Tuesday, December 18, 2007

A New Perspective on Leadership:How About Leading With Love?

A great summary article on an interesting concept that a business leader who is loving can be very successful. sounds good to me as I subscribe to the theory that love always wins.


Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Randy Pausch's

I haven't even watched the lecture yet, and i already have tears running down my eyes. This man sounds like the kind of person I hope to become.

I first heard about this when was reading a technology article that talked about his wonderful speech.

Little did I know what kind of impact Dr. Randy Pausch was having worldwide

Read the article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119084081673940375.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Watch the video here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=362421849901825950&hl=en

ABC News Story on it: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/TenWays/story?id=3680950&page=1


Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Love Conquers All

I came across this while surfing today. It is from a book by Jim Palmer titled "Wide Open Spaces"

My favorite is: Christian living is an overflow of God's love in me. What a great way to go through life think that way.

Jim Palmer says it this way, "...how love altered my understanding of God and my relationship with him and others."



Before: God is synonymous with religion.
Now: God is synonymous with love.

Before: Christianity is a belief system.
Now: Christianity is a school of love carried out in apprenticeship to Christ.

Before: God hates sin because it disgusts him.

Now: God’s motive for hating sin is love. Sin causes hurt and suffering for me and others.

Before: I primarily experience God through religious rituals and acts of obedience.
Now: When I am experiencing love, I am experiencing God.

Before: Christian living is trying harder to be more and do more.
Now: Christian living is an overflow of God’s love in me.

Before: My source of love is outside myself and I’m dependent on others to supply it.
Now: My source of love is within me and while I enjoy the love of others, I’m not dependent on it and can freely love others without the expectation of receiving love in return.

Before: I am created in God’s image, which means I have the capacity to make rational choices and exercise my free will.
Now: I am created in the image of perfect love, which means love is the core of my identity and I can choose love.

Before: The main thing is getting people to adopt my beliefs about God.
Now: Loving people creates desire within them to know God.

Before: Somewhere out there is God’s purpose for my life and I must find it.
Now: At every moment, God’s purpose for me is to be love.

Before: Being “in love” is some temporary euphoric guy-meets-girl experience.
Now: Being “in love” is walking in the conscious awareness of and dependent on God’s love in me and as me.

Before: Tough love is withholding love from others as a means of disapproval or attempt to bring change.
Now: Tough love is loving others without condition, regardless of the result.

Before: The most powerful force on earth is hate.
Now: The most powerful force on earth is love.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

$100 Laptop Goes into Mass Production

The One Laptop per Child group says the first XO laptops for use in schools will be manufactured by Quanta in October



This sounds like a great cause. The laptop will be able to run on, "Laptop batteries can be recharged using a rip cord, a crank, a pedal, a car battery, or solar panels - in fact, anything that can produce between 10 and 20 volts of electricity, Jensen said."

Hopefully this will enable children in developing nations a chance

From their vision statement, "Our goal: To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves."

To give you an idea of the potential: OLPC said it has received orders for three million machines but refused to say which countries are involved.



May God bless their efforts!!!






Thursday, July 19, 2007

Water find 'may end Darfur war'


I pray that the article above is true, and that it can end the conflict. Water will be in the future the source of many conflicts similar if not worse than oil.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Wonderful Christian sentiment

Below is well stated plan for all Christians to follow if we are to be the light of the world!!

Catch of the Day

Help we all could use
by John Fischer

Yesterday's Catch about how depression, despair and struggles with sin are just as likely to happen after we become Christians as before struck a nerve. One reader mentioned how a minister suggested that her mother was dying because she didn't have enough faith to defeat the power of Satan. Another was told their son was born mentally challenged due to their sin. A number mentioned condemnation they had received from other Christians over struggles with depression. A single mom was being so hard on herself because her life wasn't measuring up to the standard of the Christians around her that she was considering taking her life when she read yesterday's Catch and it brought her hope. Over and over again, the issue of guilt came up. It's enough to make you cry.

Life is hard enough as it is, to not add the pressure of being good Christians to the burdens on so many backs. And what makes this even more tragic is that the added pressure is coming from the only true source of hope anyone has -- those who are ambassadors of the grace of God. When those who represent the unconditional love of God start laying down conditions for acceptance, love and understanding, where are the rest of us going to go? We need to come alongside each other and help -- no questions asked -- not run our spiritual Geiger counters up and down everybody's faith.

Imagine you are a single mom with three kids to drop off at school before going to your first day at a new job. On a slippery, rain-soaked street, you go into a slide and skid into an accident that all but totals your car. Compounding the problem is the fact that it isn't your car -- you borrowed it from a friend because yours needed to be fixed and you didn't have the money yet to fix it. So in fear and trembling you call the owner of the car to let him know what happened, and all he wants to know are the answers to three questions: 1) Are you okay? 2) Are the kids okay? 3) Do you have enough money for a cab? Yes, yes, and yes, you say. Good, he says, then get on your way, lady. You have an important day ahead of you and you can't let this stop you. Leave the car, I'll send for a tow truck. Now be off, and God be with you.

What happened there? 1) No judgment. 2) Help. A lessening of the load, not another burden. 3) Encouragement with dignity. Now that's the kind of help we could all use!

And Karen offers this final word: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Habakkuk 3:17-18



Forward this catch

Welcome to a number of old friends who just heard about the Fischtank! Though the Catch comes free each day, we do rely on the financial support of those of you who can take part. Find out how you can keep the Tank full and help this online community grow by clicking here.

Copyright © 2007 by John Fischer

If you would like to comment on this "Catch of the Day" go to www.fischtank.com/ft/inthetank.cfm.

To subscribe go to www.fischtank.com.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

You don't know what you've got Wednesday, May, 30, 2007
by John Fischer

How fast the mind works, especially when it imagines the worst. Any parent knows this. My wife still counts heads every time a siren goes off. And it doesn't seem to matter how old your kids are. It still happens.

Our 28-year-old son is currently living in a room we built into the garage. Even though it is separate from the main part of the house, we see him a lot because our office and an extra bathroom are also there. Plus, he loves us and checks in often.

One morning last week when I went over to use the shower, I noticed the lights on and his bed made. That wasn't too unusual in that he sometimes sleeps over with friends, but then he usually gives us a courtesy call. What really got me going, however, was the fact that his wallet, keys and cell phone were all in his room, and his car was parked outside where it usually is. The only thing I could figure was that he was out jogging. And then it hit me. Why was everything so neat and in order in his room? Why didn't he come over and say good night last night like he usually does? Why did his room look like he never slept there? What if he hadn't? That would open up the plausibility that he could have gone jogging the night before and never come back.

As soon as that thought entered my brain, I was a goner. A rush of what-ifs and their accompanying emotions flooded my head. The amazing thing was how powerless I was to stop this. It was like trying to shut off a faucet stuck in the "on" position with a broken valve. I could pray, but I couldn't stop the emotions.

I immediately had him in the hospital or the morgue with no ID. Fifteen seconds later I was planning the funeral and wondering how to get my daughter back from Colorado. She'd be too distraught to drive. And it's amazing when this happens to you, how real it is. It seems like its really happening and the feelings seem like real emotions. All I know is that when I heard his voice talking on his cell phone later, while I was in the shower, a wave of relief came over me, and the hug I greeted him with later took him a little by surprise. I had been right to suspect a jog, and thank goodness it was a morning one.

Joni Mitchell sang, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." To which I would add, you don't know what you've got until you think it's gone. You've heard this before, I'm sure, but we can never hear it too often. Hug the people you love today extra hard, and tell them you are glad they are alive. Every moment we have with someone is precious. Lord, wake us up to the value of our moments together.

Copyright  2007 by John Fischer

I posted this in it entirety, because it says so much about our Love for those close to us. If we can extend that lover further and further each day what a wonderful world this could be.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Brian McLaren on Love and the Kingdom

Please check out this short talk from Brian McLaren on the power of Love and Jesus' message regarding love:



Friday, May 18, 2007

Powerful message on Poverty


Wednesday, May 16, 2007

NBA Playoffs are now a Farce

As a devote Suns fan I watch in amazement as they came to life just in time to beat the Spurs on their home court in a game they had to have. What happened to Steve Nash was inexcusable and should have resulted in a playoff suspension for the player and a 1 or 2 game one for the coach.

Instead the league all but ends the Suns chances of winning a championship. Based on a rule that gives them the leeway to make adjustments if necessary. Is it fair that the Suns worked all year for home court advantage and it is taken away by a cheap shot and a bad rule.

