My friend Bruce Reinhardt has a unique way of communicating through metaphors. He’s the one who taught me this phrase to describe when God is preparing us for a major change. “We can look back and see that the Lord was loosening our tent stakes.”
I have long ago lost count of the number of times I have used that imagery. It especially speaks to people who tend to think their “tents” (translation: lives) are anchored in concrete.
If your heart’s still lost somewhere on Walton’s Mountain or you’re still imagining working at that same location until you’re shipped off to the retirement home you may need to wake up for this one. We’re not just living in a mobile society. We’re living in a changing one.
Fact is, you may actually be less mobile and still have multiple changes. As of this year I have lived in Lubbock, Texas longer than anywhere in my life – 16 years. But I’ve drawn paychecks from 16 different places. Not all full-time, of course. But the point is, many of those had to do with changes that were handed to me that I didn’t ask for. And not all of them involved leaving a place of employment. [click to continue…]
Time to let you in on a little secret weakness. Sometimes I hate being reminded. Especially when I’m already doing the thing I am being reminded of, or I’m already aware of it. Now let me hasten to say that when somebody reminds me of something I have totally forgotten, I’m usually very grateful. But the obvious? The no-brainers? The already-doings? That’s another story.
Does this ever happen to you? You’re locking the doors before retiring at night and a voice from the other room hollers, “Don’t forget to lock the doors!”
Or maybe you’re buckled into that airplane seat, starting to get lost in whatever you’re reading, and they start that handy demonstration explaining how to use a seat belt?
I had a little visit with the Lord about this the other day. Not airline safety demonstrations, but this issue of hating to be reminded. Let’s just say it was His idea. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on November 11, 2012
in 100 Words
He may have never fired a shot in battle.
But a nation slept peacefully last night because he grabbed a rifle and stood his post.
She may have been criticized for serving an unpopular cause or occupying a non-traditional role.
But thousands of voices are free to cry out – even in criticism – because she does her duty. [click to continue…]
I rarely get to sit at weddings. But I’ve stood in more than 200 of them. And may I say, I usually get the best, um, standing position in the house.
I’m not talking about seeing the bride make her way down the aisle – everybody gets up to see that. The best place to stand in a wedding is next to the groom. When they fling that door open and she comes in on Daddy’s arm, I can sense it. I can feel it. Heck, sometimes I can hear it.
There in that least-photographed moment, an otherwise robust, strong-hearted man melts. I’ve seen grown men cry. I’ve seen them rendered speechless. I’ve sensed their breathing and pulse increase. I’ve heard them say under their breath, “Ummph,” or “Wow,” which sorta says it all.
Friends and family have helped his beloved adorn herself. For him. And in that moment, there is nothing he wouldn’t do for his bride. Nothing he wouldn’t say to express the depth of his love for her and the level of his commitment to her.
And after that, they both live happily ever after. [click to continue…]
Christmas 2004. I’m pretty sure it was the last time I made the trek to Deer Bluff. Pictures were the thing this year, and one day Joel wanted to go to Deer Bluff to take some. It was nice to be back there, this place near the family farm that has always captured my imagination.
At one point I was up on top of the bluff and Joel was down below taking pictures of the initials carved in the stone near the small cave. Meandering through the volcanic rock and fallen branches, I tripped over a log and fell with a thud on my stomach and shoulder. I also hit some sort of piece of wood, and cut a couple of plugs out of my fingers.
The fingers were the ugliest, but the shoulder was the greatest concern. Lying there, I wondered if something had been broken. Later, my biggest fear was that I had torn my rotator cuff. Finally, a year later, the MRI showed I had shredded the tendons in my shoulder and yes, I would need surgery.
Awesome. So that’s what a stumbling block is. And I was right in the middle of a stumbling zone. [click to continue…]
Jesus got himself in some pretty interesting predicaments. Seems strange to me – He could walk on water and command the winds and rain, but He never could satisfy a bunch of legalists about why He performed miracles (miracles!) on the Sabbath.
