Passage for reflection: Psalm 62:5-6 Recent news headlines demonstrate the heaviness of the present moment. Nearly 400,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. Domestic terrorists engaged in an insurrection in our nation's capital. Hungry people wait for hours in their vehicles at food banks for the opportunity to feed their families. For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is in God. God alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken (Psalm Read More …
trust
Public Perception – Clergy Ethics at All-Time Low (#1770)
Eight years ago I wrote about how clergy fared in an annual Gallup survey on the American public's views of the honesty and ethical standards of a variety of occupations. In 2010, I noted that "clergy ranked 7th among the professions surveyed. Just over half (53%) of all respondents rated the honesty and ethics of clergy as high or very high." From the start of the poll in the 1970s till 2010 the percentage of those rating clergy honesty and ethics as Read More …
Clergy = Not Trusted? (#1652)
According to a recent Pew Research Center Report clergy and other religious leaders are not as trusted to act in the best interest of the public as are many other groups. More specifically, the percentage of American adults who say they have either "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of confidence that a group will act in the interest of the public follows: Medical Scientists - 84% Military - 79% Scientists - 76% K-12 Principals and Superintendents - 66% Religious Leaders - Read More …
Sermon: Personal Transformation + (#1581)
Sermon Text: Acts 16:25-34 Sermon Excerpt Are you saved? Maybe that is a question you have not heard in a long time. Maybe it is one you have heard far too often. Are you saved? Earlier this week when a group gathered for a Topical Tuesday conversation about salvation we had more stories to tell than time allowed. One participant remembered a time when as a young mother she had allowed a stranger into her home simply because she craved interaction and conversation with Read More …
Trust is Waning (#1262)
People are less trusting than they used to be. Research shows a dramatic decline in trust in recent decades. More specifically, over the last 40 years the percentage of Americans who say that most people can be trusted has declined from 50% to 33%. So What? Only 1 out of every 3 Americans thinks most people are trustworthy. Our churches must be and become communities where trust in one another is normative rather than something that is present just 1/3 of the time. Do you think Read More …
Leadership Must-Dos (#0935)
Terry “Starbucker” St. Marie is a seasoned executive leader with over two decades of experience in the cable television industry, who has partnered with Liz Strauss to create Inside-Out Thinking (a venture centered around the development of great leaders who can make a difference in any organization) and SOBCon (a business “think tank” with a Social Media twist). On his blog, he recently shared his list of three must-dos for great leaders: Establish two-way trust Read More …
Trust/Mistrust in God & Worry (#0536)
A recent article in the Scientific American, co-authored by Sarah Estes Graham and Jesse Graham, considers a scholarly article in the July 2011 edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychology written by a group that includes professors from Harvard Medical School. The research found: Studying hundreds of devoutly religious Jews and Christians, the researchers explored what religious cognitions can lead to more or less worry. Specifically, they found that mistrust in God . . . was Read More …