Month: March 2006

Eric had a great post on Joseph the dreamer.
He brings out many interesting thoughts and ideas I’ve never considered when looking at the Old Testament narrative.
I’ve always enjoyed the story of Joseph because it reminds me of God’s faithfulness to His promises.
I’ve spoken with friends on this several times, but I always feel like I should be doing something more for God and “the kingdom.” But as Eric points out:

My father is a graphic designer, and sees Joseph as a businessman and as an outsider relating to the world. As a freelancer, my father’s work places him both deep within companies and at their margins. He supplies ideas, consultations and overhauled images, but he is always an independent contractor. The power of Joseph for him is the power of being second in command, a returning concept in Jewish history from Maimonides, to Albert Einstein, to Joseph Lieberman.
Read this way, the Joseph story is a very conservative one — that through smarts and personality, anyone can get themselves from the pit to the tower. There is a flip side, though. The consultant is always accepted and treated with skepticism at the same time. Ultimately, Joseph’s success in Egypt creates the foundation for the Jews to become enslaved under a new Pharaoh. In other words, the consultant can often make greater changes than those in power, but the ground is always less stable and the future is harder to see (even with prophetic dreams).

It’s not always easy being second in command, but many times that is what God calls us to be.
I also remember an e-mail my dad sent me back in July.

1. Abraham was 99 years old before he received God’s promise of a legitimate heir.
2. Joseph was enslaved, imprisoned, and an outcast from his brothers for 13 years before God used him to fulfill his mission in his family’s life (as this devotional mentions.)
3. Moses spent 40 years in the back side of the desert before God could use him to lead the Israelites to the promised land.
4. Joshua, who was told how to continually be successful, watched Moses for most of 40 years while Joshua’s contemporaries died, before God used Joshua to lead Israel to overcome the inhabitants of their promised land.
5. Gideon “fleeced the Lord” twice before he was convinced God would use him to drive the Midianites out. God even gave him a special spy trip to get the inside scoop on the thinking of the Midianites on the the night of the attack, as I remember.
6. David (as recounted in this devotional) was hounded and harassed by Saul for years before God fulfilled His promise to make him King of Israel.
7. Jesus was born a baby, raised to adulthood, and thirty years old before He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and began His public ministry.
…in His time…God makes all things possible in His time.

How good it is to know that God is faithful to guide us and lead us to where He has called us.

I don’t know quite what it is, but I really like this art piece. It’s part of an installation in Belfast.
I think it would be really cool to do something similar to this on one wall in my apartment/house — just as long as it’s portable to move again elsewhere.

A new report based on its annual tracking survey by The Barna Group reveals that one-third of the adult population (34%) has not attended any type of church service or activity, other than a special event such as a funeral or wedding, during the past six months.

Adults disassociated with a conventional church have a wide range of beliefs, some of which are biblical in nature. Some of the perspectives held by half or more of the unchurched population, either strongly or moderately, include the following:

50% agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches.

66% agree that their religious faith is very important in their life today.

64% contend that Satan is not a living being but is just a symbol of evil.

62% believe that a good person can earn eternal salvation

51% believe that Jesus Christ sinned while He lived on earth.

61% say their single, most important purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul.

55% argue that they are totally committed to having a deeper relationship with God and will do whatever it takes to get and maintain that relationship.

66% say they are completely committed to making the world, and other people’s lives, better.
Having studied the growing numbers of unchurched adults in America for more than two decades, George Barna indicated that we are approaching one of the two times of year when massive numbers of the unchurched alter their pattern and attend a church service. “Every year, many previously unchurched people return to a church for one or more Easter season services. More often than not, this is the result of one of two motivations: the compelling invitation of a close friend who accompanies them to the service, or a personal crisis that compels them to seek God more fervently. Impersonal marketing efforts generally have limited impact in persuading the unchurched to break their normal Sunday morning habits.”

Bono will be speaking in Dallas May 5 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.
From the World Affairs Council:

The World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth will present Bono, lead singer of Irish Rock Band U2, humanitarian and co-founder of DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), on Friday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Music Hall at Fair Park. This TIME Magazine Person of the Year in 2005 has used his celebrity worldwide to influence the powerful to the benefit of the poor. Bono will speak on his work to bring attention and resources to the fight against global AIDS and poverty in Africa.
In 2002, Bono co-founded DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) to raise public awareness of these issues and put pressure on wealthy governments to increase the quantity and quality of development resources for Africa while improving policies which impact African countries. Additionally, DATA works with African leaders to improve democracy, accountability and transparency to ensure aid is spent wisely.
From his participation in Live Aid and subsequent trip to Ethiopia in 1984 to last summer¹s Live 8 concerts, Bono has been an ardent supporter of Africa. In 1998, he became a spokesperson for the international Jubilee 2000 ‘Drop the Debt’ movement where his involvement drew public attention to the debt burden in the poorest countries and his intensive lobbying of politicians helped leverage a promise from wealthy nations to cancel $100 billion worth of poor countries’ debt.
Recently, Bono and DATA helped launch the ONE campaign in America. To date, nearly two million Americans have joined this campaign to make poverty history. ONE played a pivotal role in raising American voices in 2005 to secure promises of near universal access to life-saving AIDS medicines, debt cancellation for 18 of the world¹s poorest countries, and a doubling of aid for Africa by 2010.
The New York Times cited Bono¹s work as one of the reasons why President Bush promised to increase U.S. aid by nearly $30 billion over five years, including a major new initiative to fight AIDS in Africa. In 2004, this promise resulted in the largest increase in U.S. foreign assistance in 40 years.
U2 has received extensive recognition for their music including 22 Grammy Awards. Bono has appeared on the covers of TIME Magazine (three times), Newsweek, Vogue and Rolling Stone (twelve times).

I’m working on getting press passes, but if anyone would like to throw $50 bucks my way, it will insure me going and I’ll gladly report the story here too.