The 100/0 Principle
“They were simply people whose experience taught them where true power lies.” Malcolm Gladwell.
I have very good news. One of my favorite authors, Malcolm Gladwell, rediscovered his faith in Christ. He wrote What the Dog Saw, Outliers, Blink, Tipping Point and David and Goliath. I love this author because he is a true journalist and looks at the phenomena of the world without bias and prejudice. He looks for patterns and is not afraid to apply his findings from the beginning to the end. Many of his discoveries go against the ideas of society. For example, his book Outliers undermines the American definition of success. He claims it is not simply about hard work day in and day out; it is also about being born in the right place and right time. He is a superb writer and has refreshing perspectives on many subjects. Really everything and anything can be any interesting with a good writer/critical thinking. Continue reading →
Forgiveness: Loyalty, Love and Life
Recently I was inspired by the discussion about David’s lament and praise of Saul. I really appreciated Terry’s input to try to stimulate discussion. I also wanted to revisit the theme for love and forgiveness for our Bible teachers. Unfortunately, (but necessary), examining the heritage and what that means causes some HOT and SHOT dialogues. Some may be offended by what has been said, but we must look past the facade and accept the various stories and experiences no matter what language is being used. We need to discuss the array of accounts and details so we may be clear on the UBF narrative as had been stated in Joe’s article. As always I will leave this somewhat unfinished in hopes that the readers can develop the body.
Married For 32 Years
This past week my wife Christy and I celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary. Our older UBF missionaries have been married much longer than we have. But I think that my marriage is the longest standing native indigenous non-missionary UBF marriage. We married by faith in 1981. The singular word to describe my marriage is HAPPY. This is nothing but the love of God and the sheer grace of Jesus, because the two of us are unlike in virtually all ways, except our faith.
Levity From A Friend: Love Your Husband
Maybe some of you had heard this before. I had not and found myself laughing. After a friend emailed me this, I thought I’d post it to “lighten the mood” somewhat with our “heavy duty” discussions regarding the ISBC, which incidentally I love, because they are HOT. Here goes:
There was a group of women gathered at a seminar on “How to live in a loving relationship with your husband.” The women were asked, “How many of you love your husbands?” All the women raised their hands.
Do We Need a Counselor?
After leaving UBF ministry in 2011, one of the first things I noticed was that numerous former members (and some current members too) were going to see psychologists, psychiatrists or biblical counselors. One of the first things a pastor asked me in 2012 after sharing part of my story with him, was “Do you need counseling?” I had to admit, yes I do.
Marriage–Breaking An Engagement
I just “love” to talk about marriage, especially with singles. Teasing singles about their marriage with levity is just so much fun and cute. I have already written on marriage several times: Marriage Is Covenant Keeping, Marriage By Faith (Should No Dating Be A Church Policy?), If Not For UBF I Would Not Be Married. They have generated 346 comments. Sadly, many of the comments were of unpleasant “marriage by faith” experiences, which needs to be addressed and corrected. Instead of repeatedly insisting that there are many happy marriages in UBF (of which I am one), there are nonetheless serious issues that do not please God. Continue reading →
What I Feel Right Now
A few days ago, Wesley posted this comment which was addressed to Brian.
Brian,
I apologize I haven’t read all your postings here. Help me out. What do you feel toward those who have hurt you?
Wesley, this is such a good question. Brian has given you his response. I want to respond as well and explain to you how I feel. My answer has gotten too long to comfortably fit in the comment section, so I have decided to post it as an article.
Some people who come to this website perceive a lot of “bitterness.” They assume that this “bitterness” is unhealthy and dangerous and lies at the root of the broken relationships between our members and former members. They see the “bitterness” as our moral failure.
Good Leaders Lead Without Lording Over Others
No growth = Deficiency of leadership. Good leadership is a major key to any healthy growing organization or church. If a church is not growing you can almost always find that the deficiency lies with the “old” leadership of the church. They are not able to reverse the decline, likely because they want to maintain the status quo. They do not know how to delegate to different dynamic leaders, often because they still want to be the controlling authority, rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to be the head of the church. Instead of judging fairly without partiality, their decisions are often based on their strong sense of community solidarity. This comes across like showing favoritism and protecting the leadership, instead of caring for “the least of these.”
All four gospels emphasize “no lording over others.” According to Jesus, good leaders lead without lording over others, which is what worldly leaders do. Continue reading →
Is There Glory and Honor in Reconciliation?
Reconciliation is the “hardest” job of Christians. The “easier” job is to invite new people to Bible study. A friend said, “It’s better for UBF to reconcile with one ex-UBF member than to invite 99 new people to Bible study.” I agree. The former job (reconciliation) is messy and unpredictable. The latter job (inviting new people) is fun and exciting. The former requires humiliation and humility. The latter requires being fuzzy and friendly. The former feels like descending and dying. The latter feels like soaring and conquering. So, is there any glory and honor in seeking reconciliation?
On the Ministry of Reconciliation
Yesterday, a friend called my attention to an article titled, An Open Letter to the Church: How to Love the Cynics. The author, Addie Zierman, writes from the standpoint of those who have left their evangelical churches.
The article begins very abruptly:
You should know, first of all, that there’s no quick-fix here. There are not ten steps. There is no program that you can implement, no “Young Adult” class you can start.
This is not about your building or your music or your PowerPoint slides.
There is not a trendy foyer in the world with the power to bring us wandering back.
After all, there’s not much you can say to us that we haven’t already learned in some Sunday School classroom somewhere. We know the Bible stories. We heard them over and over, year after year until they became part of our blood, part of our bones.
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