Faith

Your Glory Story

by Andy Wood on October 24, 2008

in Esteem, Exploring the Possibilities, Life Currency, LV Cycle

Somewhere in the back story of the drama that is your life, you are rehearsing a Cinderella story.  One that transforms you from zero to hero, from reject to regal.  You imagined it as a kid in ways that were unique to you.  This dream may have been fed by caring parents, or it may have been an escape from the harshness of your world.

Simply put, you dreamed of glory.

Not vainglory, mind you.  Something more.  An image that said you mattered.  Belonged.  Were wonderfully adequate for the role you’d been chosen – for your quest.

Then came the collision.  Dreams were broadsided by disappointments.  You never quite figured out how to translate that high school stardom into a career or a destiny.  Or worse, you actually found your place in the world, but stared in the mirror at a fraud.  Maybe you got what (or who) you’d always wanted, and you bombed.  Maybe you just settled into paying the bills and keeping house, and woke up a generation later wondering what happened.

Sometimes I think our greatest fear or vulnerability isn’t the evil we’re all capable of.  What we most dread or most grieve is that we’re just so ordinary. [click to continue…]

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What Does it Take to Wake You Up?

by Andy Wood on October 6, 2008

in Ability, Executing Your Plan, Five LV Laws, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Increase

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In spite of all her lamentable weaknesses, appalling failures and indefensible shortcomings, the Church is the mightiest force for civilization and enlightened social consciousness in the world today.  The only force in the world that is contesting Satan’s total rule in human affairs is the church of the living God. -Paul Billheimer

What does it take to rouse a sleeping giant? 

Whatever it takes, I think now is the time.

One of the biggest clichés and repeated experiences in history is that of unrealized potential.  It’s one of the reasons I believe heaven will be a place in which God wipes every tear from our eyes.  When we see what was in light of what could have been – with our lives, and with our corporate potential – we will have no alternative but to weep.

For years, as a global body, the Western church has been asleep at the wheel or, worse, awakened to fight the wrong battles, the wrong enemy, or with the wrong weapons of warfare.  We’ve made an art form of “trivial pursuit,” and the world is worse off because of it.

The first Century Church didn’t keep up with its time, didn’t spend its energy keeping up with its time.  The first Century Church changed time.  It rewrote history.  It radically impacted culture.  The church was the forerunner, not the runner up. – Erwin McManus

If you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, I’m referring to you.  I’m referring to me.  But the news isn’t all bad.  We serve a God who is wonderfully capable of  waking sleeping giants.  He did it on a national scale, both with His own nation and at times even with foreign, pagan countries.  And I believe He’s doing it today. [click to continue…]

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The Silent Champion

by Andy Wood on September 24, 2008

in Executing Your Plan, Five LV Laws, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Legacy

Nobody will ever name their boy Zerubbabel.  There are still plenty of Davids and Samuels, Joshuas and Calebs left for the hallways at the hospital.  Zerubbabel?  Not a chance.

Here was a guy who is never quoted in the Bible.  He never wrote a book that bears his name.  Yet he occupied a position of great importance, hope, strategic necessity in Israel’s history – enough that he held the attention of two Old Testament prophets.

He led an emerging nation, but would doubtless never be hip enough to lead an emerging church.

If Zerubbabel lived in the last 200 years and somehow been elected president of the United States, I figure he’d be a Calvin Coolidge or Warren G. Harding – somebody we know was there, but never talk about.

If he were a tree, he’d be one of those types that was nameless – big and strong, and I guess some expert knows what type it is, but most of us would just look and say, “It’s just a tree.”

If he were a piece of chicken, he would be the thigh.  Strong, muscular, flavorful.  But at the bottom of everybody’s list of preferences.

Somehow in the wisdom and providence of God, this silent champion was chosen to head a dangerous and deliriously exciting project: [click to continue…]

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What’s Your B.S.?

by Andy Wood on September 12, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Hoarders, LV Alter-egos, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Legacy

Imagine for a minute that you lived in a world where you were the only one who ever told the truth.  A world of random mirrors where you never knew whether someone else’s “yes” meant “yes” or “no.”  How would you get a loan at the bank?  How would you get directions to the nearest gas station?  How would you fall in love or have meaningful family relationships?  How could you ever function, much less be happy?

Imagine getting up every day and telling yourself and everybody around you how badly your life is going.  Have a cough?  It’s probably pneumonia.  Surprise bill in the mail?  You’re going broke.  Get a compliment on your appearance?  You mumble something about needing new clothes or not feeling well lately.  Receive a major blessing?  It’s just a matter of time until the other shoe drops.

