Why I Won’t Win a Nobel Peace Prize

February 20, 2011 in Faith with 1 Comment

Bob Goff and graduates of Restore Academy in Gulu, Uganda

One of my most favorite Twitter feeds is Bob Goff (@bobgoff). Bob is the founder and president of Restore International, a non-profit organization that pursues audacious ways to restore justice to children and the poorest of the poor around the world. Restore is comprised of a dedicated group of people committed to ending human rights abuses towards children by moving from awareness of injustice, to action.  They go into the courts in countries like Uganda and India to be the voice for the voiceless and to provide support and a defense for children in the justice systems. Restore also has schools and dedicated programs helping children and the poorest of the poor to pursue their dreams.  I’m always inspired and encouraged by the updates from Restore about children that have been freed and given a new lease on life because of the dedicated work of the Restore team throughout the world – not just the US team but especially the local workers in the various countries.
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Isaiah 58 Sermon

February 7, 2011 in Church with 3 Comments

Preached on February 6, 2011 at First Baptist Church, Jefferson City, MO
Empty Stomachs, Empty Worship
Isaiah 58:1-12

If you’ve ever seen a Charlie Brown cartoon on TV, you are familiar with Charlie’s teacher, Mrs. Donovan.  Whenever she talks in the cartoon all you hear is the “Waa –wa – waa – waa” sound of a trombone.  Only by the responses of Charlie Brown and his beloved pals do we have any clue as to what the teacher is saying.  I think of Charlie Brown’s teacher whenever I read this Isaiah passage and also when I think of 1 Corinthians 13:1 which reads, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Or a stuttering trombone.  Our talk, our prayers, our worship minus love just sound like “waa – wa- waa –waa” to God.

Or maybe that is too tame.  Too humorous.  Too soft on ourselves.  Perhaps our words and our pleas, when absent of true worship, sound more like a movie so saturated with offensive language that we have to physically get up and leave the theatre. Continue Reading…

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