I’d like to tell you how I became a follower of Jesus Christ. But before I do, I need to tell you how I became a lost church member. In my story, you can’t separate one from the other.
It was Easter Sunday at the church I grew up in, at least from the age of 4. I was in the fifth grade. During those days, my sister and I went to Sunday School and church about half to two-thirds of the time. In the fourth grade we began having more personalized Sunday School teachers instead of being in the big class. Several of my classmates had made professions of faith in Christ and been baptized.
Mr. Gregory, a kind, caring man and my Sunday School teacher, asked me then if I was ready to accept Christ as my personal savior. I told him I wasn’t ready, and that I would know it when I was. I don’t remember discussing any details of what people refer to as the Gospel. But I’m sure it was presented. Somehow.
That was pretty much my stance through fourth and fifth grade. On this day, however, something was different. I felt a strange sensation in my chest. My heart was pumping a little faster, I sensed something was about to happen. This feeling in my heart told me today could be the day.
Our church was starting a revival that Sunday, with brothers BO and Dick Baker in to lead it. That morning all the children were brought into the auditorium. BO Baker spoke to us from Revelation 3:20 about Jesus “knocking on the door of our heart.” He would knock on the wooden pulpit to illustrate.
Knock-knock-knock. [click to continue…]
It’s a new year, and with it comes new opportunities for all of us to contribute to the blooper reel of life. Yes, friends, your wait is over – it’s time for another edition of Hanukkah Hams.
Not Hanukkah. Pretty sure that’s done. Hanukkah Hams.
If you’re new to all this, let me catch you up. A Hanukkah Ham, inspired by that all-too-famous Greenwich Village grocer who suggested a ham would be a great addition to anyone’s Hanukkah celebration, is whenever really smart people do really dumb things.
Or when really not-so-smart people do really dumber things.
Past editions have explored regulations for the ladies’ room in a town in California, student life, airline travel, and money, to name a few. Do a search for Hanukkah Hams here and you’ll find the whole bunch.
So. This edition is dedicated to the really dopey things we do when no one else is around. And we’re really grateful that nobody was around to see it.
Yeah… I see that memory already starting to form in your mind. But I’m letting you off the hook. Today the pork’s all on me. [click to continue…]
A few years ago Mike Ashcraft came up with a revolutionary idea. In considering what we all intuitively know – that New Year’s resolutions are inherently powerless to produce real life change – Mike proposed capturing the essence of the person we want to become, or what we most want God to do for us in one simple word.
“My One Word,” he called it.
The idea caught fire, and his web site, myoneword.org, became a gathering place for people all over the world to share their core essential idea for that particular year.
I arrived late to that party when a LifeVesting reader pointed me to the site a couple of years ago. I was captivated by the idea, and landed on the word, Finish! as my word for that year.
I revisited the idea when I wrote this post about things to do before the end of the year. I learned in the process that Mike, along with Rachel Olsen, has since written a book that is now available to guide you through the process.
In prayerfully considering what my one word could and should be for this year, I began searching for the themes the Lord seems to have been playing out in my life recently – what I call the Descants of the Soul. Those themes have a way of ebbing and flowing. And it didn’t take me long at all to land on what my one word should be… [click to continue…]
The more you love someone, even God, the more you’d better get used to the World of Never Enough. Some days that’s a peaceful and practical place to be. At other times it’s mind-numbingly frustrating.
As we’ve been repeatedly told over the last decade, everybody has a “love language” by which they both measure and naturally express love. Doesn’t matter. Whatever language you speak or listen for, at the end of the day you’re still inadequate to communicate all that’s in your heart or all that those who depend most on you for love need.
Take words, for example – one of my most trusted tools. There’s a lazy streak in me that wishes I could just find the magic words and loop them over and over, without having to think of any more ways to say it. The problem is that words, despite their power, are gloriously limited.
That’s when you action folks take the stage. “Love is something you do,” you opine.
Amen!
So do it. And when you’ve done all you can do today, guess what? There’ll still be more to do tomorrow – especially for those you love most.
