5 Great Reads!

The debate about Millennials continues (are they the most narcissistic generation?)
One of my favorites articles on campus ministers in recent history (campus ministers as catechists)
Fascinating article and research on “clergy killers” (how small groups of people are forcing pastors out of churches and the effects it has on those clergy)
Time to plug my blogging friends/family: Sarah with a great post on celebration
And Ryan…read his blog about his experiences in Afghanistan. Seriously, read it. It’s so good!

Quote of the Week (NT Wright on Forgiveness)

From NT Wright’s excellent book, Simply Jesus

“Forgiveness, indeed, is a sort of healing. It removes a burden that can crush and cripple you. It allows you to stand up straight without pretending. It spreads out into whole communities.

Forgiveness and healing! The two go so closely together, personally and socially. Whole societies can be crippled by ancient grudges that turn into feuds and then into forms of civil war. Families can be torn apart by a single incident or one person’s behavior that is never faced and so never forgiven. Equally, societies and families as well as individuals can be reconciled, can find hope and new love, through forgiveness. Jesus was tapping into something extremely deep in human life.”

Surprising Good Gifts

On Sunday night, Amy and I hung out with a celebrity couple. Not huge celebrities, but these people are way cooler than we are. Except they are totally normal, and we have a ton of things in common.

Superficial things in common (Amy said both couples can be described as tall white guys with “ethnic” wives =).

But deep things in common too: growing up in ministry families, similar journeys to parenthood, jobs that have strange hours and difficult demands. The list goes on.

Someone said that two of the most powerful words in the English language are “me too.” We had “me too” moments again and again. At one point, during a pause in the conversation, we all kind of laughed about the similarities in our stories.

I thought it would be really fun and interesting to hang out with this couple and to ask them a million questions. Turns out they ministered to us in a beautiful and profound way.

Good gifts are all around us, all the time, I believe. The question is: are we paying attention enough to see them and to recognize them for what they are. Jesus said a lot, “Let those who have ears to hear, hear.” (Or eyes to see).

Do we have the eyes and ears to recognize good gifts when they come our way?