Saturday, November 17, 2012
Comic Art
ARTIST SHAWN McMANUS
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Friday, November 16, 2012
How High The Bar?
Ron Edmondson, on leadership:
Let's take an easier one. Suppose a staff member consistently yells at volunteers who fail to live up to their commitments becasue that staff member knows they will be in trouble for failing to follow-through? Suppose the volunteer's problems are really a cry for attention because of problems at home. Just askin'
I think the standards we must forst hold people in teh church to are a bit different. We should have a different set of priorities.
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I make no apologies. I continue to challenge the people I lead. I expect a lot of them. I try to be fair. I’m a strong advocate for family time. I embrace the flexible workplace. But, I am always pushing people to be better. I challenge people to live up to their full potential and I’m dissatisfied with a mediocre performance.If you do a click through to his standards, you find:
- Responsiveness
- Honesty
- Respect
- Openness
- Follow Through
- Limited need for oversight
- Participation
Let's take an easier one. Suppose a staff member consistently yells at volunteers who fail to live up to their commitments becasue that staff member knows they will be in trouble for failing to follow-through? Suppose the volunteer's problems are really a cry for attention because of problems at home. Just askin'
I think the standards we must forst hold people in teh church to are a bit different. We should have a different set of priorities.
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Friday Entertainment
Towards the end, our cartoon friends invite us to pour a little sugar on them. As we move from the 1960's to the 1980's, this is what happens with that line:
There is some deep cultural commentary there.
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Thursday, November 15, 2012
Real Pastoring
Chaplain Mike examines Paul's second letter to the Corinthians and compares the credentials Paul put forth with those that were running rampant in the city. Paul's:
I am not convinced. Moreover, I would imagine that most people feel unqualified to do such gatekeeping. After all, it places great demand on the gatekeeper. To hold people to such standards means we first must have met them ourselves.
Many ills beset the church. We are at the heart of one of theme here. And as always, it starts with ourselves. That is alwasy the hard part.
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- We may not be the most eloquent speakers, but we will be real pastors who give you the real Jesus (11:1-6)
- We may not command high fees, but we will show you genuine concern (11:7-15)
- We don’t have a list of accomplishments to boast about, but we will boast about our weaknesses (11:16-33)
I am not convinced. Moreover, I would imagine that most people feel unqualified to do such gatekeeping. After all, it places great demand on the gatekeeper. To hold people to such standards means we first must have met them ourselves.
Many ills beset the church. We are at the heart of one of theme here. And as always, it starts with ourselves. That is alwasy the hard part.
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
What Happens When You Meet God?
Godspace:
She is right about meeting God face to face being life changing, Nut I am wondering about the whole power v love thing.
For one thing, these attributes are not mutually exclusive. Love still know right from wrong and good from bad. Love and grace must certainly show us our faults, and will eventually condemn them. You see, love wants better for us. Love does not say, "It's OK to be a wretch." Love says, "You're a wretch, I will make it better for you."
Secondly, becasue God hs both attributes, we see both from Him when it is appropriate. Christ certainly demonstrated both in His earthly existence. God tells us what we need to hear. For the woman at the well, it was a message of forgiveness, for the money changers it was a different message altogether.
What will happen when we see God face to face is not a universal, it is a reflection of where we are and who we are.
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Where do we meet God face to face? And what kind of God are we expecting to meet? These are questions that has revolved in my mind all week as I have contemplated these words from Richard Rohr’s book Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality.
We wil not trust spiritual power until we have experienced a God who operates in the same way, a God who is willing to wait, allow, forgive, trust and love unconditionally. p89He goes on to say
Before encounter God is perceived as omnipotent power; after encounter God is perceived as humble love. p93[...]
Meeting God face to face is the most earth shattering and life shattering experience imaginable, not because it reveals to us the power of God but because it overwhelms us with the love and humility of God. And in that encounter we are changed forever too. A true encounter with God leaves on us an imprint of the living God, an image that enables us to reach out to others with the love and compassion that is who God truly is. In meeting God face to face, we too become the face of God to others.
She is right about meeting God face to face being life changing, Nut I am wondering about the whole power v love thing.
For one thing, these attributes are not mutually exclusive. Love still know right from wrong and good from bad. Love and grace must certainly show us our faults, and will eventually condemn them. You see, love wants better for us. Love does not say, "It's OK to be a wretch." Love says, "You're a wretch, I will make it better for you."
Secondly, becasue God hs both attributes, we see both from Him when it is appropriate. Christ certainly demonstrated both in His earthly existence. God tells us what we need to hear. For the woman at the well, it was a message of forgiveness, for the money changers it was a different message altogether.
What will happen when we see God face to face is not a universal, it is a reflection of where we are and who we are.
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Tuesday, November 13, 2012
It's Not That Hard
Lynne Baab asks "How Do We Grow In Knowing God?":
Would that more of us understood this - would that I acted like what I understand.
I reflect sometimes that our efforts to be more Christian somehow are really sinful, they are efforts to remain in control of our lives when the real secret is to give up that control.
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- Being open to the surprises of God
- Responding
Would that more of us understood this - would that I acted like what I understand.
I reflect sometimes that our efforts to be more Christian somehow are really sinful, they are efforts to remain in control of our lives when the real secret is to give up that control.
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Kitty Kartoons
Monday, November 12, 2012
True Artificiality
The Anchoress:
The real question is how to overcome that shield. Like most shields, you can rarely get directly through it. Besides, it's a diversion. What they need to see is the love of God that means that even in in the face of our sin and weakness, we are loved. That is not something you can argue - that is something that must be demonstrated with time and relationship.
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In rejecting religion as superstition or wishful thinking, Stephen Hawking attempts to create an “Us vs. Them” dichotomy between science and faith. In reality, no such dichotomy exists—and we need not choose whether to believe in science, or to believe in God. History is replete with scientists who were also men and women of faith.
Copernicus, Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein come to mind, since Hawking writes in the realm of astronomical physics. I would add to that esteemed list Sir Francis Bacon, Johannes Kepler, Renee Descartes, Robert Boyle, Gregor Mendel, Michael Faraday, and Max Planck.Sometimes I wonder what motivates some scientists to create this dichotomy. Well, needless to say, I have known a few scientists in my life and everyone I have ever spoken to on the matter is in the end no different than the rest of us. They seek the dichotomy to shield themselves from the pain of facing their own sin and weakness.
The real question is how to overcome that shield. Like most shields, you can rarely get directly through it. Besides, it's a diversion. What they need to see is the love of God that means that even in in the face of our sin and weakness, we are loved. That is not something you can argue - that is something that must be demonstrated with time and relationship.
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