Which “Jesus?”

Borrowing from my pastor’s sermon this week for this post.  You can check out his blog at: grahamprouty.wordpress.com.
Almost the entire world knows about “Jesus,” but we don’t all know the same “Jesus.”  I was in Lagos, Nigeria, earlier this year, and I was eating alone in the hotel restaurant.  My waitress noticed that I was reading my Bible, and she struck [...]

On Our Level

A pastor I like to listen to (Gayle Erwin) tells a story about visiting the children’s ministry area in his church.  When he first walked in, the kids didn’t pay any attention to him.  Just another one of those giants running around the building.  But then he got down on the floor, and they began [...]

Sand in the Hand

Ever made a fist around a handful of sand? The tighter you squeeze, the more sand pours out the sides. Many things in life are like that. The more we try to control our teenagers, the more they rebel. The more we try to control our employees, the more passive-aggressive they become. The more we [...]

Power Trip

Twenty-four college students participated in a simulation conducted by Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo of Stanford University in 1971. The students were randomly divided into “prisoners” and “guards” and asked to play out the roles in a replicated prison built in the basement of the Psychology Department.
The study was planned for two weeks but had to [...]

Foul Trouble

The Knights of West Coast Christian College played the Sea Lions of UC Santa Cruz in 1982. Both were small basketball teams, but the Knights got even smaller as injuries caused them to suit up only eight players that night.
Despite lengthy playing times for their players, the Knights were winning by 15 points at the [...]

Wanted: Male Models

Some years ago, several young male elephants at the Pilanesberg Game Park in South Africa began attacking the park’s herd of endangered white rhinos. Seemingly unprovoked, the elephants threw debris at the rhinos and chased them all over the park. They eventually wore the rhinos out and trampled a tenth of the herd to death.
Though [...]

Yes, No, What’s Your Hurry?

If you’re in the habit of treating God like a vending machine, you’ve probably beat on the glass a few times when the answer to your prayer got stuck in the dispenser. Me, too. I’ve beat the glass, kicked the side and tried to tump the whole thing over (you Texans understand what I’m sayin’ [...]

S.I.F.T.

As if S.W.I.F.T. weren’t swift enough (read article for background), sometimes we just S.I.F.T. We still experience the Stimulus, Interpret it, have Feelings as a result and Take Action, but we totally skip the Wonder step.
Going directly from the Stimulus to the Interpretation is very common, and it’s a necessary innovation to help us make [...]

S.W.I.F.T.

You’ve stayed somewhere longer than you expected, and your car is now the only one in a darkened parking lot. You feel uneasy as you make your way across the asphalt, and then you hear a noise. Looking to your left, you see a shadowy figure walking in your direction. You quicken your pace; he [...]

GIGO

I’ve written before about our ear gates and our eye gates. These are the places where things come into our minds. It’s important that we exercise some control in this area, because what gets in begins to influence how we think and how we act over time.
There’s one more gate that I may not have [...]