Imagine going to the mailbox and getting a letter – a personal letter – from a famous person. Not a politician or media darling, but someone who is supremely respected in spiritual circles. Let’s say for the sake of illustration that it’s a hand-written letter from Billy Graham.
And since I’m making all this up, let’s say you’ve never met Dr. Graham, and are a little surprised he knows you exist, much less knows your address. But there you are and there in the mailbox is his letter.
After some preliminaries, some kind greetings, Dr. Graham gets around to his reason for writing. “I want you to know, [insert your name here], that I’ve been struggling lately.” (Oh… step back… Let’s assume this isn’t a fund raising trick. Now on with the story…)
Instantly your concern and attention gravitates to these words. Egads, he’s getting personal! Why is he struggling? Why is he telling me he’s struggling? What does his struggle have to do with me?
“This has been going on for some time…”
Wow, this is serious.
“And I’ve been battling this with everything I have.”
He’s not kidding around.
“And the struggle is over you.” [click to continue…]
(A Conversation)
Stuck.
Stuck?
Yeah, that’s probably the best word for it.
As in, you’ve hit the ditch and can’t get out?
Maybe. Or more like I get so far and every time I hit this wall I can’t ever seem to break through.
Maybe you don’t really want to break through.
What’s that supposed to mean?
Maybe you’d rather lose a thousand pounds than 20.
I don’t follow.
Isn’t it easier to lose one pound and gain it back, then repeat the process a thousand times, than losing 20 and keeping it off?
Okay now you’ve gone to meddling! And yeah, maybe that’s true, but humor me. Let’s assume I really want to lose the 20 pounds. Or I really want to pray consistently. Or I really want to stop feeling so insecure.
But you feel stuck?
I feel stuck.
Powerless to break free?
Yeah, that.
Tired of 1 John 1:9 being your life verse?
Yeah… Hey! Wait a minute! Are we talking about me or you?
Well, let’s just say, to quote two former presidents, “Ah feel yur pain” because I’ve been “knee-deep in doo-doo” myself.
And what did you learn?
That I was a bad liar. [click to continue…]
I hate to start a piece with a bunch of disclaimers, but I think I should.
- This is a little off my reservation, but only a little.
- This article is addressed to Christian people who still believe they are or should be an influence in the culture and society. If that doesn’t describe you, there isn’t much of value for you here.
- This article is addressed also to those who have a growing sense of frustration that the America you thought you knew is a thing of the past.
- This is going to come across as very cynical, but I don’t mean for it to – I am actually very hopeful that you and I can be salt and light in this world.
Still with me?
OK.
I had an “Aha!” moment the other day. You may have figured this out a long time ago, and maybe I’m late to the party, but hey, I was a 10-month baby. [click to continue…]
It’s one of the highlights of the season – going to the mailbox and seeing who may have sent a card or annual Christmas letter and spending a little time catching up or reflecting on special people in our lives. I especially like the ones that have family photos, to see how the kids have grown and changed.
It’s also interesting to see how lives have evolved and changed, too. Ours certainly have in the last year. And it was in that frame of mind that I read a different kind of greeting recently. It had nothing to do with Christmas, yet it had everything to do with an updated snapshot into somebody’s life and how that life had evolved. Check this out:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother… (Colossians 1:1).
Seems like pretty basic stuff. Season’s greetings from the mission field.
Would it change your perspective to know this was written from a Roman prison?
True that.
[click to continue…]
Cesar Malan was a famous minister from Geneva. He showed genuine interest in the spiritual welfare of anyone he met. And get this! He would actually ask them about it!
Once Malan asked a woman he had just met about her relationship with God. Caught off guard, and somewhat annoyed by his question, she curtly said she didn’t care to discuss the matter.
Apparently this wasn’t the first time Cesar had faced such a response. The minister kindly assured her that he would be praying for her salvation.
It wasn’t long before circumstances brought the two together again. As they talked, it became apparent to Pastor Malan that the Lord was responding to his prayers. The once-antagonistic woman had recognized her spiritual need. Now she was asking him what was required to become a follower of Christ.
The preacher replied, “Come to Him just as you are.” [click to continue…]
In a world that’s fall-down-drunk on the idea of self-everything I have some good news that may not come across as good news.
You have a keeper.
Not like keep-you-in-a-cage, though I’m quite sure that’s how some people would interpret it.
More like faithful protector, watcher, provider, attender. And keeping for your Keeper is as natural as being human is for you.
The Lord keeps all who love Him…( Ps 145:20a).
I love Psalm 145 because it contains a long list of the practical attributes of God, as His followers experience Him. Things like gracious and merciful and righteous and sustaining, to name a few. But here’s one I’ve never paid much attention to before now. It is the Lord’s nature and faithful character to keep those who love Him. [click to continue…]
I’m going to ty to kp this brrif, bcaus it isn’t my intntion to annoy o torrtu you. It’s just to mak a point.
A littl parrabl, if you will.
Somtims ou finst lssons can com frrom thos littl annoyancs o rrally big nuisancs, o somwhrr in-btwn.
In my cas, sinc I liv lif ptty much vrry day smi-pmanntly attachd to a kyboarrd, it’s ptty imporrtant that th kys actually wok.
All of thm. [click to continue…]
Made an amazing discovery the other day.
Did you know that not everybody is filled with joy when you decide to step out in faith, or take your relationship with God seriously?
Did you notice that the whole world seems to push back when you decide to make a major change for the good in your life?
That spiritual excellence irritates religious people?
That our slip-ups, foul-ups, and whassups are nothing new – we’re even creatures of habit with the devil?
That your biggest enemy is often yourself?
Opposition (pause here to sigh). Come on, Lord! Why can’t something be easy?
Truth is, some things are. [click to continue…]
I never laid eyes on you before.
Never had dreams come true before.
But there’s always a time for a new beginning.
Our multiplied sorrow now is through.
And all of the waiting’s over, too.
And it’s been worth it all, for this new beginning.
And who is like the Lord, who turns my mourning into dancing,
And holds all things together, in His hands?
He whispered, “Let there be…” and He began the world all over.
But this time He laid its future in my hands.
(Unfinished song I started 30 years ago today, when my baby girls were born)
Your life is an adventure in starting over.
You may prefer maintenance mode. You may want to pretend that you’re in perpetual motion. You may claim to be too old, too successful, too far along, or too [insert excuse here], but the fact is, your entire life is a collage of cycles and rhythms.
And that involves starting over. [click to continue…]
Then there was that time Jethro stopped by.
Not Jethro Gibbs or Jethro Bodine. Jethro the daddy-in-law.
Moses and his father-in-law had a strange and wonderful relationship. Moses the young fugitive had whupped up on some bullies and given help to Jethro’s seven sheepherding daughters. Moses wound up with a job and one of Jethro’s daughters as a wife. Then while Moses was off delivering the Israelites from slavery at the hand of God, Jethro kept the wife and kids safe and sound back in Midian.
Jethro was, in effect, the father Moses never had.
Now, after the exodus and taking three million of his closest friends with him to the Promised land, Moses gets word that Jethro is on the way, with Moses’ household in tow. It was a sweet reunion, and you can read all about it in Exodus 18.
This was more than a family visit. Jethro had heard all the reports of what God had done. Jethro was a man of God himself. He wanted to see first-hand what a people so delivered and provided for by God looked like. What he got was a sort of Jekyll-and-Hyde experience. [click to continue…]