When schools shut down last year, parents in general were ill-equipped to stand in the gap for their kids’ education. Then when most churches moved to online services, there was another gap to fill. The reality hit home that they, dads and moms had not been as involved as they intended to be in two of the most critical areas of their children’s lives. The educational and spiritual development of their kids had effectively been abdicated to schools and churches.
It was about a year ago that I first heard a dad say, “This is like God giving us all a big ‘TIME OUT!’ to get our priorities straight.” In the midst of confusion and frustration around the progression from, “Fifteen days to flatten the curve”, to being introduced to mask mandates and social distancing, and then lockdowns, I saw the comment as a beautiful glimpse of God’s glory.
Before Covid, many dads and moms had been ...read on
On Broadway, the theaters historically have gone ‘dark’ on Mondays to provide a full day off after a Tuesday through Sunday production. Last March, all theaters in New York City and across the country along with sporting venues, restaurants and even churches went dark. All has been ‘dark’ for over a year now providing folks time off from some established norms.
Has this past year been 'dark' for you? Know that darkness never ...read on
In the 1950’s television series Dragnet, Sergeant Joe Friday would always say, “Just the facts, Ma’am” as he investigated the crime of the week. Emotions would impede the effectiveness of his investigation so he was quick to shut them down. Sgt. Friday did his job by cutting through emotional responses, working with facts and discerning the truth.
Today we have ‘fact-checkers’ that work to ...read on
A friend recently introduced me to Kirk Cameron’s 100-day Plan to Build a Godly Nation. Kirk said, “Rather than waiting for someone else’s 100-day plan to unfold and bite our nails to see what’s going to happen, let’s go on the offense and roll out our own 100-day plan.” He initiated “American Campfire Revival” – 100 daily broadcasts where he prays for restoration in our country and presents a biblical perspective.
On day 50, he told a story of an 87-yearold man that had survived ...read on
“In today’s society, materialism is idolized, immorality is glamorized, truth is minimized, abortion is legalized, the courts are paralyzed, and our politics are polarized. On the Internet, TV and movies, crime is legitimized, drug use is minimized, comedy is vulgarized, sex is trivialized, the Bible is fictionalized, churches are satirized, while God is marginalized, and Christians are demonized. Even in our families, our manners are uncivilized, our speech is vulgarized, our faith is secularized, so that everything is commercialized.”- Pastor Rick Warren at the World Meeting of Families, 2015.
We are in the season of Lent, the forty days starting on Ash Wednesday and going through Holy Saturday, the Saturday before Easter, not including Sundays. It is a time to step back from the hustle and bustle of daily routine and consider the final steps Jesus walked on this earth. It is also a powerful time to strengthen our relationship with Jesus the Christ by giving up something that is part of our normal routine or by taking on something new.
From a distance, many in northern climes have had a hard time understanding why South Texas struggled so this past week with what was probably just long sleeve weather to them. Similarly, some in South Texas, Louisiana and Florida had a hard time understanding why New York struggled so with "super storm" Sandy in 2012. Both were exceptional weather occurrences neither state was prepared for.
If today was tomorrow yesterday and today will be yesterday tomorrow, the todays can get by quickly! Maybe that is why the Beatles longed for yesterday - “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they’re here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday. Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be. There’s a shadow hanging over me. ..” Living in yesterdays indeed can cast a shadow over experiences intended for today.
“God speaks in the language you know best ...read on
Who did you want to be like when you were growing up? Who was your role model - your dad, an uncle or another father-figure? Was there a national hero or maybe a sports figure that you wanted to emulate? As a tennis player in the ‘60’s, the sports figure I most wanted to be like was Rod Laver. Arguably the greatest player of all time, he would hustle, dive for balls and compete with class.
As an adult, the mantra in the business world was to ...read on
When schools shut down last year, parents in general were ill-equipped to stand in the gap for their kids’ education. Then when most churches moved to online services, there was another gap to fill. The reality hit home that they, dads and moms had not been as involved as they intended to be in two of the most critical areas of their children’s lives. The educational and spiritual development of their kids had effectively been abdicated to schools and churches.
It was about a year ago that I first heard a dad say, “This is like God giving us all a big ‘TIME OUT!’ to get our priorities straight.” In the midst of confusion and frustration around the progression from, “Fifteen days to flatten the curve”, to being introduced to mask mandates and social distancing, and then lockdowns, I saw the comment as a beautiful glimpse of God’s glory.
In the 1950’s television series Dragnet, Sergeant Joe Friday would always say, “Just the facts, Ma’am” as he investigated the crime of the week. Emotions would impede the effectiveness of his investigation so he was quick to shut them down. Sgt. Friday did his job by cutting through emotional responses, working with facts and discerning the truth.
A friend recently introduced me to Kirk Cameron’s 100-day Plan to Build a Godly Nation. Kirk said, “Rather than waiting for someone else’s 100-day plan to unfold and bite our nails to see what’s going to happen, let’s go on the offense and roll out our own 100-day plan.” He initiated “American Campfire Revival” – 100 daily broadcasts where he prays for restoration in our country and presents a biblical perspective.
“In today’s society, materialism is idolized, immorality is glamorized, truth is minimized, abortion is legalized, the courts are paralyzed, and our politics are polarized. On the Internet, TV and movies, crime is legitimized, drug use is minimized, comedy is vulgarized, sex is trivialized, the Bible is fictionalized, churches are satirized, while God is marginalized, and Christians are demonized. Even in our families, our manners are uncivilized, our speech is vulgarized, our faith is secularized, so that everything is commercialized.”- Pastor Rick Warren at the World Meeting of Families, 2015.
From a distance, many in northern climes have had a hard time understanding why South Texas struggled so this past week with what was probably just long sleeve weather to them. Similarly, some in South Texas, Louisiana and Florida had a hard time understanding why New York struggled so with "super storm" Sandy in 2012. Both were exceptional weather occurrences neither state was prepared for.
If today was tomorrow yesterday and today will be yesterday tomorrow, the todays can get by quickly! Maybe that is why the Beatles longed for yesterday - “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they’re here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday. Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be. There’s a shadow hanging over me. ..” Living in yesterdays indeed can cast a shadow over experiences intended for today.
Who did you want to be like when you were growing up? Who was your role model - your dad, an uncle or another father-figure? Was there a national hero or maybe a sports figure that you wanted to emulate? As a tennis player in the ‘60’s, the sports figure I most wanted to be like was Rod Laver. Arguably the greatest player of all time, he would hustle, dive for balls and compete with class.
