tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67135854099242906412012-01-19T23:03:14.292-06:00This blog represents my personal journey and comments do not necessarily reflect those of New Hope Community ChurchSteve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.comBlogger1091100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-85209912029086052832008-05-08T22:44:00.000-05:002008-05-08T22:46:00.229-05:00

Several of us from church were at a conference today and among the videos they showed was this one from Youtube. It is a must see... I've watched it about 6 times with our whole family; it is absolutely classic. Take a look...http://youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-23430250690407971162008-05-04T20:23:00.002-05:002008-05-04T20:31:30.381-05:00

FINALLY! Tracy's Dad brought over the boat today and I took two of my kids out for about 90 minutes. We didn't get a single bite. It was incredibly windy, especially in that small boat. The dock wasn't at the landing which made the entry/exit a bit tougher. And it was AWESOME!!!! Just to get out onto the water was fabulous! We watched 2 eagles going back and forth grabbing fish from the

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-37692893363050013392008-04-22T20:29:00.002-05:002008-04-22T20:40:35.146-05:00

I just finished day 2 of a 4 day conference in Orlando centered around reproducing churches. It has been a whirlwind of great information and great networking. I'm hanging out right now with 3 other church planters and have met a ton of people over the past couple of days. There are about 3,000 people from across the world attending this Exponential Church conference.Over the past few years we

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-76236620489785979202008-03-27T16:02:00.002-05:002008-03-27T16:09:24.739-05:00

In New York, I listened to a 93 year old guy who was still incredibly spry and intense. He did a quick little history lesson of the stock markets, interest rates, and inflation and how the sub-prime mortage issue is the same yet different from other crises the U.S. has faced. He discussed the situation in the U.S. in light of the Japanese issue from a few years ago. At the end of the brief

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-85562363252335355372008-03-24T10:23:00.003-05:002008-03-24T10:28:00.109-05:00

So, I'm sitting at the MSP airport waiting for a flight to NYC. I took the offer of a $300 voucher, first class on the later flight with a hot meal, and some airport food to get bumped to a later flight. It wasn't that tough of a decision, because I feel like I had a book breakthrough last night. I've been pounding out the book since Wednesday night (whenever I wasn't lured away by Tracy, the

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-36007114174914609022008-03-19T22:35:00.002-05:002008-03-19T22:46:57.928-05:00

So I started writing my book tonight. I'm just approaching it as a mind dump of ideas that I'm trusting will congeal over time. I started with an introduction which I thought was kind of fun, not too serious, and gave a flavor of who I am and how I'm wired. It was about 3 pages long and just kind of a warm up; something to give me a little confidence to throw myself into this project.

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-39232913779498717762008-03-09T21:51:00.002-05:002008-03-09T22:05:02.401-05:00

So, I created a diagram, and have been working on it with my mentor, that shows my life focus as the target (the "bulls-eye") with other elements surrounding that target. I use this depiction to then look at several elements of my life: which are lined up with my bulls-eye and which are pointed in the wrong direction; which are those I am committed to do and which are optional; how is my income

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-61503965139597764452008-03-02T15:15:00.002-06:002008-03-02T15:23:38.626-06:00

The temperatures are now in the 30 degree range, the snow is just starting to melt a little bit, and we are only about 6 weeks from probably ice-out on the lakes. I can almost taste the water, the fish, the line, the worms, the lures, the joy, the sun.... I can almost feel the tug on the line as the largemouth grabs the Rapale or the northern takes the Daredevil. I can; I can almost taste and

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-65076530739989195352008-02-18T23:18:00.002-06:002008-02-18T23:23:05.887-06:00

I'm so excited... I'm finally going to take the step of taking time away to start wrtiting a book. I think I know the direction I'm going to go with it, but it will be interesting to see what kind of momentum I get on that. I'm planning to spend about 4 days (generally uninterrupted) and see what happens. It's one of those "avoiding regrets" or avoiding the "what if's" in life. I don't have a

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-68494480504468784002008-02-04T21:13:00.000-06:002008-02-04T21:20:29.935-06:00

So, my son and I spent about 6 hours ice fishing on Friday with some friends who have moved out of town. The fishing sucked, but we had a great time. The bulk of the time was spent just playing cribbage and shooting the bull... but there was one moment of great excitement. One of the rattle reels starting turning and we all jumped up and ran to the corner hole. Mike set the hook and starting

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-36274480420416776992008-01-28T23:18:00.001-06:002008-01-28T23:27:05.488-06:00

I find it interesting that this summer, I felt like I had way more to write about than I had time to write it. I wonder if the reduced frequency of my blogging is related to the fact that I'm not outside as much in winter or if I'm busier or if I'm just out of stuff to say. I don't think I'm out of stuff to say, cuz man I talk plenty. Perhaps I'm just out of a rhythm with my blogging... yeah,

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-66777772976145828302008-01-14T20:51:00.000-06:002008-01-14T21:09:23.183-06:00

Hey crew... man what a whirlwind of stuff going on. Every day I have bloggin' on my to-do list, but every day other priorities take over - tonight I thought, I HAVE to get my thoughts down (to honor my commitment I've made to myself to do this).Don't worry, I'm still gettin' some free time.... although today was a long day at the office (8:00am-6:00pm) and a ton of work to do tonight, I still

