Before I knew what coaching was, this is what I thought coaching was: you paid a coach to tell you how great you were and how everything would work out, if you just believed in yourself.

I thought a coach's job was to put a plastic sheen on life while quoting optimistic one-liners embroidered on throw pillows. I thought a coach was your private motivational speaker.

I was wrong. Coaching is not plastic or safe. Instead, coaching explores the four questions. Explore them at your own risk.

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I was recommended a jolly, little book called Rejoicing in Christ, written by Michael Reeves. I have to tell you—there are passages that cause my heart to pound faster, like there’s a little drummer boy inside me, and I have to stop and take a breath.

Reeves has hit upon a nerve, a deep place in which deep calls out to deep. In this blog post, I want to share a passage of his and make some critical observations about the danger in spiritual growth.

I have read this passage seven...

It was my wife in our early days of marriage who set the record straight—I was wrong about gas stations. Up until that time, I thought the big numbers posted on gas pumps were the year the oil was collected. And so “93” meant it was from the year 1993.

This made sense because the “freshest” gasoline was also the most expensive—gas from the year 1993 was more expensive than gas from 1987. Now that's reasonable! But this ran counter to how wine worked because...

The first time I observed a coaching session, it felt like peeking into someone’s bedroom. It seemed private and intimate, not my business. At the same time, it felt exhilarating to observe this person’s discovery and watch the insight unfold. Part of me wanted to look away, part wanted to look further; it was both sacred and beautiful.

When I enrolled at Professional Christian Coaching Institute (PCCI), I didn’t really know what coaching was. If I had to describe what...

Dec. 30, 2019

On Christmas Day, I went to the emergency room with pain in my left chest and trouble breathing. After a series of scans and blood tests, the doctors concluded I had a blood clot in my left lung. Officially it's called a pulmonary embolism.

"So I won't be going home tonight?" I asked.

The doctor's serious, I-know-more-than-you look on his face answered the question.

Apparently a pulmonary embolism is serious. Each year 60,0000 - 100,000 people die from it and it calls for...

Although spiritual gifts are vital to the health of Christ’s Body on earth, a survey revealed that the majority of respondents (63%) didn’t have a biblical understanding and/or a practical application of spiritual gifts.

This is troubling because not only are spiritual gifts part of God’s strategy to build the Church, but they’re also central to experiencing joy as a Christian. According to Pastor Ray Stedman, “The value of your life as a Christian will be...

A few months ago, I received an email from a young man who was desperate. Suffering from two chronic injuries, he was forced to lay on his back all day long. He felt isolated and hopeless, and asked if I would seek God for a word for him. He wasn’t sure he was hearing from God clearly.

So I agreed but went a step further. I took some guys to his house to pray with him. Since then, he’s become a good friend, and although we’ve continued to pray for healing, he hasn’t...

Do you know the difference between coaching and mentoring? A study by the International Coach Federation suggests you may not. In the 2017 Global Consumer Awareness Study, respondents were asked to select the definition of coaching among other modalities such as mentoring, consulting, training, and counseling (yes, they’re all different).

Of 27,000 respondents, 30% correctly defined coaching, but 70% did not. According to the study:

“This shows that, while many consumers have a...

Three years ago I was searching for more fulfillment at work. I had been in sales and marketing for 13 years, and though the company was successful, something was missing. I felt if I kept doing the same thing for much longer, I would look back with regret.

One of the questions I asked was, “What am I wired to do?” You can get an idea of what you were made for when you understand how you were made—purpose informs design.

I turned to CliftonStrengths. I had taken the...

As I shared in "Giving Employees A Home," only “6 in 10 U.S. employees strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work,” which drives disengagement in the American workforce (Gallup). Since clear expectations are critical for employees, our company has established a unique role and outcome statement for each position.

Everyone from the CEO to the newest employee can access each other’s role and outcome statements. Doing this was a big effort between employees...