Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

Monthly Archives: October 2020


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THIS & THAT: A Weekly Roundup of Favorite Articles and Quotes

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  • More interesting article links about The Reformation, Christian Living, Good Questions and Thinking Theologically
  • Favorite Quotes of the Week

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is now available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
  • God Covers Our Sin with Paint That Matches. My friend Russ Gehrlein writes “Our attempts will always fail. There are no works we can do to add to what he has already done on the cross to pay for our sins. His covering is perfect since he is the Master Painter.”
  • Jesus & Love: The Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time. Phyllis Hendry Halverson writes “A tremendous benefit happens in the lives of people who lead like Jesus: freedom. Jesus is the only one who offers a model of leadership that’s built on freedom and complete security in Him and His power at work within us.”
  • A Prayer for Our Ordinary Days. Laura Talton writes “We live in a time and a culture constantly celebrating the extraordinary, and yet, the reality is that daily life–that is, what makes up our time and culture–is ordinary. It’s instant oatmeal and work commutes. We are ordinary people living in ordinary places. But to God, we are also so much more.”

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

  • More links to interesting articles
  • The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
  • My Review of The Uniform of Leadership: Lessons on True Success from My ESPN Life by Jason Romano
  • Snippets from Os Guinness’ book “The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose For Your Life”

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What is Moral Authority, And Why Is It Important for Leaders to Have It?


I recently read John Maxwell’s excellent book Leadershift: 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace. One of my favorite chapters in the book was titled “Positional Authority to Moral Authority: The Influence Shift”.  What exactly is moral authority and why is it important for leaders, and others, to have it?
Maxwell writes that moral authority is:
“The recognition of a person’s leadership influence based on who they are more than the position they hold. It is attained by authentic living that has built trust and is sustained by successful leadership endeavors. It is earned by a lifetime of consistency. Leaders can strive to earn moral authority by the way they live, but only others can grant them moral authority.” Continue reading →


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My Review of UNHINGED

Unhinged, rated R
*

Unhinged is an intense, but disappointing B-grade thriller, that doesn’t allow its Oscar winning lead actor to do much more than grunt. The film, directed by Derrick Borte, with the script written by Carl Ellsworth, also includes a significant amount of violence and adult language.
The film begins with a bloated Russell Crowe, Oscar winner for Best Actor in Gladiator and also nominated for A Beautiful Mind and The Insider), portraying “The Man”, sitting in his pickup truck in the rain outside of a home with a “For Sale” sign in the front yard. He is sweating and gulping down prescription meds like they were candy, something he does throughout the film. We see him take off his wedding ring. We assume that his ex-wife, and possibly others, are inside the house. Eventually, he gets out of the car, kills all inside and sets the house on fire.
The next morning, we see Rachel, a hairdresser played by Caren Pistorius, being awakened by a phone call from her best friend and attorney Andy, played by Emmy nominee Jimmi Simpson (Westworld), who is helping her through a divorce. She is the mother of a young son, Kyle, played by Gabriel Bateman (Child’s Play). Rachel’s brother Fred, played by Austin P. McKenzie, and his girlfriend Mary, played by Juliene Joyner, also are temporarily living in her home. By oversleeping, Rachel misses an appointment with an important client, who then fires her. She also makes Kyle late for school – we assume not for the first time – which will earn him a detention. Continue reading →


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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference, edited by Tim Keller and John Inazu. Thomas Nelson. 237 pages. 2020
***

Books in which a different author writes each chapter can be tricky. You might connect with one author and not another, and that’s just how I found this book. I found myself fully engaged with some chapters, while others were frankly a chore to get through.
I was attracted to the book by the fact that one of the editors, who also wrote a chapter, was Tim Keller, one of my favorite authors, and Lecrae, one of my favorite musical artists, also wrote one of the chapters. Among the contributors, I was also familiar with Sara Groves through her music, and Trillia Newbell through her writing and Tish Harrison Warren, through a book of hers my wife had recently read. The subject of the book caught my attention as we live in a very divided culture, including among those who identify as Christians.

