It is 2 am, and time to wake up. A late get up for the rest of our journey to the Holy Land where the time is 7 hours ahead, but we figure it will help with jet lag. My wife and I are not experienced international travelers. The longest plane ride she has ever […]
The Secret to Stopping Lust: Don’t Do It!
Don’t think of a pink elephant! I bet I can guess what you are thinking about. In the movie Inception, a character addressed the easiest way to plant an idea in a person’s mind…tell them not to think about it. Don’t look down! Who hasn’t been up high and heard someone shout this never followed […]
Pilgrim’s Regress
Today I, Richard Demsick, am going on a pilgrimage with my wife. No, we aren’t going to wear funny hats and have dinner with native Americans. Well we might be wearing funny hats, but they will be Kippahs because we are going to Israel. That’s right, a fool is traveling to the Holy Land, where […]
Why Your Church is Run Poorly
The First Administrator If there is anything I have been criticized for in my approach to church it is administration. After being told enough times that you are bad at administration you start to believe it. You don’t question the understanding of administration, and what makes a good administrator, when the world seems to hold […]
1984: What Do You Know?
1984: Do You Know Big Brother? Book Review In a future not far from today, a poster lines the city streets, cameras on every corner. The poster; the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features, and the words “Big Brother is Watching You”. I don’t know […]
Father to the Fools: The King of Resolutions
Happy New Year Welcome to 2014 a year of change, or at least we hope so. We all want change in our life in one category or another. We know that we are not the people we could or maybe even want to be. Which means now is the time for resolutions, primarily maybe; I […]
An Entitled Christmas
Entitled: to bestow on someone rank or title Today we don’t care much for titles. We wish to remove them in the name of equality. We still have, of course, some remnants from our former archaic system. Words like landlords hint to a time of lords and ladies. Now we don’t want any form or […]
Buying Debt for Christmas
Time to Buy It is Christmas time, which can mean only one thing…time for Christmas lists. They say it is the season for giving but it can often just seem like the season of buying. This year for the first time I went out thursday night for Black Friday shopping. Black Friday which is now […]
Ants on the Eiffel Tower
Who is first? I stood before 50 snot dripping energy drink addicted little monsters, teaching floor hockey to elementary kids. “I need a volunteer…” I declared. Before another word could form on my lips, hands shot up like they were competing for a winning lottery ticket. Pretty soon I had at least 58 hands to […]
Christ or Culture?
Christ or Culture? Which do you want to keep? I have been born completely comfortable with change. My whole generation is this way. As human beings we are designed to hate change, but change for my generation has always brought comfort, and entertainment. With each increment of new technological advancement our lives have gotten easier, […]