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Seven
A few years ago I heard an earnest, well-intentioned speaker present a message on the topic of the Biblical model of giving. It was the story of the widow’s mite and, as you might guess, the conclusion was we should be willing to give everything we have. I started thinking about that because I had heard almost my whole life that this story was the Biblical model for giving and, ideally, the gold standard. However, as I started looking at the different stories about giving in Scripture I realized there is a wide diversity of giving styles in Scripture — not just one. David. A leader gives leadership gifts. When…
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Rebekah’s Dilemma
If you visit Elk Lake, Minnesota and the headwaters of the Mississippi you will see a stream that is about 20 feet across and 2 feet deep. It flows about 6 cubic feet per second. Sometimes it is so obscured by reeds that people lose sight of the stream altogether. But if you keep going for 2,300 miles you will end up in New Orleans where the Mississippi is 200 feet deep and 7600 feet wide. The flow has increased from 6 cubic feet per second to 12,000 cubic feet per second. It’s one of the largest rivers in the world that begins from a very unremarkable source. Stories about…
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Comment Magazine Book Review: Wise Counsel by Dan Pallotta
My father told me years ago that understanding the base of a person’s logic makes a difference. For instance, if someone believes that two plus two equals five, then it is perfectly logical for them to believe that two plus three equals six. It’s not their logic that is wrong, but their starting point. I might say the same about Dan Pallotta’s book,Charity Case. The author’s logic makes sense but his basic assumptions are flawed.Charity Case is a valuable contribution in many ways but begins with a creed that is not only inaccurate but unnecessary and will alienate a constituency Pallotta will later need. The book begins with a few…
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David Brooks at The Gathering: How To Be Religious In The Public Square
We’ve just witnessed the most heroic thing you will see this weekend because the biggest challenge in Mike’s life is leaving a podium. Wow. His fingerprints are actually – the nails – are still dug in here. I had forgotten about that purpose-driven, the Rick Warren column. Actually, having spent a couple days, few hours with you. I’m going to do not a purpose-driven life, but the chauffeured-driven life, which I think…I knew that one wouldn’t work. Wouldn’t work as well. First of all, it’s a great pleasure. Mike is one of my dear friends. Our relationship started when I would go to the Philadelphia Spectrum, where Mike was the…
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Cardus Magazine Book Review: Why Philanthropy Matters
I can imagine Zoltan J. Acs waking up one recent morning to read the news that Harvard has embarked on a history making capital campaign to raise $6.5 billion by 2018 with almost half of that being targeted for university based research and development. “The Harvard campaign is critical to the university’s ability to fund important priorities going forward, but it is also an opportunity to redefine Harvard and higher education more broadly.” This is in addition to Stanford’s successful $6.23 billion campaign. “To remain competitive, universities have to launch campaigns like this,” said Roger Benjamin, president of the Council for Aid to Education, a New York nonprofit organization that…
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The Hopeless Wanderer
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.
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The Return From Babylonia
After 70 years in Babylonia, Cyrus, the King of Persia issues a decree that the Jews who wish to return to Judah are free to do so. While Nebuchadnezzar’s policy was to completely conquer nations and bring people to Babylonia in exile, the Persians allowed conquered nations to become client states or colonies. The book of Nehemiah is the history of the return and the rebuilding of the city. So we read in Ezra an account of those who returned. After 70 years, not everyone wanted to return, of course. People had lived their whole lives there and had no interest in uprooting and rebuilding. They had no connection to…
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Opening Talk – The Gathering 2008
When my father died last year right before the conference I was named the executor of the estate. Like many executors before me, I had read some articles, browsed through a book and made a file on what my responsibilities were. Frankly, I didn’t pay much attention because the day was always going to be a little further away. So, even though I had a file and some basics in mind none of that prepared me for the actual work required of me for the next full year. I expected a certain amount of paperwork, certificate copying, distribution of assets, tedious legal process, a quick cruise through probate and a…
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Opening Talk – The Gathering 2014
He sat down, paused before he spoke and then said, “It’s too much for me to give thanks. I cannot be thankful for this. I will never be thankful for this.” He and his wife had lost their son and someone with the best of intentions had quoted Paul’s instructions to the church in Thessalonika, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” Then was not the time to say, “Paul did not say be thankful for everything – but thankful in everything.” Yet, that is what I thought about for days afterwards. Paul says, literally, eucharisto, in everything and in…
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Shark Tank
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.
