Bietz's Blog

I just finished reading "The Reason for God" and would recommend it to anyone who has experienced the mounting pressure of a secular society that discounts God’s existence, and questions the Biblical account of life on earth.  Timothy Keller is a minister in New York City where he has had many opportunities to confront those who would discount the presence of God in their lives.  He is unapologetically an apologist for Christianity and he mounts cogent arguments for taking a Christian worldview.  It is a good read for those who would like to stiffen their Christian backbone against societal trends.  My only disagreement with him is that he follows Francis Collins ("The Language of God") in his Theistic evolution approach, but don’t let that perspective discount a good book.

Last week as part of its 50th anniversary celebration, WSMC hosted the NPR program From the Top downtown at the Tivoli Theater. I found the talent of the young musicians astounding. The performances were excellent and the interviews were interesting.

You can listen to the broadcast of the Chattanooga program at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 17. Go to WSMC »

This morning I worked out at the Hulsey Wellness Center and lifted about 60,000 pounds. (Not all at once.) We can login to a system that tracks activity, and it calculates the total weight lifted based on pounds per rep, etc.

Fitness is on everyone’s mind at Southern right now because the SACS accreditation review team is on campus and one of the main focus points is our Quality Enhancement Plan. The QEP is a requirement for our 2012 accreditation reaffirmation, but the topic was our call. We chose fitness.

We want Southern students and employees to be the healthiest people around. The QEP is a plan for increasing physical activity, which research has shown to increase health in general. Given the decline in health in our nation, this is an opportunity for Southern to hold a spotlight on the health practices that are a priority for the SDA church.

You can view the QEP website and watch the 1-minute video » 

We completed our accreditation work today and will present the report to the school tomorrow.

Then we will have a few hours to visit some of the high points of Dubai—and when I say high points, the plan is to go up to the observation deck of the highest building in the world. When I first saw the building I thought of the Tower of Babel.  It is 2,723 feet tall (about a half a mile) and is called the Burj Khalifa. The building opened on January 4, 2010, and was built at a cost of 1.5 billion dollars.  I hope to get some pictures of the building that I will post in a later blog.

The $217-million fountain in front of the Burj Khalifa.

My picture in the lobby of the hotel.

The accreditation group eating together in the evening.

Driving down a main street of Dubai. Ten years ago there were very few buildings here.

A building of archtectual interest.

A couple months ago I attended the grand opening of the new Adventist Health System headquarters in Florida. A beautiful auditorium was being dedicated in honor of Don Welch, and I’m still thinking about what was said.

One of Welch’s former employees spoke about being puzzled when he first started working with him. He remembered coming into the office where Welch had a pretty clean desk and would often be reading a newspaper or looking out the window. He wondered to himself what his boss really did!

Don Welch Was a Visionary
Everyone at the dedication knew that Don Welch was instrumental in founding Adventist Health System. The Adventist hospitals up to that time had been operated by church conferences and were basically independent of each other. It was Welch who had the idea that so much more could be accomplished if the hospitals were united under one central organization.

If Don Welch were alive today, I wonder if he would be amazed that AHS now owns 24 hospitals and 22 nursing homes around the country. I think he probably envisioned it.

Successful leaders aren’t always doing, doing, doing. They must think about things—to reflect on the past and envision what the future could be.

I am inspired to spend more time looking out the window.

I emailed my brother a few days ago and mentioned that I’m determined not to become overwhelmed with all there is to do. He said, “Remember what Dad would say, “Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.” 

Our dad was an organization person. He viewed “getting organized” as the solution to most problems. Mom would mutter that she couldn’t get done everything she needed to, and Dad would respond, “Well, you need to get organized.”

The story goes that one day Mom called him at work and said, “I was organized for today, but Duane started vomiting and then Gordon got sick, too, and nothing has gone as planned.”

After a brief pause he responded, “Well, . . . reorganize!”  And she hung up.
 

Two Simple Guides for Setting Boundaries
Unexpected challenges or opportunities come up all the time and we have to determine our priorities. Sometimes we have to say no to people. Sometimes we have to draw tough boundaries.

I’ve discovered that many boundary matters can be immediately settled by asking two simple questions:

• For professional decisions: What impact would this have on the mission of the university [or insert your priority mission]?
• For personal decisions: Is this something I would like to do?

Of course some situations are complex and require more in-depth analysis. Some situations require a crisis response. But for most decisions, starting with these two questions has been very effective in bringing immediate clarity to the issue at hand.