Socrates is credited with saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” So with that intent, in no particular order, here’s a quick list of the moments that had the greatest influence in shaping my 2011.
Posted in Family, Leadership
Socrates is credited with saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” So with that intent, in no particular order, here’s a quick list of the moments that had the greatest influence in shaping my 2011.
I wrote this post the week after I lost my job pastoring a church in the Atlanta Metro area. It was a crazy moment for the Alexander Family. And a moment that I never imagined that I’d ever be walking through. Not sure this post registered as the #2 post of 2011 because everyone loves a good train-wreck or because it struck a cord. Either way, here’s the #2 post from 2011.
Sometimes when you’re preparing to teach it has more to do with what God wants to do in you, than what He wants to do through you. This past week I had planned on diving into a teaching series about the life of Joseph. But instead of teaching about it, I find myself living it. Life just hasn’t necessarily gone according to plan this week. So maybe the teaching series will have to wait a little bit. But until then, here’s some of the stuff I’m living in the moment.
Is God being with me dependent upon my circumstances? For many of us I think our faith in God hinges upon the circumstances we find ourselves in. If our life is going good then God is good. But if our lives are in turmoil then God must be mad at us or absent.
But what if we’re wrong? What if the Bible is true? That God will never leave you or forsake you. That He’s an ever-present help in times of trouble. That He loves you. That He works all things, the good and the bad, together for the good of those who love Him. That there is nowhere you or I can run to that He’s not there in the thick of it with us. What if God really does have a greater story that He is writing and the plot is thicker than the one moment we find ourselves in right now? What if it’s just not about the circumstances that we happen to find ourselves in today, what if there is something bigger going on?
Below are just a few transferable principles that we can learn from Joseph’s life. (*To read Joseph’s story for yourself, check out Genesis 37, 39-47)
Believe it or not I originally wrote this post back in 2010, and ever since then this post has remained on my top 5 list. This post began a series of posts on church staffing that I’m actually in the process of editing and turning into my first e-book that will be available during the first quarter of 2012.
In reflecting about a major move that is coming up this summer for my family from Phoenix to Atlanta, my heart was stirred about why Church Staff change churches. And while this isn’t an exhaustive list, I thought it was a great place to start. So in no particular order, here is my top 10 list of “Why Church Staff Change Churches:”
Checking in at #4 on our countdown to the #1 post of 2011 was a post that hit close to home for me…and based on the conversation this post generated it hit close to home for a lot of other people as well.
A year ago my family moved to the Metro Atlanta area. We hadn’t lived in the house for 15 minutes before we met our new next door neighbors, the Abbate Family. We would quickly learn about the loss of their son Luke, who was a sophmore at Harrison High School when he passed away 5 years ago as the result of being a passenger in tragic car wreck.
Before moving to Atlanta, we spent the previous year walking with some dear friends as their 5 year old daughter battled for her life against cancer. In fact I have previously blogged about the ongoing story of Kate McRae and her family.
More recently my family has been going through our own little mini-crisis, as out of the blue we discovered that we were going to be transitioning and have been looking for new job. Hardly comparable to the thought of potentially losing one of my children.
Through all of these moments and more what has amazed me is how inept so many Christians seem to be at expressing real heartfelt love and concern. I mean of all people who should know how to walk with and care for the hurting and the suffering it should be Christians right? I’m not saying they don’t care. And I’m not saying there haven’t been moments of genuine and at times even extravagant expressions of love poured out. But the reality is a sad majority of Christians honestly just don’t know what to do when others around them are going through crisis, and so they do nothing. Or worse they say something stupid. Here are my top 5: