Principle of Eternity

Tastes of Heaven

by Andy Wood on February 11, 2011

in Executing Your Plan, Five LV Laws, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Turning Points

“Glamour isn’t greatness, applause isn’t fame, prominence isn’t eminence. The man of the hour isn’t apt to be the man of the ages. A stone may sparkle but that doesn’t make it a diamond. People may have money but that doesn’t make them a success. It’s the seemingly unimportant people who determine the course of history. The greatest forces in the universe are never spectacular. Summer showers do more good than hurricanes but they don’t get a lot of publicity. The world would soon die but for the fidelity, loyalty, creativity and commitment of those whose names are un-honored and unsung.”  -James Sizoo

+++++++

The Race

It was a day of surprises.  If you had told me the Friday before what I would experience on Saturday, I don’t know whether I would have stayed in bed all day or sat up sleepless the night before.  That Saturday, those years ago, I had a taste of heaven. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Living in Light of the Limits of Time

by Andy Wood on January 19, 2011

in Allocating Your Resources, Consumers, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Time

Quick question:  What would you do if you knew that you only had 30 days to live the life you now have?  After that, your will life will be completely redefined. 

You aren’t dead – just relocated.

Every relationship:  history.

Every past accomplishment:  strictly a thing of the past.

Every possession:  soon to be somebody else’s.

Maybe, for the sake of playing out the fantasy side of the question, it’s a witness relocation effort or something.  But regardless, the clock is ticking, and life as you know it is drawing to a close.

What would you do?  Who would you do it with?  How would you approach the growing, grim reality? [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Puppet Strings

by Andy Wood on January 14, 2011

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Protecting Your Investment

Seagulls: Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
Nigel: Oh would you just shut up? You’re rats with wings.  (from “Finding Nemo”)

“Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night”  (Philippians 2:15, The Message) 

+++++++

Ever been haunted by words? 

I have.  Sometimes somebody expresses something so profoundly, so powerfully, that the power of their words lasts for years.

Randy Stonehill did that for me with a song he wrote 35 years ago, when I was a senior in high school.  In a couple of lines in one song, he described the desperation of the human condition.  The words and music still tear my heart out to this day: [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Four Things You Can Never Lose

by Andy Wood on December 31, 2010

in Allocating Your Resources, Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Principle of Freedom, Turning Points

This is awkward.  But I want to tell you about an experience I had a long time ago, when I was young and stupid (as opposed to middle-aged and ill-advised). 

I was in a season in my life when I had lost nearly everything.  I don’t mean that poetically.  I mean, everything.

Job… fired.

Career… lost.

Health… busted.

Friends… nearly all vacated.

Marriage… destroyed.

Kids… gone.

Integrity and credibility… a bad joke.

Finances… bankrupt.

Sanity… toast.

I was a shell of a man, crushed under the weight of stupid choices, addictive behavior, and shame.  I would sit and, without realizing it, rock back and forth. (Braves fans, remember how Leo Mazzone, the former pitching coach would rock on the bench?  Yeah, that was me and worse.) 

On this particular day, I was sitting in a hospital day room when somebody stuck his head in the door.  “Anybody here named Andy Wood?” he asked. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

by Andy Wood on December 17, 2010

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

On October 4, 1943, Bing Crosby recorded a song that captured the imagination of millions of Americans.  Within three weeks it was on the top music charts, and remained there for 11 weeks.  A year later, it returned to the charts again.  Since then, it has been recorded by nearly 250 artists.  It was the first song broadcast into space, and remains to this day one of the most cherished songs of all time. 

Remember, the entire world was galvanized in a world war, and hundreds of thousands of American soldiers were in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific fighting for our future.  Nearly the entire country was unified behind our fighting men. 

The name of the song – “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” 

Something about Christmas makes us want to go home, or at least to be somewhere with people we care about.  [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Do You See What He Sees?

by Andy Wood on October 1, 2010

in Five LV Laws, Following Your Passion, Insight, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity

“There is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one’s own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels for someone, pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.”(Milan Kundera) 

+++++++

Ever read about the double-pump miracle Jesus performed?  Fascinating story, about a blind man in Bethsaida.  Jesus led him outside the village and spit on his eyes.

