Chapters help us understand a paragraph’s role in the larger narrative. Paragraphs help us understand what a sentence means. Sentences help us understand individual word meanings. The account taken as a whole, then, has instructive value, not necessarily a verse standing by itself. That’s why at Stand to Reason we follow the rule “Never read a Bible verse.” Always read a paragraph (at least) before drawing conclusions about meaning.
How do you get church visitors and what do you do with them
Here is what I think I learned — or at least was reminded that I know.
There are a lot of people I know. Some of them are looking for answers about life or Jesus.
There are special things going on in my life and in my fellowship that I can talk about.
Some of them will visit with me if I ask.
Give them a Bible. Ask if they have questions. Answer them.
Get to know them. Listen. Have coffee. Grab a meal. I buy.
Say something about Jesus. Ask to share more stories.
He said I wasn’t ready to preach until I could state what my sermon was about in one, clear sentence. That piece of advice transformed my preaching (more on that in this interview).
I immediately drove home and re-worked my sermon for that night. I worked on the message until I could “say it in a sentence.” I went from being a scattered communicator to a clear communicator.
Your Photos Are Getting in the Way of Your Adventure
The key is to be conscious of how, when, and why we’re taking photographs—to preserve a moment, to capture a feeling, or to publish on social media? And, once in a while, as I learned at Taos Pueblo, it’s helpful to leave your camera or phone behind and be fully present in the moment. Afterwards, encourage your children to find other ways to preserve the memory, by writing stories or poems or drawing pictures.
From my perspective, this comes down to basically four points:
- Nobody on the Chrome development team can provide a clear rationale for why this change was necessary, and the explanations they’ve given don’t make any sense.
- This change has enormous implications for user privacy and trust, and Google seems unable to grapple with this.
- The change makes a hash out of Google’s own privacy policies for Chrome.
- Google needs to stop treating customer trust like it’s a renewable resource, because they’re screwing up badly.
American Weirdness: Observations From an Expat
It’s not that there isn’t a variety of toothpaste in Paris, where I live. France is a developed country with a market economy—well, mostly a market economy—and its own large supermarket chains. But there’s something about the toothpaste aisles of the United States that I always find jarring, and that I find emblematic of America’s over-the-topness: the dozens of varieties of everything—everything!—when fewer varieties might suffice.
Caterer saves wedding when officiant breaks ankle
An Ohio wedding was saved in the 11th hour by a catering manager who stepped in to replace the injured officiant.