The Gathering of Greater Springfield http://gatheringspringfield.com Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:37:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 CIX: It Was Miller’s Time http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/03/cix-it-was-millers-time-2/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/03/cix-it-was-millers-time-2/#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:37:08 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1073 Heading into each week, I think about what is relevant to me, what is relevant to you potentially, our community, our world and more.
 
Sometimes it’s easy to think of things to write about … other times, not so much.
 
I planned to write about Jim Tressel.  We’ve talked that to death most likely, though.
 
Then a topic pops up and becomes more than obvious.
 
Two years ago, I had the pleasure of writing about Rick Moore, and his life and battle with cancer over a period of months.
 
Today, it’s about, as I said Saturday on facebook, “Rand Miller: first-ballot ~ Hall of Faith”
 
In culture, we can talk about the “it” factor.  Someone who gets it.
Rand had an “it” factor, and he got it. (See a pic/link –
http://tinyurl.com/6lxwmbg).  Also, there is too much to say here, so I apologize this will be a longer one.
 
He simply lived an axiom that can be overused, “J - esus, O – thers, Y – ou (self).”
 
Rand Miller was a legacy-leaving man.  When it came to all aspects of family. Church.  Community. Business.
 
You name it, and he lived life well and blessed others.
 
I shared time with him on March 9 at a favorite of both of ours, Panera. We talked about our faith, finishing strong, the priorities of building into men, and much much more.
 
Ironically, my pastor, Grant Edwards, joined us for about 25 minutes. I remember Grant very intentional asking Rand about his health.  Rand talked about his heart (where he had some issues over the years) and how things were going pretty well.
 
Grant didn’t ask flippantly, and Rand didn’t respond flippantly.
That was the last we’d see of Rand.
 
I was excited leaving Panera that morning, because Rand had agreed, with another older businessman that same morning, to help us initiate a mentoring program to professional men of all ages.  We were excited about engaging between the generations.
 
That was a big win for me, and the Gathering.
 
Ironically, I heard this morning at a Locker Room, that Rand had often said he’d love to leave here and enter eternal life, while playing golf.
 
He and his wife, Sheryl, last activity together was a round of golf in Tennessee.
 
He met a group of men to study God’s word and apply the scriptures each Tuesday at 6 a.m. at Bob Evan’s.
 
His daughters, Jennie and Julie, were as different as night and day, but both had Rand in them.
 
Julie is an encourager and seems like your biggest cheerleader whenever you see her.
 
Jennie fills a room, and once you’ve met Jennie, you never forget her. She has never met a stranger.
 
In both cases, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
 
His grandson, Randon (who I have never met, but heard plenty about), spoke at my son’s Upwards basketball awards a couple of years back, and is known for his intelligence, athletic ability and great faith.
 
Once again, the apple doesn’t fall from the tree.
 
After a successful insurance career, Rand spent the last few years of Logo’s (Christian bookstore) existence, engaging customers like few I’ve ever seen at a bookstore.
 
He treated that job like his only job. He was knowledgeable,
courtesy, and greatly desired to leave his customers satisfied and being grateful for each shopping experience.
 
I know this weekend, at least one time in heaven, these words were uttered.
 