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-69003071591398302682007-12-30T14:51:00.000-06:002007-12-30T14:56:22.178-06:00

We've scaled back quite a bit on Christmas over the past few years and I, honestly, don't get that much -- part of that is my own problem in being tough to buy for. But this year, I received a stocking stuffer that probably cost about 75 cents that was my favorite present.It is not uncommon for my brother & I to put goofy things in each others stockings.... This year I contributed mashed up hot

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-32920029958682032552007-12-18T08:06:00.000-06:002007-12-18T08:17:44.475-06:00

The Long Defeat is a phrase denoting an apparently impossible but noble battle. The phrase was used by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings to refer to the long struggle against the evil forces of Sauron. Specifically, Lady Galadriel, recollecting her summoning of the White Council and the ensuing long struggle, says to the hobbit Frodo, "Through the ages of the world we have fought the long

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-15555410790238547522007-12-10T12:09:00.000-06:002007-12-10T12:13:23.749-06:00

OK, so I've been on a little sabattical with posting crawling to about 1/week. This past weekend I was the lead in 3 performances of our Christmas dramusical which can be exhausting when you factor in practices, etc. It really was a blast but left me tired as I spent some afternoon time with the family watching the Vikings kick some 49er butt. Could this team really make the playoffs?I have so

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-59624839088712054792007-12-02T22:20:00.000-06:002007-12-02T22:30:33.136-06:00

I've been talking with the editor of a local paper about the potential of becoming a regular contributing writer. We talked about what that could look like and where the topics may arise.One thing I have been growing increasingly passionate about are those things in our society that are absolutely unacceptable. I'm talking about things like hunger, poverty, and homelessness. There are issues

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-47435869816842205002007-11-25T21:20:00.001-06:002007-11-25T21:29:31.665-06:00

I've been teaching (and learning) an adult Sunday School class at church and lately the content has been largely intersecting with my journey of analysis of my personal gift of leadership. True leadership has the tendency of being very, very lonely at times - this is not the case under the paradigm where "everyone is a leader", but it is a reality for those called into leadership roles. The Old

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-38422793933043638242007-11-18T22:00:00.000-06:002007-11-18T22:05:54.512-06:00

Have you ever gone to the Science Museum or somewhere where they have a huge funnel where you drop a coin at the top and it goes around the giant funnel but as gravity sets in it progresses toward the narrow part of the funnel and gets faster and faster until it finally drops through the hole?This is the new mental picture I have for my life. In my quest for my sweet spot, I'm finding my funnel

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-22719798866985877732007-11-12T07:52:00.000-06:002007-11-12T07:56:46.809-06:00

The previous post was intended to go on my Executive Pastor blog, not my personal blog... none-the-less any thoughts are welcomed from the general public.What I wanted to share here was the depression that befell me Saturday when I put the boat away for the year. I borrowed my father-in-laws boat this summer (but really not until late June) so I fished more than I ever have... it was great, but

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-57619216405787883742007-11-12T07:44:00.000-06:002007-11-12T07:50:15.065-06:00

We had a great class yesterday at church where we discussed the 10 commandments that God gave to the nation of Israel through Moses. We didn't even talk about the 10 specifically as we focused on the need for the law... why did/does God give us "laws"? Why do we have laws in our culture? Is God punishing us or protecting us? Does this create captivity or freedom? If the law defines our sin,

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-27583960001247675142007-11-09T08:26:00.001-06:002007-11-09T08:33:47.165-06:00

We have been having a great discussion at our book club on Henry Cloud's "Integrity" - see leadrshipdiscussiongroup.blogspot.com. This discussion has led me more and more to be annoyed when people write books on success without first acknowledging that we must have our own definition of success (or at least defining specifically what the author means by "success"). Even within that, I think

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-64049194981332797032007-11-06T07:11:00.000-06:002007-11-06T07:14:44.064-06:00

Normally I wouldn't submit basically the same posting on my two blogs, but this one has been at the forefront of my mind since Sunday so I wanted to share it here also....Our pastor taught on Sunday about Jonathan and his armor bearer. The nation of Israel was basically hopeless against the Philistine army with only a couple of swords and far less people. But Jonathan was not going to sit back

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-28673659218501808582007-10-30T06:31:00.000-05:002007-10-30T06:38:44.981-05:00

I had this dream Sunday night that I robbed a bank because I needed some cash and then as I was driving a way I noticed someone taping me with a video camera so I ran them over with my car. This was odd. Certainly the transition from corporate work to church work creates its financial challenges, but I hadn't seriously considered the potential of robbing a bank. I also don't feel that running

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-22578570075598453082007-10-26T08:38:00.001-05:002007-10-26T08:47:24.380-05:00

I can tell when I'm too 'busy'... when I feel like I don't have the time or subject-matter to blog every day. I'm not putting myself it situations where something can happen.However, today I want to record my thoughts on how it seems like so much of success or failure (by whatever definitions you wish to use) comes down to management. No matter how skilled, talented, etc, you are, if you can't

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-90023770844499518072007-10-23T07:27:00.000-05:002007-10-23T07:35:50.113-05:00

Well, I finally have a decent analogy to describe how mentoring can be effective. As many of you know, I am a huge believer in effective mentoring to help navigate the white waters and, for that matter, even the still waters of life, love, vocation, family, relationships, development, etc. When people ask me about my mentor and the value it adds to my life, I'm able to give a decent answer,

