Loving, Learning, and Leading

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4) While we have different pain thresholds, all of us avoid pain.  Its not that we are weak, but its instinctual.  The sensation of pain is to make us aware of something that is immediately dangerous or damaging.  Inadvertantly touching a hot plate sends an immediate and intense sensation of pain that yells to get our attention that the plate is causing serious damage.  Pain responses often do not relay through our higher brain functions (cerebral cortex where we think and reason) but reside in the lower brain functions and brain stem, in the form of emotions and reflexes.  You do not so much think about the hotness of the plate as you simply react to it. People are made in a way that we can not only experience physical pain, but emotional pain as well.  Emotional pain tend...

As many of you know, I love to read and share readings that I find particularly insightful.  Summer is often a time when people find time to read an interesting book or two.  I wanted to make ten suggestions regarding particularly interesting books that you may wish to engage this Summer. 1. Naked Spirituality by Brian McClaren This book takes the process of spiritual formation and identifies how we grow in our relationship with God.  Raw, honest, and authentic.  For anyone who has wondered why their experience of God has not been smooth.  Highly recommended. 2. The Dangerous Act of Worship by Mark Labberton Provocative writing that connects the act of worship with being an agent of social justice.  He explains how we have developed false types of worship that are divorced from the things that actually matter to God.  Well written and convicting. 3. The Social Animal by David Brooks Creative book that looks at how people develop social skill...

13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord's altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn't accept them with pleasure. 14 You cry out, "Why doesn't the Lord accept my worship?" I'll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. 15 Didn't the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 "For I hate divorce!" says the Lord, the God of Israel. "To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies. "So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife." (NLT) Malachi 2:13-16 This week is typical in for me and many pastors all over ...

Is not wisdom found among the aged?  Does not long life bring understanding? Job 12:12. Day after day, from the early breakfast shifts through the dinner shift, all over the United States, Tribunals have been organized in the dining rooms of urban McDonald's restaurants.  These tribunals are made up of older African-American men, who put everything on trial.  In the McDonald's in which I frequent most often, on the corner of Upper Falls Blvd and North Clinton in Rochester, the tribunal takes up the eastern side of the dining room.  Filled with lively discussion, boisterous claims, passionate denouncements, and carefully worded arguments, these informal tribunals discuss life, politics, relationships, current events, neighborhood issues, religion, and occasionally, the food.  Voices are raised loudly in passionate attempts to persuade, laughing is raucous and contagious, and the anger displayed is sometimes biting.  It is a forum where the realities of l...

Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. Deuteronomy 32:7 I have been visiting the Massillon, Ohio cemetary yearly for as long as I can remember.  Each year, as a child, we would see the Memorial day parade and continue to follow the parade as it ended in at the cemetary.  Later, as I grew older, we would ride our bikes to the parade (that was several miles away), and finally, as I went away to college, medical school, etc, I would drive back and visit yearly.   My mother was an incredibly loving but wonderfully intense person.  She had certain things that she deeply cared about.  Some of it was quirky, like making sure that we had a black eyed pea in our wallets at new year (sign that you would have money all year round).  However, one of the things that she literally mourned was the idea that when she passed that her gravesite would never be atten...

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. I Samuel 3:19 I used to love the sound of the school teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons.  All you could hear was the teacher saying "wawa wawa wawa" in different tones and pitches.  It was a tribute to the authority figures in our life that continually speak to us, but their actual words have lost their vitality and potency.  I think Charles Schultz may have been alluding to something much greater.  In the 1960's through the 80's, many of the authoritative institutions were viewed with suspicion rather than honor.  The government, the church, and even our cultural icons were viewed as possible agents of propaganda, rather than providers of community and traditional wisdom. Yesterday, I flew from Baltimore, Maryland back to Rochester (and man, my arms are tired!).  During that flight, I watched as the Flight Attendents gave the safety instructions.  As th...

"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 12:40 As many know, Harold Camping, the founder of a Christian Radio broadcasting network, predicted that yesterday, Jesus would rapture away his church.  He published this fact far and wide through radio, TV, USA Today, and various social networks.  We can confirm that Mr. Camping was again, wrong in his prediction.  It was not the first time that Mr. Camping errored, as he had made a similar prediction years ago, which he attributed to a mathematical error.  The fact that so many self-identifed Christians believed his predictions and sold property and quite jobs is not startling, but sad.  Even more discouraging is the fact that some of Mr. Camping's adherents still believe even though his prophecies are not true ( see article on yahoo ). Looking at the hoopla surrounding this event calls to attention the following: 1. Many self-identified Christians a...