Quote of the Day - Vince Lombardi

But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment of all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.

Vince Lombardi

Petraeus selects team of warrior-intellectuals

Here is the interesting article of the day. Is this the future of the military?

The U.S. military is pretty good at learning from its own mistakes. It is really bad at learning from the mistakes of others. During the early stages of the conflict in Iraq, the U.S. military performed marvelously on the tactical and operational level. Unfortunately, the United States devotes much less in resources and energy towards understanding strategic and political goals. The U.S. military and civilian leadership need to improve on selecting talented generals who understand how the operational and tactical contribute to strategic and political goals. This is was very clear as General Casey was evaluated for Chief of Staff of the Army last week.

Petraeus selects team of warrior-intellectuals
Army turning Iraq war over to its dissidents
by Thomas Ricks

Facts about the U.S. Capitol Building

U.S. Capitol Building

• Of the eight pictures on the inside walls of the Capitol Rotunda, 2 are a prayer meeting, 1 a Bible Study and 1 a Baptism.
• 1/4 of the Statues in the Capitol are Evangelical Ministers 24 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence held Seminary Degrees.
• That our Declaration of Independence states that our inalienable rights come from the creator and they are first life, then liberty and then pursuit of happiness. Without life the other two are meaningless.
• Church Services were held in the Capitol for decades soon after it opened.
• The first English-language Bible in America was printed and endorsed by the United States Congress.

Thanks to John for the tidbits

Quote of the Day - Vince Lombardi

The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert.

Vince Lombardi

Quote of the Day - Benjamin Franklin

“There is perhaps not one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.”

Benjamin Franklin

Pride - A Leader's Greatest Problem

This one was too good not to pass on.

Pride - A Leader's Greatest Problem
By Dr. John C. Maxwell

Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

William Shakespeare

The End of War as We Know It

The following book review by Eliot Cohen shows how the US military could learn from other conflicts and other generals. Cohen gives an honest appraisal of British General Rupert Smith's assessment of the US military and international conflict today.

The Utility of Force (by Rupert Smith)
The End of War as We Know It
A British general argues that old military habits no longer work.

Video - Porn and Pancakes

Say what? That's right. This week's video takes us to a church in Ontario, New York which is dealing with frontline issues. This issue cannot be ignored especially if your church wants to reach out to young males.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Click here for the FCA DC video

FCA DC invites you to …

THE FCA DC HOME TEAM CELEBRATION

We are going to come together and celebrate what God has done in the ministryof FCA D.C. over the past year. We want to thank our Home Team for all their efforts to impact the district for Jesus Christ through the lives of coaches and athletes. We also want to build our Home Team with new financial and ministry partners. All are welcome to attend, feel free to invite a friend but please RSVP by Feb 20th 2007 by emailing Dave Kiehn at dc@fca.org.

Contact person:
Dave Kiehn
(202)412-4743 or dc@fca.org

Date:
02/24/07

Time:
6pm

Location:
National Presbyterian Church, Stone Hall
4101 Nebraska Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20016

Speaker:
Kris Ryan, University of Pennsylvania All-Time Leading Rusher

Kris Ryan led Penn to two Ivy League titles and ended his career as Penn’s all time leading rusher with 3,181 yards on 611 carries. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry with 33 career TDs. He was a Two-Time First Team All Ivy, One Time Second -Team All Ivy Selection. He co-founded FCA while at Penn. He currently teaches and coaches football at Episcopal Academy. He resides outside of Philly with his wife, Rachel, and his three children, Gabrielle, Jacob, and Naomi.

Quote of the Day - Charles Spurgeon

Show me the business man or institution not guided by sentiment and service; by the idea that "he profits most who serves best" and I will show you a man or an outfit that is dead or dying.

Charles Spurgeon

Burns Night

Tonight is Burns Night and which celebrates Scotland's favorite son and poet, Robert Burns. I will give you a preview of tonight's dinner with a copy of my toast to the lassies:

First of all I would like to thank Marcus and the lovely Fiona for helping us to organize this occasion and enlighten us with the poetry of Scotland’s favorite son. When Fiona asked me to do the toast to the lassies the other day, I was quite in a quandary. After all, the toast was usually for women who would cook the meal. In the Jonathan House, that is obviously not the case here. In fact, it is rare to find a woman in Washington DC who can cook. After all how could one woman take the place of ten roommates, bunk beds, sleeping 4 men to a room, and occasionally seeing Matt Lahr in a toga. Most of us here are not married, myself included. Since I am not married and am no Cassanova, I therefore cannot speak with authority on the ways of a lady.


After all it was King Solomon, the wisest of men who wrote the following in Proverbs:

"There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand:

the way of an eagle in the sky,

the way of a snake on a rock,

the way of a ship on the high seas,

and the way of a man with a maiden.

So I could not help but shed light on the last of these which I too find perplexing. If I may borrow a page from another writer, for example:

- A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't want.

- A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

- A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

- Any married man should forget his mistakes - there's no use in two people remembering the same thing.

