Five days of creation. Five days to speak a universe and earth into being. But for the first five days, as God created the stars and planets, the sea and land, and its teeming life, there was no one to speak back.
True, the angels brought Him praise, and creation tacitly spoke of his glory. But a voice was missing. A voice of intimacy, of image reflected. A voice of will – of determined love. A voice of faith and surrendered strength.
Day six. The climax of it all came when God breathed into the man the breath of life, and he became a living soul.
Imagine the Father’s delight as He introduced Adam to a universe of discovery. To show him the bumblebee or the giraffe, the caterpillar or the butterfly, the lion and the lamb. To see the childlike wonder in the grown man’s eyes as he witnessed this living Artist’s canvas for the first time. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on March 17, 2009
in Enlarging Your Capacity, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Insight, Leadership, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Legacy
Maewyn Succat. Bet you never thought to hang that name on your son. But Maewyn wasn’t from around these parts, and his name apparently suited him as he grew up in his native Wales.
Maewyn had a pretty respectable upbringing. His granddaddy was a preacher, and his dad was a deacon – though rumor had it that Dad’s religious affiliations had more to do with tax deductions than spiritual passion.
In most ways, I suppose, Maewyn was your typical teenager. Times were tough, but youth is a time to dream of something better. No doubt this teenager had dreams, hopes, and plans to get there.
But all of that came crashing down when Maewyn’s family estate was attacked and he was abducted, placed in chains, and hauled off into slavery, far away from his home and his family.
What do you do when all you’ve ever known is ripped away from you? How do you respond when your dreams, your hopes, your family, and your heritage become distant memories or painful reminders of a life that once was?
Some children encounter such things at very early ages, and never remember their heritage or parents. Not Maewyn. He’d seen too much. Known too much. Missed too much. [click to continue…]
April 1 is coming, and with it is the release of Kaye Miller’s new book, Called to Love – Stories of Compassion, Faith, and God’s Amazing Grace. I was privileged to work with Kaye on it, and can tell you, it’s a must-have book. Kaye masterfully gives love a face, a Name, and a set of instruments with which to express it. You can pre-order called to love at Amazon here, or at Barnes & Noble Online here.
The following is a composite description of one of the most profound love-related experiences Kaye walked through. On some level, I think you’ll be able to relate. Enjoy! And order the book!
Most of us will not be required to love to the extent that it costs our physical lives. But we will have to love enough to be willing to give up our own desires, our time, our preferences, our schedules and much more. But that is a small price, knowing that we were loved by someone named Jesus Christ, who thought we were worth dying for.
This came home to me in a particularly poignant way in my responsibilities as an intensive care nurse. I heard God’s call loud and clear as He called me to work with the leprosy of our day. I will never forget the first time I cared for a patient with AIDS. I thought, “God, I can’t so this! I have a family – small children who need me. Please don’t ask me to do this!” I stood outside the door to the room of my first AIDS patient for what seemed like an eternity, just praying: “Lord what do I do?” Then I remembered what Jesus did, and what my father did. They willingly, lovingly, touched the lepers of their day. I could do no less.
I took a deep breath and opened the door – [click to continue…]
In the previous post I talked about the principle of planting abundantly. Today I want to tell you about somebody who did it.
I married an MK. That’s “missionary’s kid,” in case you’re uninitiated. It was enough of a culture shock to marry a Texan, but to say “I do” to somebody who could have repeated her vows in Thai if she wanted was really special. For 26 years I have heard the stories, met most of the major players, and lived vicariously through the memories, the loves, and the laughter of a family whose lives are invested to this day in Jesus’ mandate to take the gospel to the world.
All of that came calling the day after Christmas 2004. To this day Robin refers to the event as if it were a proper name – an evil killer who has somehow become an unwanted part of the family.
His name: Tsunami. [click to continue…]
(Note: This is out of sequence, but I couldn’t pass this by. I’d like to know your thoughts.)
First, read this:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:22-26, NASU)
Then read this: A Botched Abortion in Mother’s Own Words
Then read this again:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:22-26, NASU)
Please tell me you feel at least a little outrage.
Please tell me that you haven’t lived so long in a culture of death that this leaves you untouched.
