-
Turning a Spiritual Ship is Harder
If you’ve read many leadership books or articles, you have likely heard a very common illustration. It has to do with changing the culture of a business, organization, or even congregation. It is the illustration of trying to turn around a large ship. The picture is meant to remind you that you simply cannot turn those large ships on a dime and it takes awhile for them to get turned all the way around. As it pertains to leadership, then, that picture is meant to instill in the leader the idea that you cannot just change everything overnight and expect it to be successful. Changes have to be thoughtful (of…
-
And Their Voices Prevailed
If you have a copy of God’s Word handy, you may want to read the twenty-third chapter of Luke before you read the rest of this post. In that chapter, we can read Luke’s inspired account of some of the events concerning the arrest, interrogation, condemnation, and crucifixion of Jesus. Other details are in the other gospels, but we will focus our comments to those recorded by Luke – along with a few details gleaned from the other gospel accounts. I find the words that are used as the title of this post to be extremely interesting and informative. They play a major role in the narrative that follows. A…
-
After the Declaration
This post is being released after Independence Day passed earlier in the week. That date is very important for America and it is always encouraging to see people celebrate it by hanging a flag or posting something patriotic on social media. However, July 4 was not the end of the Revolutionary War. While it is a very important date, the battles in that war continued to be fought for quite some time. It would not be for a long while until the British finally surrendered and America truly had her freedom. They could not just declare that they were independent, they had to fight for it. It is also true…
-
It Is NOT July 4th
This is scheduled to post on the date that our nation’s first vice-president and second president wrote a letter to his wife. Included in that letter was a prediction about how John Adams thought our nation’s independence from England would be celebrated. I am apt to believe that [Independence Day] will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever…
-
It’s Important to Keep Your Filter Clean
I just finished cleaning both of my vacuum cleaners. I know, they are supposed to be used for cleaning, but it became very apparent recently that the machine itself needed to be cleaned. Today was the day. I realized quickly that I didn’t know much about the inside of my vacuums (one large and one small). I do empty the container where the dirt goes, but I had thought little about cleaning or changing filters. Those filters are hard to find!! Each vacuum had multiple filters made of foam rubber. The condition of those filters, when I finally found them, was less than stellar. (Sorry, if this makes you clean…
-
Taking Away Their Humanity
It is one of the most haunting things I have read in a long time. It is also the polar opposite of what our culture tells us is the truth. I’ll share what it is in a minute. As we come to the end of so-called “Pride Month,” we are exhausted by the unceasing messaging of all the sins that are being promoted. We are tired of seeing rainbows (with an ever-expanding array of colors) everywhere and we are ready for something else to dominate the news. But we cannot ever leave this issue until it is shown to be what it is: sin. Today, though, I want to share…
-
Jeopardy
Since the television game show, Jeopardy, is basically a televised trivia game, I thought that I would begin this with a little trivia. I’m old enough to remember that there was a host on the show before Alex Trebek. Art Fleming was the man’s name. I remember seeing him on my parents’ old black and white television. I also listened to him occasionally toward the end of his career as a broadcaster on KMOX radio in St. Louis. About the only time I see the program now is when it is on in some waiting room, restaurant, hospital room in which I am visiting, etc. Since I’m not a regular viewer,…
-
From the Inside Out
On a recent road trip, I decided to listen to worship songs for most of the drive. Some I hadn’t heard in a while and I love hearing the meaningful words paired with beautiful harmonies. One thought that crossed my mind was the picture from the movie Inside Out where our emotions have control of the switchboard in our mind. While I think Joy is in control a lot in my brain, sometimes that little red guy gets his hand on the level and amps it up! However, the words in our title song struck a different chord with me based on a recent ladies class lesson where we talked…
-
Dads, Step Up…and Get Help
Last Sunday was Father’s Day. It was a joy to have more people in worship at Central than we had had in several weeks (including Mother’s Day) and to see so many who were present to encourage their dads. This post may have just been written down recently, but it was in my mind from the time I wrote my sermon for Father’s Day, which was completed a long time ago. It comes from something that I said in the sermon, but only very quickly. I thought it might be good to expand on it here and maybe give a little further encouragement to dads. The New Testament gives the…
-
An Update on the Feather Analogy
Many of us have heard a feather pillow used in connection with sermons/lessons/advice about gossip. It usually goes something like this: In an attempt to demonstrate how seriously we need to avoid things like gossiping, lying, defaming others, etc, we are asked to imagine going into a house and bringing a feather pillow out to the porch – maybe especially on a windy day. We are then asked to imagine opening the pillowcase and let all of the feathers in that pillow flutter away. The point is then made that getting all of those feathers back is equivalent to (or could be easier than) “taking back” all of the words we…
