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Random Thoughts

John Chrysostom

This is one of the great insights that shaped my thinking as a 20-something businessman. It struck home – hard – and has been a quote I’ve kept nearby since first reading it.

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One person has the skill to hammer brass into the most exquisite shapes and to engrave elaborate patterns on to it. Another has the skill to make furniture, joining together different pieces of wood so firmly that no one can break them apart. A third person can spin the finest yarn, while a fourth weaves it into cloth. A fifth craftsperson can lay stones one on …

Random Thoughts,

Billy Graham Quote

Love this quote from Billy Graham. No idea where or when he said it, though.

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They just had a conference in Denmark to see what they can do about the poverty in the world. Last year in Rio de Janeiro they had a conference on the environment and the ecology. When we abuse the environment we pay a price. When we are selfish and oppress people and don’t give people justice, we have poverty. And there’s always been poverty. Some people have always had less than others. And Jesus said it would always be that way. But as believers …

Random Thoughts,

Pure Religion

James 1:27 is a powerful verse that we sometimes overlook because we are so familiar with it. In this verse, pure religion is defined using two distinctive and seemingly unconnected concepts: serving the less fortunate, and staying pure from the world. Initial reaction is that these are two separate issues. But it strikes me that there is more connection to the two than we realize.

Perhaps our soul is “polluted” if we aren’t serving the less fortunate. Perhaps we can’t serve the less fortunate without our soul being touched. One is our outward appearance with a tangible impact, one is …

Random Thoughts,

A day in the life…

An eclectic day. I spent an hour on the phone with a former runway model, who is starting a ministry and needed advice. I so wanted her to be the blonde airhead, but she was smart and witty. So much for stereotypes.

Then had a meeting with my maintenance crew, which is about as far from the fashion runway as you can get! Too many of my guys use to work in the junkyard. I love ’em.

Followed by a slew of silly emails and facebook postings about names for D’Aun’s olive oil business. A lot of really BAD ideas, …

Random Thoughts, Westmont,

A liberal arts life

I recently gave a personal testimony to the Westmont College Board of Trustees. The challenge was to answer the question, “How did you become who you are?” An interesting challenge for anybody! But considering the intellectual power of my audience, and considering their wide range of interests, it was not an easy thing to summarize in 10-minutes. In fact, it was much harder to prepare for this brief presentation than I ever imagined!

In the end, I described myself as having led a liberal arts life. Here are my expanded notes. Not the best writing, but as I said, they …

Random Thoughts,

So early 21st Century

So, I’m stepping into the blog world. It feels odd in some way, as if the point of this technology is rapidly losing its validity, yet I’m just now getting involved. I guess that’s a feeling that will become a regular part of my life now that I’m over 50.

I’m torn about how to utilize this blog. Any suggestions? I welcome that input.

One idea is to focus on stories. I’m reminded of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s comment, “Ideas come and go. Stories stay.”

On the other hand, there is a great story about C.S. Lewis scolding J.R.R. Tolkien when …