Now. You have two choices when it comes to the World of Never Enough. [click to continue…]
In his book, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, Chuck Swindoll tells of two young women from Southern California who spent the day doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in Tijuana. After a successful day of bargain hunting, they returned to their car. One of the ladies glanced down in the gutter and noticed something squirming, as if in pain. On closer examination, they saw what appeared to be a dog – a tiny Chihuahua – struggling for its life. It was breathing heavily, shivering, and barely able to move. Their hearts went out to the pathetic little animal. Their compassion wouldn’t let them drive off and leave it there to die.
The friends decided to take it home with them and do their best to nurse it back to health. Afraid of being stopped and having the little creature detected by border patrol officers, they carefully placed it on some papers among their packages in the trunk of their car. Within minutes they were back in California and only a couple of hours from home. One of the women held the sick little Chihuahua the rest of the way. [click to continue…]
On this cold December night, when life, relationships and future hope seem more complicated than ever, I pray that that the Father of lights would give you the joy of His presence and the gift of simple happiness throughout the coming year, with the light of every new sunrise.
I pray that he would remind you often of how deeply you are loved, unforgettably engraved in the palm of His hand, steadfastly held by His grace day and night.
I pray that in an age where nothing seems to last, that the One who promised us a home with Him forever would keep the language and love of forever dancing in your heart and mine as long as you and I have breath. [click to continue…]
“The earth is degenerating these days. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer mind their parents. Every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching.”
Wow. Not sure how the author of that actual little quotation made the logical leap, but leap he did. Yes, some dishonest people have their pockets lined to serve the interests of a powerful few. Do you doubt that?
Yes, children have a mind of their own. That apple didn’t just fall from the tree and knock us on the head this morning.
Yes, everybody seems to want to write a book these days. Here’s mine. You can get it for three bucks. Please buy it.
But are those our “Shocking Signs of the End of the World?”
Hardly.
Anyway, those pearls of wisdom came from an Assyrian tablet, dated 2,800 B.C.E.
How about this one? [click to continue…]
I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, and this seems like a good time as another semester has drawn to a close. Ever since I’ve been teaching on a college or graduate level, I’ve had the privilege of reading – and learning – from some pretty profound writers.
In this case, I’m not talking about the great books and journal articles I get to lead students through. I’m referring to the papers and other written assignments that I have to grade. At my peak earlier in the year, I was grading bout 25 papers a day.
As you may expect, most of the things I read are rather average, and some are, um, well, below average. But every once in a while, somebody blows me away with their ability to creatively, powerfully express a truth. Sometimes it’s just a sentence. Sometimes it’s a paragraph.
Over the years I have collected my favorite student quotations. So in the tradition of my “Half-Baked Ideas that I’m still thinking about,” I wanted to share seven with you.
Drink these in slowly. Let them “bake in your oven” for a while. You’ll be richer for it. Click here and brace for impact!
We all were born with the capacity to dream. To envision a life that could be… that will be… and the pathways to get there. To imagine a tomorrow that’s better…
Safer…
Happier…
Stronger…
Lovelier.
“Be fruitful and multiply,” He said. That’s the stuff that dreams are made of. We dream of fruitfulness. We dream of abundance.
But life on this side of the Garden sometimes aims our dreams toward the mirror. Nighttime comes to the soul, and our imagination gets lost in what once was. Of those we once dreamed with or about, but now for whatever reason are lost to us. And it hurts like hell. [click to continue…]
Know what’s always messed me up with New Year’s resolutions? New Year’s Day is a holiday. So all those goals and new beginnings typically start around January 2 and I’m already a day behind. Then I need to put up Christmas stuff and I’m two days behind. I’m getting tired just thinking about it. So I need some mental rest from the holidays. Three days behind.
So this year I brightened up and decided that this will take a bit more planning and thought. And yes, I’m talking slap-dab in the middle of the Christmas holidays.
So I’m writing this to myself, but inviting you to come along for the fun. Here are ten suggestions to prepare for the coming year – do all these by December 31, and you can have New Year’s Day off. I know, I know! You’re welcome! Click here to get started