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Why We Lost…or Did We?
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken We lost. 5-4. A crushing loss after an unbroken string of losses dating back to Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This most recent loss, same sex marriage, happened a long time ago, not on June, 26, 2015. That loss happened when we decided to trade in God’s weakness for our power and chose to trust political process instead of spiritual resources… Don’t get me wrong. As citizens of the United States of America we should use every means our constitution gives us to advance our cause, but we cannot depend on our rights to make our nation right. Surely we know that when…
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Transforming the Heart
Leadership is Broken Because Leaders are Unbroken Nearly three hundred years ago, Jonathan Edwards wrote on of the greatest Christian classics of all time entitled, Religious Affections. By “Affections” Edwards meant the deepest desires and drives of the heart. For Edwards, this is what our faith is about, and, while he doesn’t need me to confirm him, I believe he is absolutely right. I also believe his perspective is missing in today’s thinking. Edwards said, “. . . no one is ever changed, either by doctrine. . . or by preaching or teaching of another, unless the affections are moved by these things. . . . there is…
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Discipleless Churches
Leadership is Broken Because Leaders are Unbroken Dallas Willard observed that the word “disciple” occurs 269 times in the New Testament while the word “Christian” is found three times. From this Willard concludes, “’The New Testament is a book about disciples, by disciples, and for disciples of Jesus Christ.’” Yet all around us we see discipleless churches, churches made up of what Willard called “undiscipled disciples.” How is it that the essence of the Great Commission, the only command Jesus made as He gave His final marching order to His followers, is significantly ignored in churches today? How can so many pastors, not only around the world, but also…
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WWJD? Why Ask? Just Do It!
Leadership is Broken Because Leaders Are Unbroken WWJD has been around so long it’s become passé. Even people who don’t know or care what Jesus would do know what it stands for. The wristband days are over, but I never understood why the question ever came up in the first place. Why ask a question with such an obvious answer? What would Jesus do? What He did: out of a heart of love teach truth and disciple others. He would do the same thing today that He did when He walked the earth. In fact, that’s exactly what He is doing right now through those who want to do what…
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Africa, Oh, Africa
Leadership is Broken Because Leaders are Unbokren No continent on earth suffers as Africa suffers. Not just Africans, but Africa itself. Like Africans, Africa possesses untold resources. And like Africans, Africa is mutilated, ravaged, and raped. Corruption contaminates the continent from the Sahara to South Africa. Neo-colonization reigns supreme as outside forces establish economic control the way older nations established political supremacy a hundred-fifty years ago. Africans experience a terrible sense of loss, an awful awareness of injustice, and an utter absence of hope that drives them to take frightful risks to find opportunities they never would have otherwise. Most Africans don’t talk to non-Africans about the corruption of their…
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Garissa
5:00 AM, April 2, 2015, Garissa University College, Garissa, Kenya. For sleepy heads it’s time to roll over and get a few more hours of sleep. For all nighters it’s time to grab another cup of coffee and push a little harder. For serious students it’s time to get up and review for today’s exam. For party types it’s time to find a bed somewhere and sleep it off once again. For committed Christians it’s time to gather for prayer. For al-Shabaab it’s time to kill. For Josephine, student leader of the Cru movement on campus, it’s time to die… The Christians gathered at the appointed time, 5:00 AM, under…
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Easter’s Unanswered Question
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken Sunday morning dawn. In many ways the first dawn. Three grieving women on their way to a rich man’s tomb, though a poor man lay in it. They came to pay their final respects on the first Easter Sunday to that poor man, but a huge stone lay at the mouth of the tomb placed there by Roman soldiers. Who would move it for them? Yet it was already moved when they arrived. A young man dressed in white told them Jesus wasn’t there. But where was He? They didn’t get it. Do you? Oh, you get the part where Jesus is raised…
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You Can’t Come in at the Door
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken So High You Can’t Get Over It, So Wide You Can’t Get Around It, So Low You Can’t Get Under It—But You CAN’T Go in at the Door When I was a boy I used to go to a Good News Club in my neighborhood. A Good News Club is a weekly gathering for children in which they sing some memorable songs, do some fun things, hear a fascinating Bible story, and meet some wonderful caring adults. One song we sang goes like this: So high you can’t get over it, so wide you can’t get around it, so…
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A Worth it Year – Worth it Days from a Worth it Heart
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken When our three sons were growing up I loved our home. My wife created a beautiful atmosphere for all of us, and I valued every minute I could get with our family. Of course we all had to go our own way most days, but I liked it best when we were together sharing life. It’s still like that and more so with three daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren, even though we’re scatted across the US. Somewhere along the line as our sons grew older, I started asking myself a question almost every day as I pulled into my garage. “Was it worth it…
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The (Scandalous) Mothers of Christmas
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the unmentionable wife of Uriah the Hittite, Mary–the mothers of Christmas. Who were these women in the genealogy of Jesus and why this rare mention of women in a list of ancestors? Were they righteous women, holy before God, uncommon in their character? They were uncommon in their character, but not all were holy. There was a roadside prostitute, a scarlet woman on the wall, an alien reaper, the unmentionable wife of another man, and the handmaid of the Lord. What an amazing lot! It’s stunning that any woman would be listed in a genealogy, since lineage was usually traced…