Uncategorized

16 Jan

Posted at 18:50h in Uncategorized

Whether you work for a large organization, a small company or your own business, all of us are called to strive for excellence as Colossians 3:23 reminds us: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters”; for ultimately, our efforts in business are presented to God. This is a theological cornerstone of how God created us to function in the marketplace. However, our desire for excellence and success can subtly shift how we view the tasks before us. If God commands our best, we may misunderstand that God demands a certain measure of accomplishment . . . which could eventually deceive us that our work is up to us alone. Yes, the marketplace measures success...

09 Jan

Posted at 18:22h in Uncategorized

We are living in a time of unrest and turmoil. There is a cultural anxiety creating chaos, suspicion and division everywhere we turn. Political discussions have turned into shouting matches on social media. Every segment of our society has become polarized to the point where civility seems nowhere to be found. But where is the Church today? I’m not talking about your local congregation or your denomination. Where is the Body of Christ? Where are the followers of Jesus? The Church belongs to God and it is alive, but perhaps we have lost our way. Maybe we are drifting away from our call to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). Have we forgotten Jesus’ two most important commandments—to love God with all your heart, soul and...

05 Apr

Posted at 19:19h in Uncategorized

Greetings to all of the RCN family spread across our country and this industry. I pray that you are finding strength and encouragement in Christ during these unprecedented days. I would like to share excerpts from an email that Dr. Bill Maynard, my physician and dear friend, wrote this week: “Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.” (Hebrews 12:28) During the first week of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had three confirmed cases among our patients. One has died. Another is recovered. The third I am telephoning regularly, and his continued fevers and breathlessness nearly three weeks into the infection are keeping me on edge. Coronavirus can worsen after a week, and many of the infections that prove fatal do not reveal their...

07 Jul

Posted at 16:45h in Uncategorized

Have you considered God’s creativity in your calling? He is the master of the unique–and sometimes unexpected–as He charts the course of our lives. Whether or not we realize it, God is purposefully arranging our relationships and opportunities. He is actually engineering our circumstances and prospects. I encourage you to take a few moments to meditate on the amazing creativity of His work in your life. Acts 18:1-3 describes how Paul arrived in Corinth after spending time in Athens. We think of Paul the apostle or Paul the missionary, traveling around establishing churches. But how did he do that in 52 BC, before electricity, cars, television or corporate jets? This is where God’s ingenuity comes into play. He took a man with a brilliant mind, changed...

16 Jun

Posted at 21:27h in Uncategorized

'Acts 13:36 says, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay.” God’s calling on our lives is not random, arbitrary or accidental. God’s calling is strategic and designed for a specific time and particular place. It is very possible, or even likely, that we won’t understand God’s plans for our Kingdom service in our lifetime. We are time dimensional creatures, but God is not bound by time or limited by geography in the way he uses us. He is not restricted by industries or networks or relationships. Early in the 20th century, Gertrude Hobbs was a bright, intelligent young woman with a single ambition—to become secretary to the Prime...

26 May

Posted at 17:26h in Uncategorized

One of my highlights every year is gathering in Las Vegas during the ICSC RECon for our annual RCN Breakfast Gathering. During the convention, professionals and leaders in the Shopping Center industry come together for fellowship, encouragement and inspiration. Last week I had the privilege of interviewing David Oakes, founder and Senior Principal of CESO Inc. David shared his inspiring story and how he leads his business based on the principles of God’s Word and Jesus’ teachings. At the end of the program, I took the last three minutes to share the message of the gospel. In our information age, there are so many different personal faith stories, that I’ve found there is often confusion about the good news of Jesus Christ. My goal was to...

12 May

Posted at 22:31h in Uncategorized

The concept of calling is a grand notion that doesn't have to remain a vague concept. God desires for us to know about and embrace his gracious calling (Ephesians 4:4-5). There is absolutely mystery surrounding God’s calling, but there are many things we can search out and discover about it in God’s Word. When God called Abram (later "Abraham") to leave everything familiar, in order to attain a new land and establish a new nation, there were a great many details God didn’t mention. Yet God’s calling was clear enough for Abram to leave his homeland and set out on the incredible journey of his life as recorded in Genesis 11:27-25:11. I believe that God has a special journey mapped out for us as well—a journey...

05 May

Posted at 20:17h in Uncategorized

I will never forget a telephone call I received on August 9, 1985. To this day, very few people know about this call. At the time I was a partner at Smiley & Atchison, a commercial real estate development company in Kingwood, Texas. We had been blessed with tremendous success and had just closed an 18-million-dollar deal. One of the Houston law firms that represented us had close ties with Washington D.C. and was involved in national politics. In fact, their lead partner was a close personal friend of Jim Baker, the Chief of Staff for President Ronald Reagan. When my assistant said there was a call for me, I picked up the phone with no specific expectation; but I can tell you that I was...

03 Mar

Posted at 20:04h in Uncategorized

Have you ever wondered how birds are able to sleep without falling off of their perches? You see, when a bird bends its leg at the knee, the tendons cause the claws to contract and grip like a steel trap. The bird cannot let go until its legs are straightened again. A sleeping bird can teach a valuable lesson about prayer. The marketplace equates power with remaining “on top” in knowledge, wealth and status. God equates power with a willingness to “come under” like a bird, to bend the knee—deliberately yielding control and becoming dependent upon him. King Solomon, the wealthiest, most influential man of his generation, spread out his hands and prayed, “Oh LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven...

09 Dec

Posted at 17:04h in Uncategorized

A person reading the Sunday New York Times is said to have more information at their fingertips in one weekend than a person was exposed to their entire lifetime during the Enlightenment. The Internet has given us access to innumerable volumes of knowledge on every imaginable topic. Our generation also has the added benefit of exposure to millennia of historical data that puts it all in perspective. Shouldn’t all of this knowledge make us smarter, happier and more successful? Reality begs to differ. Knowledge may be king but, Wisdom still eludes us. In the marketplace, Knowledge may equal power, but without wisdom our future is in jeopardy. Proverbs 14:12 (NLT) reminds us, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in...