On September 1, 1983, Korean Airline flight 0073 took off from Anchorage Alaska heading to Tokyo, Japan.

The end result was catastrophic.  

Ten minutes after take-off the Boeing 747 deviated off course, and although the outcome wasn’t immediate, the end result was catastrophic.  

Its authorized flight path was the northern most route, just 17 miles off the edge of forbidden Russian airspace.

Within five minutes into the flight the plane was already 7.5 miles off course, due north. Somehow the proper course correction was never made, and five and a half hours later the Boeing 747, unknowingly crossed into Russian airspace.

It was promptly shot down.

All 269 passengers and crew were killed.

How about with you?

• Are you living life on purpose?

• Are you moving toward who you want to further become and what you want to further accomplish?

• Have the challenges and headwinds of life pushed you off course?

• Has the daily drudgery of life put you in a rut, causing you to drift?

• Have the disappointments of life deadened your heart from having a meaningful life?

If so, I’d love to help.

One of my main purposes in life is to help people live a more purposeful and productive life. So if you feel like life has pushed you off course, or you’re just not sure which direction to head - I’d love to help.

Check Out How I Can Help Here:

https://kenlroberts.teachable.com/p/life-focus-standard

Living on Purpose

Ken

Are you aware when you energy level and motivational level is pretty much on empty? Even dangerously so?

Ruth Haley Barton, in her excellent book, Strengthening The Soul of Your Leadership, gives 9 signs to consider.

Irritability or Hypersensitivity  - things that normally wouldn't bother you put you over the edge.

Restlessness - we are overstimulated, mind, body and emotions, and can't sleep.

Compulsive Overworking - just work a little harder and a little longer and we'll get caught up.

Emotional Numbness - limited feelings of things either good or bad.

Escapist Behavior - compulsive eating, drinking, television, surfing the internet, pornography...

Disconnected From Our Identity and Calling - we've lost our way in who we are and what we've been gifted to do

Not Able To Attend To Human Needs - we don't have time to take care of basic needs such as exercise, eating right, sleeping enough, going to the doctor...

Hoarding Energy - we guard what little energy we have left and feel threatened by anyone who wants anything more from us

Slippage In Our Spiritual Practices - practices that are normally life-giving become burdensome

Not sure about you, but at one time or another, in my 35-plus years of leadership, I've experienced all of these.

If I can help you in your ongoing health and growth, I'd be honored to do so. 

https://kenlroberts.com/leaders-1

Live Well, Lead Well

Ken 

When my late wife was killed in a car accident (March 2004)

I knew it would shape me.

It wasn’t a question of if, only a question of how.

• Would it change me for the better or for the worse?

• Would it move me towards who I hoped to become, or shape me into someone I didn’t want to become?

• Would it move me toward my destiny in life or push me away from it?

I knew the choice was mine.

Whether it’s through the crushing blow of tragedy or the chipping away through daily demands and disappointments - life is going to shape us.

Some people become hardened, others more humble.
Some become cynical, others more grateful.
Some grow to resent life; others discover a deeper purpose to life.
Some wilt, others bloom. Some learn to hate, others learn to love.
Some become hopeless; others become resilient.
Some are blown off course; others are moved toward their destiny.

It’s not a question of if, only a question of how.

So let me ask you: How is life shaping you?

• Are you becoming twisted into someone you don’t want to become or are you allowing life to transform you into the person you desire to be?

• Are you allowing life to move you toward your ultimate purpose in life, or have you allowed the winds and storms of life to push you away from your desired destiny?

Our response determines the outcome. The choice is ours!

If I can in anyway help you to more fully live life on purpose or if you are currently navigating a major-life transition or tragedy - I would love to help. https://kenlroberts.com/kenlrobertslives

Living On Purpose

Ken L Roberts
Excerpt from my book, Unexpected: Navigating Life’s Unforeseen Turns

It was a Wednesday.  

I had just finished an impromptu meeting with some of my staff when my children’s pastor, Steve, casually said, “Hey guys I need to head home for a few minutes. I’ve called my wife a few times and she hasn’t answered. See you later.” 

A few minutes later I was still talking with our youth pastor in his office my cell phone rang.

