Church Life
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“How to Lead Like George Washington”
A recent edition of The Wall Street Journal contained an article that I found fascinating. The title of the article was the same as the title of this post: “How to Lead like George Washington.” The article contained a great amount of information about leadership. The focus seemed to be on how present-day leaders in various fields could learn some lessons from “the father of our country.” The author, Sam Walker, mentioned some leadership models and philosophies advocated by some and apparently practiced by many today that are not working. After discussing some of these models, the author turned his attention to the leadership qualities possessed and exhibited by Mr. Washington as…
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One More Reason I Can’t Watch “That” Movie
How would you feel if you knew your preacher had cheated on his wife over 100 times in the previous week and then presented a sermon on sexual purity on Sunday morning? What would you think of a Bible class teacher who posted on Facebook that she had had over 100 drinks on Saturday night, then taught a young ladies’ class about the dangers and sin of consuming alcohol? Would you be okay with a dad who smoked over 100 marijuana joints during a week sitting his kids down and having a family devotional on the evils of drugs? I think we know the answer to those questions. They are…
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Why People Starve to Death
Starvation is no laughing matter. Close to a billion people go hungry annually. Statistics say a child dies of hunger in our world every five seconds. Hunger is understood to be the most extreme form of poverty, as individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food. Our son Daniel has always been a picky eater. One night years ago when he was just a toddler he refused to eat even two bites of grilled chicken at suppertime. I remember this epic battle of parents versus child. My wife and I decided to go the distance. For more than 24 hours he refused to eat the…
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Some Things I Learned from the Kavanaugh Hearings
Please do not stop reading. This post is not intended to be political. It is not intended as a commentary on the moral condition of our society. It is not written because I have an “ax to grind” about anybody involved in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings which were (are) intended to determine whether or not a particular individual is qualified to serve on the highest court in our nation. Like most who may read these words, I have some opinions about all of those things. However, I would like for all of us (yes including me) to think of some things that I learned. It might be more appropriate to say that I…
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I Just Want to Teach Them…
It has been an interesting beginning to this school year. Our town is growing and that means our school population is growing as well. One thing I keep hearing from teachers and school officials across the county is that we have more students this year from families with more challenges. That leads to challenges at school. In light of all these challenges, teachers are stretching themselves to meet the social and emotional needs of their students before we can try to work on academics. In light of that, I need to repent because of something I have said this year. Multiple times I have made the statement, “I just want…
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Just Because You’re Passionate…
Today’s post comes right from my heart, but it is also written with me in mind. This is a reminder that I need on a regular basis. It also is not meant to cause people to become namby-pamby. There are times when Christians must be bold. (I seem to recall my Lord driving people out of the temple.) That said, I am sickened by what I see, virtually constantly, by Christians who are passionate about issues. Yes, I am concerned about the state of America. Yes, I care about issues. Yes, I have views and opinions on these things. Too often, though, we let our passion drive us to do…
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What Are Your Spiritual Goals?
If I were to ask you what you planned to do with the rest of your life, what would you say? I understand that the answer to this question would depend on some level as to how old you are and where you are in your life. But I am pretty sure that the specifics of the answer would be related to your activity in the physical world. For example, you would say something about your occupation, your dwelling, your retirement – something along those lines. After all, the world is where we are living, right? And making your way in the world is what life is all about, right? Wrong.…
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Conventional Wisdom
We hear a lot today about something called “conventional wisdom.” In some circles, it is viewed as very authoritative. Is it? Can we always depend on conventional wisdom? According to www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary, “conventional wisdom” is defined as: “the generally accepted belief, opinion, judgment, or prediction about a particular matter.” That definition suggests strongly that conventional wisdom should not be seen as any sort of final authority on anything. Our own experiences should reinforce this. After all, can you not think of times when conventional wisdom was proven to be wrong in political elections – even sometimes for the highest office in our nation? There was a time when, according to conventional wisdom, no human would…
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Do You Know Florence?
If you live in the United States of America, or at least on the eastern half of the United States, you are probably familiar with who Florence is. We heard her name for days before she ever made her entrance into our country. We knew a great deal about her – her strength, her potential for damage, and the assurance of her arrival. We were warned over and over about what she might do when she arrived. Florence came to our country and she lived up to her reputation. She was strong and she was damaging. Many on our eastern coast are still suffering from the wind and rain damage that she brought when she…
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Where is Our Mind During Worship?
There is no other way to say it: what we do during the week affects us during times of worship. We can talk all we want about how we should push the things of this world aside while we worship, but it is impossible to not let those things affect us at least a little bit. Yes, we should keep our minds focused, but I want us to see that what we are feeding ourselves throughout the week really does affect us more deeply during worship than we might want to admit. Take one example, and it is one that I have to fight quite often. I am a fan…