"Jesus loves the little children of the world."

As a child and teenager, we used to sing that chorus a lot: "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow black and white, all are precious in His sight..."

Last night Gloria and I saw the movie, Slum Dog Millionaire. Wow! I'm not surprised it's in the running for an Oscar this week. If you read a little about how it was produced before you watch, it will add layers of appreciation to the experience. It's a great story.

Knowing that the slums pictured were the real thing, not a movie "set," moved me deeply. It's so easy as I live in "Disney World" (the USA) to forget the plight of billions of people, especially children, around the world. I wanted to turn in my bucket of popcorn and give the money to someone who would help the children.

I don't want to lose the way I was touched nor the sense of urgency to know how best I should live in this "flat earth" where I have to work hard to not know about global suffering.

I must not be paralyzed by the struggle to balance the need to reach out with Jesus' compassion to allieviate suffering with the even greater need to address peoples' allienation from God.

"Lord, show me how to live in this broken world, and how to be an agent of your Kingdom as we wait for 'the restoration of all things.' Speed the day!"

LEADERSHIP

David recently blogged about leadership and it so resonated with me that I made a "comment" which I'll post on my blog today (to the amazement of those who thought I must have gone into a nursing home without internet connection).

I so agree. Having been caught up in the "leadership movement" myself and more damaged than helped by it, I concur. The familiar mantra, "Everything rises and falls on leadership," leaves something out -- GOD! "Leadership" is one of many spiritual gifts, never exalted above the others in Scripture. I have seen gifted people ruined by the "leadership" movement, and I almost fired a GEM once because I thought he didn't measure up to the "leadership" koolaide I had been drinking.

God uses leaders and leadership, but great leadership can be a detriment as well as a blessing.

Hitler was a great leader. Not everything that "rises with leadership" is a good thing. A "great church" can be built on leadership, but it might not be a godly church.