| Blessed are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness - 5/29/2009 |
You can't be hungry or thirsty for something unless you don't have! Jesus isn't saying you're blessed if you have attained righteousness; he's telling us that you are blessed, and will be satisified if you are hungry and thirsty for righteousness.
What is righteousness? Rom. 1:17 basically says that righteousness is all about an ongoing, deepening, faith-filled relationship with Jesus Christ. Religious types think righteousness is all about who is right or who can do more right thing
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 29, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| The Edge of Chaos - 5/28/2009 |
In nature, the edge of chaos, is the conditions that confront the status quo, creating instability that challenges the "life" that exists in these new conditions to either adapt and evolve or essentially die!
In our lives, the edge of chaos, is when cultural, sociological, spiritual conditions confront us to have to adapt and change, or become more steadfast in protecting the status quo and the security we believe that accomplishes. But nothing could be further from the truth! Chaos i
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 28, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Saving Private Ryan - 5/25/2009 |
As I sit here today at Penn State where my daugther is playing in a volleyball tournament I can't help but think about the freedom we enjoy in this country. As we all know, that freedom has come at the price of a lot of men and women is our armed forces who have been willing to give their lives for the cause of securing and maintaining our freedom! No words can adequately express how grateful we shoul all be.
I also can't help but picture in my mind the scene from the movie, "Saving P
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 25, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| "Lasts" are also "Firsts" - 5/23/2009 |
This has been a week of "lasts" for my daughter. As in, "last" week of her high school years; "last" track event today in the Maryland State Championships; "last" club volleyball tournament; "last" opportunity to experience living this side of an entirely new phase of life that bascially starts next week as she, and my wife and I, enter the "college years!" "Last" week as a high schooler, but at the same time, "first" week as a college student and athlete!
"Last" this or that can be e
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 23, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Personal Pressure - 5/22/2009 |
Personal pressure is the stress we put on ourselves when facing a challnge. My daughter experienced this yesterday in the Maryland State Track Championships. She was competing in the triple jump, which she won last year and which she also won again yesterday. But she wasn't satisfied. Why? Because she has set a goal to break the state record and she wasn't able to succeed. The pressure she put herself under definitely contributed to her feeling somewhat tensed as she jumped.
We ca
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 22, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Repeat Pressure - 5/20/2009 |
Repeat Pressure- that's what I call it when you're in the situation where you are expected to win, be successful, or make something happen because you've been there and done it before! My daughter is in that situation this weekend as she endeavors to become a repeat champion in all three of her track events at the Maryland State Championships. Not only is she expected to win, but she's the top seed in all three events by a wide margin. To me, that's the greatest pressure of all!
Ther
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 20, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Livestrong - 5/19/2009 |
"Livestrong" is the great marketing tool that Lance Armstrong, 7-time Tour de France cycle race winner, developed to bring greater awareness to the impact of cancer on people, as well as to raise funds for cancer research in hopes to find a cure. "Livestrong" is also a great way to look at your life!
I have the privilege of speaking at my daughter's baccalaureate service for high school graduation and I hope to send the message to these young people who are about to begin the next phas
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 19, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| When Leaders Lead and People Follow - 5/18/2009 |
When leaders lead with vision, strategically, confidently, courageously, and with integrity; and people willingly, totally, and supportively follow, rallying around a cause that the leadership is exemplifying, it's an incredible force that cannot be stopped!
I saw this in action on Saturday morning as our LifeHouse East church family gathered for a "Momentum" meeting. Not only did Patrick, our pastor there, lead with confidence and clarity, but also with the courageous and conviction t
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 18, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Blessed are Those Who Mourn - 5/16/2009 |
"Blessed are those who mourn," Jesus said, "for they shall be comforted!" I get the "blessed" part and I get the "comforted" part, but right there in the middle is this messy deal of "mourning!" Some translations try to say "Happy are those..." and that may work with most of the beatitudes. But it just doens't jive with "mourning"- "Happy are those who mourn???" What? No way! Mainly because the word Jesus uses actually means the opposite of "happy", which is SADNESS.