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-30824403727914740802007-10-22T13:32:00.000-05:002007-10-22T13:34:32.148-05:00

Hang in there loyal readers... last week was a tough week for me on a lot of fronts (funerals, school, work, etc) and I feel like I've not had time to really enjoy life to the extent where interesting thoughts or observations fill my mind. I did do a blog entry on my weekly site, stevefredlundxp.blogspot.com if you are interested... otherwise I'm hoping for interesting things to write in the

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-64716326704580893472007-10-18T22:53:00.000-05:002007-10-18T23:00:50.289-05:00

There were a lot of similarities with the two funerals in three days that were just finished. Both people died from cancer. Both families had time to grieve before death actually occurred. Both had incredibly close relationships with family & friends. And both lived the kind of life that makes me want to be a better man.Dan Crocker's life and legacy spur me on to be generous with my time, to

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-15943196035885813062007-10-15T21:38:00.000-05:002007-10-15T21:47:30.901-05:00

This week I will be attending two funerals... both a result of cancer. First, on Tuesday, the father of a close friend & co-worker, who succumbed after about a year battling bone cancer. Second, on Thursday, a friend who we used to attend church with who had been battling cancer for about 5 years. In each case, they are way too young for us to make any sense of it. I think Dan is early 60s

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-30217309985050595892007-10-14T21:05:00.000-05:002007-10-14T21:13:27.681-05:00

Whoa, I've been surrounded by discussions about character. I've talked about our discussion of the Henry Cloud book on "Integrity" which is about integrity of character. Tonight I was reading a copy of BGC World and there was a discussion on character that also talked about the meaning of the word integrity in the context of character.However, it was a humerous (to me) comment about character

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-62876029197628058412007-10-12T07:20:00.000-05:002007-10-12T07:28:11.344-05:00

Today I will be participating in the Transforming Church Initiative presented by the Bethel University seminary. For the past couple of years I have had a pull to get into the global battle against HIV/AIDS. We have done some things personally, but how does a 3-year old church with limited resources get into the battle? I am excited & nervous about attending this all-day seminar. I'm excited

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-67387848145849831352007-10-11T08:04:00.000-05:002007-10-11T08:08:46.420-05:00

Do you ever feel like you share in people's experiences? Lately I've felt like I share a lot more in the experiences of friend's experiences more than I ever have. There are situations going on right now with different friends including the deteriorating health of a parent, three different adoption situations, and the stepping out to take a new job in a new city. In each of these cases, I talk to

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-33619151255595236132007-10-10T07:49:00.000-05:002007-10-10T07:58:32.669-05:00

I'm really starting to feel old. I don't feel physically old, but there are other signs that have really appeared. For the past 3-4 years, I have been started being called "sir" a lot. It really drove me nuts at first but now I'm getting used to it. Those who know me are aware that I'm not worthy of a "sir" greeting, but there must be something about me that is triggering that greeting from

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-87810936237634502992007-10-09T07:57:00.001-05:002007-10-09T08:06:57.359-05:00

So, last night I'm in my MBA class and the back set of lights kept shutting off; aparently the motion detector wasn't detecting any motion. All of the learners in the back of the room would start flailing their arms and rocking back & forth to get them to turn back on. After 5-10 seconds, the lights would turn back on. Then 2-3 minutes later the cycle would repeat. It was hilarious - I had

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-52141215955717855362007-10-08T06:57:00.001-05:002007-10-08T07:07:39.391-05:00

Yesterday I spoke at church and part of the talk involved the much quoted verse, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" from James 5:16. Now I understand that not all of you reading this pray, but hang in there - my point isn't about prayer. Anyway, people that do pray obviously want those prayers to be powerful and effective, but the author says we need to be "righteous"

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-92042281037771064542007-10-05T10:47:00.000-05:002007-10-05T10:49:06.613-05:00

I lead a weekly discussion group at work and we are going through henry Cloud's book, "Integrity: the courage to meet the demands of reality.". During the lunch discussion yesterday, we talked about leadership, success, etc and their relationship to integrity, character, values, etc. The discussion led to the current "big thing" in leadership... Authenticity. Today's leader needs to be authentic.

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-77443878693322804692007-10-04T10:14:00.000-05:002007-10-04T10:21:10.381-05:00

Sorry I missed yesterday.... got away from me.Last evening I was playing soccer with my two boys and the ball went into the woods (which it does basically every time someone shoots and misses the net). My eldest son (by 20 minutes) went in to retrieve and came jumping out a few seconds later holding his eye and yelling. I assumed he was stung by a bee based on his reaction. After I got him to

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-83602374477437321402007-10-02T21:18:00.000-05:002007-10-02T22:05:20.672-05:00

I was watching some ESPN highlights tonight and they were showing teams celebrating with dancing, hollering, jumping around, and dumping champaign on each others heads. I don't remember there being such extreme celebrations for simply making the playoffs -- I remember that as the celebration for winning the world series. Now, don't get me wrong, having a good year that results in making the

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-86920328143308129962007-09-30T16:51:00.000-05:002007-09-30T17:15:34.240-05:00

So, I'm watching the Vikings lose to the Packers today and I was engrossed as I watched the antics of the Vikings quarterback - some guy named Kelly Holcomb. I'm not sure where he came from or how he ended up on our team; I do know he is not the normal quarterback (I think the other guy is hurt). Anyway, one time the Vikings completed a pass but there was a holding penalty on one of our guys.