“This can’t be from God. He didn’t keep our rules.”
Sigh… I just wish somehow… oh, never mind.
Anyway, on one occasion, Jesus healed a man who hadn’t walked in 38 years. It took place at the Pool of Bethesda and yes, it was on the Sabbath.
And yes, Jesus had to account for his tawdry behavior. Here’s what He said: [click to continue…]
Do you believe that God has a plan for everybody’s life? Do you believe that He wants you to know what that plan is?
Ask the average believer and he or she will probably answer, “of course.” The idea that God has a plan for our lives is right up there with the idea that we have a guardian angel and God wants us to go do heaven.
Ask Henry Blackaby, however, and he’ll probably tell you something different. The esteemed author of Experiencing God says we get it backwards. It’s not that God has a plan for my life… it’s that God has a plan, period. And our task is to align ourselves with God’s plan for the world.
Point taken. That doesn’t change the fact, however, that those whose hearts are turned toward God have a sincere desire to please Him, and to have confidence that they are following in a path He wants the to follow.
So… back to the question someone asked – How do you know when you’re doing God’s will? Let me suggest three guideposts you can use to evaluate your life in light of God’s will for you. [click to continue…]
Strike up the band celebrity endorsements, hang those chads, and God bless the United States of America! It’s that time again! Voters in many parts of the country are already heading to the polls to vote early for the upcoming election, and the turn-off (um, I mean turnout) is high!
What better way to remind you that these are humans, not just 8 x 10 glossies, than with another round of Hanukkah Hams?
Since it’s been a while, let me give you the talking points on what a Hanukkah Ham is. Named in honor of somebody who suggested that his Greenwich Village Jewish customers would love a big ham for their next Hanukkah celebration, a Hanukkah Ham is a really bad (translation: stupid) idea concocted by usually really smart people.
Previous Hanukkah Ham stories have explored the worlds of electricity, money, college life, Christmas, air travel and hunting, to name a few.
But with so many words flying these days, what could invite more people to ask, “Did he just say that?” than political races across the country? Ever since I heard Philip Johns promise to get grits au gratin taken off the lunchroom menu in seventh grade, and Richard Tyson promised to build a student center in ninth, I’ve heard people running for office – any office – say some pretty outlandish things. I guess it just comes with the territory. [click to continue…]
The years so many and memories still real
Point to chances and dances with life-setting choices.
And oh, how my heart could believe in illusions
And stubbornly choke on the mirrors and smoke
Of promises from a deceiver,
Whose only aim was to take and shame –
Never to give or forgive
Or redeem or fulfill a single dream
Like those I found in You,
My One More Chance.
What could I offer to You in return
For the touch of Your grace and the things I have learned?
I will offer the first of my heart to the dance
Of worship to You, My One More Chance.
[click to continue…]
A cathedral in Europe was famous for the large, magnificent, stained‑glass window that was located behind the altar and high above the sanctuary. One day a violent windstorm shattered that beautiful window into a thousand pieces. The church custodian was hesitant to discard the fragments, so he put them in a box and stored them in the basement of the cathedral.
Shortly after the storm, a man who had heard about the damage asked for and received the broken pieces of glass. About 2 years later, he invited the caretaker to visit him in a nearby village. When the custodian arrived, the man explained that he was an artisan and that he had something to show him. When the craftsman unveiled his work, the visitor was astonished to see a lovely window fashioned from the broken fragments. It was even more beautiful than the original.
You can be, too.
Like the shattered window, sometimes we live in the wake of a painful experience that threatens to leave us broken and scarred – an unrecognizable leftover of what we once imagined ourselves to be.
Abundance? Hardly.
Joyful? Are you kidding?
I heard a beautiful reflection on that a couple of years ago from a TV show, of all things: [click to continue…]
My friend Bruce Reinhardt has a unique way of communicating through metaphors. He’s the one who taught me this phrase to describe when God is preparing us for a major change. “We can look back and see that the Lord was loosening our tent stakes.”
