“I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” -1 Corinthians 9:22-23, The Message
I’ve devoted a lot of time to a life powered by wishful thinking. With that came a lot of declaring about what I was going to do, and by when. Those lists I referred to in the last post even contain a pretty crazy collection of audacious plans. Just one problem. Some of them are lifetime pursuits, and I still haven’t started the chase.
Setting goals or writing down wish lists is a bit like writing a check. [click to continue…]
Help Wanted: Branches
Master of the Universe, a firm dedicated to establishing change agencies throughout the world and providing eternal dwelling places for an undisclosed number of people, is seeking branches on which to conduct its fruit-bearing strategy. Generous benefit package. Unlimited positions available to trusting and trustworthy candidates. No previous experience necessary. Will train the right candidate(s). (Please note: No advancement possible. This is an entry- and exit-level position. The other two positions – Vine and Gardener – have been permanently filled.)
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Stop doing God’s job. Not only is it unnecessary, it’s ridiculous. And believe me, when you try to solve God-sized problems with man-sized vision and wisdom, you will be ridiculed.
So, following up from the last post, how DO we approach situations, opportunities, challenges, and problems that are larger than we are?
You approach them like a branch would. [click to continue…]
Varsity Drive-In, Atlanta
If you’re ever in Atlanta (we’re here right now for the Catalyst conference) and want to check out the local cuisine, at least once you need to experience the Varsity Drive In. I’m not talking about its suburban cousins in the outlying communities, but the original, located on the edge of the Georgia Tech campus in downtown Atlanta. Founded in 1928, the Varsity is the largest drive-in restaurant in the world. It covers two city blocks, and serves 8,000 hamburgers, over two miles of hot dogs, and a ton (literally) of onion rings every day. It also serves more Coca-cola than any other single outlet in the world.
The Varsity is an eating experience that begins when you walk in the door. It’s like a step back in time. The order counter is massive, and behind it is the most fun and amazing collection of fast-food servers in the industry. More than 20 Varsity employees have worked there over 20 years. (Try to find that at a McDonald’s!) If you want a tiny sense of what it’s like, click here and just listen.
From the minute you get near the counter, you’ll hear that famous Varsity chorus. It sounds like chaos, but it’s actually its own delightful symphony, set to the rhythm of hurried city life. And resounding through the melee is, “What’ll you have, what’ll you have?”
Like any landmark, the Varsity has had its share of famous patrons. But what makes it so special [click to continue…]
Sometimes people do profound, powerful, healing things because they see the light. Sometimes they do it because they feel the heat.
Imagine for a minute that you’re part of a crew of thousands, sent by no less than the king of a global power, to do the most important assignment of your life. Your job is to rebuild the temple of God.
For seventy years your people have languished. All your life, you’ve heard the stories.
The land.
The promise.
The covenants.
The city. Oh, the city!
And there on a mount called Moriah, you’ve heard about the most splendid, most glorious instrument of the worship of God. Envisioned by the Sweet Psalmist of Israel, and built by his son, the wisest of kings ever to occupy the planet, this masterpiece was destroyed.
Your fathers came clean with you. They owned up: they’d screwed up miserably. And there was nobody to blame but themselves.
But today’s a new day, [click to continue…]
As you can probably tell from here and here, I’m a big fan of Winnie the Pooh. I pretty well ignored him during my first childhood, but in my second – with my own children – he and his friends became some of my favorite characters.
There in the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh is a model of contentment. He helps his friends, enjoys the outdoors, doesn’t fret about his weight, and never loses his patience. He loves his honey, and his only real worry is seeing to it he has a plentiful supply. His friends are high-strung (Rabbit), insecure (Piglet), maternal (Kanga), and playful (Roo), gloomy (Eeyore), egotistical (Owl), and irresponsible (Tigger).
Winnie the Pooh? He’s just proud to be here.
I think I may have found the secret to the chubby cub’s contentment. Just outside the hollow tree where he lives is a log that is used for sitting. Beside the log is a sign that reads, “The Thotful Spot.” Being a Bear of Very Little Brain, Pooh must think hard, and think often. Whenever there is a problem or a confusing question, or practically any occasion that requires a brain, he returns to the Thotful Spot to think. He doesn’t always come up with the right answers. But he always comes away with an idea. And he always comes away happy.
Everybody needs a Thoughtful Spot. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on September 15, 2008
in 100 Words
I live in a town that prays for rain.
Not with superstition or religious sophistry, but with humble, believing cries to Jesus Christ.
Averaging 14-plus inches annually, our ag-based economy depends on rain.
I also live in a town that educates students.
Lots of them.
Sometimes educated people scoff at people who pray for rain.
