One more note on the TED Talk from yesterday about Nancy Frates’ story about the ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge. A few weeks ago I defined leadership as using the gifts God has given you to bring out the gifts of others in order to accomplish great things in and for the world God loves so much. And I stand by that. 🙂 But as I listened to Nancy Frates, I was also struck by the determination of her son to seize the opportunity in his ALS to make a difference. We don’t often think of tragedy as presenting opportunity of course, but Pete Frates did. In fact, he refused not to see an opportunity. And I think that’s part of being...

Yesterday was Giving Tuesday. Lots and lots of us made gifts to various charitable organization – relief agencies, social ministries, colleges, seminaries, animal shelters, our congregations, and more. But did you ever wonder what inspires generosity? Or – and we probably talk about this less – have you ever wondered what inspires the people who ask you to be generous? That’s an interesting question, because if you’ve never done that – asked someone to give of their time, energy, or money – you might not realize how challenging that can be. It can also be wonderful, and we’ll get to that, but it’s also challenging. Why?...