Category: Leadership

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Trip to Haiti

A good friend of mine, Kevin Kate recently went on a mission trip to Haiti. Kevin is in my men’s group and has a real heart for missions and outreach. I know he had been praying for an opportunity to GO and make a difference. Here is what he did:

Kevin was part of a team that fixed a water well that had caved in. They went to Terre Blanche in Haiti. The well will serve a school of a bout 600 students, the local trade school, local church and the clinic which will serve 1000 people when the medical team from the U.S. goes there. The local population can also use the well. The local people had to travel a great distance to get water and this is a huge blessing to that entire community. On average the well will provide clean fresh drinking water for nearly 2,000 Haitian people each day.

Kevin had some great stories about how God provided what needed to make this project happen. When people like Kevin take a risk and GO out into the world, God does amazing things. I know there are more people like Kevin that God has been calling to take a risk and jump into something bigger than themselves. Start praying today that God will give you direction and then Courage to go and do it. It may be in Haiti or Egypt or maybe in Mississippi or Dover or Millersburg. You can make a difference just like Kevin did.

Way to go Kevin!

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Big Saturday

This Saturday marks the second month of Angel Food Ministries. Once again we will distribute frozen and non-perishable food to hundreds of people. The neat thing is anyone can participate. There is no minimum income levels, so anyone that wants to save some money can join in. I don’t know about you, but I like saving money.

For Vikki and I it has caused us to cook more meals at home, which means more leftovers for lunch and other meals. We all spend money on food every month, Angel Food allows you to save money, plan your meals and help the church. You help the church by ordering, because $1.00 from every order goes into our Helps Fund.

On Saturday night is Group Link. This is an environment for people wanting to check out or get into small groups here at NewPointe. We have around 100 people registered. After this weekend we should have close to 100 active small groups at NewPointe. That represents around 1,000 people in community.

Vikki and I are excited about starting our new group and adding a few new couples. Our small group has been a lot of fun over the last couple of years. We have developed friendships and grown relationally and spiritually.

I believe we are designed to be in community. When we are isolated just in our immediate family we don’t function like God designed us. We find it harder to trust people, to serve people and to love. You see, on our own we become an easy target for the enemy. We are isolated and can easily fall into sin, loneliness, depression and hopelessness. But if we are connected in a community where we build relationships, learn about the Bible, pray together, care for each other, have fun together and serve together, then we are stronger. It does not mean we won’t struggle or fall into temptation or hopelessness, but it means we don’t have to face that alone. We have friends that can pray for us, listen to us, help us and just be with us if needed.

If you are not in a small group, I encourage you to start to pray that God will provide a way for you to experience community. Pray that God will open an opportunity and then for courage to go ahead and jump in.

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This week in review

Sorry it has been awhile since my last posting. This has been a very busy week for me. Here are some highlights.

On Tuesday night we had about 20 people come and load the three trucks with all the food boxes from Go ’07. It only took us 50 minutes to load all the boxes. We actually had closer to 1,350 boxes. Thanks to all who helped.

On Wednesday morning we delivered the boxes. Jerry Weaver took a load to the Love Center in Millersburg. I took a load to the Salvation Army in Dover. Several people came to help unload there. Thanks, Steve Elloit, Sue Gerber, Gene, Patty, Dusty and Melissa Bolek. I also want to thank Mike Davis for allowing us to use his Harley Davidson box truck to make that delivery. It was nice to meet the folks from the Salvation Army.

The next delivery was to Newcomerstown and then to Uhrichsville. We had over 650 boxes on the MRV Siding truck. Thanks to Todd Kandel for letting us use his truck. I ended up driving the truck, a few close calls but I made it. Sue, Gene, Patty, Dusty & Melissa came along and helped unload at both places.

The Journey’s End in Newcomerstown has a very organized well run ministry. It has been great to get to know them down there. Janet Gore is the director and she called me later in the day to say they had gone through all 350 boxes and sorted everything. They are now well stocked. The folks at Uhrichsville’s Twin City Christian Center were also very helpful and are doing a good ministry to many families. It is encouraging to see ministries like these in action helping meet peoples needs in an organized fair way.

Thursday was a traveling day as I went to visit a guy near Akron and then on to the Cleveland area to pick up a friend. I got a chance to listen to four messages on prayer by Bill Hybels. Very good stuff.

