A Little Help from My Friends

I remember watching The Wonder Years growing up.   I honestly don't know why I liked the show so much. I was too young to really get what was going on episode to episode.  All I really remember is that Kevin crushed hard for Winnie.  And I remember the theme song and its famous chorus "I get by with a little help from my friends."  I pretty much know that whole song by heart because of The Wonder Years.

Feature Friday: Rolling in the Deep

I really don't think I need to tell you who this is.  Adele has seemingly come out of nowhere and grabbed the spotlight.  I hear her on the radio, covered on America's Got Talent, and featured on commercials.  There is no doubt that she has an incredible voice and loads of talent to sing the way she does.  Her song "Rolling in the Deep" seems to imprint itself deeply on practically anyone who hears it.  The passion and soul you can hear as she sings it have captured all of our attention.

Have you stopped to pay attention to the lyrics?  For the sake of copyright, I won't repost them here.

She is singing from a broken heart.  The fire that's burning in her heart is one of anger at the man who hurt her so deeply.  Examine the lyrics and you'll see that she carries scars from this relationship.  She got played.  She wishes she had never even met this Romeo.  In fact, she is at the point where she hopes he gets what he deserves and she even threatens him a bit herself!

Get Both Sides of the Story First

Passage: Proverbs 18:17 "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him."

As a pastor, I've had to work out my fair share of disputes and disagreements between people.  I've heard the usual stories.   "Pastor Mark, Sally said BLANK to me."  "Jimmy just hit Bobby and Bobby wasn't doing anything wrong Pastor Mark"  Some have been more serious than that, but whatever the case, the funniest thing happens.  If I'm not careful, whoever talks to me first gets me on their side from the start.  Its funny what hearing only half of the story can convince you of.

My favorite example of this comes from Pastor Mark Driscoll.

Do you lack sense?

Passage: Proverbs 11:12-13  "Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.  Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered."

I caught myself putting someone down behind their back the other day.  It wasn't anything too awful, I didn't reveal anyone's darkest secret.  But I spoke poorly of them and it was entirely unnecessary.  I wasn't talking to that person's mentor or pastor in an effort to lovingly help them.  I was talking to a mutual friend and this acid came out of my mouth.