It’s a famous scene in the movie “City Slickers.” Curley, the cowboy character played by Jack Palance, says to Billy Midlife-Crisis-Angst Crystal:
“You city folk, you worry about a lot of [stuff]… You all come up here about the same age, same problems. Spend about 50 weeks a year getting’ knots in your rope and then you think two weeks up here will untie ‘em for ya’. And none of you get it. Do you know what the secret of life is?”
“No, what?” says Crystal.
“This,” Curley says, holding up one finger.
“Your finger?”
“One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean [nothing].”
“That’s great, but… what’s the one thing?”
“That’s what you gotta figure out.”
Tough times have a way of bringing out complicated questions. Ever since Cain killed Abel, or Job’s friends made a “sympathy” visit, people have responded to adversity by haggling and hand-wringing over the deep, often-unanswerable questions in life. Questions like, “Why is this happening to me?” or “Who’s responsible for that?”
During times like that, we all need somebody who can again bring us back to consciousness. [click to continue…]
Years ago a Persian king wanted to discourage his sons from making rash judgments. He sent the oldest son on a winter journey to see a mango tree. Spring came and the second oldest went on the same trip. Summer followed and the third son went. When the youngest boy returned from his autumn visit, the king called them together to describe the tree.
The first said, “It looks like a burnt old stump.” The second described it as lovely and green; the third declared its blossoms as beautiful as the rose. The fourth said all were wrong. “Its fruit is like a pear.”
“Each is right,” the king said. “You just saw the same tree in a different season.”
Before you evaluate other people, make sure you have seen them in all their seasons. No one is always anything. [click to continue…]
Saw a strange thing the other day. We’d driven to Abilene to watch the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys defend the Wilford Moore trophy against local rival McMurray for the 20th straight year. Division III football at its finest.
HSU had already knocked out the starting quarterback. Number 2 wasn’t faring much better. Scrambling around in the backfield, he was nailed at midfield for about a 12-yard loss.
McMurray lined up for the next play. Shotgun formation. All of a sudden, the quarterback called timeout, turned toward the sideline, and ripped his helmet off. Next thing I know, he’s on his knees, then hands-and-knees, and he wasn’t praying.
In the previous post I introduced the idea of the squeeze – that when life comes calling or the world comes knocking and we get squeezed, whatever is on the inside comes flying out. Specifically, when life or the world squeezes, two things quickly become evident – what’s in your character (your decisions) and what’s in your heart (your desires).
That why Peter addresses this encouragement to a group of Christ followers who were living life in The Squeeze:
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:1-3, NIV).
When Our Flesh Demands Relief
People who are hurting instinctively crave relief.
NOW!
Like Job, the tendency is to move from “Lord I’m trusting you for deliverance” to “Lord stop it now or explain yourself!
When we stubbornly hold onto the demand for God to change things, five kinds of behavior emerge. [click to continue…]
Maybe I’m weird (okay who said that?). But this video fascinates me, and I can watch it over and over.
Maybe it’s the technology involved in capturing the motion. Or…
Maybe it’s because it illustrates an important truth I learned years ago:
Q. – Squeeze an orange until something gives, and what comes out?
A. – Orange juice.
Q. – Why does orange juice come out?
A. – Because orange juice is what’s inside.
Q. – So what comes out of you when you get squeezed?
A. – Whatever is inside.
The Squeeze. Can you relate? The truth is, sometimes the world or the devil or life-in-general comes calling, and there ain’t room enough in this here peel for the both of us. Something’s gotta give.
And out it comes… whatever is on the inside.
That’s why I just smile whenever I hear somebody blurt out something, then hurriedly say, “Oh… I didn’t mean to say that.” [click to continue…]
What would you do if you were Jimmy? You’re caught in a dilemma because your best friend is a hood. Riff-raff. Wrong side of the tracks. Your parents say you can’t visit him. And he’d do just as well to stay on his side of town, too. But there’s something special about him; that’s why he’s your best friend. He doesn’t have much, but he does have heart and passion.
And a cheap, second-hand guitar he doesn’t even know how to tune.
You come from a good family, with something of a pedigree. You live in one of the music capitals of America, and your cousin is a famous country musician.
Maybe you can still be his friend – this kid some people called “white trash.”
Maybe you can introduce your friend to your cousin. Maybe your cousin can cross the tracks in your place.
