Ripple

02 Feb 2009 / Dave / talks

Big things start with small things. Oaks come from acorns. Skyscrapers start with those first golden shovels turning over dirt. Shaq was small at some point (allegedly). Even massive waves start as ripples. We get it.

Every major movement for good on this planet has started with someone saying, “why not”? No guarantees—just the shot at some amazing possibilities. Every movement of God has started the same way. Someone hears from God, sees an opportunity for great good—or finally gets bothered enough to do something about the evil that we are immersed in. They say, “okay” to God and away we go.

If all the church is is a group of people trying to follow and serve an awesome God—if that isn’t just something we sing and then forget about—then we should all have ripples around us. And when enough ripples come together, they stop being ripples. And they become a wave. And it’s time for [nlcf] to make some waves.

1 comment

  1. Jim / 20 Feb 09 at 10:52pm

    I think i got one of the best emails i have ever received the other day. it was from a very kind and as you will discover, very wise member of [nlcf] who lovingly set me straight. here… in his own words is… john doe scientist…

    Hey Jim,

    I’ve really learned a lot in this series on social justice, the topics have been interesting, and you and Matt have done a great job speaking.

    I have one thing that might be a help. There are a lot of engineers in the room… When you mentioned the putting the finger in the water and it making a bigger energy return than the energy input, I’m sure many of the engineers were thrown off a bit. I am only trying to act out of love for the unsaved in there, so please don’t think I’m trying to be a butt or anything, but that violates the law of conservation of energy. The law of COE states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant. When the finger is put into the glass and taken out, it only takes out a net displacement of water and in turn causes the formation of a transverse wave on the surface outward from the point of initial contact (and a longitudinal wave below the surface) due not only to force exerted on the fluid, in this case water, but also from the water filling the initial void as the finger is taken out. A transverse wave is somewhat like a sine wave from Trig class, longitudinal waves are like sound waves that are compressive waves. This wave propagates in all directions from the source and eventually decays to zero due to the viscous forces of the water which will not allow it to propagate forever. Were the wave to make more energy, the ripples would actually become larger and larger and lead to what’s called an “undamped” system, which is theoretically possible, but is not a physical reality.

    Once again, please don’t think I’m trying to toot my horn or anything, it doesn’t matter that much to me. … Stay strong, I’m praying for NLCF and hope you continue to be blessed.”

    Thank you again John Doe Scientist… I will speak with my engineering friend who verified the analogy post haste. Matt Rogers wanted it noted that he has never used the analogy in his talks in “Ripple”. Not because he saw it was wrong, but… “because the analogy just never made sense to me.” Duly noted Matt.

    Your equal parts incorrect and confusing pastor… :)

    Jim

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