Pat Gilbert preceded me as Director of Information Systems at Willow Creek Community Church. I am extremely thankful for the opportunities that she gave me to grow as a leader. I do not believe that I would have had the opportunity to lead and manage the Information Technology ministry at Willow Creek if it were not for her willingness to take risks on my growth. I know that my energy and propensity toward action can be a handful to manage. However, Pat’s experience, wisdom and patience with me over the years that she lead and mentored me has had a profound and positive impact on my character as a leader, as a professional and as a follower of Christ. Furthermore, I don’t think that I have appropriately expressed my gratitude to her for her investment in me…that is…until today. This Post is dedicated to you, Pat Gilbert. Thanks for taking chances on me. Read more...
February 1, 2011 – 9:10 am
From the day he lead me to Christ during a weekend church service to the day I accepted a new calling to step out in faith and leave Willow Creek staff, his influence on me as a pastor, leader, mentor and friend has played a major roll in my development as a follower of Christ and as a leader. Like many who have served under his leadership, I would have to say that Bill is not a perfect person. He has made mistakes in many aspects of his leadership over the years. He can also be an incredibly difficult person to work for, with what would seem like impossible standards to attain. Read more...
January 24, 2011 – 9:00 am
Back in 2005 I went on a Journey called the Justice Journey. I am not going to go into the details of the Journey here. I wrote a little about the Journey itself in the following link. http://www.mikegold.org/2009/05/justice-its-personal. However, it is safe to say that the Journey changed the lives of many of us who experienced it forever. For this post however, I would like to focus my attention on a dear friend I met on the Journey and how God used his influence to change my life. This friend’s name is Reverend Mike Neal. Mike and his beautiful family live in the Bronzeville Neighborhood of Chicago where Mike is currently pastor of the Glorious Light Church. Today happens to be Mike’s birthday. I thought that it would be very appropriate to share the top 5 things I learned from him as a token of my appreciation of him and in celebration of all the blessings he shares with so many… Read more...
December 30, 2010 – 3:52 pm
I would like to introduce you to Bruce Smith. Bruce is a man of many talents, artist, craftsman, technologist, musician, leader…the list goes on. I think many of the people who have been blessed to know him would agree that with all of his talent, he is not a perfect person. However, it would be hard for us to argue against his passion, his energy and his intense love for Jesus, for his friends and for his family. Way back in the early 90′s…wow… seems like a lifetime ago now… I had the privilege of being mentored by Bruce. It was an intentional time of discipleship that lasted from 1991 and ended in 1995. Read more...
November 30, 2010 – 3:13 am
For those of you who are just tuning into my blog, This category is one that I have dedicated to the men and women who have played a significant roll as mentors in my life. Brian McAuliffe is the CFO of Willow Creek Community church. He is one of the most energetic, humble, passionate and supportive leaders I have ever met. And I will always consider him to be a mentor, a dear friend and a partner in what we both consider to be the most important movement on planet Earth, God’s Church. Here are the top five things I learned from Brian. Read more...
November 23, 2010 – 12:31 am
A person who has a tremendous amount of influence in my life is a man named George Stoms. In an effort to protect the privacy of this dear friend I won’t go into details about his life…It is safe to say that this guy has overcome some overwhelming odds to be where he is today. He has led churches and businesses, and though the demands of life have kept us from staying connected as much as I would like, I have always known him to be a husband, father and friend of great character and Godly integrity. I’ve learned so much from him…but at the top of the list are 5 items I don’t ever want to forget. Read more...
November 21, 2010 – 8:40 pm
For those just tuning into this blog…It has been a while since I have posted anything. Candidly, I have simply been busy…but…I also just decided to take a break from what Brian Cooley of CNET called an “orgy of self promotion.” …just got a little tired of reading about people walking their dogs or washing their cars. I got really tired seeing Mafia Wars pop up on my facebook.. Anyway… enough ranting about that. On to better thoughts. I still very much enjoy writing and I had a thought the other day… I was thinking about all the amazing people that God has brought into my life over the years. I have had more mentors in my life than I deserve. Read more...
