How do you handle a compliment?  Moreover, how do you pay someone a compliment?  John Stott reflects on how the Apostle Paul handled that:

What should our attitude be to Christians who are doing well in some aspect of their discipleship?  Some people resort to congratulations:  ‘Well done!  I think you’re marvellous.  I’m proud of you.’  Others are uncomfortable with this and see its incongruity.  It borders on flattery, promotes pride and robs God of his glory.  So, although they may thank God privately in their prayers, they say nothing to the person concerned.  They replace flattery with silence, which leaves him or her discouraged.  Is there a third way, which affirms people without spoiling them?  There is.  Paul exemplifies it in 2 Thessalonians 1.  He not only thanks God for the Thessalonians; he also tells them that he is doing so:  ‘we ought always to thank God for you … we boast about you’.  If we follow his example, we will avoid both congratulations (which corrupts) and silence (which discourages).  Instead, we can affirm and encourage people in the most Christian of all ways:  ‘I thank God for you, brother or sister.  I thank him for the gifts he has given you, for his grace in your life, for what I see in you of the love and gentleness of Christ’.  This way affirms without flattering, and encourages without puffing up. (From “The Message of Thessalonians” (The Bible Speaks Today series: Leicester: IVP, 1991), p. 145.)

Why not thank God for someone today.  Let me start.  I thank God for you – for who you are in the gospel and how you enrich my life by your presence and ministry.

Many times it’s difficult to find practical ways to be a blessing in your workplace. Rapid pace, mounting deadlines, or co-worker conflict can often derail even the best of intentions to say and show the love of Jesus at work.

Recently, Josh Reeves posted some very practical ideas for blessing others in the workplace.  

1. Instead of eating lunch alone, intentionally eat with other co-workers and learn their story.

Check out the latest update from Grace Hill Church. Make sure you look at the prayer update to see the latest with our building search. Some exciting stuff coming around the corner. http://eepurl.com/e5o5k

An Associated Press article that appeared in yesterday’s Springfield News Leader revealed that the wealth gaps between whites and minorities are at their widest levels in a quarter-century and possible even beyond.  The article cited a study that The Pew Research Center conducted, which revealed that the median wealth of white U.S. households in 2009 was $113,149, compared with $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks.  No that’s not a typo.  Those are the actual numbers.  That means whites have 20 times more wealth than blacks and 18 times more wealth than Hispanics.  Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who specializes in income inequality, stated that what’s pushing the wealth of whites “is the rebound in the stock market and corporate savings, while younger Hispanics and African-Americans who bought homes in the last decade – because that was the American dream – are seeing big declines.”  What does this all mean?  Roderick Harrison, who is a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau, believes this pushes us back to being “two societies, separate and unequal.”

Jeff Foxworthy made famous the statement, “You may be a redneck if…”, in his standup comedy routine. In reading through Tim Keller’s excellent book/study guide, Gospel In Life, I came across this table in which he highlights the various ways that we, as humans, are guilty of idolatry. It seems that Foxworthy’s statement could easily be adapted to fit the prevalent and pervasive nature of idolatry in our lives…something like, “You might be an idolater if…” As I read through the list, I remembering thinking, “Good grief, it seems like everything could fall under the category of idolatry.” That’s Keller’s point. The essence of sin is idolatry…trusting in something or someone in the place of God to give you significance and importance. Praise God for the grace that is greater than my sin, yes even my idolatry.