Thursday, November 29, 2001, the world mourned the death of former Beatle and musician George Harrison. Radio stations replayed interviews with Harrison. There was a moment of meditation to commemorate his death, Tuesday, December 4th, as the former Beatle's ashes were spread over a holy spot in India…

George Harrison was a man who played a role in changing the world. The Beatles revolutionized music, the media, and hair cuts in the 1960s. The group's impact will be felt for years to come. Most people are familiar with songs by the Beatles, including several written by George Harrison. Though it wasn't a Beatles tune, My Sweet Lord, is another popular recording by George Harrison. The song does not praise the Heavenly Father; instead Harrison chants the mantra, "Krishna, Krishna."

Harrison was often called, "The Quiet One" during his days with the Beatles. Though soft spoken, he had an alarming impact. It was George Harrison who traveled to India in 1966 seeking spiritual truth. It was Harrison who introduced the Beatles to the teaching of the Maharishi Yogi in 1967. Speaking of George Harrison's death a spokesman for the New Delhi chapter of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness said, "It is a great loss to us. When he was leaving his body, our devotees were chanting songs of Krishna by his bedside. We give him all the credit for spreading our thoughts in Europe and the USA."

George Harrison led many people into the practices of eastern mysticism and Hinduism. Though quiet, this man changed our world, and lead many away from the One True God. Every person has the potential to influence the lives of others. Let's take this responsibility seriously. The Apostle Paul described the believer's responsibility this way, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone and the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 NIV

—Associated Press, December 4, 2001, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

The earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia accomplished some things humans could not do. The disaster prompted the government and armed separatists who had been battling in the area to sign a peace agreement. The relief and rebuilding efforts also allowed many evangelical Christians into the area to help with physical and spiritual needs. Both actions will have a lasting impact on residents of the Aceh area.

Even though restrictions are now in place preventing many westerners from entering the area, Strategic World Impact, or SWI worked with local believers to build a Dream Center in the area. The project began shortly after the tsunami relief effort started. Today it is completely paid for and is now operational. Spokesman for SWI, Kevin Turner says, "We have a counseling center. There is computer training, a reading room, and this Dream Center was actually their idea. It was their 'dream', if you will."

Local believers are providing services for an important goal. Turners says, "Local Christians on the ground said, 'Look we're not interested in the 'social gospel', we're not interested in just providing them with physical things, those will perish and the people will perish, they must hear the Gospel." Turner says SWI got involved for a very good reason. He adds, "This was a way to continue to reach out and meet the needs of the Acehnese after the relief phase was done, and after the restrictions, which we knew would come, allowing outsiders into the region." Turner says the strategy empowers the local body of Christ to continue to meet needs and to have a platform to preach the good news about Jesus.

—www.mnnonline.org, "Dream Center" is open in Indonesia, helping tsunami victims physically and spiritually, August 29, 2005. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Psalms 46:8-10 (TEV) "Come and see what the Lord has done. See what amazing things he has done on earth. [9] He stops wars all over the world; he breaks bows, destroys spears, and sets shields on fire. [10] 'Stop fighting,' he says, 'and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world.'"

The church is often criticized for being out of touch with the world around her, and new research released by Lifeway Christian Resources suggests the notion is true. Research released in the November/December edition of Facts and Trends magazine looked at how informed ministers and laypeople see themselves in regard to 12 aspects of modern culture. The results found that neither church attenders nor church leadership were very informed about culture in most areas.

The study found that while most ministers are informed about politics and sports, they feel significantly less informed than other churchgoers in regards to the Internet, television programs, and books. They are even less informed about music, clothing and fashion, video and computer games, and the latest celebrity gossip. Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, which conducted the research says the survey raises the question of whether churches are having an impact on how people interact with culture. Sellers says, "One might logically expect church involvement to change how a person looks at culture—either becoming more involved in order to have more effective outreach or becoming less involved as they seek to lead a less worldly lifestyle." Instead, Sellers says the data suggests there is no difference in cultural awareness based on how often people attend church, how long they've been there or whether or not they're in a leadership position. Sellers adds, "This raises the question of how much churches actually impact how people live their daily lives."

—http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=24385. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

1 Chronicles 12:32 GW "From Issachar's descendants there were 200 leaders who understood the times and knew what Israel should do. Their relatives were under their command."

Several celebrities have received criticism for expressing their opinion over the possibility of war with Iraq. Musician Sheryl Crow was ridiculed because she wore a t-shirt that said, “War is not the answer” on a TV awards show. Sean Penn was scolded for visiting Baghdad, and Martin Sheen has received negative publicity for exploiting his TV role as a fictional U.S. president in an anti-war commercial.

These artists are part of a new organization known as “Artist United to Win Without War.” The group has signed 130 supporters including some big names from Hollywood, such as Kim Basinger, Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon, and Kirsten Dunst.

Actress and comedian Janeane Garofolo, also a member of the group, says the word, celebrity, “makes my skin crawl.” She adds, “Regrettably, the majority does not hold the opinions of actors in high esteem. I don’t know why it persists. I don’t see any reason why there should be a salary cap of $30,000 a year before you wade in on a political issue.”

The founder of Artists United to Win Without War, Robert Greenwald uses actor Martin Sheen who plays the President of the United States on the television series, “West Wing” as an example. Greenwald says Sheen has “had a life-long commitment to these issues. The fact that he is on a hit show now, only means he gets more attention. He has not changed one iota.”

