All the Blind Squirrels

I love reading Seth Godin's blog. Its like having a conversation with a friend who sees things very differently than I do, but might still be right! HA!

Today's post fits in well with the conversations I had yesterday about Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers. One of the main points is that talent is overrated; what's needed for success in our culture is hard, hard work and a little blind luck!

Homeless Man Leads Police to Suspected Burglar

A Tyler homeless man camped out near a shopping center witnessed a burglary in progress, scared off the burglar and provided police with an accurate description and even the license plate number of the getaway vehicle he had scrawled in the dirt. The suspect was arrested a short time later and a short distance away.
This story raises more questions than it answers, and its difficult to write about it without getting bitter and cynical about the policies that are perpetuating the invisible homeless tragedy. But I hope some stereotypes are shaken, if not toppled, by this incident. I hope this eyewitness is treated like the hero he is!

UPDATE: perhaps there is hope. The Tyler newspaper reporter did a nice job with the story, even asking the hero what he wanted!

It's 2009, Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?

You need to read Bono's op-ed piece in Saturday's New York Times. It's his reflection on Easter, including this paragraph:
"I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search." (Thanks to another prophet, Larry James for pointing me to this article!)

As we prepare for Pentecost, let's ready ourselves for the coming of God's Spirit with power! How will this change our lives? Will we be open to asking the question, "What shall we do?"

The world is watching!

A Faith That is Based on the Testimony of Women

I don't have a thing to add to Bishop Willimon's blog entry, but felt like sharing it with anyone who reads this one.

Here's a notable quote from it:
"By the way, in that time and in that place, the testimony of women was suspect, inadmissible in a court of law, ridiculed as being worthless. So why would the early church have staked everything on the testimony of these women at the tomb? You can be sure that if the men (hunkered down back in Jerusalem, I remind you) could have told the story of Jesus’ resurrection another way they would have – unless it happened exactly that way."

Peace to all! The world is watching!

Easter Thoughts

Once again, Mike Cope says it so well in this post titled "Following Jesus, Not US!". The bottom line is: "But here’s the catch: I don’t think you have to agree with me on everything in order to follow Jesus. He is clearly working in the lives of people who drastically disagree with what I believe on some issues."

Extending the embrace of fellowship to folks with whom I have significant doctrinal disagreement is challenging, but very freeing, too. By focusing more on the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, I can quiz people less and love more. We can unite in good works and worship, loving our God and our neighbors above all, following the footsteps of Jesus, our LORD, with his simple message ringing in our ears, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

Hallelujah! Peace to all! He is risen!

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

"We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith."
This article in the Christian Science Monitor may be overstating the case, but there seems to be some truth there as the author looks at the USAmerican Protestant church. Will we really see that "Denominations will shrink, even vanish, while fewer and fewer evangelical churches will survive and thrive."? I don't know, but given the current landscape, I think it is likely. What is the cause of this coming collapse? Is it "Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community." as he says? Maybe so; this certainly points out one of the huge tasks our families and churches have ahead of us. Teaching our children (meaning all the children of our community) the gospel story must always be of first importance!