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review and reviews of
~     The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created by Jane Leavy
~     Ben Hogan: An American Life by James Dodson
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading →


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Paying Tribute to My Heroes

Recently, I was listening to one of R.C. Sproul’s older teaching series Heroes of the Christian Faith. A few weeks later, I read Jeff Robinson’s excellent article “How to have Ministry Heroes without Plagiarizing Them”. That got me to thinking about the heroes in my life.
Growing up, my heroes tended to be sports figures. In baseball it was Mickey Mantle, in football it was O.J. Simpson and in basketball it was Wilt Chamberlain. Although these men achieved great things on the field or court, looking back at them now, their character left much to be desired (though Mantle did come to saving faith very late in his life). In high school my hero was Doug Collins, who played basketball at my hometown Illinois State University and would become an Olympic hero and the number one draft choice in the 1973 National Basketball Association draft.
One of the definitions of “hero” from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is “a person admired for achievements and noble qualities”. Robinson in his article states that “Scripture certainly gives warrant to have heroes, to study and emulate men and women of the faith whose lives are so marked by humble, courageous Christ-honoring character and grace-enabled skill in living the Christian life.”
Before looking at my heroes, I want to set some ground rules around people that I am not going to include. First, Jesus would be my top hero (of course). I’m also not going to include my parents, siblings, or my wife Tammy, though they would certainly make the list as well. Given those qualifications, here are people that I consider to be heroes in my life, some of which I know well, and some I don’t: Continue reading →


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THIS & THAT: A Weekly Roundup of Favorite Articles and Quotes

  • How to have Ministry Heroes Without Plagiarizing Them. Jeff Robinson writes “Scripture certainly gives warrant to have heroes, to study and emulate men and women of the faith whose lives are so marked by humble, courageous Christ-honoring character and grace-enabled skill in living the Christian life.”
  • Where is God When Your Dog Dies? Robert Yarbrough, who I enjoyed a class on Jeremiah with at Covenant Seminary a few years ago, writes “Yes, God cares when your dog (or cat, or horse, or other dear pet) reaches life’s end. And he cares for you as you grieve.”
  • 4 Things to Remember When Meeting with Jesus. In this short video, David Murray states “I would encourage young people (6-12 years old) to meet with Jesus through reading the Gospels, because that is where Jesus is primarily revealed.”
  • Sisters, You Have Permission to Lead an Ordinary Life. Melissa Kruger writes “When I’m overwhelmed by all the messages coming at me each day, I remind myself of 1 Thessalonians 4:11: “Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands.” The quiet, godly life described here is within our reach. And I’ve seen it lived out firsthand.”
  • When ‘You Are Enough’ Simply Isn’t Enough. Nancy Guthrie writes “I’m convinced that when we survey the Scriptures, we discover we don’t have to be afraid of, ashamed of, or lose hope because of the emptinessin our lives. Instead, we can face the emptiness with confidence that God can and will work in our inadequacy as only he can—filling it with his own divine fullness.”
  • Parenting is Gospel Ministry. In this workshop, Paul Tripp, author of Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family, speaks on how to let the gospel shape what you say and do with the children who have been entrusted to your care.
  • When God Says No to Your Earnest Prayers. Garrett Kell shares four gracious truths that can guard us from despairing when the Lord says no to our earnest prayers.

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    • More interesting article links
    • Favorite Quotes of the Week

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12 Essential Traits of a Good Team Member


A few months back I wrote about how to become a leader that others would want to follow. You can read that article here. I was telling a friend about that article and he challenged me to write about what makes a good follower. I’m adapting his question to reflect what I believe are 12 essential traits of a good team member.

In nearly 38 years as a leader in a Fortune 50 organization I had the opportunity to work with many talented people. As a general rule, they demonstrated the following traits:

Initiative – I always appreciated team members that demonstrated strong initiative. They didn’t wait to be asked to do something, instead they saw what was needed and just took care of it, helping the team in the process. Some may call this person a “self-starter” as well. Continue reading →


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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is now available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
  • How to Love Our Difficult Neighbors (At Work). Russ Gehrlein writes “Certainly, whether we are supervisors or peers, working from home or back in an office, we can make every effort to provide tools to help our weak and inexperienced neighbors at work by methodically coaching, teaching, and mentoring them.”
  • How Firm a Foundation: Keys to Staying On-Mission Through a Crisis. David Fultz writes “We’d be foolish to expect that we can walk through life without experiencing the storms that often mark this broken world. When those storms come, we need foundational beliefs and direction that allow us to stand firm. We must be grounded and firmly rooted in the words of life.”
  • Transforming Lives Through the Dignity of Work. Sam Brownback writes “Every man, woman and child possesses inherent dignity, and that self-worth is often best realized in a family and through daily interaction with co-workers.”

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

  • More links to interesting articles
  • The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
  • My Review of Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church by Paul David Tripp
  • Snippets from Os Guinness’ book “The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose For Your Life”

Continue reading →