1.1 – Assurance of God’s Love – Psalm 86:5

Memorize Psalm 86:5

You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
   abounding in love to all who call to you (NIV).

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
   abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you (NRSV).

Reflections on Psalm 86:5:

  1. Take time to read all of Psalm 86 from the NIV.
  2. Read Psalm 86 again from Eugene Peterson's The MESSAGE.
  3. What things stand out for you as you read this chapter?
  4. Where in your work, home, or community is it hard to remember that God loves you?
  5. Let this Psalm be a prayer for you this weekby reciting it at the close of the day.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.  Scripture quotations contained herein are from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION BIBLE, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1.0 – Memorize This! Adventure Begins

This week we begin an adventure. I am guiding this adventure using the following book: D. Mason Rutledge, Memorize This (Th1nk Books: 2003), ISBN # 1-57683-457-3, $9.99 (amazon.com has it for $8.99). You DO NOT need the book to join the adventure.

I offer the verses in two versions. The New Revised Standard Version
(NRSV) from which I usually preach and study. The other version has
stood the test of time as well, the New International Version (NIV). If
you purchase Memorize This the verse cards in the back are
available in four versions: the NIV, the New Living Translation, the
King James Version, and the New King James Version. To challenge
myself, I am working through this adventure in the NIV so that I am
reading the old, old story in a differing translation. You make your
choice accordingly.

So the journey begins …

Henri Nouwen once said: "Becoming the Beloved means letting the truth of our Belovedness become enfleshed in everything we think, say, and do" (Memorize This,
19). With the word "Beloved" Nouwen points us toward the words Jesus
heard as he emerged from the waters of the Jordan at his baptism: "This
is my beloved son with whom I am well-pleased."  In our baptism, and in
our renewal of our baptismal vows in worship yesterday, God says the
same thing to each one of us … you are my Beloved Son … you are my
Beloved Daughter. God loves you!

Good to Great

Link: Fast Company | Good to Great.

Jim Collins, "Good to Great," Fast Company, 51 (October 2001) p. 90.  Illustations by Greg Clarke.

Start with 1,435 good companies. Examine their performance over 40 years. Find the 11 companies that became great. Now, here’s how you can do it too.

I want to give you a lobotomy about change. I want you to forget everything you’ve ever learned about what it takes to create great results. I want you to realize that nearly all operating prescriptions for creating large-scale corporate change are nothing but myths.

Continue reading “Good to Great” →

The Accidental Guru

Link: Fast Company | The Accidental Guru.

I discovered Malcolm Gladwell by accident … somebody suggested I read his book, The Tipping Point.  Well I did, and I was impressed with his ability to tell a story that connected one to truth.

The Accidental Guru Malcolm Gladwell, says one fan, is "just a thinker." But what a thinker. His provocative ideas are taking the business world by storm. So who is this guy, and what can he teach you about business?

Danielle Sacks, "The Accidental Guru," Fast Company, 90 (January 2005), p. 64.  Photographs by: Ofer Wolberger

"I really like that term ‘momentary autism,’ " a woman says softly into the mike. She is in the back of the Times Square Studios speaking to a room of some 200 people, and more important, Malcolm Gladwell, who’s standing solo onstage. It’s the second day of the fifth annual New Yorker Festival, and Gladwell has just finished a detailed reprise of the seven seconds that led to the infamous 1999 fatal shooting of Amadou Diallo. Minutes before, every eye in the room was locked on him as he unspooled the nanodecisions that misled four New York cops into thinking the innocent Guinean immigrant was an armed criminal, resulting in 41 shots, 19 to the chest.

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The 6 Myths Of Creativity

Link: Fast Company | The 6 Myths Of Creativity.

A report of a study challenging these myths about workplace creativity:

  1. Creativity Comes From Creative Types
  2. Money Is a Creativity Motivator
  3. Time Pressure Fuels Creativity
  4. Fear Forces Breakthroughs
  5. Competition Beats Collaboration
  6. A Streamlined Organization Is a Creative Organization

Bill Breen, "The Six Myths of Creativity," Fast Company, 89 (December 2004), p. 75.

Creativity. 

