“How are you checking in today?”

March 21, 2025

It’s a question that comes up regularly in a nonprofit coaching group I’m a part of. Kimberly, our leader and guide, asks it, then listens intently as each coach shares their response. So, in 2025, what would be the most common answer? How would you reply? A catalog of familiar words comes to mind… Busy. […]

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Leading From Behind

March 14, 2025

It was our last day at Copper Mountain for the 2025 season, and what a perfect March day it was. The sky was clear and blue, the temperatures mild, the lines short, and best of all, we had grandkids with us on the slopes. Our daughter, Alli, had brought her four kids along for a […]

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The Baby, the Bathwater, and Lent

March 7, 2025

In 1512, a German proverb introduced the phrase: “das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten.” Translated into English, it reads, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” The meaning is familiar to most of us. But until an Ash Wednesday service this week, I’m not sure I had ever applied it to my theology or […]

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Follow Me

February 28, 2025

Mary and I pulled into the church parking lot around 7:15 p.m. It was just about three hours earlier that we met there. I had finished a meeting and she had met with a close friend, so we were in separate vehicles. From the gathering spot, we drove across town to catch a high school […]

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Twenty-Three Years

February 7, 2025

February 5, 2002 was the date that my father breathed his last earthly breath. Twenty-three years ago. That means that one third of my life has been lived without him. Lately, the weight of that time apart has felt heavier. None of our children’s spouses, none of our grandchildren, and none of the deeply meaningful […]

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A Legacy to Steward

January 31, 2025

On a recent trip to Chicago to visit three of my siblings, I found myself invited to sift through a collection of family memorabilia—old photographs, reels of movie film, faded letters, and unexpected treasures. Included in the pile, two small booklets caught my attention. One, titled Genealogy of Solomon Sharpe, and the other, Their Legacy […]

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A Gentleman’s Cut

January 24, 2025

“Looks good,” I said, as Viet, my barber, held up the mirror behind my head. It was my standard response after a haircut, but in this case, it wasn’t so much about how I felt about my hairline, my expanding bald spot, or the retreating hair on my neckline. Those were issues beyond his control. […]

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A Platform to Steward. A Prayer to Offer.

January 17, 2025

The moment was July 18, 1957, at Madison Square Garden, during a Billy Graham Crusade. At a pivotal point in the program, the platform was entrusted to the vision and voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Nearly 68 years ago, yet his words remain timeless—amplified then, and now echoed through the megaphone of history. […]

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A Recipe for Failure

January 10, 2025

It was the spring of 2021 when I took my first online baking class with Sara Ward. My daughter, Alli, was by my side, as we watched Sara from her kitchen in England guide us through the creation of a loaf of yeast-based bread. That sparked something in me that I will be forever grateful […]

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First Responders

December 20, 2024

Madison, Wisconsin. Another tragedy. Another unthinkable act of evil. Our heart aches. Lives taken, futures impacted, the poison of hatred unleashed. Into the chaotic mix, into the swirl of uncertainty, first responders were asked to engage. They entered danger on purpose. We hear the stories frequently. As a civilian, I often take safety and security […]

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