“Do you see anything”? He asked.

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

So Jesus double-clutched.  Once more, he put his hands on the man’s eyes. This time he saw everything clearly.

It doesn’t bother me that it took two rounds with the Son of God for a blind man to see clearly again.  It does bother me that many believers, myself included, have gone many rounds with Jesus, and we still don’t see clearly at times.

He saw people that looked like trees.  We see people that look like other things – jobs, economic status, social labels, racial stereotypes, gender.  Jesus saw something else entirely.  You can too, but it doesn’t come naturally. 

“I see people; they look like trees.” 

What do you see?  Butcher, baker, candlestick maker?  Hot babe, geek, hero, freak? 

They may as well be Klingons, unless we learn to see from Jesus’ perspective.  We talk a lot about pursuing our own passions, but you can never fulfill your deepest passion unless you first embrace his.  Take a look: [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Playing to the Standard

by Andy Wood on September 27, 2010

in Five LV Laws, Gamblers, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Protecting Your Investment, Time

Halftime, Durham, North Carolina.  The Duke Blue Devils have just scored the first touchdown that top-ranked Alabama has surrendered in two-and-a-half games. 

Not exactly a moment to panic, however.  Alabama leads at the half, 45-13.

Cue the halftime interview with Coach Nick Saban.  “Coach,” Sideline Babe says, “Were you upset about giving up your first touchdown of the season?”

“I don’t care about the touchdown,” Saban replies.  “I’ve just been talking to our guys about playing to a standard.”

Fast-forward one week.  Halftime again.  This time, nobody wearing white and crimson was strutting to the locker room.  The defending national champions are trailing a very strong Arkansas Razorbacks team in Fayetteville 17-7, and it’s no fluke.  These Hogs are good, and Bama’s looking rough.

Somebody… not namin’ names here… but somebody woke somebody up.  Final Score:  Alabama 24, Arkansas 20.

After the game, Coach Nick had this to say:

“I want them to remember what it’s like not playing the way you’re capable of playing, not playing with the intensity and focus you need to have. We have a standard we want to play to, we want to play to it all the time. We certainly didn’t get that done in the first half.”

Another Clock is Counting Down

Football is not the only place where the clock is ticking toward zero.  [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Prize

by Andy Wood on September 20, 2010

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Eternity

Pssst.

Tap, tap, tap.

Sorry to interrupt.  I know you have a lot of important things on your mind, so I’ll only keep you for a minute.

Oh.  And let me quickly say that I’m not here to sell you anything.  But, as the envelope says, you may already be a winner!

So wouldn’t it be sad if a winner was living like… well, otherwise?

Wouldn’t it be tragic if this incredible wealth was there all along, but went unnoticed or unclaimed?

Let me show you how extraordinary the Grand Prize is. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

God is NOT Testing Your Patience

by Andy Wood on September 15, 2010

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Tense Truths, Waiting

Ever have this happen in school?  You study most of the night for your 8:00 history class.  You’re ready with the names, dates, big themes and theories.  You show up loaded for historic bear… only to discover your history exam isn’t until next week.

Meanwhile, in your 9:00 chemistry class…

Oh…  crap…  Tell me I didn’t just study for the wrong test.

I did.  And maybe you have, too.

You see, for years I’ve been studying for the Midterm Patience Exam.  It’s become something of a byword in Christian circles, if not a bad joke: [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Unremarkable Life of Barry Wheezer

by Andy Wood on September 13, 2010

in Esteem, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

There wasn’t much about Barry Wheeler to command respect.  He was certainly no athlete.  His skinny frame was the product of a lifetime of allergies and a bad case of asthma that earned him the cruel nickname of “Barry Wheezer.”

Barry was no musician or class politician.  He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and his shy, withdrawn personality made him just another face in the crowd at high school in Topeka.

Barry was no geekzilla either.  A “B” student in regular classes, nobody called Barry out for the National Honor Society – or any honor, for that matter.

Barry was just a guy.  But he had one thing going for him. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →