Identity Theft

A few weeks ago I received yet another email indicating that my account had been frozen and I needed to go to a link and enter my account information to have it unlocked.  Some of these emails supposedly come from banks where I do not even have an account.  They are ‘phishing’ emails.  People are looking for my information so they can hack my account and get money from it.  I usually delete these immediately.

Once I got one the purported to be from a bank where I did have and account. 

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Introducing Jesus

Steve Harvey is a well-known comedian and television personality.  Some time ago someone shared with me Steve’s introduction to Jesus Christ.  Evidently Steve Harvey has been asked to introduce a number of famous people. He answers the question of how it would be if he had to introduce Jesus. Evidently it was a part of one of his comedic routines.  From some of his interviews, I understand that Steve is a person who claims faith in Jesus Christ. His introduction to Jesus is a lot of fun and I enjoy sharing it with others.   I even used the video in a Palm Sunday service.  I hope you’ll click the link and enjoy it too.

Who do we intend to be?

Today a quote crossed my desk from Max DePree, the former head of Herman Miller Furniture Company.  Max is a recognized leader and a strong Christian.  He said,

“Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a leader always is: ‘Who do we intend to be?’ Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?'”

That was a quote I put on the bulletin board over my desk.  I loved Max’s book Leadership is an Art.

The Fingerprints of God

Genesis tells you and me that humankind was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).  The theological term for this is imago dei (Latin for the image of God).  There has been much theological debate about what that precisely means.  Whatever the theologians decide, it is the uniform part of all of us that reflects we are God’s.  We are His creation!

Whose are you?

On January 26, 2012 the electronic newsletter from Emergent Village featured an article by Richard Foster on stewardship titled, ‘Priorities and Ownership.’  My blog “Our money and our souls” was a result of that article.  But it is still rattling around in my brain.  He wrote:

God’s ownership of everything also changes the kind of question we ask in giving. Rather than ‘How much of my money should I give to God?’ we learn to ask ‘How much of God’s money should I keep for myself?’ The difference between these two questions is of monumental proportions.

Certainly that quote challenges us in terms of what we return to God as our worship and offering.  That is a quote that challenges me in my stewardship, but it also has challenged me in some other areas of my life as well.

Thomas’ Legacy

Thomas with Jesus

What is the legacy you and I tend to attach to the name of the disciple we know as Thomas?  In many circles he is known as ‘doubting Thomas.”  That comes from the text in John 20:25 where Thomas, when confronted with the news that Jesus was alive said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”   Thomas doubted the most significant occurrence in Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus!

One plus one plus ‘one on one’

 One of the main callings of the church is to make disciples.   I have heard people suggest that if we just    ‘feed the sheep, they will naturally reproduce.’   The times I have seen churches try that approach, the result has always been a church focused on those already present and those who have not known Jesus yet are left to fend for themselves outside the church.  That doesn’t meet with the call to make disciples for me.  Jesus said He came to “seek and save those who are lost.’  (Luke 19:10) Those who want to follow Him need to be about the same things. 

Deep Wounds

A lady in my neighborhood takes in a few children whose parents work.  Some of them go off to school from her home on the bus.  Others are there all day.  Many times in the morning as I leave she is sitting out front with the younger child while the older ones wait for the bus.  Yesterday as I drove past a little boy that I’ll estimate at four years of age was standing in the driveway, distraught and crying over and over again, “Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy….” 

Trash to Treasure

A few weeks ago I had a children’s sermon that focused on God doing things when we were not looking.  I had in my bag a little daffodil bulb and a pot of bulb that had been forced and were in bloom.  The plan was to bring out the bulb first and then the flowers to talk about the bulbs being buried and forgotten; yet God was causing them to grow.  Children’s sermons often go a different direction than intended.  That may be the nature of the beast.  It makes it scary for the minister and entertaining for the congregation.  I pulled the bulb out of my bag and asked, “Does anyone know what this is?”  A four-year-old boy looked at it disdainfully and said, “It’s trash!”  When the laughter subsided I made some kind of recovery and got to my point.  I think it was OK, but this week I’ve been thinking of that sermon—not mine but the four-year-old’s.  I needed that sermon this week.  I’ve been facing a lot of stuff that really feels like trash.

Who Moved My Cheese?

The other day I was in a conversation with a friend about changes.  We talked about change and he said, “It’s not just one thing.  It seems to be everything!  And not one of the changes is one that I would choose. —It’s not just one piece of cheese, but all of them that have moved.”  He was referring to a motivational book that appeared in 1998 by Spencer Johnson titled, Who Moved My Cheese?   Spencer Johnson points out in this wonderful little book that often we can see change coming, we really ought to expect it, but when it comes we are too often unprepared and change can cause us to be afraid.