Quick question: What would you do if you knew that you only had 30 days to live the life you now have? After that, your will life will be completely redefined.
You aren’t dead – just relocated.
Every relationship: history.
Every past accomplishment: strictly a thing of the past.
Every possession: soon to be somebody else’s.
Maybe, for the sake of playing out the fantasy side of the question, it’s a witness relocation effort or something. But regardless, the clock is ticking, and life as you know it is drawing to a close.
What would you do? Who would you do it with? How would you approach the growing, grim reality? [click to continue…]
It’s a universal problem, I suppose. In more than 30 years of church work, one of the most common refrains I have heard (and generated, I’m sure) is, “I don’t like my pastor.”
I’ve heard it from every conceivable angle. Staff members who feel like they’re working for an isolated jerk. Church members who miss – or are tired of – the old guy. People who can’t stand the new guy. Heck, I’ve even met pastors who didn’t like themselves.
Little did I know there is a counseling hotline available for people to call for advice or to vent their frustrations. It’s called, appropriately enough, the “I Don’t Like My Pastor Hotline” – or “Idle Miff” for short.
Idle Miff is run by a guy named Big Al, who will only give his first name. His only other known credential: he was once a pastor himself. Rumor has it that Big Al has a gift for cutting to the issue… and cutting to the quick if he has to.
And for the first time ever, Big Al has agreed to an exclusive interview. Be amazed, friends.
Be amazed, too, that Big Al probably weighs about 130 pounds dripping wet.
It’s a busy day at Idle Miff, and Big Al, as always, is working the phones alone. Mondays are always his busiest day, he says, “for obvious reasons.” So we’ll just have to be OK to catch him between hotline calls.
Not a problem, says I. It’ll be fun to see him in operation. [click to continue…]
“I feel like a man with three dollars in my pocket. Maybe a quart in my tank. And what astounds me is how quickly I think about spending what little I have. I get a little bit back in my soul and I start thinking about advancing the Kingdom. People that need my help. I get a little bit of God back in my tank and I start thinking about who I need to pray for. Lord have mercy” (John Eldridge)
+++++++
Hi, I’m Andy, and I’m a fumaholic.
(All: “Hi Andy!”)
I’m really glad to be here tonight to share my experience, strength and hope with you. The First Step says that “we admitted we were powerless over our fumaholism, and that our lives had become unmanageable.” So tonight I thought I would share how my life got to that place.
I’d like to start with a couple of confessions… that is okay in a place like this, isn’t it?
(Room erupts with raucous laughter) [click to continue…]
Inside you lurks a deep desire.
It’s quiet, but compelling.
It’s one of the secrets of everything that motivates you – in fact, your deep, abiding happiness depends on it. Yet it’s so hidden, so behind-the-scenes, that if I were to ask you to list your strongest longings, I’m almost certain this wouldn’t make the list.
But it’s there. It’s powerful. And your response to it may well be the difference between addicted and sober.
Between ambition and actualization.
Between frustration and fulfillment.
The desire? [click to continue…]
What are you going to do with the resurrection of Jesus?
Let’s assume for a minute that you actually believe it. That three days after He was crucified, He actually rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.
Now what?
I guess you and I have to decide where to file that. We can be part of the 380. Or we can be part of the 120. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on March 10, 2010
in Ability, Consumers, Five LV Laws, Following Your Passion, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting
(What to Do When Your Brook Dries Up, Part 2)
In the last post I shared some ideas based on the experience of a prophet in the Bible named Elijah about what to do when we try to draw from familiar sources of support, provision (income), encouragement, or direction – only to find that they simply aren’t there anymore. In the two days since then, I have talked to
- a man who needed counsel and didn’t have a pastor,
- a missionary who has seen a significant decrease in support,
- a former lay leader in churches who is struggling to find a church home,
- a pastor whose congregation is struggling both financially and in attendance,
- a student whose marriage engagement has broken off,
- a church member in another city whose pastor was terminated, then abruptly died.
What they all have in common – in the language of Elijah’s experience, their “brooks have dried up.”
I fully expect that nearly half the conversations I have tomorrow will be in the same vein.
Bottom line: there are two kinds of people in the world [click to continue…]
Maybe it’s because I majored in history in college. Maybe it’s because I’m an explorer at heart (not always a good thing). Maybe it’s because I’m a typical man who hates to ask for directions, or maybe it’s because I often wind up in places I didn’t intend to go. But regardless of the reason, one of the most common questions I ask myself is, “How’d I wind up here?
That’s a pretty handy thing if you want to stay out of the bad neighborhoods, the dead ends, or the “I told you so’s” in the future.
But wouldn’t it be more helpful to have a bit of a roadmap ahead of time? Maybe to get some directions that apply to whatever path I or you think we’re on? [click to continue…]
Q. – Dad, why do you wait until Christmas Eve to do your Christmas Shopping?
A. – Because the stores are closed on Christmas Day.
Christmas has its own unique mashup of truth and myths, and every year somebody ultimately brings up both. I was asked on one occasion what my favorite Christmas myth was. I’d like to share my reply with you.
My favorite Christmas myth has nothing to do with Nativity scenes, jolly little fat men, or reindeer with nuclear sinus infections.
It has to do with people. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on October 28, 2009
in Ability, Consumers, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Pleasers, Principle of Abundance
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks for the pleasures God has designed for me to enjoy,
But no longer will I allow my life to be driven by the pursuit of pleasure.
I will no longer sacrifice joy on the altar of happiness.
I will never again measure my success by my ability to escape pain.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks for the material blessings God entrusts to me,
But no longer will I associate money with happiness.
Never again will I believe the lie that gain is godliness,
Or that my worth is measured by what I own.
From this day forward, I will use things and love people,
Not the other way around.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks to God for the ways
I can be a blessing to others.
I will accept with humility
The words of gratitude and honor I receive from others.
But I will never again live to please other men.
Today I choose to get off the pedestal,
Knowing that I don’t have to live in the gutter to do so.
I will find my honor in being no more than a man,
But no less than a child of God.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
And instead, I reach for the stars.
I will spend my life in pursuit of my God-given destiny.
By His grace I will fulfill the purpose for which
I was created and redeemed by Christ.
By His love I will touch the lives of those He died for.
And by His power
I will span the breech between time and eternity.
From this day forward,
I will seek dreams as big as the heart of my God
And visions as great as the need of this world.
And though through human failure
I may never see all those dreams come true,
When I stand to face my Lord and my God,
I pray He will see a heart determined to do exploits for His glory.
OK, so there’s this guy who’s asking his brother-in-law for a major favor. This isn’t like lending a wheelbarrow or babysitting the kids for a weekend. This order’s pretty tall. As in,
Could you leave your family?
Oh, and your country, too?
And help me babysit my family of three million?
Hey, what’s a family for?
And get this – all indications are that that the brother-in-law did it.
Curious yet? I sure would be, for several reasons: [click to continue…]
Quick question: What would you do if you knew that you only had 30 days to live the life you now have? After that, your will life will be completely redefined. 
