by Andy Wood on July 17, 2013
in Ability, Allocating Your Resources, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Pleasers, Principle of Abundance, Principle of Freedom
Ever see something funny that wasn’t intended to be? When language could be interpreted a bit differently than its original meaning?
Example: One day when the kids were still at home we were on the way to school and passed a local hotel. In their attempt to be friendly to an industry meeting there, they posted this message on the marquee: Welcome Pest Control.
Yeah, that’s probably not what you want to see when you’re checking in.
More to-date, once a year I teach a strategic planning class for Crown College – a fine Christian school in Minnesota. Like most schools, Crown has an online system for maintaining accounts, library access, classes and the like. In their case, it’s called “my.crown.”
A few months ago, Jeff, the IT guru there, sent notice that the system was having some technical problems. The message: My.Crown is Down.
Go ahead, call me weird. But put in a different context, I just thought that was sorta funny, in a Dr. Seuss kind of way. [click to continue…]
I love photography for two reasons. First, I love capturing light and images and special moments that I can share and re-live. The one to the left is a recent sample.
Second, taking pictures puts me on the right side of the camera. As long as I can stay away from that nosy lens, I can imagine that I actually look the way I do when I look at myself in the mirror. No awkward angles. No unflattering poses. No ruthless inventory of how I really look.
The same kind of thing happens in the spiritual realm. There are plenty of ways to pose so that we get a flattering, but dishonest look at ourselves. That’s unhealthy for two reasons. First, it can put us in denial of something that can really hurt us in the long run. Second, it can produce shame that blinds us to our great, great value to God and to the world.
How would you like a strategy for taking an honest inventory of your heart and soul?
Wait.
Maybe I should phrase that a different way…
Do you need a strategy for taking an honest inventory of your heart and soul? I don’t really care whether you want it or not.
Here are eight questions that can turn the lights on in your spiritual life. They can be used alone or together. You can go through them in 15 minutes, or an hour, or an entire day. The questions are based on Paul’s energetic series of charges to the Thessalonians:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:16-22).
Take a few minutes or however long you can. Get alone with a journal, legal pad, or an electronic tablet and write down some notes based on your first response to these questions: [click to continue…]
Standing in the gap for you, as expectantly as I can, I am praying that on this day like no other, you know the extraordinary comfort of ordinary faithfulness. I pray that you would experience:
Times of “dull” rest, where both your body and your mind can enjoy the stillness of a peaceful heart after a productive day… [click to continue…]
(If you never read another thing I write, before going any further, please read this short piece my daughter wrote to her children, ages 5, 2, and ten months. Click here, if you dare, and brace for impact.)
Okay. Back? Let’s get to it.
You don’t have the luxury of praying for people you love – especially your children or grandchildren – like a sissy.
The time is too short…
The enemy is too cruel…
The church is too powerless…
The Lord is too near His return…
…for you and me to sit on an arsenal mightier than a nuclear weapon and ask God to make their lives more comfortable…
easier…
safer.
Safer to whom, for God’s sake? The devil? The world? The ACLU? The media?
Stop asking God to make your little angels little angels. Or mild-mannered weenies. In the name of all that is holy, I dare you to ask God to make them dangerous. Call on Him, in the heavenly realm, to put a sword in their teeth and courage in their hearts to blast a hole in the kingdom of darkness. [click to continue…]
You may be wondering if anybody sees, anybody knows, anybody cares. I wanted you to know someone does. And I am praying for you.
Especially on this day, as you pour yourself out in love, I pray you experience a return – not just in the world of faith, but even in the realm of sight – that others would give back to you as you have so faithfully given to them.
As you laugh today, I pray that others laugh with you. As you sing, I pray that others sing along. As you labor, I pray that others work beside you. As you dance for joy, I pray that even there you delight in the company you keep. [click to continue…]
CNN had an interesting story yesterday. The headline: “When Christians Become a Hated Minority.” Like so many other current cultural debates, it assumes that Christ followers are camped out on one issue. Maybe that’s because that issue is the one place, seemingly, where the world has managed to join forces with the tide of popular opinion. Now anybody who speaks out against homosexual behavior or gay marriage is a hate-filled bigot.
