1. health and fitness
2. exercise

LifeLines
an employee publication of LifeWay Christian Resources
APRIL 2015
SPRING
INTO
ACTION
THE BENEFITS OF EXERCISE
INTRALIFE
Find up-to-date
employee news and
helpful tools at:
lntralife.lifeway.com
LifeLines
April 2015 • Volume 19; Issue 3
Inside:
Staff:
Carol Pipes, manager, editorial services
Matt Erickson, managing editor
Katie Shull, graphic designer
Aaron Earls, online editor
Marty King, director, communications
team
3
Slices
4
Take your friends on a walk
5Spring into action
7Creating a hack-proof password
85 questions with Bible Studies for Life’s J.R. Lovins
10
Staff Spotlight: Craig Featherstone
12
LifeWay celebrates 20 years with Beth Moore
14 Pursuit of Excellence recipients honored
15
Store manager shares gospel and a meal
with LDS missionaries
15 Employee Milestones
16
Devotional: New things have come
LifeLines is published monthly for
employees of LifeWay Christian
Resources of the Southern Baptist
Convention. One LifeWay Plaza,
Nashville, TN 37234.
© 2014 LifeWay Christian Resources.
All rights reserved. For employee
distribution only.
Upcoming Chapels:
April 8:
Danny Akin
April 22:
Thom Rainer
May 6:
Darron Edwards
May 20:
Greg Matte
Danny Akin is president of
Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary.
LifeWay President Thom S.
Rainer will speak to employees.
Darron Edwards is pastor of
United Believers Community
Church in Kansas City, Missouri.
He is also a LifeWay trustee and
author.
Gregg Matte is the senior
pastor of Houston’s First Baptist
Church.
2 LifeLines
Slices
What’s your favorite music genre?
Monthly dose of useful tidbits
We recently posed that question to LifeWay employees and here are the results of
our IntraLife poll:
Rock ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 31%
Country/Western ••••••••••••••••••• 19%
R&B/Pop •••••••••••••••••• 18%
Blues/Jazz •••••••••••••• 14%
Classical ••••••••••• 11%
Hip Hop/Rap •••••• 6%
As you can see, Rock music took the title with almost one-third (31 percent) of
voters saying it’s their musical genre of choice. Given the large concentration of
employees in Nashville—country music central—we might have expected a slightly
higher vote total coming from the Country/Western music fans among us. Still, at
19 percent of the vote, honky-tonk music earned a respectable second place.
Corporate services at
your fingertips
N
eed to make a facilities request? Or how
about travel arrangements? There’s a ton
of useful information available through the
corporate services tab on the IntraLife homepage
including:
Medical Emergencies - Includes important contacts, instructions, addresses, forms,
etc., for dealing with life-threatening and non-life-threatening emergencies.
Workplace
etiquette
DO
• Do wear headphones or
earbuds when
listening to music
at your desk.
• Do smile at
coworkers as you
pass in the hall.
• Do make another
pot of coffee if
you drink the last cup.
DON’T
• Don’t clip your
nails in public.
• Don’t say you’ll
be there in 10
minutes if it’s
really 20.
• Don’t leave a
mess in the
microwave.
HELP
ME
HELP
ME
Nashville Campus Directory - Shows floor diagram with highlighted office location, room number, employee photo, mail stop number, and phone number.
Facilities - Includes online form for entering work orders and office moves as
well as campus maps, floor plans, and energy savings and recycling reports. Also
includes methods for tracking incoming packages internally and initiating outgoing
shipments.
Print Services - You can request a print quote, submit, and withdraw archived
documents, and request shredding services and parcel moves.
Conference Services - Initiate conference room reservations, download visitor maps, order catering, initiate meal tickets, and find information on upcoming
events.
Travel and Text Management - Helpful links to initiate travel reservations and
expense reports and request text management services.
Life Safety and Security - Safety training, badge and visitor information, and
information on what to do in emergency situations.
Information provided by Tom Lamb, engineering and business support manager
“Prayerlessness
clearly demonstrates
a belief in our own
self-sufficiency.”
—Tony Merida, Ordinary: How to Turn the
World Upside Down (B&H, 2014)
LifeLines
3
TAKE YOUR
FRIENDS
FOR A WALK
By Bob Smietana
A
PHOTO BY CAROL PIPES
few years ago, my doctor gave me three tips for improving my health.
Pay attention to what you eat. Buy some comfy shoes.
Go for a walk every day.
