change

I am with Ronnie Floyd on his thoughts today…

Change is the buzzword on all political fronts this year.

With the Presidency at stake, change is the word both major candidates are using continually.

Matters like “real change” are being debated as well as who will provide “the needed changes.” With the challenges that have faced our nation the past few years, as well as recently, change seems to be catching the attention of the American people.

Please understand, I would like to see many things change, and have for years. I have often wondered what it must be like for a sitting President to listen to those on the campaign trail as they seek after his job. I would imagine he hears them say things he said, and thinks to himself, “Once you get this job, change just does not come easy.”

The kind of change we need in this nation today is the kind that only God can bring. In this polarized political environment, only God can bring two opposing sides together. Only God is the one who can provide real change. Does He want America to change? I am pretty convinced He does. Yet that change is there awaiting us.

Therefore, we must pray for change. We cannot determine who the next world leader will be, but we can determine to pray. We need to pray for our nation. We need to pray for this election. Yes, involvement is good because influence is possible, but prayer is even better. Another way to say it, when you are involved in the processes, also pray.

May God continue to change us, then true change becomes more than a buzzword. It becomes a reality.

around the web…

We all misspeak from time to time…we say the wrong thing at the wrong time…the words just come out wrong…even for presidential candidates (love Obama visiting 57 states and still not making Alaska and Hawaii!) check out the clips here

Have been enjoying this blog…link here

Josh McNall has hit the big time!

A great post recently from Seth Godin on why people make decisions that seem out of sync with yours.

thanks mark wilson for the quotes

Over many a Christian leader’s record could be stamped these words: LACKS POWER. Why do so many ministers and lay leaders have a vague restless awareness that something is lacking in their leadership?
– Wesley Duewel, Ablaze for God, p. 78

perhaps the greatest lack in most Christian leadership and ministry is this divine bestowal, the Spirit’s empowerment. . . . Perhaps the greatest, and most revolutionary change that could happen to your leadership would be for you to receive and continually experience the divine dimension. Once you receive it and experience the difference it makes, you will not want to minister without it.
– Duewel, Ablaze, p. 79

this could get you fired

Sometimes I wonder if we worship a false God.

It seems that much of contemporary Christianity is aimed at keeping us safe. We should live in our vanilla worlds of peace, prosperity and shelter from the world. God will protect us from all evil and never expose us or our family to danger. We pull quotes from the Bible regardless of context to make us feel better.

Take one of the most famous embroidered, monogrammed and cheesy arted verses, Jeremiah 29:11-13. You know it. People quote it when going through a hard time or as a passage of reassurance and prosperity.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

Most people have no clue that the next verses roll this way:

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “I will send war, famine, and disease upon them and make them like bad figs, too rotten to eat. Yes, I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease, and I will scatter them around the world. In every nation where I send them, I will make them an object of damnation, horror, contempt, and mockery. For they refuse to listen to me, though I have spoken to them repeatedly through the prophets I sent. And you who are in exile have not listened either,” says the Lord.

Print that on your daughter’s graduation card….

Now, I’m not trying to be mean, but I am trying to make a point. Jeremiah was writing to God’s exiled people and his message was complex. God was going to bless them, but he was also punishing them and their relatives, and they weren’t listening well. Are we just pulling sound bites to make us sleep better at night?

What that sets up for most of us is false expectations – we believe everything’s gonna roll beautifully with God and we’ll never have coffee stains on our veneered teeth. Then, when plans don’t work out as well as we hoped, we blame God…claiming he didn’t come through for us.

I want to talk more about this, but I’d love to hear what passages you get stuck on. What bothers you about God’s character as revealed in the Bible? What specific passages make you think you might be dealing with a different God than you originally thought?

Gary Haugen

Last Sunday I referenced Gary Haugen as someone who was standing for hope in our world. Here is a great talk (click here)he gave last winter at Central Wesleyan Church in Holland, Michigan.

brevity

Thinking this morning about the power of brevity. The more people talk, the less they say… and less we listen. We really do waste a lot of words.

Earnest Hemingway was challenged to write a story using only six words. People doubted it could be done. Hemingway took up the challenge and here is the story he wrote:

“Baby shoes. For sale. Never worn.”

Think on it for a minute and you’ll see that those six words tell a big story.

The words are clear. They evoke emotion. They invite imagination.

Whenever you write or speak, remember: the words you include can make it good, but only the words you take out can make it great.

Can you write a story in six words?