Who's in charge here?
07/01/2008 14:02 Filed in: Ministry
For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
~II Corintians 4:5
Yesterday at lunch, Jack asked me, "Daddy-- are you in charge of part of the church?"
What a profound question! I'm thrilled that Jack is asking questions like this, and thinking about these things. I wonder how many people have actually thought about this question...
Here's how the rest of the dialogue went (roughly!):
Me: "Jack, daddy's job is to be the Pastor at the church, which is not about being in charge, it's about serving them."
Jack: "What does 'serving them' mean?"
Me: "It means that I help them when they need help, I encourage them if they are sad, and I teach them about Jesus and how He is what they need."
Jack: "Sometimes it seems like you're in charge..."
Me: "Well, sometimes people act like they want me to be in charge; but when they act like that, what they really want is for me to teach them how Jesus is in charge."
Jack: "That's good."
|
Electability and the 2008 Presidential race
20/12/2007 07:12 Filed in: Culture
Why Huckabee COULD beat Obama, Clinton, or Edwards in
'08. And why it matters to us. Read
More...
Internet communities article
I've always been fascinated with technology, and over
time I've developed a lot of thoughts and ideas about
how faith and technology collide. A few of these
thoughts made their way into an article that I
recently wrote for ByFaith magazine, which
ended up being called, "Looking for Love in a Few Wrong
Places". That article, which focuses
particularly on how technology and the Internet
allow communities to be built in new ways, is
now available on the ByFaith website,
in case you're interested.
By the way, if you don't already subscribe to ByFaith, I would highly recommend it (and not just because I write for them)-- it is a good magazine that offers a helpful look at many diverse topics.
By the way, if you don't already subscribe to ByFaith, I would highly recommend it (and not just because I write for them)-- it is a good magazine that offers a helpful look at many diverse topics.
Code, ambiguity, and understanding each other
Yesterday, Marcie and I were planning to do some
Christmas shopping after we drove the kids to school.
Out of the blue, she said to me, "do you think that
store would have that thing?"
"What?!?"
We smiled and laughed, and eventually she gave me enough hints to decipher what she meant.
But it got me to thinking: a lot of times, one of us (in the church) will say something we think is entirely clear, and it will come across to others like Marcie's statement did for me. It's way too easy for misunderstandings to occur, and we need to be willing to give the benefit of the doubt in times like that-- and quickly work toward understanding.
"What?!?"
We smiled and laughed, and eventually she gave me enough hints to decipher what she meant.
But it got me to thinking: a lot of times, one of us (in the church) will say something we think is entirely clear, and it will come across to others like Marcie's statement did for me. It's way too easy for misunderstandings to occur, and we need to be willing to give the benefit of the doubt in times like that-- and quickly work toward understanding.
Kate Snodgrass
12/12/2007 09:23 Filed in: Church Life
| Personal
Marcie has mentioned Kate Snodgrass to many of you;
Kate is someone we know from a St. Louis church where
we were members. She has been battling cancer for
some time now, and she has chronicled her struggles
(and the lessons God has taught her through them) on
a blog.
If you're interested, you may read Kate's blog at this link.
If you're interested, you may read Kate's blog at this link.
Food for the hungry
My friend Megan posted a challenging post on her blog
a few days ago. It turns out that Megan read
an interesting article in the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch about the struggles that
many food banks and food pantries face around
this time of year: they simply run out of food,
and are forced to limit their services or close
doors altogether.
The article points to the unexpected downside of our technological advances: the accuracy of inventory systems in grocery stores means that stores seldom over-purchase, and food packagers don't over-produce, in the quantities that they used to. The net result is that food banks and food pantries don't have the supply of food from the grocery stores and food packagers that they used to. As a result, they run out of inventory themselves.
Megan asks a hard question: what is their personal family responsibility for this problem? I love this question, as it reveals Megan's faith as real and practicable. I also love it because it forces me to consider this for myself, and my family.
In her post, Megan invites interaction about this subject, and I wanted to bring that discussion here, as well. I've also invited my friend Russell Smith to join the conversation. I'd like to work together toward some real answers to this problem-- something that we (as a community) can put into practice on a regular basis.
What do you think? We have a food pantry right here, through Fayette Cares-- my guess is that they are facing the same struggle. How can we answer? What should our personal responsibility in this problem be?
The article points to the unexpected downside of our technological advances: the accuracy of inventory systems in grocery stores means that stores seldom over-purchase, and food packagers don't over-produce, in the quantities that they used to. The net result is that food banks and food pantries don't have the supply of food from the grocery stores and food packagers that they used to. As a result, they run out of inventory themselves.
Megan asks a hard question: what is their personal family responsibility for this problem? I love this question, as it reveals Megan's faith as real and practicable. I also love it because it forces me to consider this for myself, and my family.
In her post, Megan invites interaction about this subject, and I wanted to bring that discussion here, as well. I've also invited my friend Russell Smith to join the conversation. I'd like to work together toward some real answers to this problem-- something that we (as a community) can put into practice on a regular basis.
What do you think? We have a food pantry right here, through Fayette Cares-- my guess is that they are facing the same struggle. How can we answer? What should our personal responsibility in this problem be?
Loving each other
12/11/2007 09:00 Filed in: Church Life