That advice changed my life. I lost more than 70 pounds,
tamed my Type 2 diabetes, and even ran a few half marathons.
Recently, however, I realized my doctor left out one key
piece of advice. He should have told me to take a few friends
along on my daily perambulations.
A new report from researchers at the University of East
Anglia shows going for a walk with a few friends or coworkers can have a remarkable impact on your health.
“Outdoor walking groups have wide-ranging health benefits including reducing blood pressure, body fat, total cholesterol, and risk of depression,” researchers wrote in the British
4 LifeLines
Employees Heather Nunn, Matt Erickson,
Kevin Walker, Aaron Earls, and Emily Ellis
enjoy a springtime walk in downtown Nashville.
Spring
into action
Journal of Sports Medicine. Walking groups had “high
levels of adherence” among their members, making it
more likely they actually go out for a walk. And researchers found no downsides to being part of a walking group.
Most of the groups in the study took fairly easy walks,
some as short as 10 minutes.
“It’s very small levels of exercise that people need
to do,” researcher Sarah Hanson told Time magazine.
“Increasingly we’re thinking, let’s not overburden
people by saying you need to do all these massive
amounts of minutes of exercise. Let’s keep talking about
10 minute bouts of exercise.”
Joining a walking group or just taking a few friends
for a lunchtime stroll is a great way to add some extra
exercise to your life.
That’s something most of us could use. According to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer
than half (48 percent) of Americans get enough exercise
each week.
And many Americans don’t mind going for a stroll.
About 6 in 10 walk at least 10 minutes a week, according
to the CDC. A lunchtime or after-work stroll can boost
that number.
Walking may also help you be more productive at
work. A good walk gives you a chance to think without
the distractions of smartphones and social media. Regular
walking can also help improve your memory, according
to a study from the University of British Columbia.
So this week, grab a few friends and go for a walk. It
will do your heart and your brain some good.
And it might help you live longer, says New York
Times columnist Gretchen Reynolds, author of The First
20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can
Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer.
“If people want to be healthier and prolong their
life span, all they really need to do is go for a walk,”
Reynolds said in a recent interview with the New York
Times. “It’s the single easiest thing anyone can do.” r
Former LifeWay writer, Bob Smietana is now senior
news editor for Christianity Today.
P
leasant temperatures and more daylight hours make
spring the perfect time of year to get back in step with
a healthy lifestyle. Studies show that adding as little
as 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise to your day
improves health and extends life. According to the Harvard
Medical School and Centers for Disease Control, the benefits of exercise last long after you kickoff your sneakers.
Here’s how:
Create good vibes
When you’re physically active,
your brain releases endorphins that
naturally fight stress and improve
your mood. Harvard Medical
School’s report, Healthy Mind,
Healthy Body: Benefits of Exercise,
revealed that these mood-lifting
hormones can keep you feeling
upbeat all day. In the words of Elle
Woods in Legally Blonde, “Exercise
gives you endorphins. Endorphins
make you happy. Happy people just
don’t shoot their husbands, they just
don’t.”
Build strong bones
Exercises like walking, jogging,
tennis, basketball, and strength
training can help ward off agerelated bone loss.
While you exercise, your
lungs pass up to 200 pints
of air in and out each minute.
When not exercising, the
average for most people is
12 pints a minute.
LifeLines
5
Increase heart health
Exercise lessens the likelihood of getting heart
disease, the No. 1 killer of both women and
men in America. Regular exercise helps prevent
plaque buildup, helps arteries retain resilience,
and increases the number of blood vessels feeding the heart.
Reduce cancer risk
The Benefits of Exercise report revealed that
regular exercise can help reduce the risk for
many cancers—including breast, colon, and
lung—by helping the body regulate hormone
production and blood sugar, reducing chronic
inflammation, and boosting immunity.
Be sick less often
Moderate activity on a daily or almost-daily
basis seems to have a cumulative benefit for your
immune system, improving its ability to fight off
infection. Goodbye springtime colds.
Increase lifespan
Harvard’s Benefits of Exercise report revealed
exercise can add years to your life. Moderate
activity can add on 3 years for men and 1.5
years for women. High activity can increase
your lifespan even more—3.7 years for men
and 3.5 years for women. Exercise may be the
real fountain of youth!
Sleep more deeply
The National Sleep Foundation found that
regular exercise can help you have a better
night’s sleep. Those who participate in
aerobic exercise have a tendency
to secrete more growth hormone
while they sleep, which helps
your body repair and
rejuvenate itself.
