by Andy Wood on October 28, 2008
in Ability, Allocating Your Resources, Consumers, Enlarging Your Capacity, Insight, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Money, Pleasers, Time
Here’s a little exercise we actually take worship service time to practice occasionally. Follow the instructions carefully (yes, I mean I want you to actually do this):
- Take a deep breath
- Let out half of it.
- Hold
- Smile
- Repeat the following out loud, in a calm soothing voice:
“No.”
Repeat this exercise regularly, just for practice, and as needed in live game situations.
Not, “No because…”
Not, “Maybe later…”
Not, “Let me pray about it…”
Certainly not, “See if you can find somebody else, and if you can’t, I’ll see what I can do.”
Learning to graciously, kindly refuse is one of eight steps to building or rebuilding margin in your life. Margin has to do with creating gaps – cushions of time, money, energy, or spiritual strength that act as living shock absorbers for those who have them.
Imagine how it could revolutionize your attitude, relationships, productivity, and health if the next time somebody says, “Got a minute?” you actually do! [click to continue…]
This is a picture of a man’s brain. And a Western man’s brain at that. What you would see if you could see it the way we live it, is a vast array of little compartments. Little drawers, all subject to the man-brain rule:
Never open more than one drawer at a time.
Women are generally different (surprise!). Their brain resembles a large, open chest, where everything is integrated into one. Open up her heart or brain, and you’ll find the kids, the husband, the friends, the fictional relationships she has with TV or book characters, money, God, dinner, shopping, home stuff, and whatever else – all wonderfully blended into a single life and heart. That’s why women multi-task so well.
Men? Forget it. It’s not that we can’t…
Well, yeah, it is.
Back to the drawers. Imagine that each of these represents a different component of a man’s heart and brain. There’s a God drawer. A sports drawer. A sex drawer (it’s spring loaded). A kids drawer. A money drawer (usually diametrically opposite the God drawer).
When a man is at his flesh-worst, he compartmentalizes. That’s why a man will tell his wife with a straight face that he loves her (and mean it), while at other times, when another drawer – an illegitimate one – is open, he may act like he isn’t married at all. [click to continue…]
As you can probably tell from here and here, I’m a big fan of Winnie the Pooh. I pretty well ignored him during my first childhood, but in my second – with my own children – he and his friends became some of my favorite characters.
There in the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh is a model of contentment. He helps his friends, enjoys the outdoors, doesn’t fret about his weight, and never loses his patience. He loves his honey, and his only real worry is seeing to it he has a plentiful supply. His friends are high-strung (Rabbit), insecure (Piglet), maternal (Kanga), and playful (Roo), gloomy (Eeyore), egotistical (Owl), and irresponsible (Tigger).
Winnie the Pooh? He’s just proud to be here.
I think I may have found the secret to the chubby cub’s contentment. Just outside the hollow tree where he lives is a log that is used for sitting. Beside the log is a sign that reads, “The Thotful Spot.” Being a Bear of Very Little Brain, Pooh must think hard, and think often. Whenever there is a problem or a confusing question, or practically any occasion that requires a brain, he returns to the Thotful Spot to think. He doesn’t always come up with the right answers. But he always comes away with an idea. And he always comes away happy.
Everybody needs a Thoughtful Spot. [click to continue…]
Tense Truth: Because every human has a great need for guidance and care, God promises to personally meet the need of every Christ follower, as a shepherd would his sheep. Yet as our Shepherd, He will lead us directly to hostile or dangerous places, into the very presence of our enemies and death. Nevertheless, my safety and peace are not found in where I lie down, but in Who stays awake when I’m resting.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Give your heart to Jesus, and it will be the end of all your trouble.
The front end.
Just remember as you’re bumping along the road to eternal bliss, you have a Shepherd, and He has committed Himself to meet all your needs. Of course, if He’s the Shepherd, what does that make you and me?
Sheep. The stupidest, most defenseless animal in the world.
But we’re sheep with a Shepherd, and we can rest in that. It never ceases to amaze me how those inspired words of David, so comforting for centuries, continue to work their magic today. I witnessed it again last week, as a grieving family said good-bye to their mother/grandmother.
I love how practical the Lord is when He meets our needs. When God finds you hungry, He gives you food. When God finds you with a broken heart, He’s not going to come and ask you if you’ve read the Four Spiritual Laws. He’s going to attend to your broken heart. Whether the need is for strength to keep going, direction for decision making, encouragement along the way, or something more tangible, our Shepherd delights in solutions to the real problems in your life.
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(Rachel Brown and her husband, Pat, are dear friends who live in Atlanta, where Pat is on staff at Buckhead Church. She’s also the daughter of Michael and June Carter, two of our dearest friends. Michael is one of our elders at TPCC, and June is our office manager. Rachel wrote the following beautiful account of an amazing experience she had in worship with her son, Ethan. I think you’ll be as touched as I was. Enjoy! Then check out the song at the bottom.)
Right now my spirit is welling up with great joy, gratitude, and praise. My mother’s heart is proud, humble, and completely blessed by my four year old son, Ethan. Over the past few weeks, I’ve tried to be more intentional with my three precious kids, teaching them about Jesus and how they can be a lover of God and worship him. Several times this week I’ve resisted the temptation to allow my kids to watch TV in the morning. Instead we decided to turn on our worship music. We have had a great time jumping around spinning and singing songs. Honestly, it’s a great break from Bunny Town songs on Disney Channel. If you have kids you will know what I’m talking about.