The final straw was this statement by the NBA, "It's not a matter of fairness," said Stu Jackson, the league's enforcement czar. "It's a matter of correctness." What he meant to say was the dirty play of the Spurs will continue until such time as Tim Duncan retires or we find another team more compelling.

If there is any justice, Tim Duncan will foul out in the first quarter!!!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Rob Bell's Mother Day Message

Rob Bell was at it again. His ending is pure genius. He spoke of a great theologian who wrote something about Mary that he played for those assembled at Mars Hill. For those who were not there I post here the poem from the great theologian Bruce Springsteen.




Devils & Dust
Devils & Dust
2005



Jesus Was An Only Son
Jesus was an only son
As he walked up Calvary Hill
His mother Mary walking beside him
In the path where his blood spilled
Jesus was an only son
In the hills of Nazareth
As he lay reading the Psalms of David
At his mother's feet

A mother prays, "Sleep tight, my child, sleep well
For I'll be at your side
That no shadow, no darkness, no tolling bell,
Shall pierce your dreams this night."

In the garden at Gethsemane
He prayed for the life he'd never live,
He beseeched his Heavenly Father to remove
The cup of death from his lips

Now there's a loss that can never be replaced,
A destination that can never be reached,
A light you'll never find in another's face,
A sea whose distance cannot be breached

Well Jesus kissed his mother's hands
Whispered, "Mother, still your tears,
For remember the soul of the universe
Willed a world and it appeared."



Copyright © Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP)

Columbia Records

Monday, April 30, 2007

I have listened to this sermon and I actually got chills down my spine when Rob talked about the failures in Rwanda in the late 80's. I had always assumed and blamed the people and the government.

I am amazed and somewhat frightened by his contention that the problem was that the entire Gospel was not taught to the 80 % Christian population.

When you hear Rob talk about it you definitely see his point. We took the easy way out. We told people that they could just be Christians by believing in Jesus and they would go to Heaven. We forgot to do the hard work by showing them what it meant to be Christian. To Love one another and the sanctity of human life.

We need to remember this Case Study, and press to teach the whole Gospel not just the Evacuation theology that all will go to Heaven, and that is what you should work towards.

Friday, April 20, 2007

The Power of Parishioners

A great example of how the Church reaches out to help those in need. Rick Warren's final thoughts can be summed up as lets just get it done!!!

The Power of Parishioners

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Virginia Tech Comments

I thought these were very good discussion about the tragedy.

Sorrow that makes us better not bitter
Virginia Tech-What can we do?
When Violence Kills itself
The Silence of a murderers motherr

My prayers go out to the families of the victims and the family of the perpetrator.

Rob Bell Again

I found this tidbit in an article on Rob Bell Titled : Congregations tap power of their people


In January, Bell closed his conference with a dramatic display of a crowd's power to make a difference. He revealed that he had designed the no-frills conference to spend very little of the nearly $200,000 raised in registration fees.

After paying expenses for the meeting, Bell said, Mars Hill was donating the remaining $155,000 to programs to help poor people in Grand Rapids, bring clean water to schools in Rwanda and to expand a project providing small loans so poor people can start businesses in Burundi.

Bell told the conference: "Because you came here and paid a fee that you didn't think twice about paying, thousands of families will move out of poverty in Burundi next year."

The potential for this kind of religious reorganization is vast, he said.

"Let's aim this movement of people somewhere," he urged. "Let's focus the power of this thing like a laser beam and make a real difference in the world."

On Easter Sunday Mars Hill raised $250,000 for those same causes.

This is the type of Christianity I can feel proud of!!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Matthew 28-Rob Bell Style

I can't wait for each Monday to come ,so I can download the sermons from Mars Hill. What awaited me this week was more than I could have imagined.

Everything I had been thinking for the past 15 years came across through the speakers. Being a Christian isn't about following the rules. You make disciples by being Christlike not by making a sound argument.

My Favorite was Rob's point about we are already telling people about God, we just don't know it.

His great question was, What are you telling people about Jesus in your everyday life?

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Great Book- The Only Road North


For anyone who has ever wonder what a calling from God is, and what to do when he changes the "Plan" this book is amazing.

