Today we would likely label Jacob a sociopath: cunning, deceptive, detached, manipulative and ambitious. He was often cruel and incapable of being loyal. He lived by his wits - and was extremely successful.

In the evangelical community, there is still the lingering doubt that money invested in a business will not be as pleasing to God as money given away.

For Christmas, our kids gave us tickets to a Sting concert in Dallas. They know how much I like his music and how unlikely I am to spend the money to see him perform live. The whole experience was priceless, and Sting was in top form. He ended the evening by singing “Fragile,” which has become something of an anthem in times of sudden outbreaks of extraordinary violence. On the evening of September 11, 2001, Sting was scheduled to perform in Tuscany, Italy, and record his first live album in 15 years. We all remember what happened earlier in the day, which left the band wrestling with whether or not to go…

As much as anything Dad relished making and fixing things. What he really loved were the tools. He collected them partly because he needed the right tools to do the work essentially with one hand and partly because he loved working with them. He found delight in patiently figuring out the essence of a problem and then coming up with a solution that was brilliant - and incredibly ugly.

[vc_row fullwidth=”false” attached=”false” padding=”0″ visibility=”” animation=””][vc_column border_color=”” visibility=”” width=”1/1″][vc_column_text disable_pattern=”true” align=”left” margin_bottom=”0″] Happy New Year. Some of you know I enjoy taking pictures – and then finding something to say. Here are twelve from the year that I hope will provoke some thoughts. [/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid style=”all” items_per_page=”10″ element_width=”12″ gap=”10″ button_style=”rounded” button_color=”blue” button_size=”md” arrows_design=”none” arrows_position=”inside” arrows_color=”blue” paging_design=”radio_dots” paging_color=”grey” loop=”” autoplay=”-1″ item=”mediaGrid_BlurWithContentBlock” grid_id=”vc_gid:1452141965798-1fa904cf-b3a8-1″ include=”13215,13219,13214,13216,13218,13217,13220,13223,13221,13222,13224,13225″][/vc_column][/vc_row]