Friday night was a rehearsal and dinner for the Wedding of Lucas Boylan & Jessica Gotchel in Malvern. Saturday morning was a counseling session with a couple and then on to the wedding.

The wedding was interesting, because it was in a Catholic church in Malvern. I worked with Father Vic Cinson. Lucas & Jessica come to NewPointe, but Father Vic is a relative and they wanted the service at the home church. I learned some new things about weddings, a few I may use and others I won’t. Father Vic was very gracious in allowing me to co-officiate. Danny was there to play music and overall things went well. Danny can sure play the trumpet, Wow!

I was getting a little nervous when Father Vic was not there with only a few minutes before the start of the service. He was doing most of the service. He showed up at the last minute and everything went fine. My part was to do a couple of readings and the nuptial blessing. Pretty simple. Congratulations to Lucas & Jessica!

After we got home I went on a 13 mile bike ride and then watched the Browns win their pre-season opener.

Today I am preaching at the Walnut Creek St. Johns United Church of Christ. This is the church that my wife Vikki and I went to after we got married. This will be the second time I have gone back to preach. I am talking about Prayer. Maybe I’ll blog on that later.

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Moving Day





On Monday night my small group got together to help some ladies move. Carol and her mother Marie called the church looking for help to move from Sugarcreek to Walnut Creek. I checked with my small group and they all could make it on Monday night.

This is the third time we have helped someone move. We have also done numerous other serving projects together, such as drywalling, replacing windows, and other general repairs. Serving together has brought us closer together. Our group has been together for almost two years and we will be starting two groups in September. I am excited about meeting some new people and serving with them.

Helping Carol & Marie was very rewarding. Carol served in the military for 21 years, but was in an accident that caused her to not be able to continue. She moved here to take care of her mother. We showed up with four pickup trucks and started hauling things away. The neighbors even came out to see what was going on. The manager of the old apartment gave me her card and thanked me for helping out.

They were both very grateful for the help and Carol even made a donation to the church’s Helps fund. The reward you feel after helping someone in need is worth the effort of giving time and energy. The church is God’s plan to reach the world and show them His love. I hope we did that in a small way on Monday night.

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Food Stories

Here are a couple of interesting stories that relate to the Go ’07 Food drive:

On Monday I received a box in the mail. It was one of the Impossible boxes we handed out about three weeks ago. It was from a couple that had been visiting from the Cleveland area. Evidently they were here and wanted to participate in Go ’07. They filled the box with food and mailed it us (it cost $11.00 to ship it).

That is exciting to me because so many people participated in this drive. I think this has been the largest most far reaching outreach we have done. For a visitor to take the time to take a box, fill it and mail it shows how much people want to make a difference and be a part of something exciting and meaningful.

Here is the other story I received by email:

Saturday we came back to the church to see if we could buy another angel food kit for my brother. We found out that the program wasn’t set up to do that, so you generously let us pick and choose some of the food from the food drive. Mike and I randomly picked out some food not knowing what they needed or would like. I hadn’t even talked to my brother for a good while. This was just a strong feeling that came over me after we had picked up our angel food kit. We took the box of food you gave us and went straight to my brothers’ house. He looked so surprised when he saw the food. We also gave him some gas money and shared some of our meat with him and his family.

My brother started to cry as he told me he had been praying and even told God he felt like a failure, because he was having trouble supplying for his family. He has even been looking for a second job. He said he even felt like God didn’t care anymore. He told me too, that as he went through the box of food that a lot of the items we picked out for him were items that him and his wife had to put back the last time they went grocery shopping. He could hardly believe he ended with those items anyways.

I reminded him of how God cares about the desires of our heart, even if it is a certain kind of cereal, God truly cares about us.

This even reminded me of how much God loves us. It amazes me how God shows us His great love with such small things.

Yeah God!

Current number of boxes = 1,286 We are accepting food through this week and will distribute food next week to the four food pantries.

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Food, Food and more Food

Saturday morning was the first food distribution for Angel Food Ministries at NewPointe. My wife Vikki and I helped serve. What a great group of volunteers, I didn’t count them but we had around 30 people out to help.

Many of us got there at 7:00 a.m. to prepare and help unload the truck. The truck got delayed in Cambridge and did not arrive until almost 8:30. While we were waiting for the truck many of the volunteers helped box food for the GO ’07 food drive. We boxed 122 more boxes Saturday morning. That took our total to 554 boxes going into Sunday morning! Thanks to all who helped.