A hard story about the loss of a brother and the mos unexpected time. A courageous young man who asks the tough questions, and comes out the other side as a modern day Job.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Does anybody hear/see the lost

Check out this video. It's worth it!

t

Easter Message


Rob Bell's Easter Message is wonderful. He concentrates on the power of the resurrection. And for his critics, Yes he does believe, maybe more than anyone.

The "Influencers"

Who do you think are the two most influential Christian spiritual leaders today (in North America)?

1. Rick Warren xx
2. Joel Osteen x
3. T.D. Jakes
4. Joyce Meyers x
5. Jim Wallis xx

6. Bill Hybels x

7. Rob Bell x


Who do you think are the two most influential emerging Christian spiritual leaders today (in North America)?

1. Brian McLaren xxx
2. Rob Bell xxxx
3. Todd Hunter
4. Tony Jones x

Which two Christian spiritual leaders (in North America) do you think are most worthy of being influential?

1. Eugene Peterson xx
2. Ched Myers
3. Rich Nathan
4. Diana Butler Bass
5. Jim Wallis xx
6. Brian McLaren xx
7. Rob Bell xx
8. Richard Foster x

9. Obery Hendricks x

Which two churchy or theological blogs do you think are the most influential?

1. The Jesus Creed xxxx
2. Real Live Preacher x
3. Tall Skinny Kiwi xx
4. Jollyblogger
5. God’s Politics x
6. Beliefnet.com x

Which two churchy or theological blogs have influenced you the most?

1. Reclaiming the Mission
2. Leaving Munster x
3. Internet Monk x
4. The Kinglings Muse
5. Jesus Creed xxx
6. Dylan’s Lectionary Blog x
7. Conversation at the Edge
8. The God Hungry x
9. The Radical Pastor xx

Which two North American church communities do you believe are the most influential?

1. Willow Creek xxxx
2. Saddleback xxxx
3. Lifechurch.tv
4. Vineyard Columbus, Ohio x

5. Mars Hill-Grand Rapids x

Which two self-described emerging/missional (North American) communities do you believe are the most influential?

1. Solomon’s Porch xxxx
2. Mars Hill (take your pick) xxxx
3. Imago Dei, Portland
4. Vintage (Santa Cruz) x

5. Cedar Ridge Community Church x

Which two North American church communities do you think are most worthy of being influential?

1. Church of the Savior (Washington, D.C.) x
2. A Catholic Worker house…take your pick
3. Oscar Romero Catholic Worker, Oklahoma City
4. Koinonia, Georgia
5. Apostles Church, Seattle WA
6. Vintage Faith
7. St. Sabina (Chicago, IL) x
8. Mars Hill, MI xxx
9. the simple way, Philadelphia PA
10. Irving Bible Church x

11. Cedar Ridge Community Church

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Mutombo uses NBA stardom to build off-court legacy

A great article on a true humanitarian

Dikembe Mutombo will in July open his Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center, named after his late mother, in Kinshasha, the capital of his African homeland. The facility is the culmination of a monumental, decade-long investment of Mutombo's time, energy and $15 million of his own money.


Theologian urges a new way of looking at Jesus

Interesting Article on "Emerging" thoughts before there was emerging conversation

His story begins:

Borg sees Jesus differently.

As a historian and biblical scholar, Borg was a member of the Jesus Seminar, a scholarly group that spent years evaluating historical evidence of Jesus' life and sayings. Borg emerged from the process with deeper faith in Jesus and a different understanding of Scripture.


You can find out more here.



Two interesting quotes from Professor Borg

Faith, Borg says, is a matter of living in relationship with Jesus and working politically, first for justice and then for peace.

Jesus "is for us the decisive revelation of God — of what can be seen of God's character and passion in human life," Borg says. "But for followers of Jesus, the unending conversation about Jesus is the conversation that matters most."

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

What about people who do not know Jesus?

A wonderfully thoughtful example of answering the question regarding those who do not know Jesus.

I remember my wife saying that she asked her father this similar question along time ago. His response was similar. It is not ours to judge who is and isn't in. Ours is to pray for those who do not know Jesus that they will either know him or know his ways, and thus they will learn the truth, the way and the light!!!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Obama 08 Education Message

I found the following speech while poking around Obama's website. It was given in March 2005!!!

It was truly amazing to me his grasp of the need to fix the education system. Not just by throwing money at it, or privatizing it, but by making real change and funding No Child Left Behind.

