(Cool things I’ve heard somebody pray, #2… You can find #1 here.)
One of my favorite things to do when we had elders meetings was to spend time praying for each other. Sometimes we’d share where we were in life, then intentionally ask the men there to pray for someone else in the room, based on what that person had talked about.
Someone had shared a pretty heavy request, and my friend Michael was praying for him. And Michael said something to the Lord that stopped me in my tracks:
“There’s nothing too big for a God like you.”
This was more than an intellectual acknowledgement or a theological affirmation.
It. Was. Worship.
It was a faith declaration that suddenly made the prayer need seem not so ominous or obnoxious. And it reminded me of Who it was we were talking to in the first place. [click to continue…]
There seems to be a for Dummies book for everything – over 1,600 titles and growing. They must be doing something right. For 20 years, Wiley has published “a reference for the rest of us” covering such far-ranging titles as running a bar, acne, Windows, and wikis. There’s one for Christian prayer and yes, one for leadership. The premise for each of the books is always the same: keep it simple and clear, offer cheat sheets, keep it light-hearted, and give easy-to-comprehend “get in, get out” tips.
With all due respect, maybe it’s time for a different approach. Maybe instead of presuming ignorance and moving up from there, somebody should presume that he or she is writing to geniuses.
They just may not know it yet.
Nowhere is that more real than in the area of leadership. Often both leaders and non-leaders approach the subject as if becoming a leader is a power we gain to overcome weaknesses, information we gather to overcome ignorance, or favor we gather to overcome anonymity.
But what if you already had the power, the understanding, or the favor? What if you’re already a leader, but just didn’t know it because nobody ever seems to recognize your unique genius? What if you’re beating your head against the wall trying to get better in an area where you routinely stink it up – all the while ignoring or running from areas of your greatest power and influence?
Maybe it really is time for a different approach. How about Leadership for Geniuses? [click to continue…]
This image disturbs me on many levels.
Yeah, it really does get faster and faster. There are more birthdays to remember (or forget).
(Let’s see… when was my son-in-law’s? Today? Tomorrow?)
I’m definitely Moving at the Speed of Life.
There are more demands – many of them self-imposed. I’m at that point in life where I know I can get more done – just sleep an hour less or (my favorite) multi-task. After all, time’s wasting! I’m smarter now than I’ve ever been, I have lots of unfinished business, and I can sleep when I’m dead.
Right?
Just keep Moving at the Speed of Life.
There are more opportunities or distractions, depending on how you interpret them. I’m at a point in my life where I am incredibly grateful for all the opportunities I have and, truth be told, a little scared to say no when another one presents itself. I’m old and scarred enough to recognize there are no guarantees, and still young enough to say yes when the right ones come along.
I only get one of these, and I’m still Moving at the Speed of Life.
Stop. [click to continue…]
Somewhere not far from you, in an undisclosed location (they like to keep it that way), a group of ants is planning for winter. Methodically, laboriously, they’re hauling whatever it is that ants eat into a safe place. Though I’m sure they’re tempted to nibble on the profits, they resist the temptation to consume today. Instinctively they know that they must work now for the time when either they can’t work, or there won’t be resources available.
In the Middle East there dwells a little furry critter – something like a cross between a chipmunk and a badger. (In other words, he sings like an angel, but he’s in a really bad mood!) Seriously, this little mammal is something like a Rocky Mountain version of a prairie dog. He has no natural defenses, yet easily protects himself from predators. His secret? He makes his home in the little crags between the rocks. There he remains safe while his enemies get a sore nose.
[click to continue…]
He was quite the lover of the chase, this man, I think in England. He loved the sound of the baying hounds as they echoed through the woods – sometimes far away, sometimes close by.
One morning he rose early to that splendid sound… 20 deer hounds or so, baying wildly in pursuit of their target.
Looking out toward a broad, open field in front of him, the man saw a young deer – a fawn – making its way across.
Exhausted.
Afraid.
At the end of its strength. [click to continue…]
Got caught in my underwear last week.
Not literally – you can exhale and imagine something less disturbing. But what I experienced was on a similar emotional and mental level.
It’s been a c-r-a-z-y season time-wise for me for about the last month. I generally stay pretty busy, but this was my version of silly season – the time demands were beyond ridiculous. And under that kind of stress, I tend focus on what I do well and throw everything else into automatic pilot.
Probably not a good plan. In fact, not much of a plan at all – I was pretty much in survival mode. And so, in the process of focusing on what absolutely had to be done and what I’m good at, I dropped my guard over my weaknesses. And boy did they show up in some embarrassing ways.
Weaknesses are like underwear. We all have them but most of us would prefer not to expose them to the world. And we spend quite a bit of energy or money covering them up. [click to continue…]
It’s a common church house scene.
In baskets, bags, plates or boxes, churches collect money for something they call an offering.
The functional reality: congregations can’t offer what they haven’t first collected.
Same goes for individuals. [click to continue…]
Tucked inside a rapid-fire to-do list in the Bible is a simply-carved roadmap into the hearts of other people. After Paul suggests how believers can get along with their persecutors, and before he suggests how we can get along with other believers (that’s a much longer suggestion), he gives this encouragement:
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”(Romans 12:15).
A simple phrase. But a world of meaning packed in these simple instructions. [click to continue…]
As long as people have searched for direction, worshipped their Creator, and looked for language to express their passion and warmth, we have returned again and again to stand by the fire.
The fire was an agent of God’s guidance and an ongoing expression of worship in the days of the tabernacle. And we kept returning to stand by the fire.
A refiner and cleansing agent of the hearts of men, the fire was a symbol of God’s hatred for sin and an affirmation for the prophets who spoke His truth. And again and again, we kept returning to stand by the fire.
The fire was a weapon of God’s voice, a light in the darkness, and an expression of hospitality and welcome. And from the dark places and lonely spaces, still we kept coming to stand by the fire.
The fire revealed a passion for God’s word in our bones, the baptism of the believer, the instrument of God’s testing, and the piercing gaze of the risen Christ. And out of desperation or terror, love or longing, still we kept coming to stand by the fire.
And even today the Spirit and Bride invite you to come. To be warmed and convicted and cleansed and restored and pure as you stand by the fire. [click to continue…]
Lord, what are mortals, that you notice them;
mere mortals, that you pay attention to us?
We are like a puff of wind;
our days are like a passing shadow (Psalm 144:3-4).
As this shadow passes across another year, what’s obvious on the playground becomes clearer in life: the further away from that initial push, the shorter the passes are.
So… [click to continue…]
(Cool things I’ve heard somebody pray, #2… You can find #1 here.)