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
 
~~~
 
]]> http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/03/cix-it-was-millers-time-2/feed/ 1 CVIII: Pride In A Sacrificial Buckeye ~ 3/7/11 http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/03/cviii-a-sacrificial-buckeye-to-be-proud-of-3711/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/03/cviii-a-sacrificial-buckeye-to-be-proud-of-3711/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:17:56 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1066 “Great leaders make great sacrifices.”

That John Maxwell quote has resonated with me significantly lately.

Example A.

Five other Springfield men, my dad and I went to the Dominican Republic last week to plan, strategize with Team Gathering from around the states and see the work of www.missionemanuel.org (an outreach under our umbrella).

We met Anna on Friday and she serves as the point person of the health clinic at Mission Emanuel. She graduated from OSU and has a master’s in administration.

Her heart, compassion and leadership was easily visible. Any businessman I know in our region would hire her in a heartbeat for multiple positions I would guess.

She is an excellent communicator, highly educated, and has a heart of gold. As one team member said, “She’d make $80k back home.”

Her total budget in the DR, counting travel, expenses and salary is a whopping $20k.

A major takeaway from the trip for me was the clear delineation of leadership there compared to here.  The leaders were obvious. Positions and titles weren’t as important as simply following with great respect.

We look for reasons to not follow, obey and to rebel against leadership on all levels typically. In a city of 3.5 million, I’m sure Santo Domingo has its leadership issues, I just know in my five days with our sister ministry, I didn’t see it.

Whether it was John, Javier, Immanuel, Anna, Jack, leadership served, people followed, and lives were changed and are changing.

I can speak on this, my life was changed.

A quick experiment.  This week’s MMM will be sent to roughly 2500. If each person sent a check of $10 to (address below), we could fulfill her annual budget. That’s right, pretty simple.

The Gathering/USA / c/o Anna Bianco / 1220 E. Concord Street / Orlando, FL 32803

We’ll start the charge with $250.

There’s a price for superior leadership. I saw great sacrifice in the DR. And Anna is a excellent, count-the-cost leader, one any Ohioan could be proud of, and then some.

  • Comedian Jeff Allen will be performing @ http://tinyurl.com/5wj7vm4 on 3/12/11 (contact Jessica Dewey, jdewey@ecaoh.com or 390-3777,  for more information)
  • Next FRI, 3/18/11, The Gathering & Fellowship will do a Hoops Hysteria, w/ 20-foot screen, ping pong at 2301 Valley Loop Road, from 12-5. Bring a few bucks to chip in for food/beverages! 
  • Other coming events include http://tinyurl.com/6elsqdc / http://tinyurl.com/6a7gtnt / http://tinyurl.com/4nwcule
  • SAVE THE DATE: US Senate Chaplain Barry Black will be here for our 4th Annual Outreach Event (a dinner, not a breakfast) @ www.ecaoh.com on SAT, 5/7/11 ~ Tables of 8 are selling for $600!

    • ]]>     http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/03/cviii-a-sacrificial-buckeye-to-be-proud-of-3711/feed/ 1     CVII: At Any Age, His Hand Always Reaches http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cvii-at-any-age-his-hand-always-reaches/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cvii-at-any-age-his-hand-always-reaches/#comments Sun, 20 Feb 2011 20:26:08 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1061 As the old line goes, God is never late, but He’s always right on time.
     
    For Sonny Franzese, it took all of 94 years of living - and hard living at that – to finally get to the end of the line!
     
    Read my friend, Michael Franzese’s (spoke at the 3rd The Gathering of Greater Springfield’s Outreach breakfast <9/21/10> facebook post around 1 p.m. Wednesday:
     
    “GREAT NEWS! Thanks to the loving effort of chaplain Miriam from Cardone Industries in PA, who I had the pleasure of sharing the gospel with 2 weeks ago, my dad, Sonny Franzese, has accepted Jesus into his heart. Thousands of you have been praying for him. THANK YOU! At 94, he still needs prayer to complete God’s work in his life. Team Sonny, GO FOR IT!”
     
    God’s timing = perfect!
     
    We think God is far from faithful sometimes with timing, His plans, and more. If I know anything, I know this: His ways and thoughts are higher than mine, and His timetable is perfect.
     
    He wants us to trust Him and wait on Him without getting ahead of Him.
     
    • We microwave … He simmers!
    • We rush through the crowd … He gazes and sees and meets needs that others miss.
    • We cram … He simplifies.
    • We move … He can not be moved.
    • We (often) labor in vain … His work always produces fruit.
     
    Michael’s dad played his game, by his rules and in the end it got him life behind bars and an unfulfilled life.
     
    But while being a prisoner for life here on earth, He now will be freer than ever before, thanks to many prayers and that PA chaplain.
     
    We are never too far away, never too far gone, never out of the game, His hand will always reach down!

      

     

