It's February and I'm already behind in my Bible reading

In "Agape Leadership", R.C. Chapman may have the reason why:

"The great cause of neglecting the Scriptures is not want of time, but want of heart, some idol taking the place of Christ. Satan has been marvelously wise to entice away God's people from the Scripture. A child of God who neglects the Scriptures cannot make it his business to please the Lord of Glory; cannot make Him Lord of the conscience; ruler of the heart; the joy, portion and treasure of the soul... If the Bible be used aright by anyone, it will be to him the most pleasant book in the world."

I guess I can't blame it on Leviticus.

Preach Christ or Live Christ?

"There are many who preach Christ, but not many who live Christ. My great aim will be to live Christ". R.C. Chapman

Chapman said this when he was a young man in his early 20's. Soon after he became the pastor at Ebenezer Chapel, where he was the pastor for almost the rest of his life. He preached his last sermon just before his 98th birthday! So he was not drawing a false dichotomy, as if he could not both preach and live Christ. But he sought to live the message he preached, and that was the power behind his pastorate.

Some things are the same at every level of society

"The room was soon filled with a motley assemblage, from the old gray-headed patriarch of eighty, to the young girl and lad of fifteen. A little harmless gossip ensued on various themes... A few of the worshippers belonged to families hard by, who had got permission to attend, and who brought in various choice scraps of information, about the saying and doings at the house and on the place, which circulated as freely as the same sort of small change does in higher circles."

"Uncle Tom's Cabin"

"Agape Leadership" Quote

"There are mysteries of grace and love in every page of the Bible: It is a thriving soul that finds the Book of God growing more and more precious." RC Chapman

No More Six Year-Old Son

I just tucked in Karsten and prayed with him. I told him this would be the last time I ever tucked a six year-old boy in bed, because tomorrow night he would be seven. He seemed kind of sad about that. He prayed, thanking God for his mom & dad, for Karis & Darby, for Tybee & Melas. He asked God to send missionaries to people who don't know Jesus so they could know Him. I prayed and thanked God for how great it had been to have a six year-old son and prayed for Karsten to love God even more when he is seven and to be wise and courageous. I hugged and kissed him goodnight and I went downstairs in tears. I'm going to miss my son of six and I really don't want to waste a single day of seven.

The Five Stages of Workplace Tribes

This is a fascinating article from the Gallup Management Journal. The Five Stages of Workplace Tribes Anybody with experience in a medium to large company knows exactly what these researcers are talking about. I have a little more than an inkling as to how it looks in the church.

Satan's Double Lie

Here is what he, coming as an angel of light, may say to the church:
"The average human being is fairly slow, culturally encrusted. People like things that are palatable and light. So be palatable and light. And for goodness' sake, don't go into the primitive stuff - the blood of Christ or the realities of lostness throughout eternity."

Here's what he says to the uncoverted:
"You're too smart for the gospel. Look at how so many of its trappings are second-rate knockoffs of the real stuff you can find around you in theater, in deeply thought-through books, in higher education. Notice how much more of your mind is demanded even in your daily work than at church. You're ahead the way you are."

So between these two lies he goes about his business. The church buys into the simple-minded smoothed over approach; the world continues its assumption that there is, after all, a certain thinness to Christianity. In the middle of this gulf there stands the Savior, asking both the church and the world for entrance and holding out only one truth to each.

From Best, Unceasing Worship