We are a family deeply moved by music and have a love for all different genres. My three precious kids didn’t have a choice to love music! God has created their daddy with the love of music and great musical gifts.
We were deeply moved by “How He Loves,” a song we sang at Buckhead a few Sunday’s ago. I couldn’t wait to download this song on my IPod and plug it into my ears and just worship. Pat and I both had eyes welling up with tears and hearts full of unexplainable emotions when we heard this song. For Pat it was a mixture of emotion; he has not led worship for almost two years, now, and such a great love is deeply missed. His heart was moved by the love of God; for me, a funny moment with God. I humorously asked God why I have such a heart of worship but such a horrible voice. My humorous prayer is that all the people on earth that can’t sing will be HIS most gifted singers in heaven. If I can’t sing beautifully on earth, I’d better be able to sing in heaven! I think that you get the picture. We love worship!
[click to continue…]
(A Turning Point Story)
About 20 miles east of Denton, Texas a small ridge runs north and south along what people in Dallas know as Preston Road. Visible from 10 miles away, all along the top and slope of that ridge rest the homes, churches, and schools of Prosper – a community of farmers and commuters to Dallas. I had the first of what would be many of these picturesque views in September 1981, when I virtually limped there for a job interview. Little did I know the significance that town would have in my life, family, and ministry to this day. This is about the roads that led into, out of, and back into an unforgettable town nobody had ever heard of.
Four months earlier, I had loaded up all my earthly belongings in a Hertz rental truck, put my gorgeous Irish Setter puppy, Dixie, in the cab, and left Mississippi for Texas. I was to start seminary in the fall, and thought I’d get a head start on a job and hopefully a church to serve. I was so happy, so optimistic, I literally sang my own version of a Swaggert song:
On my way to heaven,
Stoppin’ off by Texas on the way!
I got a sales job representing the prestigious Ft. Worth Chamber of Commerce. Rented a really nice house. Was leaving a wonderfully successful youth ministry. God was good! Life surely would be good, too.
It didn’t turn out that way. [click to continue…]
Bret* was a Sherman tank. Didn’t drive one; he was one. He was ticked off – at me! And he wasn’t in a mood to pout or negotiate. He came with a verbal Uzi, convinced I had done him wrong, and he was going to let me know about it. (For the record, he was wrong about me doing him wrong, but he was in no mood to hear it. Or hear anything, for that matter.)
Right in the middle of the tirade, as this hulk of a man was blowing me away, I had this surreal experience. It was the Lord, I believe, speaking to me. “Just let him finish. With everything he has to say.” So I did. I just sat there and took it. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like his attitude. I didn’t like his complete blindness to the facts. But I took it.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, that’s about it,” he said very gruffly.
“Okay, well I’m very sorry you feel that way. I’ll see to it that you never feel that way because of me again.”
That was 11:00 a.m. At 2:00 p.m., the phone rang; it was Bret again. Totally different story.
“Man, I just want you to know, I’m on your team. I so appreciate you.”
I quickly ruled out the possibility of demon possession, mental illness (that one took a bit longer), or bribe money. No, Bret had just emptied himself of his poison. And he meant it. He was on my team.
[click to continue…]
Challenging times call for fresh, intelligent ideas!
You won’t find any here.
What you will find is the latest collection of Hanukkah Hams – episodes of brilliance on the Blooper Reel of Life.
The last edition focused on life behind the wheel. This one’s dedicated to power. Electric power. Human power. Kangaroo Power. Hang on, there’s something for everybody.
Starting with this clever photographed solution to every man’s summertime dilemma – how to get your George Foreman Grill to work inside your above-ground swimming pool. God forbid you have to actually step over the three-foot side and cook your burger on dry land. Where’s the challenge in that?
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How do you learn best? Mark Meadows used to amaze me in third grade. He’d just sit there. Never write. Never raise his hand to answer a question. Just sit and listen. And make “A’s.”
Cameron Walker? Never stopped moving.
Me? I don’t think I ever stopped running my mouth. (Hey! I heard that!)
We all learned. We just did it in different ways.
The same is true of people in the Bible. Guys like Paul could go off into the desert for three years and think about stuff. Analyze things. With the Holy Spirit’s help, rehash everything he’d ever believed (incorrectly) about the Law.
Our buddy Peter was different. From the day He met Peter, Jesus began transforming him from a “man of fish” to a man of God. Like Moses before him, Peter learned with pictures and visual objects. Things like coins and nets and fish and swords. I’d like to show you a few objects Jesus used to teach Peter to hear God’s voice. I think you can learn, too. Even if you learn best by talking or sitting there listening, I’ll bet you can pick up a few important lessons from Peter’s experience.
[click to continue…]
It’s one of the most amazing transformation stories in history.
From dufus to discerner.
Pathetic to prophetic.
Simon, the wishy-washy to Peter, the Rock.
This fisher became a fisher of men. And the guy who was nearly always getting it wrong ended up writing two books of the New Testament under the most powerful level of inspiration there is.
“He who has ears, let him hear,” Jesus said (Matthew 13:9). Peter learned to listen to God. And if that guy did, you can, too.
I want to show you three ways Peter learned to hear God’s voice. [click to continue…]