Ecclesiastes 12:10

    As a minister I find myself going into a lot of hospitals and nursing homes.  Something I have noticed that is fairly common to most every place is the crowd of nurses and staff outside the entrances smoking.  Even if I don’t see anyone, I often can catch a whiff of the stench left behind.  Every time I shake my head and think surely those that are in the health care business know of the health dangers of smoking!  Why would someone that works among the ill every day and probably has seen firsthand the effects smoking, choose to engage in such an unhealthy practice?     It’s not just among health care workers and smoking that you see these strange contradictions.  Ministers that preach morality are often caught in lurid affairs.  Police officers that have worked the wrecks of people killed because of their speeding that think nothing of flying down the highway.  Lifeguards that warn swimmers to stay se...

  If I’m the greatest speaker anyone has ever heard, on all the lectureships, could be doing a meeting every week if you wanted, If people hang on my every message and consider it as close to the “Word of God” as you can get… But don’t have love; I’m just making a bunch of meaningless noise   If I’m on the cutting edge of every new thing, incorporating all the latest technology, If I have a bachelors, a masters, and a doctorate, I am published in all the brotherhood works, have a bestselling book, a must read blog and thousands followers on twitter and if I stand on the right side of every issue, confront every wrong and win every debate… But don’t have love, it doesn’t really matter   If I have out worked everyone else, done more than all my critics, been the better man, took the bullet for the eldership’s mistakes, been the sacrificial lamb   But don’t have love, it wasn’t really worth it Love is that important .   So I better figure ou...

Crazy hypothetical: Newton’s Third Revenge * You have been granted a wish by the revenge genie.  The revenge genie works like a regular genie except your wish is granted to a mortal enemy [1] .  Whatever you wish for them will come back on you as well in equal and negative fashion.  So if you wish for your enemy to drop dead, well then you will die in what kills them as well.  If you try and outsmart the genie by wishing for a million dollars for you enemy, it will come out of your effort(you'll make the money) but the both of you will receive it [2] . So you do benefit but your effort helps them at no cost. You have to make a wish. What do you wish for? *Crazy Hypothetical is a mental game that gives you a conditional choice that gets you thinking about a subject. I used these for several years as discussion starters in Bible class. This a good one for discussion and revenge and the danger grudges can have one the person that holds them. ...

Monday Morning Scattershooting while wondering,  why they have a sign road saying 'Falling Rocks'. What exactly am I supposed to do with that information? They may as well have a sign saying "Random accidents ahead"    A preacher friend once told me a lazy man can hide for a long time in ministry.  The older I get the more I see that to be true.  Ministry has totally different set of hours than any other profession.  There are times when you are so busy you can’t even eat and there will be those that accuse you of never working.  Other times you will have done nothing and people will pat you on the back for you efforts.  Unfortunately, the perception of how much you work is what people often look at, not at the real amount of work.  Some people think if your car is at the building when they drive by you are working, even if you are nowhere to be found.     The temptation comes to a minster to manipulate perception to...

    A preacher friend was lamenting how frustrating of an experience he had recently trying to get the full names of visitors.  He had introduced himself with first and last name to a couple different young couples but they had only responded with their first names.  He went to check the visitor cards but they had not filled them out.  “ How are we supposed to reach out to them if we don’t know who they are?” he retorted.  To him it was an absurdity, but I think I understood their reluctance.    Younger generations are much more protective of their personal information. While older generations don't think much of giving out names, numbers and addresses; younger generations have become very suspect .  In the digital age information is valuable.  Personal contact information is a highly sought out commodity.  Marketers want that information so they can fill your in-boxes with offers.  Telemarketers want...

Crazy hypothetical: Words That Could Change The World* You have a machine that can send a twitter length message (140 Characters) to any person at any time in history. The person receiving the message will not believe it is from the future (even if you try telling them) and will be delivered in a way that will seem ordinary to them. The message will be treated like any other message the person might receive, so the more famous or influential person that receives it the more likely that might ignore it. (So if you send a message to Abraham Lincoln telling him not to go to Ford’s theater, it will be put in with all the hundreds of other messages he received in a day and he might not see it till it is to late.) The machine will only work once. Who do you send a message to and why? What effect do you think it will have? *Crazy Hypothetical is a mental game that gives you a conditional choice that gets you thinking about a subject. I used these for several years as discussion...

Monday Morning Scattershooting while wondering,  If violence is never the answer,what if the question is,“what is never the answer”. Then it is violence even though violence is never the answer    A sports radio station I listen to is known for having hot sports opinions. They like the host to have controversial thoughts on everything. “Jerry Jones the owner needs to fire Jerry Jones the general manager!”  “The Rangers need to get some pitching right now!” “The designated hitter is ruining baseball!”  While this may make for good talk radio, I don’t think it is the best way for a preacher to operate.  I see some preachers spending a lot of time trying to stir up controversy and conflict.  They are quick to throw in their two cents on every issue.  This may stir up the comment sections and boost their fame but I don’t think it much helps the cause of Christ.  Recently I ran across a fellow that was setting some bear traps [1]...