    ]]>     http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cvii-at-any-age-his-hand-always-reaches/feed/ 0     CVI: A “Leah” Bit About My Valentine! http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cvi-a-leah-bit-about-my-valentine/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cvi-a-leah-bit-about-my-valentine/#comments Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:48:18 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1056 Sure we all say we have the best Valentine, but…. (see photos)

    Can you really argue? 

    I love my wife, Kara, of almost 10 years and couldn’t ask for more.  But this and every Valentine’s we get to celebrate much “more” with our own precious Valentine, Leah, as she turns two.

    I have heard many a men at concerts, shows and in other public speaking venues, talk about men being wrapped around their little girl’s finger.

    I was very content with three boys, after our last boy, Alex, was born. As Edwin McCain would sing, “How could I ask for more.”

    Three was it, I thought, as expectations were exceeded.  But God knew better, He knew there was more joy to be had for Team Pinkleton.

    Leah has brought just that.  From greeting me each night before dinner with “HI Daaaadddeeeeee!” to her tangled hair to raising her right hand in worship to dancing and singing around the house to bossing her brothers around to sounding as if she’s in mid-sentence when we open her bedroom door each morning to … this list just goes on.

    I didn’t think it could get better than our three boys. But that is my ways and my thinking.  God certainly has higher and loftier ways and thoughts.

    Leah proves that over and over. I love writing a letter to each of my family members on their birthday and for those that have a spiritual birthday I do the same.

    I hope you enjoy your holiday today every bit as much as I enjoy mine … just a wee-”Leah” bit!! 

  • Please pray – Myself & 7 others are joining our national staff & a few key leaders on a trip to the DR (2/24-28) – http://missionemanuel.org/
  • Comedian Jeff Allen will be performing @   on 3/12/11 (contact Jessica Dewey, jdewey@ecaoh.com or 390-3777,  for more information)http://tinyurl.com/5wj7vm4
  • Other coming events include http://tinyurl.com/4lsvp6l / http://tinyurl.com/6elsqdc / http://tinyurl.com/6a7gtnt / http://tinyurl.com/4nwcule
  • SAVE THE DATE: US Senate Chaplain Barry Black will be here for our 4th Annual Outreach Event (a dinner, not a breakfast) @ www.ecaoh.com on SAT, 5/7/11!
    • ]]>     http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cvi-a-leah-bit-about-my-valentine/feed/ 0     CV: Why I LOVE the Aaron Rodgers win!! http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cv-why-i-love-the-aaron-rodgers-win/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cv-why-i-love-the-aaron-rodgers-win/#comments Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:22:00 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1051 How do I love THE Aaron Rodgers story? Let me count the ways.

    OK, I overstated that a bit, but if you read last week, I do love stories, and this one is fantastic.

    He waited his turn.  He overcame much adversity (see Brett Favre). He followed a legend (very few examples of that ever go well). His team gets the major injury bug during the season and in the biggest game of the year.

    And in this day and age, do you know what he didn’t do?  Cry about it. Moan and groan. Draw attention to himself. He was a team player. He led by example. He let his play do the talking (and yes, I love the championship belt gimmick!).

    I loved his composure every time he was shown on the sidelines in Dallas and every time I saw the Packers. Do you know what I loved most? He grabbed his opportunity. He made the most of it. He has exactly the number of championships as #4. Brett one, Aaron one.

    An opportunity presented itself, and a champion was crowned.

    Most everyone thought the Packers and Ted Thompson were crazy for saying “See you, Brett, it’s Aaron’s turn.” I did. You probably did.

    The Packers represent everything good about sports. The fans own the team in a heartbeat of America, blue-collar, small town (especially by NFL standards). They pride themselves on cheese. The NFL championship trophy is called, what else, the Lombardi trophy. He knew a little something about Green Bay.

    If you had no dog in the fight, how can you cheer against the Pack? I’d say the same about Rodgers.

    I love when people overcome. Overcoming is step one, becoming a champ is a bigger step. Sure, many of us face bigger things in life than media scrutiny, following a legend, while making millions to play a child’s game as a career.

    That’s just it. You and I struggle. Maybe you think you are watching life pass by, as you are on the sidelines. You have maybe been dealt some blows, that hit hard, more impacting in life than a regular-season football game or a Super Bowl.

    But do you know what? You have opportunities all the time, that come in challenging, tragic, maybe even ideal forms. What you do with it, will determine if you are a champion! Once achieved, I bet you’ll be able to count the ways!

    • SEE THE ATTACHED DOCUMENT: Dine @ TGI Friday’s (kids eat free!) tomorrow, TUES 2/8/11, & the Gathering gets 20% kickback. You win, and the Gathering wins! Print and take in to eat!
    • Comedian Jeff Allen will be performing @ www.ecaoh.com on 3/12/11 (contact Jessica Dewey, jdewey@ecaoh.com or 390-3777,  for more information)
    • The last week left in our DESIRES Lunch Series - http://tinyurl.com/2fa77ap - is FRI guys.  We are averaging 40/week. Please RSVP by WED afternoon! Another series will be coming this summer!
