Yes folks its true. A movie about religion with Bill Maher as the roving reporter is coming to a theatre near you. Take your leaders and have a discussion afterwards. They got a little of every religion in it including us who believe in the rapture.

Just read this and well, all I have to say is why can’t we agree to disagree and stop focusing our attention on the things that divide us instead of the things that unite us. There are are group of people all in a tizzy over a woman “teaching pastor” having preached all three services in this church. Focus on your own God-given purposes on earth people and let women do what they feel called to do…if we as egalitarians “intepreted” scripture incorrectly, when we get to heaven we’ll tell God “my bad”. But I have a feeling He would still say “well done my good and faithful Sistah! You didn’t listen to those darn idiots!”

I can’t be an advocate for women in leadership “anywhere” and not talk about what is happening in politics right now with the Republicans. As you may have already heard, they named a woman, a 44 year old mother of five, that within two years went from Mayor to Governor …their Vice Presidential nominee. Wow! For Barack it took a few years to get known and then become a serious contender for the Presidential nomination for Democrats. For Palin, she literally is an overnight history making sensation.

When I heard about it, I turned to my husband and said, McCain didn’t want Obama to be the only one making history and he definitely wants to see if Hillary supporters would come to his side (assuming of course that people just supported her because she was a woman!). The comment Palin said within minutes of her announcement, “Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America, but it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all,” confirmed that to me even more. As an anti-abortion supporter I am sure McCain is hoping Evangelicals will join them since many were a little iffy on his own stand on issues important to them.

I feel it was an act of desperation although I am happy a woman was even considered. This announcement muffled the historic moment that the Democrats were enjoying since everyone is now talking about who will be a “heartbeat away from the presidency” should McCain win (and being the oldest President ever to be elected).
Just when we thought the race would settle down from what we were seeing with McCain, Clinton and Barack, now this. Sure is going to be interesting who votes for who come election day.

Four years ago, the world was introduced to a newcomer by the name of Barack Obama. Many raved about this newcomer and what a breath of fresh air he was to the Washington DC regular cronies. No one would have believed that on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, this man, a black man, would be accepting the Democratic party nomination for President…the first time in history! Who said dreams don’t come true! They don’t happen fast but they are possible. All I can say is WOW. It had been “rumored” that Hillary supporters were going to force a roll call fight on the floor but instead Hillary herself asked for a nomination by acclaimation to make Obama the official presidential candidate of the Democratics.

And with that it was written, “Clinton ended the longest, and perhaps closest, Democratic nomination battle in modern political history as the Democrats became the first major party to nominate an African-American to be president.” Classy chick I say! Yes it was a political move to unite the party but can we stop being cynical for a moment and appreciate the graciousness in which she acted!

This Democratic Convention has just exceeded my expectations on so many levels. The women particularly Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton rocked their speeches and were still elegant, feminine and smart while doing it! Joe Biden on Wednesday and Barack Obama today gave excellent speeches that went at McCain with a “bring it on I dare you” message. It’s been said that Obama had 80,000 in his convention while the Republicans are having trouble finding 10,000 to fill up their stadium for next week’s convention.

Obama emphasized middle-class economic themes but as far as I am concerned he went above that as well to make a speech that will outlive this moment, he addressed America’s divisions based on wealth and opportunity, rooted in slavery and segregation, revealed in crises such as Katrina, forgotten in a politics where only the rich seemed to count. While he didn’t produce an argument about the essential public role of religion he did share how faith in a united America on the foundation of our forefathers could move us out the rut that we are in…(ok, yes a “united” America on the heels of talking eschatology with my son is a bit anti-christish but it isn’t him, I’m about 99% sure LOL).

Oh but what a moment, Obama’s story is like many stories in America, of lives and wages stolen by fraud and violence, of being shaped more by a father’s absence than his presence (as I was), of millions who died with their hopes unfulfilled, of millions who never abandoned hope. This is the reason I watched the convention proceedings, this is the reason why I cried in front of my son before the television as we watched Obama’s speech. Because as he said “it was never about him, it is about us”. Because if his historical journey as a biracial, son of single parent, can end in the Oval Office then perhaps our very own dreams, yes, those dreams deferred can be fulfilled. Faces of men, women, children crying proved that this man was the change “coming to Washington” not “from Washington!” It was a speech made by a man who is saying keep hope alive…again.

I don’t want to underestimate his moment — I don’t want you to either because it was also our moment. What a moment it was!

I read this on my friend’s site, Pastor Matt Mehaffey of the Pursuit Christian Church. I could name hundreds of churches that would love for this to happen to them. Awesome how God worked for this church. Take a look…

I cook almost every day except the weekends. I love to cook actually. Well today I was making my meatloaf recipe and mashed potatoes (yeah very carb conscious lol). In my rush to get it done before my hubby got home, I forgot one important “detail” in making my meatloaf. I usually mix the ingredients first THEN add the ground beef. Today I just put everything in the pan and mixed it all together at one time, thinking I would save time. I added my secret sauce (ketchup, brown sugar and tomato sauce) on top and put the meatloaf in the oven.