Time magazine’s movie reviewer Richard Schickel says, “On the one hand, celebrities don’t know any more about political and social life than the rest of us.” He adds, “I’ve never seen any reason why they shouldn’t speak out. They are human beings, they are voters, they have feelings. These people pull their pants on one leg at a time as we all do, so their opinions on this matter is no more consequential than my opinion or yours.”

—Reuters, Should celebrities speak out over Iraq?, by Jill Serjeant. February 21, 2003. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

In America, people are encouraged to speak their mind, even when it doesn’t agree with those who hold power in Washington. To me, the question isn’t should these people speak their mind? Rather it is, shouldn’t we also speak ours? More importantly than speaking out on the issue of war, we should boldly speak our minds about issues of eternity.

2 Timothy 4:1-2 NASB “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom; preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Are believers having a positive impact on the world? A new study from the Barna Group found most Americans can name three types of positive impact, but more people readily identify a negative impact. In response to an open-ended question, which allowed respondents to provide an answer off the top of their heads, many people identified the impact of American Christianity as helping poor and underprivileged people. Other common responses included evangelism related contributions, and shaping or protecting the values of the nation. A small percentage of respondents mentioned contributions to marriage and stopping abortions.

The real surprise was that nearly one fourth of the people who responded could not think of a single positive contribution in recent years. One in ten respondents listed negative contributions for the Christian community ranging from gay marriage to vitriolic attitudes and political involvement. People who identified themselves as evangelicals were even critical, saying believers were not doing a good job of reflecting the values and lifestyle taught by Jesus. George Barna who conducted the study says the results may be due in part to the open-ended question. He plans to conduct more research to look into the matter.

--The Barna Group: Americans Say Serving the Needy is Christianity’s Biggest Contribution, http://www.barna.org/faith-spirituality/440-americans-describe-christianity-contributions; October 25, 2010.

The early church was accused of many things, but without a doubt, they had an impact on the world.

Acts 17:6 (CEV) But when they did not find them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the Lord's followers. They took them to the city authorities and shouted, "Paul and Silas have been upsetting things everywhere. Now they have come here,

A touchdown during an NFL playoff game turned out to be an earthshaking moment. When the Seattle Seahawks faced the New Orleans Saints in the a 2010 NFC wildcard game at Qwest Field in Seattle, running back Marshawn Lynch dodged multiple tackles and scored on a 67 yard run. Afterwards Lynch’s run was described as one of the hest in playoff history, because it lifted the underdog Seahawks to a 41-36 victory. The touchdown and the resulting reaction from the crowd also took things to a new level.

Qwest Filed has been recognized as one of the noisiest stadiums in the NFL, often leading to multiple false starts for visiting teams because they can’t hear the signals on the field. At 4:43PM Pacific Time, the exactly moment Lynch entered the end zone, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network recorded a small tremor from a monitoring system located across the street from Qwest Field. Though the seismic blip was only recorded at the one recording station, authorities estimated the energy, equivalent of a magnitude 1 to 2 earthquake, was created by the 66,000 plus fans shouting, cheering, and jumping as they celebrated or lamented the score. They said they had some idea of the impact the fans at Qwest field generated, but had never had such clear evidence before.

--Seahawks fans cause seismic shock, http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Seahawks-fans-cause-seismic-shock-in-playoff-win?urn=nfl-305600 ; January 10, 2011, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

As a sports fan, I agree it was an exciting moment, something to celebrate. But nothing like what Christ has done for us.

Acts 17:6 (HCSB) “When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, ‘These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,’”

One and half billion people around the world speak the English language. The Global Language Monitor keeps track of new words, as they become part of common usage. In a six-week period the Monitor has seen the rise of a new word based on the actions of Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow. As the football team won several dramatic last minute victories during the 2011 season, the word “Tebowing” began appearing around the world. The official definition of the word is he act of ‘taking a knee’ in prayerful reflection in the midst of an athletic activity.

GLM uses tracking technologies to provide an accurate real-time picture about any topic within the language. ESPN has begun to use the word, and the “Tebowing.com” website is devoted to people posing in the “tebowing position.” The New York Times carried an editorial on the topic, and a Chinese search engine has seen hundreds of citations for the new word. One of the more interesting definitions appears in the Urban Dictionary from France. That source defines “tebowing” as “To get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.”

--Tebowing Accepted into the English Language, http://www.languagemonitor.com/tag/tebowing-com; December 12, 2011, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Matthew 5:16 (CEV) “Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.”

The man who made a huge contribution to the modern world recently passed away, but very few people are aware of what he did. Eugene Polley went to work for the Zenith Corporation in 1935. During his 47 year career with the company’s engineering department, Polley worked on several projects. Most never had much of impact, but when he thought of the “Flash-Matic” in 1955, he had no idea where the device would go.

The Flash-Matic looked like a small flashlight and activated photo cells in the television set allowing the viewer to change channels and turn the sound and picture on or off from across the room. Polley had invented the television remote control. The device underwent several revisions over the following years, before Polley and fellow engineer Robert Adler received an Emmy award for their pioneering work with television remotes.

When the original device was introduced, no one could have imagined a day when almost every home entertainment device from TVs to Blu-rays players are sold with remotes that allow consumer to control the devices without leaving their chair. Polley’s simple invention changed the world of entertainment forever, but very few people know his name. --Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

--Inventor of the TV remote control dies at 96, http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2012/05/inventor-of-the-tv-remote-control-dies-at-96/1 ; May 22, 2012

Ephesians 2:10 GNB God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.