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This is about a talking doll house.
No, I’m not referring to a cartoon, and no, I don’t need a trip to the you-know-what. This doll house didn’t come with audible voices. It was a symbol for about six months – an imposing, silent, unfinished structure that would sit in front of me and remind me of unfinished business. Here’s the story:
Somewhere around Carrie’s eighth- or ninth-grade year, she became really interested in doll houses and all things miniature. So we loaded her up one Christmas with the house, furniture, shingles for the roof, and other assorted stuff. Over time, she lost interest, and needed space in her bedroom for other pursuits. The unfinished doll house wound up in a room we used as both study/office and a family room of sorts. It was en route to the attic, but was apparently on the scenic route to get there.
For months the doll house sat there, looking like the result of a tornado that ripped through Dollville. (Truth is, Joel had knocked it over one day, and just crammed everything back into it. So the bathtub sat, along with the bed, in the living room near the toilet.)
Children have passing interests that they outgrow; that’s part of living. What haunted and taunted me was what the doll house didn’t have. [click to continue…]
Job sites can be noisy places. The clanging of tools, the heaving groans of loud masculine voices, and the hacking or high-pitched grinding of cutting instruments all suggest that something is being built with earnest.
There is another kind of construction, however, that makes precious little noise. But the effects are powerful and completely necessary. In the Day of the Second House, none of us can move forward without it. I’m talking about the inner construction – the molding and shaping of character and spiritual power.
It does no good to rebuild the outward structures without taking a tough look at the inner priorities and attitudes of the heart. That’s what’s so ridiculous about somebody facing a crisis (remember the Sunday after September 11, 2001?) by scurrying off to a church building they haven’t darkened in months. The building or setting is meaningless unless it’s occupied by a transformed heart.
So while our friend Zerubbabel was busy governing and building a temple, his partner, Joshua, was facing some building of his own. But this high priest was facing down his own broken walls, burned gates, and impossible mission. Joshua was engaged in a battle for his heart, and for the soul of his nation. Here’s how the prophet Zechariah described this internal battle:
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “ The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, ” Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by. (Zechariah 3:1-5)
Every man or woman who is serious about spiritual life and victory faces similar battles. Our destinies, as well as the destinies of others, hang in the balance. Here are five inner battle zones: [click to continue…]
This site is nearly a year old, and I have never written a post I am more serious or urgent about.
There are times when our spirits and/or minds are unusually drawn in certain directions. Ideas and concepts leap off the pages of the Bible. Words or names get planted in our consciousness and never seem to go away. These times, I believe, are no coincidence. They are times in which the Holy Spirit is bringing grounded biblical truth to bear on current experience.
Simply put, He’s speaking.
I don’t have experiences like this tremendously often, which makes the times I do have them all the more compelling. What I am about to share grew out of such a time.
As I mentioned earlier , I believe we are entering a season that for many people will be a season of restoration and change worldwide.
We are also living in tense, fearful days. I called a banker friend yesterday and asked him, in the words of an old Randy Stonehill song, if we should go back to trading seashells and just admit we’re broke. (He was encouraging. But then, he’s a banker.)
I also spoke about this Sunday (Listen Here) that these are days in which anything that can be shaken will be. God is shaking the wealth of the nations. People are afraid.
How do we stand strong when we’re living somewhere between the faith and the fear? How can we be in a place where we see the joy beyond what we endure? How can we allow the Holy Spirit to shake the barnacles off of us and prepare us for a “latter glory” that will come? How can we be lights in a world of confusion and darkness?
Sparing you the details of how I got there, there are seven things we must do, and do quickly: [click to continue…]
Nobody will ever name their boy Zerubbabel. There are still plenty of Davids and Samuels, Joshuas and Calebs left for the hallways at the hospital. Zerubbabel? Not a chance.
Here was a guy who is never quoted in the Bible. He never wrote a book that bears his name. Yet he occupied a position of great importance, hope, strategic necessity in Israel’s history – enough that he held the attention of two Old Testament prophets.
He led an emerging nation, but would doubtless never be hip enough to lead an emerging church.
If Zerubbabel lived in the last 200 years and somehow been elected president of the United States, I figure he’d be a Calvin Coolidge or Warren G. Harding – somebody we know was there, but never talk about.
If he were a tree, he’d be one of those types that was nameless – big and strong, and I guess some expert knows what type it is, but most of us would just look and say, “It’s just a tree.”
If he were a piece of chicken, he would be the thigh. Strong, muscular, flavorful. But at the bottom of everybody’s list of preferences.
