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Here is a place where stress is absent.
Where the phone never rings, and babies never cry.
Here is a place where neatness, order, and predictability reign.
A safe place, where seldom is heard a discouraging word.
Here is a place where the “ground is level.”
Where there is no prejudice or pride.
Here is a place that remains unimpacted by the news or political scene.
Where nobody cares if you’re liberal, conservative, or anarchist.
We’re giving up Christmas this year. Thanksgiving, too. And if I have my way, New Year’s day will follow suit.
It all started with a meeting by our Creative Team at the church. The conversation was about what to do this holiday season. What’s on people’s minds? What are they thinking/planning for the holidays, especially Christmas?
As the conversation flowed, it followed themes such as people who were giving in to discouragement, fear, and despair because of the e-word. Also, one couple talked about giving out to charity instead of buying family a bunch of stuff they didn’t particularly want or need.
We talked about how Christmas has become jacked up because of the demands and expectations we place on it – how it’s supposed to magically solve all our problems or bring some sort of enchantment to our otherwise unhappy lives.
We talked about the pressure to make Christmas tricked up – raising the materialistic bar year in and year out. We’ve been keeping up with the Joneses, only to discover that we are the Joneses.
We talked about how, biblically, God one-upped Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist. God always seems to be able to out-give, out-serve, out-surprise the greatest acts of our service or obedience.
And we talked about the ultimate Gift – offered up by God to a world too busy to care.
So, our theme for Christmas is, Give It Up! Before you give in or give out, give up! That’s exactly what God did with His Son. Now He awaits your response.
But why wait for Christmas Day? Why not start now, in the Thanksgiving season, to offer up our lives, first to God, then to others? For many of us, this will be an opportunity, albeit unwelcome, to really discover that it’s not about the toys and trinkets as much as it is about the love, the joy, the life, and the service we offer up. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share ten ways you can give to others in life-affirming ways for little or no money. I would encourage you to do some or all of these things, regardless of your financial status. Read the rest of this entry »
Okay, all you fans of the amazing possibilities of humans left to their own ideas, it’s time for another edition of Hanukkah Hams! In case you missed previous episodes, a Hanukkah Ham was named after this, uh, “creative” marketing idea last year.
With all the gloom, doom, and sleepless nights about the economy, I thought maybe we could use a little financial inspiration.
Couldn’t find any, so this is what you get instead…
One of the fundamental truths of the New Testament is that money is “coined personality.” That is, people can see the “real you” in the ways you respond to and handle money. If you’re generous with your finances, you’ll be generous with other parts of your life as well. Same is true if you’re careless, stingy, unorganized, etc. This raises some interesting questions about some or organizations. If money is coined personality, we may have a few problems!
A couple of years ago, I walked into a local bank, started writing a check, and told the teller in my best deadpan voice that I needed $30 worth of Federal Reserve notes. He actually asked another teller, “Do we have Federal Reserve notes here?” “Ya mean, money?” she asked.
Last month a man in Warren, Michigan figured the best way to get a little extra cash for the holidays was to strong arm somebody and steal theirs. Read the rest of this entry »
Took a trip past Oprah a couple of years ago. She was interviewing Russian figure skater Tatiana Totmianina and her partner, Maxim Marinin. Oprah showed a tape of the world-renowned skating champions in which Maxim, as he lifted Tatiana into the air, lost his grip. Tatiana crashed face-first on the ice. It was horrific - all three times I saw it.
In case you missed it, here’s a video montage of her career, including the face plant in Pittsburgh:
Tatiana suffered a concussion but amazingly was back on the ice 12 days later.
“How hard was it for you to get back on the ice just 12 days after that?” Oprah asked her.
“Well, it was very hard,” Tatiana replied. “In the hospital when I woke up, I just realized how serious it was because all my life and career could be over… I wanted to get back on the ice right away because I have been skating since 4 years old. It’s my life.”
Amazing story, but when I heard that last statement, I must confess, I kicked into “preacher mode.” Read the rest of this entry »
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.
Isn’t it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.
Isn’t it bliss?
Don’t you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can’t move.
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.
-from “Send in the Clowns”
No, that’s not the theme song to the next installment of the U.S. Congress. Then again…
Yesterday I introduced you to a group of Christ followers who were living in a world of mirrors. The good people of Laodicea were living with the bling, but God had a different estimate of their true wealth. And in His correction, He revealed some things about a completely different economy that is in operation all around us. For review, here are the principles we looked at yesterday:
Principle #1: The root nature of sin is a declaration of independence from God.
Principle #2: God has a system of economy unlike the world’s system.
Principle #3: “Economy” is the exchange of all the commodities of life.
Principle #4: Money has a unique place in the commodities of life.
