Loving, Learning, and Leading

"Trust is a function of two things: Character and competence.  Character includes your integrity, your motive, your intent with people.  Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, your results, and your history. "~ Stephen MR Covey in The Speed of Trust "The moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted .~ Mahatma Gandhi' "What's important, though, is that at last we're confronting the issue of declining trust in our culture.  As trust declines, we quit believing in each other; we don't feel safe because we trust no one."~Cecile Andrews in Living Room Revolution Romans 13:3-4 For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. (NLT) The single most important asset in any community is trust.  Trust is simply the ability to have confid

Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.  “ Got him in nuts once I noticed. But I felt so bad, n I’m all tearing that butt up when needed !" ~Allstar Football player Adrian Peterson explaining the wounds his 4 yr old son received This past week, one of the most popular NFL players, Adrian Peterson, was arrested for child abuse.  His 4 yr old son, was noted to have lacerations and bruises to all of his extremities as well as his genital area.  The response among football fans was varied.  Some were appalled while others noted that using a "switch" for discipline, is common practice in particular cultures. The basic question in this situation is whether this episode represents severe discipline that is culturally defined or whether it represents abuse.  I want to share a couple of principles that we need to consider before we can understand what is happening in this situation: 1. Abuse is defined

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. (Genesis 6:9 NLT) “ The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” – A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit Of God Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch " Noah " staring Russel Crowe as Noah.  It was a well produced, and well directed fictional  account of the Biblical story of Noah.  By now, I have read and heard various well meaning Christians speak about the horrors of such a film: The conspiracies to undermind the Biblical truth; The conspiracies to promote pro-ecological agendas; The "Hollywood" mindsets to be anti-God.  I get it and understand the reality of those trends an

As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11 NIV) “What is shame? You are: different rejected exposed contaminated” -Edward T. Welch in Shame Interrupted. In western Christianity, there is a tremendous emphasis on dealing with guilt.  Guilt is that feeling or understanding that you have done something wrong or trangressed a particular standard.  Guilt is associated with something one does, or sometimes something that one does not do.  Guilt is a universal emotion that is culturally defined.  Culturally defined because the standards that produce guilt are defined and re-enforced by one's community. However,  shame is a much more insidious and opppressive emotion. While guilt may speak "I have messed up"; shame screams "I am a mess".  Guilt may impair our actions and outlook, but shame distorts and perverts our identities. Guilt is often related to shame in that shame may result in our pathological ways of dealing with