Loving, Learning, and Leading

Things I think I think This is one of those blogs when I have a couple things on my mind that I want to say and get your opinion on. This is one of these times when you have some feelings and thoughts that are not completely concise and well articulated, but you still feel the need to express. So here are the things that I think I think: 1. Church people and church programs spend a lot of energy trying to be nice, as opposed to being loving. Niceness is polite, charming, and even kind. It provides harmony and the ability to work with one another. Love is a whole different animal. It is vulnerable, self-sacrificing, forgiving, forbearing, and even painful. Love exacts a price from us, and it is why we choose niceness over and against love. 2. People are looking for a community where they can be real. By real, I am suggesting an authenticity. Authenticity is the ability to express yourself in a way that is true to your true self and know that you are accepted. Not that you are perfect, b...

Asking and Receiving Today, I was speaking with a good friend about how God answers prayer. I believe that one of the major ways that God demonstrates his presence and power is through our prayers. The ancient wisdom of God's Word tells us to: "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. " (Colossians 4:2) Its the watchful and thankful part that I think we mess up. I was reminded of this when I was traveling down the interstate in decent traffic and someone in the lane to my right put his left turn signal on. There was no room for this person to merge, but I slowed to give him space to merge left in front of me. Despite the fact that I gave him abundant space, he began talking on his cell phone and did not merge. After about 2 minutes, I returned to normal speed and he again put on his turn signal after about 5 more minutes. I repeated the cycle two more times before he actually merged, because he was so distracted. I believe that God often answers ou...