The article fairly raises the question of whether Christian-haters are the new bigots. It points out that many believers avoid saying anything about, well, anything for fear of the backlash.
This raises a painful question for Christians: Why are we being trampled on? It sure seems that anywhere you turn anybody and everybody has the right to say whatever they want, do whatever pleases them, and demand to be accepted. But let somebody mention Jesus or the word “Christian” and the arrows fly from all sides.
Here’s the problem: We’re asking the wrong people. [click to continue…]
Hey. Come on in. Shut the door behind you.
Ha! No, you aren’t in trouble. I just wanted to show you something important, without a lot of distractions. You doing OK?
So, just curious… how’s your praise life?
Yeah, that’s probably what I would have said, too.
Yes, actually, that is what I wanted to talk about.
I wanted to share an experience that actually happened several years ago, but it totally changed how I approach my relationship with God – particularly praise and worship.
Well, yeah, praise and worship at church with the music and all that. But more importantly, praising God in my prayer time. You know that old hymn that says, “Tune my heart to sing Thy praise?” Yeah, well, the Lord showed me how to do that, and it was pretty life-changing. [click to continue…]
David was on the chopping block. His organization had just been hit by a hostile takeover attempt. To say his leadership was being called into question is putting it mildly. But even when people from within his own ranks were calling for his head, this exceptional leader emerged with a decisive plan and executed a remarkable comeback.
His first step: He had to quiet his own soul. Before he could silence his outer critics, he had to get his inner one to shut up.
Hannah was sitting in church one day, but the worship service was probably the last thing on her mind. She carried an ache that is only known by those women who have longed desperately to have a child and were unable to. It had reached a point way past sadness… Hannah was angry. And her inner rage had to be dealt with. So Hannah took decisive action.
Her first step: She had to quiet her own soul. Before she could make nice at the church house, she had to empty her heart of its poison. A year later, she had a son. [click to continue…]
Okay, let’s stretch a little and use some imagination. Suppose you received that message on your smart phone or email. Looking beyond the earthly trappings – a church house, your bedroom or office or favorite nature connection – what does the “usual time” and “usual place” for a meeting with God look like?
I daresay for most of us, me included, we become Saints in the Presence of a Busy God. We pray, we worship, and we listen to a God who’s gettin’ it done. And on our best days, we come in faith that He will actually use us to help execute His plan and that He will get some things done for us.
Anything wrong with that? Absolutely not. After all, our God has unlimited power, knowledge and presence. And He invites us to trust Him to use it and to join Him in effecting His plan – His work. See if you can relate to some of these “meeting places” with God. [click to continue…]
You’re already thinking about somebody, aren’t you? As soon as you saw this title, his or her weaselly little mug appeared on your mental screen.
Maybe it’s that man in business who always seems to end up on the upside of a deal, regardless of who loses or what the consequences are.
Maybe it’s the committee of “concerned leaders” who just ambushed the latest pastor, much like they did the previous two or three, and sent him packing.
Maybe it’s the golden throat, pretty boy preacher who’s heaven to listen to, but hell to work for or deal with.
Maybe it’s the malicious gossip, who can destroy somebody’s life before sundown and never miss a night’s sleep.
Maybe it’s the boss who never has a good word to say about your performance, but takes the credit for all your hard work.
Maybe it’s the politician, who turned “public service” into private self-service.
Maybe it’s a lawyer.
(Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Please don’t sue me.)
Regardless of who you’re thinking of, we’ve all known them. They’re mean, self-centered, manipulative bullies. They’re conmen who, if they can’t take your money, can take your health by driving you batty or to the point of exhaustion. They’re never wrong – at least in their own eyes – and would crawl across England on broken glass to win an argument. And let’s be honest – in all likelihood, they’re probably more powerful than you, more popular than you, and more outwardly successful than you.
Grrrr! The scoundrels!
Hazarding Another Guess
Let me press my luck and hazard another guess. [click to continue…]
Ever see something funny that wasn’t intended to be? When language could be interpreted a bit differently than its original meaning?
