…the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me (Song of Solomon 2:12)
Be like the dove, He said… [click to continue…]
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Prayer
Okay, so try this. Let’s take a little mental inventory. Go back to the twilight of your thinking last night – that mental place where you drift between the time you close your eyes and the time you actually go to sleep. (I can tell you mine, but I’m saving it for a future blog post… watch for something called the “three A’s.”)
Or… how about the first line of thinking out of the mental gate this morning – that place where your mind went before you got out of bed?
Was it something to do?
Something you were worried about?
Some pressure, or pain? Or some pleasure or something/someone you were grateful for?
Was it a longing, or an idea? Or a feeling of dread?
Recapture that thought or line of thinking for a minute… then go behind it… and look for the desire. Based on your thinking, mentally complete this sentence: “I want to _____________.”
It could be something you want to feel.
Could be something you want to accomplish.
Could be something you want to experience.
Could be somebody you want to connect with, serve, or resolve an issue with.
Got it yet? Okay, let’s dig a little deeper. [click to continue…]
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In the previous post, we explored the idea of Life Shapers – the people who help make you more than you naturally would be in specific areas. Some people influence you to be stronger, wiser, funnier or more committed to excellence. Others may influence you to be fearful, suspicious, negative, or angry – all by the ways they interact with you.
This may explain why you’re drawn to the friends you have. Maybe you like them, or maybe you like the person you are when you’re with them.
It may also suggest some people you need to avoid. What your Mama (and the Bible) told you about bad company rings true in many cases. But I’m not just talking about party animals or thieves. If they constantly leave you feeling shamed, rejected, angry or afraid, maybe it’s time to choose a new set of influences.
Quoting from the last post…
You are who you are largely because of the people who believe in you, have you in their hearts, and expect the best (or worst) from you. This may be a good time to say “thank you” to the ones who are building you up, and “good-bye” to the ones who tear you down.
And for those who still answer when you call or read what you write, maybe it’s time to wise up – and rise up – to the life-shaper you can be.
Bringing Out the Best in Others
Do you realize the potential you have to be a life shaper? You are just as much a potential influence on others as they are on you. And while your nonverbal communication is still much stronger, there are some intentional things you can do to bring out the best in others. [click to continue…]
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Quick question: What would you do if you knew that you only had 30 days to live the life you now have? After that, your will life will be completely redefined.
You aren’t dead – just relocated.
Every relationship: history.
Every past accomplishment: strictly a thing of the past.
Every possession: soon to be somebody else’s.
Maybe, for the sake of playing out the fantasy side of the question, it’s a witness relocation effort or something. But regardless, the clock is ticking, and life as you know it is drawing to a close.
What would you do? Who would you do it with? How would you approach the growing, grim reality? [click to continue…]
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Wherever you may find yourself this Christmas – in prosperity or poverty, health or sickness, laughter or tears, togetherness or solitude – I pray that you will experience the same sense of wonder, gratitude, and grace (and more) that I have found.
I pray that in the midst of all you call blessings, you experience the beauty of knowing the miracle of being loved in this life – deeply, fully, completely…
That the evening shadows and stars remind you of the one star that mattered most and the Spirit behind it, guiding those who sought Jesus to discover His presence, and to miss Herod’s schemes…
That as heaven and nature sing of the glory of God, the mountains you face only serve as reminders that they are no match for the love He has shown you in His coming and His care…
That Jesus, our Emmanuel, would manifest His faithful awareness and presence and the miracle that takes place when God and sinners are reconciled in love and grace…
That whether you hear His voice in a prayer or a song, a promise or a still small voice, that you would truly hear it – and that as He sings over you, you would taste and see that the Lord is good, His mercy everlasting, and His truth endures forever to you and yours…
That joyfully and triumphantly, you would live in anticipation and adoration of the Word of the Father who appeared in flesh, and that you would not for one moment miss the opportunity to invest your life in what He is still doing today…
That in the silence of the night or the newness and glory of the morning, you would experience again and again the coming of the King – with the promise that the One who lit the sky once will split the sky when He comes again to claim you…
That the nearness and tender care of the Lord Jesus would carry you through the seasons of loss and the memories of those you miss this Christmas season…
And that the Carpenter’s son who built a bridge of goodness and light will find you waiting, however long it takes, for the day He returns.
Merry Christmas!
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Saw a strange thing the other day. We’d driven to Abilene to watch the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys defend the Wilford Moore trophy against local rival McMurray for the 20th straight year. Division III football at its finest.