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-29755764937548995352007-09-28T08:57:00.000-05:002007-10-01T20:26:44.195-05:00

I am a slow walker. Really, I am a saunter-er. My philosophy on walking is the same as my philosophy on showering.... "Dude, where's the fire?" Certainly I am able to walk or shower fast if the situation requires, but left to my own devices, the pace is quite snail-ish. Sometimes I wonder why I am snailish in this area given my pace to life is quite hectic... I mean, I take on a lot of

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-13535247350478760312007-09-27T08:01:00.001-05:002007-09-27T08:14:42.991-05:00

Does anyone else get frustrated when there is a long line of traffic where lanes are converging and someone else goes as far as they can in the lane that is closing only to sneak (or force) their way in at the end? Oh, be honest.This situation happens more often now with my path to Thrivent because of the 35W situation. And this late-merging frustrates me too, but I'm not sure why. Is it

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-20696455324992970022007-09-26T09:15:00.000-05:002007-09-26T09:31:48.464-05:00

The most productive thing I think I've ever done to help me assess my leadership, myself, and my direction was to find a mentor. For years I have tried to find the right mentor - I've built ongoing relationships with people inside my corporate world, inside my churches, with other church leaders, etc. In each of these cases there was initial excitement which ultimately waned and those

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-1412739574310258422007-09-25T15:13:00.000-05:002007-09-26T12:43:51.354-05:00

I've had quite the morning with meetings early morning through early afternoon and just now getting an opportunity to blog something funny that happened to me yesterday that both makes me laugh and become self-conscious.I was working at the church which means, for Mondays, I have lunch with either my wife or one of my kids. I had lunch with my just-turned 8-year old daughter. When she has a

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-33759489549043678692007-09-24T07:20:00.000-05:002007-09-24T07:28:33.959-05:00

Imagine if you will for a moment a husband and wife who, in the midst of life's harriedness, created a Saturday afternoon that was utter chaos. Let your imagination drift with me for a moment.... imagine a birthday party for an 8-year old with 5 other girls about that age; this party would be filled with balloons and games and painting... this party would occur in the afternoon and scheduled to

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-45862199763191538002007-09-21T09:37:00.000-05:002007-09-21T09:45:58.847-05:00

There is a great country music song out right now called, "Don't Blink." It relays the story of a man turning 100 who talks about 100 years going faster than you think. We write each chapter of our life, but before we know it the chapter is completed and we're on to the next one.-- Tomorrow, my daughter turns 8 and is getting her ears pierced. How did that happen?-- A couple weeks ago, my boys

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-75171398028883730642007-09-20T08:43:00.000-05:002007-09-20T08:51:46.410-05:00

Is a primary goal in life to have fun? I'm not asking that as a rhetorical question or as a condescending question.... I'm asking it as a real question.I've been challenging my kids recently that as they pray to just try not to use the word, "fun." This is primarily because their prayers tend to go something like this: "God, thank you for letting us have a fun day and I ask that we have fun

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-51986267389655105392007-09-19T08:27:00.000-05:002007-09-19T08:33:39.735-05:00

So last night our MBA team (Team Baldwin) met on-line to make decisions regarding our mock company for the upcoming round (year) of competition. We had to make decisions on existing and new products in different (and changing) segments including Research & Development, pricing, marketing/advertising, and production as well as investments in future production, automation, employee development/

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-62456637566083851362007-09-18T06:40:00.000-05:002007-09-18T06:48:35.710-05:00

I'm staring at an empty glass bottle called "FUZE: Healthy Infuzions." This cranberry/raspberry drink was provided by one of the New Hope staffers as she did the weekly devotion. I've kept it on my desk as a reminder.Early this morning (6:15am) as I was setting up my computer, I noticed the irony of something marketed as infusing, while at the same time on the label emphasizing that it is "

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-21549226171781100542007-09-17T07:21:00.000-05:002007-09-17T07:47:09.368-05:00

I just finished another 19 hours in 2-day residency for my MBA program; the topic is financial management and decision-making. One of the ringing truths from the residency was how important cash flow is to any organization. One might think that profit alone is the driver of long-term sucess... well, one can have profit without having positive cash flow which can ultimately have negative impact

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-70979696875117515732007-09-14T07:32:00.000-05:002007-09-14T07:35:30.710-05:00

I love long showers. I think it is related to my love of just being on thewater in a boat - fish are optional, but being on and around water is something that rejuvenates me. During my long showers I sometimes plan the day, sometimes pray, sometimes let the water drain my tension away, sometimes imagine my sinful self and how God washes the dirt off of me, sometimes I rehearse a talk/speech/skit

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-54916416050322517772007-09-13T00:44:00.001-05:002007-09-13T00:56:20.133-05:00

It's nearly 1:00am and I just finished my first of two nights trying to compete 3 weeks worth of MBA homework (last week and 2 courses for this week). My plan tonight was to work until about 4:00, get home shortly after 5:00, and then hide out somewhere to pound out some of the MBA homework.This is not a good example of a balanced day.As it was, I worked a bit later, until about 4:30. I then

