The author pastor and speaker Gordon MacDonald was in Tyler this weekend but I didn’t get to see him because we were both busy. He was leading a retreat and I was helping out with a session on the topic of ethics for a local civic group of young professionals. However we had an email exchange to catch up with our lives since the last time we saw each other ” and I reminded him of the powerful influence his book The Life God Blesses had on me years ago. One thing almost always leads to another” ” and our conversation made a connection in my mind between his opening…

The new executive director of the Veritas Forum David Hobbet came by the office this week and I had a chance to get to know him. In the course of the conversation we talked about the role of the board for a nonprofit and I shared with him the expectations and design of the board of The Gathering. Our board is a bit unusual in that the board is composed of seven couples – not just men and women but families. I described to David what we call the Four F’s of board membership. These are the four characteristics of our board I proposed in 1996 when the original board chair Jack…

“A wise person should have money in his head but not in his heart.” Jonathan Swift One of the earliest scandals around insider trading involved Ivan Boesky. While many have forgotten him he lives on through the one quote attributed to him – and his being the basis for the character of Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) in the film Wall Street: “Greed is good.” It was one of those unforgettable (and maybe unforgiveable) lines that summed up an era in one way but signaled the advent of another that was more irresponsible and harmful than even his own. In some ways Boesky was merely a precursor – or…

When I read Sarah Pulliam Bailey’s post last week about the funding crisis at Books & Culture  I had two immediate and opposite reactions. First was the saying I keep on the wall over my desk “When The Horse Is Dead Dismount.”  Second was “Too Good To Fail.” I’ve bounced back and forth between them all weekend. It’s not quite like the tension of conflicting opinions about whether or not to bomb Syria but in my mind it is an important moment. While I might agree in part with Gregory Wolfe’s analysis that “the religious culture of North America is playing a role in the current financial challenges faced by…

When I read Sarah Pulliam Bailey’s post last week about the funding crisis at Books & Culture  I had two immediate and opposite reactions. First was the saying I keep on the wall over my desk “When The Horse Is Dead Dismount.”  Second was “Too Good To Fail.” I’ve bounced back and forth between them all weekend. It’s not quite like the tension of conflicting opinions about whether or not to bomb Syria but in my mind it is an important moment. While I might agree in part with Gregory Wolfe’s analysis that “the religious culture of North America is playing a role in the current financial challenges faced by…

I wrote last year on the transition from Gothic architecture to Baroque and how that change reflected a larger and more theological shift in society. Gothic was focused on the hereafter and Baroque was shaped by the desire to make this life better instead of thinking only of the hereafter. “So the emphasis was not spires ‘reaching toward heaven’ and the ‘ordered nature of structure’ but light color ” texture and art intended to draw people in – a kind of celebration of”. It was not change in a vacuum or an innovation for the sake of innovation. It was an alteration in worldview. In the same way, you can follow the trends…

For some time now I have been wondering if philanthropy is one of those words that has either lost its traditional definition (love of mankind) or never should have been used to describe 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…

Lickity’s name. After she arrived” ” we always wondered why the tip of her tail was perennially wet. We never could figure it out. Then one day I found her curled up on my daughter’s bed—and I heard a sucking sound. Yes” ” the kitten was sucking her tail! Just like a baby sucks its thumb. Great! Turns out the kitten had/has abandonment issues” so the vet said. Sucking her tail is her way of comforting calming and reassuring herself. For that reason ” we named her Lickity-Split (she’s also very fast). For 12 years I have observed this odd licking behavior. My theological conclusion: to every creature God has…