It’s not about me….. ….well it is – and it isn’t. When Jim asked me to be a “guest blogger” I at first said no. His gift being persistence, I find myself imagining I’m sitting in the chair on Inside the Actor’s Studio, being asked thoughtful (or al least what I imagine to be thoughtful) questions by James Lipton. It’s only to serve as an introduction. You’ll learn more about me if you come back again.

 

What was your nickname?  I never had one until our friend Sandy called me Pastor Dude. She’s the only one that uses it, except for my e-mail address, which uses it. People sometimes call me “Al”, which I respond to, though Catherine detests it because she says it sounds like I’m “…hanging out in a pool hall”.

How do you finance your passion?  My passion is ministry. I’m fortunate to be an associate for a world class strategy and technology consulting company, providing strategy development and leadership coaching to commercial and government clients. Prior to this I was a pastor. I’ve been a career Marine and worked in the aerospace/defense sector of our nation’s economy. Because of this background I offer strategy consulting services to churches and non-profits at a reduced rate.

The hardest thing for me to give up would be:  Discovering other people’s stories. That was the good part of being a pastor. Its also the best part of working with the clients I serve.

4 guests at my fantasy dinner would be:  Catherine, because she’s the most fascinating woman in the world. Ted Williams, Robert Frost and Winston Churchill would be the other three.

The thing I wish I’d said is:  “I can teach it to you but I can’t learn it for you.” It’s been attributed to a number of people but I think a Texas politician, former Texas House Speaker, Gib Lewis, said it first.

Something I say all the time is:  “Dig where the gold is unless you just really need the exercise.”

3 adjectives that describe me:  Organized, self starter, encouraging

My idea of a perfect vacation:  Two weeks on  Clearwater Beach or in the Rockies – anyplace really, as long as it’s with Catherine.

My all time favorite Christian writer is:  A toss up between C.S. Lewis and whatever author I’m currently reading.

My favorite movie is:  Another close race, with “The African Queen” and “Casablanca” as front runners. They’re both classics with my favorite actors. Closing the gap would be newer films like “Heartbreak Ridge” and “In the Line of Fire”. In the week between Christmas and New Years, when the Mall is nearly deserted, I Metro to the Lincoln Memorial with our son where we sit on the steps analyzing the previous year and run lines from In the Line of Fire – “I know things about people”, (when he turns around and looks at Lincoln’s likeness) “…wish I could have been there for you, pal.”

My autobiography will be titled:  “Stories I Couldn’t Tell When I was a Pastor”

In it, readers will learn that my “Pet Peeve” is:  Non-participants who feel compelled to criticize what they’re not involved in.

When Hollywood makes a movie: of my life Robert Duvall will play me. He’s a great character actor, but I’ll have to teach him to lose the accent.

I hope they shoot it on location in Tucson because it’s my favorite place.

I hope the cast party is at Top of the Town in Roslyn, VA because it’s my favorite restaurant. It overlooks the Potomac and has a view of the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial. Our best friends in Virginia, the Luc-i (pronounced “Luke-eye”) introduced us to it.

A valuable lesson I learned from my grandfather:  Be an original, the way God made you. Most people spend their life trying to be a copy of someone else.

Favorite Scripture:  The one that God is working into my life right now is:

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Matthew 6:29-34 in The Message

Books by my bedside:  I’ve got a bunch piled on my desk that relate to my doctorate. For recreational/personal enrichment I’ve got several others “stashed” in places where I spend time - Change Is Like a Slinky by Hans Finzel. I wish he’d write more because he’s a good writer, especially on leadership issues from a Christian perspective. American Jihad by Steven Emerson, on the terrorists in the United States. Hatred’s Kingdom by Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the UN, on how Saudi Arabia finances terrorism. The Weathering Grace of God by Ken Gire. He wrote the study guides for Insight for Living for a number of years. He seems to get better with each book he writes and this may be his best book yet.

The project I’ll never get done is:  Reading books

My northstar is:  “Semper Fi”, a shortened version of the Marine Corps’ Latin motto, “Semper Fidelis” – “Always Faithful”. It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 4:2:  ^“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere. I hope you come back again.

Oh, BTW, Jim – thanks for the polo shirts. The logo looks great and I didn’t really need to be bribed to write this. Though it was a nice touch.