It doesn’t take much for a breeze
To become a roaring fury –
Or a gentle, soaking shower
To become a fierce, howling squall.
In a matter of mere moments,
The elements that nourish you
Can soon threaten to destroy you
Or just paralyze you with fear.
That is true in the natural…
More so in the relational.
Sometimes the waves that pound at you
Are tides of public opinion.
Sometimes the winds that howl to you
Are the voices of the critics.
Sometimes the raindrops that pelt you
Are problems with no solutions.
When storms are raging,
It’s time for engaging
Your faith, your hope, and your love. [click to continue…]
Update: You can see the video here:https://vimeo.com/124875667
Love where you live.
That’s the theme at our church for the next few weeks.
There are lots of planned ways to do that over the next few weeks, and it’s fun to be a part of that. But the goal, as Pastor Alan explained yesterday, is to help us get to the point where we do it in the moment. Don’t just plan to love where you live sometime next week. Love where you live in this moment.
His inspiration, in part: Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan.
Alan said he’d been reading that story over and over, and was impressed by the fact that the Samaritan loved his neighbor in the immediate. He didn’t say, “Hey, if you’re still in the ditch when I come back through I’ll stop and help you.” He helped him as soon as he encountered the need.
I loved it. He said it kinda funny, so I laughed, but totally agreed with the point.
Then came the curve ball. [click to continue…]
Honestly, I was a little disappointed.
“Gonna be old school today,” I thought to myself as the choir started in on Dottie Rambo’s classic, “He Looked Beyond My Faults,” set to the Irish tune of “Danny Boy.”
When it comes to church music, I can be nostalgic, but I’m not much of an old school guy. I’m more of a “sing a new song to the Lord” type. So on this day I settled down on the pew to politely smile and nod away my mild disappointment.
I think God had a nod of his own.
It wasn’t the first time I had heard the words – Lord knows, the song was written in 1968 and was a regular fixture in my teenage years. Every traveling music evangelist with a reel-to-reel tape recorder, every AM radio station blaring out gospel favorites, every traveling duo, trio, or quartet, they all did this song.
But on this day, just a few weeks ago, I heard – as in, heard with the heart – a line that shook me to the core. This is literally what I wrote in my notebook: [click to continue…]
It was spring 1973 when I happened to catch a little announcement in my home church bulletin that would change my life. It was an invitation to “Mission 73” – a youth choir trip to Virginia Beach, Virginia, for anyone who had completed the ninth grade.
To say the trip was life-changing is to cheapen the phrase, and the memory of the trip. You can read more about that here.
In the wisdom and economy of God, He decided that the best way to grow me up, call me out, expose my weaknesses, and reveal my gifts was to put me on a bus or plane with a group of people for a short-term trip, where the mission was serve Him well or fail terribly. It started with that one trip, continued on through my high school and college years, including a couple of individual or personal partner trips for extended periods, then later internationally to places like the Ukraine, Prague, Vienna, and Thailand.
Now this year we are pleased and excited to announce the launch of a ministry that provides that opportunity to others. After months of talking, praying, planning, and waiting, LifeVesting International will officially open its doors sometime near June 1 of this year, for the purpose of supporting the work of Christian pastors or other Christian leaders worldwide by providing assistance in the form of volunteer labor, consultation, and/or training.
We recognize that there are many different organizations, large and small, whose purpose is to fill Christ’s Great Commission. What does the world need with another one? Why are we doing this? Aside from simple obedience God (the ultimate consideration), here are seven reasons. [click to continue…]
Closer than you may realize,
And darker than you can imagine,
Someone you know languishes now
Under black clouds of fear and despair –
Clouds that never seem to break enough
To let the light in.
The only hope that they have
Is the light that shines through you.
Believe fervently for them.
Hope confidently for them.
Love them gently
As you hold them tightly in the night. [click to continue…]
I don’t knit.
My sister tried to teach me when we were kids.
It wasn’t pretty.
My wife knits.
My daughters too.
Not me.
But you know who else does? [click to continue…]
This is about a Father with four sons…
A Sailor.
A Driver.
A Flyer.
A Walker.
The Father provided richly for each of his sons. He gave them a home in which to flourish. He provided resources upon which to build their futures. He even saw to it that each was uniquely equipped and trained to succeed, according to his own natural bent.
Yet despite their obvious advantages, each son seemed convinced that there was more to life than living under the watchful, seemingly all-knowing gaze of his Father. Each seemed determined to find fulfillment on his own terms. And despite the obvious objections of the Father, each chose to go his own way. [click to continue…]
As you celebrate in the silent night or the joyful noise that is your Christmas, I joyfully lift my prayer to the Father of lights on your behalf – praying that you would discover the unique inspiration that comes from knowing what an inspiration to others you can be.
I pray that on this day you would find your way to the Chamber of your Beloved, to rediscover the awakened intimacy that comes from having your soul restored, realizing again the central message of Christmas, that you are completely loved.
I pray that in the coming year, when you engage with the terrible and the trivial in this world, that when others are desperately looking for the light of truth and hope, they find it burning brightly still in you.
[click to continue…]
Dear Archer,
You entered our world today, December 18, 2014, and may I just say, you didn’t disappoint! We fretted a little that we wouldn’t get here in time from Alabama, but like the gentleman you already are, you politely waited for us arrive, then for good measure took a few more hours for everybody to get their bearings. Then in the fullness of time, you let it be known that you were large (our largest grandbaby yet), loud (probably the loudest, too), and in charge!
Other babies have been born on this day, but only you can claim to have a sister who’s the Sasster. In a world of brothers and all-boy cousins, she’s the only girl, and I think she sorta likes it that way. I know she loves being your big sister. “He’s just adorable,” she said when she saw you for the first time. And no, I don’t know how a first grader knows the word “adorable,” but she can probably also spell it, parse it, and say it in German, Spanish and Swahili.
You’ll learn the ropes from your brothers Shepherd and Fischer soon enough. And yes, that frightens me just a bit. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.
[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…]