The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1, ESV)
There’s something you should know, though I’m not very proud to say it.
I’m an ex-con.
Ex-convict? No.
Ex-condemned? You betcha.
Ex-consequences? Uh huh.
Ex-con man? ‘Fraid so.
I lived on the wrong side of a legal system for a long time, and wound up in prison. But don’t go looking for my name in some Federal or state criminal records. I haven’t messed with Texas that much. [click to continue…]
If only I could love them enough…
To unfeel her pain
To unmake his choices
To unmedicate her sickness
To unreap his consequences
Surely there’s a way…
To fill a bottomless void
To fix brokenness-in-motion
To free him from self-made prisons
To find for her what keeps getting lost
To forgive for him what he can’t forgive himself
Short of that, I must…
Admit how powerless I am
Believe in a Redeemer more gracious and alive than I
Turn it over, turn it over, turn it over,
And (hardest of all)…
Leave it.
Leave it.
Leave it in His hands.
Doc Johns wasn’t a doctor; he was a pharmacist. But ever since Bo Brannon ripped his eyelid on a pretty mean briar while playing Capture the Flag at night on an old lake bed and proceeded to bleed like a stuck pig, Marion J. Johns became known to us as “Doc.” As Bo was howling at the invisible moon, sure that life as he knew it was over, somebody in the Boy Scout troop said, “Let’s take him to Jeff’s dad… he’s a doctor!”
So Doc it was. Bo lived; his gaping wound by night was just a pretty ugly scratch by day. And Doc Johns – then the Assistant Scoutmaster, had a new name. [click to continue…]
I went to the Fred Flintstone School of Golf. Simple philosophy: when in doubt, hit the ball really hard. When not in doubt, hit the ball really hard.
Maybe you’ve heard that old saying about golf – “You drive for show, and putt for dough.” Suffice it to say, I’ve never made any money hitting a ball in a hole with a stick. I have, however, put on a show or two by hitting a ball off a stick.
All of that is fine and fun, so long as you’re dealing with woods and wedges. Life, however, is a different story. A mere proverb in the Gentleman’s Game is brutal reality in the real world:
It’s not how you drive, but how you arrive.
Not how you start, but how you finish. Magilla Gorilla and Fred Flintstone need not apply.
Life is filled with real and proverbial stories of people who started well, but finished poorly. Rather than leaving a heritage, with inspiring and ennobling footsteps to follow, their names and stories are relegated to footnotes and questions that begin with, “Whatever happened to…”?
It’s up to you. Will you be a driver, or an arriver? I must warn you, if you decide to go the distance, the deck is stacked against you. This is a marathon, not a dash, and you’re surrounded by gloriously mediocre runners and a grandstand full of fat critics. But you do have a Coach – the Lord Jesus, Author and Finisher of your faith. Under His direction, you’ll learn to identify these six fool makers and finish breakers: [click to continue…]
Remember the story Aesop told about the goose and the golden egg? The implications and applications are powerful, so let’s take another look.
The fable is about a poor farmer who one day discovered in the nest of his pet goose a glittering golden egg. At first, he thought it must be some kind of trick. But as he started to throw the egg aside, he had second thoughts and took it in to be appraised instead.
The egg was pure gold! The farmer couldn’t believe his good fortune. He became even more incredulous the following day when the experience was repeated. Day after day, he awakened to rush to the nest and find another golden egg. He became fabulously wealthy; it all seemed too good to be true.
But with his increasing wealth came greed and impatience. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on April 17, 2009
in Allocating Your Resources, Consumers, Enlarging Your Capacity, Executing Your Plan, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Following Your Passion, Gamblers, Hoarders, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Money, Pleasers, Principle of Abundance, Protecting Your Investment, Waiting
This week a friend sent me a poignant and compelling image that describes what it’s like to live in a climate or with a spirit of fear. But the image is so strong, I think it describes anybody who feels as though they are in a no-win situation.
I feel like a grasshopper on the ocean hanging onto a leaf. I cling to the leaf to keep from drowning. If I eat the leaf to keep from starving, I lose my life preserver, and drown.
I’ll tell you later what he learned in the process. But can you relate? [click to continue…]
“Something’s wrong with your work.” The conversation eventually landed there.
A member of the denomination’s hierarchy delivered the critical review to a faithful old pastor during a prescribed periodic evaluation.
“Only one convert has been added to your church this year, and he is only a boy,” the boss said.
Later that same day, the pastor languished alone in his study, praying with a heavy heart, when someone walked up behind him. [click to continue…]
Five days of creation. Five days to speak a universe and earth into being. But for the first five days, as God created the stars and planets, the sea and land, and its teeming life, there was no one to speak back.
True, the angels brought Him praise, and creation tacitly spoke of his glory. But a voice was missing. A voice of intimacy, of image reflected. A voice of will – of determined love. A voice of faith and surrendered strength.
Day six. The climax of it all came when God breathed into the man the breath of life, and he became a living soul.
Imagine the Father’s delight as He introduced Adam to a universe of discovery. To show him the bumblebee or the giraffe, the caterpillar or the butterfly, the lion and the lamb. To see the childlike wonder in the grown man’s eyes as he witnessed this living Artist’s canvas for the first time. [click to continue…]
For thus says the high and lofty One — He Who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, but with him also who is of a thoroughly penitent and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the thoroughly penitent [bruised with sorrow for sin] (Isaiah 57:15, Amplified)
God is a life-giver. A God of revival. He revives the spirit of the contrite (literally “crushed”) and the heart of the broken. He is the God who raises from the dead.
But He can’t raise us if we aren’t dead.
My flesh, on the other hand, is content with half-life measures. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on March 17, 2009
in Enlarging Your Capacity, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Insight, Leadership, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Legacy
Maewyn Succat. Bet you never thought to hang that name on your son. But Maewyn wasn’t from around these parts, and his name apparently suited him as he grew up in his native Wales.
Maewyn had a pretty respectable upbringing. His granddaddy was a preacher, and his dad was a deacon – though rumor had it that Dad’s religious affiliations had more to do with tax deductions than spiritual passion.
In most ways, I suppose, Maewyn was your typical teenager. Times were tough, but youth is a time to dream of something better. No doubt this teenager had dreams, hopes, and plans to get there.
But all of that came crashing down when Maewyn’s family estate was attacked and he was abducted, placed in chains, and hauled off into slavery, far away from his home and his family.
What do you do when all you’ve ever known is ripped away from you? How do you respond when your dreams, your hopes, your family, and your heritage become distant memories or painful reminders of a life that once was?
Some children encounter such things at very early ages, and never remember their heritage or parents. Not Maewyn. He’d seen too much. Known too much. Missed too much. [click to continue…]