HeroMaker

We had the first meeting of our ConnectGroup for this semester in our home last night.  For the first half of this semester, we are digging into our church's sermon series: HeroMaker.  We spent time talking about public heroes, who our personal heroes are, and about what it means to be a HeroMaker in God's eyes.  We also spent time praying.  We are all concerned for the people who will be affected by Hurricane Florence and will be praying for them over the coming days.  I found this story about Virgil Smith who made his mark during Hurricane Harvey.  Hero or HeroMaker?  What do you think?

Love of Labor

Frances Perkins watched in horror as a Manhattan building was engulfed in flames and workers began jumping from windows in an attempt to save their lives.   On that day, 146 people died, ranging in age from 14 to 43.  The building was the Asch Building in the garment district of New York, and the year was 1911.  The Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire marked the worst industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the worst in the history of the country.   Frances had gained statewide attention serving as the head of the New York Consumer's League, but after serving in several state positions, she was named as the Secretary of Labor under Franklin Roosevelt in 1933.  She was the first female cabinet member to serve under a president, and maintained that position for 12 years, longer than any other Secretary of Labor.  Frances devoted her entire life to improving working conditions for everyone including workplace safety and child labor laws.  Her love of labor helped pave the way for better working conditions for all of us.  Click here for the rest of the photo.

March The Mountain

There are so many opportunities for division among us, I was thrilled to see the OneRace movement step into action last weekend.  On Saturday, over 2000 people from all races marched up Stone Mountain as an expression of unity under the love of Jesus.  The group sang worship songs atop the mountain in the same spot that the KKK burned crosses over a century ago.  Praise God for anyone who takes the time to pull us together as opposed to pushing us apart.  Click here for a quick video recap.

Lessons From A Third Grade Dropout

Rick Rigsby has served as a college professor for over 20 years, most of those years at Texas A&M, but he became more broadly known after delivering a commencement speech in 2017.   That speech was viewed by more than 30 million people in just a few days after being posted online.  Rick's words honor the most important man in his life, a third grade dropout, and the valuable lessons that he learned from him.  If you weren't one of the first 30 million to watch, prepare to be inspired.  If you were, it probably wouldn't hurt to hear this message again.

Got Blocked?

Have you ever been blocked by someone for posting on their social media timeline or have you wished that someone else would block another person from posting? I have a pretty small social media footprint and most of my posts are either business related or family related. I don't choose to get in heated debates on social media, but I see plenty of people who do. Ed Stetzer is on staff at Wheaton College and works closely with the Billy Graham Center. He posted this thoughtful article about when he thinks it is appropriate to block people from his social media timelines. I think he has some good ideas here. Let me know what you think.

Laugh A Little More

I am usually a pretty serious guy.  People close to me tell me I need to laugh more.  And I agree.   I admit that I am kind of humor snob.   What some people think is laugh-out-loud funny, doesn't get the same reaction from me.   Things I do react to are usually things that include a lot of truth.  John Crist is a Christian comedian that has made a career out of making fun of Christians.   Some may consider him a little on the edge, even sacrilegious.  I think he is hilarious.  I have watched a lot of his videos but saw this one about church parking lot rage for the first time today.   Laugh a little more.

Another Tom

Most of us are familiar with the big band sounds of Tommy Dorsey, but at about the same time Tommy was performing, there was another Dorsey making his mark.  Thomas Dorsey was the son of a Baptist minister in Villa Rica, GA.  His father taught him to play piano, and Thomas first launched a jazz career under the Paramount label.  In 1932, he lost his wife, Nettie, during childbirth and wrote one of his most well-known songs, Precious Lord, Take My Hand, which served as a cornerstone to a new career in gospel music.  That song has been covered by artists from Elvis Presley to Beyonce, but this performance by Mahalia Jackson is my favorite.  Thomas is now known to be the father of gospel music.