this for the first half of his service. His mindset -as was mine- was: "If you want something done right, just do it yourself." The...