    • Chamber annual meeting is 2/16/11 (a must-attend event & then some) – http://tinyurl.com/4lsvp6l!!
    • SAVE THE DATE: US Senate Chaplain Barry Black will be here for our 4th Annual Outreach Event (a dinner, not a breakfast) @ www.ecaoh.com on SAT, 5/7/11!
    ]]>     http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/02/cv-why-i-love-the-aaron-rodgers-win/feed/ 0     CIV: What’s Your Story? http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/01/civ-whats-your-story/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/01/civ-whats-your-story/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:27:37 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1040  
    An expression I used a lot, two-plus decades ago, was “What’s your story?”
      
    It wasn’t typical, so some people looked at me befuddled.  What does that mean?
     
    How are you? What’s going on? What’s new? Etc.
     
    I still like that expression, because it’s open to interpretation when responding and everyone has a story.
     
    Yes, we all do.
     
    This is one of the many reasons I love bringing in the Barry Blacks (coming to ECA, 5/7/11), Todd Blackledges, Clay Crosses, Clark Kelloggs, Michael Franzeses, and partner with Cedarville University to hear experiences from the Will Schencks, Dan Cathys, Mac McQuistons. They have a story that will impact you.
     
    Dan Cathy’s company Chick-Fil-A just put out a great 2.5 minute video that capsulizes this well: http://tinyurl.com/29jxgwh (a must watch!)
     
    I read a great quote about our life change/growth in Christ recently.  
     
    “Discipleship is when our story meets God’s story & becomes more like His!”
     
    Some men I have the pleasure to work with have stories too.
     
    • One business owner recently had some healing from his parent’s suicide two decades past, that he had suppressed.
    • Another businessman has had significant victory over his battle with pornography as he and his dad work through some forgiveness issues.
    • Another public figure has been standing on God’s promises and victory as he feels beat up over the last several years of his work life.
     
    As these tidbits of a story has been shared, men rally to one another, encourage, pray, lift one another up, and we are engaged in the process of becoming whole.
     
    Guess what? Becoming whole will only happen as the last page of the story is turned. Let your whole book be read and absorbed, there is no turning to the last page.
    • Congressman Jim Jordan will be speaking @ www.ecaoh.com this THU & comedian Jeff Allen will be performing there on 3/12/11 (contact Jessica Dewey, jdewey@ecaoh.com or 390-3777,  for more information)
    • 2 weeks left in our DESIRES Lunch Series - http://tinyurl.com/2fa77ap - guys.  We are averaging 40/week. Please RSVP by WED afternoon!
    • SAVE THE DATE: US Senate Chaplain Barry Black will be here for our 4th Annual Outreach Event (a dinner, not a breakfast) @ www.ecaoh.com on SAT, 5/7/11!
    ]]>     http://gatheringspringfield.com/2011/01/civ-whats-your-story/feed/ 0     CIII: Gathering Data, Gathering Numbers http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/12/ciii-gathering-data-gathering-numbers/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/12/ciii-gathering-data-gathering-numbers/#comments Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:03:06 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1020
    Not sure about you, but as a man I get asked often about my job. 
     
    “So what do you do?” 
    “Tell me about the Gathering.”
    “What is this Gathering thing all about?”
     
    I get this more in non-profit world than I ever did as a sports writer, banker or college recruiter.
     
    So, let me do a little “by the numbers” for you, which is good to share at this time of the year, as many folks think about year-end giving to non-profits. (Sure, we’ll call that a hint!) Math was my favorite subject in school!
     
    The Gathering of Greater Springfield ~ By The Numbers
     
    • 1 ~ staff person
    • 2 ~ college presidents involved
    • 3 ~ local school superintendents involved
    • 4 ~ local Chamber staff members are key to our success(es)
    • 7 ~ high-quality, impactful national speakers (Barry Black <coming 5/7/11>Todd Blackledge, Clay Crosse, Michael Franzese, Clark Kellogg, Andre Thornton, and John Tolson)
    • 10 ~ great board members
    • 11 ~ Communities/cities, including South Africa, that have a Gathering presence nationally - www.thegathering.org
    • 12 ~ Locker Room groups currently meeting
    • 16 ~ partner churches (currently)
    • 35 ~ months since our inception
    • 70 ~ involved in bi-weekly (typically) Locker Room groups (average)
    • 270 ~ people attended 3rd outreach breakfast with Michael Franzese (increasing 40 per, since first year)
    • 460+ ~ attended first 2 Unleashed men’s conferences
    • 30,826 ~ total men in Springfield to be reached (and certainly beyond, considering Clark County, and niches in Beavercreek, Urbana, Xenia)
    • 62,844 ~ population of Springfield, Ohio
    • $90,000 ~ budget (roughly)
    • 736,673 ~ population of average Gathering city (roughly)
     
    Keep in mind, this work can not be done alone.  I certainly am limited. 
     
    We need great people, great partnerships, and God’s favor, which I think we have certainly seen.
     
    Contact me to set up an appointment with me or with myself and a board member to talk more about the Gathering and how to get involved.