Some highlights:

The ideal of public education has always been at the heart of this bargain. From the moment the earliest Americans stepped out from the shadows of tyranny and built the first free schools in the towns of New England and across the Southern plains, it was the driving force behind Thomas Jefferson's declaration that "...talent and virtue, needed in a free society, should be educated regardless of wealth, birth or other accidental condition."I

In this country, it is education that allows our children to hope for something else.

But we don't make much progress for our kids when we constrain ourselves like this. It appeared for a brief moment that the President, working with leaders like Senator Kennedy understood this, and many of us were initially encouraged by the passage of No Child Left Behind. It may not be popular to say in Democratic circles, but there were good elements to this bill - its emphasis on the achievement gap, raising standards, and accountability. Unfortunately, because of failures in implementation, particularly its failure to provide adequate funding and a failure to design better assessment tests that provide a clearer path for schools to raise achievement, the bill's promise is not yet fulfilled.

The shortcomings of NCLB shouldn't end the conversation, however. They should be the start of a conversation about how we can do better. Yes, it's a moral outrage that this Administration hasn't come through with the funding for what it claims has been its number one domestic priority. But to wage war against the entire law for that reason is not an education policy, and Democrats need to realize that.

If we truly believe in our public schools, then we have a moral responsibility to do better - to break the either-or mentality around school reform, and embrace a both-and mentality. Good schools will require both the structural reform and the resources necessary to prepare our kids for the future.


Now, the American people understand that government alone can't meet this challenge. They understand that we need to transform our educational culture, from one of complacency to one that constantly strives for excellence. And they understand that government cannot replace parents as the primary motivator for the hard work and commitment that excellence requires.

From the moment our children step into a classroom, new evidence shows that the single most important factor in determining their achievement today is not the color of their skin or where they come from; it's not who their parents are or how much money they have.

It's who their teacher is. It's the person who will brave some of the most difficult schools, the most challenging children, and accept the most meager compensation simply to give someone else the chance to succeed.


Of course, teachers don't just need more pay, they need more support. One thing I kept hearing when I visited Dodge Elementary School in Chicago is how much an encouraging principal or the advice of an experienced teacher can make a difference. That's why teachers would be paired with mentor teachers who've been there before. After a few years of experience, they'd then have the chance to become mentor teachers themselves.

And to help them deal with those few disruptive students who tend to slow down the rest of the class - a problem I hear about from teachers all the time - we'd expand innovative programs being used in states like Illinois that teach students about positive behavior.

Finally, we would also require Innovation Districts to work with their unions to uncover bureaucratic obstacles that leave poor kids without good teachers, including hiring, funding and transfer policies. Districts would work with unions to tackle these problems so that we can provide every child with an effective teacher.


During my visit to Dodge Elementary, I was able to speak with a few of the teachers about some of the challenges they're facing in educating their students. And one teacher mentioned to me that in one of the biggest obstacles in her view is what she referred to as the "These Kids" syndrome.

She said that when it comes to educating students today, people always seem to find a million excuses for why "these kids" can't learn. That you'll hear how "these kids are nothing but trouble," or "these kids come from tough backgrounds," or "these kids don't want to learn." And the more people talk about them as "these kids," the easier it is for "these kids" to become somebody else's problem.

But of course, the children in this country - the children in Dodge Elementary, and South Central L.A., and rural Arkansas, and suburban Maryland - they are not "these kids." They are our kids. They want a chance to achieve - and each of us has a responsibility to give them that chance.

In the end, children succeed because somewhere along the way, a parent or teacher instills in them the belief that they can. That they're able to. That they're worth it.





Thursday, February 15, 2007

Bill Clinton's Sermon

I found this speech or sermon while reading a blog. I thought it fits today just as well as it did when it was first given.

Some highlights

  • Now, I disagree with them. I disagree first of all because I remember how I felt [when I heard] the promise of the scriptures in Isaiah, where God says to Isaiah "Fear not for I will redeem thee. Call me by thy name. Thou art mine." I didn't read that I had to join one party or another to get that promise.

