Religious Leaders Can Still Come Off Looking Bad... If We're Not Focused On Him

There were times that Jesus healed people and the “religious leaders” got angry and bothered.  Several times, they objected that Jesus shouldn’t have healed the person because it was the Sabbath.  The religious leaders were nit picky and legalistic.  They come off looking small, uncaring, arrogant and clueless.  As a person who is a “religious leader” I believe it’s helpful to be very cognizant of the truth that the characteristics and attitudes of religious leaders in Jesus’ day can all too easily be held by religious leaders, today, as well.

“Lord, help us to be humble and loving…and to keep our eyes fixed on you.”

After Careful Thinking, I Still Survive Myself

Sometimes--even after careful thought--I determine that a course of action makes terrific sense and then it still turns out I am wrong. That's a disconcerting reality to have to face. I thank God that He has helped me survive myself so many times!

Gratitude, Happiness and Thanksgiving

Dear E-Flash Friends;

What makes people happy? 

 

In recent years there has actually been a good bit of research—serious academic research—in the area of happiness.  When people are happy, what is that?

 

What has been discovered is that when people are happy one of the significant factors is gratitude.  Happy people tend to be people who experience genuine thankfulness.  You might say, to quote a Christian concept that I learned as a kid, they are people who “count their blessings.”

 

In fact, psychologists who try to help people based on this research sometimes recommend that the people keep a thankfulness journal where they are encouraged to take a few moments at the end of the day to write down things they are thankful for.

 

Today, we celebrate a holiday in which the focus is Thankfulness.  (And for some of us there is considerable focus, as well, on pumpkin pie.  But let’s put that aside for the moment.)

 

Are you aware of the blessings in your life?  Do you think about your blessings?  Do you have a real appreciation for the good things that God has given you? 

 

Real thankfulness will probably bring a little more happiness to our lives.  That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

 

I'm hoping that you all have a Happy (genuinely thankful) Thanksgiving! 

Remember that God loves you and that will never change.

 

May you experience God’s rich blessings!

Love,

Dan

In The Right Place For God To Work Through Us

When we are arrogant and selfish we have a tendency to get in our own way.  We get in the way with our antics and our self-centered approach to life.  Our lives become clumsy because we are focused primarily of ourselves and yet we are living in a world where there are many others.  When we are authentically humble, though, our lives expand.  And when we are humble, we are in the right place for God to work through us.

Telling Your Story -- Audio Podcast

                                    Click here for podcast!

The Wonderful Gift of Another New Day

When we wake up to another new day we are being given a gift from God.  Even if it’s a day in which we have to deal with difficulties, life is still important and valuable and each new day is worthy of joyful thanks.  “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

When The Name-Calling Starts Then We Know A Person's Argument Is Weak

When you are watching people debate a matter—or if you are involved in a debate of some kind—take notice when one person begins to attack the character of the other, or when one person begins calling the other person derogatory names.   When a person’s arguments are weak—when the truth is working against a person—that’s when we will typically see the person resort to name-calling.

What's Coming Up 11/24/13 with Dan and Vic? -- Audio Podcast

                                     Click here for podcast!

The Joke's On Me Because You Reap What You Sow

When I was young I had an unwarranted impression of myself and an impression of others that allowed me to think it was alright to mock certain people based on looks, station in life, character traits, physical characteristics and other factors.  I was foolish, unkind and wrong.

In some ways I was kidding around and simply trying to be funny.  At the time, I would have said, “Relax, it’s just a little good-natured joking around.”  But it was at the expense of others and it was not right.  It was definitely a violation of this guideline:  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Fast forward to the present and one of the strange, difficult lessons of my life has been the recognition that a number of things I once mocked in others are things that are now—to my chagrin—true of me.

It appears that I might be experiencing a variation of this principle: You reap what you sow.

A Guy On A Pay Phone?

I saw a guy at a pay phone today.

A PAY PHONE!?!?!

At first I thought, “Boy that’s odd.  That must be the only guy in the northern hemisphere who does not have a cell phone.”

And then I realized what happened and had a good laugh because it was so simple and plain to see.  It turns out that the rowing machine I was on at my cardiac rehab session is actually a time machine.  

Can you believe how dense I was?  It’s all so obvious now, in retrospect. Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed.

Actually I went back in time to 1977.  That’s why the guy was on the payphone!

Silly me.

By the way, I hate to brag but my platform shoes and bell bottom pants are really rocking!  

…Okay, gotta run.  It’s time to go listen to some really groovy “Pablo Cruise.”

Humility and Power

In a non-intuitive little twist we find that humility actually demonstrates God’s power in ways that a brazen display of force cannot do. “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.  So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” 1 Peter 5:6

The Stormy Chili Cook-Off of 2013

I had just dug into a tasty helping of chili at our Annual Chili Cook-Off when someone approached me with a concerned look on her face.

“Dan, my husband called to say that a tornado has touched down in Wilmington.  That’s not far from here.” 

I had heard the weather was going to get rough but I had been busy and hadn’t really thought too much about it.  Looking out the large windows I saw heavy rain, blowing sideways.  It was dark… at 12:30 in the afternoon.

I thought, “Hmm, I better let people know what’s happening.”

“Can I have your attention, please?!?  Everyone!!!  Please!” I called out several times.  The fellowship hall grew quiet.  “Folks, we want to let you know that a tornado has touched down in Wilmington, Illinois which is not too far from here.  We have some people who are monitoring the weather.  We’ll provide updates as the situation changes.”

There was a moment of quiet, a few nodding heads and then everyone went back to talking and eating chili.  It’s very hard to stop our folks from enjoying good food.

It wasn’t too long before we were getting reports of tornados touching down in even closer locations: Frankfort, Tinley Park, Alsip and even at the corner of 111^th Street & Cicero Avenue—which is about 2 blocks from the church.

(One person even told me there was a very small tornado ripping through my office.  But that just turned out to be Bob Miller and some of the other ushers, wrestling.)

.

In the meantime, most of the folks hung around, the votes were counted and Shital Thakkar won first place in the Chili Cook-Off.  His “Internet throw-down strategy” seemed like it might be a bit of a risky maneuver to me, but it paid off.  Mark Bogard took second place. 

I didn’t get a final count but I believe there were only one or two fist fights, so, it was a quiet year from that standpoint.

(And I hate to disappoint, but I did not do any of my ninja moves.  Sorry, perhaps next year.  Or… you never know… I’m not making any promises… but… Yia Yia Palooza is coming soon…!)

As I was heading home, after the event was over—across the somewhat flooded church parking lot—the sun began to peek through the clouds.  I looked at the temperature on the sign at the bank:  It was 62 degrees with just a slight breeze and sunny.

I shook my head and laughed knowing that I would only need to wait for 20 minutes, or so, until the next “season” arrived here in Chicago.  Who knows?  Maybe it would bring a lovely winter snow.  It’s always fun to make a snowman after you’ve had a few hearty bowls of chili!