Walking The Walk

A friend of mine told me an interesting story that was useful to me--I thought I'd share it.  Early in his career, my friend worked in a manufacturing plant--on an assembly line.  It was challenging work, and he struggled in the beginning.  He wasn't sure he was going to be able to do it.  He was trying to match his pace to the pace of the machine, but he just couldn't keep up with the machine.   But as he looked around at the old-timers working at their stations, he noticed something remarkable.  They weren't having any trouble at all with keeping up with the machine, because they weren't working at the pace of the machine--they were working faster than the machine.  They had developed their skills to the point that they were always way ahead of where the machine was.   When he set his goal to be faster than the machine rather than as fast as the machine, the skills he needed to be successful in that job soon developed. We all have a da...

The world renown theologian Karl Barth had a famous anecdote that I'll try and tell you in my own version, and add some of my own thoughts to it.  It went something like this: Imagine if you will a people that live in a giant warehouse.  They are born in the warehouse.  Everything they need to live is in the warehouse.  All they know is life in this giant warehouse.  There are no doors, but there are windows--covered in dirt and grime and never paid much attention to. But one day the children noticed the windows, and they pulled a ladder over to one of them, and wiped away the generations of grime that had collected over the panes, and looked out.  And what they saw surprised them.  There were people outside that window, walking up and down the streets seemingly oblivious to the warehouse they lived in.  And as the children are watching these people in wonder, suddenly these people are all looking up in the sky and pointing (maybe there was an air...

We received some very bad news this week.  Because of our supply chain issues which are likely to get worse before they get better, Christmas may have to be cancelled this year, or at the very least be scaled way back.  All the toys and merchandise that are required to have Christmas are parked off the coasts resulting in delays in getting all these products to the stores in time for the holiday season. So Christmas may be cancelled.  At least for those that have forgotten what Christmas is actually about. But Christmas isn't about merchandise.  It's not about shopping and spending money.  It isn't about giving and receiving gifts.  It's not about parties and sweaters and candy canes.  It's not about a red car in the driveway with a giant bow on it.  Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior.  It's about celebrating a moment that changed the world forever.  Christmas is a religious holiday . . . remember now? So good news Ch...

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”   Matthew 7: 24-27 One of the big problems of our society today is we want to talk in terms of what is "legal" and what our "rights" are under the constitution and the law of the land. But that's the wrong way to look at things very often.  Are we suggesting that everything that is legal is right?  Are we suggesting that anything you can do because of the freedoms you have as an American is moral? Are you kidding me?  I'm going to ...

  Many years ago, I kept seeing this little kitten in the evenings over along the edge of a corn field.  Sadly, people often dump strays out in the country, so it's not unusual for stray dogs and stray cats to show up at your house when you live far from town.   I started leaving food out for it, and everyday when I'd come home, the food would be gone.  I'd leave more the next day, but after I started feeding this kitten, I didn't see it much.  One evening I'd built a fire, and I was out sitting next to it.  It was very dark that night, other than the light from the fire. As I was sitting there enjoying the fire, I felt something brush against my pants leg.  I look down, and there's that little kitten.  It didn't want to be picked up, so I just pet it for a few minutes.  And then it wandered away.  As it left the fire, it went across the yard into the light cast by our farm light . . . and then I realized.  It wasn't a kitten a...

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." ~Matthew 7: 13-14 And there is one final point I'd like you to consider. That road, that narrow road that leads to life that only a few find?  That's the journey of a lifetime.  Although Christians live in this world, it's not our culture that defines how we should live--we live according to God's plan for us.  We live according to God's Word.  And that's a challenging path because it puts us at odds with the declining values of our society. Everyday a Christian has to make the choice to live according to God's plan for our life, or live according to the values of our society.  It's a challenge because it is so much easier to live like everyone else.  Christians are different because we live in a very different world than everyo...

When I was beginning my career, I was anxious for a promotion.  An opportunity had opened for a store manager, and I had quickly made my interest known to my supervisor. My supervisor had simply declined to interview me for the job. I disagreed with his decision and we wound up having a long talk about it. He went over all the things a store manager does--there were a lot of things on that list I knew little about.  Scheduling. Inventory. Ordering. Banking.  Daily paperwork. Payroll.  He also pointed out to me the opportunities he had given me to learn about some of these things, which I had declined. He said I wasn't ready for it.   I knew he was right.  I decided then and there I was going to learn everything there was to know about running a store--and I did.  Six months later, that same position opened up again, and I didn't have to ask for an interview.  There was no interview.  The job was mine if I wanted it.  I wound up the top m...