Barnabas File

Chaplain Pierce McIntyre offers helpful insights and prayers for dealing with every day life in his regular e-mails to friends and colleagues.   In a recent e-mail, he pointed out that there is an inherent contradiction in the term “holiday stress.”      A holiday is “a celebratory day, break, day of rest or vacation.”   Stress means “anxiety, impatience, and nervous tension.”   The two really don’t seem to go together, but we know that they exist in combination too often these days. We are now immersed in the “holiday season’ that is inaugurated with Thanksgiving, reaches its peak with Christmas, and then closes out with New Year’s Day.   This is a time of feasting, visiting, giving, reflection, and worship for most of us.   As McIntyre notes, however, it is often a time of stress as well. So how do we deal with the stress?   What are some things we can do to deal with the stress? First, we can set priorities.   What do...

When I worked for a state Baptist convention, one of my responsibilities was to do annual “performance reviews” with staff both in my office and in the field.   I quickly came to realize that many of our staff dreaded these annual discussions.   One told me that when these reviews first started (before my tenure) that he got physically ill prior to his annual performance review! After doing these evaluation sessions over two decades, I learned a lot about taking the fear out of performance reviews—both for myself and others.   For one thing, I tried to think of these as collaborative conversations in which I was an active participant.   As I talked with the staff member about his or her work, my role as a leader and supervisor was also under review.   I tried to keep in my mind this question:   “What does this person need from me to do a better job?” As I think back, I realize that in many ways I was moving toward a coaching approach in thes...

If I asked you to give me a word that describes your impression of the Apostle Paul, I doubt that “flexibility” would be one of those words.   We generally tend to see Paul as a driven, committed follower of Christ who overcame all obstacles to proclaim the Gospel.   Dedicated, yes. Willing to adapt his message to reach others, yes.   We might consider, however, this memorable passage that Paul writes to the church at Corinth: “ Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.   To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all peo...

As I work through the Book of Acts for Sunday morning Bible study, I am becoming more aware of the similarities between the pre-modern world of the first century and the post-modern world of the 21 st century.   For example, we have assumed certain things about the Philippian jailer that may not be justified.   You know the story.   Paul and Silas have been thrown into prison because of an act of generosity.   This is what happened next:    About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.   Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.  But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”  ...