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-52548157646973408202007-09-12T11:31:00.000-05:002007-09-12T11:36:17.402-05:00

Now that grades are mostly in for my last MBA course, I think it is safe to write about the challenge my classmates gave me and my ability to come through. Last Thursday I was in Pittsburgh but had to do my on-line presentation via the internet. Simultaneously to watching and participating in the presentations, a few of us had an open SKYPE conversation going as well. Right before I did my

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-21792895188908846192007-09-11T07:52:00.001-05:002007-09-11T19:28:28.547-05:00

Last night capped off an exhausting stretch starting last Wednesday which included a bunch of work, a trip to Pittsburgh, an MBA project & presentation, church annual meeting / vision night, launch of a 3rd service & new Sunday morning schedule, some difficult meetings, and finally an MBA class (which mercifully only lasted 3 of the planned 4 hours) last night.Since the class was done early and I

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-81762829862765620292007-09-09T21:37:00.000-05:002007-09-09T21:52:48.250-05:00

Today (Sunday) culminated a crazy past week. We decided to spend the afternoon taking a Sabbath (now, there's an idea). We enjoyed a great lunch together, I went fishing for a couple of hours, then me and the kids had a campfire (while my beautiful bride worked on some stuff for school - yes, she broke her Sabbath). Anyway, the kids and I were killing two birds with one stone - burning up some

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-68616448433138561662007-09-07T17:02:00.000-05:002007-09-07T17:08:08.162-05:00

I was picking up a few things at the hotel gift shop before I left and a couple of people were talking about football. This hotel worker comes in and starts talking about the Steelers and how (of course) they are gonna be "awesome." One of the other guys says he is a Patriots fan. Without hesitation, the Steelers fan says, "Yeah, but they gotta come into our house on December 9th." I was

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-11748590829510823612007-09-06T10:28:00.000-05:002007-09-06T10:35:17.393-05:00

Ok, Ok, I wasn't going to make you read too much today, but its getting a little ridiculous how much this leadership revoluation in me is coming up. You know how sometimes you hear or learn a new word and all the sudden you feel like you are hearing that word all the time? This is how I have felt since the flight yesterday... every where I turn I'm thinking about the two elements of leadership

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-23710399388156591212007-09-06T08:31:00.000-05:002007-09-06T09:09:03.344-05:00

As some of you know from the blogs and/or conversations, I feel I am at a critical juncture in my leadership development and training. For 15 years, my focus has been on the technical; the results; the achieving; the innovating; the systems. As I have been asked (and honored) to serve as Executive Pastor, I believe a large piece of that is because I can bring order to things that are a bit

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-59928079873027012042007-09-04T22:42:00.000-05:002007-09-04T22:51:17.215-05:00

I was playing Texas Hold 'em this evening with my three kids (recently turned 11-year old twin boys and my nearly 8-year old daughter). This is a continuation of a game we started a few days ago and in which I'm basically cleaning house... I bluffed my way through a huge pot so I'm not dominating those twerps.My daughter knows how to check, call, raise, and play her cards but she has not yet

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-17733192079601608062007-09-03T09:03:00.000-05:002007-09-03T09:11:48.983-05:00

Our family went to the Twins game on Saturday (a 6-4 win!) but one thing that struck me more deeply than it had before is how each person on the team is asked to fill a specific role; and sometimes a different role depending on the specific situation. As each person comes up to bat, the manager of the team instructs them on what they should to do during their at-bat. Usually, the batter is just

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-47203264314892142922007-08-30T22:21:00.000-05:002007-08-30T22:50:01.134-05:00

My two sons and I went out late tonight lookin' for some late night bass action and to try out some cheap new lights we bought for the boat. At the end of the night we were driving into the boat landing and fish were once again jumping all around us. We decided to pull into the shallows and try to land one of those bad boys. I was using a surface spinner; casting in deep and reeling fast to

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-20075272966783441452007-08-29T23:36:00.000-05:002007-08-29T23:52:57.200-05:00

Today is August 29th.... my next free date for lunch at Thrivent is September 26th. I need to caveat this with the fact that I only work 3 days/week and I'll be out of town a couple of days next week for that conference. Even so, I find it interesting that my lunches are so full these days... these lunches cover the spectrum of walking across the room to build relationships, others seeking

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-81776253385490797102007-08-29T08:30:00.000-05:002007-08-29T08:37:55.805-05:00

Last night I went fishing in the rain with one of my sons. For the first time the entire year we were totally skunked... we had some bites and lost some worms, but literally caught 0 fish. After a while we went and tracked down where the eagle was landing in the tree and we ended up anchoring the boat about 30 yards from where he sat up in the branch -- he would fly in and out of that tree...

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-8318025650529105022007-08-28T09:23:00.000-05:002007-08-28T09:32:59.553-05:00

Last Friday night I played some low-stakes Texas Hold 'em with about 15 other folks, mostly from Thrivent. For about the first hour or two, I was doing great... I was likely the chip leader at my table of 6 or 7 people. But then the luck turned and I was playing overly aggressive to try to knock some people out and ended up having my stacks disappear and ultimately being one of the first to be

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-90203094037902827302007-08-26T22:50:00.001-05:002007-08-26T22:59:47.912-05:00

I was able to get out on the lake a bit on Friday afternoon. Although I went to the same lake (Goose), I travelled a bit further down the lake. In doing so, I was trolling with a sucker minnow and was able to nail a small northern (20") which was cool. What wasn't cool was that as I trolled my way down the lake, my trolling motor (the only motor I have on the boat) started loosing its oomph.

