Don’t you like a good line? A good phrase? Something with a little punch? G. K. Chesterton was famous for such things. C. S. Lewis too. Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and Yogi Berra had a flare with language and witticisms. They could all say a lot with just a few words. A reader might respond, “Wow, that’s saying something.” This […]
(This is a repost of a note that should be of help at the start of a New Year. It is also part of my Leadership Pathway, a leadership development system, that will prepare younger people for leadership in your congregation or organization. Email me if you would like more information about it.) Leave some room around the edges. Margins […]
Don’t be in a hurry to get through Advent and onto Christmas. This year Advent is as short as it can get; the Fourth Sunday in Advent is Christmas Eve. In a sense the calendar is hurrying us through Advent to get on to Christmas. We lose a whole week of Adventide. Let Advent linger. Linger on the Advent of […]
Check out how often in John’s Gospel Jesus invites us to abide in him or in his word. Actually, both are the same thing: to abide in Jesus is to abide in his word. When Jesus invites us to abide, he is inviting us to be deeply at home in him. (You should hear the word “abode” in “abide”.) Recently, […]
We get them once in a while. They are little reminders from our King that he really is. Yesterday I sent an overdue note to a friend of mine who had had a major life change. The note was just to check in. There was a free moment as I sat in an airport waiting for a plane home. The […]
WATCH OUT I It’s good for us to be careful walking as a child of God in the midst of a sin-filled world. It’s not unlike being careful standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. I remember a story from a number of years ago about a little four-year-old girl who fell off the side of the Canyon and […]
Across America a farm-to-table movement continues to grow. People look for the freshest fruits, vegetables, and meats. We have grown suspicious of highly processed foods with unknown additives and preservatives. We are not sure where the food has really come from either in terms of location and producers. Is the food safe? Is the food healthy? Is it really food? […]
I think I’ll wear a chair. Not that I will wear a chair as such, but I will wear a chair necklace, a pectoral chair. Some pastors wear a crucifix, a cross necklace with a dead Jesus. Some pastors wear an empty cross, a cross necklace without the figure of Jesus. There is great symbolism and historical precedence for both. […]
(This repost is in celebration of summer vacations in Michigan.) People love sports. People relish the thrill of victory. Winner! People love games. Board games continue to be popular. Card games haven’t gone away. Some people love video gaming to the point of addiction. Competition! I win; you lose. You win; I lose. While competition may have its place as […]
Not only is the Church incurably congregational, it is also incurably “synodical.” Okay, that sounds odd. Synodical? That sounds like a made up word. Actually, it is an ancient word, at least the root word is: synod. Synod means walking on the same (syn—think symphony, lots of sounds at the same time) road (od—think Odyseus and his travels). The word […]