Barnabas File

The story may not be true, but I heard that the pastor of a large Baptist church met with his deacons and was told, “Pastor, you are always so busy.  We decided you need an associate pastor.” Far from seeing this as good news, the pastor replied, “Look, I’m busy enough as it is.  I don’t have time to play nursemaid to an associate.”  (I have actually cleaned that up a bit.) There is some truth to the pastor’s reaction.  Bringing new leaders up to speed takes time.  On the other hand, the time invested in another person is usually worth it.  Here are some reasons to invest yourself in others. First, it is biblical.  We see numerous examples of experienced leaders spending time in developing others--Eli and Samuel, Elijah and Elisha, Barnabas and Paul, Priscilla and Apollos, Jesus and the Twelve.  They shared their life experiences and helped others to discover and apply their gifts. Second, it is practical. By bringing another pers...

In his book a bout billionaire business man Elon Musk, author Ashlee Vance often compares Musk to Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) from the Marvel Comics universe.   To me, he seems much more like Delos D. Harriman, the protagonist of Robert Heinlein’s The Man Who Sold the Moon (1949).   Like Harriman, Musk is driven to take humanity into space and establish a permanent colony--not on the moon but on Mars.   Growing up in South Africa, Musk was not only a computer nerd but a voracious reader of science fiction.  During a difficult childhood, this literature was formative for Musk, shaping his worldview and his values. More of a physicist than a business man, Musk is a polymath who learns things quickly and has a vivid imagination.  He has used these skills to launch not only internet businesses like PayPal, but industrial companies such as SpaceX, a rocket builder; Tesla, an electric automobile manufacturer; and SolarCity, th...

By the late 1930s, Americans were in love with the movies.   Motion pictures were part of weekly life, an opportunity to escape the humdrum of daily life but also to learn about the world (with a Hollywood twist, of course).   When World War Two began, Hollywood producers were a bit ambivalent about how to approach the war effort.   This was not true of five film directors--both established and emerging--who wanted in on the action and were willing to make the sacrifices to be involved. Directors   John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens were considered among the top directors in Hollywood prior to the war.  All offered their services to the military and found themselves involved in the war effort in various ways.  Each came back changed significantly. In the book Five Came Back, Mark Harris told their story.  I reviewed his book here about three years ago.  The book has been adapted into...