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Browse published articles attributed to Robert Crutchfield, with full-archive search.
There is a traditional Episcopal Church wedding ceremony that I use a lot when marrying couples. I use it so often because I like what it says about the decision to marry. It frames it this way “...
When someone close to us dies many companies will give you a few days off with pay to recover. Much of the rest of our society seems to believe that grief is something very temporary. If only it were that simple or easy. Grief is not about forgetting or “ getting over it. “ It is about learning new ways to embrace what the one you lost means to you. Your mind, emotions, and soul need time to adjust to the new reality of your relationship with your loved one who has passed away.
I was attending a men's bible study class years ago when I said one of the most insightful things I have probably ever said. We were discussing parenthood when I remarked that parenthood was a big game of monkey see, monkey do. There erupted quite a conversation among the fathers in the group about how their grown children did things just as they did, even though they were not consciously taught to do them that way. They were able to quickly cite from their own experience specific incidents of what I had just said. Their kids, now grown learned from years of observing their example !
Initiative is something we as leaders would obviously value highly from those we lead. But why don't we see it more ? What can we do to build it within our team, or see it more often ? I explain it this way, Initiative is bred by confidence, confidence is bred by competence.
Overcome evil with good. A nice idea isn’t it? But what does it mean exactly? How do we apply this neat idea to our Christian walk?
One of the hardest things about any of life's struggles is dealing with the frustration that can come with them. As with every other aspect of the struggles in life, as Christians we can turn to God and his word for help. The Apostle Paul himself taught that the secret in frustrating circumstances was to be content in all circumstances. Let us look at what he says in Philippians 4: 11-13,
Most of the time when teaching leadership we teach from the perspective of what an effective leader should do. But what about from the perspective of what you should not do ? Or what about the things you should avoid not doing ? Hopefully not everything I a about to say is new to you as a leader. At the same time I hope to help you look at things from a new perspective that will add to your understanding. Let's share some thoughts.
In many cities modern traffic lights have what is called preemption equipment installed. Fire Engines, Police Cars, Ambulances etc. have transmitters on them that trip this equipment. The point is to turn all the lights green for the first responders so they can get where they need to be as quickly and as safely as possible. They “ Clear the lights.” The obstacles presented by traffic and red lights are kept from their path.
It seems like we always have something to worry about, doesn’t it. Bills, we don’t feel well, not enough time in the day for what we need to get done on and on. However left unchecked worry can become a very destructive influence in our lives. This first thing we want to do is understand that worry is a very natural process. We worry because we feel we have something to lose in a situation. It’s when we have too many worries in a particular moment, or that we are worried about is of vital importance to us that we must guard against getting overwhelmed.
We all become aware of how fast time flies as we get older. At the same time we often wonder why children seem so impatient. The fact is the two things are related. It all boils down to the concepts of perception and perspective. Perception is the way we see something. Perspective has to do with using our knowledge and life experience to make sense of what our senses are telling us. Perception is of course reality at least to the one holding the perception. This holds true for that person even if the perception later turns out to be false.
Tuesday June 5, 2001 marked the beginning of a very interesting time in the history of my beloved Houston. We have seen thousands loose everything, and thousands of others ( Christians included ) rise to the occasion. That early summer day, Tropical storm Allison came to visit. There was some damage that Tuesday, but the storm moved quickly. Overall as such storms go it was close to the best case scenario.
Years ago I was participating in a men's bible study class. The topic that day was parenthood. Many of the men present had grown children and grandchildren. At some point in the discussion, I commented that my observation had always been that parenthood was a big game of monkey see, monkey do. The comment first drew a bit of laughter. But the group also had to admit I had a point. Several of the more experienced gentlemen present went on to comment on how much of themselves they saw in their children.
By Rev. Robert A. Crutchfield There 's an old saying in computers, “Garbage in, Garbage out!” What that means is your result depends on what you put in and the quality of what you put in. In truth computers only mimic what we as people do. This is a prime example.
When my grandmother passed away at 98 it was a very difficult time in my life. As part of the process of working through my own grief I wrote the following poem. Grandma Went Home On Mother’s Day She was the mother of a son and a daughter. She was the loving grandmother to five. She was a great-grandmother, and a great-great grandmother too. Grandma went home on Mother’s Day She never thought of herself as an artist. Yet her family was her greatest masterpiece. She loved each of them totally, and completely. Grandma went home on Mother’s Day.
In this world there will always be challenges in life. We are after-all imperfect people living in a fallen world. “ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23. Since none of us are perfect our lives cannot be perfect, things happen. When things happen even though they may be unintentional we end up with consequences to deal with. We are also affected by the consequences of the people around us. It is here that our ability to overcome the consequences of this world is called upon.
Increasingly these days I fear that the word Love is bandied about way too freely. People say it to someone because they think that's what they are SUPPOSED to say, not really because it reflects how they feel. I'm not even sure many people truly understand what love means anymore.
It doesn't matter what the occasion, one of the last things anybody wants to see on a box at the store is the phrase “Some assembly required”. Unfortunately for us as leaders, our teams always come with some assembly required, and so do each of the members of our team. As leaders it is our responsibility to make sure the members of our team are as fully developed as possible. John Maxwell even said “Growing value in your people is the core of leadership”. So how do we grow our people especially in terms of adding value to them, so they in turn can add value to our team?
Father’s day reminds me of many years ago when I attended a different church. The pastor there was the head of the jail ministry at the local county jail. He would tell us of how on Mother’s Day they would bring Mother’s Day cards so that the inmates who were so inclined could send a card to their mothers. Year after year no matter how many cards they brought there were never enough ! As Father’s Day approached they would bring Father’s Day cards to the jail for the same reason. Except in the case of Father’s Day cards they could literally not even give them away !
Every Christian should be involved in some form of ministry. Many believers especially those new to the faith, believe personal ministry is beyond their abilities. Please understand I am not saying that every Christian should pastor a church, or other large ministry. However much of the work of the church has been done, and should be done by what are called lay (not licensed or ordained) ministers. I have identified three ministries which are vital to the Lord's work, but can be performed by any average Christian.
In today’s world we are surrounded by more information, more often than any other time in history. The set of thinking skills we use to determine what is true or useful is called disce ment. This set of thinking skills is more important in regards to our faith than any other part of our lives. Consider what the Bible says at Leviticus 10:10 “ And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;” (KJV) So obviously if the Bible addresses it directly it is very important.
A part of every leader wants to believe that if you are good enough or work hard enough you can do anything. However most of us lead in the real world. Because we lead in the real world there is at least one very important thing no leader can do. You can't develop a person who doesn't want to be helped !
Like a talented chef creating a stew, Author Dee Brestin has melded together scripture, real world experience as a mother, bible teacher, widow and prison minister, and the work of other Christian leaders into a book worth savoring. The Jesus Who Surprises has two main themes, 1) Finding Jesus in surprising places in scripture, such as the books of Isiah, Psalms, and Song of Solomon. 2) Finding Jesus in surprising times and places in our lives, such as when Brestin lost her husband, and father of her children in his fifties. Brestin does three things well in this book,r