One Small Book- One Big Lump In My Throat

Having heard so many good things about this book, and needing some great material for a teaching series in our church, I checked out Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle.  With only 90 pages of text, I figured it would be an easy read.  But those ninety pages were full of difficult truth.

Although the principles suggested by Alcorn are difficult to hear, he writes with sensitivity and from a position of integrity.  He readily shares his own journey and the lessons he learned about his own attachment to money as he endured some difficult times.   It is difficult to argue with someone who has fought a tough battle and emerged with scars and lessons learned.

The book centers around six "Treasure Principle Keys."  The first key is "God owns everything.  I'm his money manager."  Each key is illustrated with Biblical teaching, quotes, and stories from real life.  Randy readily shares his own stories and those of others.  You will not want to miss the story of William Borden.  And when you read it, you won't easily forget it.

As a pastor, I am often anxious and yet intrigued to see how authors interpret various Scripture passages.  Alcorn never pushes a passage to say more than it was intended to say.  He does, however, offer fresh but challenging insights into various Scriptures.

I know I will never read Jesus' one-sentence parable of the buried treasure the same again.  And I will never be the same because I read this book.  And if you tend to worry about your bills, think often about money, or usually send the offering plate on by, you will want to read this book also.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

If you enjoyed this review and are intrigued by this book, rank my review here:  

Timing Is Everything

The Byrds sang that, "There is a season - turn, turn, turn. And a time for every purpose under heaven." The Bible affirms it in Ecclesiastes 3:1, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens."(although this passage is often misquoted to proclaim a time for even ungodly things.) Leadership experts affirm that even bad timing can ruin the best idea. This week I experienced one of those "timing" events.

But in order to understand the "timing," let me take you back to approximately 1994. I was 17 with an entrepreneurial spirit. I had attended a seminar where some millionaire was selling his instructional books and, yes, cassette tape series teaching greedy suckers like me how to buy stuff at public auctions and re-sell it all for huge profits. So after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper for a US Postal Service surplus auction, I attended. There were tables full of old computers, to which the geeky part of me was instantly drawn. By the end of the auction I had purchased 4 old laptops, each weighing about fifteen pounds, for about $17.50 each. I took them home and was able to get a few of them to boot up. But then I had to sell them. A classified ad in the newspaper would cost as much as the laptops. Plus, they were already very old. Why would anyone buy my laptops when they could buy a smoking-fast 386 processor running Windows 3.1? I found a store that allowed me to sell a couple of them on a consignment basis. But they never sold, the store went out of business, and I never got my laptops back.

I lost interest, moved away to college, and plowed into the future with the remaining laptops sitting in my old bedroom closet.

I went home for Thanksgiving and my mom gently asked me to do something with "those old laptops." I checked ebay for "Grid computer" and found a few over-priced listings, but no completed auctions. I took them home, cleaned them up, booted them up again, and decided to test the waters with a 10 day listing starting at $25. And just for kicks, I set a $100 Buy-It-Now price for some gullible or just plain old impulsive buyer. The next morning I discovered that someone had indeed purchased it during the night! Just today I sold the other 2 for even more!

Seventeen years ago these laptops weren't worth anything. Or maybe it was because ebay was not around yet, bringing a global marketplace of buyers to the stuff in my basement.

Timing. What a huge factor. In business, in life, and even faith.

There Is Always More To The Story

"Leadership is lonely." No kidding. And that sentiment has been repeated so many times, we don't know who to credit with the quote. A few months ago I read an article in Newsweek that helped illustrate the lesson. (Read it here) Let me summarize:

The article described the the leadership of George H. Bush. Dubyah's daddy. He was often described as a wimpy leader. The article attempted to refute such an accusation. One often recounted story of H's wimpy leadership surrounded the falling of the the Berlin wall and the subsequent fall of communism in Eastern Europe and eventually the Soviet Union. When the wall fell, many thought that the President of the free world should lead the celebration with the first dance in the street. He should have given a long-distance pep talk to the wall-whackers and a harsh scolding to the communist leaders. But he seemed to do nothing. The judgment of his leadership: wimpiness. However, the author explained that according to many sources close to the President, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had sent a message asking that the United States, "not to take provocative action that might instigate a Tiananmen Square-like military crackdown in East Germany." President Bush complied with the request. And the communication remains classified, even to this day. Maybe Gorbachev sensed that the days of communism were numbered?

