Month: May 2004 (page 2 of 7)
Yesterday, He Couldn’t Spell “Graduate…”
…now he ARE one!
Congrats to “The Boy,” Sequoyah High School, Class of 2004!
We love you and we’re proud of you, Andrew!
Yesterday, He Couldn’t Spell “Graduate…”
…now he ARE one!
Congrats to “The Boy,” Sequoyah High School, Class of 2004!
We love you and we’re proud of you, Andrew!
Today Has Been a Good Day for Thinking!
My early-morning blogging session kind of set the tone for the rest of the day. I got to my office and discovered that my secretary had a doctor’s appointment. We’re in the middle of changing phone companies, so the phone’s not ringing a whole lot. The maintenance crew did their usual Friday gig on Thursday for some reason. So, I put some Charlie Hall and David Crowder in the old CD player, ground some Komodo Dragon for the coffeemaker, and had a great, uninterrupted! day of thinking, praying, and studying.
Besides working on Sunday’s talk (finishing my “Real Reality” series, “What Not to Wear,” based on Ephesians 6:10-18, here are some things that crossed my mind, entered my heart, and made their way into the Moleskine. (No certain order, just random, may develop them more later.)
�Peter Pan� Christians: What do you do with believers who refuse to grow up?
Loving God with all that I am: PASSION, PRAYER, INTELLIGENCE, ENERGY, according to Mark 12:28-34.
What was it about Jesus that made Him such a magnetic, compelling leader? What made His disciples � especially the early ones � follow Him without prior knowledge?
– The testimony of John the Baptist. They were already following John � and he pointed Jesus out to them.
– Their own curiosity. If John said such amazing things about Jesus, what did he mean?
– Jesus� call to follow. �Come, follow me.� �See for yourselves.�
– Spending time with Him.
– The promise of a new kind of life. Not necessarily an easier life. A life that would require a new set of skills and a willingness to learn. �Fishing was their regular work.� Their new life would be �kind of like� the old life, but different.
Leading those who are someone else�s followers. (Thanks to Todd Hunter, from some un-updated blog somewhere on the Web! Just kidding…!)
If believers are to be disciples following Jesus � and I�m called to lead them, how do I do that? It�s not me they�re called to follow ULTIMATELY! It�s HIM! But I�m supposed to be the guy who points Him out to them, like John the Baptist!
Today Has Been a Good Day for Thinking!
My early-morning blogging session kind of set the tone for the rest of the day. I got to my office and discovered that my secretary had a doctor’s appointment. We’re in the middle of changing phone companies, so the phone’s not ringing a whole lot. The maintenance crew did their usual Friday gig on Thursday for some reason. So, I put some Charlie Hall and David Crowder in the old CD player, ground some Komodo Dragon for the coffeemaker, and had a great, uninterrupted! day of thinking, praying, and studying.
Besides working on Sunday’s talk (finishing my “Real Reality” series, “What Not to Wear,” based on Ephesians 6:10-18, here are some things that crossed my mind, entered my heart, and made their way into the Moleskine. (No certain order, just random, may develop them more later.)
�Peter Pan� Christians: What do you do with believers who refuse to grow up?
Loving God with all that I am: PASSION, PRAYER, INTELLIGENCE, ENERGY, according to Mark 12:28-34.
What was it about Jesus that made Him such a magnetic, compelling leader? What made His disciples � especially the early ones � follow Him without prior knowledge?
– The testimony of John the Baptist. They were already following John � and he pointed Jesus out to them.
– Their own curiosity. If John said such amazing things about Jesus, what did he mean?
– Jesus� call to follow. �Come, follow me.� �See for yourselves.�
– Spending time with Him.
– The promise of a new kind of life. Not necessarily an easier life. A life that would require a new set of skills and a willingness to learn. �Fishing was their regular work.� Their new life would be �kind of like� the old life, but different.
Leading those who are someone else�s followers. (Thanks to Todd Hunter, from some un-updated blog somewhere on the Web! Just kidding…!)
If believers are to be disciples following Jesus � and I�m called to lead them, how do I do that? It�s not me they�re called to follow ULTIMATELY! It�s HIM! But I�m supposed to be the guy who points Him out to them, like John the Baptist!
YES! Finally…!
Seems they’re going to publish all of the Peanuts comics in book form! In two-year portions! Guess that takes care of the Christmas/birthday/anyday’s-a-good-day-for-a-gift lists for a while!
YES! Finally…!
Seems they’re going to publish all of the Peanuts comics in book form! In two-year portions! Guess that takes care of the Christmas/birthday/anyday’s-a-good-day-for-a-gift lists for a while!
Being the Church – “Emerging” or Otherwise – Across Cultures?
So much of the conversation I read/hear is about the “emerging” church. And too often I tend to see what’s happening from my own little perspective. Stephen Shields lets us in on a conversation he’s having with folks who are not from “our” perspective, when it comes to what being the church on mission is all about.
I particularly like these questions from Matthew Glock, who lives in Paris, and is wrestling with what it means to be a Jesus-apprentice in that culture…
“Are we loving God with all that we are?
Are we loving our neighbors as ourselves?
Are we inviting people to join us in our journey?
What are we doing that is tied to cultural norms that are not relevant those who are outside our community of faith and don’t find their place in the Bible?”
Good questions, Matthew. Good food for thought this early Friday morning.
Being the Church – “Emerging” or Otherwise – Across Cultures?
So much of the conversation I read/hear is about the “emerging” church. And too often I tend to see what’s happening from my own little perspective. Stephen Shields lets us in on a conversation he’s having with folks who are not from “our” perspective, when it comes to what being the church on mission is all about.
I particularly like these questions from Matthew Glock, who lives in Paris, and is wrestling with what it means to be a Jesus-apprentice in that culture…
“Are we loving God with all that we are?
Are we loving our neighbors as ourselves?
Are we inviting people to join us in our journey?
What are we doing that is tied to cultural norms that are not relevant those who are outside our community of faith and don’t find their place in the Bible?”
Good questions, Matthew. Good food for thought this early Friday morning.
WWKD?
What would Krusty do?
Seth Godin writes about clowns over in Fast Company.
1. Clowns ignore science.
“Clowns refuse to measure their results, because measurement implies that they accept the reality of the outside world. Wishful thinking is not a replacement for the real world. Only clowns can get away with that.”
2. Clowns don’t plan ahead.
“The only species that regularly demonstrates foresight is humans, but we manage to do this only on occasion. People are happy to spend themselves into credit card debt to enjoy today (instead of tomorrow and the next 30 years), and they work hard to maintain the illusion that everything is just fine–until it’s not.”
3. Clowns overreact to bad news (and good).
4. Clowns aren’t very nice to each other.
“Why is it so unusual to find a company where the boss cares for his employees? Why is it even more unusual still to find a workforce where teamwork just naturally overcomes selfishness? Why do we focus on takeover battles, high-profile firings, and attack-dog politics instead of the gradual, inexorable progress that happens when people with a shared goal work together to accomplish it?”
I love this line…
“What would Krusty do? Or Chuckles? Bozo? Figure out the behavior of a real clown – and do the opposite.“