- A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

- A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn. The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337 and a man would not be able to identify most of these items.

- And finally, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and best friends and favourite foods and secret fears, and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

Why should I bother trying to understand? Sigmund Freud writes: "Despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, I have not been able to answer... the great question that has never been answered: what does a woman want?"

I am not a particularly emotional individual and I have been accused of going overboard in my rational nature. The rationalist treasures logic and conceptual understanding but yet my logic and knowledge falls short. There is nothing like a fine lady that causes a man to lose all kinds of rational. It is very common to find a man in Jonathan House who is laboring steadfast in his chores and cooking responsibilities and as soon as a group of young ladies walk in the room he loses all sight of his tasks. George Carlin writes: "Here's all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid."

Tonight’s celebrated poet writes of a certain beauty that captivated his heart.

Handsome Nell

O, once I lov'd a bonnie lass,

Aye, and I love her still;

And whilst that virtue warms my breast

I'll love my handsome Nell.

As bonnie lasses I hae seen,

And mony full as braw,

But for a modest gracefu' mien

The like I never saw.

A bonnie lass, I will confess,

Is pleasant to the ee,

But without some letter qualities

She's no a lass for me.

But Nellie's looks are blithe and sweet,

And what is best of a'

Her reputation is complete,

And fair without a flaw.

She dresses aye sae clean and neat,

Both decent and genteel;

And then there's something in her gait

Gars ony dress look weel.

A gaudy dress and gentle air

May slightly touch the heart,

But it's innocence and modesty

That polishes the dart.

'Tis this in Nelly pleases me,

'Tis this enchants my soul

For absolutely in my breast

She reigns without control

It is no secret that Burns was quite taken by members of the fairer sex and they were often the inspiration for his poetry. Lassies were a source of awe and puzzlement, possessing qualities and emotions that as men we are conscious of but rarely convey; beauty, gentleness, and love. George Sand said “Where love is absent, there can be no woman”. And Anon said “God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers".

It is written in the word: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

So I resign in my effort to understand why a man woos a woman and acknowledge that this is and will probably remain a mystery while we are on this earth. However, let us come to the heart and conclusion of this matter that as we entreat the ladies in our lives we fulfill perhaps the main goal of the Jonathan House…we become more like Christ.

So Gentlemen! Charge your glasses, and join me in a toast to the lassies!

To the Lassies!

Quote of the Day - George Washington

My Mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my Mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.

George Washington

It's character, not color, that separates Smith, Dungy

Michael Smith of ESPN notes that the two coaches of the this year's super bowl should be recognized and better known for something else. Full Story

Video - Pentecostals

MSNBC takes a look at pentecostals (Internet Explorer may be required).

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace

Do you know the story of William Wilburforce and John Newton? If not, you should. Rally the troops for February 23 when Amazing Grace hits the movie theaters.

Quote of the Day - Winston Churchill

Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill

The Patriots have the equation for success

You may or may not be sick of the New England Patriots. Hats off to the Patriots who won a game which looked as though the San Diego Chargers squandered numerous chances. Give credit to the Pats who never gave up. Good teams win pretty games and ugly ones.

Bill Bellichick has several key elements that result in success year in and year out. This article by Michael David Smith of Fox Sports scratches the surface of why the Patriots are the team nobody wants to play. Smith points out that some writers analyze the unexplained and attribute their success to "drive", "heart", or "swagger". When Carl von Clausewitz wrote On War, his analysis of great military commanders resulted in resignation of just calling it military genius. Like obsenity, he cannot define it but he knows it when he sees it.

Smith points that the Pats have two key players, one of them being Tom Brady. With the main pieces in place, Belichick manages a 53-man roster and a large coaching staff with delegation, a coherent team philosophy, fiscal responsibility, and in-depth character analysis. To top it all off, Belichick also displays tangible evidence of perhaps the rarest quality among leaders, the ability to listen.

Most good CEO's know they can only focus on one thing at a time. Belichick's players are told to focus on one game at a time while management focuses on the long-term. Management and the coaching staff prep players with game video almost as soon as the last game is over.

You may be sick of the Patriots but if you look closer, there is something to admire.

Video - Toyota

This video was too good to pass up and conveys some valuable lessons for not only US automakers but just about any other organization. Toyota is King in the automobile world right now and american automakers are scrambling to figure out what is wrong. Is it American culture? I think not. The following video (Internet Explorer may be required) takes a tour of a Toyota plant in Kentucky with American workers. If only American automakers could embrace change and dynamism like Toyota. Why they do not do this is another story. I would rather not dwell on what is wrong and instead focus on the solution. You will have to bear through an unrelated story about a Britain-France merger in the 1950's for the first 60 seconds. The wait is worth it. Full Story

Video of the Week - L'Eglise du Bon Berger

I visited L'Eglise du Bon Berger (Church of the Good Shepherd) a few years ago that was just outside of Paris. You do not need to speak French to see the spirit moving.