Principle #5: It is possible to be rich in the world’s economy and bankrupt in God’s.
So here the scenery changes, and God has some encouraging things to say to His loveable losers: Read the rest of this entry »
It was the Beverly Hills of ancient Asia. A center of wealth and high-end commerce. A medical haven, where people came from miles around for treatment of various ailments. If you wrote your mama and told her your job was transferring you there, she’d have something to brag about the next day. This was some place. And there was a church in town.
How would you like to get a personal letter from Jesus Christ, where the first thing he said was, “I know what you’ve been doing”? That can be a little unnerving! But that’s exactly what Jesus said to the First Church of Coolville, alias Laodicea. He had a few other things to say as well. Let’s peek at their mail:
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see (Revelation 3:15-18).
Looks like the guys and dolls in Lala Land had a few things to learn about wealth.
So do we.
They thought they were loaded; Jesus said otherwise. Remember, though, that in spite of its scathing message, this was a love letter. And in his love, Jesus gave them, and LifeVestors everywhere, a few pointers on His economy. Read the rest of this entry »
Pardon the cat blog entry, but I turned 50 today. The way I measure it, that’s halfway to Heaven. So my kids insisted we all converge on the DFW Metroplex for the weekend to celebrate.
I don’t think I could have possibly conjured up a better celebration and memory maker – provided by my family, my awesome team at TPCC back home, and some help from people with names like Harrell, Crabtree, and Edwards.
It all started with the confidence that I could leave home and work for the weekend, knowing that the church was in very capable hands. I am so grateful for the staff and leadership at Turning Point. So when Chad, our youth pastor, calls me on Friday to ask it if was OK to title his message on forgiveness, “The F-Word,” I didn’t think twice about it.
We went to Cassie’s house in Euless and had the official family celebration Friday night. (If you know Carrie, you’ll have to ask her what kind of birthday cake they served up. I couldn’t mention it unless you paid me lots of money.) It was there that they presented me the surprise they’d been teasing and hinting about for weeks – two tickets to the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. As big a NASCAR nut as I am, I’d never been to a race in person. Needless to say, I was very excited.
Saturday we drove to Canton, Texas – home of the (literally) world’s largest flea market. I’ve never seen anything like it. There had to be more than 150,000 people there, and this is a monthly occurrence. One entire section – about the size of most flea markets – is devoted almost exclusively to pets and livestock. Hundreds of puppies, along with miniature goats, long-haired rabbits, half-sized calves, llamas, donkeys, exotic birds, and even baby pigs. We came home with Gracie – a seven-week-old Maltese.
Saturday night I shouted myself hoarse watching Texas Tech shock Texas. From the Longhorns first play from scrimmage (a safety) to Tech’s last (an incredible touchdown), I was blown away.
Who would have ever thought that, nine games into the season, the top 5 BCS teams would look like this?
Alabama is #1 for the first time in the regular season since 1980 (Roll Tide!). And my wife’s alma mater is close behind. Incredible.
The race was a true spectacle. TV does a good job of presenting it, but there is no way to compare the 3D effect of actually being there, along with 171,000 other people. And it was pretty cool that we pick up a couple of Carl Edwards #99 caps, and he proceeds to win the race. The view was incredible, the weather perfect. And for all uncultured folks that think NASCAR fans are a bunch of beer-throwing rednecks, let me just say these were some of the friendliest, most gracious and sportsmanlike fans possible. Even, the Earnhardt fans.
Of course, through it all, the most fun part was sharing it with family. It was the first time to see all seven of them together in a long time, and we totally enjoyed that. We also hadn’t seen Laura Kate in a good while, so we were glad to have some time with her.
My eardrums have returned to normal, and my voice is nearly back. The kids have all gone back to home and work. Carrie, Cassie and Joel did such a wonderful job of helping me celebrate. Robin and I are back home – ready to start the third quarter.
Tense truth: We are individually accountable to God for what we have done with the death and resurrection of His Son and with the life He has given us. However, we are completely dependent on a community of relationships, and cannot survive or thrive in isolation. Our community won’t be there when we stand before the Lord, but they must be connected to us until we get there.
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From the genius of David Hayward comes this funny/sad characterization of a lot of people I have known (and one or two I have been).
No coincidence that David posted this on the same day I made this statement: There is not enough of you available to live all your life. You’re a fool to try…
Ever see a sequoia tree? Fantastic piece of God’s creation. An awesome living structure that can reach as high as 300 feet.
Ever see a sequoia tree standing by itself?
Chances are, you won’t. Strange thing, this tree - to be so tall, it has a very shallow root system. If it stood alone, it couldn’t make it; when the wind grew strong, it wouldn’t take it. So the sequoias build a network of root systems and together they flourish, side by side.
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