6 LifeLines
Prevent cognitive decline and
sharpen memory
Scientists have discovered exercise seems
to slow or reverse the brain’s physical
decay, which is good news since most of
us will lose about 1 percent annually of the
volume of the hippocampus, an important
part of the brain for memory and learning.
Exercise and a healthy diet can help shore
up the brain against cognitive decline.
Boost brainpower
Various studies show exercise can create
new brain cells and improve brain performance. A tough workout increases levels
of a protein known as BDNF, which is
believed to help with decision making,
higher thinking, and learning.
Overcome creative blocks
A study published in the British Journal
of Sports Medicine found moderate physical activity can boost creativity for up to
two hours after a workout.
While you exercise, your heart
may pump up to 20 liters of blood
per minute (40 liters for well-trained
endurance athletes), which is
quadruple the 5 liters per
minute that’s typical
while resting.
Creating a hack-proof password
By Aaron Earls
A
s part of a late night TV gag, Jimmy Kimmel sent a camera out onto Hollywood Boulevard and asked people to
share their online passwords. People in the video readily
gave theirs away after only a few questions by the interviewer.
After one man realized what he had done, he smacked himself
on the head and said, “Oh, now you know my password!”
Unfortunately, in many cases you don’t even need to ask
someone questions to figure out their password—it can be
easily guessed. The three most popular passwords last year
were “123456,” “password,” and “12345.” The rest of the
top 25 aren’t much better. But according to LifeWay’s Kevin
Cecil, developing a strong password is vital to personal and
corporate online security.
Cecil says hackers collectively cost society up to $500
billion every year, from lost productivity, cost of repairing
damage, and actual cash from compromised users. Stolen
passwords are the number one way accounts are hacked.
While it may make you feel safer, modern password hacking tools render useless requirements like mixing in upper
and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. “All
that really accomplishes,” says Cecil, “is making it harder for
you to accurately key in your
password, especially on a
mobile device.”
So what is the key to
having a secure password?
Length. According to Cecil,
15 characters should be the
absolute minimum. “It really
just comes down to math,”
he says. “The more characters in a password, the more
combinations are possible.
The more combinations possible, the longer it takes for a
hacking program to break the
code.”
Once your password
exceeds 15 characters, it
would take years for the tools
to crack it. “Most hacking
programs give up and move
on to easier pickings after
only a few minutes,” Cecil
says.
To create an easy to remember password that provides the
length needed to deter hackers, Cecil recommends developing what are commonly known as “pass phrases” such as
ILiveInTheBestCityIn2015. Because it is 24 characters, it
would take hacking software decades to guess it, but it’s easy
to remember. Those are the two keys to developing a good
password, Cecil says—easy to remember, but hard to guess.
Cecil also recommends different passwords for different
accounts. “If you use the same password and that password is
somehow compromised, the bad guy would have all access,”
Cecil says.
When trying to juggle several long passwords, it can be
tempting to create a folder or spreadsheet on your computer
with all of your accounts and passwords. But this can be
dangerous. “The first thing a thief does when he steals your
computer is look for a file named ‘passwords,’” says Cecil. “A
better solution is to use a password management application.”
LifeWay IT is currently evaluating several of these options. r
Aaron Earls (@WardrobeDoor) is online editor
of FactsAndTrends.net.
Kevin Cecil logs onto password security software at his desk.
He recommends employees use at least 15-character passwords.
LifeLines
7
5 questions with
Bible Studies for
Life’s J.R. Lovins
by Matt Erickson
J.R. Lovins is brand manager of Bible
Studies for Life. We asked him about
the purpose of the curriculum and its
impact on the local church.
Describe the Bible Studies for Life
curriculum and tell us what need it
seeks to meet in the church.
Bible Studies for Life is LifeWay’s ongoing Bible study curriculum that takes various life issues as its starting point. Each
week’s lesson focuses on where the Bible meets life. We realize
some churchgoers feel like the Bible doesn’t directly address
real-life issues. But Bible Studies for Life shows how the Bible
is filled with guiding principles that help people deal with the
real problems they face. Each study shows how the Bible is
relevant to our lives and aims to disciple people with intentionality and wisdom. Bible Studies for Life is designed to help
churches connect people who are not fully-connected to the
church body, while providing transformational discipleship
material within small groups. Because Bible Studies for Life
is aligned across all age groups, families can have meaningful
discussions about what they learned at church.
