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CHANCE

Does fortune really smile on a select few people? What role does luck or chance play in our lives? The experience of a Wisconsin church suggests there are no such things as either luck or chance, but that God is involved in everything that happens.

In August 1992, a tornado swept through a small Wisconsin town destroying many buildings, including one of the town's churches. National newscasts highlighted the destruction, and focused on an unusual occurrence in the wrecked church building. Though the building was splintered by the storm, pictures showed the altar still standing barely visible through the rubble. Even more amazing, was despite the heavy wind and rain, the Bible was still on its stand.

The undamaged Bible was open to a passage in Psalm 77, reading, "The clouds poured out water, the skies sent out a sound; your arrows also flashed about. The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind; the lightening lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook."

Was it happenstance or luck that the altar was spared and the Bible left open to such a passage through such an ordeal? The example from this church reminds us that God is involved in every detail of our world.

—http://www.creationmoments.com, Not a Chance!, August 3, 2005. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Proverbs 16:1 (NRSV) "The plans of the mind belong to mortals, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

CHANGE

Along with "knock, knock" jokes, light bulb jokes have to be among the most common told. For instance,

How many Calvinists does it take to change a light bulb? None. God has predestined when the light will be on. Besides, Calvinists don't change light bulbs. They simply read the instructions and pray the light bulb will be one that has been chosen to be changed.

How many TV evangelists does it take to change a light bulb?

One. But for the message of light to continue, send in your donation today.

How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?

Change?

How many members of an established 20-year old church does it take to change a light bulb?

One to actually change the bulb, and nine to say how much they really liked the old one better.

I have a variation on that question:

How long does it take to move a 9.7 million pound Lighthouse?

17 years of study and 23 days of moving.

Because of erosion, the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was in peril of washing into the Atlantic Ocean. Congress appropriated $12 million for the National Park service to move it 2900 feet to safety.

With a combination of care, expertise, patience and raw power, The Expert House Movers of Sharptown, Maryland moved the 208 foot tall structure to its current home. The option of moving the lighthouse was first proposed in April of 1982, but the light wasn't lit at its new location until November 13, 1999. Small things can be moved quickly, but big things take time. Most people tend to overestimate what they can do in a week and underestimate what they can do in a lifetime.

—http://www.nps.gov/caha/lrp.htm & The Smithsonian, January, 2000, p 48-59 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Change, even change for the better, can be difficult to accept. Some in the deaf community are slow to accept the introduction of cochlear implants—a devise that helps many deaf children hear. This devise, according to Jack Wheeler, the CEO of the Deafness research foundation, "could conquer newborn deafness in America."

At first glance, this news is great news, but not to some of the leaders in the deaf community who call the use of the implant "cultural genocide" and even "child abuse." Why is their response so harsh? Curing newborn deafness threatens the deaf culture—a mixture of history, art, and language. Some in the deaf community believe deafness is a gift, not a problem.

There will always be resistance to change—even change that is for the better. Change agents must have the courage to withstand criticism to pursue their dreams.

—USA Today, May 2, 2000, 1D, 2D Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

How fast is your world changing? Personally, I’m having difficulty coping with the breakneck speed of life. It seems like everything around me is changing. Sometimes I feel like Margaret Freese must have felt when the receptionist at the doctor’s office was updating her chart and asked her, “Has your birth date changed?”

—Reader’s Digest, March 2003, p. 130 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

While everything around us is changing, isn’t it wonderful to know that some things never change?

Hebrews 13:8 NASB “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.”

In Leonard Sweet's ebook The Dawn Mistaken for the Dusk he explores the need for the swiftness of change. He wrote, "Natives (of the postmodern world) can count on one thing in the future: How you did things in the past will not be how you do things in the future. 'My-secret-of-success' books are now how-not-to books. Learning is the key activity of postmodern culture. Without a learning culture, there can be no success in this new world."

—The Dawn Mistaken for the Dusk, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Mark Tabb

In the 1800's the Shaker's had colonies all over New England, but today, only one colony—the New Gloucester, Maine colony—is still active, and it has only eight Shakers keeping the "old way." At one time, the Shakers were on the cutting edge of progress and technology and were consumers of new and useful products, in fact, they were inventors. Today, they are best known for their craftsmanship and the quality of the style of furniture that bears their name.

But at some point, they stopped progressing, developing and changing. And some day soon, they will only be a memory.

—Smithsonian, April 2001, p. 100 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Understanding the times, and living today instead of memorializing yesterday is the best way to insure a secure future.

