Rising Leader, New– Song for August. Listen => Rise Up (on planet-healing leadership) On October 14, 1962, Major Richard Hayser, flying a high-altitude mission over western Cuba, photographed an SS-4 ballistic missile battery being assembled on the ground. With Cuba just 90 miles from Florida, a functioning missile battery would give the Soviets the capability to execute a lightning-fast nuclear strike…

Rising Leader, Song for July. Listen => America Ever New (on American renewal) Truth is the fifth of the five pillars that undergird American democracy. We can’t sustain the other four (individual liberty, equal vote, equal justice and equal opportunity) without it. Its importance to democracy is profound in no small part because it checks the ambitions of the powerful. Truth…

Rising Leader, Song for July. Listen => America Ever New (on American renewal) Equal opportunity is one of the five bedrock ideals in American democracy, because opportunity bequeaths hope. Hope binds us together. Lack of opportunity kills hope, which undercuts shared allegiance. Can we expect Americans who have lost all faith in the future to remain faithful to our flag? Whenever…

Rising Leader, Song for July. Listen => America Ever New (on American renewal) What do Rwanda, Turkmenistan, El Salvador and Cuba have in common? They all make the “top 5” list in their prison incarceration rates. But none can beat us– the United States. We’re #1. Think about it. At this very moment, over 2 million people are incarcerated in our…

Rising Leader, Song for July. Listen => America Ever New (on American renewal) “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God! I know not what course others will take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” — Patrick Henry “Those who deny…

Rising Leader, New– Song for July. Listen => America Ever New (on American renewal) “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility– I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any…

Rising Leader, Song for July 4th: America Ever New (It’s a “wow”. Check it out.) We have all witnessed the dark power of leadership ugliness: its victims, its trail of tears, its devastation. We have seen how one world leader can single-handedly sabotage a nation’s sovereignty and freedom, terrorize the…

Rising Leader, Song for June. Listen => See Joy, Be Joy (on finding joy in all circumstances) Behold the beauty. Do you see it? As leaders, our worldviews shape our decisions. Once our worldviews widen to acknowledge the beauty all around us– in people, in nature and in ourselves– we are changed. We radiate hope. We discover a gentleness of spirit. …

Rising Leader, Song for June. Listen => See Joy, Be Joy (on finding joy in all circumstances) Please allow me to share today’s message via an extended metaphor. As I’ve emphasized these past few weeks, to lead with goodness, you must become your true self. But to become your true self requires that you welcome God into the castle of your soul. Yes, our souls…