How would you like to be known as the high school coach who "cut" Michael Jordan? That distinction goes to Pop Herring, but it's not entirely true. It makes for a great story. Kid gets cut from his high school team and goes on to become a NBA Hall-of-Famer. In fact, Herring didn't cut Michael Jordan from the team. When Jordan was a sophomore, he placed him on the junior varsity team because he wasn't tall enough and needed additional work. Unfortunately, the story became twisted and the legend stuck -- to Herring's everlasting frustration. We're drawn to the legend because it represents what each of us wants to believe: anyone can overcome failure. But we don't need a legend to know that. The message of the gospel is that each of us has failed to live up to the standards of God and Jesus died to repair our relationship…
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Here is a short video promoting our new series that starts this weekend - Unstuck.
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For many years, I was a proud Microsoft user and made fun of those who had joined the cult of Mac. Then eight years ago I made the switch to my first iMac and have never looked back. What is the difference? Apart from aesthetics and a few hardware issues, the main difference is their operating systems. The operating system determines how the hardware processes information and connects all the various functions of the computer. Each of us has our own operating system: it's called your mind. How your mind processes information provides a framework for interpreting life. This includes the ideas we hold and believe to be true about who we are, how the world works, and how we fit into the world. If you're feeling stuck by your past or by failures, you need more than a reboot - you need an entirely new operating system. You need…
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Opening day for Major League Baseball is right around the corner. One of the things I love most about baseball is how it is built on fundamentals. From Little League to the MLB, certain things never change. For example, if you hit a double but miss first base on your way to second, you can be called out if an alert infielder notices. It would do you little good to beg the umpire for another chance to run the bases. You broke the rules and there is no such thing as a second chance in baseball. Thankfully, God is a more gracious umpire. Life has certain rules and we definitely break them. The message of Easter is that we can start again. But it's even more than that. It's about taking what has been dead (morally or spiritually) and bringing it back to life.
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What can we do to develop the habit of showing compassion? Let me share with you four important things to remember. 1. We must look beyond outward appearances. In other words, don't judge a book by its cover. In particular, don’t assume everyone is fine. This is especially true in the part of Denver I live in. Douglas County is bright, shiny, wealthy, and everyone appears to be fine. Nice house, nice car, nice family, nice life. Behind closed doors, many of those nice lives are falling apart. 2. We must be willing to care. Elie Wiesel was a young Jewish boy who was a prisoner in the German concentration camp. As an adult, hee wrote the book Night based on his experience. He had this to say about caring: “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite…
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