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#6 - Avoid Wal-Mart, mall and all those other places that sell lots of stuff that you don't need that people cram themselves into with a bad attitude that want to cut you off in the parking lot and then curse at you like it's your fault.  Just sayin. #5 - Tell your family that you love them.  There is a misconception during this time of year that you have to purchase a gift that is equal in proportion to the love you have for said person.  There's nothing that says, "I love you" like $9.95 plus shipping and handling. #4 - Don't eat bad food, drink bad coffee or consume bad desserts.  This time of year is known for putting on the pounds.  Save yourself the weight and don't consume something that you know is going to taste horrible.  If you take a bite and it offends your palette?  Just say no.  Save your taste buds for the good stuff. #3 - Give.  No, not the useless gifts to people you don't like.  Give your time to people who are struggling thi

A church in Little Rock is presenting a stage version of a Charlie Browns Christmas.  Now if you read about the story here  is would seem that all the children are being forced to go see a semi Christian play in a Evangelical church.   Here is the truth.   The students are not being forced to go.  The school trip is optional.  There are a few parents who are upset that the school would even do this and that children are being exposed to.  Christianity.   What do you think?  Would you let your child go?  Do you think that the churches shouldn't offer their services or facilities to the community?  

Everybody loves presents.  Little surprises wrapped in pretty paper waiting to be unwrapped and revealed.  Presents are tokens of our love and appreciation.  They are to communicate our feelings and emotions.  They are to represent what we really feel about them.  But I've got a problem.  I can't find, buy or even steal a present that comes close to what I feel. You see, today is my wife's birthday.  I know I should do something, and I will.  But quite frankly, I don't know of anything that I can do that will truly, honestly and clearly say "I Love You."  The words themselves fail too.  I'm in a bit of a quandary here. Betty and I met our first day in college in 1981.  I told her mother off and Betty immediately fell in love with me.  But the beautiful girl was WILD!  She was the light of the party and no matter how many people were in the room, she could get their attention.  (Some things never change, thankfully.)  She was way cooler than Madonna.

What is faith?  Personally I think that Hebrews 11:1 is a description of faith - not a definition.  Faith is more than what you say you believe. If what you believe becomes evident in your life - then it's faith.  In other words, you practice what you preach.   Then it occurred to me that you might need to know what faith isn't.   It isn't dumb luck - Some people think that if they have enough faith, they will just get lucky.  Nope! It isn't good intentions - What you intended to do isn't faith.  It's what you do that is faith.  It isn't cheap - If faith is really faith - then you will be willing to die for it.   It isn't politically correct - Faith cannot be politically correct and still be faith.  There is a quality about faith that isn't negotiable.  Political correctness wants you to compromise everything.  If your faith is negotiable - then you have to ask yourself if it is really faith.   It isn't what you make o

Writing has always been a passion of mine - regretfully I am a product of the Arkansas School System. Yikes!  So over the last few years I have been blogging, writing sermons, teaching lessons, handouts, mailers, letters, notes, mini books and more.  Has all this practice helped?  I hope so - however I now have the name of a couple of editors who I will probably get to help me with my next project. Scrappy Church When times are tough, and they are for all of us, what can we do as leaders to see the vision of the church still become a reality?  You're going to have get scrappy. What does it mean to be scrappy?  Well one dictionary says, "to have a fighting spirit".  Well Betty is the one from Notre Dame, not me.  (Remember Arkansas?  Go Hogs!) You might have to be scrappy if your congregation, who is still working (thank you Jesus), is taking home less money than they were a few years ago. You might have to be scrappy if the new mega church with the mega budget

Pivot is a new catch word in the business world. It describes a business model shift.  Like the basketball maneuver of the same name, in which a player keeps one foot planted while changing direction with the other foot, a pivot occurs when a start-up tests a new direction while still keeping one metaphorical foot in the original business. For some people pivoting can be hard because it requires them to set aside their convictions and pride.  They built the company with a certain set of values and goals in mind and those values and goals may have to change.   Here is an example of a pivot.   There was a a company called Confinity whose business strategy was to beam IOUs from Palm Pilot to Palm Pilot. (It was a way of paying dutch in restaurants that refused to separate checks for their customers)  When this didn't work they created a payment systems and called it PayPal. (PIVOT) This way they could email money to someone else (i.e. That part of that restaurant bi

Yesterday in my devotions I read 2 Kings 17 Here it details why God took His hand off of Israel and allowed them to be sent into exile.   - They worshipped other Gods.  - They did secret things that God did not like.  - The relied on their military and might to defend them.   - They provoked God. - They rejected His decrees. - They imitated the nations around them.  - They sold themselves to do evil.  - They followed bankrupt idols and became bankrupt themselves.  I quoted John Adams on my Facebook this morning,    "We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." But there is a haunting quote from Abraham Lincoln that I am thinking about even more.   "...We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years

Joshua 3:6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. There is a another scripture that you need to know too.   Proverbs 13:12 Ho pe d eferred makes the heart sick,  but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. One of the hardest things for a leader to do is get a project, a church or a business off the ground.  You put in lots of hours, eat lots of pizza, get people to help you, invest lots of money and in the end you have no idea if it will even work.  Well you don't.   None of us have a crystal ball when it comes to the future.  We can read the signs of what is coming down the road, but even then we're not certain of what we are looking at.   I was raised in the hills of Arkansas.  I learned that if you are driving that as you approached a curve, there would be a yellow sign with a speed limit on it.  Most of this time it wa

Joshua 3: 5  Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves,  for tomorrow the  Lord  will do amazing things  among you.” Leaders, never forget this.  Prepare yourself for the future.   When Josh told the Israelites to c onsecrate themselves , he was telling them to make sure that they were lined up with God's will.  That their hearts were open and honest before Him.  That no only would they live according to the law of Moses, but they also were on board with this plan to cross the Jordan and posses their land.   Your heart and mind has to be prepared to do what God whats you to do.  You have to be committed to his core values and attitudes.  You have to be committed to His will and direction for your life.  Are you really ready to do what it takes to get where He wants you to go? First they had to cross a river.  No easy task.  Then they had to conquer their first and most defendable city in the land.  They would have to face giants and armies of the local nations.  They