It was Steve. He was hysterical.

Through his sobbing I somehow summarized what he was saying. I heard it, yet couldn’t believe it.

“Pastor Ken, Pastor Ken please come and help…Please.  I think my wife’s dead. I found her in the bathtub lying face down under the water. I’ve pulled her out…she’s on the floor. But I think she’s dead. I don’t know what to do…Oh…Please come …Please come and help.”

I rushed to Steve’s house, arriving first on the scene. Ran upstairs, and there on the bathroom floor Steve was kneeling over his wife.

I started CPR. No response.

I continued. No response. The medics arrived and started trying to revive her. I stood in the doorway; watching, praying, hoping, wishing. The medic leaning over Mel’s body caught my eye, and with a shake of his head, signaled she was dead. 

Mel had suffered from epilepsy. Over the years this mean and twisted disease had worsened, arriving more frequently and acting more violently. This last visit, would be its last.  

Melanie Sue Ekholm left behind her husband Steve, her three year old son, Isaiah, her parents and two older sisters, and many, many dear friends.

She was only thirty-seven.  

In my message at Melanie’s memorial service, I made this statement about death;

“We might be surprised how death happens, or we might be surprised when death happens, but we all know death is going to happen.”

Don’t get me wrong.

I’m not suggesting we should be fixated on death. Life is a gift to be savored. However, “Readiness to die is the first step in learning to live.”

So are you living today like you’re going to die…because one day you will.

If I can help you live with greater purpose, I’d be honored to do so. https://www.kenlroberts.com/kenlrobertslives

Living On Purpose:

Ken

The above is an excerpt from my new book Focus: A Practical Guide To A Fruitful Life. It will be released April, 2019.

Two Things You Need To Know About Me

Before you and I move ahead in our relationship, there are two important things you need to know about me. 

There have been two unexpected turns in my life that have influenced me, more that anything else, on who I am today and what I want to accomplish with the rest of my life.

The Loss of My First Wife

This first event was the loss of my late wife.

On a routine trip to a women’s bible study, my wife of twenty-five years was killed in a car accident. At the time of the accident, I was forty-seven, the father of two adult children, and the pastor of a large and growing congregation. The sudden loss of my wife has motivated me – more than anything else – to live my life with purpose and to help others do the same. You can read the full story of my late wife's passing and how I navigated through this very difficult season of my life through my book Unexpected: Navigating Life's Unforeseen Turns <----- CLICK HERE

The Loss of a Major Ministry

The second event was the erosion and eventual implosion of a large church I lead.

Nine months before my late wife's passing, the church I was leading at the time had just moved into a new 55,000 square foot building, with a 1,300 seat state of the art auditorium, on a 42-acre campus, and a ten million dollar price tag. With more than a million dollars in cost overruns and a sudden down turn in the economy, when we moved into our new facility and didn’t experience the expected and needed growth, the financial pressures became enormous.The devastating impact of the loss of my wife and the mounting financial pressures , started a downward spiral from which we never fully recovered. Within 6 years, the church I had led and loved for 25 years, was no longer even in existence.

This second event has motivated me to help leaders live well while they lead well and to partner with local churches in their pursuit of ongoing of health and growth. (You can read my other book, Staying Power, that came out of this season of my life and leadership: Staying Power: Five Core Idea's to Sustainability in Christian Leadership <----- CLICK HERE
 

What's Remarkable About My Story

What's remarkable about my story is that these two events have shaped me, more than anything else, into who I am today and what I want to accomplish with the rest of my life. My story has given me the opportunity to help thousands of people navigate through unexpected turns in life, help hundreds of leaders live well while they lead well,  and help numerous local churches in their ongoing pursuit of greater health and growth. I would have never dreamed that my pain would lead me to my greater life’s-purpose - but it has. 

I've dedicated the rest of my life to help lives, leaders, and local churches move from where they're at to where they want to be.  

• Lives - live life on purpose

• Leaders - live well while you lead well

• Local Churches - partnering for ongoing health and growth

If I can serve you in anyway, I’d be honored to do so.

Living and Leading on Purpose

Ken L Roberts