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-51390452422415570742007-08-24T08:32:00.000-05:002007-08-24T08:40:43.927-05:00

As many of you know, I can be as frugal as they come on some things and yesterday was one of those examples where my frugality was my downfall. I was working in Minneapolis and ran out over lunch to get my haircut (because skyway prices give me sticker shock). I thought I would try a neighborhood where I don't normally go to see what I could find and meet some new people (Walking Across the

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-28706518017530909972007-08-22T23:01:00.000-05:002007-08-22T23:07:26.309-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZFFxDcSfeAEver not feeling rich, check out the above video from Rob Bell (a bit over one minute); for those of you without the ability to run the video:- 92% of people do not have cars- 1,000,000,000 people do not have access to clean water- 800,000,000 people live on less than $1 per day (300,000,000 of them are kids)Rob has a way of making us realize that these

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-11616291817321495782007-08-22T07:50:00.000-05:002007-08-22T07:53:52.788-05:00

I believe that God calls us to live life large; to not shrink back; to do what we were designed to do with reckless abandon. However, the achiever & driver in me often contort that to simply mean go, do, be, achieve, push, prod, lead, etc. I believe those are things I'm designed to do, but I also think each of us were designed for times of pure refreshing which was modelled for me yesterday by

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-16363776108051992412007-08-21T19:12:00.000-05:002007-08-21T19:20:27.371-05:00

I had an hour long meeting with my mentor this morning and it was one of those conversations that I wish I could just bottle and bring out whenever I needed. Like great mentors do, his focus was asking questions and then using his wisdom & insight to help me reach my own conclusions regarding various aspects of my life. This morning we were discussing my juggling of my two different jobs as

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-62461792945754655942007-08-20T07:31:00.000-05:002007-08-20T07:36:20.762-05:00

Hey gang... I've decided based on feedback to create a second blog and split my purposes. This blog will continue to serve as my personal journey (goofy insights, struggles, etc). For those more interested in my perspectives and updates specifically related to my role as Executive Pastor of New Hope Community Church, I would welcome you to check out stevefredlundxp.blogspot.com. The personal

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-10482266518174465512007-08-18T08:34:00.000-05:002007-08-18T08:37:11.871-05:00

Hey all... I have decided that for now I will only blog on weekdays. This is not for lack of strange insights & happenings, but instead based on the activity of readers (I know some of ya read the blog on the weekends, but there is a pretty dramatic dropoff in activity) and off-line feedback from some of you that you like to read the entries but get behind pretty quickly (hopefully the 5 entries

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-35129770652528484952007-08-17T08:00:00.000-05:002007-08-17T08:08:00.289-05:00

Ok, so just a few minutes ago I went down to grab a quick breakfast in our cafeteria and grabbed a couple of sausage patties. When I went to pay, I was setting my stuff down and I accidentally flipped open the lid of my stirofoam container and one of the sausage patties dropped to the floor. Without even thinking, I reached down, grabbed it, and threw it back into the container. The cashier was

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-48720932921044851722007-08-16T07:38:00.000-05:002007-08-16T07:47:26.795-05:00

I think our cat is clinically insane. Is that possible? Or perhaps our cat has witnessed our goofy family and has conformed itself to our wackiness. Is that possible?Our cat's name official name is "Diet Dr. Thunder Mifflin this is Pam Pam", which seems unrelated until you realize that our poor cat has been subjected to the bizarreness of our family since 6 weeks old including being given such

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-28585727006250682872007-08-15T09:03:00.000-05:002007-08-15T09:12:34.918-05:00

As my wife & I have continued to be convicted about getting in the battle against global poverty and HIV/AIDS, we made a decision to step up our involvement a little bit. We’ve been sponsoring a child through World Vision for a few years, but just decided that we were going to modify a family tradition to allow us to engage in the battle a bit more.This past year we have had Thursday nights be

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-61127199263588746942007-08-14T07:03:00.001-05:002007-08-14T07:10:08.141-05:00

Today is my last day in a stretch of 10 of 11 days not being at my job as an investment actuary; I normally work there 3 days/week but last week I took 2 of those 3 as vacation days to attend the Leadership Summit. Throw in 2 weekends and my Monday/Tuesday in the church office and there ya go.I'm struggling a bit with keeping passion about the actuarial job; actually it's not that I have no

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-23639713111573890162007-08-13T07:00:00.000-05:002007-08-13T07:06:51.778-05:00

I had the extreme honor of speaking yesterday which can be a dangerous thing the day after coming off of a leadership event like Summit. I was pretty fired up about the redemptive potential of the local church, living my life with purpose, and inspiring people to be motivated for impact. I toned it down the best I could, but I know I was still fairly challenging to people.Every time I speak I

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-20483261977577555122007-08-11T20:09:00.000-05:002007-08-11T20:21:46.599-05:00

Today wrapped up the summit with an interview with Jimmy Carter and a final session by Bill Hybels. Again, too much to comment on, but here are the highlights:Jimmy Carter: - Need to have an inner circle of staff with integrity, compatability with core principals, extends knowledge & capability in their given area of expertise, and willing to have & share conflicting ideas.- There is a growing

