The Estate Sale

by Andy Wood on July 11, 2008

in Consumers, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, Money

Estate SaleI have eye-opening experiences in odd places.  I want to tell you about one that took place a few years ago at a house on 80th Street in Lubbock, a few houses away from where we used to live.  Our former neighbors were having an estate sale, and I have to confess, I’m a sucker.  So I strolled down to take it all in.  The sale was professionally managed, well organized, and quite thorough.  They were selling what appeared to be everything that wasn’t bolted to the walls or floor.

Like most estate sales, this was a trip back in time.  And somewhere amid the 8-track tapes, 70s-era stereo, and the costume jewelry, it happened.  Somewhere in my own mind, I was standing in the middle of my own estate sale.  Watching crowds of strangers pick over my treasures that, over the years, I had spent tens of thousands of dollars on.  Seeing them bargain with somebody over curtains or books or something – for dimes on the dollar, of course.  “Dear God,” I half-exclaimed and half-prayed, “tell me there’s more to my life than old stuff to be bartered over!”

As I continued to wander through the house, I could identify with the fun and excitement of this family as they had purchased that new appliance, received that special Christmas gift, or took advantage of those today-only prices and sales.  In so many ways, this was a typical American family.  Nice house.  Nice stuff, albeit touched by time.  And now all of it was being left behind.

It’s bad etiquette, I suppose, to actually ask about the people whose possessions we’re pilfering through.  Are they still living?  Do they have family?  Could I be standing next to their daughter or niece?  But I couldn’t help but wonder.  As I stood in what once was their home, I felt sure I was looking at a poor reflection of who these people really were.

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Oh, Those Golden Lippers

by Andy Wood on July 10, 2008

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, Money, Principle of Abundance, Tense Truths

RollsTense Truth:  God has established clearly-defined principles of life management that can make me prosper, and my tomorrow better than today.  Yet for his own good purposes, God will allow me to suffer in order to further the gospel, transform my character, and mature my faith. Regardless of the what the circumstances of the moment suggest, God is for me, and will reward faithfulness, to some degree in this life, and to a much greater degree in the next.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mention the word “prosperity” to American Evangelical Christians and you’ll get one of two responses.  The first is a kind of entranced smile – a brightened countenance very similar to the sheer delight we used to see from people at an Amway meeting.

The second is that uncomfortable, “what do you mean by that?” kind of look, suggesting that money is the world’s curse, and that people who have it must be materialistic swine or should somehow apologize or feel guilty.

So which are you?  “Amen?”  Or “Oh me?”  Or maybe, like me, you vacillate from one to the other.

The challenge with all this is that the Bible categorically promises success to people who live according to principles or laws that God has established.  “Everything he does will prosper,” the psalmist said in Psalm 1.  And check out those blessings mentioned by Moses in Deuteronomy.

That said, the Bible also deals with the apparent contradiction of that – the prosperity of the wicked.  Those mirroring psalms – 37 and 73 – both deal with that.  The wicked does have his day, the psalmist concludes, but God has a way of sorting things out in the end, when it matters most.

Meanwhile, in the New Testament, Jesus didn’t promise a life without tribulation.  On the contrary, He said we would have it, despite what people uniquely in America sometimes promise.  Our rewards are presented mostly as heavenly, post-life promises.  But even in places, such as here, there is the declaration that God has obligated Himself to meet all our needs.

So which is it?  Suffering in this age, followed by our eternal treasure in heaven?  Or timeless principles that work in the age to come, but also may be claimed, believed, and acted on here?

Yes.

Does God want you and me to be rich?

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Together Has Power

by Andy Wood on July 9, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle

Lone RangerIt’s not enough to be a team player.  To get things done, to be a leader, you’ll have to be a team builder.  Together has great power, and an isolated Christian has a fool for a companion.

A Stanford Business School study bears that out.  Researchers examined the qualities that companies look for in promoting young managers toward senior executive positions. The study concluded that one of the most important qualities required for great success in leadership is the ability to put together a team and function as a good team player. Since all work is ultimately done by teams, and the managers’ output is the output of the team, the ability to select team members, set objectives, delegate responsibility and get the job done, was central to success in management.

That’s bad news for all the Lone Ranger types.  But hey, even he had Tonto!

Together has power in four dimensions:

1.  Synergy.
Synergy is the concept that one plus one equals three.  You can do the work of one, and so can I.  But together, we can do the work of many times more.  That flies in the face of conventional wisdom.  Maybe you can do it better by yourself in the immediate circumstances, but in the long run, it’s always more productive to go together.

