It's been nearly a month since I have posted. I guess that I am having a bit of a dry spell. To tell the truth, I have been feeling a bit "disconnected." Arlin had this story posted in his email this morning. For those of you not on the list, I think that you will enjoy this.
His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.
One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.
About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this Boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor? It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing.
The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do. And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister gains control, he says, 'What I'm About to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.'
'Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!'
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Classroom
Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.
When the first period kids entered the room they discovered thatthere were no desks. 'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earnthe right to sit at a desk.
'They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.
''No,' she said.'Maybe it's our behavior.
'She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior..
'And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.
By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.
'At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand along side the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/school-desks.htm
http://huckabee.wordpress.com/2007/11/10/mike-huckabee-the-martha-cothren-lesson-on-the-price-of-freedom/
When the first period kids entered the room they discovered thatthere were no desks. 'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earnthe right to sit at a desk.
'They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.
''No,' she said.'Maybe it's our behavior.
'She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior..
'And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.
By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.
'At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand along side the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/school-desks.htm
http://huckabee.wordpress.com/2007/11/10/mike-huckabee-the-martha-cothren-lesson-on-the-price-of-freedom/
Friday, May 15, 2009
Welcome back...to a Friend
This week must be "Friend Week..." This post deals more with a "change" than a "welcome back." It would seem that one of by very good friends, as a matter of fact, my FAVORITE Canadian friend, Stuart Crawford had to make some changes to his blog hosting. He has asked me to update my link to his blog on this site. Which I have done. If you haven't visited Stuarts blog, I would highly encourage you to do so, by clicking on the link in the NAV bar on the right.
For those of you that don't know Stuart, he is one of the nicest people you could meet. If you work in the SMB Tech space, is is one of the BEST people you could meet. He is very active in the SMB Tech space and is a key contributor on so many levels. He is a prolific blogger, a published author, a gifted speaker and just a genuinely nice guy.
Want to know the thing I like best about Stuart? He has a powerful testimony that he shares openly. Stuart has learned to become very transparent in his faith. He is unashamed of his relationship with God and his dependence upon Grace through Jesus.
Stuart hosts a weekly Blogtalk Radio segment. The following link is to a segment he did late last year on Faith in the Workplace. I was a guest as well as several of my fellow HTG peers.
For those of you that don't know Stuart, he is one of the nicest people you could meet. If you work in the SMB Tech space, is is one of the BEST people you could meet. He is very active in the SMB Tech space and is a key contributor on so many levels. He is a prolific blogger, a published author, a gifted speaker and just a genuinely nice guy.
Want to know the thing I like best about Stuart? He has a powerful testimony that he shares openly. Stuart has learned to become very transparent in his faith. He is unashamed of his relationship with God and his dependence upon Grace through Jesus.
Stuart hosts a weekly Blogtalk Radio segment. The following link is to a segment he did late last year on Faith in the Workplace. I was a guest as well as several of my fellow HTG peers.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Goodbye to a friend.
A good friend of mine has accepted God's calling to serve a church in the great state of Washington. Steve Jepersen has been my Willow Creek Community Church "Area Pastor" for nearly 3 years now. As a Community Leader in Steve's area, he has been my "boss" for that time. Keep in mind that I am a volunteer, so "boss" is a relative term.
I will say that it has been a pleasure serving our community under his direction and support. He will be sorely missed.
Please join me in praying for Steve and his wife Jean as the move on to serve Snohomish Community Church.
I will say that it has been a pleasure serving our community under his direction and support. He will be sorely missed.
Please join me in praying for Steve and his wife Jean as the move on to serve Snohomish Community Church.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother’s Day!
Dear Mom,
This morning at church, we were reminded of the power of Words. Words are powerful.
Every child knows that, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me…” Oh, if that were only true. Words can hurt. They can also, encourage.
Words are powerful.
They can inspire. Words can instruct and guide. Words can degrade.
Words are powerful.
There are no more powerful words than those contained in the Bible. The words of the Bible describe the entire human experience. They introduce us the Alpha and the Omega. The “I AM” is distinguished from the multitudes of “I am - NOT”
Matthew 15:4 tells us “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’” The celebration of “Mother’s Day” is a fairly recent tradition. No, it wasn’t created by Hallmark, but according to Wikipedia, here in North America, we trace it back to Anna Jarvis in 1912. I was a bit surprised to discover that bit of trivia.