How do you respond when you are told every day what a nobody you are? When the people who are supposed to be your friends and co-learners in school instead ruthlessly call you demeaning names, and you feel you have no one to talk to?
Brenda Poage gets that. And Brenda is a somebody that you need to know. Wife and mother, author and visionary, Brenda – like most of us – is who she is because of how she has responded to some painful experiences in her life.
Brenda is a LifeVestor.
Kids can be cruel, but you don’t have to explain that to Brenda. From the time she started school in her small Texas town, she was mercilessly bullied by other kids in school. Having to play academic catch-up required that Brenda attend remedial classes. And she became the brunt of some pretty mean name calling and bullying.
So when educators and parents today start quoting statistics that as many as half of all school children are bullied in some way, Brenda does more than raise her hand as “Exhibit A.” She did something about it. And that’s how Ima Nobody Becomes a Somebody was born. [click to continue…]
Yesterday I was talking to an old friend on the phone, and heard myself say something before I realized what I was saying. (Does that ever happen to you, or am I just weird?)
Before I tell you what I said, I guess I need to fill in some white space first.
A few days ago I had an experience that left me disappointed and hurt. The details aren’t important; what is important is what happened in my heart as a result of it. I will tell you that it was a church wound (one of the most difficult of all), and that I had similar initial feelings to other kinds of pain in my life. I wanted to go into a cave and hide. I was fearful of being hurt again. I wanted to be angry and pout.
But almost immediately, I noticed another kind of result in my spirit. I was sobered. Humbled. Unusually aware of the holiness, wisdom, and love of God. Emotionally and mentally aware that God is no man, that I can fool, manipulate, or even impress Him. Even more aware that neither I nor any man can despise the profound work of grace He has made in my life.
And regardless of how any of us behave, He still owns His church. I can sit on my high horse or hide in my cave all I want, but at the end of the day, He is still God, and still expects me to reflect His character and power. And He will even use busybodies, gossips, accusers and politickers in Church World to make His case.
Ouch.
I don’t know that I have ever been in a painful situation in which I was more aware of the awareness of God. And if I may say so, even in the pain, I felt safe and loved.
Here is what I said to my friend, after I filled in some details: [click to continue…]
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Isn’t it wonderful that we don’t walk through “the fire” alone?
Isn’t it interesting that we nevertheless must walk through the fire?
God doesn’t seem to need our advice for how hot the flames should be,
or even where in the natural they come from.
He only asks that, when the pathway leads through them, we keep moving.
And when the flames taunt, we keep trusting.
(Lyrics from “How Firm a Foundation.” Photo credit: AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
(For more stunning photography from the San Bartolome de Pinares in Spain, click here)
Okay, take your mark. You’re about to take off on a marathon. Your coach is the Lord Jesus, the Author of your faith. Under His direction, you’ve cast aside any weights that may hinder you. At His instruction, you clear your way of any sin that might entangle you. At His signal, you’re off! And following His wise counsel, you have focused your attention on him, because he’s the Finisher of your faith as well.
You lengthen your stride and settle in. You know this is no sprint; you’re in it for the long run. Before long your body, mind, will, and emotions, begin signaling you, this won’t be easy. But about the time you reach your first obstacle, God has a surprise for you. You are not alone! You’re surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses! And they’re “in the grandstands” cheering you on.
These aren’t just spectators. They’re your “friends in high places” – people who have run the same race and faced the same obstacles you face. In this greatness are models of faith and perseverance who
by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment (Hebrews 11:33-37).
These aren’t just dead figures from the past. Their faith – and witness – live on. They’re watching you. Pulling for you. Believing in you. Teaching you. They’re here to testify – that’s what witnesses do – that you, too, can influence a new generation. They also testify of the tools our Father uses to deepen your message, and enlarge your influence. Here are a few: [click to continue…]
It’s a famous scene in the movie “City Slickers.” Curley, the cowboy character played by Jack Palance, says to Billy Midlife-Crisis-Angst Crystal:
Okay, take your mark. You’re about to take off on a marathon. Your coach is the Lord Jesus, the Author of your faith. Under His direction, you’ve cast aside any weights that may hinder you. At His instruction, you clear your way of any sin that might entangle you. At His signal, you’re off! And following His wise counsel, you have focused your attention on him, because he’s the Finisher of your faith as well.