John W. Drakeford
Dr. John Drakeford had an open-door policy. Yes, the counseling icon, who pioneered a Christ-centered approach to psychology and counseling, had a rule that whenever his office door was open, any student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary could walk in.
But that’s not the open door policy to which I refer.
Dr. Drakeford also had this thing about the door to his classroom. He saw to it that it remained open at all times, propped so by a chair. Without fail, when a student arrived a bit late to class, he/she would grab that available chair, and the classroom door would swing shut.
“Suh, suh!” Dr. Drakeford would say in his beautiful Australian accent. “Could you choose another seat? I like to keep the door propped open in case of fire or something.”
I don’t think anybody else in the room believed that propping two swinging doors open would stop any of us from getting the heck outta’ there if the building was burning down. But who wants to argue with the author of Psychology in Search of the Soul?
One day, right in the middle of one of Drakeford’s fascinating lectures, somebody nabbed the empty chair and took off down the hall. I believe to this day it was a prank. [click to continue…]
Pastors get lots of interesting questions. You be the pastor for a minute and answer this one I once received:
Does God like to have fun? What does God do for fun?
What would you say? To me, it’s a sad commentary on our Christianity when someone even has to ask the first question. But both questions deserve an answer, or at least a thought. Here, for what it’s worth, is mine. Click on the comments link below and share yours.
Does God like to have fun? You bet he does! Have you ever seen a platypus? Or a puppy? Or a picture of me?
Does God like to have fun? Of course! Why else would he put two sisters in the same family, and give one straight blonde hair and the other one curly dark hair? In fact, why else would He create everybody so differently? [click to continue…]
LifeVesting is about creating a compelling future and leaving a legacy long after your life here is done.
How do you want to be remembered? Here are a couple of ways I don’t recommend. One is pretty funny – the other, painfully sad.
The Man Who Got Shot and Arrested for Robbing a Drug Store with a Caulking Gun
The Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram reported on August 15 that a 24-year-old man, John Wilkinson, of Big Spring, walked into a West Texas pharmacy carrying what looked like a gun wrapped in a dark cloth, and demanding Xanax and hydrocodine.
After getting the drugs from the drug store, Wilkinson tried to make his escape, but realized he had locked his keys in his running car in front of the store. So he took off running on foot.
He was shot by police.
He’s not dead, though.
Just under arrest for suspicion of armed robbery after being treated for the gun shot.
Oh, and John’s weapon of choice? A caulking gun.
Not sure what he would have done had the druggist challenged him. I guess he would have waterproof-sealed him to death.
The World’s Most Honest Obit
The following obituary was posted a couple of weeks ago in the Napa/Sonoma Times Herald. It was confirmed to be real here. Brace yourself…. [click to continue…]
(A Turning Point Story)
“Hi, I’m Butch, and I’m an alcoholic.”
He didn’t say it exactly like that the first time I talked to him. But two minutes into my first conversation with Butch Lowrey, I knew he had been visiting my church, he was a recovering alcoholic, and that he liked what I was preaching. Butch introduced me to a spiritual program that had changed his life and stopped his drinking forever. I attended his second A.A. birthday party, and eventually became his sponsor. No doubt about it, though. I learned more from him than he ever learned from me.
“Nothing in God’s world happens by mistake.”
Butch believed that, and said it often. As part of his recovery, there were many other spiritual truths he stood on, and repeated. Truths such as: “If all your problems could solved by money, you don’t have a problem,” and, “You’ve just got to let go and let God.”
He also learned a rare and refreshing kind of honesty. On one occasion he said, “People in [this] county are committed to making everyone else just as miserable as they are.” Later he told me, “Andy, you preach long because you like to hear yourself talk. You’re just on an ego trip.” He was smiling, of course. [click to continue…]
Tense Truth: I must learn to accept the world and its circumstances as it is, not as I would have it. I must also learn to take courageous action to be an agent of change. The wisdom to know the difference is found in the discipline of hearing God’s voice.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Contentment and Change decided to play table tennis one day. I was the ball. Can you relate?
Serve: Be grateful for all you have.
Return: Do something to change the world!
Rest in the Lord. Wait quietly for Him.
Press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ.
Be still.
Get off your butt.
Surrender.
Seize every opportunity.
Be content!
Don’t be complacent!
Don’t be covetous.
Be courageous.
Wow. I’m tired, and I’m not ever keeping score. I’ve never bothered to even count the number of times I’ve zigged (tried to change something) when I should have zagged (been content with the situation). Or vice-versa – when the call was to hit the ground running, I hit the hay. [click to continue…]
“Who is the leader?” Dad wanted to know. His son was watching cartoons, and Erwin McManus was asking him to explain the characters and tell him what was going on.