In addition to the ongoing studies, we have six-week topical
studies available for small groups.
8 LifeLines
What gets you most excited about
Bible Studies for Life approach?
Any personal favorites among the
various offerings?
I like how Bible Studies for Life focuses on life application because information alone can’t lead to transformation. Our desire it to see changed lives and people who
are fully-devoted followers of Jesus. As far as a specific
study, I think Connected by Thom Rainer really resonates
with people because it challenges churchgoers to develop
a biblical understanding of what it means to be a part of
the body of Christ. It seems like many Christians have
developed a faulty view of what it means to be a church
member and that issue is addressed head-on in the Connected study.
What are some successes your
team has experienced so far?
Currently, Bible Studies for Life is being used by about
1.8 million people every week. That means almost 2 million people are in Bible study gatherings every week using
a study that is rooted in Scripture, focused on Christ, and
that encourages life application. We think that’s awesome.
What have been some challenges?
What have you learned?
We’ve learned that 75 percent of group leaders would
appreciate more guidance from pastors, staff, and/or ministry directors in the selection of study materials for their
groups. The challenge is working with each church to
help them understand which study is best for each group.
We created the GO campaign to help walk churches
through the process of selecting the right study materials,
but the number of churches that use LifeWay resources
is astonishing, and it will take additional efforts to reach
each one.
What does the ongoing work of
Bible Studies for Life look like? What
are some of the plans for it in the
future?
We recently revised our advanced Bible study option
and added a teacher’s guide for the studies. And we’re
planning to “refresh” the brand in fall 2016. Our initial
three-year scope and sequence is ending in the summer
of 2016, so fall 2016 is a natural relaunch point. As we’ve
evaluated customer feedback, along with other aspects of
Bible Studies for Life, we’ve realized these studies don’t
need to be entirely redesigned or rebranded. We believe
wholeheartedly that Bible Studies for Life speaks to reallife issues, is appreciated, and is needed in our churches. r
“I love watching the Bible come alive
among the young adults I lead. Many in
my Bible study group went to a Christian
school, so they know information about
the Bible. But I enjoy watching them engage in discussion, deal with the tension
between what the Bible says and what culture says, and see
how the Scripture speaks to how they live.”
—Lynn Pryor, publishing team leader,
LifeWay Groups
“I enjoy the emphasis on genuine
discussion within the group experience. The BSFL team spends hours
crafting the questions that go along
with each session. Every question is
carefully designed to help group members engage one
another in transformational conversation.”
—Sam O’Neal, content editor,
Bible Studies for Life for Adults
“I love teaching the curriculum we
work so hard to produce. This year,
I’ve been teaching it to one of my
sons. It’s so neat to watch the curriculum come to life and see it benefit one
of my own children. The Bible Studies
For Life Kids team is extremely close and we love working together. I love the opportunities I have to help direct
their work. I’m also able to have great conversations with
customers. The BSFL Kids product family includes nine
age groupings and one line specifically for special needs
learners, so we have a comprehensive line of curriculum to
meet the needs of any church.”
—Jeff Land, content editor, Bible Studies for Life for Kids
LifeLines
9
Staff Spotlight: Craig Featherstone
Living
the
Dream
Craig Featherstone during his Chezwick band days in the 80s.
10 LifeLines
By Bob Smietana
A
s a college student in the early 1980s,
Craig Featherstone dreamt of becoming a rock star. His band Chezwick—named for a character in One Flew
Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—played gigs all
over the southeast, from small town bars to
the Egyptian Ballroom at the Fox Theater in
Atlanta.
Among their favorites to play were songs
by Aerosmith, Bad Company, and the Led
Zeppelin classic, “Stairway to Heaven.”
“We just crushed it,” he says. “I wanted to
be the new Robert Plant.”
But his plans for a life in music were
derailed after a friend convinced him to
spend a summer selling Bibles door to door
in Mississippi for the Varsity Company, then
part of Thomas Nelson.
At the time, Featherstone, who is now
director of LifeWay Global Resources,
didn’t have much interest in matters of faith.
He’d grown up Catholic but never had any
personal discipleship.
Still, he thought he could make a few
dollars selling Bibles with his friend. As it
turned out, the experience changed his life.
During training for the Varsity Company,
he learned sales techniques and some details
about the Bibles he’d be selling. But he was
also exposed to the gospel in a personal way.
