Seagulls: Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
Nigel: Oh would you just shut up? You’re rats with wings. (from “Finding Nemo”)
“Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night” (Philippians 2:15, The Message)
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Ever been haunted by words?
I have. Sometimes somebody expresses something so profoundly, so powerfully, that the power of their words lasts for years.
Randy Stonehill did that for me with a song he wrote 35 years ago, when I was a senior in high school. In a couple of lines in one song, he described the desperation of the human condition. The words and music still tear my heart out to this day: [click to continue…]
(From the forthcoming book, Coach Lightning)
Mention Morris Brown’s name around Jones County, Mississippi to anybody who knew him, and they’ll probably reply, “Oh, you mean Coach?” Not much chance of somebody piping up and saying, “He was my Social Studies teacher!”
But don’t let the labels fool you. Coach was always a teacher at heart. And while a football field or basketball court may have been his favorite classrooms, they certainly weren’t his only ones. There were precious few, if any, specialists in rural education in the 1950s. But that was fine with Coach Brown. He willingly embraced teachable moments wherever the situation called for it.
Just ask Dale Holifield, who grew up on a small farm in Jones County. At age 11, Dale was so shy he could have been considered antisocial. Outside of farming, he participated in very few activities. Even when he went hunting and fishing, he usually did it alone. All of that changed one summer day at the W. C. Houston grocery store, across from Shady Grove School. Dale was getting a cold RC cola to drink and chatting with Bubba Houston, the store owner’s son. The time came for Bubba to go to baseball practice, and he invited Dale to come along. Dale reluctantly accepted, and joined Bubba at the small practice field behind Bubba’s house. Hoping not to be noticed, Dale took a seat on the ground under a shade tree to watch the practice.
He didn’t sit very long. [click to continue…]
(Something of a “life lessons year in review,” in no certain order. I’d love to hear yours. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.)
1. How awesome your cancer surgeon is.
2. How nice people can be, even when you wish they would just hate you.
3. How God provides, even sometimes for fools.
4. The sun really does come out tomorrow.
5. How to spell “aneurysm.”
6. Life goes on, with you or without you.
7. Contrary to the words to the MASH theme, suicide is NOT painless.
8. Failure doesn’t stop people from loving you.
9. Rejection does not come with a cocoon to wrap you away for a while.
10. Nobody is more committed to your success than you are. [click to continue…]
He outran them all.
From the woods and swamps around his home in Millry, Alabama to the grass turf at Wildcat Hill, where the Millry Wildcats play their home games…
From a stint in the postwar United States Navy to the gridiron at the Mississippi Southern College…
From the sidelines and dugouts in the rural South to a legacy of influence that will long outlive him…
Nobody ever outran Morris Brown.
Nobody.
And he’d be the first to tell you.
In college they called him “Lightning.” But the people whose lives were most impacted by his teaching, motivation, and personal influence to this day simply call him, “Coach.” [click to continue…]
Last night the Texas Rangers won their first-ever postseason series.
And they celebrated with ginger ale.
Why?
Because Josh Hamilton, the Rangers’ star outfielder, graciously refuses to go anywhere near alcohol.
When the Rangers clinched their division in Oakland back in September, as beer and champagne flowed in the visitors’ locker room, Josh changed in a side office and left the clubhouse to go speak to a church group in Oakland about his life and testimony.
But last night, after winning the division series – something the Texas Rangers (and former Washington Senators) had never done – the team made sure it would be a team celebration. [click to continue…]
What comes to mind when you hear the name “Solomon?”
Yeah, that. Wisdom. Too bad he lived long enough to throw his life into reverse.
Solomon was a piece of work. He went from healthy, wealthy and wise to hedonistic, weird and wicked. Finally, toward the end of his reign, the Lord had seen enough. He spoke to Solomon and told him he was going to tear away all but one tribe from his son (1 Kings 11:13).
Okay. But why not clean house? Why not do a clean sweep? He’d done it before with Israel’s first king. And may I just say… Saul may have gone from compromiser to crazy, but compared to Solomon, Saul was a saint.
So what gives with God? [click to continue…]
Ask most any Christ follower who or what the ultimate model for leadership is, and they’ll point you to Jesus Christ.
Ask that same Christ follower what the ultimate standard for leadership is, and they’ll probably land on servanthood. “Jesus was a servant leader,” they will opine, “and He called His followers to lead by serving.”
Okay, so far, so good. One more question.
Ask that same believer to name somebody from among the most successful ministries or institutions who actually practices servant leadership across the board…
…and watch their pupils widen. The headlights just caught the deer.
In spite of all our claims to servant leadership, the honest truth is that leadership on a grand scale means knowing what to do with opportunity, influence, power, and public image. Can a leader have all of that and remain a servant?
Yes.
But will he?
Camels and the eye of the needle come to mind. [click to continue…]
The happiest man I ran into yesterday had a distinguishing feature. He only had one arm.
I don’t know is name, but I know his game; he’s a manager at one of the local fast-food Italian restaurants in town. In the short time we were there during the lunch rush, I saw him take orders at the register, manage those delicious breadsticks they’re famous for giving away, manage his team to make sure orders got out and the place stayed clean, and – most importantly – see to it that his customers were happy.
We sure were. And it started with him showing us that he was happy to be there. He has an infectious smile and a good-natured laugh that invites you to laugh along. Sure comes in handy when the lunch line is snaking out the door.
Hmmm. [click to continue…]
Render. It’s one of my favorite words in the English Bible.
I have to admit, it’s partly because it just sounds so awesome. I can just hear that boxing ring announcer now:
“Lllllets get ready to RrrreeenNNNderrrr.”
You can do a lot with that.
More important, of course, is what the word means. [click to continue…]
December 16, 1983. I walked across a stage in Ft. Worth, Texas to receive my Get-out-of-Jail degree. The moving vans had already left town, and when we drove into the parking lot to get my cap and gown, the car was loaded with luggage. This would be the day I put Texas – and school – in the rearview mirror. I was sick of both.
But my weariness and frustrations blinded me to some lessons I began to learn as the boxes were put away in our new home in Jackson, Alabama. I learned that in all my learning, I loved to learn. And through the years in youth ministry and pastoral leadership, I loved to teach.
That said, I made a shocking discovery recently. Counting the classes I’m engaged with now, I have taught 54 courses and nearly 775 students on a Master’s, Bachelor’s , or Extension level.
Oh… and I’ve lived in Texas for the last 14 years.
Recently somebody asked me to write out my philosophy of teaching. I was pleasantly surprised to learn I actually had one. Here is what I wrote: [click to continue…]
Seagulls: Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