    If you’d like to partner, I’m easily reachable and (since that time of year), you can partner and invest easily (online, through automatic withdrawal, good ol’ US mail): 

     

    The Gathering (of Greater Springfield)
    PO Box 2642
    Springfield, OH  45501

       
    Several great events coming up, SAVE THE DATES now:

     
    Also, we are doing a 4-week lunch series (DESIRES) Jan. 21, 28, Feb. 4, & 11 @ the downtown Huntington Bank (11:45-1).  Cost is $25 for the series, if pay before Jan. 5 or $30 after.  Speakers include Bill Brown, Wayne Essex, Mike McDorman, Jeff Williams and myself. 
    ]]>     http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/12/ciii-gathering-data-gathering-numbers/feed/ 0     CII: Gathering Circles: New, Diverse & Strong http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/cii-gathering-circles-new-diverse-strong/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/cii-gathering-circles-new-diverse-strong/#comments Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:13:08 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1018 One of my favorite things of my work is the newness and diversity within our Gathering circles.

    Locker Rooms rarely have more than two people tied to a similar church.  We have many different professional men in our groups, from lawyers to educators to accountants to small business owners and much more.

    We bring in a pastor or ministry leader to each board meeting to hear them share about themselves, their work and any tie to the Gathering.  We have had a priest, Vineyard pastor, Presbyterian pastor, Christian school superintendent and a connector with a local employment ministry.

    Father Caylor (St. Joseph-St. Raphael) shared his heart with us this past Friday.  A board member of ours is good friends, dating back to growing up in the same neighborhood.  Today, they partner on Sunday mornings and beyond.

    He spoke of the need for a strong “domestic church.” I had never heard that term before.

    Let me back up.  My wife grew up Catholic, and her whole lineage of Fabrys, Kellys and Tamburros are Catholic, as far as we know.  I have embraced learning more about the Catholic church, due to that.  I saw Pope John Paul II speak when I was 12 years old.  I have read some about the lives of popes over the years.

    One of my favorite times each year is an annual stay at The Abbey of Gethsemani (www.monks.org). Yes, for a silent retreat – I can do that.

    Back to the “domestic church.” Father Caylor challenged us to encourage men as the spiritual leaders in the home.  His heart’s desire is to see husbands and wives have mutual and individual commitment for growth.

    When we asked how we can serve him, Father Caylor simply replied, “Help my men!”

    Profound.

    He also spoke unrelated to the home, that self-entitlement is killing relationships. Sadly, it can happen in the home, too.

    Thanks Father Caylor for highlighting the blessing we have of strength, diversity and freshness in relationships and of community leaders. Excited for more and next steps.

    ]]>     http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/cii-gathering-circles-new-diverse-strong/feed/ 0     CI: Life Isn’t Politics ~ 11/8/10 http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/ci-life-isnt-politics-11810/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/ci-life-isnt-politics-11810/#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:02:28 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/?p=1015  
    After a wild football weekend and seeing a room in our house be completed after much labor, my head was spinning.
    I also struggled much last with the canceling of my Dominican Republic trip, and thought no one wants to hear my moaning, groaning and have flamed-out bad attitude spew any ash.
    Certainly, politics and voting were on most people’s minds last week.  I stumbled across an interesting read that has much value and finds much middle ground.
    This was actually written prior to last Tuesday’s election. Wonder if more true now or then.  – JP
     
     
    Life Isn’t Politics (www.mansfieldgroup.com), 10/24/10
     
     
    I have just finished a week in Washington DC as I write this and I conclude my time disturbed by a shift that has happened in our national life. It is not the shift leftward that conservatives decry or the trend toward secularism that people of faith bemoan. I share these concerns but neither of these are the shift I have seen starkly this week. Instead, I am concerned about the shift of politics to the center of our lives.
     
    I am a libertarian as far as my faith will allow and I have long believed that government and politics were never intended to be central to American life. Instead, government and politics were designed to protect those pursuits which make for the essential matters of life—work and community, family and faith, culture and, yes, the fun and the joy that should crown each passing day. I have often quoted the words of G. K. Chesterton, who said, “The greatest political storm flutters only a fringe of humanity.” A favorite quote, too, was from Governor Morris, one of my heroes among the founding fathers, who wrote, “The Constitution is not an instrument for government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government—lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”
     