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-10233739071212302652007-08-10T22:28:00.001-05:002007-08-10T22:46:46.621-05:00

Well, today was even better than yesterday. Here were some of my key takeaways:1) Willow Creek's Executive Pastor Greg Hawkins completed a study around the value Willow adds to people who are in various stages of their spiritual journey. What they found was that the value was tremendous for seekers and those early in the journey but decreasing in value with increasing maturity. The conclusion

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-46725692495302939802007-08-10T07:48:00.000-05:002007-08-10T08:00:32.892-05:00

Hey gang.... wanted to let you know that I don't have a regular blog entry today; yesterday, today, and tomorrow I'm attending the Leadership Summit through Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago-area; simulcast to Eaglebrook Church in Lino Lakes, MN (where we are participating). Anyway, here are a few quick takeaways from yesterday:1) Bill Hybels: The lead pastor of Willow Creek challenged us

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-47120597269927717212007-08-08T22:09:00.000-05:002007-08-08T22:26:25.663-05:00

My daughter has this thing... she loves to sleep with my t-shirt that I wore throughout the day. Even when the days are hot and I've been sweating, she won't go to bed without what she calls, "tee tee." Before going to bed, she always comes downstairs to where I am and she'll either say, "tee tee?" or she simply puts each hand in the position of a T in sign language (thumb between pointer &

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-88116112948796926282007-08-08T07:31:00.000-05:002007-08-08T07:46:09.153-05:00

As I mentioned on Monday's post (August 6th), you would likely hear about my gym adventures at a future date... that date is now. Have you ever either started a new gym or switched to a different gym without first getting a tour, etc? That was my experience on Monday morning. I showed up very early and started looking around, figuring out what I was going to work on, etc, and just kinda felt out

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-38923455383764450752007-08-07T06:34:00.001-05:002007-08-07T06:52:02.604-05:00

Last night I had a great meeting with some of the church's volunteer leaders. I have been researching a potential change in how we do our offering collections: potentially moving from the standard collection process to something more along the lines of giving stations. Several new churches have done this and others have made the transition. I feel this change would be a great one for our

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-42256250002366257282007-08-06T07:47:00.000-05:002007-08-06T08:04:40.388-05:00

I showed up this morning to my church office after working out (today's experience at the gym will likely show up as a blog some day soon), opened the door to my office, and found that my loving wife and children had taken it upon themselves to both bless and ridicule me in one fell swoop.On my office chair was my acoustic guitar with a sign hung on it that read, " 'Hold on to that six-string as

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-34217825634152804022007-08-04T22:30:00.000-05:002007-08-04T22:51:08.656-05:00

It's about 10:30pm and I'm sitting here on a hotel bed in Brainerd, MN after enduring a marathon day of MBA residency. The residency kicks off a course on Informational Technology (IT) and how it should be used strategically inside organizations. The readings and now discussion have actually been much more interesting than I expected (sorry to any Bethel faculty or administration who are

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-62119762833742096782007-08-03T19:27:00.000-05:002007-08-03T20:38:33.505-05:00

I've been part of a lot of conversations and on the receiving end of a lot of news and communication regarding the bridge collapse and the loss of one of our co-workers. Whenever and wherever tragedies of this magnitude occur, there are a few comments consistently made that, after a while, start to bug me. These are not comments about the tragedy, but instead during the analysis phase as experts

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-58374454149378148582007-08-02T22:32:00.000-05:002007-08-02T22:38:36.700-05:00

A couple of years after the 9/11 terrorism, I was in New York on business and had very little time to tour the city. It was so bitterly cold I had to buy a hat & gloves from a dude on the street. So what did I decide to do in the frigid cold, with very little time, and having never been in the city before? Instead of hanging out in the warm hotel watching ESPN, I felt compelled to figure out

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-50983869543900050762007-08-01T21:43:00.000-05:002007-08-01T23:35:52.784-05:00

What a horrendous tragedy today in Minneapolis. The 35W bridge over the Mississippi is a bridge I typically drive on twice a day when I commute; in fact I was on that bridge about 90 minutes before it collapsed. It's so hard to know what to say, do, and sometimes even feel at a time like this. It is almost surreal to get an automated call from my company trying to "account" for all employees: "

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-36681064878801275542007-08-01T08:39:00.000-05:002007-08-01T08:52:11.832-05:00

I just finished reading an article called "The Neuroscience of Leadership". It was quite an interesting article but made me realize how many people are out there that are roughly 6 million times smarter than me. From what I grasped, the article was trying to link the brain (the physical organ) with the mind (the human psyche of thought). That is, are there explanations in the organ of the brain

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-80036437714292299692007-07-31T07:12:00.000-05:002007-07-31T07:23:21.156-05:00

Fans (as in wind generating desktop fans) are interesting to me (as my readers you realize that many mundane things are interesting to me). Here's why: They have a very limited scope of responsibility, a very specific use, they can do it for a long time without a break and over a long calendar life. I have a $7.99 Walgreens desk fan blowing on me right now and it just keeps on churning without

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-59801174213474175502007-07-30T06:59:00.000-05:002007-07-30T07:19:52.315-05:00