By now I’m sure you have an image of somebody in mind (certainly not you, of course).  I’m thinking of a girl I once knew named Kim.  She was a twin; her sister Kay was pretty much an optimist.  Kim?  Winnie the Pooh’s friend Eeyore had nothing on her.  The only seventh grade girl I’ve ever met who was completely dreary.

I made an amazing discovery the other day.  Kim (and whoever you’re thinking about) has a soul mate in the Bible.  [click to continue…]

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Are You Too “Safe” to be Secure?

by Andy Wood on August 6, 2008

in LV Cycle, Protecting Your Investment, Tense Truths

House Fortress 2Tense Truth:  God promises a life of genuine security for His children.  But those who seek security by hiding behind what is “safe” have no security at all.  Security only comes as a result of bold obedience and courageous faith.

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Want to experience real security?  Live dangerously.  Seriously.

No, I don’t mean being a reckless gambler.  But I do mean living with purposeful boldness and courageous faith.

Who was the guy who talked about the Lord being his shepherd, or who said with such confidence,

“The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” (Psalm 27:1)?

It was David, the giant killer.  A simple look at his life, especially the younger years, reveals a life constantly protected, and amazingly powerful.  A closer look also reveals that he seemed to skip from one dangerous situation to the next.  He didn’t always go looking for trouble, but he never backed down from it, either.

Contrast that with somebody who so focuses on risk avoidance that they never really live.  Like the guy (true story) who left California to avoid earthquakes and settled in Ohio – where his house was promptly leveled by a tornado.  Or the wealthy Australian who foresaw global trouble brewing in the 1930s and decided to move to a safe place.  So he settled on a tiny island called Guadalcanal!

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Connecting the Dots

by Andy Wood on July 22, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity, LV Cycle

Connect the Dots 2Yesterday God played “connect the dots” with me.  He used a series of apparently random or loosely-connected ideas to form a whole – a picture of what He’s up to or what He wants to communicate.  I’d like to share what I learned in the process.  So here are the “dots”:

Be Ready
Tim Challies told an amazing story about a crash landing that took place at the Toronto airport in August 2005 during a horrific storm.  The plane overshot the runway and came to a crashing halt.

Some fifteen to twenty seconds had elapsed from the time the aircraft left the runway. Amazingly, the fuselage was largely intact. But as the plane had crossed Convair Drive, fuel had begun to leak and had immediately caught fire. As the plane came to a halt the fire began to spread and to intensify.

Keep in mind that it had been 27 years since a similar incident had happened in Toronto.

For twenty-seven years the firefighters had trained to deal with a situation like this one. An entire generation of firefighters had come and gone without seeing a single incident. They could almost be excused for being under-prepared, slow to respond, slow to act.

They weren’t.  By the time the tower controller activated the airport’s crash alarm, 26 seconds after the flight left the runway, the firefighters were already in route.  They arrived only 52 seconds after the plain left the runway.

Despite twenty seven years without an incident, those firefighters were ready and they responded well in advance of the parameters dictated by safety regulations. In less than a minute they were on the scene and were assisting the passengers. It took less time for them to get to the crash site than it did for fully half of the passengers to leave it.

Fifty-two seconds!  After not having an incident in 27 years.  The key was training.  They had disciplined, trained, and practiced so much that when the crash occurred, they were ready.

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Like Abel – The LifeVesting Principle of Legacy

by Andy Wood on July 15, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Legacy

MemorialOur family keeps an oral tradition of famous lines spoken by somebody.  Today’s edition comes from Joel, when he was about seven or eight:

“Daddy, when you die, can I have all your tapes?”

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I want to be like Abel.

Not so much the rock-upside-the-head part.  I’m talking about legacy.

Hebrews 11:4 contains a fascinating description of Abel’s life:  “By faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”

Here’s a guy who could be famous for the things he never did:

He never preached a sermon.

He never started a church.

He never wrote a book.

He never engaged in an argument to defend the faith.

He never had his name plastered on the side of a building.

He never had a wife or children, much less succeeding generations.

He never was elected to any office.

He never fought for a cause or a nation.

He never was on TV, or interviewed by the press.

He never had God give him a song (all rights reserved, of course).

He never made a YouTube video.

He never made a financial fortune, that we know of.

He never rescued anybody in distress, except maybe for a sheep or two.

