Category: Uncategorized
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Are We Fundraising or Faith-Raising?
The task of a fundraiser is to connect the donor with the mission of the organization. The fundraiser knows the more I’m connected, through annual giving and volunteering, the better chance of a larger major gift down the road. And, if I’ve given annually for several years, even small amounts, there is a chance of a bequest to the organization – if I’m asked. All this is true for the church as well. Fundraising principles and techniques work wherever they are implemented. However, if all the church does is fund-raise, it misses the essence of the “ask.” If fundraising is…
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Heart Blockage
At church during prayer time, someone asked for prayers for a person with a heart blockage. As usual my mind went off in another direction. A blockage in the heart is serious business. I wondered if the person had a family history of heart issues and inherited the problem. Was it caused by a poor diet and lack of exercise? Knowing why does not help the person, but it gives me a sense of order. Soon my line of thinking went to the spiritual realm. St Paul said, “…because if you confess with your lips and believe in your heart…
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Building Lasting Relationships
Stories abound about the advisor (attorney, planner, CPA, insurance broker), who for years worked closely with a business owner, usually a man, and neglected their families because they were not the decision makers. The business relationship grew and matured while the wealth was being created through a small business. And often times, the business grew because a trusted, highly skilled, and trained advisor sat across the table. For years, there were business needs: the tax laws changed, insurance plans re-written, estate plans updated, investment opportunities captured, and all the while, there was the advisor, listening and proposing. The succession plans…
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Something New for Lent
The speaker was a therapist who works with at risk children. He shared that he often helps them reshape their perspectives. It works well, so he started practicing this technique for his daily living. It sounds so simple, but again simple is not the same as easy. And using this technique as a spiritual discipline will require me to rely on the Holy Spirit. Here is the shift in thinking and behaving. Exchange the mindset of “I have to” to “I get to.” I do not have to make the bed – I get to make the bed. I get…
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Abel’s Heart, Cain’s Offering
My reflection this week started with hearing Fr. Christopher’s sermon about Cain and Abel, and then listening to Bruce Springsteen’s “Adam raised a Cain”. Springsteen’s song acknowledges our need to explain the horrific murder; finding a cause makes us feel better – as if we are in control. It’s a common response to hearing about a murder or any sin for that matter. Our standard operating procedure is to blame the parents or society first. This diversion helps me to look outside myself. I need to find an exterior cause for Cain’s action. Because if Cain owns his sin, then…
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Long-Term Pandemic Effects
The pandemic has changed many church norms; both in worship and for church business meetings. I am finding that several churches prefer a Zoom call to an in-person meeting at the church. I think this is due in part to an aging church membership that does not like to drive at night. Once we got used to the new technology, we liked the benefits of remote meetings. Here are just a few: Unfortunately, for many churches, people also prefer to watch services at home. The early data that I have seen points to in-person attendance declining by up to 50%.…
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Of Justice, Kindness and Humility
“What does the Lord require, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” – Micah 6:8 This was the reading in my devotional. The passage is both simple and difficult. It is simple because it does not require a sermon series to unpack its meaning. There is no metaphorical, hidden, or sophisticated language to cloud our understanding. What is simple in the spiritual life is often the most difficult. Today’s reading requires daily discernment of what is right and just. And then the passage calls us to act on that discernment. The passage…
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Observing the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
There are many ways to observe MLK Day. However, as we mark the day, indeed the Holy Day, there is a tangible way to connect the Rev. King’s timeless message with this moment. A financial gift to the Foundation’s Justice in Our Time Fund continues the work, if not the vision of our brother Martin Luther King, Jr. Click Here to Make Your Gift
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A Christmas Gift
On Christmas Eve, a friend’s mom was lying in her bed, wracked in the pain that comes from metastatic cancer. Less than a year ago she received a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. A young grandmother, she was newly retired with so much ahead of her. She fought the cancer as long as she could. Then came the time to say enough. Nothing more could be offered by the most skilled doctors and researchers. She willed herself alive until after Christmas. Two days later she entered hospice at the hospital and died the next day. I pray her death was peaceful. How…
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Of Nuclear Fusion & Advent
Today the Wall Street Journal had breaking news. The headline read: Nuclear-Fusion Breakthrough Accelerates Quest to Unlock Limitless Energy Source. If we can put nuclear fusion into production, this could be the answer to many of the world’s problems. Developing countries would have the energy needed to compete economically. Developed countries could walk away from fossil fuels without worrying about rolling blackouts. And we could soon be checking the box off climate change. Pray it be so. I confess that I did not know that we were this close to a “fusion” option. This announcement makes me wonder why this…