Allen's Blog

32nd in a series on how men and women in the Bible  deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment                                                                                                                    Hannah: A Righteous Woman in Sinful Times                                         1 Samuel 1-2:11   It seemed like a good idea at the time.   The place was right.   My wife was happy.   All seemed to be lining up.   Only in hindsight can I see my mistakes and the mistakes of the company that hired me.   In the final intervie...

31st in a series on how men and women in the Bible  deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment Jesus: True Bearing John 8:1-11 One of the most impressive characteristics of Jesus was his bearing.   He had the ability to remain composed and self-assured in the most difficult situations.   Up to this point   in John 8, Jesus had made some audacious claims.   There was no mystery here.   He said in language that his hearers could understand that he was the long-awaited Messiah.   But it was difficult for the people to comprehend because the Scriptures had been distorted by their teachers and their socio-political situation was so dire that they had formulated their own image of what a Messiah should look like. Those that have been unemployed know what it’s like to view the world with jaded eyes.   Rejection after rejection can cause one to have a fairly pessimistic point of view.   How did Jesus...

30th in a series on how men and women in the Bible   deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment Jesus: Fulfillment of the Contract Part 2 Observations of John 6:60-71 What happens when you start a job with visions of your importance and the opportunity to make a difference and then you discover that you are just another cog in a big machine.   I’ve had friends, after two weeks on a new job, come face to face with the reality that there is no perfect job.   Humans are often optimistic and frequently idealistic; and the realistic assessment of ourselves and others can be startling without a firm grasp of the nature of this world and the hope that’s held out to us. If we had been with Jesus while he was on this earth and paid attention to what he said, then we might have grasped the hope that only he could offer.   Up to this point in the Gospel of John chapter 6, Jesus had demonstrated his power over nature by walking o...

                       29th in a series on how men and women in the Bible deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment Jesus: Fulfillment of the Contract - Part 1   Reflections on John 6:25-59 How many times have updates come across your screen and you scrolled through the morass of fine print in order to get to the button at the bottom where you click: How trusting we are?   Many of us would say that we are skeptical of authority, distrusting of the political machine and wary of smooth-talking salesmen.   And yet, we will not take the time to read contracts which may involve personal privacy, invasion into personal finances or a threat to our cyber security.   What if the contract we signed either for our home or employment put the onus on the bank or employer?   What I mean is this…if the home did not meet to your satisfaction after 3 months, the...

28th in a series on how men and women in the Bible  deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment Jesus: Understanding the Mission  Observations of John 6:16-30 In Richmond, VA there is a building products business that has been around since the 1940’s.   The management attributes their success to having a vision that everyone in the company knows and puts into practice.   As a matter of fact, employees are often pulled aside and asked to recite the mission statement verbatim.   They do this so that the values of the company are integrated in every task and with every customer contact. Jesus also knew the purpose of his mission when he walked this earth.   He clearly spoke about the kingdom of God, faith, salvation, and the state of each human soul.   But he constantly had to correct misunderstandings that seemed to crop up all around him.   In the Gospel according to John, chapter 6, over 10,000 people had jus...

27th in a series of how men and women in the Bible deal with disappointment, waiting and unemployment.                                                 Jesus: Equal Pay for Equal Work                                                       Observations from John 4:1-42 On June 10, 1963 President John F. Kennedy’s Equal Pay Act was signed into law with the express purpose of ensuring that women got paid equally for equal work.   And yet today we continue to argue over what that means.   Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway are near the top in the world when it comes to gender equality in the working world.   This is demonstrated by equal pay and equal maternity leave.   In our presen...

26th in a series on how men and women in the Bible deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment           Jesus: Company Policy           Reflections on John 3:1-21 “Why is this sale item displayed like this,” asked the new sales associate, “I disagree with this merchandising practice.”   “Because this is what we were told by Corporate,” said the manager.   Is there a way to respectfully question company practices without being rude and impertinent?   And in the end what should the response of the newly hired sales associate be?   Compliance will guarantee future employment whereas ill-timed and rude questioning may result in termination or in the least, getting off on the wrong foot. In this Scripture passage Nicodemus questioned Jesus either as one who is genuinely curious or as one who presumed to think that he could corner Jesus on an obscure Jewish text.   But J...