I live because…
Jesus fought me. He was my holy enemy, mercifully blocking my stubborn rebellion.
Jesus bought me. He was my sacrificial redeemer, willingly shedding His blood for my pardon.
Jesus sought me. He was my desperate lover, tenderly calling me out of my hiding. [click to continue…]
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Who is the shyest person you know? Picture them in your mind. Got it? Good. Now…
Imagine that person at the end of his or her life. And sometime just before they kiss this world good-bye they’re the guest of honor at the most amazing invitation-only celebration. This party is reserved for those whose life has somehow been touched – influenced – by Shy Guy himself.
Care to hazard a guess how many names are on the invitation list?
Ten thousand. A myriad. Ten thousand people whose lives are influenced by the most reserved, quiet girl or guy you know.
That’s nothing compared to the lives that have been impacted by bubbly ol’ you. And this isn’t about somebody else’s influence. It’s about yours.
This is about your myriad. Or in your case, perhaps your million. It’s about all the people who make decisions because of you. Who make changes because of you. Who establish relationships, try something new, dig deeper, grow wiser, or go farther because of your influence. Or, it’s about the people who grow hard-hearted, discouraged, dispirited, or fearful because you showed them how.
Somebody’s watching. Somebody’s doing. Somebody’s believing. Somebody’s changing. And they all have you to thank. [click to continue…]
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(With humble apologies to the Mary Stevenson Estate)
One night I dreamed that I was dipping my feet in the dog’s water bowl
And walking the lonely journey across my patio,
Leaving wet footprints along the way.
Soon I noticed tiny little footprints appearing behind mine.
[click to continue…]
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“I’ve found it!”
I looked up from my desk to see the beaming face of Eugene Davis, my favorite sophomore Christian. Eugene had been following Christ less than two years, but had shown considerable growth during that period.
Trouble was, he knew it.
His zeal for new knowledge was refreshing. But his impatience with others and the seriousness with which he took himself could be annoying.
“Must be another evangelism gimmick,” I thought to myself as I asked politely, “Found what?”
“I’ve found THE sign of a good parent.”
Now I had learned not to be surprised at anything that came from Eugene’s mind, and since I had recently started teaching a class in effective parenting, he succeeded in getting my attention. I thought I had heard them all – unconditional love, “I messages,” eye contact, firm discipline, etc. – but no conference or seminary class had ever prepared me for this. [click to continue…]
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You wouldn’t have known from meeting Martha the first time that her life had been a sinking ship. Rewind from the near-poverty this single mother of two sons lived to the day she walked away from her “covering” – an abusive, controlling religious system. Go back a bit further to the time her minister husband left her for another woman. If you dare, rewind a bit more to the night she and her husband came home to find their third son, Matthew, dead in his crib from SIDS.
Life had not been kind. But you wouldn’t know it from the courageous smile, the ox-like willingness to work, and the radiant joy she had in her relationship with Jesus Christ. Sure, Martha had her moments, and could cry with the worst of ‘em. But a heart so captured by the grace of God will cling to it, even when everything else seems lost.
I once asked her why she didn’t just walk away, since loving and serving God had been so costly. I don’t remember any words – just the look on her face that let me know I had just asked the most absurd question possible.
A heart once captured will never let go. [click to continue…]
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It’s time for a resurrection.
Namely, yours.
You have focused on death long enough.
It’s time for another kind of reckoning.
Christians worldwide seem to have a fascination with death. Pass most any church and somewhere you’ll find a cross – a symbol of public execution and death. Listen to us talk about spiritual growth and overcoming sinful habits and somebody will mention the Bible principle of being dead to sin. Listen to our music or examine what there is of our art, and you hear descriptions of a life so surreal you have to, well, die to get there, or we celebrate the death that Jesus died to make it possible.
Lest I be misunderstood, all of that is true. But it’s only half the truth. [click to continue…]
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Pssst.
Hey.
Yes, you.
We need to talk. Really I need to talk and you need to just shut up and listen. I don’t mean to be mean. But the most elite fighting force in heaven or on earth is spread all around you. Their shields are up, and nothing can penetrate them. Their swords are drawn, and no force in hell or on earth can resist them. And they’re on your side.
And they’re doing absolutely nothing.
Just watching you get your brains beat out by an enemy that is smarter, craftier, and more powerful than you are. [click to continue…]
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I believe that it is not dying that people are afraid of. Something else, something more unsettling and more tragic than dying frightens us. We are afraid of never having lived, of coming to the end of our days with the sense that we were never really alive, that we never figured out what life was for. – Harold Kushner
The great Presbyterian pastor Donald Grey Barnhouse was once riding in a funeral procession in Philadelphia when he noticed a large cargo truck running in front of the procession. From the way the sun was positioned, he noticed that the truck was casting a large shadow on the sidewalk. That shadow crossed light poles, road signs, and even people, and didn’t harm anything. No one would want to be in front of the truck, mind you, but the shadow was harmless.
Every one of us was born on the other side of something called “labor.” We enter the world completely helpless and fragile, totally dependent on the protection, care and kindness of others. We borrow the oxygen and assorted things for a span of time the Bible calls a “vapor.” Despite our claims to ownership, we take no possessions with us. And we end our sojourn on earth passing through something called a “shadow.”
Birth is a labor soon forgotten…
Life is a vapor quickly fading…
Possessions are an illusion suddenly passing…
Death is shadow silently creeping…
Is there any wonder we struggle sometimes to know what’s real? And what’s valuable? [click to continue…]
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When I’ve lost the fire of passion and power and feel reduced to ashes and embers, will You be the Fire that burns in my soul?
When you’ve lost the fire of passion and power and feel reduced to ashes and embers, I’ll be the Fire that burns in your soul. I still love you. And I’m still here.
When I’m standing alone in a crowded room and feel unnoticed… forgotten… alone… will You be the Truth that reminds me I’m not?
When you’re standing alone in a crowded room and feel unnoticed… forgotten… alone… I’ll be the Truth that reminds you you’re not. I still love you. And I’m still here. [click to continue…]
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The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. . . The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope. (C. H. Spurgeon)
In East Tennessee a mother suffers a broken leg and a devastated heart as a tornado claims the life of her baby.
In West Alabama a couple hears a noise and opens the front door of their home. Seconds later, there is no more home, and no more couple.
123 tornadoes, so I hear, in one day. The death toll at this point: 319.
Meanwhile, on the same day, in East Texas a spiritual champion and one of the most respected leaders of his generation collides with destiny in the form of a tractor trailer.
And as the world reels and the grieving begins in earnest, a rude reminder comes collecting – the winds blow and the rains fall on the just and the unjust, and none of us has any guarantee of tomorrow.
Does that anger you? Me, too.
Does it seem unfair? I get that. Why do tornados never seem to level prisons?
We can huff on our high horse all we want, but guess what? Neither you nor I will change the fact that life is unfairly short and at times unbearably hard.
Is that God’s fault? I’m sure we’ll get our dose of that from the usual sources. How come nobody ever “blames” God when money’s in the bank, gas is cheap and the ocean is calm? [click to continue…]
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