On this last Friday in October…yes, let that sink in for a minute…here are three things that I have read and have been thinking about this week. Have a great weekend!

#1

“The art of leadership, as Max says, is “liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible.” Thus, the leader is the “servant” of his followers in that he removes the obstacles that prevent them from doing their job.

Leadership Is an Art by Max Depree

Rooted in service to others, leadership, becomes a gift. How are the actions we take helping to liberate those we serve to be the fullest expression of God’s image? 

#2

But the church, with its excessive penchant for dogmatic certitude, and the academy, with its fascination with objective rationality, characteristically stop short of the evidence of communal obedience. The question of authority is and must be shaped around the issue of obedient practice at the end of the Enlightenment period. (Location 373)

The Book That Breaths New Life by Walter Brueggemann

“Is it true?” the world asks. Is the word of God true? The greatest proof for truth is not found in doctrine or reason but through the obedience of a group of people who claim to have been and continue to be changed by following what is contained in Scripture.

#3

And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord is There. 

Ezekiel 48:35b

I have been in Ezekiel this week for devotional reading. The above is the last words written in Ezekiel. Ezekiel is prophesying from exile to a people awaiting release from captivity, God’s glory to return to the Temple and for the nation to be re-established. And the final words of hope are The Lord is There. God with us, Immanuel, changes everything. I great reminder for me this week.