 

Yet long-dead, Abel still speaks.  And so can you and I.  It’s what the LifeVesting Principle of Legacy is all about:

[click to continue…]

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Oh, Those Golden Lippers

by Andy Wood on July 10, 2008

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, Money, Principle of Abundance, Tense Truths

RollsTense Truth:  God has established clearly-defined principles of life management that can make me prosper, and my tomorrow better than today.  Yet for his own good purposes, God will allow me to suffer in order to further the gospel, transform my character, and mature my faith. Regardless of the what the circumstances of the moment suggest, God is for me, and will reward faithfulness, to some degree in this life, and to a much greater degree in the next.

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Mention the word “prosperity” to American Evangelical Christians and you’ll get one of two responses.  The first is a kind of entranced smile – a brightened countenance very similar to the sheer delight we used to see from people at an Amway meeting.

The second is that uncomfortable, “what do you mean by that?” kind of look, suggesting that money is the world’s curse, and that people who have it must be materialistic swine or should somehow apologize or feel guilty.

So which are you?  “Amen?”  Or “Oh me?”  Or maybe, like me, you vacillate from one to the other.

The challenge with all this is that the Bible categorically promises success to people who live according to principles or laws that God has established.  “Everything he does will prosper,” the psalmist said in Psalm 1.  And check out those blessings mentioned by Moses in Deuteronomy.

That said, the Bible also deals with the apparent contradiction of that – the prosperity of the wicked.  Those mirroring psalms – 37 and 73 – both deal with that.  The wicked does have his day, the psalmist concludes, but God has a way of sorting things out in the end, when it matters most.

Meanwhile, in the New Testament, Jesus didn’t promise a life without tribulation.  On the contrary, He said we would have it, despite what people uniquely in America sometimes promise.  Our rewards are presented mostly as heavenly, post-life promises.  But even in places, such as here, there is the declaration that God has obligated Himself to meet all our needs.

So which is it?  Suffering in this age, followed by our eternal treasure in heaven?  Or timeless principles that work in the age to come, but also may be claimed, believed, and acted on here?

Yes.

Does God want you and me to be rich?

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The LifeVesting Principle of Abundance

by Andy Wood on July 3, 2008

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting

GrapesGod has established an ordered world based on eternal principles found in His word.  I’m not talking about so-called “principles” that preachers invent to make people feel good, then try to attach a random Bible verse to in order to sound legit to the church crowd.  I mean truths, grounded in His character, that apply to many different situations.  That’s the difference between a rule and a principle.  “Don’t commit murder” is a rule.  “Value life” is a principle.

That said, to the degree that we align our lives with God’s principles, we experience the fullness of God’s purpose in creating us in the first place.  And the root from which every other principle springs is that everything begins with, and culminates in, the glory of God.  You and I were created for his glory – to express His image, extend His life, and execute His will.  And in order to fulfill that purpose, we were given the awesome gift of one lifetime.

That’s it.  No Plan B.  No second chances as a toad or platypus.  You get one shot, with no guarantees of how long exactly that will be. But with that one lifetime, you receive the opportunity to produce consequences affecting your future, in both time and eternity.

LifeVesting is about understanding the possibilities and taking action in the direction of the compelling future and eternal reward that can be yours.  It revolves around five biblical principles.  You can find them expressed in a variety of images – agriculture, business, family relationships, even fishing.  But the principles are consistent, regardless of the metaphor.  Today I’d like to briefly explain the first one.

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I May As Well Be Dead

by Andy Wood on April 29, 2008

in Tense Truths

Message from God(Note: I’m starting a new category today I call “tense truths.” Truth because it’s, well, true! Tense because it’s often misunderstood or has other balancing truths that need to be considered.)

Tense Truth: God still speaks to those who will listen. True, people sometimes misunderstand, misuse, or manipulate others with “messages from God.” Regardless, God is willingly and faithfully engaged in the pursuit of communicating with His people.

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I may as well be dead.

That’s the way David put it.

Ask anybody on the street about getting messages from God; nine out of ten of them will assume you’re joking or clinically nuts.

Ask George Strait about messages from God, and he’ll sing to you about seeing flowers growing in the sidewalk at just the right time, or in the miracle of seeing his baby girl born.

Ask theologians, pastors, and writers about hearing from God, at least in somewhat-Evangelical circles, and you’ll get two kinds of responses. One is something of a mystical free-for-all – sort of like a friend of mine I’ll call Weird Wally. [click to continue…]

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