Author: Higher Up IDEALS
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Communicating to Death (or some better title)
“Urkel is dead and I can’t breathe.” Those were the words Oprah spoke to the interviewer when they asked her about one of the most recent casualties of a senseless shooting. I couldn’t breathe either. How could Urkel be gone? He held the hopes of so many of us. He had achieved the dream and…
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Powerful Beyond Measure – Part 1
I remember when I first received the email. I was sitting in my cubicle—a place that didn’t reflect my inner life. I don’t remember who the email was from. But, it was one of those inspirational emails that starts off lifting your spirits and then lets you down by saying that you have to send…
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There is No Competition
I might be going through a midlife crisis (MLC). A word that etymologically means, “the point at which change must come, for better or worse.” I remember that whenever I heard about MLCs growing up, I thought that whatever it was, it would never happen to me because the way MLCs are typically characterized, it…
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Surrounded! – How Do You Respond Under Threat?
In a world where we are constantly reminded of the dangers that surround us, who among us has not imagined what we would do if we found ourselves in a dangerous or perhaps life-threatening situation? It seems like everyday we hear some story of innocent victims of unspeakable crimes. And whether it is a shooting…
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Escaping the Prison Industrial Mindset
Tonight I realized that I feel safer in cars that look like I can afford them. That is a sad awareness that I need to work on more deeply. How I realized this was that I had to rent a car. I had a coupon that enabled me to get a compact for the same…
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To Know Only God’s Love
This morning I asked myself what I thought my life would be like if I could train my mind to only focus on thoughts concerning God’s love for all people without exception. In other words, what if I were literally incapable of thinking of anything else, how would I show up in the world? I…
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Courting Scandal
Some Sundays ago, I preached a message to the congregation I serve that I intended to be hopeful. In it, I talked about the “scandal of change”. My main point was that scandal is part and parcel of any change endeavor. The text that I was preaching from was the Annunciation from Luke 1 where…
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When Rules Break the Law
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 1holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.…
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Our Word’s Matter
A number of year’s ago, I had a book proposal rejected by a publisher. The book was based on the opening verses of Hebrews 11. 11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so…
The Roofless Church 