We all deal with conflict daily, in many forms. Even the church has conflict, internal and external, from time to time. With the Bible as our guide, which biblical examples can teach us about a specific quality that foils conflict? Where does this quality come from? What does it lead to? Letās consider Gideonās example to identify this quality. Chosen by God as a judge of Israel he was assigned to defeat a threat from neighboring Midian (Judges 6:1-8:21). He assembled an army of 32,000, but … [Read more...] about Handling Conflict with Discretion and Humility
Culture
Navigating Church Dichotomy Without Cynicism
The Church today presents a fairly complex panorama. Many different organizations each claim in their own way to be the true Church. But there are various flavors of culture and to some degree flavors of doctrine. Consequently, it is important to help young people figure out how to navigate the Church landscape today. There is a chasm between what the Church is and what itās supposed to look like. Itās difficult for all of us. But it is especially problematic for young people who are … [Read more...] about Navigating Church Dichotomy Without Cynicism
Following Politics, Christ, or Both?
What is āpoliticsā? How should we respond to the politics that invade our daily lives in the news, workplace, school and from so many social media platforms?Ā According to Wikipedia (which often conveys modern thought regarding a subject): āPolitics (from the Greek word, politikĆ”, meaning 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources. The … [Read more...] about Following Politics, Christ, or Both?
The True Nature of Leadership
I think we can say factually that we are in a crisis of leadership in this country and the world. It is not just political government. Leadership is also suffering in education, business, city governments, families and in the Churches. Today I want to take a practical look at this issue of leadership. Itās not so much a discussion of leadership principles but more about the whole concept of leadership, the nature of leadership. First, I want to look at leadership from a worldly … [Read more...] about The True Nature of Leadership
Our Old Man
In assessing the many aspects of the body of Christ, the thing that stands out to me is that we have a personal responsibility to the body. We cannot sidestep that. We could summarize that responsibility as: āBut the manifestation of the Spirit (or the fruit or the expression of the Spirit) is given to each one for the profit of all:ā (1 Corinthians 12:7). To be able to express the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), obviously one must first have it. This is where our individual … [Read more...] about Our Old Man
Equality, Equity, and Justice
There are growing trends and attitudes in society towards authority, and I began to explore how it might be affecting the young adults within the Christian community. Besides the fact that authority is increasingly disregarded and disrespected, itās still expected to provide some semblance of justice. We can lament the fact that any kind of standard on which to base justice is quickly being dismantled. But regardless, people in general want justice, whatever that means to them. … [Read more...] about Equality, Equity, and Justice
Artificial Intelligence: Words or Wisdom?
I know just enough computer code to sort of copy and paste sections from the internet to do any programming that I need to do. When I get stuck, I ask my son for some help and the two of us have this joke about how the code āfeelsā right to me. It feels like it should work but it doesnāt. Terryās very firm, very analytical and he tells me that code does not care how I feel. Itās computer code. It simply works, or it does not. Here is the interesting … [Read more...] about Artificial Intelligence: Words or Wisdom?