Author Archives: Larry

IS FACEBOOK SUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF YOU

Photo by William Iven on Unsplash

I hear more and more people bemoaning the negativity that seems to permeate social media these days.  I can’t speak of your newsfeed, but on mine, I see posts weekly from individuals that threaten to delete Facebook from their phones or from their life.  In fact, I have felt this way myself in the past, but all that changed this past Easter.

A Social Media Fast

For Easter, our church observes Lent, although not in the traditional sense.  We ask folks to abstain, for 40 days, from things in their life that have become a distraction to their spiritual journey.  For me, this was obviously social media.  In particularly Facebook. Continue reading →

EXTREME OWNERSHIP: HOW U.S. NAVY SEALS LEAD AND WIN

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This month’s resource recommendation is the book Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.  While this book is not written from a spiritual perspective, the lessons in the book will be beneficial to all.  Leadership is critical to every aspect of our lives.  Whether you are learning how to lead yourself, lead a team, or lead groups of teams, this book has help for you.

Extreme Ownership is probably the best book I have ever read on leadership.  This book makes a strong case for removing the excuses for failure, and taking responsibility for all outcomes.  This thread is woven into all the principles discussed throughout book. Continue reading →

LEARNING TO SAY GOODBYE | DON’T LEAVE ANYTHING UNSAID

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Regret

Several years ago, I lost my father-in-law to pancreatic cancer.  That was the first person I had lost in my life that I genuinely loved.  I had lost people that were acquaintances, but I had never lost someone that had invested in me and cared for the outcome of my life.  In fact, until Eddie, I had never had another man love me the way that he loved me.  It was the first great loss of my young life.

I was about 28 years old when Eddie passed away.  I was a young man that did not know how to have a healthy relationship with another man.  I never had a healthy relationship with my father, or any other man in my life.  I had buddies to run around with, I had a best friend that I would have died for, but I never had an emotionally stable, mature man, gift me his unconditional love. Continue reading →

HOPE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

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Tragedy Off The Coast Of Massachusetts

December 17, 1927 was a tragic day in American history.  An S-4 submarine was conducting routine drills off the coast of Massachusetts.  The submarine was attempting to surface when it was struck by a U.S. Coast Guard destroyer.  The destroyer punched about a 30 inch hole in the submarine which caused the vessel to begin to sink in 110 feet of water.

Most of the crew secured themselves behind watertight doors.  A handful of men made their way to the torpedo room to hunker down.  From there they did their best to communicate with anyone that would be able to help them.

While crews worked diligently on the surface to free the sailors from their underwater prison, divers were sent into the water to see what options they may have.  While underwater, one of the divers heard tapping that was determined to be Morse code.  The sailors inside the torpedo room kept repeating the same question, “Is… there… any…hope…?” Continue reading →

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Photo by Lizelle De Wit on Unsplash

Recap

Jesus gives us a list of blessings known as the beatitudes.  He quickly transitions from these blessing to challenging us to change the world around us.  In essence he is telling us to go into the world and be those kinds of people so that we can saturate the communities and societies around us with a Godly presence.

He does this by correlating spiritual influence with the kind of change salt makes as it is added to food.  In the same way salt enhances the flavor of food, we as followers of Christ should enhance the people around us.

The Analogy Of Light

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

– Matthew 5:14-16

Jesus makes the leap from telling us we should be changing and shaping the culture around us to telling us that as a group, those that are followers of Christ, we have been set apart.  We are meant to live with our lives on display for the whole world to see.  Continue reading →