11/17/2025
Power Without Conscience?
I ran out of room for this vignette in Sunday’s sermon. Remember the quote that could be the headline for Ahab and Naboth: “All that’s needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.” The following reinforces that truth.
At a leadership conference, the CEO of a mid-sized company shared a simple practice that changed their culture.
In every meeting, she kept one empty chair at the table. “That chair,” she said, “represents the person not in the room—the employee who doesn’t feel safe to speak up, the customer who will be affected by our decisions, the community our work impacts.”
One day a manager complained, “We can’t keep worrying about that empty chair—it slows everything down.”
She replied, “It’s supposed to slow us down. Power without conscience moves too fast.”
That’s what Ahab forgot. His power wasn’t for him—it was for others. Every one of us has an “empty chair” somewhere: someone affected by our choices, our silence, or our compassion. The story of Ahab reminds us: When God gives you a seat at the table, don’t forget who else is supposed to be there.
Should we keep an empty pew or an empty chair in worship? It could be a reminder of those who aren’t here yet. The lonely, the doubters, those who don’t have the ‘right kind of clothes,’ the grieving, the shamed, and the sinners who were just like us before we came to know the living Christ. Think about it. You know I am.
Archived Posts
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it.
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.