Life Currency

What’s So Amazing About Grace?

by Andy Wood on August 19, 2015

in Ability, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity

Gratitude

Come on, admit it… when you first saw this title you started hearing the old hymn in your head, didn’t you?

I once was lost, but now I’m found,
Was blind, but now I see.

If not, I’ll bet you are now.

With apologies to Philip Yancey for borrowing the title of his excellent book,  I had a curious collision with “amazing” the other day and thought I’d share it. It started when I read this simple greeting from the Apostle Paul to a group of Christians in Corinth.

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus.

Isn’t that sweet?

Any believer anywhere can testify, as John Newton and the Corinthians could, that the grace of God has been given to us by Christ Jesus. And if this verse had no other context or backdrop it would be precious enough. But our thinking about it would soon lose its edge. Sure, everybody who knows Christ can testify of the grace of God.

Next!

Sure, we were “wretches” and now we’re saved. But that was a long time ago for a lot of us. In the immortal words of Janet Jackson, what have you done for me lately, Grace?

The answer to that – Grace in the present, not the past – is what’s so amazing about grace. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

I Want James Harrison on My Team

by Andy Wood on August 17, 2015

in Five LV Laws, Leadership, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Legacy, Protecting Your Investment

James Harrison

This is James Harrison.

He was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.

He does pushups with a 300-pound man on his back. Lots of them.

I want him on my team.

Which team?

Whichever one needs linebackers who can do pushups with a 300-pound man lying on his back.

james harrison 2

James has a few tattoos. One says, “PEACE” and has a cross next to it. Others are very sentimental – one for his grandmother, his sons, his mom and dad. He also has one that says “Colossians 1:16.” Here is what Colossians 1:16 says, in case you’re wondering.

“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”

I am NOT a tattoo dude. Not my thing. But I want James Harrison on my team.

Which team? [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

How to Impact the World Without Being a Celebrity

by Andy Wood on August 11, 2015

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Five LV Laws, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Legacy

man and woman

World changers… Meh.

We’ve turned that into a badly-worn cliché. It seems as though anybody with a Selfie Stick and a cause can be labeled a world changer.

And if your goal is to be famous – to get your 15 minutes of viral – let me just remind you that these days that cuts both ways. Thanks to the wonders of always-on video, social media and instant rushes to judgment, you can go from completely unknown to globally hated within hours. Just ask Walt Palmer or Justine Sacco.

But what if I were to tell you that it’s possible to have global impact – the long-term kind, way past your local address and far past your own lifetime – without being a celebrity or even well-known? What if it were possible to shake the earth with potential without ever holding a microphone or appearing in the media? What if I told you that even when you felt swatted away like a gnat by the elites, you could still make history?

This is for those who are looking for a hero without a stage, press conference, or package to sell. This is for those who may have resigned themselves to obscurity at best, or chronic rejection at worst. This is for the ordinary guy with average intelligence or the woman who has a cause (or calling), but no one to recognize their genius or talent.

I want to introduce you to the first “power couple” in the New Testament. But let me hasten to say that these two never conducted a massive missionary campaign, started a church, wrote a book of the Bible, or even said anything that was written down for future generations. They appear to be walking wallflowers. And yet the most famous Christian of his day said something about them that he never said of anyone else. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

A Prayer for Believers

by Andy Wood on August 6, 2015

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, Prayers, Principle of Increase

Dandelion

Because of God’s great faithfulness and love, I enter boldly into His presence today to stand in the gap for you.   I pray that on this day that He has made that He would grant you to be…

Established in hope, and renewed in the expectation that a greater day awaits tomorrow…

Loosened from every limiting fear or false belief… [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Offerings for the Over-stressed

by Andy Wood on August 4, 2015

in Esteem, Executing Your Plan, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Freedom, Waiting

You live in what feels like a constant state of tension. Even your “good stress” is, well, stress. You check the news at least each day to make sure you’re on top of the latest thing to worry about. Your time is stretched so thin that any interruption or change of plans sends you reeling emotionally.

Your credit cards are loaded to the max, and your life feels a lot like your email inbox – loaded with clutter, junk, and unfinished business – some of which is actually important.

Your best sleep comes after 2:00 in the morning. You avoid those medical checkups because you already know what they’re going to say. Unless, of course, you need to get that prescription refilled.

And then…

…then, somebody comes along, usually on a Sunday, and says…

“Let’s worship Jesus!”

And honestly, it just feels like another reason to feel anxious.

What if I were to tell you that if you’re harried and helpless, stressed out or fried emotionally, the Bible actually gets where you’re coming from? If I could show you a way to magnificently worship the Lord Jesus, even when you’re at the end of your rope, would you be interested?