At any rate, I set out to consider some powerful words that describe you. It’s kind of funny. The words that come to mind are definitely a function of the period in my life and the role that you played during that period. I am confident that you did not change nearly as much as my perception did.
As a child, I recall very clearly that you were beautiful. I remember sitting on the couch, combing your hair. I believe the appropriate term would be “ratting” your hair, but none-the-less, by doing so, I felt part of your beauty. I can still recall photographs of you and Dad all “dressed up” for some occasion. Beauty indeed!
Adolescence and young adulthood bring to bear strong images of forgiveness. Lord knows that you were given ample opportunities to forgive. I’ll admit, at times I just could not understand. But today, that is probably one of the greatest gifts that you have bestowed upon me. My ability to forgive others is undoubtedly a gift of God, but no one modeled it better than you.
One of the speakers today spoke of the fact that mother’s never stop impacting their children. Even today, as I rapidly approach the ripe old age of 50, your influence, opinion and guidance are every bit as important to me as when I was 5. This may come as a bit of a surprise to you, (or maybe not) but you are one of the wisest people I know. When I stop to think about it, where did it come from? I’m not sure that we can credit it to an exemplary education. Certainly raising Darran, Danae and myself did not fill you with wisdom. I would have to conclude that your wisdom came from the same place that Solomon received his. By humbly surrendering your spirit to Christ, God has filled you with wisdom beyond your education or experience. You have inspired me in more ways than you can imagine.
Beautiful, forgiving and wise, who could ask for more? Yet more there is indeed. Perhaps next year, I can try this again and I am sure that a whole new list of words would spring to life, reminding me of you. Happy Mother’s Day!
Love,
Rick
This morning at church, we were reminded of the power of Words. Words are powerful.
Every child knows that, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me…” Oh, if that were only true. Words can hurt. They can also, encourage.
Words are powerful.
They can inspire. Words can instruct and guide. Words can degrade.
Words are powerful.
There are no more powerful words than those contained in the Bible. The words of the Bible describe the entire human experience. They introduce us the Alpha and the Omega. The “I AM” is distinguished from the multitudes of “I am - NOT”
Matthew 15:4 tells us “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’” The celebration of “Mother’s Day” is a fairly recent tradition. No, it wasn’t created by Hallmark, but according to Wikipedia, here in North America, we trace it back to Anna Jarvis in 1912. I was a bit surprised to discover that bit of trivia.
At any rate, I set out to consider some powerful words that describe you. It’s kind of funny. The words that come to mind are definitely a function of the period in my life and the role that you played during that period. I am confident that you did not change nearly as much as my perception did.
As a child, I recall very clearly that you were beautiful. I remember sitting on the couch, combing your hair. I believe the appropriate term would be “ratting” your hair, but none-the-less, by doing so, I felt part of your beauty. I can still recall photographs of you and Dad all “dressed up” for some occasion. Beauty indeed!
Adolescence and young adulthood bring to bear strong images of forgiveness. Lord knows that you were given ample opportunities to forgive. I’ll admit, at times I just could not understand. But today, that is probably one of the greatest gifts that you have bestowed upon me. My ability to forgive others is undoubtedly a gift of God, but no one modeled it better than you.
One of the speakers today spoke of the fact that mother’s never stop impacting their children. Even today, as I rapidly approach the ripe old age of 50, your influence, opinion and guidance are every bit as important to me as when I was 5. This may come as a bit of a surprise to you, (or maybe not) but you are one of the wisest people I know. When I stop to think about it, where did it come from? I’m not sure that we can credit it to an exemplary education. Certainly raising Darran, Danae and myself did not fill you with wisdom. I would have to conclude that your wisdom came from the same place that Solomon received his. By humbly surrendering your spirit to Christ, God has filled you with wisdom beyond your education or experience. You have inspired me in more ways than you can imagine.
Beautiful, forgiving and wise, who could ask for more? Yet more there is indeed. Perhaps next year, I can try this again and I am sure that a whole new list of words would spring to life, reminding me of you. Happy Mother’s Day!
Love,
Rick
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