They’re embarrassed to live in the same town with such backwards people.
In this town, there is one place where the praying people and the educated people gather in the same spot.
Thursday it rained. More than six inches, to be exact.
Gimme a “J”!
Soon we’ll be electing a new president, and get all those changes we’ve been hoping for. Gas prices are coming down. Congress will soon have – I mean, give us – some more of our money to spend. The economy is going up, or down, depending on who you listen to. The Iraq war is getting better, and troops are coming home. The Dallas Cowboys (plus Jessica) are America’s Team again. I guess there’s nothing left to worry about, right?
Wrong.
Not long ago I was in a public restroom that still had one of those pull-down linen hand towels. Somebody left the front panel off, and there for all to see were these emboldened words:
FAILURE TO LOAD PROPERLY COULD RESULT IN INJURY OR DEATH!
I dried my hands on my jeans. I mean, you never know! I could just see my tombstone now:
“Here the body of Andy lies,
He pulled on a towel, and found a surprise.
He lived life well, and we’ll never forget –
Now his soul’s with God, but his hands are still wet.”
I was eating at a world-famous restaurant that will go unnamed. As I walked beneath its arches (oops!) and ordered a burger, I grabbed a few napkins. There in beautiful print were these words: [click to continue…]
I want to share with you 10 things I pray for my children, all of whom are married adults now, living elsewhere. They are listed in order, but not necessarily order of importance or chronological order. More on that later.
I didn’t make the list up – somebody already beat me to it. But as soon as I found it, I decided that this was a good “handle” for interceding for anyone I love. But I’m particularly drawn to praying this for my children, and their children as they come along. Here goes…
1. Deep personal fulfillment. I want them to be happy! Not in that shallow, vain use of the word, but for them to find life satisfaction – true joy – in their lives, their relationships, and their work.
2. The success and strength of their descendants. To use a biblical term, I pray that my grandchildren and beyond would be “mighty on the earth” because of the things my children taught them and demonstrated to them.
[click to continue…]
Yesterday God played “connect the dots” with me. He used a series of apparently random or loosely-connected ideas to form a whole – a picture of what He’s up to or what He wants to communicate. I’d like to share what I learned in the process. So here are the “dots”:
Be Ready
Tim Challies told an amazing story about a crash landing that took place at the Toronto airport in August 2005 during a horrific storm. The plane overshot the runway and came to a crashing halt.
Some fifteen to twenty seconds had elapsed from the time the aircraft left the runway. Amazingly, the fuselage was largely intact. But as the plane had crossed Convair Drive, fuel had begun to leak and had immediately caught fire. As the plane came to a halt the fire began to spread and to intensify.
Keep in mind that it had been 27 years since a similar incident had happened in Toronto.
For twenty-seven years the firefighters had trained to deal with a situation like this one. An entire generation of firefighters had come and gone without seeing a single incident. They could almost be excused for being under-prepared, slow to respond, slow to act.
They weren’t. By the time the tower controller activated the airport’s crash alarm, 26 seconds after the flight left the runway, the firefighters were already in route. They arrived only 52 seconds after the plain left the runway.
Despite twenty seven years without an incident, those firefighters were ready and they responded well in advance of the parameters dictated by safety regulations. In less than a minute they were on the scene and were assisting the passengers. It took less time for them to get to the crash site than it did for fully half of the passengers to leave it.
Fifty-two seconds! After not having an incident in 27 years. The key was training. They had disciplined, trained, and practiced so much that when the crash occurred, they were ready.
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Tense Truth: For every big answered prayer you experience, you can find some trivial something God chose not to say “yes” to. For every simple request He responds to, you can find some issue of global significance or suffering that He appears oblivious to. Regardless, the Kingdom of God moves forward on that praying of its people, and when we don’t ask, we don’t receive.
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Did you ever dissect a rose or a tulip or something in biology class? You know – where you learned about those parts, like the pistil, the anvil, the stirrup, the air ducts, the seaman, and all that stuff? Did the thought ever occur to you that no matter how interesting the inner understanding may be, what makes the flower beautiful is the whole?
A lot of people approach prayer the same way. They feel compelled to slice it, dice it, dissect it, analyze it. They ask “Why?” and “How?” questions a lot. I’ll confess, those kinds of thoughts rattle around in my head. My wife, the faith warrior, will talk about some simple thing the Lord wonderfully gave her, like a parking place or a sale at Kirkland’s or a thought to call somebody. And I’ll be thinking, “Okay, but really…” Or I’ll go off on a riff like I did last week about praying for the economy or gas prices (are they really slipping?) or the environment, and the whole time I’m opining, I’m thinking, “People are going to think I’m nuts.”
[click to continue…]