    What should be central, then, is this broader matter of human “lives and interests.” Politics and government should be about protecting these. Yet our heated political wars, politicized media and thus our politicized citizenry have moved politics to the center of our society. Now, politics divides church members, separates friends, makes family dinners sound like the floor of Congress and even comes between husbands and wives.
     
    If we allow this, though, then we have already lost the most important battle. If politics is central to all things, then this is simply another way of saying the state is central to all things. And when the state is central to all things, we are already socialists. We have already surrendered the beauty and thrill of life and replaced them with politics as life. This is a sin of both the political right and left today.
     
    What grieves me is what politics as national obsession is doing to my country, and more importantly to my countrymen. When politics is central to a culture, it makes men hollow and vain. They become hungry for political power but they often seek it forgetting what politics is meant to be about—the leadership of a government that protects free citizens as they go about their business. Ignorant of their true purpose, they seek brute power at the costs of their souls—through the surrender of love and art, friendship and creativity, inspiration and the ideals that would make them men of nobility. Instead, they become what C. S. Lewis called “men without chests,” men with appetite and drive and intellect and yet without faith and character. They fight great political battles for the controls of state but they do not have any greater purpose for winning control but to exercise still more power. And so life becomes politics, but the meaningful pursuits of a free people must yield to make it so. We become a dull, politicized people led by preening power addicts who have no higher purpose for power than power itself. And beauty flees.
     
    To effect a change, we do not need an act of Congress or a presidential decree. We simply need to push back. Refuse the constriction of politics. Live to the full and insist that politics be about protecting us as we do. Perhaps we should start by listening to some wisdom from Patrick Henry, a man who was concerned about this trend long ago: “Liberty necessitates the diminutization of political ambition and concern. Liberty necessitates concentration on other matters than mere civil governance. Rather, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, freemen must think on these things.”
     
    Several great events coming up, SAVE THE DATES now:
    Social media (over 1/2 day) seminar (12/14 – 8:30 – 2) in Bellefontaine by Urbana’s own, Tiffany Eckhardt – http://tinyurl.com/2vuyq4n – if needing help or wanting to grow this aspect of your brand, this is can’t miss!

     

     
     
     
    ]]>     http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/ci-life-isnt-politics-11810/feed/ 0     C: Pumped about Discipleship http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/c-pumped-about-discipleship/ http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/c-pumped-about-discipleship/#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:54:06 +0000 jpinkleton http://gatheringspringfield.com/2010/11/c-pumped-about-discipleship/ This past week reminded me why I love discipleship and why I hope it is my DNA.

    First, what is discipleship?

    I believe it is following hard after Jesus and influencing others to do the same, based on living your own life and being intentional in leading others.

    Bob Schuemann of the Palm Beach Gathering visited Springfield for a day-plus.  I believe in his community, Bob likely lives this out as well as anyone I know. He wants to “grow men.” Nothing gets him off task. His funnel for decision-making and time management is based on that sole (he used to sell shoes ironically enough) purpose.

    My pastor, Grant Edwards, talked about this lifelong-process in his sermon. He shared a disciple is a student, follower, lives the “verb” (disciple) and not just the “noun,” and sees Jesus.

    I want that and more of it daily. This is the journey.

    I was able to see a guy I have invested in over the past two years, at a concert, and was blessed at how he has grown and gives his life away.  His marriage is thriving after being on the rocks (early on) because He wants to be God’s man.

    My board president and his increasing wisdom now gives back life and encouragement to me.  We met and shared our lives last week and have been communicating regularly about another new friend. Our new friend and young follower of Christ is struggling with 32 years of not following Christ and the pain, brokenness and hurt therein.

    Discipleship is …

    • a process
    • for life
    • the only real opportunity for real change for you
    • the only way to make a difference in the life of another
    • joy beyond compare
    • perfected by Him in the end
    • worth your whole life

    Why?  Because He gave His. For you. For others. Join Him today.

     
    • PLEASE PRAY for a group of us locally heading to the DR this week (our national Gathering staff, my dad, and 6 local guys). Will be glad to send more specific prayer requests, etc., if you email me back!
    • Men, we have some new Locker Rooms starting in coming weeks, so please contact me, if you have interest. I am reading a book, that speaks of one of two most transforming things in a man’s life is being with other men, meeting and sharing life consistently.
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