You’re probably not going to hear this at church Sunday, so let me go ahead and tell you now:  [click to continue…]

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Prosper

by Andy Wood on July 8, 2008

in Insight, Life Currency, Turning Points

(A Turning Point Story)

About 20 miles east of Denton, Texas a small ridge runs north and south along what people in Dallas know as Preston Road.  Visible from 10 miles away, all along the top and slope of that ridge rest the homes, churches, and schools of Prosper – a community of farmers and commuters to Dallas.  I had the first of what would be many of these picturesque views in September 1981, when I virtually limped there for a job interview.  Little did I know the significance that town would have in my life, family, and ministry to this day.  This is about the roads that led into, out of, and back into an unforgettable town nobody had ever heard of.

Four months earlier, I had loaded up all my earthly belongings in a Hertz rental truck, put my gorgeous Irish Setter puppy, Dixie, in the cab, and left Mississippi for Texas.  I was to start seminary in the fall, and thought I’d get a head start on a job and hopefully a church to serve.  I was so happy, so optimistic, I literally sang my own version of a Swaggert song:

On my way to heaven,

Stoppin’ off by Texas on the way!

I got a sales job representing the prestigious Ft. Worth Chamber of Commerce.  Rented a really nice house.  Was leaving a wonderfully successful youth ministry.  God was good!  Life surely would be good, too.

It didn’t turn out that way.  [click to continue…]

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Dude, Where’s My Phone?

by Andy Wood on July 7, 2008

in 100 Words

Hotline 3Problems are real.

Promises are important.

And the faith that clings to them often fragile.

That’s why it’s a good idea, if you’re offering yourself (or your church or organization) as the solution to somebody’s possibly-desperate problem, to make absolutely certain that somebody is there to answer the phone.

Or that the phone is actually there in the first place.

They may not be thinking about jumping off.

Maybe they just need a tank of gas…

A safe, friendly voice…

Or answers without religious jargon or clichés.

Maybe they just need to know where to find a phone that works.

 

 

 

(Photo – Taken on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge by Throwingbull.  Used by permission.)

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Smells Like Birthday Cake

by Andy Wood on July 4, 2008

in Spoofs

Our buddy Tim Hawkins is back with a new video spoof.  If you haven’t seen Cletus Take the Reel, check it out (it’s still my favorite).

This one’s of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – only this time it’s at a kids birthday party.  Every parent who’s ever hosted one or every kid who’s ever had one can relate.  (By the way, Cletus fans – look for his cameo appearance.)  Enjoy!

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The LifeVesting Principle of Abundance

by Andy Wood on July 3, 2008

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting

GrapesGod has established an ordered world based on eternal principles found in His word.  I’m not talking about so-called “principles” that preachers invent to make people feel good, then try to attach a random Bible verse to in order to sound legit to the church crowd.  I mean truths, grounded in His character, that apply to many different situations.  That’s the difference between a rule and a principle.  “Don’t commit murder” is a rule.  “Value life” is a principle.

That said, to the degree that we align our lives with God’s principles, we experience the fullness of God’s purpose in creating us in the first place.  And the root from which every other principle springs is that everything begins with, and culminates in, the glory of God.  You and I were created for his glory – to express His image, extend His life, and execute His will.  And in order to fulfill that purpose, we were given the awesome gift of one lifetime.

That’s it.  No Plan B.  No second chances as a toad or platypus.  You get one shot, with no guarantees of how long exactly that will be. But with that one lifetime, you receive the opportunity to produce consequences affecting your future, in both time and eternity.

LifeVesting is about understanding the possibilities and taking action in the direction of the compelling future and eternal reward that can be yours.  It revolves around five biblical principles.  You can find them expressed in a variety of images – agriculture, business, family relationships, even fishing.  But the principles are consistent, regardless of the metaphor.  Today I’d like to briefly explain the first one.

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The Watermelon Thieves

by Andy Wood on July 2, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Abundance, Turning Points

(A Turning Point Story)

Watermelon 2“Boys, if you want a watermelon, all you have to do is come knock on my door and ask.  I’ll give you all the watermelons you want.  But please, don’t steal my watermelons.”

You know where this is going, right?

I couldn’t help but laugh. A lot.  I was on the bus with a group of men from our church coming back from a meeting, and we were discussing one of my favorite subjects: watermelon.

I suppose as long as there have been watermelon farmers, there have been watermelon thieves, and Lloyd was describing how he and his friends had done it in their younger years in Indiana. They smiled and said “yes sir” to the farmer’s request.

