'Responsibility' Tagged Posts
The Buck Stops Here
Harry S. Truman – the 33rd president of the United States – had a sign on his desk which read, “The buck stops here.” It refers to a slang expression from the game of poker. The buck was a marker which was used to keep track of the person whose turn it was to deal. If somebody didn’t want to do it, they could pass the buck to the next person at the table. In his farewell address in January…
You’re Not Thinking Fourth-Generationally
In the film “Back To The Future Part III,” Doc and Marty have traveled back in time to “The Wild West” and the year 1885. They plan a return home to the present in 1985 (one hundred years later) by hitching a ride on a freight train. There is only one problem. The train track runs out, and, at the speed they will be going, Marty thinks they will crash into the ravine below. However, as Doc explains, Marty is…
Empty Arms with Full Hearts
In John chapter 4 we have Jesus talking to someone who, according to the apostles and the Jews of that day, He has no business talking to. Culturally speaking, Jesus is crossing a line by having this conversation that completely shocks His apostles. In John 4:27 we have their reaction described as, “…At this point, His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman…” The word used there to describe their reaction to what Jesus…
Don’t Get Comfortable
A comfort zone “is a psychological state in which things feel familiar to a person,” resulting in “experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress” because “they are at ease and in control of their environment.”1 And while that sounds like the optimal place to be, comfort zones can actually become danger zones because they can foster a conditional approach to discipleship. Conditional discipleship is the practice of placing conditions on your spiritual commitments. So, when I say that our comfort…
The Framing Department – Part Two
Last week, we began a study on how we “frame” our lives. In other words, what are the motivations and expectations that surround our thoughts, words, and actions? We began our study by looking at the frame of “Self Righteousness” last week, and we saw that this is a “flimsy frame” to build our lives around, based on what the Scriptures teach. This week, let’s take a look at another “best seller” in the category of “frames” for our lives: THE…
BEAR ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS
Throughout the New Testament, the phrase “one another” appears over ninety times and is associated with over thirty-five different verbs, which identify activities in which Christians are to be engaged as part of the body of believers. Implicit in these “one another” passages is the expectation of community. Last week, we began a series of articles intended to investigate some of these “one another” commands in an effort to identify our responsibilities to one another as brothers and sisters in…