HSU had already knocked out the starting quarterback. Number 2 wasn’t faring much better. Scrambling around in the backfield, he was nailed at midfield for about a 12-yard loss.
McMurray lined up for the next play. Shotgun formation. All of a sudden, the quarterback called timeout, turned toward the sideline, and ripped his helmet off. Next thing I know, he’s on his knees, then hands-and-knees, and he wasn’t praying.
Hmmm. Maybe he was. [click to continue…]
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“He who is powerless before God is powerless before men” (Watchman Nee).
On September 16, 2001, an amazing phenomenon took place in churches across the United States. Civilians came out of their foxholes in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11.
And they were talking about God.
On that day, in churches everywhere, they came looking for answers.
Within a matter of weeks, however, things had settled down to business as usual. Not long after, The Washington Times had a story that predicted that within a decade Americans would “invent” a religion of their own that met their needs. The article said that when they revisited the places that had once nourished them, they didn’t find what they were looking for.
Ouch.
To be fair, maybe they were looking for a place that let them have a god of their own making. And the fact that people may try to invent a religion of their own doesn’t bother me – we’ve been doing that since Adam and Eve were escorted out of the Garden.
What bothers me was that when they came to our house – the church – looking for answers, evidently something was missing.
What if they came to our house looking for answers, and we were just as confused as they were?
What if they came looking for life, and we were just as dead?
What if they came looking for supernatural power – some evidence that God is still on the throne, still works miracles, and still has the power to change lives – and all they found was platitudes, programs, and politics? [click to continue…]
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I’ve told this story before in a little less detail…
It happened about this time of year. It was one of those seasons where I felt like a cue ball – big, white and ugly. What times I wasn’t having head-on collisions with somebody else’s destiny, I was being slam-poked with a Big Stick.
Life hurt. And for a while I was too stupid, too busy, or too young to see it. I was overwhelmed with a college load. I had multiple responsibilities in my church staff position (my first). And I’d had some seismic shifts in relationships that had left me reeling and lonely.
That’s when I happened to drop by to see Willie Mae Dawkins.
I don’t remember why. I do remember that I ate at her home occasionally. But more than likely it was because her son, Mike, was in my youth group. I liked Mike a lot. And most likely, I had dropped by to see what he was up to.
Mama was sitting on the front porch. [click to continue…]
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It’s a universal problem, I suppose. In more than 30 years of church work, one of the most common refrains I have heard (and generated, I’m sure) is, “I don’t like my pastor.”
I’ve heard it from every conceivable angle. Staff members who feel like they’re working for an isolated jerk. Church members who miss – or are tired of – the old guy. People who can’t stand the new guy. Heck, I’ve even met pastors who didn’t like themselves.
Little did I know there is a counseling hotline available for people to call for advice or to vent their frustrations. It’s called, appropriately enough, the “I Don’t Like My Pastor Hotline” – or “Idle Miff” for short.
Idle Miff is run by a guy named Big Al, who will only give his first name. His only other known credential: he was once a pastor himself. Rumor has it that Big Al has a gift for cutting to the issue… and cutting to the quick if he has to.
And for the first time ever, Big Al has agreed to an exclusive interview. Be amazed, friends.
Be amazed, too, that Big Al probably weighs about 130 pounds dripping wet.
It’s a busy day at Idle Miff, and Big Al, as always, is working the phones alone. Mondays are always his busiest day, he says, “for obvious reasons.” So we’ll just have to be OK to catch him between hotline calls.
Not a problem, says I. It’ll be fun to see him in operation. [click to continue…]
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In the previous post, we looked at some of the kinds of problems that go past hangnails and headaches. Drawing from the experience of Jehoshaphat, Judah’s godly king, we explored some parallels of our own:
- Unprovoked hostility
- Overwhelming odds
- Unresolved fear
- Unfulfilled promises (of God)
- Absolute weakness
- Unclear direction
There are plenty of others, of course. But that’s a healthy list to remind us that faith doesn’t mean you never have problems. Believing God doesn’t mean you’re never afraid, or that you never face impossible situations. And in spite of the way some “believers” act, faith doesn’t mean you have all the answers. In one of my favorite verses in the Bible, this godly man says to God, “We don’t know what to do. But our eyes are on you.”
So when your back is to the wall and the Ammonites are coming, when you’re way past anxious and have no answers or direction, how does faith respond? Let me suggest five ways: [click to continue…]
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