I know I’m not supposed to worry.
But…
I know I should have more faith in God.
But…
I know this should be an easy, clear decision.
But…
I want to pursue this direction.
But…
I long ago lost count of the number of times a counseling or coaching encounter started there. Here’s what I know. Here’s what I should be. Here’s what I want.
But…
These are the starting points of conversations about something we all encounter – core conflicts. [click to continue…]
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Many years ago, a little girl and her dad were walking through the grass on the Canadian prairie. In the distance, they saw a prairie fire; eventually, they realized, it would engulf them.
The father knew there was only one way of escape. He quickly started a fire right where they were and burned a large patch of grass.
When the huge fire drew near, he took his little girl and stood on the section that had already been burned. When the fire actually did approach them, the girl was terrified by the raging flames. But her father assured her, “The flames can’t get to us. We’re standing where the fire has already been!”
There is a fire that Christ-followers face that can seem as frightening. [click to continue…]
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This image disturbs me on many levels.
Yeah, it really does get faster and faster. There are more birthdays to remember (or forget).
(Let’s see… when was my son-in-law’s? Today? Tomorrow?)
I’m definitely Moving at the Speed of Life.
There are more demands – many of them self-imposed. I’m at that point in life where I know I can get more done – just sleep an hour less or (my favorite) multi-task. After all, time’s wasting! I’m smarter now than I’ve ever been, I have lots of unfinished business, and I can sleep when I’m dead.
Right?
Just keep Moving at the Speed of Life.
There are more opportunities or distractions, depending on how you interpret them. I’m at a point in my life where I am incredibly grateful for all the opportunities I have and, truth be told, a little scared to say no when another one presents itself. I’m old and scarred enough to recognize there are no guarantees, and still young enough to say yes when the right ones come along.
I only get one of these, and I’m still Moving at the Speed of Life.
Stop. [click to continue…]
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Friday I was on my way to Virginia to make a presentation at a Servant Leadership conference. So I guess it was safe to say I had leading-by-serving on the brain…
I walk up to the ticket counter of the Dallas-based airline that will remain nameless (though I will point out that they don’t advertise that bags fly free).
Next to me is a fellow traveler who was trying to check her two bags. Here is the gist of the conversation… [click to continue…]
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Watch the video, then let’s talk (yeah, that’s me doing the voiceover).
Here’s a bit of thoughtful Bible trivia for you: what was it that enabled David to kill the giant, Goliath?
There are a number of possible answers, of course. A rock in the middle of the forehead was certainly helpful. David’s faith in God was essential. His skill and courage were an asset.
But I believe there was one catalyst that made David stand out among the armies of Israel. In a badly-translated King James verse, David asked his brother, “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29).
[click to continue…]
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When the armies of Napoleon swept over Europe, one of his generals intended to make an attack on the little town of Feldrich on the Austrian border. It was Easter, and as Napoleon’s great army maneuvered nearby, the citizens hurried together to decide whether to surrender or to attempt a defense, futile as it seemed the effort would be.
The pastor of the church remarked, “We have been counting on our own strength, and that will fail. This is the day of our Lord’s resurrection. Let us ring the bells and have service as usual, and leave the matter in God’s hands.” The council accepted his plan, and in a few minutes the bells were chiming out joy over their Lord’s resurrection.
Napoleon’s army misunderstood the meaning of the ringing bells, decided they were announcing the arrival of Austrian reinforcements, broke camp and retreated from the area as fast as possible! God honored those who worshipped the risen Christ even in the presence of possible death, and used their worship to drive away the enemy!
An old book title says it well: There’s Dynamite in Praise!
If there is any greater untapped resource than prayer among God’s people today, it is praise. [click to continue…]
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Pssst.
Over here.
I have something you need to see.
I’m not showing it to anybody else yet because I wanted you to be the first to take advantage of it. But next week it goes public. And this won’t be a secret for very long. This is a once-in-a lifetime…
(wait for it…)
…yeah, that.
Opportunity. It’s an often-used, sometimes over-used concept. Americans throw it around as if we own the copyright to the term. You can see and hear it everywhere… [click to continue…]
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You don’t have to read through this site very long to figure out that music flavors a lot of my thinking. I often tell people that I almost always have a song on my mind, and it’s often very random. (I’d rather not tell you what song is there right now, but it does have the phrase “freakin weekend” in it).
Hey, I never said they were all spiritual.
Anyway…
Like a lot of people, I love the idea of new ways of expressing things – of what the Bible calls “singing a new song to the Lord.” And I get tired pretty quickly of rehashing the same-old same-old.
That said, there are some songs that defy time and never seem to lose their place in the hearts of people. They may not be on this week’s Billboard Top 100, but they never lose their ability to capture the imagination and connect to the soul. They’re the songs we can sing forever.
For example, my grandmother absolutely loved music. She loved to sing it, play it, and hear it. But something completely changed in her countenance when somebody started in on “Amazing Grace.” It was a song she could sing forever. [click to continue…]
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I have an urgent news flash for you: Just because you know something is wrong, that doesn’t mean you’ll avoid it.
Shocking, I know. And the corollary is also true: Just because you know you’re supposed to do something, that doesn’t mean you’ll do it.
Suppose you could interview Jonah – the Old Testament’s version of Gilligan – and ask him what the most important requirement was for prophets. What do you think he’d say? My guess is that he would tell you that a prophet’s number one job is to speak what he hears the Lord saying to speak.
Why, then, did Jonah have to travel from the boat to the belly to the burp to the beach before he decided to do what his own standard said to do?
Resurrect a first-century Pharisee and ask him what it took to please God, and you’d probably hear something about keeping the law and prophets, serving God and walking in humility and discipline.
Why, then, did Jesus refer to the scribes and Pharisees as unwilling to lift a finger to meet a need, doing all their deeds to be noticed by men, loving the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and insisting on being called by respectful titles in public? If serving God faithfully was so important to them, why did the Son of God warn people not to be like them?
Whenever the bad news breaks out about somebody who has shocked us with their oh-no, no-no behavior, we often ask silly questions like, “Well didn’t they know that was wrong?” Of course they did. Why, then, would someone violate their own standards of right and wrong? [click to continue…]
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Dear Born-again, Redeemed, Blood-washed and Forgiven, Grace-covered and Justified, Set Apart, New Creation, Heir of God and Joint Heir with Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit, Child of God,
Please stop referring to yourself as a “sinner.”
You are not. [click to continue…]
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