This is an Offering for the Overworked, overstressed, overeating, over-fill-in-your-blank.

Ready? Here it is: [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Ain’t Got Time to Panic Today

by Andy Wood on July 15, 2015

in 100 Words, Allocating Your Resources, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Pleasers, Time, Waiting

Elephant Foot

When everything’s urgent and demands attention now…

And everywhere you turn invites stress at best, frustration at worst…

It’s hard to think, much less act, positively.

So remember again how you eat that elephant… [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Not-So-Secret to an Abundant Life

by Andy Wood on June 29, 2015

in Allocating Your Resources, Esteem, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Words

Hidden Clock

In the mood for a little detective work?  Care to uncover a secret that may have right in front of our noses for years?  It certainly was in mine, and I was oblivious.

Would you be interested in mining out some clues if I told you that when you do, you may have discovered one of the most powerful life and success principles known to humanity?  And that if you master this one skill, the transformation in your own life, to say nothing of your influence and circumstances, can be breathtaking?

Am I exaggerating?  No, if anything I’m understating the potential of this discovery.

Getting this – I mean really getting it – can explain why you tend to sabotage yourself after you’ve made progress toward a goal.

It may explain why churches or individual leaders lose their influence, or why they nourish it.

It may explain why you have made progress toward healing, then somehow hit a wall.

It may explain why your relationships go in frustrating cycles – hot today, cold tomorrow… intimate today, lonely later.

Finding this secret is like discovering a clock on your wall that’s been there the whole time, quietly ticking away, pointing to the correct time, but you may have never noticed it.  In one sense it’s obvious – in another, it probably calls for a closer look than you have given it.

Will it help you win the lottery?  Doubtful.  But it could lead you to a place where you never pine away for sudden wealth again.

Will it solve all your relationship problems?  Maybe, maybe not.  But it will position you to gain the most from every relationship you have or want to have, whether others cooperate or not.

I wish I could tell you that this secret has been locked away in some government vault and is now being released to a select few, and that if you pay me $3,999.00 I will share it with you, along with seven free bonus offers.  But the thing is, this secret has been in open view for anybody to see – and it’s free.

Still here?  Ready?  Okay, no more hype.  [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Maybe It’s Time for a New Banner

by Andy Wood on June 24, 2015

in 100 Words, Conversations, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Insight, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Legacy

(A Brief Conversation about symbols and change and heritage and hate and other awkward things…)

What’s wrong with it?  It represents who I am.

It also represents some things you don’t want to be.

It’s my heritage!

Some would say it’s hatred. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Ten Lessons My Daddy Taught Me

by Andy Wood on June 19, 2015

in Five LV Laws, Insight, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Legacy, Turning Points

Grandpaw and Archer

(My dad with Great-Grandchild #9, Archer Wiley)

 

I’ve been simmering on this for a while, and I figured since I’m away from home this Father’s Day, this would be a good day and a good way to honor my dad.  My daughter Carrie did this for me last year and reposted it again here.   I also wrote this about what I learned from my Mama last year.

Regardless of the many influences and teachers I’ve been blessed by over the years, none of them has taught or influenced me more than my dad. I have mentioned often that I was blessed to have a father who actually wanted to be a dad and influenced me to want to be one.  With 8 grandkids of my own now, I would say that desire has definitely passed through to another generation.

There are many practical things my dad taught me over the years, including how to drive a nail, play dominos, put on a jacket without bunching up your sleeve, ride a bicycle, and bathe the 36 different body parts that need cleaning up every day.

But what interests me most are the ideas that still speak to me today as principles.  These are transferrable to almost any endeavor. I could just as well title this, “Ten Things My Dad Would Teach to Pastors,” or “Ten Things My Dad Could Teach to School Teachers.”

So here, in no certain order, are ten lessons that still speak to me most every day.  I’m sure there are many more than this, but these are for starters.  See if they don’t speak to you on some level, while my daddy says, “Your welcome!” [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Elisabeth Elliot on Waiting

by Andy Wood on June 17, 2015

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

elisabeth-elliot-missionary

Elisabeth Elliot is one of the most impactful writers I have read. She was always on my bucket list of people I hoped to meet one day.  We’ll now have to plan for that in glory, as she went into the presence of Jesus two days ago.  I thought I would share with you something from her book Loneliness about the subject of waiting.  The writing is hers; the editing is mine.  Thank you, Elisabeth, for being one of my lifevestors…

Many times in my life God has asked me to wait when I wanted to move forward.

He has kept me in the dark when I asked for light.

To my pleas for guidance His answer has often been, “Sit still, My daughter.”  [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →