Understand Influence
Here is the first of a series we’re calling “Stories of Influence.” While not an example of “spiritual influence,”Albert Einstein’s work helps us understand the concept.
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Bonhoeffer – The Power of Truth
Dietrich Bonhoeffer showed remarkable faith and courage in standing against the power of Hitler’s Third Reich. This short video in the series “Stories of Influence” is part of “The Influence Project” (coming soon).
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Starting the New Year Right
[This post is in a weekly devotional series called Everything New.] In many doorways of the Roman Empire there was a depiction of a god with two faces pointing in opposite directions. Janus was the god of transitions. He looked ahead and he looked behind–to the past and the future. He was a kind of
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Bible Reading Plan
I’m going to do the Bible in 90 Days reading plan starting in January. These accelerated reading plans can work out well. You read 12 pages a day. Here is a PDF of the schedule in case you’re interested. And, if you like audio, you can get the Bible in 90 Days audio program in
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A God-Filled Life
Sign up today for my weekly article “The Brook Letter,” and you can download a free E-booklet called “Living a God-Filled Life.” Excerpt: When I’m honest I admit that there are so many other competing desires, so many other internal voices, that this longing is easily compromised by my own self-centeredness and by the clamor
The Attributes of God: He is Righteous
[This post is in a weekly devotional series called Everything New. Sign up here if you’re interested.] God is right in everything he is and does. His goodness, in other words, is the shape of the way he relates to others. There is nothing God has ever done that is not right and nothing he will
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Thanksgiving: Let it Sink In
Sarah Hale, a magazine editor, petitioned for a national day of thanksgiving for fifteen years. In 1863 she got her wish in the Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863 made by President Abraham Lincoln. Here is the remarkable text, worth three minutes of our time to read, and a day to digest…
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God’s Attributes: He is Holy
[This post is in a weekly devotional series called Everything New. Sign up here if you’re interested.] Having looked at attributes of God’s greatness in recent weeks (see archive), we now turn to attributes of God’s goodness. First, his holiness. “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory.” Those
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Christmas Joy
I really enjoy talking to people in the weeks leading up to Christmas about things like joy, peace, Immanuel, shepherd, Magi, Mary, star, flesh, virgin, counselor, and many other meanings of the coming of Christ. We’re releasing the 25-day devotional for the days of December called Christmas Joy in two forms: 1. Get daily readings
The Power of Great Ideas
[This article is part of the “spiritual leadership today” study/discussion going on this year. For all articles in the series, click the Spiritual Influence tab at the top of the page. To have them delivered, subscribe to The Brook Letter] “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of
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God’s Attributes: He is Changeless
[This post is in a weekly devotional series called Everything New. Sign up here if you’re interested.] Imagine our confusion if we thought that God is glorious (sometimes) or is Spirit (once in a while) or knows us (at least 75% of us, plus or minus 5%). No, whatever God is, he is consistently. God “does
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Why Integrity is Difficult Today
[This article is part of the “spiritual leadership today” study/discussion going on this year. For all articles in the series, click the Spiritual Influence tab at the top of the page. To have them delivered, subscribe to The Brook Letter] The core issues of integrity remain the same across the ages and across cultures. The coherence
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God’s Attributes: He Knows
[This post is in a weekly devotional series called Everything New. Sign up here if you’re interested.] Because God is personal, he is a knowing being. His mind perceives truth and defines truth. He embraces us with a knowledge that is not just stored information in a Super-Divine File, but is an extension of love. His
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Why Influence Matters
[This article is part of the “spiritual leadership today” study/discussion going on this year. For all articles in the series, click the Spiritual Influence tab at the top of the page. To have them delivered, subscribe to The Brook Letter] What is exciting about the possibilities of spiritual influence is that it is about the issues
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Bigger World, Bigger Hearts
It has been exciting to get to know our sixteen guests from fifteen different foreign countries for this year’s International Center session at Elmbrook Church. They are leaders from Romania, India, Lebanon, Myanmar, Viet Nam, Malawi, England, Nicaragua, Argentina, Ecuador, Nigeria, Kenya, Liberia, the Philippines and Nepal. Wow! They are great people, with compelling stories
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