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might question whether or not such a message was ever sent. But I'm not, and that is not really the point of this writing, so I'll just go with it. Assuming it was true, it seems that Bush took a hit, knowing that his actions might allow communism to fall, but at the expense of his perceived leadership.

I have learned at least this in leadership: there is always more to the story than anyone knows. It is always more complex that you think or I think it is. It is only a simple issue when viewed from one perspective. Add another perspective, and now it gets complex. Of course, most of us see life only from our perspective. The job of a leader is to see as many perspectives as possible and then make a decision, knowing that someone, if not everyone, will be disappointed.

Why not tell me the rest of the story then? Well, for starters, we are often asked not to share one or more sides to the story. Sometimes the other perspectives involve deeply personal, private, and sensitive information that you wouldn't want me telling others and so they probably don't want me to tell you. So sometimes leaders are not allowed to share the "more" to the story. But don't fret- you will appreciate it when it is your "more" that is not shared.

So if you are struggling with the leadership of your pastor, your boss, or your parent, remember this- there is more to the story than what you see or know. Whether Presidents or Pastors.

Praying, Not Criticizing

The headline caught me, so I hovered over the newspaper stand at Wal-Mart, and read the first few lines of the article, while holding a replacement mum in each hand. First Family Church, in Overland Park is losing its 15 million dollar campus to foreclosure. Wow! Another mega-church bites the dust.

After planting my new mums, and doing a few other things, I grabbed my own newspaper and read the rest of the article. After a year of intense negotiations and refinancing rejections, the bank has requested that the property and everything in it be sold.

I am fairly familiar with First Family. I drive past it whenever I take the "back road" to Olathe. I attended one of their first launch services while I was in college. I sat on a blanket on their then-new property and listened to the testimony of a father of one of the Columbine victims. I listened to the frustration of two of my seminary friends who were re-starting a church in the area, grieving the loss of church members to First Family Church and another giant church nearby, churches that had "more to offer."

I have also heard the rumors of political upheaval and the accusations of financial mismanagement by the pastor at First Family. The newspaper article mentioned them, and noted the significant decrease in attendance.

It is easy to criticize from a distance. It is easy to become jealous, even for, no especially for, pastors. I disagree with Pastor Jerry in a lot of ways. Theologically, strategically, financially, etc. I am guessing some might say, "he got what was coming to him." Okay, maybe not out loud, but I am guessing that the thought has careened through the minds of not a few newspaper readers today.

But I am not going to criticize. I am guessing that Pastor Jerry and his team are hurting right now. He is my brother. He needs a hug and not a fist. So I am going to pray for Jerry and the church formerly known as "First Family." In fact, I am going to pray for them before I pray for my own church. Every day this week.

And if any of my brothers and sisters in Christ might read this, I ask you to do the same.

Faith and Trust

Last week we put our oldest child on a big yellow bus and waved goodbye as she rode to her first day of Kindergarten. Our little girl gone for eight hours, under the care of strangers. Would she be okay? What if she lost her way in the maze of school hallways? I imagined her wandering the halls for hours, crying and feeling all alone. It was a bit difficult to bear.

Faith is not easy for me. Trust does not come naturally. And that makes sense, since faith and trust are the same. The popular concept of faith often shows a blindfolded man, standing in the dark, preparing to leap from a cliff into the darkened depths. We often talk about "blind faith." But that is not how I understand my faith.

Sending my first-born to school was an indeed an act of trust. Much of it was blind. I did not know where she was and what she was doing every minute. I couldn't be sure that she made it to her class or onto bus 21 at the end of the day. Blindness, indeed. But I was informed. We toured the school on Monday night and discovered the gymnasium, the cafeteria, and Olivia’s classroom. She found her name tag taped to the table. We met her teacher and reviewed her daily classroom schedule. We double-checked her bus number. We asked, and learned that if she does not make it to class, the school would notify us early in the morning. I know that the school follows strict policies regarding teacher qualifications, credentials, and background checks. Finally, I have heard from the experiences of others that the school has a good reputation for caring for our kids. While I cannot know the future, I do believe that the best indicator of future behavior is past performance. I feel like I have enough information to form a solid foundation for trust.

And for me, that is faith. Faith in schools and teachers. Faith in others. Faith in God. Faith is rarely a blind leap. But neither is it a crystal-clear path. I don't have all the answers. But I have done some research. I have information. I have informed faith.