But while you’re at it, please give me something better than violence or political rhetoric. [click to continue…]
This is about the difference between creeds and deeds. Action and diction. Your words and your walk.
I’m assuming if you’re reading this that you want to be known and respected as a man or woman of truth. That may be a big assumption, of course, since it’s possible that you went to bed last night with the happy memory of somebody you conned.
But if you’re a believer, God has placed a desire in your heart to please Him, and truth is one of the things that does that. So is love. So it’s no surprise that the Bible describes spiritual maturity as the fine art of “speaking the truth in love.”
And it is a fine art. What do you do when words and wishes collide? What do you say when your honest thoughts and feelings aren’t very loving?
Years ago I was sitting in a therapy group, where a couple of people were talking about their “inner child” and their “inner adolescent.” It was a poignant discussion by some people who were sincerely seeking healing and growth. But I couldn’t help but think, “My problem isn’t my inner child, or my inner adolescent. My problem is with my inner jackass.”
I figured it would be better to stay quiet. Love? Maybe. Self-protection? No doubt about it. I said it best when I said nothing at all.
The greatest love tends to show up in the fewest words. [click to continue…]
You’ll want to read this story… because it’s yours in some way.
Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
What do you do when you’ve done everything you know to do? What do you do when your tried-and-true system, which has worked before, doesn’t work this time? How do you respond when God makes a promise and you’ve seen it fulfilled – but this time it doesn’t seem to be “working?”
Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
They’ll laugh when they read this, but I sometimes call Kaye and Mark, whom I love very much, Barbie and Ken. From a distance, they have a storybook life that looks like an 8×10 glossy. Kaye was a Baylor Beauty; Mark was a quarterback/safety for Frank Broyles’ University of Arkansas football teams. They married, settled in Little Rock, and had four beautiful children.
Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Mark and Kaye weren’t just church wallflowers. [click to continue…]
I never knew Bill Hyde.
I will one day.
Bill was a church planter. I know a little about that; I planted a church five years ago. Bill planted six hundred, and just before he died, he hosted a then-record 3,700 participants in a Pioneer Evangelism conference. His vision: to plant 3,000 churches. He took what people were adding in the Philippines, and began multiplying their efforts ten-fold.
I never heard Bill’s deep bass voice, singing or otherwise.
I will one day.
Bill gave up a career in music or teaching because, as one person put it, he wasn’t content leading a quiet, happy life teaching music. Instead, he and Lyn, his wife, chose the frontlines of the battle. They were appointed as missionaries in 1978.
I never hung out, played golf, argued, or even shook hands with Bill. I sure hope I can one day.
Jim Cox, his former co-worker, said that Bill was a big guy:
Big in stature, big smile, big laugh, big hands, big heart. Bill was a musician, a teacher, a planner, an organizer and a doer. He had strong opinions, enjoyed a good argument and a game of dominoes. Bill and I played golf together weekly. He was my perfect golfing companion because he was as bad a golfer as I—not that we kept score anyway.
Bill and I have met in one way. [click to continue…]
Take a look at this exquisite photo. It was taken by a guy in the UK named Wez Smith. I found it yesterday, and remembered again what an amazingly beautiful world is that we live in.
Know what it is?
I’ll tell you in a minute.
Don’t you love how even the seeming imperfections of each petal all come together to form a beautiful whole?
How even the “rough edges” all come together in a symphony of striking color?
How whatever that seed part in the middle is called (I’m no botanist) suggests the amazing reproducible wonder of future life? Future potential? Even more beauty?
Figured out what it is yet, Mr. Green Jeans?
[click to continue…]
(with a big salute to Michael Card)
He waited, and waited, and waited. He put up with so much. While His love was spurned, He suffered long, awaiting that one climactic moment in time that was a part of His eternal plan.
When that moment came, He took the initiative and arrived on the scene. In kindness He reached out to us with tangible expressions of His love – a healing touch, the pleasure of His company, a word of forgiveness. His kindness was refreshing, because it touched those who weren’t used to receiving it.
He was criticized, questioned, suspected, and ultimately undermined by jealous people. But there wasn’t a jealous bone in His body.
He went toe-to-toe with an establishment of hypocrites who loved to parade themselves before men. But in spite of His immense popularity, He never flaunted Himself.
[click to continue…]
