Okay, let’s start an argument. What would you say are the two most important words in the Bible?
You’re wrong.
I know because my two words are (probably) different, and I know I’m right.
Yeah, yeah, I know, they’re all important. But the way I figure it, if the Lord took the time to repeat something over and over and over, He must be getting at something.
Now I have to admit, it took me about 40 years to realize this. Which is about how long it took Moses to figure some things out, too, but I digress. The reason I took so long is because I let my brain check out when it should have been sitting up and taking notice. [click to continue…]
Can’t believe it’s been a whole year, but I got to see Walter again yesterday. We took a little ride and shared a little fellowship. It was good to catch up.
Two years ago Walter was going through a severe depression. He had been through a series of deep losses, including his job and health benefits. That’s tough enough for anybody, but at Walter’s age new careers don’t just grow on trees. I really don’t know how old Walter is, but I’m 54 and he’s a good five-to-ten past that. I have to say, though, he makes it look good.
There is none of that suicidal darkness remaining that so gripped this man just a couple of years ago. And make no mistake about it – this was no bootstrap operation. Walter is joyfully explicit about Who gets the credit for raising him out of the pit. His life radiates with gratitude and joy, even when he’s all business.
Walter is especially excited because he and his wife are meeting their children and grandchildren in a few weeks. [click to continue…]
You may be wondering if anybody sees, anybody knows, anybody cares. I wanted you to know someone does. And I am praying for you.
Especially on this day, as you pour yourself out in love, I pray you experience a return – not just in the world of faith, but even in the realm of sight – that others would give back to you as you have so faithfully given to them.
As you laugh today, I pray that others laugh with you. As you sing, I pray that others sing along. As you labor, I pray that others work beside you. As you dance for joy, I pray that even there you delight in the company you keep. [click to continue…]
Hey. Come on in. Shut the door behind you.
Ha! No, you aren’t in trouble. I just wanted to show you something important, without a lot of distractions. You doing OK?
So, just curious… how’s your praise life?
Yeah, that’s probably what I would have said, too.
Yes, actually, that is what I wanted to talk about.
I wanted to share an experience that actually happened several years ago, but it totally changed how I approach my relationship with God – particularly praise and worship.
Well, yeah, praise and worship at church with the music and all that. But more importantly, praising God in my prayer time. You know that old hymn that says, “Tune my heart to sing Thy praise?” Yeah, well, the Lord showed me how to do that, and it was pretty life-changing. [click to continue…]
David was on the chopping block. His organization had just been hit by a hostile takeover attempt. To say his leadership was being called into question is putting it mildly. But even when people from within his own ranks were calling for his head, this exceptional leader emerged with a decisive plan and executed a remarkable comeback.
His first step: He had to quiet his own soul. Before he could silence his outer critics, he had to get his inner one to shut up.
Hannah was sitting in church one day, but the worship service was probably the last thing on her mind. She carried an ache that is only known by those women who have longed desperately to have a child and were unable to. It had reached a point way past sadness… Hannah was angry. And her inner rage had to be dealt with. So Hannah took decisive action.
Her first step: She had to quiet her own soul. Before she could make nice at the church house, she had to empty her heart of its poison. A year later, she had a son. [click to continue…]
O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever (Psalm 131).
Soul-check time: How “at rest” are you? The answer to that will make all the difference in your worship, and your work.
This psalm of ascent is the confession of a soul at rest – a “weaned soul.”
The first verse speaks of three things the psalmist has turned away from – a proud heart, haughty eyes, or a mind that tries to figure out the impossible. The common theme in each – I know my limits. And I know my place. I am free of selfish ambition and arrogance toward others.
Are you ready to start your ascent today? [click to continue…]
(Sort-of-random thoughts at the end of a very long day in a very crazy week… and I DO mean crazy)
Even though I know all the reasons it’s supposed to be a bad idea, a bowl of cereal at 11:30 at night is probably the closest thing we have today to manna.
It’s been so long since I’ve heard my mother or grandmothers’ voices, yet lately for some reason I’ve found myself hearing them in my heart at random times. In fact, so random and fleeting it hardly ever becomes a point a conversation. But is it odd to wonder if their love for me is still somehow living, even though they aren’t?
You never know how you may hear that still, small voice of God. But if an idea or a person keeps coming and going in your thoughts, pay attention. That may be a whisper from heaven for you to stand strong in prayer on their behalf, or maybe to sit still and listen to them.
I remember one of the things that swore I’d never do is be a teacher. Or go back to school after I finished my master’s. In the words of the GPS system in your car… “Recalculating!” Be careful what you vow you’ll never do. That’s why lately I’ve tended to swear off vowing. Well, except for that one thing… I vow I’ll never make a whole buncha money! Never, never I say!
We used to play this game with the kids at restaurants, especially at a cafeteria or buffet. [click to continue…]
Hi. I’m James Harvey. I’m 63 years old and live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio called Worthington. There’s no real reason you should know me, unless you take my car payments down at the bank or perhaps were at my recent early retirement party at the local university, where I worked for 23 years.
But what I’m about to share with you could change all that. It certainly changed my life. And I think it can change yours.
More on that in a minute. First, let me give you a little of my “before” picture. It was only a couple of years ago, yet it seems like a lifetime. And my life was a mess.
- I was struggling to make ends meet financially. I would forget to pay bills when I had some money, or remember to pay them when I didn’t have enough.
- I found myself more and more isolated from friends and family. I did my duty when it came to get-togethers or holidays. But there wasn’t much joy in it.
- I was restless and bored at work. There was a time I loved my job, but I reached a point where I was desperate for something new.
- I started having health problems. I’ve always been a pretty healthy guy, but I started getting repeated episodes of bronchitis. My energy level dropped to “turtle-level.” I just assumed it was the natural result of growing older. Boy, was I wrong.
- People started asking me if I was depressed. I didn’t seem like myself, they said. My answer was always the same: “I’m fine!” But in my heart I knew I wasn’t.
Can you relate to any of that? I was “that guy” – the one who felt like he was pushing a boulder up a mountain. Only it felt as though somebody was on the other side, pushing back.
That’s when I rediscovered an ancient secret. [click to continue…]
Second period was blue. Dark blue. That was the color of our gym shorts in seventh grade. Well, at least for those who sailed down the steps at Azalea Road Junior High to greet the red shorts brigade who was returning from Coach Crenshaw and Coach Perkins’ gym class.
Always anxious for coming attractions, we’d ask the boys from first period, “What are we doing?” Sometimes it was something awesome like battle ball or football. Sometimes it was something exotic like gymnastics. But one thing was sure to send a chill up my adolescent spine:
The Obstacle Course.
I should probably mention here that my athletic ability was legendary. In my own mind. But running headlong into a class of 60 or so peers left little doubt that my gateway to glory wasn’t through athletics.
And if there was any doubt – if there was any shred of athletic dignity left in me – the Obstacle Course loomed as a reminder of the inglories that awaited. [click to continue…]
In a slumbering, snoring world, always far away in some other place…
Dreaming of another time like tomorrow or yesterday…
Can you be the one who stays awake
To the rhythms and breathing of the here and now?
Could you stay here in this moment?
Could you rest here in His love?
In a tenacious, tight-fisted tribe of self will run riot…
Demanding life on its own terms as if it were theirs to demand…
Can you be the one who joyfully lets go
And surrenders to the sweetness of His way and truth?
Could you stay here in this moment?
Could you rest here in His love? [click to continue…]
