We were notified that the “2021” had finally been engraved on my wife Tammy’s Mom’s headstone, so we drove over to the cemetery. As I looked at the headstone, I noticed that it rather coldly summed up her life with her birth and death dates, separated simply by a dash. For Jane, that dash represented more than 89 years of life. During those years, she was a wife, a sister, a nurse, a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She left a wonderful legacy for her family. That got me to thinking about what my dash will represent. What legacy will you or I leave?
Alistair Begg in his devotional book Truth for Life, writes:
Each of us is leaving a legacy. Every day we are adding something to the portrait of our lives, and eventually what we leave behind—our decisions, our contributions, our priorities—will remain, at least for a time, for others to reflect upon and consider.” Continue reading
Monthly Archives: February 2023
THIS & THAT: A Roundup of Favorite Articles and Quotes
- Countries Where It’s Most Dangerous to Be a Christian in 2023. Joe Carter writes “The 2023 World Watch Listreveals persecution is extremely high in many countries, but nowhere as severe as North Korea, which has moved back to the top of the list of the most dangerous countries to be a Christian.”
- The Crushing Obligation to Keep Doing More and More. Kevin DeYoung writes “Surely there are many Christians who are terribly busy because they sincerely want to be obedient to God.”
- Leave the Throne of Guilt: Three Better Reasons to Pray. Scotty Smith writes “Moving on from guilt and fear, I now focus on three callings that have radically transformed how I engage in prayer.” Subscribe to receive Scotty’s daily Heavenward prayers each morning.
- 5 Keys to a Great Marriage. Thankful that one of my articles was published in Christian Grandfather Magazine.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More interesting article links
- Favorite Quotes of the Week
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- What Do I Do If I Don’t Like My Job? In this short video, Bryan Chapell states “So when we’re in a job that we don’t like so much, apply the George Bailey Test. If you didn’t do it, if nobody did it, what would be the effects upon the world? And suddenly, we begin to recognize that even in the onerous jobs, there is a glory that God intends for his people as they do what needs to be done.”
- 11 Passages to Read When You Lose Your Job. Crossway shares these helpful passages from scripture to read when you lose your job.
- The Groan and Glory of Our Work. Scott Sauls writes “Work is glorious because of how it intersects with God’s ongoing creative, restorative mission in the world.”
- Saints are Needed in Every Sphere. In this discussion, Carl Ellis, Phillip Holmes, and David Platt talk about why we need Christians in a wide variety of vocational spheres—and the effect their work can have for the kingdom.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- My Review of Master What Matters: 12 Value Choices to Help You Win at Life by John Maxwell
- Quotes from the book You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News by Kelly Kapic
Don’t Underestimate Your Team Members
I enjoy looking at my “Memories” on Facebook each day. These are select items that you have posted on the particular date the past few years. Recently, the above photo showed up, reminding me of a day six years ago in which I learned a valuable lesson – not to underestimate my team members.
For the majority of my career as a leader in a Fortune 50 organization, my team members were located in the same town that I was. They might not be in the same facility, or the same building or floor of the campus I worked at, but they were always in the same town. But in the last year and a half of my career, that changed. First, I had an opportunity to lead a five-person team in Atlanta, and later, I also had the pleasure of working with one person in our Phoenix facility. Although I sadly was never able to make a trip to Phoenix, I was able to visit the Atlanta team four times. During those visits, one of the things we made sure to do was some type of team activity to better get to know each other. The first we did was the Escape Room. Continue reading
MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS
Always – Chris Tomlin
****
Following up his 2020 album Chris Tomlin & Friends, in which he partnered with country music artists, Tomlin is back with Always, doing what he does best, writing and singing worship songs for the church, though a few of the songs do have a country music feel to them. I have long enjoyed Tomlin’s music, and I really like this new album. It is one of my favorite albums of 2022.
Here are a few brief comments about each of the thirteen songs on the album:
Yahweh (No One) – This song was written by Chandler Moore, Jason Ingram, Chris Brown, Steven Furtick and Tomlin, and produced by Jeff Sojka and Ben Glover. The song is a cover of Elevation Worship’s “No One” and features Chris Brown of Elevation Worship on vocals. The upbeat song highlights the first commandment “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3), and the third commandment “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7). A good opener.
Key lyrics:
There will be no other God before You
There is no one above You, no one beside You
And nobody like You
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More of this review
- Music News
- Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Your Praise Goes On by Crowder
BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
***
A few months ago, we attended the Fellowship for Performing Arts production of The Great Divorce, which was adapted for stage by Max McLean. McLean tells us that this 1945 novel by C.S. Lewis was his response to the popular view expressed in William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell where the poet tried to imagine a point at which the differences between good and evil will somehow be resolved. This prompted Lewis to write of their final divorce.
Lewis tells his readers that the book is a fantasy, so don’t get too concerned about some of the theology in the book. In this book, Lewis introduces us to several characters on a bus trip from the outskirts of Hell to the outskirts of Heaven. Lewis poses a challenging question. Given the freedom to choose Heaven or Hell, what would we really do. Are the gates of Hell locked from the inside?
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Providence by John Piper
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading
What Are You Anxious About, and How do You Manage It?
For some time now, our two-and-a-half-year-old Alaskan Malamute Clara, has been getting anxious around 7:30 am. There is a narrow walkway between our fence and our neighbor’s fence. It is in this area that a young man who attends the nearby high school walks each weekday morning precisely at 8:10 am. From our yard, Clara can see him approaching from a good distance away. She visibly gets increasingly upset the closer he gets. I am not sure why. I wish she could tell me. She recently sniffed my new shoes and ran away scared. How did we raise such a huge nervous Nelly? Continue reading
THIS & THAT: A Roundup of Favorite Articles and Quotes
- A Better, More Beautiful View of Sex. Carl Trueman writes “There are few topics that generate more passionate debate in the church today than the topic of sex. Sexuality plays a crucial role in the identity politics of our time, which only heightens tensions and magnifies the rhetoric between those of different views. With so much at stake, Christians are often hesitant to engage on this topic.”
- Tim Keller on Suffering, Forgiveness, and the Future of the Church. On this episode of the White Horse Inn, Michael Horton is joined by Tim Keller to discuss how his cancer diagnosis has affected his spiritual practices, why forgiveness is essential in life and society, the church’s resilience amidst increasing secularization, and more.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More interesting article links
- Favorite Quotes of the Week
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
The Triune God is a Worker. In this article, Russ Gehrlein shares some excerpts from Chapter 3 of his book, Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession.- Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
- Remember: Your Co-Workers Don’t Have the Church. Adam Nesmith writes “One of the most important things you can do as you go off to work is to remember that your coworkers don’t have the Church. And that has several implications that you should keep in mind when you enter the world of your 9 to 5.”
- Your Soul or Your Job. You Choose. Will your church membership cost you your job? It’s not just a hypothetical question. The new chief executive of a major Australian sports franchise lasted exactly one day on the job after a hideous scandal was discovered—he attends an evangelical church and leads its board.
- What Does It Mean to Represent Jesus in My Job? In this short video, Bryan Chapell states “If we are representing Jesus in our work, it means there’s value to our work because we are showing the world his character and care—and that’s always part of our witness. And that’s an important thing. It’s also important to recognize that in representing Jesus, we are fulfilling the purposes he has for ordering the world.”
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- My Review of Lead Like It Matters to God: Values-Driven Leadership in a Success-Driven World by Richard Stearns
- Quotes from the book You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News by Kelly Kapic
Focus on Results, Not Activities
Many of us are extremely busy in our jobs, callings and vocations. But being busy is not the same as being productive. In the Fortune 50 organization that I worked at for my nearly 38-year career, we would often talk about “results, not activities”. One of the first times I heard this was after turning in my comments for my mid-year review of my goals. That task was always one of my least favorite to do, and I was always happy to get it done. Unfortunately, on one occasion, shortly after turning in my mid-year document to my leader, she returned with it all marked up in red ink. She handed it back to me and said that I had listed a lot of activities. What I needed to do was show results.
This makes sense, of course. Organizations will reward workers for achieving results. Being busy in and of itself will not move the organization forward. What do I mean by focusing on results, rather than activities? Let me give you a few examples. Continue reading