Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.
03212 – Spotting Jesus Followers
Hey, if you aren’t much into religion, you may not know how to recognize followers of Jesus. If you are interested and have a curious mind, I can tell you that Jesus himself gave a direct, simple way to spot them. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples...
03085 – Pay Attention to People!
If you want to do the work of God, pay attention to people. Notice them. Especially the people nobody else notices. from Love Beyond Reason
02953 – It’s a Messy World!
I understand now that I'm not a mess, but a deeply feeling person in a messy world. I explain that now, when someone asks me why I cry so often. I say, "for the same reason I laugh so often--because I'm paying attention."
01836 – Just Listen!
The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention... A loving silence often has more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.
01489 – The Purpose of Our Deliverance
Christians, we have maintained, are those who through confrontation with death are given new freedom from the sting of death and so a new freedom for voluntary service to others. Surely if this claim has any truth in it, then it is not our own suffering but the...
01485 – The “Left Behind” Series
The Left Behind series is not significant for its literary merits, which are few, but because it is the latest example of "end-time" eschatology, the belief that we are living out the final pages of history. It may seem like trivial pulp to sophisticated readers, but...
01402 – “It’s Not about Me”
I think Jesus would have said, "It's not about me." During his lifetime, he deflected attention from himself. In an illuminating passage in our earliest gospel, when a man addressed him as "Good Teacher," Jesus responded with, "Why do you call me good? No one is good...
01330 – John vs. Pop TV Preachers
John's testimonials are lacking in content and repetitious: "Look! The Lamb of God!" Yet on the basis of his witness two of his followers become Jesus' first disciples. Having seen, John testifies so that others might see... As Karl Barth said, anybody who stops on...
00559 – No Limit to What the Holy Spirit Can Do
Under the power of the Holy Spirit, shy people have been known to step up onto platforms and say audacious things. Cautious people have become daredevils, frugal people have become philanthropists and people who used to be as sour as dill pickles have become rich with...