After years of doping allegations, Lance Armstrong finally came clean… or mostly. After denying that he cheated, the famed cyclist admitted to using blood transfusions and a cocktail of drugs to cheat. Armstrong admitted to lying as millions tuned in to watch Oprah asked all the questions we wanted to ask. For months, shock and anger have been the reaction of choice to the man who founded an organization to “Live Strong” but cheated. In the end, Armstrong paid a price by losing endorsement deals, stepping down from his charity, and facing humiliation. Coming clean with a confession is no easy task. Especially when you are a celebrity and you
Oh… here he goes again.Pat Robertson made more conversational remarks on The 700 Club program that were sexist in nature. Robertson told viewers that women should fix themselves up in order to maintain their marriages. Pat Robertson gave advice to a daughter asking for help. The 17-year-old daughter was looking for ideas to aid her parent’s marriage. Her father spent his time playing video games and her parent’s marriage was in danger. The talk show preacher turned the situation into blaming women for martial trouble. Robertson said, “A woman came to a preacher I know — it’s so funny… She was awful-looking. Her hair was all torn up, she was
“I choose Business Ethics” – Billy Madison In the movie Billy Madison, young Madison (played by Adam Sandler) must out wit his rival to take control of his father’s company. Billy Madison picks the category of ethics in a winner-take-all contest because he knows his opponent lacks any sense of fairness when it came to business. The immature Billy wins the day because his opponent breaks down under the pressure of a sense of right and wrong. If Bernie Madoff, Enron, Bear-Sterns, and the sub-priming lending disaster are our examples of business ethics, then our culture could use more business ethics. Recently, Slate posed the idea that teaching ethics in business
I’m giving three great books this week! You can win and all you have to do is respond below using the giveaway form below. Here are the books I’m giving away (be sure to go to the bottom of the post to enter to win!): The Work of the Associate Pastor Alan R. Rudnick A new vocational volume in the best-selling “Work of the Church” series! Having spent more than ten years in pastoral staff ministry, Alan R. Rudnick brings a wealth of research and experience to the often undervalued ministry of the associate pastor. Inviting readers to understand associate ministry as more than training ground for a senior pastorate,
Click the preview of my article below with the Lewis Center for Church Leadership to read more about working with committees and boards. The article was from my book, The Work of the Associate Pastor. Leading Ideas, Lewis Center for Church Leadership, January 2, 2012.  
It was awful. It was embarrassing. I couldn’t watch it anymore. My team, the Washington Redskins had started a good fight against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night football. The Redskins came out strong and scored 14 points quickly. My team was looking like they were a sure win to continue into the NFL playoffs with strong momentum. I was hopefully that my Redskins were going to taste a Super Bowl after 20 years. And then, a Redskins fans greatest fear came to reality. Robert Griffin III our star rookie quarterback, who was not 100% healthy, sustained hit after hit and injury after injury. Mean while, the Seahawks put together
Starting today, you’ll see a new look from AlanRudnick.org! I hope you will continue to engage and visit often!  
You don’t think your staff are stretched thin? Don’t think you are above burning out? Have you checked the health of your organizational staff? Perhaps you underestimate the power of staff burnout in your congregation or organization. It’s real and it can hurt not just your organization, but families. Recently, a high-profile Baptist pastor in North Carolina became the latest ministry burnout case. Rev. Steve Shoemaker, who leads a 2,200-member Baptist church in Charlotte, entered a 30-day treatment program. In a rather quick move, Shoemaker sent a letter to his congregation outlining his need to step away. He wrote, “I’m physically, psychologically and spiritually depleted and must get help.” What leads
Wolfson Medical Center There are those who think health care in this country is poor, but what about billions of people who have no health care? In the morning, we arrived at the Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv. We met Tamar and she shared with us about To Save a Child’s Heart. To Save a Child’s Heart works with communities around the world who have children that need serious heart surgeries. The surgeries cost around $10,000. These children come from countries where there is no medical expertise in heart surgery. Surgeons are Jews and Muslims working side by side with their patients, some of which are Christians. These surgeries
St. George’s Sunday morning, we walked to nearby St. George’s Church (Anglican) in Jerusalem for a mass in a side chapel. It was a delight to experience worship in Jerusalem with liturgy. The priest gave an excellent reflection on John the Baptist in the midst of Advent. As we were exiting the church I noticed a large baptistry for immersion baptisms. I have heard of some Anglo-Catholic congregations returning to the ancient practice of immersion and even seen baptistries in Catholic churches. Sderot & Sderot Media Center We started our morning in one of the most dangerous locations in Israeli. Near Gaza, on the Israeli side of the boarder, is
World Council of Churches We started off the day by meeting with Yusef Daher, a Palestinian Christian working for the World Council of Churches. He works for non-violent ways to wage peace. He is the Executive Secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Center of the Heads of Churches of Jerusalem in association with the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches. Also, Yusef teaches at Bethlehem University in tourism. Yusef works within the World Council of Churches drawing together several church centered organizations and theologians striving for causes of residency, peace, current challenges for Christians. In 2009, these groups issued the Palestine Kairos document. (He told a
We departed from the Tent of Nations and went to the Old City section in Jerusalem. We traveled through a maze of covered and partly covered streets to make our way to a number of Holy Sites. The first stop we made was to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is said to be the place where Jesus was crucified and buried. The recent conflict between Palestinians and Israelis left many of the Holy Sites to be easily accessed because the conflict scared many away. It was very safe. As you walked into the church, at the top of the stairs, there was a small line to see the traditional