At my first church, I was a fake. How could I not be!? As a kid in his early twenties, what did I know about being a pastor? But I stepped into the lives of that first little congregation and learned to love them by acting like their pastor and little by little I began … Continue reading
Category Archives: The ONE THING for today
Scum & Froth
People notice scum when it boils up and are immediately repulsed, but froth is less obvious. Froth can be deceptive. It looks so good and can even be tasty. Coffee companies know this and charge us outrageous prices for a half cup of coffee (with a fancy name), topped off with froth with a little … Continue reading
Why Black Lives Matter
Though it took a terrible and public tragedy, I am thankful to see that our nation has gone on high alert concerning the reality that black lives matter. However, what I am not hearing is why black lives matter. And the irony of this is that in our pent-up angst and anger over centuries of … Continue reading
The benefit of the doubt
I heard recently of a minster who parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn’t find a legal parking place. Before hurrying off he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: ‘I have circled the block 10 times. If I don’t … Continue reading
Most things never happen
Think of the endless possibilities that could have happened when God began to create the universe. With a mind like God’s, just the possibilities associated with the word “Let” are mind boggling. And then adding the words “Let there be…” ramps up the possibilities beyond our imagination. But virtually none of those possibilities happened. They … Continue reading
The people whisperer
The old, old normal – you spoke to people on the street. The old normal – you didn’t make eye contact with people on the street. The new normal – you don’t even walk close to people on the street. The ONE THING for today: With the new norm of social distancing, it occurred to … Continue reading
Brutally honest
Why would you be brutal!? Even in being honest? I am hard pressed to think of anytime that brutality is a virtue. Whether you are preparing a meal, preparing a resume, or crying for justice…presentation matters. And brutality has no place in that presentation. The truth is, you cannot be brutal without it being brutalizing, … Continue reading
Unfinished Business
Yesterday we reviewed the idea of finishing…specifically, being clear on exactly what it is we are finishing [read here]. Today I want you to reflect on whether or not you have any unfinished business. History records that when the famed Italian painter Raphael (1483-1520) died, there was carried in the funeral procession his last picture…not … Continue reading
Don’t finish until you can answer this…
Yesterday [read here] we reviewed the idea of finishing. I stated… The ONE THING for today: Before starting something, determine what has to happen for you to be finished. To fail to do that is to set yourself up to ultimately fail. Today I’d like to add one thing to this idea of finishing. Ideally, before … Continue reading
Finished
Yesterday [read here] we looked at our “ands” and “thens”. The one thing for the day was… The ONE THING for today: Life can slip away from you with an endless series of thoughtless “ands” unless you are intentional about inserting “thens” in the right place. Today let’s continue our little English lesson by adding … Continue reading
