When was the last time you literally felt the tension or stress melt off of you?
How long has it been since you were so relaxed, breathing felt optional?
Where do you go to remember who you are, or reconnect – not just spiritually, but emotionally and physically also?
What would it look like for you if you suddenly found yourself surprised by peace?
All that and more has a single answer for me: Friday. That was the day we interrupted our regularly-schedule life and made the two-hour drive to the farm. Know why? Don’t laugh…
I wanted to see the flowers. [click to continue…]
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
Yes, I have searched you and known you.
Now I want you to search me and know Me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
I want you to know when I sit down and rise up.
You understand my thought from afar.
I want you to understand my thoughts,
even in the places that seem distant.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
I want you to search Me like that.
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
I can be found!
I can make you intimately acquainted with all My ways. [click to continue…]
I have always loved horses.
Ever since I looped one of Mama’s belts for a stirrup and mounted the arm of our couch, using a bent coat hanger for a cowboy hat (we wuz broke back then), I have loved horses.
Ever since the days of Trigger and Silver, “My Friend Flicka,” and Black Beauty, I have loved horses. I love the faithfulness of their companionship. I love the elegant beauty they demonstrate when they race. I love their strength and power, which remains to this day the standard by which mechanical engines are measured.
Even now, horses turn my head and, if it’s available, my camera. They’re just magnificent animals.
That said, I’ve rarely ever actually ridden a horse. Only galloped once – thought I was sure to take the dirt nap, or at least have dirt for dinner. [click to continue…]
This is for the gifted speaker or preacher who just can’t seem to get his point across. It’s for the exceptional teacher whose students this time just aren’t getting it.
This is for the counselor who isn’t making any difference whatsoever, or the business innovator who’s just run out of ideas as his organization is falling into the abyss.
This is for the genius sailor who just met up with the perfect storm.
It’s for the career fisherman who’s fished all night and caught nothing.
You may need to brace for impact.
You may need to prepare to be disturbed… not by how hard things are to you at your point of genius, but by how senselessly easy they are for Jesus when He shows up. [click to continue…]
(Photo by Michelle Newell Photography, Lynnwood and Seattle, WA)
In a world where fame is measured in 15-minute increments, life declarations come in 140 characters or less, and you literally have nine seconds to capture somebody’s attention, it’s easy to assume you’re nothing special.
When it feels as though you’re in a rat race and the rats are winning, where your value is measured by your performance or the approval of others and neither is all that remarkable, it’s easy to get lost in the ordinariness of just blending in.
When life sometimes feels like that whac-a-mole game, where those who dare to appear above ground get pounded back to their place, it’s tempting just to hide what light you may have so nobody else will see it.
But those are the times – when life is a liar – those are the times to stand on the truth and receive again the message of grace. Those are the times to believe again that you are the object of God’s delight. [click to continue…]
These are the days of a thousand moving parts. Things will settle soon, as much as things ever actually “settle” for me, but for the last six months we have been in the process of a major interstate move. We have moved a household, moved a business, and moved more than a few boxes.
Sometimes there are seasons of “transition.” That doesn’t even begin to describe this. And what makes it even heavier is that in the past there have been teams of people – people by the dozen – to help with the process. This time it’s been the two of us, aided by some herculean efforts of some friends and family.
And should I mention today’s news flash? I ain’t gettin’ any younger.
All of this on top of a regular work schedule that hasn’t waited for anyone or anything.
We all go through seasons like that – thankful that they’re just seasons. We move. We welcome new babies into the family. We change jobs or careers. We face upheavals at work. We take on more than we think we can handle. We are confronted with a fire or destructive weather event.
And all the parts start moving – some of them groaning all the way. [click to continue…]
Love…
Such a simple word in English,
made complicated by the fact
that it can mean and refer to so many things.
It’s often cheapened
by reducing it to something resembling selfish pleasure…
It often generates cynicism
among those who gave their hearts to someone or something,
and were crushed by the experience…
It creates confusion
because the same word can be used for
Readers Digest,
Mom’s lasagna,
old movies,
and your newborn infant.
Yet even in the face of the frustration of finding the right way to express ourselves,
I still believe in the promise and the reality of a Perfect Love… [click to continue…]
In the last post I shared six signs of a leader who breathes life into organizations and followers, as opposed to those who have a way of sucking the life out of them. Definitely worth a review if you missed it. My guess is, you have probably experienced both types on a personal level, whether it’s in your workplace, your church, or your community. We’ve certainly seen both types on a global or national scale as well.
What I’m more concerned about, however, is the leadership you show, even if you don’t think of yourself as a leader. Everybody influences somebody, and you’re no exception. And all of us can learn from the example of the ultimate life-giving leader, the Lord Jesus. Here are six more signs of a life-giving leader. [click to continue…]
Two extremes.
Two in-your-face, He-can’t-be-serious statements made by none other than Jesus Christ.
Two simple statements of fact covered up and made sleepy by years of self-initiated religion.
I’ll tell you right up front – you’ll say you believe it. But I would gently challenge you that on typical days you probably don’t.
The statements? Read this slowly as if you’re reading it for the first time (maybe you are!): [click to continue…]
I found myself strangely moved.
The other day a pastor friend, who is walking through new beginnings of his own, sent me a copy of this Thomas Kinkade painting from 2005 titled “Gate of New Beginnings.” I have always appreciated the work of “the Painter of Light,” but mostly at a distance. This one felt up close and personal.
Here’s what Kinkade himself said about it: [click to continue…]