So what's thi
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 16, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Defragging - 5/14/2009 |
If you own a computer, at one time or another you've probably "defragged" your hard drive. You have to defrag because the more files you have, and the more prgrams you download, the more your hard drive gets scrambled by confusing, random inputs that get sprayed all over the place.
My wife is amazing, and that's a fact. But when it comes to computers, she has one principle- "its always the computer's fault!" If the computer is running slow, its the computer's fault. If she can't get
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 14, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| An "Apostolic Ethos" - 5/13/2009 |
Today I attended a men's fellowship breakfast of about 40 oldtimers (I say that lovingly)! I took along 4 of my church plant guys and they were the youngest in the room by about 30 years! It was really a good time as 11 different churches were represented, and the older dudes (which I am joining the ranks of) were very sincere in their conversations, prayers, and stories. I was there because I was invited to speak, and again, it was a great time!
But one of the things that profoundly
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 13, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Tranformissional Coaching - 5/12/2009 |
Transformissional Coaching is the new terminology that is being used to identify the processing of mentoring new church leaders, especially church planters, to reach a postmodern culture. In his book by the same name, Steve Ogne, talks about how the church has moved from "traditional evangelicals" to "pramatic evangelicals" to now the "younger evangelicals."
The traditional evangelical paradigm requires a pastor or priest, and his or her value is determined by his or her availability.
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 12, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| What's In a Name? - 5/11/2009 |
What's in a name? Recently I attended a conference and of course we all had nametags on. As I was entering one of the sessions, a greeter looked at my name, Terry, and remarked that it meant "tenderhearted." In a sense, she was right, but not totally, so I proceeded to tell her about the real meaning of my name.
Years ago I did some research and discovered that "Terry" does mean "tenderhearted" if it is derived from the French language. But digging deeper I found out (to my relief)
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 11, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit - 5/7/2009 |
I'm really excited about part 2 of our LHCB message series on the Beatitudes. But I must confess that this "poor in spirit" deal is not what we think it is!
First of all, if we were there on the mountainside listening to Jesus begin his talk with "Blessed are the poor..." and we only heard that part, we would have probably tuned him out at that point! After all, being poor isn't something we aspire to! When we think of poor we automatically get images of lack, need, desperation, ma
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 7, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Mothers Just Don't Get Paid Enough! - 5/5/2009 |
I just heard on the news tonight that according to salary.com a stay at home mother would make $126,000 each year if they were actually paid for the jobs they perform. A work outside the home mom would make approx. $76,000 per year! The website concluded that moms basically perform ten different jobs on a mostly daily basis and at home moms work mom jobs on average 56 hours each week, while working moms do 17 hours of mom work on top of their 40 hour per week work in the marketplace.
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 5, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| A Wild and Crazy Guy! - 5/4/2009 |
"We are just wild and crazy guys!" Remember that line from the SNL glory days with Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd? Two swingers who thought they were the "ticket" when it came to the ladies. Of course, they never succeeded in any of their attempts. I guess thinking you are a "wild and crazy" guy and actually being one is two different things!
With that in mind... I know some real "wild and crazy guys" when it comes to leadership in the Kingdom kind of stuff! Mark Batterson is one- Nat
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 4, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| Is There Not a Cause? - 5/2/2009 |
"Is there not a cause?" That's David's answer to his brothers when they basically ask him why a "shepherd boy" is hanging around with the "warriors" at a battle site. Actually, not much "battling" is going on as the Israeli army is holed up in the rocks while the Philistine champion comes out every day to challenge one of Jewish "warriors" to a fight- champion takes all! When you think of it, that's a pretty good deal, since only one guy from each side has to fight it out. However, no one on
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 2, 2009 | Comments |
| |
| More on Liminal Space - 5/1/2009 |
I heard Allen Hirsh at the Exponential Conference in Florida talk about the "Liminal Space" that the Church needs to occupy. The "space" between the Church and the culture. We need to be on that "threshold!"
Most "church-goers" don't want to be the "threshold" for the culture to access the Church because if requires authentic Christlikeness. You can't really get away with proclaiming one thing and doing another thing when you're out there among the real skeptics. In case we haven't
>> Read More |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| May 1, 2009 | Comments |
| |
