Like most of us here tonight, I have read for years the story of Moses at the burning bush and his reluctance to return to Egypt and bring the people of Israel out of slavery and into the Promised Land.  “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.  Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand…

In 1977,  it was not common to hear a young man in his 30’s considering giving away a fortune.  But, there we were, all three of us in our thirties having dinner at Nieman Marcus in downtown Dallas, the flagship store, talking about just that. Seven years passed before we had dinner again but this time it was more than musing.  That same young man, Bob Buford, had decided to act on his intentions and invited me to join him in the adventure.  Who in their right mind would say no to that?  Well, here is a snapshot of me at my desk after six months.  No one mentioned what…

What is now The Gathering began in 1985 with five of us who had an interest in Christian philanthropy. For the first several meetings of our small retreats at The Cedars in Arlington we had a strict rule.  There would be no presentations from non-profits.  In fact, no non-profit leaders would be invited to attend. No fund-raisers.  No one sitting in on the fringes.  Like any boys club, we took a blood oath almost as literal as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn did: “Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swears they will keep mum about this and they wish they may Drop down dead in their tracks if they ever Tell…

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway. In the final…

There has been a recent flurry of articles by the World Bank, Nick Kristof in the New York Times, Andrew Mayeda in Benchmark and others about the progress in the elimination of extreme poverty in the world. Of course, there have been other articles, notably Jason Hickel writing in Al Jazeera that these reports have been intentionally distorted and based on faulty data. Whatever the case for the success or failure of poverty elimination, there is more to the story than the reduction of material poverty. When the only measure of success is the difference between a $1.25 and $1.95 daily income we have too narrow a focus on the…

The imaginative Bible teacher requires a particular sort of humility. Whereas the writer or the poet or artist can create with an almost totally free hand, the Bible teacher does not write the text. So, teaching comes with limitations that frustrate some and in their desire to be creative and not repeat what has been heard over and over again, they fall into the trap of distorting the text in ways never intended. They are fascinating but they mislead and instead of using imagination they create fictions. We know that Rembrandt, Picasso and Van Gogh all painted over their own masterpieces and produced two masterpieces on the same canvas. But…

Maybe that’s just the right place to introduce Kay this evening because she has been down many roads over the last several years. C.S. Lewis said that a young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere – Bibles laid open, millions of surprises…fine nets and stratagems. God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.” It was one of those open books – actually a magazine – that disrupted Kay’s life as a wife, mother and co­founder of Saddleback Church. But it was just a few months after that she was diagnosed with the first of two bouts…

Artists require a special quality of humility. Not the kind that denies their gift but that which is often surprised when the ideas, images, words and melodies first come to mind. Because, in the end, they do not create out of nothing. The best are those who know how much of their work is listening and then following the thread to see where it leads. When asked where his inspiration comes from Andrew replied, “The biggest thing is this: by the discipline of paying attention.” But there is something else. I read this in an interview by Sarah Geil with Andrew in the studio while he was recording his new…

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…