Happy Monday! I’m reverting to an 80’s movie reference for today’s word-of-the-week … Ganas Have you seen the movie Stand And Deliver? I watched it—again—over the weekend. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for inspiration. Stand And Deliver relates the inspiring true story of Jaime Escalante and a group of students from a deprived […]
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We Can All Relate
Happy Saturday. This year the first digit of my age will change. For some reason this video seems appropriate. (If you can’t see the video, click here.) Have a great weekend. Do something memorable!
Continue readingMore TagCreating Darkness
Can you fill a room with darkness? Imagine yourself in a semi-dark room. How can you make it darker? Can you rent a darkness generator and pump more “dark” into the room? You can’t, because darkness isn’t a real thing. You can’t “create” darkness—you can only exclude light. You make the room darker by shutting […]
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How do you learn to do something when you have no clue how to do it? Jon Swanson writes a lot lately about learning to follow Jesus. His thoughts challenge me. I realize that I don’t know how, and that I’m not even sure I know what it means. As I’ve thought about this internal […]
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What does that passage of scripture REALLY say? Note: This is part of our Wednesday series about the Bible. Previous articles: The Easy Bible Bible Stories: Were Noah And Moses Really Brothers? 100 Significant Scriptures Why Read The Bible? The Bible Is About… A couple of years ago I joined a writing team at church. […]
Continue readingMore TagPlease Don’t Make Me Start Over
How do you escape the fate of Sisyphus? One of my first “real” jobs as a kid was a two-week gig at the Iowa State Fair. Each morning I showed up at 6 a.m. A supervisor handed me a sealed metal can with a slot in its top and assigned me to one of the […]
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Happy Monday! I welcome you to perhaps the strangest selection yet for word-of-the-week … Sisyphus Do you know the story of Sisyphus? He’s a character from Greek mythology who offended the Gods. As punishment, Sisyphus was ordered to push a rock up a hill. Each time he reached the top, the rock rolled to the […]
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Happy Saturday. Maybe you’ve seen these on television. To me, they say something important about where we ought to focus our thoughts. Maybe just a bit less fighting and bickering …? The third one surprised me. (If you can’t see the videos, click here.) Have a great weekend.
Continue readingMore TagDrift Or Decide?
Do you ever feel like your relationship with Jesus is just sort of drifting along? Simply put, drift is the decision you make when you don’t decide (Gretchen Rubin). It’s what happens when you ignore Lessons From The Jar. Ever driven a long stretch of straight, deserted road? Attention fades, and suddenly you’re not focused […]
Continue readingMore TagBlessed Are Those Who Try Hard?
Are you prepared? Are you preparing? Jon Swanson tells a great story from John 1:35-51 about Jesus calling disciples. (Watch Jon’s short video) It’s a story of overnight success. These unremarkable guys are hanging out, fishing or sitting under fig trees or whatever, and Jesus just shows up and invites them into the most exclusive, […]
Continue readingMore TagThe Easy Bible
This is part of our Wednesday series about the Bible. Some previous articles: 100 Significant Scriptures Why Read The Bible? The Bible Is About… Do you take the Bible for granted? A few months ago our church highlighted a ministry that translates, prints, and distributes Bibles in native languages throughout the world. We learned that […]
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Note: I’m honored this morning to be a guest writer at My Escape Velocity. I hope you’ll drop over there and check out a really helpful blog—after you’re finished here, of course. How would you react if you boarded a plane and saw the pilot wearing this button? Personally, I don’t want the pilot who […]
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