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Suzanne Vara is one of my new favorite bloggers.  She is smart, simplifies principles and knows what she is talking about.  Recently she wrote a post called “Are You Creating Opportunity or Waiting For It To Come To You?”  This is an interesting topic personally for me because, as we discussed before, my “almost 30 deadline” is approaching and I am hoping for new opportunities to present themselves.

Vara is really writing an article that should light a fire under your butt more than anything.  I know from my own experience, it is easy to denigrate the people who seem to have everything going for them but we don’t recognize that they worked hard to network and open up new doors of opportunity for themselves.  Is it their fault that their efforts are paying off?

Where I fit in well with her article is “creating opportunity from opportunity.”  She gives an example of the smaller communities that surround the Meadowlands stadium where Superbowl XLVII will take place.  Clearly, this is a massive amount of potential revenue and new clientele that could walk through the doors of many of the hotels and restaurants in that region.  However, if you are not willing to listen and take the time to network with other people, you could miss the moment to really reach that crowd.

It is easy to think you are highly gifted, motivated and bring a lot to the table but if you are sitting at your computer, waiting for someone to call you up out of the blue because they suddenly read your blog and it changed their life…this might be a good time to get a reality check.  If you want something in life, you have to work hard for it.  As Vera succinctly puts it, recognize your the target you are going after and then create a strategic plan around it.  The only thing I differ with her on is I feel you will be more successful pulling for the Packers, this will definitely broaden any opportunity you hope to gain.

Are you doing everything you can today to create new opportunities?

You can follow Suzanne Vera at her blog or on Twitter.

This is a letter I wrote to an athletic director a few months ago.

Dear Athletic Director ——–,

I learned a long time ago that if you want to see people develop into great leaders, you need to put the proper tools in their hands to see this happen. For the last six years, I made it a point to begin mentoring young adults at Central Michigan University and the local area high school. Mentoring is a huge passion of mine and I wanted to share it with you in light of the recent arrests of two football players at –.

While these recent arrests garner the national spotlight because of the size of –, the problem is not uncommon in many universities. I wanted to write and hear your thoughts on how open the university would be on creating a flagship mentoring program for athletes. Some areas that I would suggest would be training for all coaches, training peer mentors, reaching out to community leaders to help mentor athletes and teaching how to have accountable relationships. Programs like this would benefit not only athletes that may make poor choices but also those that are strong leaders.

From my experience of mentoring some athletes, it really comes down to peer-group choices for a true change to happen. Drinking, sex, drugs and overall choices leading to vandalism all come from deeper issues that may be exposed in mentoring and open the door for deeper counseling to happen with your staff psychologists. President Obama’s initiative to fund more programs to encourage men to be stronger father’s shows a strong need that has been absent for many athletes. I believe that the lack of father’s in many of their lives has led them to the choices they make today.

My passion is to see programs like this exist on many campuses so we can see athletes leaving strong legacies and hopefully becoming leaders for incoming peers.

When you have some time, I would love to hear more from you regarding this and share anymore thoughts if you like.

Sincerely,

Ben Lemery

This Athletic Director never returned my invitation to dialogue.

In a special commentary to CNN.com, Rick Benjamin stated, “[Glenn] Beck’s rally upped the ante on America’s social divides, all the while appearing to champion unity.”

This is an incredibly ignorant statement by Benjamin.  To think that because of a rally suddenly the social divides were “upped” in some way shows how little he has been paying attention to the news for the past two years.  Of course, how can we blame him when the media has done a good job at negating the Tea-party movement and pretty much anyone who disagrees with President Obama’s policies as racist bigots who are stupid and wouldn’t know what’s good for them if it were right in front of their face.

Conservatives have noone to blame but themselves, considering these ad hominem attacks increased after 9/11 when non-Bush supporters were called Anti-American and unpatriotic.  From that point on, it seemed like civil discourse went out the window and was replaced with hate speech on both sides.

The culture war exists because people have different ideas and values for what this country should represent.  Freedom means different things for different people.  But when the dialogue gets mucked up through character attacks, the very foundation of freedom that we depend on as American’s begins to crumble.  What a shame that Muslim Americans now feel like the Puritans who escaped England hundreds of years ago due to being persecuted.  What a shame that Christians are told they are haters because they don’t believe gays should get married.  What a shame that the same Christians who supported every little thing President Bush did are now slinging mud by the barrels at President Obama simply because he supports different policies.

I have to say that there is something to be said for Jesus who was able to stand on his moral authority without wallowing in the mud with pigs.

Inc. Magazine had an article about Torch Technologies attempts to give back to the community and charities.  The company decided to reorganize how they gave money to charities and instead gave the employees ownership of the process.  Part of that ownership was giving employees the opportunity to quarterly nominate a cause or charity of their choice, which would then be chosen by a panel of peers.  They also gave employees the opportunity to have giving taken out through payroll deduction with a whopping 70% of the entire staff giving.  Through their new approach, they give the winning submission a $10,000 grant but also give out smaller grants to local organizations.

