In the world of archery, comfortable bows never launch arrows.
Until the bow is stretched to near-breaking, the arrow never fulfills its purpose or reaches its target.
I fear that our craving for comfort may be slowly killing us all because we’ve redefined the term. [click to continue…]
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So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes (John 12:35).
There is clarity (Light).
There is opportunity (a limited time).
There is action (walk).
Clarity without opportunity calls for waiting, not walking.
Opportunity without clarity calls for caution and connection.
When clarity and opportunity converge, this calls for action. [click to continue…]
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Imagine your life as various points on the highway. Fast Lane, Slow Lane, Shoulder, Ditch.
And at any given time, in any given area, you can be in one of those four.
Living in the Fast Lane means you’re getting where you’re going. You’re fulfilling your purpose.
In the Slow Lane you have a lot of movement, but you never quite seem to get there, wherever “there” is.
On the Shoulder, your “engine” is running, but you’re not moving ahead at all.
In the Ditch means you’ve crashed or are stuck, and without help you aren’t going anywhere.
Having punched my card in all four locations, I can tell you we’re all a mixed bag. You can be idling on the shoulder in one area, cruising in another, and crashed out in a third. So let’s break it down a little more. [click to continue…]
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A Colorado highway director went out to see firsthand the aftermath of a sudden blizzard that struck just at the start of a holiday weekend.
Some vehicles had slid off the road into a ditch or snow bank. Without help they were powerless to move.
Other cars were on the shoulder. Their engines were still running for the time being, but they were not moving forward at all.
Some cars were in the slow lane, cautiously moving forward, but at a pace that made timely arrival at their destination virtually impossible.
Still other vehicles were equipped to drive in the fast lane – some going steadily, some quickly, some dangerously fast, but all headed for their destination.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
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Hear now the parable of the Highway Director. [click to continue…]
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A.W. Tozer, in commenting on the difference between a yesterday and a today faith, wrote this:
We habitually stand in our now and look back by faith to see the past filled with God. We look forward and see Him inhabiting our future; but our now is uninhabited except for ourselves. Thus we are guilty of a kind of [temporary] atheism which leaves us alone in the universe while, for the time, God is not. We talk of Him much and loudly, but we secretly think of Him as being absent, and we think of ourselves as inhabiting a parenthetic interval between the God who was and the God who will be. And we are lonely with an ancient and cosmic loneliness.
Your capacity to believe God is the gateway to a life of power, usefulness, and joy. And yet during his earthly ministry, nothing caught Jesus by surprise more than the “people of God” or so-called “believers” not believing – living with that cosmic loneliness that Tozer wrote about.
“Where is your faith?” He would ask. [click to continue…]
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Everybody leads from the second chair. Everybody.
Kings and queens.
Presidents and popes.
CEOs and C-3POs.
Even Messiahs. [click to continue…]
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Don’t miss the miracle.
Don’t get fixated on the “only one way” to find light and life and healing and power. Don’t let the miraculous wonder pass you by while you wait for things to be done your way, or the way they’ve always been done in the past.
Listen for the call.
Hear the voice of compassion.
Let faith arise and take Him at His word.
Step boldly in the direction of your dreams and His power.
Find glory in a Father who doesn’t abide by your limited expectations. [click to continue…]
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It’s the elephant in your room. It may well be the first thing that people who know you think of when asked about you. But maybe it’s been a part of your architecture so long, you’ve put a lamp shade on it and called it decorations.
I’m talking about something all of us have. The things we wish were different, but check back with us five years from now and our “elephant” is still there. It’s what I call our PWGA. The Problem that Won’t Go Away.
You may refer to it in different language. You may use words like “weakness,” or “cross to bear.” By now you may address it as the “same old same old” or as I did once in reference to my New Year’s resolutions: “Oh, you know, the usual.”
For many people, their PWGA is something that is heart-rending. Something they’ve asked or even begged God to fix, heal, or otherwise change. And yet the PWGA remains.
For other people, a PWGA is a problem requiring a solution they aren’t willing to apply. I know two words that can fix some people’s PWGA: “I’m sorry.” Or their nuclear cousin: “I was wrong.” But that’s too high a price for some people to pay. They’d rather live with the problem.
Some people have PWGAs that they are convinced have solutions. But they haven’t yet found those solutions and don’t know how to leverage their relationship with God to address it.
By now you probably have one or more of your own PWGAs floating around in your mind. Hold that thought. I want to introduce you to another guy. [click to continue…]
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Once upon a time, long ago a man was sent on a mission. His responsibilities were clearly laid out and for a while he kept them. But one night he went for a walk and found himself lost.
Lost.
And in the domain of a foreign kingdom.
He was hungry. He was tired. He no longer had the resources provided for him by those who sent him. So he asked for help from the kingdom where he was a trespasser.
That didn’t go well. [click to continue…]
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Look behind you.
Not literally; behind me right now is the back of a chair.
Metaphorically speaking, look behind you, and you’ll probably find somebody following you. They may be following your instructions, following your example, or even following your dreams. They may be following your words and images on social media, but that’s not the same thing.
Look beside you and guess what? You’ll find people following there, too. They may position themselves more as friends or colleagues, but they make sure to stay in your orbit. In NASCAR they call this “side drafting.” And people are probably side drafting you, whether you realize it or not.
Let me pause here to roll my eyes and tell you – again – that even if you don’t think of yourself as a leader, you are. Everybody influences somebody. Somebody looks to you as the person to obey, the example to follow, the partner to collaborate with, or the sense maker in their times of uncertainty or confusion.
That leads to the Big Question then… Where are you leading them?
All you need to do to find the answer to that question is look ahead. [click to continue…]
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