The head of the program talked about
his own faith during the training, which
intrigued Featherstone, then a student at
Auburn University.
“He talked a lot about what real success in
life was about,” Featherstone said. And that
message stuck with him during the first summer he sold Bibles.
He’d been plopped down in Columbia,
Mississippi, with a faux-leather case full of
Bible and resources, and knocked on at least 50 doors a
500 companies like Coca-Cola and Christian ministries
day. Since the job was 100 percent commission based—if
like Focus on the Family. That led to a job in marketing
he didn’t sell, he didn’t eat. That first week, he worked 92 at Thomas Nelson, where he eventually became a Bible
hours and made $140 dollars.
publisher.
“You figure in how much money I spent on gas and
While at Nelson, he worked on a project called Voices
food and rent, and I lost money my first week,” he said.
of the Faithful, a series of daily devotions written by IMB
But Featherstone had a knack for selling. Many of the
missionaries and edited by Beth Moore. That project
people he talked with wanted a
opened his eyes to the work of the
Bible for their own personal study,
church overseas. Before then, he
or to pass on to a family member.
says, Featherstone didn’t care much
Some wanted to buy an abridged
about missions.
encyclopedia that Varsity also sold,
“The Lord used that to soften my
to help their kids in school.
heart,” he says.
“I learned to attach sales to
About 10 years ago, Featherstone
things that people needed,” says
came to LifeWay to work with
Featherstone.
B&H. One of his hopes was to help
What really struck him, however,
expand LifeWay’s international
was the hospitality and kindness of
presence.
some of the people he met. Many
His experience selling Bibles door
invited him to have something to
to door is still paying off. In those
eat, or to visit their church. One
early days, he talked with Christians
of them was the pastor of a small
of all kinds, from Presbyterians to
Pentecostal church who invited
Pentecostals. That prepared him to
Featherstone to sing at a revival
serve Christians around the world,
meeting, even though he wasn’t a
he says.
believer.
“Most Christians in the world are
Featherstone’s work and family keep him smiling.
“There I was, in this tiny PenteHe is called “Pops” by his grandson, Hudson, and is neither Southern nor Baptists,” he
indeed “living the dream.”
costal church, singing ‘Sail On’ by
says. But they still need the biblical
the Imperials,” he says. “They had
resources LifeWay provides.
to teach it to me before the service.”
Featherstone, who is 53, didn’t give up music comBy the end of the summer, Featherstone had become
pletely after leaving Chezwick. He continued to lead
one of the most successful salesmen in the program. And
worship for years and still enjoys singing. But he’s happy
he was ready to accept Christ.
in his work and in spending time with his family. He and
Back at Auburn, he joined the Navigators and Camhis wife Kathy, who’ve been married 29 years, have three
pus Crusade for Christ. The Navigators taught him to
grown children and a pair of grandsons.
love the Bible, while Campus Crusade taught him the
“At our house, we say we’re living the dream.” r
importance of evangelism. Those two themes, along with
Former LifeWay writer Bob Smietana is now senior news
the skills he learned selling Bibles door to door, shaped
editor for Christianity Today.
Featherstone’s career.
He worked at an ad agency in Atlanta, serving Fortune
LifeLines
11
LIF
S
TE
E
C
L
EB R
Y
A
A
W
E
By Carol Pipes
T
his year LifeWay Christian Resources is celebrating 20 years of
ministry partnership with author
and Bible study teacher Beth Moore.
“Today we are honoring Beth Moore,
but more important than that we are
giving glory to God for His work
through this ministry,” said LifeWay
President and CEO Thom S. Rainer at a
special chapel celebration on Feb. 11.
“Beth Moore’s ministry has reached
millions,” Rainer said. “Untold men and
women have come to Christ because
of her influence both directly and
indirectly. She has been a stalwart for
the Word of God, never compromising. And when all is said and done,
the impact of Beth Moore can only be
measured in eternity’s grasp. We are
privileged to honor her this day.”
12 LifeLines
Rainer presented Moore with a piece
of art created from tiny pieces of paper
cut from the covers and pages of each of
her Bible studies. The artwork represents two decades worth of work and
biblical inspiration.
A little know fact is Beth Moore’s
first manuscript was turned down
by LifeWay, then the Baptist Sunday
School Board. Fortunately, saner heads
prevailed. Lee Sizemore, then a video
producer at the Baptist Sunday School
Board made a trip to Texas to hear this
young, energetic Bible study teacher at
Houston’s First Baptist Church. The
decision was made to ask for the manuscript back.