These days, there’s hardly a mission statement that doesn’t herald it, or a CEO who doesn’t laud it. And yet despite all of the attention that business creativity has won over the past few years, maddeningly little is known about day-to-day innovation in the workplace. Where do breakthrough ideas come from? What kind of work environment allows them to flourish? What can leaders do to sustain the stimulants to creativity — and break through the barriers?

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Rick Warren on Facing the Crisis

Five biblical principles when facing a devastating crisis by Rick Warren

We were all stunned to hear the news about the massive earthquake and tsunami in southern Asia. The images we see in the newspaper and on TV are heartbreaking. It's hard to fathom the horror and grief that literally millions of people are enduring minute-by-minute.

There are many Purpose Driven church leaders in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives and Malaysia, and we're helping congregations like yours to connect directly with churches in this devastated region. Several of the articles in this edition of the Ministry ToolBox explain what is being done and how you can help.

This disaster gives us all an opportunity to minister God's love in the lives of people in Asia who need to hear about abundant, eternal life in Christ Jesus. While each day's headlines are filled with news about this tragedy, we also have an opportunity to teach our congregations about facing crisis.

Whether you're planning to help in South Asia, or whether it's the next time a wildfire, flood, earthquake, tornado, or hurricane devastates your own community, sooner or later, your congregation will be called to minister in a time of unparalleled grief. When that happens, here are five biblical principles you can teach your members about helping spiritually in the midst of massive crisis:

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The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience

Link: The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience – Books & Culture.

Ron Sider is at it again.  He so wants USAmerican evangelical Christians to be Christian, yet the overwhelming evidence is that evangelicals are succombing to the dominant USAmerican culture. Think Ron has it wrong … read his discussion below about evangelicals and divorce, materialism and its implications for caring for the least, the last, and the lost, sexual disobedience (!), and racism.  Fortunately, we can learn from the church at Laodicea (see Revelation 3:14-20) about being transformed from lukewarm christianity into signs of God’s hope for the world.

Ronald J. Sider, "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why don’t Christians live what they preach?" Books & Culture, 11.1 (January/February 2005), p. 8.

Once upon a time there was a great religion that over the centuries had spread all over the world. But in those lands where it had existed for the longest time, its adherents slowly grew complacent, lukewarm, and skeptical. Indeed, many of the leaders of its oldest groups even publicly rejected some of the religion’s most basic beliefs.
In response, a renewal movement emerged, passionately championing the historic claims of the old religion and eagerly inviting unbelievers everywhere to embrace the ancient faith. Rejecting the skepticism of leaders who no longer believed in a God who works miracles, members of the renewal movement vigorously argued that their God not only had performed miraculous deeds in the past but still miraculously transforms all who believe. Indeed, a radical, miraculous "new birth" that began a lifetime of sweeping moral renewal and transformation was at the center of their preaching. Over time, the renewal movement flourished to the point of becoming one of the most influential wings of the whole religion.

Continue reading “The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience” →

John Maxwell is Wired (7.24)

GET CONNECTED By Dr. John C. Maxwell

When I was growing up, I was pretty good at getting into trouble.

I wasn't a bad kid.  But I did have a high energy level and a creative mind, which, as you can imagine, often led me into all kinds of mischief.

Once, when my fourth-grade teacher was playing the piano with her back to the class, I talked all my classmates into sneaking out of the room and into the hallway.  Mrs. Tacy didn't even know we were gone until she finished her song and turned around.

That kind of behavior might have caused some teachers to write me off as a troublemaker, but not Mrs. Tacy.  Despite all the orneriness I displayed in her class, she saw my potential.  And she loved me in spite of my conduct.

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The Light Within – July 2003

Link: Companions in Christ | Tools & Tips.

"The Light Within: A Meditation," Melissa Tidwell
(Taken from Alive Now, July/August 2003, page 27.)

Find a comfortable place to pray, and if possible, dim the lights. Close your eyes and center yourself in a place of safe darkness. Imagine that you can see before you a door left slightly ajar, and coming from the space around the door is a wonderful golden light. The light is a sign that God is present. Focus on that small sliver of light.

Continue reading “The Light Within – July 2003” →