60 minutes later.

I took out the meatloaf and immediately noticed that it didn’t have juices. Then I cut it into slices and noticed it was a little harder than usual. I started to prepare my husband’s plate (and mine) and a few minutes into it, my husband mumbled something about how the meatloaf was drier than usual. He noticed. Dag! So I went on to tell him how I did it “differently” this time. He jokingly said, girl didn’t you read “Who Moved My Cheese!” Don’t mess with the meatloaf! An ode to the meatloaf he loves. It got me to thinking…

Sometimes as leaders we want to sidestep, ignore or all together remove something from our personal or organizational lives thinking no one will notice. I think more people notice “something’s off” more than we realize.

Personally, if you don’t pray like you used to or don’t read the Word like you used to, it is going to show in how you talk, how you handle crisis, you know, the regular day to day.  Organizationally, if you don’t take the time to get to know your leaders, build your team, get to know your non-negotiables as an organization, appoint the right people with the right strength zone to a task, etc. it will show will things don’t get done right or at all in some cases, when the organization is more concerned with performance rather than God’s presence, and you get the deal.

So the take away today for me is this…do what you know is the right thing to do, follow the “recipe” for success according to God’s standards and please, please…don’t mess with the meatloaf. Someone will notice. Sure they may eat it (like we did) but they won’t necessarily be coming back or asking for seconds.

“Not long ago, two articles in USA Today defined evangelicals as people who are “conservative in their political, economic, and moral beliefs. David Kinnaman, in his widely read book Unchristian, discovered that among folks who are outsiders to the Christian faith, the number that had a good impression of the word evangelicals was 3%. To the rest, they were unknown. Or they were defined by what they are against.”

Read more about what John Ortberg has to say about this word here.

Ok so just in case you missed it…the first night of the Democratic Convention wasn’t looking too good, alot of the speakers were not saying much at all and most were there as a “thank you” for supporting Obama early on but then Kennedy took the post and things started to look up. Then, Michelle Obama spoke and well she rocked. It’s not that her speech was over the top exhilirating or informational, it was that she connected to what matters to the people…to me. My children’s future, dreaming of a better world and actually believing in that improbable dream…where the unlikely could happen if you work and try hard enough. Yeah, I liked the speech alot, there was even a point, she could have started to “hoop” what black preachers do as she started sharing on “it was strong enough…” towards the end of the speech.

“Maybe you have been asleep. You have never lived up to your potential. You have unfulfilled dreams and longings. If you’re dead, let Jesus raise you up to new life. If you have been sleepwalking, it’s time to wake up and start dreaming wide awake.” Erwin McManus in his new book  Wide Awake –The Future Is Waiting For You

In the last few months, dreaming has been a constant around and in me. It seems like many people including myself are dusting ourselves off, waking up to the still unfulfilled potential in our lives and organizations and at least attempting something, anything but what is.. It seems as if many are wide awake for the first time…again.I’m a reader as you may already have guessed and I’m almost finished with a book I started titled Wide Awake –The Future Is Waiting For You  and it’s been an interesting read. The way it’s written it’s almost like someone (Erwin himself) is having a series of  “sit downs”  with you and telling you to wake up and taste the coffee because there is still so much left for you personally to do. He talks about the world needing heros, about people waking up with a little sadness in the mornings, every morning because they know they are not living up to their dreams, he talks about a future world that needs to be created and it is waiting for you and me to get out of bed.

This theme was evident in Michelle Obama’s speech yesterday during the first night of the democratic convention when she shared toward the end of her speech “All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do - that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.”  It is evident in the millions of people who support his campaign because change is being sought and what is already established is just not doing the work needed or wanted.Erwin writes “…sometimes the limitations you are willing to accept establish the boundaries of your existence. Ever notice that people who refuse to give up seem to succeed the most? Ever notice that people who expect great things seem most likely to accomplish great things? If your dreams are supposed to be bigger than life, then your life will always be limited by the size of your dreams.”

In my own life, I know that I just kept pushing for something even if I didn’t really know if I could make it. I just felt like you will never know until you try and I would rather try than live with regret. Most things I did try, I succeeded in. There is only one thing I can recall that I failed in and really that was because I quit. But I don’t regret it since I believe that was what I needed to do, as Nelson Mandela stated in the Time article I posted about recently where he mentioned “quitting is leading too!”.

The church I attend is currently dreaming too and they are about to release their dream on September 14, 2008. You could see a hint of what they dream about here. Dreaming is not just for individuals. Organizations have dreams too, I have one for CEFL and sometimes the dream scares me because its big but again I go forth not really knowing if and when it will all pan out but I dare to dream anyway. Remember what Anais Nin said “dreams are necessary to life.” Dreaming creates a better future for the world and for you, so keep dreaming wide awake!

A friend, Jen Lemen, has a new gig writing for PBS Supersisters! You go girl! It’s a great site for moms to read about how these three very different sisters handle parenting. Jen’s regular blog is here.