The Bronx Adventure, Day 1

The first day of my Bronx adventure is done – it’s been a great day. The assignment from Pastor Sam had been fairly broad all along; I was to take some of the same things I had done at WFX, expand them, add additional materials, and bring an all-day Leadership Advance to their annual leadership meeting.

My topic selection ended up this way: Transitions, Clarity, The Kingdom Concept (thanks, Will, for inspiration and material for the last two), Building a High Performing Team, and Mastering Management Buckets. In my continuing transition of presentation styles, I had over 130 slides for the day, almost all with images and limited verbage, if any. The “information” was given in a handout. I had sketched outline phrases and words on my notes, but I was a little apprehensive going in.

As I mentioned in my introduction to the group today, my even being here as a most improbable God-thing in the first place. Just consider the sequence of events:

• Pastor Sam hears me speak at WFX Indianapolis last spring and comes looking for me on the expo floor
• I wasn’t at the NACDB booth; I was talking across the expo floor with a potential vendor partner
• At the end of the show, Pastor Sam and one his leaders from the church, David, run into me out in the lobby of the convention center
• We talk for over an hour about Bronx Bethany and their opportunities
• We pray together and head off in different directions, both parties covenanting to continue praying for each other
• At WFX Houston last fall, Pastor Sam, David, and Lilly, the Director of Organizational Development came by to hear my presentations and visit with me
• By the last day of the Expo, we had talked enough to know that God was up to something
• Later in November, Pastor Sam asked me to come up to BBCN and visit with their staff and an architect for consultation on future building possibilities
• Originally scheduled in early December, it had to be postponed to early January
• With the date change, the trip was lengthened to include an all day leadership training event – all by me!
• By this time, I was thoroughly convinced that I was not adequate to the task
• Pastor Sam thought otherwise, and I agreed to turn it over to God and come
• In the week leading up to my trip, I polished the presentation, and true to my nature, I was doing a rewrite and addition late last night
  

So, the first day of my Bronx adventure has come and gone. We ended a little early due to the heavy snows in the NY area. As I write this Saturday night, snow is continuing to fall, the plows are busy, and we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings!

I will be posting more later, but a very special note of appreciation goes to the leadership team at Bronx Bethany. For the better part of a day today, these 50-60 men and women listened attentively, participated passionately, and humbled me with their devotion and commitment to their pastor, their church, and most of all, our Lord.

A very big Thank You to Anita and my friends who were praying for me throughout the day – I definitely felt the power of prayer. As I look back, my voice is gone and my body is tired, but my spirit is soaring!