Date Archives → February 2016

Question & Thought for February 29th, 2016!

Question & Thought for February 29th, 2016!
Good Morning Feb 29th, and GoodBYE February!
1. Question – Whose educating you and who are you educating?
2. Thought – This very obvious fact – that each generation is taught by an earlier generation – must be kept firmly in mind…The mental world also has its time-bombs – of obsolete adolescence, now middle-aged and dominating its form room. Hence the futility of many schemes for education. None can give to another what he does not possess himself. No generation can bequeath to its successor what it has not got…If we are skeptical we shall teach only skepticism to our pupils, if fools only folly, if vulgar only vulgarity, if saints sanctity, if heroes heroism….We shall admit that a man who knows no Greek himself cannot teach Greek to his form: but it is equally certain that a man whose mind was formed in a period of cynicism and delusion, cannot teach hope or fortitude.
A society which is predominately Christian will propagate Christianity through its schools: one which is not, will not. All the ministries of education in the world cannot alter this law. We have, in the long run, little either to hope or fear from government.
…All the teaching must still be done by concrete human individuals. The State has to use the men who exist. Nay, as long as we remain a democracy, it is men who give the State its powers. And over these men, until all freedom is extinguished, the free winds of opinion blow. Their minds are formed by influences which government cannot control. And as they come to be, so will they teach. (God in the Dock, by C.S. Lewis)
“All schools, both here [England] and in America, ought to teach far fewer subjects and teach them far better.” (C.S. Lewis)
Wonder what Lewis would say to No Child Left Behind as well as Common Core?
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for February 28th, 2016!

Question & Thought for February 28th, 2016!
Good Sunday Morning!
1. Question – Would you say America is as divided as you’ve ever seen her?
2. Thought – Three generations ago, most people inherited rather than chose their religious faith. The great majority of people belonged to one of the historic, mainline Protestant churches or the Roman Catholic Church. Today, however, the now-dubbed “old-line” Protestant churches of cultural, inherited faith are aging and losing members rapidly. People are opting instead for a nonreligious life, for a non-institutional, personally constructed spirituality, or for orthodox, high-commitment religious groups that expect members to have a conversion experience. Therefore the population is paradoxically growing both more religious and less religious at once.
There is a great gulf today between what is popularly known as liberalism and conservatism. Each side demands that you not only disagree with but disdain the other as (at best) crazy or (at worst) evil. Progressives cry out that fundamentalism is growing rapidly and nonbelief is stigmatized. They point out that politics has turned toward the right, supported by mega-churches and mobilized orthodox believers. Conservatives endlessly denounce what they see as an increasingly skeptical and relativistic society. Major universities, media companies, and elite institutions are heavily secular, they say, and they control the culture. (The Reason for God by Timothy Keller)
“I find your lack of faith – disturbing.” (Darth Vader)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Suggestion & Thought for February 27th, 2016

Suggestion & Thought for February 27th, 2016
Good Saturday Morning!
1. Suggestion – I’ve attended so so many meetings on mentoring programs in the military, sport’s teams, schools and social atmosphere. None worked – like they were intended. Great intentions mind you, IDK. Maybe these initiatives were just something the ‘higher-ups’ thought we should do. (It always amazed me the ‘higher-ups mandated these programs, but they never were part of one.)
And then I met and communicated with many of you – and you challenged me and actually mentored me in ways you’ll just have to believe me. I highly recommend a small men’s group to do Bible study. I highly recommend communicating with someone you trust in theology. And, I highly recommend you read and Re-Read the good Books!
2. Thought – Vol. 12, No. 16

The Lost Art of Being Mentored

I got into an interesting conversation the other day over lunch with a group of young leaders on our staff, most of them in their twenties, about mentoring. The initial question was, “Who were your mentors?” As I reflected on how to answer, I realized I had been mentored by three different groups of people.
 
First, by those with whom I spent time in personal, one-on-one mentoring relationships. This was particularly decisive in my early years as a Christ-follower. I was reached for Christ through the campus ministry InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. The men and women of InterVarsity, and one staff worker in particular, were strategic in my life. Later on, I was privileged to have many other older, wiser Christians who continued to invest in me personally and spiritually. This has been strategic throughout my life.
 
