Some of us remember when Maxwell House Coffee used “Good to the last drop” as their tag line on their cans of coffee.  I never drank coffee (and still don’t), and yet I remember this line.   It seems to me that another way to express it is to say “Good to the end.”  There are a lot of products that are good to the end . . . there are a lot of people that are the same way—good to the end.

  Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “Good to the last . . .”

   George Barna, in his book entitled Seven Faith Tribes, describes the crisis our country is in at the present time and why.  He points out that one of the problems we face today is the loss of civility.  We categorize and vilify those with whom we disagree.  We also tend to be a nation of leaders (in one of his surverys, six out of every ten Americans consider themselves leaders) . . . but not necessarily good followers.  George Barna says the following on pages 130 and 131 of his book:

Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “Being Good Followers”

Here is a great parable that I received several years ago.  I do not know who wrote it, but it expresses what happens to many churches who forget what their purpose is.  It should be a reminder to all of us regarding our calling.

   On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a little lifesaving station.  The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea.  With no thought for their safety they went out day and night, tirelessly rescuing the lost.  Many lives were saved, so the station became famous.

Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “The Lifesaving Station”

We United Methodists have a lot of things going for us—not the least of which is name recognition.  Garrison Keillor put the following humorous description together.

You will know you are Methodist when:

• It’s 100 degrees, with 90% humidity, and you still have coffee after the service.
• You hear something funny during the sermon and smile as loudly as you can.
• Donuts are a line item in the church budget just like coffee.
• When you watch a Star Wars movie and they say, “May the Force be with you,” and you respond, “and also with you.”
• And lastly, you’ll know you’ve been in the presence of Methodists if it takes ten minutes to say good-bye!

  Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “What We Believe . . .”

   I am aware of the generosity of so many people—people who step forward when disasters strike.  I am also aware of the dark side of humanity.  A new term has entered my vocabulary this morning:  “internet trolls.”  If you are not familiar with the term, it refers to persons who scan the internet looking for stories concerning death and pain in families’ lives.  The person then sends anonymous e-mails or posts nasty comments on socially interactive sites that are meant to cause the grieving loved ones more pain.  A social psychologist says that these “internet trolls” want to get a reaction from their victims.  Often these people have no connection to the person who has died whatsoever; in fact, they may be half way around the world.  The fact that they can do this using the internet means that they will.

  Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “The World is a Nasty Place”

   “¹For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . .” so begins the third chapter of Ecclesiastes.  We understand seasons—right now we are in the season of “March Madness.”  I am looking forward to Friday which is my day off because there will be “wall-to-wall” college basketball games.  I only worry that I, as a college basketball junkie, might get an overload.  It is so much fun picking a team to root for each game (most of whom I have either never heard of or simply know nothing about). 

  Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “It’s That Season . . .”

“¹In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. ³Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”                                                                                                 [Genesis 1:1-5]

  Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “Let There Be Light . . .”

    “He who laughs last, laughs best” is an old saying that many of us have heard.  Here’s what I found out about that proverb:

  Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “He Who Laughs . . .”

   The tabloids are full of “Tiger Woods” stories these days—of course, so are the mainstream newspapers and television news programs.  The jury is still out as to whether or not the public will accept his apology issued during his tightly controlled press conference.  The word that stuck out in my mind as I listened to excerpts of the broadcast was that of “entitled.”  Tiger Woods felt that his hard work and fame as a golfer had entitled him to all the pleasures that he desired.  The reason this word stood out for me in the broadcast is because people who would never think of cheating on their spouses, nor commit other major moral lapses, view themselves as “entitled.”

  Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “the Tiger Woods Syndrome”

The nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie” has some interesting lines in it.  They read like this:

Ring around the rosey,
A pocketful of posies.
ashes, ashes.
We all fall down.

Continue reading Dean’s Musings . . . “Ashes . . .”