UPDATE: The giveaway has been moved to Tuesday, May 29. (Forgot it was Memorial Day Weekend.)
(Shameless Plug: Be watching Sunday, May 27, for our first-ever prize giveaway.)
The Thanksgiving holiday is still a long way off. The turkeys are still strutting around the barnyard as if life will go on forever.
Nobody’s playing football on TV, though I did hear that Peyton has started working out with his new team and somebody else has joined the sue-the-NFL club.
School is out this week in a lot of places, so maybe families will be getting together for the Memorial Day Weekend holiday. But I fear as a nation we’re just as thankless on Memorial Day as we typically are on the fourth Thursday in November.
So. Since nobody’s going around the table making you share what you’re thankful for, what are you thankful for? Since you haven’t eaten yourself into a ‘bout-to-pop stupor, what are you thankful for? Since nobody is having a pre-Christmas sale right now (that I know of), what are you thankful for? [click to continue…]
I know I’m not supposed to worry.
But…
I know I should have more faith in God.
But…
I know this should be an easy, clear decision.
But…
I want to pursue this direction.
But…
I long ago lost count of the number of times a counseling or coaching encounter started there. Here’s what I know. Here’s what I should be. Here’s what I want.
But…
These are the starting points of conversations about something we all encounter – core conflicts. [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…]
Friday I was on my way to Virginia to make a presentation at a Servant Leadership conference. So I guess it was safe to say I had leading-by-serving on the brain…
I walk up to the ticket counter of the Dallas-based airline that will remain nameless (though I will point out that they don’t advertise that bags fly free).
Next to me is a fellow traveler who was trying to check her two bags. Here is the gist of the conversation… [click to continue…]
Watch the video, then let’s talk (yeah, that’s me doing the voiceover).
Here’s a bit of thoughtful Bible trivia for you: what was it that enabled David to kill the giant, Goliath?
There are a number of possible answers, of course. A rock in the middle of the forehead was certainly helpful. David’s faith in God was essential. His skill and courage were an asset.
But I believe there was one catalyst that made David stand out among the armies of Israel. In a badly-translated King James verse, David asked his brother, “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29).
[click to continue…]
When the armies of Napoleon swept over Europe, one of his generals intended to make an attack on the little town of Feldrich on the Austrian border. It was Easter, and as Napoleon’s great army maneuvered nearby, the citizens hurried together to decide whether to surrender or to attempt a defense, futile as it seemed the effort would be.
The pastor of the church remarked, “We have been counting on our own strength, and that will fail. This is the day of our Lord’s resurrection. Let us ring the bells and have service as usual, and leave the matter in God’s hands.” The council accepted his plan, and in a few minutes the bells were chiming out joy over their Lord’s resurrection.
Napoleon’s army misunderstood the meaning of the ringing bells, decided they were announcing the arrival of Austrian reinforcements, broke camp and retreated from the area as fast as possible! God honored those who worshipped the risen Christ even in the presence of possible death, and used their worship to drive away the enemy!
An old book title says it well: There’s Dynamite in Praise!
If there is any greater untapped resource than prayer among God’s people today, it is praise. [click to continue…]
Pssst.
Over here.
I have something you need to see.
I’m not showing it to anybody else yet because I wanted you to be the first to take advantage of it. But next week it goes public. And this won’t be a secret for very long. This is a once-in-a lifetime…
(wait for it…)
…yeah, that.
Opportunity. It’s an often-used, sometimes over-used concept. Americans throw it around as if we own the copyright to the term. You can see and hear it everywhere… [click to continue…]
You don’t have to read through this site very long to figure out that music flavors a lot of my thinking. I often tell people that I almost always have a song on my mind, and it’s often very random. (I’d rather not tell you what song is there right now, but it does have the phrase “freakin weekend” in it).
Hey, I never said they were all spiritual.
Anyway…
Like a lot of people, I love the idea of new ways of expressing things – of what the Bible calls “singing a new song to the Lord.” And I get tired pretty quickly of rehashing the same-old same-old.
That said, there are some songs that defy time and never seem to lose their place in the hearts of people. They may not be on this week’s Billboard Top 100, but they never lose their ability to capture the imagination and connect to the soul. They’re the songs we can sing forever.
For example, my grandmother absolutely loved music. She loved to sing it, play it, and hear it. But something completely changed in her countenance when somebody started in on “Amazing Grace.” It was a song she could sing forever. [click to continue…]
Bahar: You guys from around here?
Igal: Not exactly.
Palti: It’s complicated. Who wants to know?
Bahar: Name’s Bahar. My family and I are on our way to Jericho and I think we made a wrong turn back there at the watering hole. I thought maybe you could give us some directions.
Igal: Well if you don’t mind me sayin’, it looks as though you brought the whole caravan with you.
Palti: This isn’t a trip to see the in-laws, is it?
Bahar: No, we’re looking for a new home. There are rumors of a foreign invasion and I hear that Jericho is the safest place in Canaan.
Igal: Oh it’s safe, all right.
Palti: Biggest walls I’ve ever seen.
Bahar: So you’ve been there?
Igal: Not exactly.
Palti: It’s complicated. We sorta saw it from a distance.
Bahar: So how do you get there from here?
Igal: I’d try a camel.
Palti: My friend thinks he’s a comedian. [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…]
