Somewhere near you there’s a frustrated pastor whose tried-and-true methods for leadership or church growth he has spent much of a lifetime developing aren’t working anymore. He’s too passionate to quit, but too tired to start over.
Somewhere down the road is an organization that once was the hallmark of success because of its ways of doing ministry or business. The strategy it perfected was brilliant and worked when others failed. Until it quit working as effectively.
Somewhere nearby a young man is giving up on everything he knew of the Faith as a boy. Why? Because his boyhood faith doesn’t give him answers to his adult realities and temptations. The problem is, he doesn’t yet have a man-sized faith to take its place.
In all three of these scenarios, as described in the previous post, somebody’s system was breaking down… And God has them right where He wants them. [click to continue…]
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day (2 Peter 3:8, NAS).
A Thousand Summers and a thousand more,
Your bride has waited and anticipated
That “blessed hope” You spoke in the language of forever.
Knowing we were born and born again for this,
We will hold on to Your promise and, if need be
Wait a Thousand Summers more.
So we wait, but never barren of Your presence,
And we hope, but never void of Your great care.
So we serve, with boldness standing on the promise
That a Thousand Summers never can compare. [click to continue…]
This is for the gifted speaker or preacher who just can’t seem to get his point across. It’s for the exceptional teacher whose students this time just aren’t getting it.
This is for the counselor who isn’t making any difference whatsoever, or the business innovator who’s just run out of ideas as his organization is falling into the abyss.
This is for the genius sailor who just met up with the perfect storm.
It’s for the career fisherman who’s fished all night and caught nothing.
You may need to brace for impact.
You may need to prepare to be disturbed… not by how hard things are to you at your point of genius, but by how senselessly easy they are for Jesus when He shows up. [click to continue…]
There’s no arguing that you’re busy. No question that whatever you do or don’t get done today, plenty will be waiting for you tomorrow. Yet somehow you can’t help but feel a little like Rip Van Winkle. At least a part of your life has been asleep at the wheel, and you’re wondering how you got left behind.
Maybe it was your finances. Maybe your relationships. Maybe it was your professional life, or your grasp on what’s cool in the culture. Regardless, you can’t help but feel alone, isolated from the pulse and vibrant sensations of a life of awareness and relevance.
You’re busy, but suddenly awakened to the fact that you’re living in obscurity.
+++++++
You have the restless sense that something is broken, and you’re called to fix it. Something’s missing in the church and/or the world. The church and its message seem choked of life and the world and its values are increasingly hostile. And there you stand, somewhere in the middle. You have a sense of calling; a fire of truth burns in your belly and you’ll die if you don’t get it out there.
And yet, despite the confidence you have in your place in God’s plans, nobody’s giving you a chance to actually live it. Nobody’s interested in what you have to say; nobody’s taking what you’re offering. You’re reaching out in love to anybody who will listen, and they’re responding like birds to a scarecrow.
So there you stand, heart and arms outstretched in desperate obscurity.
+++++++ [click to continue…]
Dani has her days and nights mixed up. She’s driven to finish her degree and excited about the possibilities of life after school, but her brain and body are also fatigued. She feels like sleeping when she’s awake, but can’t quite shut it all off mentally when she’s supposed to be sleeping. Dani has a weary soul. And her weary soul is receiving the call to Wait in the Stillness.
Allen is on the verge of something great. His ministry organization has experienced a funding breakthrough, which has made it possible to launch an entire new division overseas. He’s doing Kingdom work, and for months he has lived at the glorious intersection of waiting and working – where anticipating collides with diligence. So why does this mid-40s man, who is otherwise in such good health, find it so easy to well up with tears for no apparent reason? Allen has a weary soul. And his weary soul is receiving the call to Wait in the Stillness.
Teresa is grateful for the progress. Day in and day out, working with little Pauley, she has seen such growth in her little son with special needs. Compared to this time last year, both of their worlds have dramatically changed for the better. But driving home from the latest meeting with Pauley’s case worker, Teresa catches a heart-glimpse of how far – how very far – her boy and she have to go. And something inside her screams, “Give it up! You’ll never get there.” Teresa has a weary soul. And her weary soul is receiving the call to Wait in the Stillness.
