"Making a splash for the ripples..."
As a child I loved to throw rocks in water, just to watch the ripple effect. Eventually I mastered the art of skipping stones, creating ripples upon ripples.
In this blog I cover a blend of topics. Some are tough topics. Like overcoming abuse--emotional, physical, sexual or spiritual--and violence. Others are spiritually uplifting, devotional types. Still others are simply storytelling, practical advice on marriage, parenting, relationships and a variety of topics.
When I put the written word out there, it's like tossing a pebble in the lake. I have no idea how far the ripples will go. Sometimes it's like skipping stones, as I watch people share and pass it on, creating a series of ripples that my little pebble, dropped in front of me, could never create.
In all I say and share, my prayer is that the ripple that reaches you will be one of hope and encouragement. I don't mention Him explicitly in every post, but my goal is to make Jesus famous in my life and in my writing, so that you will be empowered to live a life of purpose and meaning.
A Splash of Love.... 
The tendency of conservative Mennonites to fix problems with another layer of the same material is evident here. No individuals in any Christian have the authority to mediate the without consent of the group or to regulate between sinners and God, nor should they migrate the arrogance to do so between criminals and jurisdiction having authority. The church I grew up had some of the most distorted tolerance for sin as long as there was nothing that messed up the consistency in pastel prescription hemlines with synthetic black stuff the rest of the way to the floor. God forbid a teenager dismantle the shut up and listen rational behind something like making sure I had an expensive fedora on my head at some point on the way to church (or face excommunication). The bishop famously declared he answers to no one to the backs of his entire congregation. We assume the experience gave him insight into just who he was accountable to:
Boards of Bishops, or Boards of Directors are accountable to those they serve. When they become the mediator outside of their authority they have made the leap into them serving the perpetuity of the institution instead of their original purpose.
I worked with the Nashville Rescue Mission to turn their focus back to the homeless practical needs rather than reputation and development. They did a great job and must place a quota of homeless into homes and keep them there with the generous millions given to their mission. I doubt I’ll ever get a Porsche driving sexual predator chaplain fired for stomping on a guy’s head for interrupting his sermon.
Some organizations need thrown out like my old church did. Most of them came back together with a new sign because they like each other and want to get to Heaven together.
Doing things that aren’t your job but make you the center of the debate is easy enough to fix. The Rescue Mission did it by demoting tenured directors to entry level jobs. Really humbling and showed who was a true servant.
I have kept my mouth shut about my opinion of the guys polishing each other’s badges here but I’m betting they’d fly on to the next ministry before they’d work second shift sorting homeless men’s laundry with little hope of advancement. Could be wrong but they have missed a couple of hints.