What turned my head was the sign for Aunt Beaut’s pan-fried chicken.
Why is it when God wants to get my attention, the easiest way to do it involves chicken? My belt really is a leather fence around a chicken graveyard.
Anyway, last week we were in downtown Charlotte on vacation. And there on the corner of West Trade and Tryon Street was the King’s Kitchen. Open for lunch or dinner, the restaurant trumpets “New Local Southern Cuisine.”
They had me at “Southern.”
True, I can get fried chicken anywhere. But when was the last time you went into a restaurant that had collard greens, cream corn, and butter beans all on the menu for lunch?
So I staked the place out, and the next day my wife and I walked the block from our hotel to sample the King’s Kitchen for lunch.
I immediately knew something was different about this place when I read the quotation on the wall just inside the door [click to continue…]
Have you ever wondered if God gets bored?
I already know the answer, of course. Whatever else I understand about the Lord, He is eternally interesting. And when it comes to us, He’s eternally interested.
But every once in a while, in the middle of the every-day kinds of exchanges, somebody actually takes at face value what He said, and comes calling.
No, I mean calling. As in, asking wasn’t enough – now I’m seeking. And since I’m not finding, I’m knocking. And when somebody like that cries out to God, I believe all of Heaven sits up and pays attention.
That is what the Lord encouraged, right?
Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious things which you still do not know about (Jeremiah 33:3, NET).
I wonder if He really meant that. [click to continue…]
Want to spend a little time in a lab?
Forget the white coat, safety glasses, and things that smell like they’d melt your skin if they ever touched it. This is a different kind of experiment.
In four days I’m going to post a new article about a yet-to-be determined subject. Today and two days from now, I’d like to show you how I get there.
The article will be an outgrowth of something that is a passion of mine: taking truth from God’s word and applying it in a practical, relevant, way – first to my life, then to the lives of others.
There’s a lot of talk in Christian circles about revelation of God’s truth. What’s often missing is relevation – making that truth relevant to specific life issues and dimensions. That’s what I want to show you today – how I apply God’s truth to the power bill, or my relationships with friends or students, or my goals or time management or weaknesses or any other issue that presents itself. [click to continue…]
An important part of creating a compelling future has to do with remembering. That’s why lately I’ve been visiting some museums on a fairly regular basis.
I’m not referring to anything with the words, “Smithsonian,” “Historical,” or “National” in it. The museums I’m talking about are in my head, some really old computer files, and my journals.
Lately I’ve been visiting the Dream Museum. I suggest you do the same.
The idea for this little excursion was planted in my heart last August at a men’s retreat, where my friend Mickey asked a compelling question:
What dreams have you had either stolen or detained, to the point you have given up on them? Maybe the Lord is telling you to pick that dream back up again.
That really registered with me. “Electrified” may be a better term.
(Pause. Are you entering your dream museum yet? Visiting what’s in mine may help me, but it won’t do much for you. So let me ask you what Mickey asked all of us: What dreams have YOU had that were either stolen or detained, to the point you have given up on them?)
I didn’t have an immediate answer to the question, other than some unfulfilled physical dreams that I believe were prophetic. But I couldn’t get over the gut feeling that some long-ago dream had been shelved to the point that I had forgotten about it, but the Lord hadn’t. [click to continue…]
If I were to tell you that I can show you a completely foolproof plan to make extraordinary gains in every dimension of your life, would you be interested in learning more?
Yes, money. Still curious?
Relationships, too. How ‘bout now?
Sure, it works for getting more out of your time, improving your professional life, and deepening your spiritual life.
This one secret, handed down through ancient wisdom, has always – always – marked the difference between winners and wannabes.
Oh, and what if I were to tell you that this guarantee is backed up by God Himself? Meaning, of course, that it works for all time and eternity, too.
I know, I know. If it’s that obvious, and that old, everybody else will know it and be doing it, right?
Not exactly. [click to continue…]
Ever hear of the Law of the Hammer? Also called The Law of the Instrument, it has been attributed to both Abraham Maslow and Abraham Kaplan (neither of whom were carpenters, I don’t think).
The Law of the Hammer is based on the idea that people tend to look for cure-alls or over-use familiar tools, especially in dealing with people. It says, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”
Wise. In other words, diversify your toolbox.
I’m not a carpenter either, and six months of bending nails in 1979-80 can attest to that. But I’ve spent a lot of my life building, working with, leading, and being an instrument of healing to people. And I have observed a corollary to the Law of the Hammer that is important to remember in dealing with people. I call it The Law of the Nail:
If you are a nail, and especially if you’ve been pounded a time or two, everything (and everybody) looks like a hammer.
I’ve been on all sides of that. I’ve been the nail. Banged the nail. Straightened out bent nails. Sat in on more than my share of Nails Anonymous meetings (including pastors’ prayer meetings). I’ve hired nails to go to work for me without realizing how pounded they had been. And I have learned, sometimes the hard way, that living in a broken world means working with and leading broken or bruised people. So at the risk of pounding the metaphor too much (sorry), here are some ideas for finding healing if you are the nail, or in the next post, working with and leading the nails in your organization or workplace. [click to continue…]
I want to take you to a place where, frankly, we aren’t invited. For just a minute, let’s be one of “those” people we often gripe about – those rubberneckers on the highway, who seem fascinated with somebody else’s messes.
In this case, we’re creeping up to a closed bedroom door, where on the other side, we can hear muffled sobs.
A man’s sobs.
A few days ago, somebody from home had rocked his world. The news was bad, and every ounce of optimism he once had was crushed.
You should have been here yesterday. He was really blubbering then. And he will be again tomorrow. Fasting, too. And praying. Lots of praying.
But as he cries and prays and cries and fasts and cries some more, something happens. [click to continue…]
There are two kinds of work – work that drains, and work that energizes.
There are two kinds of rest – rest that re-creates, and rest that only adds to the fatigue, loneliness, isolation, or emptiness.
None of us were created to work incessantly. We were all created with a built-in cry for a Sabbath – a rest.
Unfortunately, we live in a culture with plenty of instructions for work, and precious few for re-creation.
Sometimes the rest is calling, but we can’t answer.
So here’s a thought: If you can’t take the day off and rest, take the day ON and reenergize.
Vision hurts.
Don’t believe me? Try dreaming about something that is exciting and important to you, only to be disappointed. But the alternative to vision isn’t much better. Instead of dreaming, you could play it safe. Be complacent. Wish for nothing and hit it every time.
Doesn’t sound like much of a choice, does it? Heartache or boredom. Tightrope with no net or treadmill with no hope. How do you make peace with your dreams? How do you keep from hating the whole process? How can you avoid “optiphobia” – the fear of vision?
Start with a little perspective. [click to continue…]
“You have a role in all this,” Dave told me.
“This” is the church he now serves as pastor, the people he loves daily and weekly, the legacy of faith he is building in this eastern New Mexico town.
Dave went on (this is my paraphrase): “You were there at a time in my life when I thought ministry was over, that I had nothing left to offer, and that nobody wanted me. You helped me see the possibilities of how God could continue to use me. So every time the Lord does something good here, you have a fraction of the action.”
I was humbled and blessed by his insight. But I also know I am not alone. [click to continue…]
What turned my head was the sign for Aunt Beaut’s pan-fried chicken. 
