Fat Baby
Years ago Amy Grant recorded a song called: Fat Baby. In a humorous poke at many Christian's reality, she makes the point that too many Christians learn lots but don't exercise their faith enough.
The challenge that many churches find themselves faced with comes from the very people in the church pews already. It's a subtle mindset that is often expressed in comments like, "I love this church/pastor because I really get fed every Sunday." Now, a church/pastor should feed those who attend on Sunday, however, the church/pastor has a higher responsibility.
The church/pastor has to teach the people to feed themselves. Well, duh. We've heard the saying: 'Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.' Challenging Christ-followers to feed themselves and not rely on the once a week predigested meal on Sunday morning is critical to the health of the church.
If Christ-followers begin to take responsibility for them spiritual diet and feed themselves, I wonder: What (or Who) could the church/pastor focus on Sunday morning?
The Center
It used to be that the earth was thought to be flat.
It used to be that the sun revolved around the earth.
It used to be that we all thought the world revolved around us.
And then people who were able to think outside the box hypothesized that the earth was spherical in shape. Others determined that the earth actually orbits the sun. And we grew up and realized we are not the center of the universe.
Except, there are still people who believe the earth is flat, the sun rotates around the earth, and yes, there are adults who still act like they are the center of the universe.
It takes knowledge and maturity to realize that we are not the center of the universe.
I wonder how many times God looks at me, or hears my prayers, and wonders: "This isn't about you, I am the center of everything, not you."
There are two times in your life when you know all there is to knows
... about parenting. Before you have kids and after they've left the house. While you have kids at home, everything is an experiment! It's all theory, then it's all experience.
My father told me that when we told him and my mother we were expecting our first child almost 20 years ago! He was right... well, we still have kids at home so I don't know for sure about the 'after they've left them home' part. He's done pretty good with other advice...
In the church, who are the customers?
I'm reading through Ken Blanchard's book, Leading at a Higher Level. One of the points he makes is that every organization has two types of customers. The external customer, the outside person you are trying to serve, and the internal customer, the inside person that is employed and supported by other employees in the organization. Both sets of customers are important for a healthy organization.
Churches that believe the regular attender is the customer are churches that do not understand the priesthood of all believers. A firm understanding of the priesthood of all believers leads to others focused thinking. In a department store, front line employees are served by behind the scenes personnel (stock personnel serve the floor associates). The floor associates are the 'customers' of the stock personnel. The floor associate serves the external customer, the paying customer who has a need that is being met through the store. The most important customer in the chain is the external customer, without them, the whole chain dies. However, this does not mean that you can neglect the internal customer! Without the internal customer, the chain will also die.
In the church world, there are both internal and external customers.
Love and Respect for a Lifetime : Book Review
I received a copy of Love and Respect for a Lifetime by Dr. Emerson Eggrichs from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a part of their BookSneeze program.
After more than fifteen years of working with marriages in the local church, this is one of the best books I've come across that addresses the passage that has caused debate in our culture. Dr. Eggerich expounds on Ephesians 5:22ff to show that men need to feel respected and women need to feel loved.
The concepts presented in the book are found in the title. A woman's deepest need is to feel loved. A man's deepest need is to feel respected. The key is found in the word feel. Intent isn't the issue. Through clear and pointed illustrations, Dr. Eggerichs shows how you can meet the deepest need of your spouse.
This book could be used as much as reference book, with simple step-by-step examples of actions you can do to communicate your love effectively to your spouse.
If you've read the original Love and Respect book, this little distilled version will serve as a great reminder. It's the type of book that could find a home on your coffee table and be used as a gentle reminder to yourself.
If you've not yet read the original book, this edition will give you a ten thousand foot view of the authors teaching about the deepest needs of each gender.
If you're not an avid reader, this would be a great book to pick up.
What I'm Thinking...
- Cost of superbowl commercials is so highroad corporations have sold other companies product placement options. 19 hrs ago
- If you don't already use Dropbox: Use this link to learn about it and sign up: http://t.co/BwqUBmFc 2 days ago
- You can get an additional 4.5GB of free storage (you'll be beta-testing for them): http://t.co/NRKpWPqK 2 days ago
- Is you already use Dropbox, you can get upto 768mb of additional storage for free: https://t.co/9oB8DT6h 2 days ago
- I love Dropbox because Has made file sharing with my two college kids super easy! One in FL, one in MN, I'm in PA. http://t.co/NQHNBBgx 2 days ago
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