I have held to a stronger belief that if our money was automatically taken out of our accounts, you would have a higher retained rate of giving.  This is where churches need to look into easier ways for people to give and strongly communicate this to the congregation.  However, most Christians work in secular jobs with many people who may not be giving to anything but want to.

Could I encourage you to suggest to your fellow employees to research ways to support an area organization and if the company would be open to creating payroll deductions for those who would like to opt-in for this cause.  If you work in a company where twenty people opted in to pay $20 a month, you would have $4800 to give to an organization at the end of the year.  That is a huge amount for a place like a food pantry.  The local one in my area said that one dollar creates eight meals, in that case we would have created 38,400.

The other benefits that come with this type of organizational giving is good publicity but also knowing that you are giving back.  Who knows, it may open up the opportunity for you to introduce them to some other projects that you are apart of within your church.

How does your company give back to the community or charities?  Would this work?  What other ideas do you have?

Christians now face a new issue: Glenn Beck

Sounding like a remake of Billy Graham, Beck stood in front of thousands saying, “Look forward. Look West. Look to the heavens. Look to God and make your choice.”  Inspirational, spiritual, even manifest destiny like.  But the problem is, Beck is a Mormon.

If you know anything about anything, Mormons and Christians don’t play well together. Mormons say they are Christians and most Christians disagree.  But when it comes to politics, funnier things have happened and the growing distaste for liberal values and policies has brought these two foes together.  This has left Christians shaking their heads, wondering if they can one, follow a Mormon and two, if they can’t, who will lead them?  Unfortunately, I don’t have the answers to either of these.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that someone like Beck has risen to lead the “Christian” charge.  With the rise of Christian celebrity, events and social media, our Christian leaders are great at leading their own personal flocks but have little vision beyond that.

Let’s be honest with each other, if you look at most major Christian events, they aren’t focused on Biblical teaching or training on Biblical values, they are more about how you can become a better leader, something big, something grand, etc.  They focus on your story of struggle and how you got out of it (with God’s help of course) and of course we can’t forget about the thousands of social justice projects we can involve ourselves with to make us feel good about helping the lost but not really hoping they will get saved.

None of the above is wrong but it speaks to a greater problem, if the church continues to be introverted then let’s not be surprised when other people will get up to lead the charge that Jesus left us on earth to influence in the first place.  If there is one thing I learned during the Bush years, the more political deals Christians make the less Jesus is in the center of the issue.  The less Jesus is evident, the easier it is for a false, universal God to rise up.

Not to sound like Lou Engle here but unless Christians can adjust their thinking, begin to pray and fast, to turn back to God and repent for not turning to Him in the first place, we will never see our nation truly change.

This past weekend estimated hundreds of thousands showed up to the Lincoln Monument in Washington, DC to “restore honor to America.”  Gatherings like this are unprecedented and any major visionary or speaker would die to speak for these grandiose crowds.

Opinions have been mixed over this event, primarily because Fox News personality Glenn Beck was the organizer.  However great or flawed Beck is, there is one thing we can learn from him.

Stay On Track With A Clear Vision

Beck has been very consistent in delivering his version of American values and criticisms that our current government is steering us away from those.  Over the last two years, with the opportunity to move to the Fox News Network, be affirmed by ratings superstar Bill O’Reilly and having the ability to lay the groundwork for his American doctrine; Beck has painted a strong picture of a vision for America and he wants you to come along for the ride.

If you are a visionary, simply having the vision is not enough.  Unless you take the time to establish your desires and passions with other people through conversations, attending their events and challenging the current system, people won’t come.

People showed up at Saturday’s rally because they hear a vision that they can buy into, it isn’t something they see presently and it is something that they want to happen now and for their children.  They didn’t wake up one night wanting that, it was something they heard over and over again from Beck on his program that nightly sticks with the same message.  Whether you agree with that vision isn’t the discussion.  Saturday’s results were clearly an impressive show of what a visionary can accomplish when they stay on track.

Michael Hyatt recently wrote about a retreat he took in British Colombia.  After getting over the fact that I too wanted to eat, play, share my story, laugh and cry with the other people there, I realized the need to pull away and rest is very important.

A few years ago, when I was in the midst of making a decision to move to California, I took a personal retreat at my aunt’s motherhouse (she is a nun) in Donaldson, Indiana.  The place was beautiful, I could spend plenty of time alone and the trails (especially the nun graveyard) provided plenty of adventure.  However, having noone there to converse, share  and sometimes wade through the deep things going on in your head was really difficult resulting with me being very bored after about a half a day.

Friendships and retreats naturally go together.  While I admittedly felt a pang of jealousy go through me that I (the great I) could not be apart of this exclusive group.  When I took a step back I asked why I can’t encourage my friends to all get together to do a retreat?  If you plan it and it holds value to them, then they will go to it.

