I found myself this morning in Hopkinsville, Kentucky at an organic farming conference. (I will explain later!) You might find this hard to believe but the keynote speaker was absolutely fascinating. His name is John Kempf and he managed to combine charm, passion, and science. And some of his claims just floored me.  If they were widely embraced, they would shake up the farming industry here and around the world. Traditional nitrate fertilizer and pesticide companies would take a major hit.  For instance, Kempf claims that if a plant is healthy (i.e. getting all that it needs from the soil…

I read a fascinating article the other day by Katie Herzog about a professor accused by a colleague of inappropriate behavior. The woman who lodged the complaints got her picture on the cover of Time Magazine as a part of the MeToo Movement. But four independent (and painstakingly thorough) investigations ruled that the professor did not break any school rules, much less any laws. The professor was able to keep his job but the destruction of his reputation has made his life miserable. Recently, years after the original false allegations, Herzog visited campus and found a group of 40 students…

“Social Proof” is the label for a commonly experienced human behavior: individuals often outsource decision-making to the crowd. It is a mental shortcut. It replaces “doing your own research”.  Oftentimes it is useful. You are in an unfamiliar town and you are looking for a good restaurant. You know from past experiences that there are restaurants where the service is bad, where the food is overpriced, where the portions are too small, or where the building wouldn’t pass a health inspection. You are hoping to avoid any of that.  Do you have time to visit the local health department? To…

The 20th chapter of Acts finds Paul stopping in Troas for a week of marathon preaching.  The night before he plans to leave town, he meets with local disciples on the top floor of a 3 story building. And he’s got a lot to say.  He preaches until midnight. In the lamplight, a young man named Eutychus is sitting on a windowsill, and he’s getting drowsy. When he nods off, he tumbles backwards out the window and is dead on impact with the ground below.  Can you imagine the turmoil as everyone ran down the steps to get to Eutychus?…

All day I have been thinking about my friend’s post on Facebook. She and her husband and their precocious preschooler woke up to falling snow. My friend’s husband said to their little one, “God made each snowflake unique, Lydia. What does that tell you about God?” To which Lydia replied: “That He’s not very busy today.” A small reminder that two people can look at the same circumstances and yet draw very different conclusions!

The term is used 26 times in the book of Acts. For instance: The number of disciples was increasing. (6:1) The Twelve gathered all the disciples together. (6:2) Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. (9:1) In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. (9:10) A disciple named Tabitha. (9:36) A disciple named Timothy. (16:1) The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. (13:52) The disciples would not allow Paul to appear before the crowd. (19:30) And 16 of the 26 come after this particular reference: The disciples were called Christians first at…

Of course I am not saying that ALL friction is the result of us dutifully following God’s will. We can certainly bring conflict into our lives by our own mistakes and our own sinful behaviors and attitudes. Plenty of conflict.  But we should never assume that someone battling through conflict is necessarily outside God’s will or responsible for “bringing it upon himself”.  

As I have slowly read through Matthew and now Acts, it is really striking just how much conflict and controversy was generated by the preaching of God’s Kingdom and, later, the preaching of Jesus as the Christ. Ridicule. Mockery. Beatings. Stonings. Shunnings. Imprisonment. Crucifixion.  In fact, I am forced to conclude that any true Kingdom work is going to result in conflict and controversy, even today.  Why wouldn’t it? Humans are naturally resistant to God’s will. Even fellow believers. Even you and me! If we weren’t, why would we be instructed to pray on a regular basis that the Father’s…