LifeWay published Moore’s first
Bible study—A Woman’s Heart: God’s
Dwelling Place—in 1995. Today, her
studies have reached more than 21
million women worldwide. Over two
decades, Moore’s ministry has extended
to 17 Bible studies translated into 17
languages, along with numerous books
and 166 Living Proof Live events.
During the celebration, Moore
reminisced about the first study. Her
husband, Keith, surprised her by taking
her to the Houston LifeWay store and
showing her the finished product on the
shelf. “There it was, the ugliest cover I
ever loved,” said Moore. “We bought
every copy in the store.
“What began as a publishing relationship turned headlong and heartlong into
a ministry partnership,” Moore told
employees. “I’m so filled with memories and thankful for all the people who
I’ve worked with over the years. I can’t
“Beth is the real deal. She is
exactly the same yesterday,
today, and tomorrow regarding those things that are most
important to her. She has a
unique way of connecting with
women and has stayed relevant
by teaching something new and
fresh at every event and in each
study. Her love for God and
His Word are contagious.”
— Faith Whatley, director,
Adult Ministry
LifeWay President and CEO Thom S. Rainer presents Beth Moore with a collage created from the
covers of each of her Bible studies. The artwork represents two decades of work and biblical inspiration.
Photo by Kent Harville
thank you enough for the joy to partner of lettuce. Only what is compelled by
with you.”
the spirit will last.
Through tears and laughter, Moore
“Today we’ve had the opportunity to
thanked her family for their support
look over our shoulders at these past 20
and encouragement through the years.
years. But we also look ahead because
And she thanked LifeWay for standing
we have a task to complete.”
with her and allowing her to do the one
Moore told employees she is astonthing she feels most
ished at the breadth
called to do—teach
of discipleship
BY THE NUMBERS:
women how to love
material available to
21 Million Women Reached
and live on God’s
the body of Christ
17 Bible Studies
Word.
through LifeWay.
17 Languages
Referring to Acts
Citing Paul’s words
166 Living Proof Live Events
20, Moore pointed
in Acts 20:20 Moore
to the Apostle Paul
told employees,
as an example of
“You did not hold
how to live out God’s ministry calling.
back anything that would be helpful,
To fulfill our calling, she said, we must
all for one reason, because Jesus said go
make an emotional investment, be com- and make disciples.
pelled by the spirit, and be determined
“It’s been a blast to look back on
to finish the task.
these last 20 years,” Moore said, “but
“Our temptation is to be compelled
now let’s go onward in the name of the
by our culture,” Moore said. “But if
living Lord Jesus Christ who is worthy
you and I are compelled by culture and
of it all; we shall not hold back.” r
not by the spirit of God, whatever we
Carol Pipes is manager of editorial
produce will have the shelf life of a head services.
“Beth is one of the easiest
authors to work with as an
editor. She respects the contribution of every person on a
project. She is just as genuine
and loving in the trenches of
hard work as in the limelight.
I’ve seen her in periods of
enormous stress and times of
grief, but I’ve never seen her
lose her passion for Jesus, her
zeal for excellence, nor her
kindness toward others.”
—Dale McCleskey, editor,
Adult Ministry Publishing
“I’ve worked with and known
Beth for over 20 years. It means
so much to all of us who work
with Beth that she is the same
person behind the scenes as
she is on a teaching platform
or in her Bible Studies. She’s
truly one of the most authentic, consistent believers I have
ever met. And she has pointed
thousands of women to Jesus
and emulated what it means to
truly know Him and love Him
through His Word.
—Betsy Langmade, event
coordinator, LifeWay
LifeLines
13
Pursuit of Excellence
recipients honored
PHOTO BY JUSTIN WYLIE
By Matt Erickson
D
uring a special chapel service in March, LifeWay
president and CEO Dr. Thom S. Rainer announced
the recipients of the 2014 Pursuit of Excellence award.
LifeWay’s leadership created the award to recognize top
employees who exhibited leadership qualities and exceptional
performance during the year.
“These recipients work with a strong sense of urgency.
They aren’t defined or confined by their job descriptions.
They push the boundaries taking on new projects, implementing new processes, sharing new ideas,” says Rainer.
