Lean Downhill

M.Angel Herrero  via Creative Commons

“I was tense, apprehensive. My basic problem was this: I couldn’t get myself to commit, to lean into it. You have to lean forward; you have to lean down slope. If you fight that, you end up constantly battling gravity and balance and the downward pull of things. The good riders just go for it – they commit, they lean into, and off they go. Then comes the joy.” – … Continue reading

Why You Need to Pick Yourself

Photo by Meer - Creative Commons

   I remember many times on the Elementary School playground hoping I would be found worthy to be picked by the popular kids’ team. Even as adults we often wander around looking for permission.  We may feel as though we lack the confidence and ability to bring our dreams to life.  As an introvert (I should not let this be my confession). I often battle lack of confidence and fear … Continue reading

ORA Provides Cutting-Edge Technology For The New Way to Pray

oracollage 2

Introducing “ORA” a disruptive technology to promote the oldest form of recognized religious expression in the Christian and Jewish faiths–prayer. The ORA system creates a personal mobile experience for the individual and an enterprise-quality community management platform for any organization to invite, connect, share, respond and interact with one another in intercessory prayer.  “That’s a lot of words to describe it, but ORA’s technology gives us the ability to do … Continue reading

David’s 400 Men A Picture of the Church

Photo Courtesy Andrew Malone - Creative Commons

In addition every man who was desperate, in debt, or disconnected rallied around [David], and he became their leader. About 400 men were with him. – 1 Samuel 22:2 David had been anointed to be king and he had killed a giant. He had won great battles and the people chanted, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.“  But here David is hiding in a cave from … Continue reading

Hello, are you here?

Photo by Länsmuseet Gävleborg' - Creative Commons

“There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who can do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here. We can…give all our attention to the opportunity before us.” – Mark Van Doren quoted in, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen   We live in a very hectic world these days. … Continue reading

Leadership Lessons from a 300 Year Old Company

Make Haste Slowly

Several months ago I ran across the short films produced by Kikkoman (The makers of soy sauce). Of course I do enjoy soy sauce, but I it is not something I really think about when looking for leadership insight; however, I was amazed by the Kikkoman family creed. They have developed this creed over their 300 + year history.    They begin with an old Japanese axiom:  “Make Haste Slowly.” It … Continue reading

Utter Relief of Holiness a Book Review

Utter Relief

 I recently wrote a book review of, The Utter Relief of Holiness: How God’s Goodness Frees Us from Everything that Plagues Us, by John Eldredge for my Denomination (Foursquare). Most books on the topic of holiness come across as very academic; however, John Eldredge’s newest release  brings understandable insight to the topic. You can read the full review by clicking Here   PS. Don’t miss out. Sign up for free updates. … Continue reading

A New Open Door for the Stallings Family

Photo courtesy Aaron Knox Creative Commons

 Sometimes I wish God would give m a little more insight into what he was doing. My wife Janice and I are walking through a new open door.  We are excited and a bit nervous, because we can’t see very far down the hall. But here we go. At the end of 2011 Janice and I closed our church plant.  It was clearly not an easy decision, and we still … Continue reading

Created and Called to Live in Community

Photo Courtesy Jeff Kubina Creative Commons

As followers of Jesus we are never called to live alone in a vacuum.  From the very beginning God created man and woman to create a family that would live in relationship with Him. God’s desire all along has been to have a community that He could fellowship with.      Back in October I wrote a book review of Community Win’s by Bryan Allain.  Since I have been making my … Continue reading