Here and Now

"Where you live should not determine whether you live or whether you die." Bono 'Nuff said...

...that advertently IS a word?  Yeah, me either... It's, like, the opposite of inadvertently... Heh, who knew?

So, maybe you've never heard of Shaun King.  I just encountered him accidently about two weeks ago - I was getting ready for my message and I Google'd something that took me to his blog.  And right at the top was a simple question: "What was the last courageous decision you made?"  Argh.  Haunted me for a week.  Argh... Anyway, he's back and this time asking even harder questions.  Like, is "Sunday Worship" really even what church is supposed to be about.  Argh!!  It's what I'm good at.  We need it.  It feeds the flock.  Battery charging...for...ministry... But. He's on to something. Now, if I've read this correctly, the church he planted two years ago...well, he's closing up shop and...I don't know...doing mission stuff.  Pretty bold step.  But he IS onto something... Not that I would do away with Sunday worship - but if it's not equipping people to go out and DO on the six other days...well, what's the point?...

I just read this on the Deliberate Simplicty Blog Many money managers diversify. They attempt to spread their risk by placing smaller bets on a broader number of stocks. But that is not what the best money managers do. The best money managers (Bruce Berkowitz, Warren Buffett) have narrow portfolios, maybe 25 stocks in which they are heavily invested. These are stocks in which they really, really invest, and from which they expect big, big returns. Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger: "Why would you want to put money on your 35th-best idea?" That's a really good question for ministry.  How deep do we go before we say, "Yeah, that's a neat (important, innovative, awesome, whatever) idea, but how close is it to our mission?"  You know, there are things we do in ministry that we have to do - some out of obligation (paperwork, I'm talking to you) - some out of passion (evangelism, discipleship) - and they're probably on mission somehow. So this q...

Yesterday morning I went to wake Elie up and she said, very adamantly, "I don't have to get up.  It's not light out yet." Ah, daylight savings time.  We all like the "fall back" weekend, right?  But that "spring forward" thing kills us...  Of course, since we live in a largely agrarian society***, I get the need for the time change... But that doesn't make it any easier on Monday morning when your body says, "No, I'm sorry, it is not  6 AM, it's only 5 AM." Ah, how hard change is... I'm pretty sure it was Erwin McManus in his book Unstoppable Force , who said we readily embrace the changes that make us more comfortable.  Fall back is a GREAT weekend, right?  But we resist the changes that cause us any kind of discomfort.  Why do we have indoor plumbing when the outhouse works just fine, thank you very much?  Hot water?  Cold water is so much more available - and cheaper, dangit. So...well, you get the picture.  Just ...

I got this out of an email newsletter: The French author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said, "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." This really resonates with me in ways I can't fully explain.  Now, it's not like I design planes or anything - maybe that's not what he's talking about, I don't know, and when I have flown, I do appreciate that it's not, you know, just the bare minimum (I've talked to guys who have been in the air force or whatever and have flown as passengers in those big cargo aircraft - you want to talk about bare minimum for passenger flight...) - and I don't think that's exactly what this French guy is saying, either.  But it's putting it all together - and then reducing it to what really matters, to the essential to fit the purpose. I don't always write like that (seriously, look back, how many times have I...

(I inadvertently scheduled this post to be published in 2018...some days my brain hurts...) A really quick observation that keeps rattling around in my brain.  I think it came out of the book Healing for Damaged Emotions  but I'm not positive. Anyway, the idea is that Grace is not a commodity that we trade and give and take and whatever.  Grace is not a "thing".  Grace is a person.  Grace is the indwelling of Christ in us - it only exists in relationship.  Think about that.  There is no grace if there is no relationship. Grace is a person... And if you've been around this blog long enough you know I love Bono's words on Grace: Grace She takes the blame She covers the shame Removes the stain It could be her name Grace It's a name for a girl It's also a thought that changed the world And when she walks on the street You can hear the strings Grace finds goodness in everything Grace, she's got the walk Not on a ramp or on chalk...

Dork Tower the other day:

You remember playing the game, right?  The leader does something and everybody behind him or her has to do the same.  Of course, if you grew up in the neighborhood where I was a kid (til age 9, that is), you played follow the leader with the older kids and invariably they would lead you to do something either incredibly stupid or stupidly dangerous.  They had much longer legs, of course, and could jump over the mud creek out back...but my stubby little 6 year old legs couldn't come anywhere near clearing it. Splash - slurp - up to my knees in mud... I learned very early to be really careful what leaders I follow - and to watch for where they were leading me. The truth is, I think, we will follow a good leader even into some dangerous and scary territory, if we believe a few things: A.  They know where they are going B.  They are trustworthy C.  They care what happens to those who follow them There are probably other characteristics, but those are...