When the truck got there we unloaded it and stacked all the boxes of food in 20 minutes. Soon after that people began to arrive to pick up their food. We had 216 orders from 178 households.

Jesse & Wilma Mast are the leader’s of this ministry and did a great job of organizing the distribution. Dave Miller was a big help as well in planning and organizing things. The system worked well and people moved through quickly. We are taking orders for next month right now. You can order online at our website http://www.newpointe.org/content.cfm?id=2139

If you would like to volunteer for Angel Food please let me know. This is a great opportunity to make a difference.

I was a runner which meant I helped take the loaded boxes of food out to peoples cars. I got to meet some new people and talk to some friends. I also got in nearly 9,00 steps! It was fun asking people where they lived and how they heard about us.

It was a fun morning and many of the people were very grateful and excited about this ministry to help families save money on their groceries. An exciting part of this ministry that not many people know about is that for every box of food that is ordered through NewPointe we get One Dollar donated to our Helps fund. All that money goes to help needy families and individuals in our church and community.

I encourage you to check it out and tell your friends and neighbors. With the GO ’07 Food drive and Angel Food, NewPointe will be distributing a very large volume of food into our community. I hope that this will encourage people to continue to help the local food pantries. There are people that struggle to buy or find enough food for their family. At the end of the day Sunday we ended up with nearly 1,300 boxes of food. That is really amazing! Yeah God! All that food will be distributed to Four local food panries, three in Tuscarawas county and one in Holmes county.

I am so glad I am part of a church that wants to meet needs and change lives. We want to impact our communities in a real and practical way. Food is a great start, but their is much more going on. To get involved in reaching out in the community contact me at NewPointe, we have several projects in the works right now. Together we can make a big difference.

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Are You Listening?

Do you consider yourself a good listener? Most people would rate themselves above average as a listener, but few people are really good listeners. I read a quote today that jumped out of the page at me and made me start thinking about how I listen and see the world around me.

Here it is; “That’s why I am talking to you. You are one of the rare people who can separate your observation from your preconception. You see what is, where most people see what they expect.” That was from John Steinbeck in East of Eden.

It made me ask the question; Am I one of those rare people that sees what is? This can be a very difficult thing to do because we all view other people in a different way based on our own experiences and beliefs. It is so easy to make judgements about a person before we even get to know them. If we see a poor person we tend to think and act a certain way with them. If we see a person that looks wealthy again, we tend to act and think a certain way.

Do people want to talk to you? Do you find that people come to you often for advice and counsel? Do you wonder why this is happening? If so you are one of the rare people that God has given the gift of discernment. You are able to see the real issue or problem before others. You are able to quickly realize if someone or something is good or evil. You are able to see through the fronts that most people put on. You can even tell if people are lying or telling the truth.

Most people go through life with a mask on, not letting people too close to their world. The rare person can see through that because they really see and really listen. It’s the rare person that patiently listens to a problem or situation, asks a few clarifying questions to draw out the real issues and helps a person feel better. It’s an even rarer person that can see the problem without even having to hear a word.

I know some of these rare people and I am amazed at their ability to discern and see what is. I have to keep working on it because I still sometimes see what I expect. Slow down and really listen to people. Observe them and become curious about what is going on with them. This is especially true in our close relationships with family and spouses. Listening and trying to understand and empathize is a great gift to the people around you. All of us can listen and see better. Take off your blinders and begin to see other people the way God sees them. Listen with compassion instead of judgment. That will raise your compassion level and cause you to see what is, not what is expected.

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Obligation or Opportunity

I am reading a small but powerful book called “You Don’t Need A Title To Be A Leader” by Mark Sanborn. That title says a lot, and I have always believed that, but I have not always lived it out. I grew up in the corporate world of banking and consulting and titles were very important. What level of Vice President you were gave you status and power. My goal was to become President and CEO. Great titles, right, but those titles didn’t make you a good leader, it just shows who is in charge.

Some of the best leaders I have seen were not the CEO or President. Great leaders don’t wait on a title to start leading. They take initiative and help get things done. They look for ways to make a difference and improve things. They make suggestions and give their opinion. They don’t back down when confronted, but take a stand for what they believe in. They persevere and are patient when they have to. They are humble and yet persistent. They get things done and work well with other people. They encourage team members and are willing to do the dirty work.