To live in a broken world, teeming with peril and possibilities, is to shoulder a load that defies your own strength. You may look at somebody else’s yoke and feel sorry for them, or feel sorry for yourself. Either way, your own life challenges are enough. And at some point, assuming you care at all, you will find yourself pushing against your own weariness of soul. [click to continue…]
In a world that’s fall-down-drunk on the idea of self-everything I have some good news that may not come across as good news.
You have a keeper.
Not like keep-you-in-a-cage, though I’m quite sure that’s how some people would interpret it.
More like faithful protector, watcher, provider, attender. And keeping for your Keeper is as natural as being human is for you.
The Lord keeps all who love Him…( Ps 145:20a).
I love Psalm 145 because it contains a long list of the practical attributes of God, as His followers experience Him. Things like gracious and merciful and righteous and sustaining, to name a few. But here’s one I’ve never paid much attention to before now. It is the Lord’s nature and faithful character to keep those who love Him. [click to continue…]
One of the most charming words in the English language is the word “promise.” Do you realize that so much of what we experience, of what we know about God, of our spiritual maturity, and of our success or failure in the Christian life has something to do with how we respond to the promises of God? Check this out:
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God (2 Corinthians 7:1, NLT)
We do not want any of you to grow slack, but to follow the example of those who through sheer patient faith came to possess the promises (Hebrews 6:12, Phillips).
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires (2 Peter 1:4, NLT).
To put it simply, we are People of the Promise. So let me get nosey a minute. What are you trusting God to do today that only He can do? Where is the evidence in your life that God is keeping His word to you? What is there about your life that can only be explained by the faithfulness of a loving God?
The original card-carrier for People of the Promise was a man named Abraham. And we can learn some things from his example. [click to continue…]
(A Conversation)
Quiet.
Quiet?
Yeah, quiet. You ask how I am… I’m quiet.
In what way? Are you upset?
No. I don’t think so. Just quiet.
Worse ways to be, I guess.
I suppose so.
And what brought you to this place of being so quiet?
I guess it all started with this sense of yearning – of longing for something more in my walk with the Lord.
That’s a good thing.
Sure, ‘til I realized what’s in the way.
Which is…? [click to continue…]
Janie had an appointment with God. And the Lord didn’t show up. He’d always been pretty good at keeping the times Janie had set for Him – mostly in the little things like daily blessings and answered prayer. But this was a big one, and the Lord didn’t keep His end of the bargain.
See, Janie just knew that God was going to give her a husband, and she knew who it would be. Chuck was obviously God’s choice for her… how else could she explain all the little coincidences, the magic feeling in her heart, and even those confirming verses she read in scripture.
Apparently, however, the Lord forgot to clue Chuck in on the plan, and the big guy had plans of his own.
Janie was devastated. And more than that, she was bewildered. She had been so sure in her heart. But somebody missed God, or God missed somebody. And the result? Janie’s appointment with God ended up as a dis-appointment.
Same thing happened to Chuck with regard to his career, though he wouldn’t call it that. To Chuck it was more of a calling. [click to continue…]
Wanna get away? Want some great in-flight entertainment? Just take a trip with your favorite three-year-old. And try making a list of all the questions you hear. Here, hot off the press, is a partial sampler from a flight we took this past Friday.
What’s amazing is how many of the questions are the same when we’re 33 or 55. We just develop questions behind the questions as we get older. The rest of this is written by Mr. Cohen Thomas (he just doesn’t know it yet)…
Why are we not going?
Are we going down?
[After passing through the clouds] Where is God?
Are we almost to Disney Wouwd? (World)
What’s that button for?
Why are we not going to Grandma and Granddaddy’s house?
Are we almost to Disney Wouwd?
Why are we going to be there tonight?
Why? [click to continue…]