Somehow in the wisdom and providence of God, this silent champion was chosen to head a dangerous and deliriously exciting project: [click to continue…]
I have a friend who’s living in-between. He once had a position of ministry and fulfilled calling, and believes he’ll have another one again. In between, he waits – preparing for the day of the Second House.
I have another friend who was blindsided by an unwanted divorce. He has suffered the loss of a family, a vision, and a sense of being at home. Still, he waits – convinced that he will see, in some measure, the day of the Second House.
I can relate to both, but for different reasons. More than 10 years ago, I began a Second-House journey of my own – explainable only by the stunning grace of God. I have watched in awe as dreams I had given up on, callings I had once felt, and opportunities I once squandered began to be fulfilled. More than a God of second chances (which He is), He has shown me that He is a God of second seasons, second lives, sometimes second families, and even second callings.
He’s the God of the Second House. [click to continue…]
(How to Restore Your Losses, Part 2)
Ground Zero Construction Site, New York
In the previous post I talked about the fact that at the end of Job’s saga, the Lord restored his losses. For most of this righteous man’s painful episode, the end of the story was yet to be told about him… an important thing to remember when we encounter seasons of great loss.
One thing I left hanging was that Job was required to participate the process. Make no mistake about it: this was a man who was intimate enough with God to be honest with Him about his feelings and pain. But something changed between the ranting and the receiving. I have a feeling the same may be true of you and me, too, if we want to see our losses restored.
1. Recognize God as a God of purpose.
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted,” Job said (Job 42:2, ESV). Job acknowledged not just that God had a plan, but that His intentions and purposes are good. He also submitted to that purpose – even when he didn’t have answers. [click to continue…]
(Note: I make no claims to be a prophet, so I write this with a bit of fear and trembling. But I believe a day of restoration and change is coming to a significant number people worldwide. Pardon the timing, but it has little-to-nothing to do with the upcoming elections. I haven’t had a stirring in my spirit on this level in more than 10 years. For reasons I’ll explain next week, all I know to call it is the day of the Second House. Make no mistake about it – these are heady, often stressful times. Things that can be shaken will be, so that the things that can’t be shaken will remain. But those who hear God’s call, trust God’s heart, and courageously obey God’s direction will enter into a season, like Israel, when their latter glory will be greater than the former. This post and the next one will serve as an introduction to that.)
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It was January 3, 1993 – more than 15 years ago – and it remains the greatest comeback in NFL history. At halftime the Buffalo Bills, their starting quarterback injured, trailed the Houston Oilers with mighty quarterback Warren Moon by a score of 35-3 in an American Conference playoff game. Backup Frank Reich led the team to a stunning upset. The score: 41-38.
Most of us aren’t football players, professional or otherwise. But we all experience adversity when, like the Bills, our backs are pressed against the wall. Sometimes we’re beyond distress; we’re beaten. These times of adversity almost always involve losses of some kind:
- money (how ‘bout them markets?)
- friendships
- joy
- health
- dreams
- family
LifeVesting? Designing your future? Ha! To quote the pained psalmist in slavery, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” (Psalm 137:4). [click to continue…]
Imagine you’re through the pearly gates, roaming the streets of gold getting the lay of the land. It’s heaven, baby! Not a concept or a wish, but the real deal.
There are people there – some you know, many more you’re still meeting. Famous people and unknowns. A few claims to fame; myriads upon myriads of testimonies of God’s grace and love. Names from every tongue and tribe known to man.
Let me tell about an introduction you’ll never hear:
“Hi! I’m the woman caught in adultery.”
On this side, that’s all we know to call her.
On this side, that or something like it may be all somebody may be able to say about you.
Reputations and memories can be brutal, unforgiving things. But the one thing more relentless than a disgraceful legacy is the scandalous grace of God.
This nameless woman had a name her parents had given her. Maybe it was Ruth or Mary, Joanna or Phoebe. But she had one, and used it.
She’ll also have a new name written down in glory. One known only to her, fresh from the whisper of God.
This was a woman whose world was rocked and life was changed by five words: [click to continue…]
(Click photo to enlarge)
This is what hurricanes do.
On September 13, this street in Gilchrist, Texas was lined with homes and probably some businesses.
One Ike later, one house still stands.
This, to me, is a symbol of what life can do.
The winds begin to blow, the floods and storm surge begin to rise, and once-beautiful lives turn to random sticks and bricks.
I want to be the last house standing.
I want to be the one who can prevail, even if all others fall to the ferocious winds.
I just don’t want to have to face any storms to prove it.
(Image by David J. Phillip/Getty Images. For more Hurricane Ike images, click here)
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…]