At 4:30 that afternoon, the doors opened and Olivia climbed down the giant bus stairs with a giant smile on her face, ready to tell us about her day.

Monet and the Bible

Yesterday afternoon Erica and I visited the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum here in Kansas City. The museum owns one large panel of Monet's famed water lillies paintings. The panel, however, is only one third of the complete paintings, with the other 2 panels owned and displayed at other museums around the country. This summer, the museum arranged for all 3 panels to be displayed together in one gigantic forty-two foot wide painting.

Like so many other people in Kansas City, I waited until the second-to-last weekend of the exhibit to visit. So, of course, there were tons of people. We stood in a long line waiting to enter the special exhibit. I stood back for a moment and gazed at the entire painting, but I saw more hairlines than brush strokes. We took a moment to look up close. I didn't want to stand in front of too many other art-admirers, so I made t quick. I stared at the brightest part of the painting- the red and yellow flowering Lillies at the bottom of the painting.

It was neat. I felt like I was able to get close to a piece of significant history. But there wasn't much detail, at least that I noticed. And the drab purples and greens looked very similar to the flowers my five year old daughter creates with her eight-color Crayola watercolor set. I didn't really get it. Honestly, not much wonder and not very inspiring to me. But I bet a friend of mine, the art history doctoral student, would have a different opinion.

I wonder if that is how it is for many people who open a Bible for the first time, looking for some great inspiration, having heard from friends, relatives and television preachers that God speaks through the Bible. So they crack it open and wait for the angels to sing. Or maybe they are long-time churchgoers who wonder how it is that their pastor gets so much out of a simple Bible story. They try it for themselves and are confused, bored and uninspired.

When it comes to art, I am ignorant. I really have no education or experience in art appreciation. I satisfied my fine arts credit requirements in college by singing in the choir for three semesters. But I know one thing. I didn't look at that forty-two foot painting very long. Maybe only five minutes. (That comes out to only seven seconds per linear foot). Had I sat on the couch in the back of the gallery and gazed at it for an hour I would have seen so much more. Had I crawled as close as the guard allowed and sat for 10 minutes, I might have been inspired.

After viewing the triptych, we walked through the accompanying display and learned about cross-section analysis and x-ray analysis. I discovered that Monet originally painted a detailed leafy lillie in one corner, and then covered it over with those mixed up purples and greens. Later in the day I learned about the history and theory of impressionist art. With this knowledge and background, a second look at the painting would yield more insight and appreciation. Of course, the ultimate would be to travel back in time and talk with Claude himself as he painted.

I think it is the same with the Bible. It is not easy for the first-time reader. There is a lot there and much of it is very confusing, even for theology doctoral students. You can't crack it open, read it for a few minutes and expect complete understanding, appreciation and grand inspiration (at least not every time). Some passages need to be gazed at for minutes and even hours. Education, training and tutoring will go a long way. The preacher who sees so much in one little story most likely has spent years reading, studying and talking with the author. If you really want to "get it" you will have to give your time, attention and your entire self to the Bible and, more importantly, to the God who inspired it.

Blue's Clues Handy Dandy Notebook

This is a rather random post. It has nothing to do with church, theology, the Bible, or anything of interest in my life other than my kids. And my desire to help others like me. So Easton is into Blue's Clues. I know, it is a 10 year old show that is no longer on television. But somehow he found one of our vhs tapes (we call them our DVR tapes just to make ourselves feel cool) and he discovered Blues Clues. His second birthday is coming up and we are doing a Blues Clues theme. By the way, put your leftover Wonder Pets cups, napkins and party favors in a big box, and write on it, "sell on ebay in 2021." Seriously, some crazy parent of an about-to-be-two year old will pay big money for it. No, seriously . . . I know they will. (At least I don't think I am that weird).

So anyways, my contribution to the Blues Clues themed birthday party is to buy or create the Handy Dandy notebooks for each partygoer. Since I am not into paying $10 each on ebay, I figured I would create my own. The cover is the hardest part. Image searches on Google produced nothing much, so I had to create one the hard way. So I figured I would share them. And this is the only way I know how to do it.

So if you are a dad who does not own photoshop and you find Microsoft Paint incredibly difficult to use, join the club! And enjoy. (And if you feel like it, send a few dollars via paypal to jmatters@juno.com) No just kidding, unless you really want to, in which case I am not kidding at all.