The inhabitants of a small third-world village were understandably alarmed. An earthquake was literally shaking every corner of their world, and they were terrified.
All except for one elderly woman, that is, who remained completely calm throughout the whole ordeal. When things had settled down, one of the villagers asked her, “Weren’t you afraid during that earthquake?”
“No,” she replied, “I wasn’t. You see, I just rejoiced to know that I have a God who is powerful enough to shake the world.”
Needless to say, she had a “peace that passes all understanding.” I wonder if I do. I wonder if you do.
I was speaking on this at a retreat over the weekend and I recognized something really important about the peace that is every Christian’s birthright:
Peace isn’t the punch line of a beauty contest joke or the passive purview of those who breathe deeply and chant. Peace isn’t for sissies. It’s the result of a conquest. It is an expression of the God of Heaven going to war to protect our thoughts and minds.
Read these two well-known verses again and look for the traces of battle: [click to continue…]
Dave was going through a rough season. Looking back on it now, the load seems pretty mind-numbing. He was being viciously verbally attacked by other people, including complete strangers. His casual acquaintances were keeping their distance, but he had that feeling you get when all eyes are upon you.
He was physically impaired for a while, and his health looked pretty grim at one point. I would say his life flashed before his eyes, but in Dave’s case it was more like his life grabbed him by the ankle and started dragging. Dave was understandably terrified.
Then to make matters worse, one of Dave’s closest, most trusted friends betrayed him. And for some time Dave had dealt with the anguish, disbelief, and downright bitterness that comes with that kind of pain.
But through it all, Dave learned a powerful lesson. And you can read all about it in Psalm 55. The lesson: [click to continue…]
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
He had my attention at “prosper.”
That’s what He said His plan was.
He’d turn my adversity into a hope and a future.
No more bondage.
No longer dogged by a shameful past.
Just the sure promise – it’s gonna get better.
Then He threw me a curve. [click to continue…]
Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?
Where can I run to get away from you?
If I go up to heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in hell, you are there.
If I climb upward on the rays of the morning sun
or land on the most distant shore of the sea where the sun sets,
even there your hand would guide me
and your right hand would hold on to me (Ps 139:7-10, GW)
It’s the fundamental reality – the primal fact on which all else we know is built. The immortal, invisible, only-wise God, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, knows no limits of time or space. For those who have experienced the kindness of His grace, the implications of that are profound. Simply put, wherever you are, there He already was, is, and shall be. [click to continue…]
In 1835 a man visited a doctor in Florence, Italy. He was filled with anxiety and exhausted from lack of sleep. He couldn’t eat, and he avoided his friends. The doctor found that he was in prime physical condition. Concluding that his patient needed to have a good time, the physician told him about a circus in town and its star performer, a clown named Grimaldi. Night after night he had the people rolling in the aisles. “You must go and see him,” the doctor advised. “Grimaldi is the world’s funniest clown. He’ll make you laugh and cure your sadness.”
“No, he can’t help me,” said the patient. “You see, I am Grimaldi!”
It’s one of those ironies, a paradox of life in general, and a hidden truth of Kingdom life in particular. Laughter flows out of pain. Joy would be nonexistent without sorrow. Grace wouldn’t exist if there were no need for it. And what I lack becomes the basis for what I have to offer. [click to continue…]
Sheriene Harris was looking forward to her dad coming to stay with her. Then the two of them were going to take her son to football camp in the summer.
They had plans.
Instead, her father, age 70, had a urinary tract infection and needed to go to the hospital. There he had a massive heart attack and died.
“I felt that he had so much more life to live,” Sheriene said. “God, what happened?”
It didn’t make sense.
“All I kept saying to God was, “WE HAD PLANS!”
Apparently God had other plans.
What do you do when your plans collide with God’s? Especially when your plans are noble, life-affirming, loving, or even kingdom-building? [click to continue…]
Q – I am really backsliding in my relationship with God and I’m not really worshipping like I used to. What should I do? Please help.
There is more to life than trusting Christ as your Savior and waiting to die so you can show up in heaven. He has designed a journey of growth, love, and intimacy that allows you to make choices today that will serve you in this life (the future) and the next (your eternal home in heaven). It’s also possible, however, that you can waste your life and its opportunities for intimacy with the Lord. That’s the basis of this question.
Every believer deals with this issue – what to do when we find ourselves drifting away from that connection with the Lord. If somebody gave merit badges or degrees in this, I’d be at the front of the line! Here are some things I have found to be helpful in reconnecting my life with God, reordering my priorities, and renewing my spiritual life. [click to continue…]
When I was studying for my doctorate, I was required in one class to write a literature review. I had never done that before, but we had a guidebook for writing lit reviews as one of our textbooks for this particular course.
I’m not sure what inspired me, or even where I got the idea. It was a bit outside my standard operating procedure. But I did it anyway: I opened the book and followed the instructions.
Step by-step.
No creative re-engineering.
No rethinking, reinventing, or re-anything.
My professor, who was Regent’s answer to Simon Cowell, raved. Talked about how refreshing it was to read my review after enduring a string of mediocre-to-bad papers.
While his feedback was amazing, what was more amazing was that all I had done was follow the instructions. [click to continue…]
It’s hard to look in the mirror – literally or figuratively – and not see it…
The evidence…
The scars…
The stains that are so obvious to us and, we’re sure, to the world around us.
Let someone float a compliment our way, and up they rise, at least in our silent thoughts –
The objections.
The dismissals.
That internal whisper that says, “If only they knew the whole story…”
Know what? Somebody does. And He’s the only one who has lived your story and His. And His declaration over you is the final say:
Sin erased. Shame forgotten.
Make no mistake about it. [click to continue…]
So somebody’s in charge, but nobody’s actually leading. There’s a boss, but no vision caster. You have an authority figure, but no one is harnessing the best efforts of the people in your organization.
In short, you have a leadership vacuum. What do you do?
Quit?
Lead a mutiny?
Facebook your friends and tell them what a loser you have as a leader?
Try to outmaneuver others politically and manipulate your way to power?
Sit and suffer and hope for the best, while your peers keep howling for leadership?
How about asking God to smite somebody while you’re at it?
These are all approaches used to face situations that have become almost cliché they’re so common: What do I do when my leader isn’t leading? Organizations everywhere – businesses, churches, nonprofits, and schools are decrying a lack of leadership. Somebody needs to make the tough decisions, cast the difficult vision, harness the amazing abilities and energy of the people! And we seem to be convinced that the answer to the search lies somewhere else.
Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe the search for someone to step into the leadership ends with you. Maybe you’re the leader the organization needs, even if people in executive suites don’t necessarily see it yet. Maybe you’re the catalyst for change, even if you don’t have the sanctioned power to make it so. [click to continue…]
The inhabitants of a small third-world village were understandably alarmed. An earthquake was literally shaking every corner of their world, and they were terrified.