Dr. Rainer recognized the following 25 employees: Tom
Crocker (LifeWay Resources/CRD), Ken Braddy (LifeWay
Resources/CRD), Landry Holmes (LifeWay Resources/
CRD), Jessica Hupp (LifeWay Resources/CRD), Christi
Kearney (LifeWay Resources/CRD), Betsy Langmade
(LifeWay Resources/CRD), Andrea Kandler (LifeWay
Resources/CRD), Erica Davis (LifeWay Resources/CRD),
Jon Wilke (Insights), Robert Suggs (FBSD), Marcus Rich
(FBSD), Sharon Aylestock (FBSD), Amanda Plumlee
(FBSD), Ryan Means (IT), Kevin Cecil (IT), David Humphrey (LifeWay Resources/B&H), Jim Kilcullen (LifeWay
Resources/B&H), Kelli Kelly (LifeWay Resources/B&H),
Rachel Spears (LifeWay Resources/B&H), Jean Eckenrode
(LifeWay Resources/B&H), Lori Adams (Retail), Matt Jag14 LifeLines
gers (Retail), Kristin Parks (Retail), Rachel McRae (Retail),
Andy Hughes (Retail).
Out of the nearly 100 nominations submitted for the 2014
Pursuit of Excellence award, the executive leadership team,
working with input from divisional leaders, finalized the list
of recipients in the fall.
An employee can be nominated for the award not only by
his or her manager or supervisor, but also by his or her peers.
Peer nomination allows any employee to be eligible for the
award. Directors have an opportunity to speak into the nomination process by providing additional supporting comments
about the nominee’s performance.
The award not only provides public recognition in front
of LifeWay’s Nashville employees, but it also includes a cash
bonus and additional vacation days in celebration of the
recipient’s accomplishments. A luncheon with Dr. Rainer and
the vice presidents rounds out the benefits of receiving the
Pursuit of Excellence award.
“They represent LifeWay well, and they represent the Lord
well. I’m honored to call them colleagues, and I’m proud of
their commitment to excellence,” says Rainer.
Congratulations to this year’s recipients. r
Matt Erickson is managing editor of LifeLines.
ok
Co
ily
nL
e
on
EMPLOYEES CELEBRATING AN
ANNIVERSARY OF 25 YEARS OR MORE
a rd
ie
Trac
L is
a
n
Va
Sic
kle
H u ntly
T
hree Mormon missionaries came into an Alabama LifeWay store looking for some music
and a Bible. They left with a gospel conversation and plans to meet a new friend for a meal and
more discussions.
John Long, manager of the
Florence (Alabama) LifeWay
store is ready to share with
members of the Church of
Latter Day Saints when they
visit his store. “I’m very passionate about the LDS people,
so when I see missionaries
John Long
I immediately jump at the
opportunity to help them,” he
says.
Years of studying Mormon theology, as well as
evangelistic mission trips to Utah, helped Long prepare for encounters like the one he had recently.
After noticing the three Mormon missionaries
in the store, Long engaged them, helped them find
a Bible, and shared the gospel with them. “They
asked lots of questions about some of the differences between orthodox Christianity and Mormonism,” he says. “They were very engaged and
interested in the conversation.”
Due to their interest in continuing the dialogue,
Long invited them to his home for a meal and more
theological conversation. They were particularly
interested in talking about the Trinity, he says.
The three men came to dinner and stayed more
than two hours. They talked a lot about the differences between Long’s beliefs and their own. “We
camped on this for awhile,” he explains, “because
they said it broke their hearts that I didn’t believe
they were Christians.”
According to Long, along with the Trinity, they
discussed what the Bible says about false prophets;
despite Joseph Smith’s claims, the founder of Mormonism made numerous false prophecies. “They
conceded that he had made prophecies that never
came true, but they still believed he was a prophet,”
Long says.
