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Don’t Bring Toxic Shock to Your Workplace
Are you kind to your Christian friends on Sunday but mean to your co-workers on Monday? Do you tend to talk about other women behind their backs, especially the other women in your workplace? Are you emotionally miserable and take that out on others around you? You might be the one bringing “toxic shock” to your workplace, a poisonous condition that is lethal to relationships and to your purpose as a Christian at work. Toxic Shock Syndrome Years ago, a condition called “toxic shock syndrome” suddenly appeared in the news during the late ‘70s. Toxic shock syndrome is a potentially fatal condition caused by the release of toxins from the…
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#MeToo: A Time to Believe, A Time to Disbelieve
First, we have the accused: Bill Cosby. Donald Trump. Judge Moore. Harvey Weinstein. Kevin Spacey, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Al Franken, Louis CK, George HW Bush, Dustin Hoffman, James Toback, Brett Ratner, Russell Simmons, Mario Batali, Harry Thomas… . On the other side are the accusers, those who have spoken up via #MeToo, #BalanceTonPorc, #YoTambien, #Ana_kaman, #churchtoo, and many others . . . millions of men and women claiming abuse. One of the surprises for me as so many good people in my life have come forward with their stories is how the initial reaction of some other good people has been to (1) discount it all as a trendy…
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Danger in Digital Dust
In our electronic world of texts and instagram, conversation tends to get left in the digital dust. Condensing relationships to tweets and texts often shortcuts the heartfelt encouragement or support of friendship. Yet this is the world we live in and simply dismissing or dissing it doesn't truly address practical reality. Can we capture the convenience of instant communication and couple it with the deep realization that conversations matter because people matter? In the past several weeks two friends entered eternity unexpectedly and I was reminded again that only two things last forever: people and the word of God. People matter to you and me and to God. How we…
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Ducking the Duck Controversy
Bursting onto the season of “peace of earth, goodwill toward men” comes a new conflict bent to destroy the emotion of that peaceful scene. Were there even any ducks in the manger? What about you? How can we respond to this new debate in a way that represents the spirit of the Savior during this of all seasons? Several observations from my perspective: First, I am amazed at the level of biblical illiteracy revealed in this debate. Over and over, in print and image, the words of scripture are dismissed as only the homophobic opinion of Phil Robertson. One newspaper article attributed the reference to the Old Testament. If you…