The last key I took away from Hyatt’s article was not having access to the outside world.  Beyond having a landline, our dependence on technology and staying connected should be disrupted at least annually.  In reality, we can easily take two to three days without accessing these devices.  I wonder how much could get unclogged in us simply by having more space to digest the important things?

What do you think? How do you personally retreat?  Is this an event that you could prioritize to make happen in the next year?

Sex + the world + the church + ideas for good.  That is the tagline for the Idea Camp being held in Las Vegas, September 27 & 28.

There are few topics that stir up more controversy, shame, images or desires than the topic of sex.  Some of the misconceptions people sometimes have are:

• If you get married that you won’t struggle with lust or pornography.
• None of your good Christian friends could be struggling with homosexual feelings.
• Men in your church have never solicited a prostitute or been to an adult store.
• That sex trafficking does not exist in America.

All of the above and more will be talked about at this groundbreaking event.  In fact, I have never seen a better lineup of speakers for one topic than this camp.  The price is right and Las Vegas is a relatively decent place to stay because of the economy, there are deals everywhere.

There is still time to register.  It also provides a great opportunity to connect and meet so many great people.  Most importantly, you can learn to help others but you may also learn how to help yourself.  Please pray and consider coming to Las Vegas towards the end of September for this event.  I really believe you won’t regret it.

In a recent NY Times Article by Robin Marantz Henig, the question is asked “What Is It About 20-Somethings?“  Ironically, anyone over 30 has been asking this question for a long time.

If the article is true and young adults seem to take longer maturing, then I have to wonder what that means for organizations that are actively reaching out to this age group, such as churches and campus ministries.  If young adults change jobs on an average of seven times, it certainly clarifies why so many do not feel an obligation to stay in their current churches on a long term basis.

This may be a problem for the current members but it could be an excellent opportunity to help steer these aspiring visionaries onto potential paths of adventure to help them “find their identity.”  That may sound a little psychobabblish but hear me out.

The articles only comparison to another time period of similar effects was the 1970′s young adult social revolution that focused on freedom and individuality.  Out of that time period, organizations like YWAM emerged to take the missions movement in a new direction while providing structures for young adults to grow in.  These were successful because they only lasted six months to a year, just enough time to get your feet wet but not enough time to get bored.

Through these types of organizations, we saw new churches planted and the Gospel preached throughout the world.  If anything, we saw a natural grassroots movement happen, with very little need for technology.  Think how much greater the impact could be, coupled with some of the technological advances of today?

While this may buck the traditional notion of laying your roots down and serving in a community church, I think it would be healthier to encourage young adults to take advantage of any missions opportunity or “out of the box” approach to serving others.  If the article is true and our brains are still developing well into our mid to late twenties, then why not put people into a stronger position of stimulation to pack the ol’ noggin full of any information we can.

Obviously this doesn’t fit everyone’s DNA but it would certainly be interesting if we recognized some of these patterns in some of the 20-somethings in our congregations or maybe the ones that left and encourage them to join an organization like YWAM where they can travel the world, while getting discipled.  Maybe they join the Peace Corps or do some inner-city projects that have little structure but great experiences.  I would suggest that it may lead to more committed 30-somethings when that time comes around.

Recently Robin Marantz Henig wrote an article for the NY Times titled, “What Is It About 20-Somethings?“  Being on the tail-end of my 20′s (I am currently 29), I have personally wondered why I and so many people that I know don’t seem to take a similar path that my parents took.

In the article, there were a few key thoughts that help define this current batch of 20-somethings.

Helicopter Parents

“Heavily invested parents…might keep hovering and problem-solving long past the time when their children should be solving problems on their own.  This might, in a strange way, be part of what keeps their grown children in the limb between adolescence and adulthood.”

I have difficulty connecting with this statement because my father died when I started college and my mother has always encouraged independence.  However, in her extreme to live her life, I know I could almost use some of that hovering once in awhile.

Do your parents hover, step back, is that good, bad?

Sense of Possibilities

“Identity exploration…take on new depth and urgency in the 20s.  The stakes are higher when people are approaching the age when options tend to close off and lifelong commitments must be made.  [Jeffrey] Arnett calls it “the age 30 deadline.”"

As previously stated, I am 29 and in the process of finishing some things that I failed to finish a few years ago.  This year I have pursued losing weight, working out, adjusting some of the more stubborn beliefs I held dear but in doing all of those things I am starting to feel the urgency of turning 30.  I lay in bed wondering if I will ever work in athletics or with young adults, will I have that dream job that makes me happy, will I impact people in the best way possible?  So many questions.

Do you feel the urgency if you are single? married?  What things hold priority now?

I have other questions about the article and will probably write more on them soon.  What are you getting out of it?