Hold on…this is not about Donald Trump’s signature line from Celebrity Apprentice. Nope, it’s the line God prompted me to use on myself when I had the misguided inclination to be the boss of my life and not fully trust him.    On that day, God made it crystal clear that he wanted my heart—all of it—so he could take control of my today…my tomorrow…my eternal destiny.    I was flooded...

Whew! It’s over. Thank God that storm has passed.    Have you ever felt like that after going through one of life’s trials? I have. More times than I’d like to admit. The good news for me is that God has revealed his perspective and the truth that spiritual growth after a test of faith is not automatic. In fact, God doesn’t want us to treat our trials in life like getting past an accident...

Being content in this materialistic, got-to-have-it-now world is easier said than done, right?    I used to think about contentment in terms of “giving thing up.” But God has shown me that contentment is much more than giving up the drive for material and financial success.    Contentment is really a character issue.    God asks us if we can resist the temptation for...

I wanted the perfect career, perfect marriage, perfect family, perfect house, perfect car, perfect church, perfect hobbies, perfect attitude…the perfect life. And I was willing to do whatever it took to make all of that happen. You know, “try hard…you can do it, Mark.”    So much for MY plan.    Of course perfection is elusive because it doesn’t exist—no matter how hard we...

Worshiping the Activity Management Game    Living an “Activity Management” lifestyle is dangerous.  Even with the best calibration, a wheel spinning too fast will eventually blow out. I know this to be true because it is an important part of my life story and the way God taught me a very important lesson. That’s what I want to share with you here.    As a corporate CEO in...

It wasn’t until my knees buckled under my own power that I was ready to receive God as the true and one Lord of my life. On that day my natural self was vanquished with its last breath and I was ready to “play second fiddle.”    When bad things happen in life, we need to see them as necessary trials that God uses to glorify himself and bring us closer to him. Through spiritual discipline...

Where do you go when the storms of life hit?    Do you escape to a “warm and safe” bunker?    Do you deny reality and hope the storm passes?    Or do you go on a hunt for any diversion you can find—even if it’s unhealthy?    If you answered yes to any of those questions, welcome to my club because I’ve tried them all!    Thankfully I’ve learned to...

I endured much pain (self-inflicted) earlier in my life because I did not know about God’s “Even if” and “Even Though” promises. My ability to be strong through the adversity of life back then was pathetically weak. I can see now that it was because I had done nothing to develop a relationship with Christ to learn what he would have me think and do when the going got tough.    That meant...

Of course they are!    The problem is that we have unwittingly created a wall between pastors and lay leaders that is sometimes defined by the use of “theological bonafides.” What can be an impenetrable barrier keeps a believer’s calling and suitability to serve at bay.    Throughout my 20 years as a Christian leader and Marketplace CEO, I repeatedly heard about believers from...

“MR. GORBACHEV, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!”    Ronald Reagan in West Berlin, Germany, 1987.    Even though the concrete wall between East and West Berlin turned to dust nearly 30 years ago, it still offers a powerful metaphor for this story about a figurative wall that exists between the church and Christians working in the marketplace.    What divides the two “sides” in my...