1 Chron. 12:32 NIV "men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;"

In the October 2000 edition of Fast company, Seth Godin tells the following story:

"After my first year at Stanford Business School, I went to see Jim Levy, then-president of Activision, Inc., which, at the time, was arguably one of the fastest-growing companies in the history of the world. Activision made games for the Atari 2600 game system and was rolling in dough. I wanted to work for Levy for the summer.

My bold proposal: "Hey, you've got all this cash and all these smart marketers and programmers. Why not go into the computer game business? You can dominate the PC the way you dominate the Atari 2600.

Looking back 25 years (yikes, that's a long time ago), that wasn't such a bold proposal. After all, the PC market was only an inch or two away from the market that Activision was already in. But Levy disagreed with my proposition and almost had me removed from his office by force. He told me, "We're in the cartridge business-and those machines use floppy disks. Forget it."

—Go the Distance, p. 57 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

For more information on Go the Distance, visit

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805421505/fm082-20

In the mid 18^th century, wealthy Massachusetts colonists built an elegant house to reflect their status in the new world. Over the next two hundred years, the same house sheltered all kinds of Americans, including revolutionaries who took up arms against the British, a family of abolitionists, a mill worker and her Irish mother, and finally, a family of frugal Yankees who fought World War II on the home front.

Forty years ago, the neglected and sagging house was marked for demolition when the city of Ipswich needed a new parking lot. Residents of the area recognized the historic value of the old home, and fought to save it from the bulldozers. They feared that the destruction of the old house meant losing touch with the past. Today, the house is a permanent display at the National Museum of American History. Though visitors can not actually go inside the structure, they can look through windows and cut away walls to get a sense of what it was like to live in the house during various periods of American history.

Museum historian and one the curators of the show, Lonn Taylor says, “In my opinion, it’s the greatest artifact in the museum.” Shelly Nickles, one of the other curators adds, “It should inspire people to realize the connections between themselves and their home lives and something greater. It surprise visitors how much history can be found by traveling through time and the lives of people in one house.”

—Smithsonian, June 2002, pg. 31, Old House, New Home, Cocoa McCabe. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

The English language continues to adapt to our fast moving culture. The evidence is found in the latest edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. The first new edition of the classic dictionary appeared September 25, 2002, containing 3,500 new entries. The new entries include quotations from authors such as Tom Clancy, Nick Hornby, and J.K. Rowling. Politics is represented with the inclusion of words immortalizing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, such as “Blairism”, “Blairite”, and the ill-fated construction project, the “ Millennium Dome.”

Terms from Science fiction such as “Jedi,” “Klingon,’ and “warp drive” can be found in the dictionary now, along with slang words such as “get real,” “asylum seekers,” and “Spin control.” A spokeswoman for the shorter Oxford Dictionary, Claire Turner, says “Generally, a word has to be used five times in five different places over five years, although something like “text messaging” got in quicker because it became so widely used so quickly.”

Some words take longer to change. J.K. Rowling’s made-up word for people who are not wizards, “muggle” remains unchanged. The Oxford dictionary still lists the word as an early 20th century American slang term for a marijuana cigarette.

—Reuters, Jedi and Klingons Invade Dictionary, September 25, 2002, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

When everything else around us is changing at a break-neck speed, it is nice to know there is something that isn’t evolving or changing with the times.

Isaiah 40:8 NASB “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

There is pain in every change. There is the pain in creating the desired change, the sense of loss over what’s been changed and the new problems that the change creates. One trait of a change agent is their “risk resilience.” In his book Morph, Ron Martoia defines risk resilience as “the ability to look at risk and, without aversion to the pain of change, be able to say, ‘If this furthers the mission of the kingdom, then whatever it takes, we will do it.’”

—Morph, p. 161 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

For more information on Morph, go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764424505/fm082-20

CHANGE

In their book, "A is for Abductive", Sweet & McClaren write, "...the act of habitually resisting change inevitably turns us into a slow, stodgy, stagnant, entropic (and thus suicidal) organization. The question is never whether we should change, but rather which of the available change options will lead to a desirable future."

Psalms 46:2 (NASB77) "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;" 

—"A is for Abductive", p. 46. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

In their book, "A is for Abductive", Sweet & McClaren write, "If you resist change you will change. Your act of resistance to change will change you—into an increasingly resistant person, a tenser person, an angrier or sadder or more combative person. The change you were resisting may have been bad. But the change in you may be worse."

