1 Tim 2:5-6 - “There is one God & one Mediator between God & men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a Ransom for all…” Good morning, Anne. We live in a curious time. A time when many sincerely believe they can determine what’s true by what they choose to believe. Folks may refer to it as “my truth” & it is supposedly impervious to reality & previously undeniable facts. How did we get here? Well, I don’t know for sure, but I wonder if video games & 2 Thess 2:11 may have something to do with it. Video games, because most young men — with the age slowly increasing — are more invested in & engaged with virtual reality than they are with reality itself. We can’t invest more in one thing without decreasing our engagement with other things. The verse, because it is the stark summary of the principle expounded on in the second half of Romans Chapter One. The idea that God will “give us over” to what we want, should we stubbornly persist in our pursuit of it. In the face of all these illusions & delusions, the above verse says there is ONE God & ONE Mediator between Him & us. You & I are free to look for another way, if we insist on that. Good luck. Strangely, this Mediator also became a Ransom. You don’t see that every day… or actually, ever. John 14:6 sounds arrogant, until we combine it with this fact of His chosen humiliation & sacrifice. Lord, please help Anne & me to face Reality today, rather than trying to make up our own. Colossians 2:17
God Doesn't Care About Your Day Job -- and Other Myths that Hobble Your Work
Bill Wichterman was with the Bush White House and today he serves as a Senior Advisor at Covington & Burling LLP (you can see his bio here). He’s widely loved and respected -- a reliable and wise spiritual advisor on complicated and loaded issues that a career in politics in DC carries.
Bill dove deep into the particulars of God’s view of our work, whatever it might be. We started to record it, but when we opened the floor up for more dialogue with the people in the room, it became too personal to post. Sorry, not sorry. It was a great conversation. If you’d like access to my personal notes, go here.
Bill Wichterman
My Job. Firing Myself...
Yeah, maybe I need to. Fire my old self, that is.
At our October brunch, Betsy Barrows gave us a major re-frame on our current work, almost regardless of what it is. It was like pulling back a curtain on my attitudes about what I do, how I do it, people I interact with on a day-to-day basis.
She dove into what she’s learned from The Arbinger Institute, Nancy the Jedi Coach and her own introspection leading to healthy action. That’s a sentence!
Can You See My Scars? Brunch with Samuel Moore-Sobel
Together in person at last! Brunch! September 18, 2021
I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone speak so candidly about a devastating event that disfigured the face and arms of a 15-year-old boy. Samuel was as real in his discussion with us as he was in his book, Can You See My Scars? It was a normal day just before the start of his sophomore year in high school when he was the victim of negligence that took away his normal experience of life. In an instant it was replaced by one composed of excruciating pain which altered him physically, mentally and spiritually. His account of the years between then and now (he’s 27) is difficult to hear. His experience and relationship with God evolved into a beautiful thing as he walked, slow and sometimes stumbling, through the day by day challenges. In these years he has experienced joy, too, and the outcome is a tender portrait of God’s grace and His longing to bless us as we seek Him.
Anne Cregger
Samuel Moore-Sobel
Like Coffee, Love People
He’s not really this fuzzy—- see below!
Karl Fisher had a plan.
Become a high school orchestra teacher….or a touring musician...or a youth minister.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t a PLAN - plan, but it was definitely a vision for what his adult life was going to be like and it didn’t include “business owner.” Certainly not “business owner of an extremely popular, primo coffee shop that has created all kinds of kingdom-building opportunities and helped revitalize the city-center of a medium-sized Pennsylvania town.”
Nope, that’s been all thanks to God. And a lot of prayer and trusting that God will take us where we’re supposed to be.
Check out Alabaster Coffee (and even order some roasted beans) and listen to the amazing story of how working in the marketplace has given Karl and his family all new ways to love their community; ways that they might have missed if they had stayed inside the sanctuary.
Karl Fisher of Alabaster Coffee and Roaster and Tea Company, Williamsport, PA