In Sanborn’s book he talks about opportunity versus obligation. This is what he writes “How do you live your life? As an obligation, or as an opportunity? Those who see life as an obligation want the task at hand to be done with as quickly as possible, with little regard to the outcome. The people who change the world around them-for themselves, their companies, communities, and families – rarely act from a sense of obligation. In fact, the people who act as leaders almost always act from a sense of incredible opportunity. They don’t interact with the world around them because they have to. They do so because they want to.”

So how are you viewing your circumstances, your job, your marriage, your church, your community, your school? Are these obligations or opportunities? When the phone rings do you respond to each call as an opportunity to impact someones life or an obligation to answer a question. The busier you get, the more pressure you are under, the more you tend to view things as an obligation and you miss many opportunities. As you feel the pressure and the stress your motivation goes down and your sense of obligation goes up.

To change your perspective maybe you need to simplify your life. Maybe you need to narrow your focus and re-evaluate your priorities. Viewing life as an opportunity to do your part in God’s bigger story will increase your motivation and drive. You see, God has a plan for your life and my life. Every day God gives us opportunities to make a difference, to be a miracle for someone, to be a light, to be an encouragement. Begin to look for opportunities to make a difference and pray for the courage to dive into God’s story.

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Personal Growth

My personal mission statement is “Growing in Faith, Character & Leadership” To me the most important part of that statement is the first word; “Growing”. Growing means that I am learning, changing, adapting, failing, planning, attempting new things, going, doing, thinking and focusing.

If I am not growing then I am declining. I want to grow in my personal faith, becoming more intimate with my Lord. I want to know Him and experience His presence and learn His ways.

I also want to grow in character, which usually happens through adversity. I want to be known for the character qualities others see in me, not the accomplishments. Qualities like dependability, flexibility, patience, responsible, determined, gentle, wisdom, discernment and courageous.

I want to grow in leadership as well. To become a better leader with the people that I have influence with. Leadership is about influence and I want my influence to grow. I want to be the leader that God created me to be. To step out and take chances and live life to the fullest.

So how do I grow? One way is I read a lot of books. I love to learn from other people. The more I read the more I grow in knowledge and understanding. I just finished three books I had been reading over the last couple of months. Each of those books challenged me in a different way. It fed my desire to become a better husband, employee, pastor, friend and Christ-follower.

Reading is very important in growing. Remember as a child how reading played a significant role in your development. In school I had to read, in college I had to read even more. Now I read because I want to. I read books on leadership, Christianity, discipleship, business and management. I also read fiction, usually stories about ordinary and extraordinary people. My favorite fiction writer is John Grisham, my favorite non fiction author is Erwin McManus.

As important as reading is in personal growth, so is going and doing what what I read. I need to put into practice what I am learning or it is wasted. If I read the Bible and don’t do what it says, all that reading is wasted. My challenge to you is to Grow. Don’t stay where you are at spiritually, emotionally or intellectually. Read, listen to Cd’s, watch DVDs whatever works for you, but don’t stop learning and growing. The more you grow the more God can use you.

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Lincoln Principles

I started out my career as a banker. First in auditing, then as a loan officer, then as a branch manager and commercial lender. In those early years I knew that learning and growing were important for me to make it to the top. That is when I began to read about leadership and management. I read a book about President Lincoln that I recently took off my shelf again (Lincoln on Leadership by Donald Phillips). As I scanned through the book I was struck by some of the incredible leadership principles Lincoln had. No wonder he was such a great leader. Most are simple yet profound. Here are some for you to ponder:

“Showing your compassionate and caring nature will aid you in forging successful relationships”

“A good leader avoids issuing orders, preferring to request, imply, or make suggestions”

“It would not hurt you much if, once in a while, you could manage to let things slip, unbeknownst-like”

Remember: Your organization will take on the personality of its top leader”

“Do the very best you know how-the very best you can-and keep doing so until the end”

“It’s not entirely safe to allow a misrepresentation to go uncontradicted”

“Remember that it is not best to swap horses when crossing streams”

“Seize the initiative and never relinquish it”

“If you are a good leader, when your work is done, your aim fulfilled, your people will say, We did it ourselves”

“Sometimes it is better to plough around obstacles rather than to waste time going through them”

“Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today”

“If you never try, you’ll never succeed”

“Loyalty is more often won through private conversation than in any other way”

“Remember, everyone likes a compliment”

“The probability that you may fall in the struggle ought not to deter you from the support of a cause you believe to be just”

“Remember, that the best leaders never stop learning”