Psalms 46:2 (NASB77) "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;" 

—"A is for Abductive", p. 175. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

New research drawn from a database of over 300,000 churches across America indicates the overall population is growing faster than the church. Dave Olson, director of the American Church Research Project has been working to record attendance at churches across the country. His research indicates that overall church attendance has not changed in 15 years, while the population of America has grown by 52 million people. Research also indicates the church is growing fastest among higher income, college educated suburban people groups, and declining in the least educated and poverty stricken segments of society.

Olson told a group of church leaders at a recent conference, "We live in a world today that is post-Christian, post modern, and multi-ethnic, whether we realize it or not." He said the church must change in order to meet the challenge of the "new world." He said, "The Christian community needs a restoration of its understanding of the message and mission of Jesus. It needs to be less self-righteous, individualistic, and materialistic. It needs to be more biblical, Christo-centric, and holistic."

—http://www.christianpost.com/article/20061017/25303.htm. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Revelation 2:3-5 (MSG) "I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out. [4] 'But you walked away from your first love—why? What's going on with you, anyway? [5] Do you have any idea how far you've fallen? A Lucifer fall! Turn back! Recover your dear early love. No time to waste, for I'm well on my way to removing your light from the golden circle.'"

A Pittsburgh area robbery suspect was arrested when he had a change of heart and tried to return the money he had just stolen. 39 year-old Andre Ellis handed a bank teller a note saying, "Put the money on the counter. Sorry I did this. God forgive me. I need help." After the teller handed Ellis $1,100, the robber left the bank and walked to a nearby Laundromat. While watching the police swarm the neighborhood, Ellis mulled over his predicament and apparently decided to return the money he had just stolen. Police Sergeant Rick Bufalini said, "He had a change of heart. He saw all the police cars going around and got scared and knew that he did wrong. He decided to go back and give the money back."

Ellis put the money in his jacket pocket and went to the bank, but found the doors locked. He tried to get the attention of someone inside, but couldn't. Finally, a police officer noticed Ellis and matched him to the description of the robber. Ellis was arrested without a struggle and charged with robbery, theft, and receiving stolen property.

After Ellis' arrest, Bufalini said, "He told us he knew he did wrong and he wanted to make it right." Bufalini said he had never heard of a robber returning his booty before this incident. He added, "Too bad all the bank robbers aren't like this."

—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bank Robbery suspect in Ambridge nabbed while trying to return wad of cash, November 9, 2005. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Ephesians 4:28 (TLB) "If anyone is stealing he must stop it and begin using those hands of his for honest work so he can give to others in need."

When American Architect Richard Meier was asked to design a church near Rome to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of Christianity, he devised a white concrete structure with three large sail-like structures. Since the building was so immense, the main technical sponsor looked for a coating that would minimize maintenance. In the process, they came up with a material that essentially cleans itself, and gives this church the opportunity to change the world. Not only does the building keep itself clean, it also "eats" surrounding smog.

Extensive testing has since determined that construction products containing titanium dioxide help destroy pollutants in car exhaust and heating emissions. Now several companies are developing smog-eating products that can be incorporated in the facades of buildings, and could be used in paint, plaster, and paving materials. The new substances using sunlight to set off a chemical reaction accelerating natural oxidation are being tested in Europe and Japan. Though the process has been understood for about 20 years, no one had developed a practical application until now.

Using the compound known as TX Active, Meier's design outside of Rome has remained remarkably bright for the last three years. Regarding the new coating, Meier said, "It's hard to say if it's revolutionary, but we're happy with the results."

—http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world.europe/28smog.html. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Luke 13:20-21 (GW) "He asked again, 'What can I compare the kingdom of God to? [21] It's like yeast that a woman mixed into a large amount of flour until the yeast worked its way through all the dough.'"

In "The Servant Leader: Transforming Your Heart, Head, Hands & Habits", Blanchard and Hodges write, "Change is a given. It will happen. Your organization will adapt or die."

—"The Servant Leader", p. 65. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Jeremiah 29:14 (NAB) "you will find me with you, says the Lord, and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you, says the Lord, and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you."

CHANGE/TRADITION

A couple of hunters hired an Alaskan bush pilot to drop them in a remote location, then return in seven days to pick them up. At the appointed time, the pilot arrived and loaded the hunters and their gear in the plane. "Wait a minute," said the first hunter. "What about our moose?" "Sorry," said the pilot. "We're at maximum weight already."

"But our pilot last year loaded our moose, and he had the same size plane as this one."

