If you’ve been knocked down, get up.
If you’re too tired to take another step, but you’re not “there” yet, press on.
If your heart’s been broken, your trust betrayed, find an anchor for your soul and dig in. [click to continue…]
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They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:8)
The nature of the shameful is to hide from God when we sense He’s moving toward us.
The assumption of the fallen is to assume that the Great Unfallen would not pick us up. [click to continue…]
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In the world of archery, comfortable bows never launch arrows.
Until the bow is stretched to near-breaking, the arrow never fulfills its purpose or reaches its target.
I fear that our craving for comfort may be slowly killing us all because we’ve redefined the term. [click to continue…]
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For the last 2,000 years people from all over the world have staked their futures around two events that, for them, represent the most transforming experience in history. I’m referring to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
One of the most compelling proofs of the power of those two events is in the changed character of Jesus’ followers. Talk about Jekyll-and-Hyde! This ragtag group of crazies went from cowering wimps to a fearless army of witnesses with a single message: Jesus lives.
These people didn’t wait until the resurrection to believe in Christ. But they experienced a profound change in their faith when they encountered a living, victorious Lord.
So will you.
Even today it’s possible to know in your head that Jesus is alive, but live as though it’s still Friday night. In other words to believe in Jesus as though He were dead. So how can you tell the difference? Here are five signs you’re living on “Friday night” faith: [click to continue…]
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Believe it or not, the time will come…
the realization will dawn…
your heart will rest
Because for the first time in a long time,
perhaps the first time ever,
you will know that your waiting is done.
But there you will discover another kind of waiting –
one of attending…
loving focus…
adoring and serving.
And then more than ever, it will be worth the wait. [click to continue…]
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It doesn’t take much for a breeze
To become a roaring fury –
Or a gentle, soaking shower
To become a fierce, howling squall.
In a matter of mere moments,
The elements that nourish you
Can soon threaten to destroy you
Or just paralyze you with fear.
That is true in the natural…
More so in the relational.
Sometimes the waves that pound at you
Are tides of public opinion.
Sometimes the winds that howl to you
Are the voices of the critics.
Sometimes the raindrops that pelt you
Are problems with no solutions.
When storms are raging,
It’s time for engaging
Your faith, your hope, and your love. [click to continue…]
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In an old strip from “Bloom County” back in the early 80s, Opus, the beloved big-nosed penguin, is sitting at a bus stop with a Polish guy, a black guy, a white guy, an old lady and a midget (um, vertically challenged person)…
Black Guy (to Opus): Ya know… you penguin types offend me.
White Guy: Hey… I’ll tell ya what offends me… dirty words, that’s what!
Polish Guy: Polish jokes offend me.
Black Guy: Stereotypes offend ME.
Old Lady: TV sex offends me!
White Guy: LOOK! That sign is offensive!!
Midget: I made that sign and I’m offended!
Polish Guy (to Black Guy): Frankly sir, you offend me.
Black Guy: Well! I’m offended at your offense.
Old Lady: Those nudes offend my womanhood!
White Guy: Those gays offend my manhood!
Midget: This comic offends my offensiveness!
All: MY GOSH… LIFE IS OFFENSIVE!! AAAAAIGH! (they all run away, leaving Opus sitting at the bus stop)
Opus: Offensensitivity.
Have you checked your offensensitivity levels lately? Some days it just seems that all of life is offensive. And other days, well, maybe we have enough grace to let a few people be completely wrong. This just in from Serenah:
I have just read your put your stingers up piece and it was helpful. But how do you put your stingers up permanently when you are in a situation you can’t remove yourself from? I know God is trying to teach me to let go of defensiveness but I don’t know how?
Fair question. How do you drop your guard when every day feels like a march into the enemy’s camp? Here are a couple of thoughts on the fly, but thoughts worth taking a look at. Offensensitivity is the result of three overlapping things: Fear, Framing, and False Beliefs. [click to continue…]
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The headlines are curious today, after weeks of holding us hostage over a disease that Americans steadfastly wish to remain somebody else’s problem. “COMPASSION URGED IN DALLAS AS EBOLA MONITORING ENDS” says the USA Today headline.
Who is this compassion aimed for?
People who don’t have the disease.
So why do they need compassion?
Because at one time we were afraid they may have it.
But after 21 days of having their lives quarantined while the politicians, media, talk radio and social media had everybody in a frenzy, now the science says, they don’t have it. Meanwhile, two nurses who were doing their jobs caring for the one person who has died from the disease in the U.S. now are fighting the virus, and we pray for their healing and recovery.
In the meantime, Dallas, please be kind to people you may otherwise want to avoid like the you-know-what. It’s the American thing to do. [click to continue…]
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Ever have a conversation like this?
Whatever happened to ________? I really thought he was going places.
Not sure. Ever since [insert a distracting or demoralizing event] he never was quite the same.
I’ve witnessed countless scenarios like that one. I even lived out a few of them.
The idea of leadership is that you’re influencing people, formally or informally, to move together toward a certain goal. If it were easy, anybody could do it. But because you’re dealing with people, and because leadership often involves matters of the heart, it’s easy to find yourself sucked into leadership quicksand.
At best, it’s a distraction and you lose focus.
At worst, it can paralyze and ultimately destroy your influence.
Here are 10 sloughs to avoid (or get out of today) to allow your leadership to see another day: [click to continue…]
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I watched the Robin Hood movie again last night.
Kevin Costner?
No, seriously? Russell Crowe.
OK.
I love the quote from there…
About rising and rising again?
Yeah… “Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions.” That really resonates with me.
I can see why. So are you rising and rising again?
Hardly. More like “fall and fall again.”
Why is that? [click to continue…]
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