The boy, with great delight, began to tell all about his cartoon heroes.
Erwin thought he’d ask him a simple question about who the leader was, and his son gave him an astonishing explanation. Pointing to one of the characters, he said, “Well, that’s the leader.”
“How do you know?”
He said, “The leader always stays in the back and only gets involved when everyone else is about to die.”
There you have it: what McManus describes as the Marvel Comics Theory of Leadership (more here).
True, leaders are often perceived that way. But that’s not how leaders emerge, or how they last in the world where characters actually breathe. If you’re looking to:
- Hire/elect/promote a person to a place of leadership,
- Strengthen your own leadership abilities,
- Identify the extent to which you or someone else are actually leading people, or
- “Find the parade and get in front of it,”
then consider leadership from the front. Here, from followers’ perspectives, are seven ways to tell who the leader is.
[click to continue…]
Neville Davidson
Somewhere, sometime, somebody left a simple, small, cedar cross as an anonymous gift for someone they’d never meet.
Sometime later, on a spiritual retreat, a broken, blind, and deeply depressed man received that cross, and his life was changed. Now mine has been, too, because of how that man chose to rise from the depths of his pain. I’d like to share his story; Neville Davidson is a LifeVestor.
If you see the glass as half-empty, Neville has gotten a raw deal. Born in Warrenton, a small town between Liverpool and Manchester in the UK, his childhood memories are dotted with the sound of German bombs, forced relocation of himself and his siblings for their safety, and unceasing danger during World War II. Later, at age 26, Neville was told his wife had terminal bronchial pneumonia, and would have to move to a warm, dry climate. He considered an offer to move to Australia. But his sister had married an American GI, and moved to Lubbock, Texas. Neville chose family, and literally had to uproot his own household and start his life over in a place where he knew virtually no one. A few years later, his marriage dissolved.
Neville married Jenny, his wife today, in 1971. Just five years later, he developed a disease in one of his eyes, and lost his sight in that eye. In 1984, he completely lost the sight in his other eye. Neville’s world literally and figuratively became completely dark. [click to continue…]
So how’d the reaping go yesterday? How many times did you find yourself “serving” or servicing a decision you had made days, weeks or months earlier? OR, how many times did you find yourself being served by the good consequences of a decision?
I just got an email about yet another family that has been ripped apart because of a series of addictive choices by a husband/father. That makes five I’ve dealt with the last couple of weeks. The hopeful news is, this man’s past does not dictate his future. But it certainly has determined his present.
Meanwhile, in “Finantasy Land,” you don’t hear much talk about financial freedom these days. Other than economic politics, about the only thing you hear is, “Hey, good news! They’re having a sale at the gas station. Unleaded is down to $3.56 a gallon!” But I digress….
Wouldn’t it be good to know that you could simply, decisively establish a course that will add value to your future, either here, there, or in the air? What if there was a way to cut through the clutter and confusion, the knee-jerk pleasure seeking and sidewalk philosophy, and find a True North – a pathway that actually leads to a future of freedom?
There may be.
[click to continue…]
(A Turning Point Story)
Pam was 15 and pregnant. Somehow, in the wake of some poor choices, however, she made a good one. Pam decided not to get an abortion, and a young man – an all-star outfielder in his high school – lives today because of that decision. But Pam’s decision was costly, because her family didn’t approve. Pam needed a place to go. So at a time when our own children were four and two, Pregnant Pam came to live with us.
We helped arrange a private adoption, and the time came for Pam’s baby to be born. Robin was committed to walking with Pam through all of this, so she stayed at the hospital with her, and I kept the little ones at home. Having been through all of this together, the kids and I were excited about seeing Pam’s baby. So we planned a little trek up to Medical Center East in Birmingham.
Being something of a hospital veteran, I decided on this Saturday to go in through the Emergency Room. I herded my little brood through the waiting room, through the double doors, and into the elevator. After a delightful visit, we reversed the process – into the elevator, back through the double doors, breezing through the ER waiting room. The kids were walking ahead of me, self-assured and chattering away. They marched through the exit doors and started down the sidewalk toward the car.
[click to continue…]
I make my living with words. Because of that, like a great cook always on the lookout for new recipes, it’s always fun to me to hear of a new way of expressing ideas. Sometimes it’s clever and revealing; at other times it’s just dang funny.
More than anything else, however, having an updated arsenal of new vocab can give you lots of cool points at places where people gather to talk about stuff – places like water coolers, school gyms, or church foyers.
So in a humble attempt to help you exude coolness and impressiveness in your conversations, here are a few words you can toss into your next conversation. Of course, as with any new or strenuous activity, we at LifeVesting suggest you consult with a physician. Or at least practice in a mirror.
[click to continue…]