"Really?" asked the pilot, not wanting to be outdone. "Well, I guess we could give it a try."

With that he strapped a moose carcass on each pontoon. They sputtered to the end of the lake to get the longest possible takeoff. He shoved the throttle forward; they began to move, and finally, they lifted off the lake, just skimming the trees. But the pilot was right. They were seriously overloaded, and crashed just minutes into the flight.

Both hunters were knocked unconscious, but came to at about the same time. The first hunter looked around at the mess, moose meat and plane parts everywhere.

"Where are we?" he asked his partner.

"About 50 yards from where we crashed last year."

Doing things the way we've always done them insures that we'll continue to get what we've always got.

Bayer Corp. quietly stopped putting the cotton wads in their Genuine Bayer Aspirin bottles earlier this year. The company realized the aspirin would hold up fine without the maddening white clumps, which it had included since about 1914 or 1915. "We concluded there really wasn't any reason to keep the cotton except tradition." Said Chris Allen, Bayer's vice president of technical operations. "Besides, it's hard to get out."

Perhaps we should examine some of our own long-standing traditions and see if they create more hardship than help.

—The Tennessean (9/12/99) Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Ed Rowell

It is hard to know what to do when the world keep changing. Does anybody know what the rules are anymore?

Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus liken our world to Chinese Baseball, when they write, “Chinese baseball is played exactly the same way as American baseball with one major exception, and that is this: the minute the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, the fielders can do anything they want. They can actually man the bases and put them all together. They can separate second and third base by another 30 yards if they like. All the fielders for a weak hitter can edge toward the infield, for a power hitter the entire team can play close to the fences; for a slower runner, first base can be extended to the outfield. It’s crazy—seemingly. And that’s the way things appear right now, with little reason to expect simpler times in the future.” --Jim L. Wilson & Steve Irvin

--Bennis, Warren and Burt Nanus. Leaders : The Strategies for Taking Charge. New York: Harper and Row, 1985 p. 10.

Hebrews 13:8 (NASB77) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever. 
 

CHANGE

In his book, Leading Major Change in your Ministry, Jeff Iorg writes, “Leadership is about change. It is about shifting paradigms, creating new approaches, and doing things that have never been done-at least not in the current setting.” —Jim L. Wilson

Leading Major Change in your Ministry p. 13

For more information on Leading Major Change, go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1462774601/fm082-20

Psalm 46:2 (CSB)

Therefore we will not be afraid,

though the earth trembles

and the mountains topple

into the depths of the seas,

CHANGE

Biologists and caretakers still living within the borders of Yosemite National Park said the pandemic quarantine has changed the ways wildlife behave. Ranger Katie, a biologist who has worked with bears for more than ten years, said the animals normally have to pick through little corridors to cross the valley, but now they can go anywhere they want, and many use the roads to get where they need to go.  Reports form the part suggest the bear population has quadrupled and more bobcats and coyotes have been seen near cabins. The ranger said bears are intuitive about the presence of humans and that could be a problem when the park reopens.  She said, “It’s going to take a bit of a learning curve.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yosemite-national-park-bears-widlife-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-19/

Isaiah 43:19 (CSB)

Look, I am about to do something new;

even now it is coming. Do you not see it?

Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert.

 CHANGE

A very strange phenomenon is taking place on the streets of Llandudno, Wales, in the UK. The absence of people, due to the Corona Virus lockdown, has resulted in wild mountain goats taking over the town. “The goats, which normally live on a vast headland near the sea called the Great Orme, have taken advantage of the lack of people and cars to roam into the seaside town. They have been pictured strolling the empty streets, clambering up stone walls and feasting on the leaves of residents’ neatly trimmed trees and bushes.” Andrew Stuart, a video producer for the Manchester Evening News, has been chronicling the escapades of these furry visitors in photos and videos. He reports that the goats are still wary of people, but are taking more and more chances going deeper into the town, and eating whatever they can.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/wales-coronavirus-mountain-goats-lockdown

When the prophet Isaiah spoke of the Day of the Lord, and the devastation that would accompany it, the resultant absence of people would lead to the inhabitation of the land and cities with wild animals. In particular, in Isaiah 13:21, referring to Babylon, that “there wild goats will dance.” We are seeing with our own eyes what will happen during the end times, as men become scarce, and wild animals fill the void. ! —Jim L. Wilson and Derick Wilson.

Isaiah 13:21 (CSB)

But desert creatures will lie down there,

and owls will fill the houses.

Ostriches will dwell there,

and wild goats will leap about.