-
Paul Under Arrest: Acts 23-26
You remember where we left Paul last week? He was standing on the steps of the Roman barracks and had received permission from the commander to speak to the angry mob. He raised his hand and there was, as Luke says, “a great silence” as they wait for Paul to speak. What does he say? “I am a Jew” and then he tells his story. Nothing happens until he says, “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” That ignited them and they began to scream, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live.” With that, the commander takes him…
You May Also Like
Jacob Wrestles With God
-
What are your intentions?
I don’t think there is a topic more widely discussed and fretted about in family philanthropy than that of donor intent. Horror stories (both true and fabricated) are floated by institutions and endowments warning parents there is a high likelihood that their children will abandon their values and wishes almost as soon as both parents have been laid to rest. The classic example is that of the Ford Foundation whose trustees, according to the story, were so blatant about diverting from Henry Ford’s instructions that his son resigned from the Board in disgust, claiming the trustees had betrayed their responsibilities by funding causes that would have been abhorrent to his…
-
Paul Arrested in Jerusalem: Acts 21:27-22:2
Last week we looked at Paul’s accommodation to the Council in Jerusalem – James, Peter and the other apostles and elders. Rather than confront them he agrees to take four men to the Temple for the rites of purification. As the elders say, “Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.” Paul takes them to the Temple and then waits almost seven days in Jerusalem with no incidents. But then there is a sudden storm and that is where we pick up this morning. Let’s look at the story from several perspectives – the…
You May Also Like
Jacob Wrestles With God
-
What Then Is My Pay?
In 1974 W.A. Criswell, the longtime pastor of First Baptist Dallas, announced that he was giving back “every penny” he earned in salary during his 30 years as pastor. An article in the Baptist Press reported Dr. Criswell as saying, “The first time I preached in a church, the deacons took up a collection and I was given $10. I gave it back to them and told them I did not preach for money.” At the time, he said he did not know how he was going to live without money, “but I had the tremendous feeling that I had given my life to God freely.” The account went on to…
-
Acts 21: On to Jerusalem
Two of the most powerful rivers in the world – the Thompson and the Fraser – meet and join in British Columbia. The train from Vancouver to Banff runs along the ridge high above the exact spot where they merge and you can look down and watch them join. The actual term is “confluence” when two bodies of water meet – like the tip of South America or Africa. What’s unique about these two rivers is one is salt and the other fresh water. One is clear and the other filled with brown sediment it has carried along its course – which makes their meeting a place of invisible but…
You May Also Like
Jacob Wrestles With God
-
Putting Charity Out of Business
I often wonder if philanthropy is one of those words that has either lost its traditional meaning (love of mankind) and never should have been used to define giving in the first place. In fact I wonder if our use of “love of mankind” actually is possible or even desirable. Yes, there are numerous examples where giving springs from sincere feelings about the poor or a genuine desire to alleviate suffering, spread the gospel, deliver health care, rescue young girls and boys from the bondage of trafficking, and restore dignity to people. No doubt these are good things. But are they really philanthropy? Are they charity? Are those actually two different things? Jeremy…
-
Tribute to Peggy Shipley
Bill’s request was for us to share a memory of Peggy. I know we have all laughed for years about her probing how I really felt about anything and everything. She wanted to go deep and I wanted to skip stones on the surface. However, it’s something else I want to say just now. I was 24 in 1970 when a friend took this picture. We had just climbed to the highest ridge of Wildcat Mountain in New Hampshire and I wanted to make sure he got me standing by the double black diamond sign there. I remember how I felt. It was not confidence but cockiness. I wanted to…
-
Looking Back
Note: Two years ago I wrote this blog about my lifelong friends, Peggy and Bill Shipley. On Saturday, August 2nd of this year, Peggy passed away. As a tribute to her, I wanted to share what I wrote again with you today. I’ve been watching the rise of mentoring programs for underprivileged young men. Donald Miller began The Mentoring Project because he grew up without a father. Duncan Campbell started Friends of The Children for very different reasons. Both Donald and. Duncan have come to the same conclusion: being a mentor takes a long time. Sometimes it is not just the underprivileged or low-income boys needing a caring adult and…
-
Devotion
A friend of mine who just moved to New York City posted this on Facebook this week: “Very small fish. Very large pond. It’s impossible to stand out in a crowd of 8 million people. You can feel insignificant fast in NYC. Most people move here to “make it”. The sheer number of people coupled with the higher bar a higher cost of living creates no doubt fuels a collective competitiveness that drives the city’s phenomenal economic engine. But the individual effect of this collective competition is quite the opposite. NYC humbles you.” Sometimes the effect is just the opposite. Instead of being humbled by other people’s talents and accomplishments,…
You May Also Like
Jacob Wrestles With God
