Category: Mark
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I See You
A few years ago, I was a part of the team of folks that helped to put together the racial reconciliation roundtables that took place at the Owatonna Middle School after the high school experienced an incident of racial conflict. The goal of these sessions was to open lines of communication, and to have healthy,…
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The Problem of the Heart
I recently read about an art museum that was having trouble keeping its guests from touching, and damaging, its priceless works of art. The paintings and sculptures that were on display were all becoming dirty and damaged. The museum put out signs that said, “Do not touch!” They strategically placed security guards throughout the displays…they had cameras…
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To Tell the Truth
In my younger days, I would take youth groups out on cross-country trips to build homes with Habitat for Humanity. On the night before we left, we would always gather with families for a short worship service. And at that worship, we would give every young person who was going a small cross, on a leather lanyard.…
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It is Time
On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy took the podium at Rice University to speak to a crowd of 40,000 people. It was a hard time: Our nation was struggling. Viet Nam was escalating. The Bay of Pigs incident had taken place the year prior. The cold war was heating up, and our nation,…
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With Just A Word
Words have power. They just do. Our words have the power to shape our world…to shape how we feel about someone…to shape a relationship. We have seen this in our lives. We have seen this in the world around us. We have seen this in our famly…and our friends. A compliment can lift my spirits. …
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Way Off the Map
In his great book on adaptive leadership, “Canoeing the Mountains,” Tod Bolsinger tells the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In August of 1805, Captain Meriwether Lewis stood at the freshwater spring that was the source of the Missouri River. It had been a long and painful journey. He and his company had been…
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The Seven Last Words
The first word from the cross tonight is from Luke 23:34. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The first word from the cross was a prayer. And just as Jesus had taught his people to pray with the words, “Our Father,” he prays on this night: “my Father.” This was different…
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Keep Calm and Carry On
You have probably seen the posters, shirts and online memes that started popping up a few years ago that have a little crown symbol, and say “Keep Calm, and…“ then told you to do something. I did a quick search of the most popular of these. They include: Keep Calm and Dance Keep Calm and…
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Not The Way It Will Be For You
There are days when the world seems pretty upside-down and unexpected. Did Nancy Williams from Owatonna High School, (who is, by the way, one of my heroes) really talk about high school students who are homeless? Or who don’t have enough food to eat? In the past, when I’ve mentioned these issues that our schools…
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When Jesus Changed His Mind
In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte, made the decision to sell land to the United States. In what came to be known as “The Louisiana Purchase,” he sold 828,000 square miles of land, west of the Mississippi, to the US government for what came out to $.22 per acre. His advisors tried to talk him out of…