Employee Accomplishments
m
To
By Aaron Earls
Milestones
M ar
Store manager
shares gospel and
a meal with LDS
missionaries
Human Resources provided the following:
APRIL
ANNIVERSARIES
5 YEARS
Gwen Fink, Beaverton (Oregon)
LifeWay Christian Store; Lydia
Foster, logistics; Garry Fulton,
Bibles, reference, and commentary; Libby Purvis, customer
service; Kevin Rudd,
B&H Global; Joseph Steimle,
information technology; Bryan
Williams, worship
10 YEARS
Cheryl Frazier, worship;
Rolando Gonzalez, B&H
Global; John Grime, logistics;
Sharen Rice, Columbus North
(Ohio) LifeWay Christian Store;
Shelley Richardson, CRD technology; Matt Scheffer, Webster
(Texas) LifeWay Christian Store
15 YEARS
Sanford, customer service
25 YEARS
Myra Boyce, logistics; Tom
Huntley, Ridgecrest; Marilyn
Leonard, retail store operations
30 YEARS
Tracie Cook, adult ministry; Lisa
Van Sickle, Bakersfield (California) LifeWay Christian Store
RETIREES
Retired employees as of March 1:
Pam Goodwin, 35 years of service; Phyllis Kelley, 41 years of
service; Harold Pinto, 10 years of
service; David Swafford, 51 years
of service; Mercy Swander, 32
years of service
Retired employees as of April 1:
Connie Jarrell, 15 years of service; Dale McCleskey, 22 years of
service; Becky Rau,16 years of
service
Randy Alexander, information technology; Rusty Faulks,
human resources; Sherry Ivy,
marketing and business support;
Connie Jarrell, worship; Gloria
(Continued on back page)
LifeLines
15
John Long
(Continued from page 15)
After talking about
several other areas of difference, the missionaries
agreed to meet with Long
again.
Since their initial conversation over dinner,
Long has met with them
several more times at the
LifeWay store during his
lunch break. While one of
the three returned home
after his mission, he and
Long have kept in contact
through Facebook. “No
one has come to Lord yet,
but we have had some
awesome conversations,”
he says.
Long recognizes the step
it would be for the missionaries to embrace Christianity, but he is hopeful.
“I know for them to
accept Christ on their
mission in front of other
missionaries would be a
true miracle,” he says. “My
prayer is to put a pebble
in their shoe and for the
Holy Spirit to say something through me that gets
them seeking the truth of
Christ.” r
Aaron Earls is online editor
of FactsAndTrends.net.
LifeLines
New things have come
Devotional
Strengthening your faith
By Elizabeth Hyndman
I
am writing this in the midst of Icepocalypse
2015. In Nashville, that means we are on
Day 23 of kids being out of school (perhaps
I’m exaggerating). In other parts of the country, like Boston, the snow has piled up so high
people are digging mazes on the sidewalks to
get around. People are and have been, quite
literally, trapped—in their homes, in their
cars, in coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and boots.
It’s been interesting to watch everyone’s
reaction to snow and ice. At the beginning of
this weather occurrence (that sounds meteorologist-y, right?), everyone was cheerful
and excited. Snow! Finally! Instagram filled
with pictures of kids bundled and sledding,
of snowmen, and of sparkling ice-covered
trees. Day Two was more of the same. By Day
Three, the pocalypse part of Icepocalypse
began to show. Pipes were freezing, electricity
went out, kids were tired of playing out in the
now-slush, and—perhaps most alarming—
people were out of bread, milk, and eggs.
And the world began to look for spring.
Romans 6:6-11 says, “For we know that our
old self was crucified with Him in order that
sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved
to sin, since a person who has died is freed
from sin’s claims. Now if we died with Christ,
we believe that we will also live with Him,
because we know that Christ, having been
raised from the dead, will not die again. Death
no longer rules over Him. For in light of the
fact that He died, He died to sin once for all;
but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives
to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead
to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
LifeLines is published monthly for employees of LifeWay
Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234.
Winter, for many reasons, accurately
represents death. This week, I’ve been thinking about how it represents our death with
Christ. Like the snow and ice, sin entraps and
entangles us (Hebrews 12:1). It looks pretty
and fun at first, but soon we long to be free
from it. And that is the beauty of winter—it
ends. Spring is coming.
Spring is a beautiful representation of our
lives in Christ. If winter is our dying, spring
is our new life. We are free from the entrapment of sin, and we are made new. We take
off our old selves—the snow is shoveled, we
peel off the layers of coats and gloves and
scarves and boots, the ice melts—and we put
on Christlikeness (Ephesians 4:22-24). I think
of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “old things have passed
away and look, new things have come.” As
the snow melts, I know my Instagram feed
will be full of daffodils rising from the cold
ground. There will be an exchange of boots
for sandals and of icy tree branches for green
leaves. The world will say, “Look, new things
have come.”
There is a call here for those who already
follow Christ—those who died with Christ
and were raised from the dead. We are to
be like spring in the midst of winter. We are
covered by grace and no longer trapped by sin
and our old lives. Instead, we should be those
whose lives say, “Look, new
things have come.” r
Elizabeth Hyndman is content
and production editor, Adult
Ministry Short Term Studies.