Training basically always comes down to this: am I just hurting or am I truly done? Read more →
This blog is primarily a collecting place for my own thoughts and an effort to improve my writing. If your thinking is stimulated or something makes good sense, you probably got lucky. If you feel like getting lucky more than once, enter your email to be sent each new post.
Failure Has Two Faces
It must have been a very sober event as the disciples went through the process of replacing Judas. He had walked beside them the whole time, providing what appeared to be a valuable ministry of tracking the funds. Maybe even harder to swallow was the fact that he walked with... Read more →
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"What's wrong?" "Nothing."
You: "What's wrong?" Them: "Nothing." Some time later, you discover what your instincts told you. There was something wrong. If nothing had been wrong, there would have been no consequences or effects. Yet there were. Why did they lie? Here's one reason: if they admit something is wrong, then they... Read more →
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"Why am I going through this?" The Mystery of Divine Training
I go through times I don't understand. Do you? Sometimes it feels like a part of my life is one piece of a 5000-piece puzzle. I stare at it. I compare it to other pieces. I look at the big picture. Still, I cannot figure out where it fits. However,... Read more →
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Turning goals into gods: Is pragmatism the new Holy Spirit?
Pragmatism in church life is such a powerful magnet. It can be used to turn goals into gods. Pragmatism makes the end the ultimate. Whatever it takes to reach the end is essentially justified. You can see this in Wall Street investors who will stop at nothing to produce a... Read more →
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The best place to find a conspiracy...
[I am reading The Gravedigger File by O.S. Guinness (re-released as The Last Christian on Earth) to strengthen my writing of the "How to Keep a Small Church Small" series in the Baptist Times. This series reveals a highly secretive Facebook page in which a mid-level demon instructs interested church... Read more →
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Product and Process: God's product only comes from God's process
This concept of product and process is essential in a culture given to instant gratification. Our smartphones provide instant communication through texting, an already-ready camera, immediate answers through Google, and access to the entire world through a browser. Television, as we know it, is becoming obsolete because viewers prefer streaming,... Read more →
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Think Before You Axe! A Quick Case for a Deliberate Life
How you handle a bonus reveals an interesting mindset: not necessarily how you spend it, but what you think before you spend it, or if you think before you spend it. Here's why... When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it,... Read more →
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How to Use a Critic or a Critique
Critics or their critiques can bring out the reactionary and defensiveness in the best of us. My response usually reveals whether I want to grow or whether I want to defend. My desire for growth seems closer to a spirit of humility, in that I'm admitting a willingness to see... Read more →
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Authority: An Illustration of Getting People to Sit in the Front
See this introductory post for an explanation of the authority structure. The authority structure is meant to develop a mindset. The benefit of a mindset is that it works more like Lasik eye correction than like a pair of glasses. You cannot turn it off. If an authority wants the... Read more →
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