Yesterday (Sunday) was a great day of church, Grandmas, and swimming. We decided to cap it off as a family by hitting one of the area lakes for a little bull-head hunting (i.e. fishing). The last several times we have gone to Goose Lake so we decided to mix it up a bit and go to Little Horshoe (where we hadn't been for a few years). As we arrived at the public launch area, we found that they

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-68718436103980860712007-07-28T22:08:00.001-05:002007-07-28T22:20:26.273-05:00

Our small group (all 4 of us!) met on Friday night and had some great relationship-building, honest discussion. We also chatted about what we should "do next" as a group and among those things we decided, we started a blog (this is not open to the public, but only the four of us have access). We thought this would be a great way to stay more connected throughout the course of the week and allow

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-40270402046033141422007-07-27T08:00:00.001-05:002007-07-27T08:17:28.226-05:00

I'm listening to a book on tape from a famous leader, pastor, and author. He is talking about evangelism and how important it is for us to reach out to people in a way that builds relationships; he is talking about how evangelism is not about beating people over the heads with Bibles or always having to talk of spiritual matters, but instead just getting to know them and their story. It's about

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-24453087889828239052007-07-26T15:46:00.000-05:002007-07-26T16:03:13.836-05:00

I had the honor of speaking last Sunday at a church in Pine City; it allowed me to share my heart on some stuff but also give the lead pastor and friend a week off from preparation and delivery. I am happy with the way it went, but the feedback I received gave me some additional insight. People seemed to resonate with the message, but the bulk of the feedback I received was around delivery ("I

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-77692842649851905252007-07-25T08:11:00.001-05:002007-07-25T08:23:24.543-05:00

I was listening to a country music station this morning and they interviewed Kelly Pickler (American Idol) who was commenting on the Lindsay Lohan situation and giving her advice to others. She said the greatest advice she could give is to surround yourselves with people that are like what you want to be. I appreciated her advice as it was beyond what typically we as parents think about our

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-63576344843642645632007-07-24T08:10:00.000-05:002007-07-25T08:11:05.777-05:00

My boys and I went fishing on Saturday evening (even though my Mom was telling me I should be preparing to speak on Sunday). The fishing went well, but the highlight was seeing an eagle flying around quite close to us and eventually being joined by another eagle; it was so cool. They were just gliding above us with their wings outstretched enjoying their freedom. In hindsight, it would have been

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-4464529307059061732007-07-22T21:44:00.000-05:002007-07-22T22:08:10.937-05:00

This morning I had the great honor of preaching at Evergreen Community Church in Pine City, MN. I spoke on transformation and how Jesus offers us that as both our teacher (in how we should live) and as our savior (in freedom from the punishment for our sin). At any rate, during the preaching, I started considering how our culture makes accepting the free gift of forgiveness very difficult. My

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-83743056384511049532007-07-20T07:44:00.000-05:002007-07-20T09:49:27.669-05:00

I went to the Twins game yesterday afternoon as part of a work outing. It was quite fun although the twins lost in extra innings. For much of the game I was consumed with the idea of how a sports team and event create such community. I've been to many games before and thought about this a bit, but it was really striking to me yesterday. Baseball is a game played for entertainment by people who

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-39650973072399678842007-07-18T22:59:00.000-05:002007-07-19T10:49:51.498-05:00

Like turning the page to a new chapter, my life took another exciting twist today. I just found out that I have been approved to reduce my time as an investment actuary to 60% which allows me to spend two days in the office in my role as Executive Pastor. After an 8-month stretch of transition and uncertainty (in many elements of our life), I once again sense my life finding its rhythm. Reducing

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-72906233119665338212007-07-17T07:29:00.000-05:002007-07-17T13:06:42.172-05:00

OK, confession time. Yesterday my wife had the iPod going in the kitchen and we were both jammin' along with John Mellancamp's "Jack and Diane" when she made an incredible discovery... I was singing the wrong words to part of the song and apparently have been since the song was released in 1982. There is a part in the song that says, "Hold on to that sixteen as long as you can; change will come

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-61367187204338681932007-07-15T19:59:00.000-05:002007-07-16T06:43:32.801-05:00

I had a great conversation with my brother-in-law this weekend (of course, while fishing) about how we are in similar stages of life. Both enjoying our "main job" but both looking toward a future of reducing time and energy spent on that and increasing time and energy spent on doing what we feel more passionate about... perhaps more of what we feel we were made to do. We are both doing different

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-61155656010050179682007-07-13T07:50:00.000-05:002007-07-13T13:26:46.969-05:00

I had lunch with my brother yesterday (actually he bought and brought me lunch) and we walked across the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis discussing our work situations, etc. I was excited that we were walking there because I wanted to show him the huge fish (I think they are carp) that swim around in the shallows of the Mississippi by the bridge. We were able to see them quite clearly and a

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6713585409924290641.post-72929512107737213832007-07-12T09:48:00.000-05:002007-07-12T14:36:11.905-05:00

I started an MBA self-assessment a couple months ago like this:I believe leadership is a spiritual gift.I believe not everyone has or can develop the gift of leadership.I believe the gift of leadership comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility.I believe I have the gift of leadership.I believe claiming I have the gift of leadership and others do not can sound arrogant.I believe leadership

Steve Fredlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12942491152818770702noreply@blogger.com3