Second, I was mentored by those who were contemporary role models. I may not have had much access to their lives, but they were heroes of the faith and I gained all I could from afar. For example, Billy Graham and John R.W. Stott filled this role for me. Though I was able to meet and spend time with both men, they were mostly mentors from a distance, leading lives I hoped to emulate.
 
Finally, I drank deeply from the well of historical mentors. By this, I mean men and women throughout history still available to pour into my life through countless biographies. From C.S. Lewis to Corrie ten Boom, Winston Churchill to G.K. Chesterton, I couldn’t imagine my life without their influence.
 
But in answering the question, I soon found myself lamenting the lack of mentoring in our day. Younger leaders seem cutoff from this most basic tenet of discipleship.
 
Why?
 
I’m not sure I know.
 
But I have my suspicions.
 
Some, I fear, have too much pride to be mentored. They do not seek out mentors, much less open their hearts and minds, souls and spirits, to wisdom outside of their own. It’s as if they can’t admit what they don’t know, or admit that someone might know something they don’t. Suffice it to say, there is an inherent humility that is necessary to be mentored.
 
Then there are those who are too insecure, even too threatened, to be mentored. For example, in every city on the planet there are seasoned pastors who have faithfully led their church for decades. In that same city are young pastors who have planted a church or taken over the reins of an existing church. You would think that the younger pastors would eagerly seek out the older ones, but they do not. Instead, a subtle competition takes hold.
 
Some, sadly, simply feel that those older and further down the road don’t have the time, interest or desire to invest in their life. Not only is this not true, but the irony is that those very same potential mentors feel that they are not desired or valued by those younger than they are. So you have a group of young leaders who feel, “They aren’t interested,” and a group of older leaders who feel, “They aren’t interested.”
 
One last reason some may shy away from seeking a mentoring moment is that they do not want to hear what they think they will hear. They do not want to be challenged. Affirmed? Yes. Challenged? No. Yet it is precisely the “iron against iron” that sharpens our lives.
 
All to say, be mentored.
 
Learn all you can. Humble yourself and go to those who:
 
…might know more than you,
 
…have lived longer than you,
 
…have been married longer than you,
 
…have built a church larger or at least more time-tested than yours,
 
and be mentored.
 
James Emery White
 

About the Author

 
James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC
“We are all fallen creatures and all very hard to live with.” (C.S. Lewis)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for February 26th, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for February 26th, 2016!!!
Good Friday Morning!
1. Question – Are you dissatisfied with yourself?
2. Thought – Perhaps you are very dissatisfied with yourself. You are not a genius, have no distinctive gifts, and are inconspicuous when it comes to having any special abilities. Mediocrity seems to be the measure of your existence. None of your days are noteworthy, except for their sameness and lack of zest. Yet in spite of this you may live a great life.
John the Baptist never performed a miracle, but Jesus said of him, “Among those born of women there is no one greater” (Luke 7:28). His mission was to be “a witness to the light” (John 1:8), and that may be your mission and mine. John was content to be only a voice, if it caused people to think of Christ.
Be willing to be only a voice that is heard but not seen, or a mirror whose glass the eye cannot see because it is reflecting the brilliant glory of the Son. Be willing to be a breeze that arises just before daylight, saying, “The dawn! The dawn!” and then fades away.
Do the most everyday and insignificant tasks knowing that God can see you. If you live with difficult people, win them over through love. If you once made a great mistake in life, do not allow it to cloud the rest of your life, but by locking it secretly in your heart, make it yield strength and character.
We are doing more good than we know. The things we do today – sowing seeds or sharing simple truths about Christ – people will someday refer to as the first things that prompted them to think of Him. For my part, I will be satisfied not to have some great tombstone over my grave but just to know that common people will gather there once I am gone and say “He was a good man. He never performed any miracles, but he told me about Christ, which led me to know Him for myself.” (George Matheson, from Streams in the Desert, by L.B. Cowman -February 24th devotional)
“Indeed this is the best part of my job. In every given year the pupils I really like are in a minority; but there is hardly a year in which I do not make some real friend. I am glad that people become more and more one of the sources of pleasure as I grow older.” (C.S. Lewis)
DON”T TEXT AND DRIVE. Read and be good!
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.