I recently interviewed leadership expert John Maxwell for a story about one-time pastors who left their pulpits to have greater influence. One comment in particular he made from his years operating primarily in the business world struck a chord because of the lesson it offers all church members. “You can’t start a conversation with criticism;…
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I saw two movies recently. One captured an Academy Award two years ago. The other ought to when next year’s Oscars are handed out, although being a Disney film will likely torpedo its chances. The first, Searching for Sugarman, chronicles the story of Sixto Rodriguez. A singer whose first two albums sold next to nothing,…
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Having enjoyed Stephen and Alex Kendrick’s Courageous, we laid aside our customary habit of waiting for the DVD release to take in a first-run viewing of War Room recently. We weren’t disappointed. In my case, there was a bit of a personal connection. I kept thinking that one of the lead characters, Tony Jordan, looked…
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I used to think that retailers were putting themselves out of business by failing to stock adequate supplies, leaving the door wide open for online sellers to fill this gap. However, after my latest, fruitless foray into trying to order my favorite brand of writing pen, I think online sites have met their match. At…
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When we cut the cable TV cord two years ago, I thought we were trend-setters. However, judging by several conversations with people younger than me, we were late to the party. An increasing number talk about how they long ago cut cable or satellite service. In its place, they watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, computer clips…
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Sometimes it take a while to follow up on good intentions. Long ago while en route to our oldest nephew’s graduation on Long Island, we stopped for a couple hours at the visitor’s center at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. After also taking a brief self-guided car tour of nearby war monuments, we had to depart. As we…
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I’ve been hacked. Or at least my personal information has. Not because I was careless, but because people “safeguarding” this sensitive personal data were asleep at the switch. The problem started in 2013, when I visited a skin specialist to examine potential trouble spots on my chest and back. He also found one on my…
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The August issue of Charisma marks the magazine’s 40th anniversary. Writing a number of the stories on 40 spiritual leaders featured in it represented a trip down Memory Lane. The journey included a surprise: in working on the new stories, I discovered I had written about several of these folks for the 20th anniversary issue…
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One of the pleasures of vacation is taking a break from checking email, looking at a computer, or otherwise keeping up with the world. And, thanks to a crammed pre-vacation work schedule, we had missed the announcement of New York’s ticker tape parade for the U.S. women’s soccer team. So the day of the parade…
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Like many churches nationwide, ours has home groups (often called cell groups) that meet twice a month on Sunday evenings, with breaks during July and December. Once per “semester,” each group tackles some form of community outreach. This spring ours decided to visit a home that offers a combination of assisted living and skilled nursing…
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