DEEP // WIDE // LIGHT

Here is an article of the 20 most memorable quotes from Steve Jobs , the recently deceased co-founder of the Apple empire. Unless you live under a rock, you have been impacted by Steve's innovations in the worlds of the personal computer (Apple Macintosh), music (iTunes and iPod), the phone (iPhone), and personal technology (iPad). Upon announcement of his death, Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere lit up as folks remembered his life and accomplishments. People respond to famous deaths in various ways, which I find very intriguing. Our own personalities are the focus of our comments, rather than the sentiments of the deceased. Concerning Steve, I read everything from commentary on the horrors of capitalism to the value of adoption. (I even shared my own opinions on the value of life, noting that his adoption may not have occurred in lieu of the more "popular" abortion options had he been born a few decades later than he was. What would the world have been like with no

God blew me away recently (in several ways, but I will only bore you with one today). After our church's recent excellent Easter worship, I ran across a news article with some disturbing and yet not surprising statistics. Apparently, 9 out of 10 American homes have a Bible in them. However, only 16 percent of American churchgoers read the Bible daily and 25 percent of churchgoers don't read the Bible at all. The mental picture of the dusty Bible on the shelves of most American homes is not surprising in the least to me. It is, however, a grave concern of mine. It is most especially disconcerting when I notice that elsewhere on planet Earth, believers are using their Bible to stand up for their right to worship. Hundreds of believers were arrested in China on Easter Sunday (this link is working as of 04/29/2011) during a government crackdown on an unregistered church. The pastor's response is straight from God's Word. Read this for yourself, and be amazed. While we in t

Read Matthew chapter 16, starting in verse 13 and going through the rest of the chapter. Go ahead and read it. I'll wait. No really. Read it real quick. Take your time. I'll be here when you get done. You back yet? You took a little while! But that's okay. Jesus is trying to explain to his precious followers that he is going to have to march into Jerusalem and get murdered. Peter is not okay with this, and Jesus has some strong words to say to him. "There is a plan of God Himself at work here, and you had better not get in the way, Peter." And then he tells Peter, "You, too, will have to throw yourself away and pick up your electric chair and come on if you want to follow me." Whoa. Those are such strong words. Christians quote this verse of denying self and picking up a cross frequently without thinking about what it means. See, saying "deny yourself" is easy. But ignoring what you want is hard. Saying "pick up your cross" is easy.

The following is a tribute to one of the greatest women I have ever known - my mamaw, Geraldine Tucker. She went home to be with the Lord on Sunday evening, April 3, 2011. She was 83 years old. But that is not why she was great. The world will not do much more than blink with her passing. The world will stop spinning for some of us for a time, but planet earth will continue moving around us at lightning speeds, and eventually we will go back to our lives with only memories left. She gave us wonderful memories. But those are not why she was great. She married Papaw in 1943, and a day or two later, he left with his Army unit for training, and for eventual deployment for Normandy. By the time he had returned, she had purchased for them a house and 50 acres. They built a life together, and raised a large family. They worked so very hard, but her hard work is not why she was great. She fulfilled God's purpose for her here on Earth. He tasked her with creating and raising a family in the

There is an excellent article by Jay Higham on how NOT to look at what other youth groups are doing.  I think most of us in youth ministry have some sense that we don't need to compare ourselves to each other. I think the problem in my own soul is that I subconsciously am doing it much more than I admit. I have to catch myself doing it in order to stop doing it. There are a few things that help me in concrete ways to bloom where I am planted rather than admire grass that appears to be greener. 1. My God-moments I remember those late night one-on-one conversations with students that other youth guys have NOT had with our students. The other youth guy at Supah Kewl Church of Awesomeness doesn't know that the kid I had lunch with the other day wants to be in a job profession that his dad thinks is ridiculous. And he also hasn't listened to the sweetest lady in the world talk to him about her husband who recently passed away and confess that it has not really sunk in yet. 2.

I was in Genesis 2 this morning, and was struck with a new thought. (Actually, I was struck with three thoughts, but I'll only mention one here.) In Genesis 2:17 , God says to Adam, " but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. " Now, I don't know about you, but I have always been VERY curious what in the world was so different about this one tree. And why is knowing right from wrong a bad thing for Adam, and later Eve? And it struck me this morning -- there should only be ONE thing that consumes our life. Adam and Eve walked with God in Eden and talked to Him face to face. The only things on their mind and heart were the tasks God had given, the things God had made, their spouse that God had provided, and conversations with God Himself. There was no wrong. There was only God. But knowing right from wrong introduced a second option. Satan, as a serpent, told Eve that it would make her lik