Later that night, they went to work.

Lloyd and his friends weren’t content just to sneak into the patch and dash away with a big, fat prize. They added insult to injury! Under the cover of darkness, they would take long, sharp knives and carefully cut a plug out of the end of the melon attached to the vine. Then they would eat the heart – the sweetest part – out of the melon and replace the plug.

The next day they’d return to the scene of the crime, climb a tree near the patch, and watch as the farmer came to check his melons. He would carefully thump the watermelon and listen for just the right sound that told him the fruit was ready. The climax came when the farmer picked up a hollow melon and discovered the plug. He would throw his cap on the ground, shake his fist in the air, and vow to kill whoever did it. Not only had he been robbed, he had been deceived as well.

Oh, we laughed.

The image of sitting in a tree trying to hold in the hilarity while someone below is losing it was very amusing. But what was funny to me one day soon became very sobering. God has a way of doing that.

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Time to Do Some “Passionating”

by Andy Wood on July 1, 2008

in Following Your Passion, LV Cycle

Passion FirePassion is in.  I was reminded of that today as I finished the latest chapter of the book that Kaye, my sister-in-law, and I are working on together.

Passion is a cool word, and you’re cool if you use it in a sentence.  Extra points if your face is filled with passion when you use “passion” in the aforesaid sentence.

Tony Robbins ends all the sessions in his famous audio series with it.  “Live with passion!” he says.  Sure beats the alternative.  (Die with boredom?)  Anyway…

There’s a huge college and young adult ministry called Passion that has been a driving force for worship influences, discipleship and evangelism for more than a decade now.  Even the name connects with something that people sense a yearning for.

“Passions” is the name of a daytime drama, and passion.com is a sex-based dating service.  Same word; different meaning entirely.

Sports fans talk about a passion for the game, or a passion for winning.  Talk to a Cardinals, Red Sox, or Yankees fan on opening day.  Hang out in a barbecue or beer joint in Birmingham around Thanksgiving weekend.  Or watch Dale Jr. do – well, just about anything – and you’ll see passion.

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A S.C.A.R.Y. Letter to Thomas Jefferson

by Andy Wood on June 30, 2008

in Spoofs

JeffersonDear Mr. Jefferson,

On behalf of the Society for Colonial Advancement in Rational Yankeeism (SCARY for short), I want to commend you on your recent effort.  Your so-called “Declaration of Independence” certainly has promise, and your draft, should you deem it wise to proceed, is a fine beginning.  However, the Society has some concerns about some of your language and felt quite certain that such a Rational man as yourself would appreciate the opportunity to make a good work even better.  To wit:

-Your reference to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”  While we admit that children in Sunday Schools may still believe in a Supreme Being, our society finds such a reference demeaning to the human spirit.  Moreover, a couple of our members are somewhat anxious about what you mean by “Laws of Nature.”  They find such a phrase to suggest that it might somewhat limit the “creative expression of their unique identity,” if you catch my drift.

-Again, your use of the words “created” and “Creator” leave no room for our understanding that humankind has evolved over millions of years.  While we delight in your reference to “life,” “liberty,” and “the pursuit of happiness,” we prefer to let individuals define for themselves what those constitute, free from the constraints suggested by “endowments” from an Almighty entity.

-The appeal in your closing paragraph to the “Supreme Judge of the world” is most disconcerting of all.  Such references to Ultimate accountability are mean-spirited and reckless – inappropriate for use in public life.  Perhaps rewording it more kindly – something like “cosmic love-giver” or the more human, “judgment of humankind” would improve the document.

-Finally, sir, regarding the pledge of “our lives, our Fortunes, our sacred Honor,” we find such phrases alarming.  Put bluntly, sir, the pledge of life suggests the risk of life.  We find such language to suggest the barbaric possibility of war to secure the “blessings” (another offensive religious word) of liberty to a generation yet to be born.  Rather than pledging your considerable fortunes to secure liberty for those you do not even know, we suggest pooling your funds to help the poor you already do know.  Such an act would appease the King and earn goodly favor in the press.  Moreover, it avoids the risk of death and war.  As we say, “Better taxed than terminated.”

In conclusion, Mr. Jefferson, while we appreciate some of the sentiments expressed in your document, we must vigorously request the address of the aforementioned concerns.  Failure to do so may make it necessary to consult with a local magistrate.  In other words, good sir, we’ll see you in court.

Sincerely,

Seymor Dredd

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