  • I'll never forget the conversation in 1993 with the then president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a man I like very much and whose sermons I still watch on TV when I get a chance. He's a great pastor but he belongs to the `values voter' crowd. He looked at me and said, "I just want an answer, not a political answer. A straight yes and no answer. Do you believe the Bible is literally true or not." I said, "Pastor, I think it is completely true. But I don't think you or I or anyone else on earth is smart enough to understand it."

  • I supported the president and Senator Kennedy in the Leave No Child Behind Act because I believe that poor children in inner city schools should have to meet certain standards. And I think it is a form of racism and arrogance and elitism to say that kids can't learn because they came here from another country or because the color skin is black or brown or yellow. I think that's ridiculous. But we were promised that if they held them to higher standards that their school would get their money. We left over 2 million of those kids behind - but I got my tax cut. That bothers me.

  • Nobody's got all the answers to all these challenges facing America today. All we can do is take our values into the public arena and remember the basic things that our religious heritage teaches us. It is wrong to exalt the rich over the poor. Why are we all running to the head table? It is wrong to exploit the environment when you can save it and actually improve the economy. It is wrong to continue to let people continue to aggregate enormous sums of money by raising health care premiums and leave one in six Americans without health insurance. And it's wrong to believe that we can solve all the problems with the world with a security military-only when we plainly can't whup everyone who might ever disagree with us so we've got to make some friends along the way, too.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

A dialogue on the church and homosexuality.

I had never read this post from 1999, but I am glad I came across it today.

How beautiful the sentiments of Peggy Campol0. If only enough people would read and understand, "Only after I met Jesus did I find the courage to speak out for my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters."

Monday, February 12, 2007

Rick Reilly Makes Me Think



The following post makes me sad as well as proud of the five people Rick Reilly briefly profiles

I wonder how many more Americans are being lost in Iraq that we will never know their stories.

I would read this for yourself and see what you think. No easy answers was my reaction.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Ohio State center could lift the Sixers

Check out this article on Greg Oden.

Examples:

Once, after the Lawrence North team finished a pregame recital of the Lord's Prayer, J.R. Shelt, a former assistant coach, noticed tears in Oden's eyes. Asked if everything was OK, Oden explained that he was thinking about having watched the movie The Passion of the Christ.

As players, coaches, cheerleaders and fans jumped with excitement, Oden walked over to a woman near the court.

"How's Esther?" he asked her.

Two years earlier, Esther had been born prematurely, weighing 1 pound, 4 ounces, to the relative of Lawrence North assistant coach Jim Etherington.

"He had met Rachel, my sister-in-law, once or twice," Etherington said. "He knew she was family. He remembered her name at a time when a lot of people wanted a piece of him. He has a personal touch. He has a sweet, genuine attentiveness to him."

When Oden made his recruiting visit to OSU, he kept holding the doors open to let coaches and others pass through first.

Friends chuckle about how often he thanks them for mundane matters, and he says "Yes, sir," and "No, sir," as if he's in the military. Oden began a recent news conference by apologizing for being late, which nearly caused reporters accustomed to waiting to drop their pens.






He sounds like a role model we can be proud of. Team him with Andre Iguodala, we may have talent and a role models for the kids of Philadelphia

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Obama Takes First Step Toward Presidential Run

Please check out the video of Barack Obama's announcement that he is forming committee to run for president. This will be a watershed moment in the United States.

I remember feeling a similar way when I watched an obscure governor from Arkansas give his speech saying he was running for president.

Hopefully Barack will follow the same path.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Love of Jesus

Even though I continue to hear sermons that insist that we must have mission to bring new followers to Christ, I think the sentiments found in this Purpose Driven Life devotional more than explain and justify my approach.

"In the process of loving our neighbors, we will inevitably introduce them to Jesus. (There’s no way you can love someone and not tell them about the most important thing in your life.) What happens then is God’s business, but we will be a witness to what we know of God to those who are compelled to ask. In the meantime, our mission is to keep on loving our neighbors, regardless."

"Love is truly our highest calling. It relates to all people saved or unsaved, regardless of religion, race, or gender. Love as God loves and you will not go wrong. When love is the goal, everything else gets done in the process."

The mistake that a lot of people make is describe as, "When it becomes our mission to save people, people can easily become targets, projects, assignments, or serve a host of other utilitarian purposes. The problem with this is that people become a means to an end. The end is to save everyone, to preach to everyone, to warn everyone, or in some way fulfill an obligation."