From the monthly archives:

September 2008

Ask, and You Will What?

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”!

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What’s Your B.S.?

by Andy Wood on September 12, 2008

in Five LV Laws,Hoarders,LV Alter-egos,Principle of Freedom,Principle of Legacy

Imagine for a minute that you lived in a world where you were the only one who ever told the truth.  A world of random mirrors where you never knew whether someone else’s “yes” meant “yes” or “no.”  How would you get a loan at the bank?  How would you get directions to the nearest gas station?  How would you fall in love or have meaningful family relationships?  How could you ever function, much less be happy?

Imagine getting up every day and telling yourself and everybody around you how badly your life is going.  Have a cough?  It’s probably pneumonia.  Surprise bill in the mail?  You’re going broke.  Get a compliment on your appearance?  You mumble something about needing new clothes or not feeling well lately.  Receive a major blessing?  It’s just a matter of time until the other shoe drops.

By now I’m sure you have an image of somebody in mind (certainly not you, of course).  I’m thinking of a girl I once knew named Kim.  She was a twin; her sister Kay was pretty much an optimist.  Kim?  Winnie the Pooh’s friend Eeyore had nothing on her.  The only seventh grade girl I’ve ever met who was completely dreary.

I made an amazing discovery the other day.  Kim (and whoever you’re thinking about) has a soul mate in the Bible.  [click to continue…]

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A Few New Things to Worry About

by Andy Wood on September 11, 2008

in Five LV Laws,Principle of Freedom

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…]

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Leading the Broken Organization: Seven Strategies for Healing and Renewal

by Andy Wood on September 10, 2008

in Leadership,Life Currency

“We have a problem,” Perry said.  Thus began the conversation the led to my first senior pastorate.  The problem he alluded to was an open church conflict that led to a lot of angry words at a time when the church Perry attended was without a pastor.

He was asking me to come and preach (I was the associate pastor at a nearby church).  I did, and the rest, as they say….

As long as businesses, churches, and other types of organizations are comprised of humans, they will eventually experience setbacks, upsets, dysfunction, and problems.  Nobody gets it right all the time, and even healthy organizations must confront serious problems.

Broken organizations, however, are different.  [click to continue…]

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Leading Broken People

by Andy Wood on September 8, 2008

in Esteem,Leadership,Life Currency,Love,Words

A couple of weeks ago David Hayward, a pastor and gifted artist/cartoonist, posted this picture on his blog site, in a post titled “How I’m feeling about the church lately.”

(Used by permission)

(Used by permission)

I can relate.  For more than 30 years, it has been my privilege, my headache, my joy, and my nightmare to work with broken people or broken churches.  Prior to launching Turning Point Community Church in 2003, three of the four churches where I was senior pastor had experienced major divisions, open conflicts, forced termination of my predecessor, or some other kind of grief or pain.  Some had lived with the crud for so long, they’d arrived at the conclusion that this was somehow supposed to be normal.  “I’m sure it’s like this everywhere,” they’d intone.  “Oh, no it isn’t!” I’d scream inside, all the while smiling on the outside.

The brokenness isn’t limited to the organization.  David’s cartoon reminded me of something we used to proclaim loudly here.  Underneath the doorway leading into our rented facility, our church used to hang a banner that represented a passion and sense of calling for us.  Every Sunday, every worshipper at Turning Point walked under its message:

A Place to Begin Again.

I roughly estimated that for a long season, 80 percent of the people who arrived at Turning Point for the first time came here to heal.  Some came from broken marriages; others from broken lives of addictions or economic messes.  Many came bleeding from the most insidious wound of all – the church wound. [click to continue…]

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Hell in the Hallways

by Andy Wood on September 8, 2008

in LV Cycle,Waiting

The LifeVesting Cycle

1.  Allocate your resources.

2.  Explore the possibilities.

3.  Follow your passion.

4.  Execute your plan.

5.  Protect your investment.

6.  Enlarge your capacity.

7.  Wait

It’s one of my biggest fears.

I’m standing face-to-face with the God of heaven to account for my life.

My sin is covered, but God is looking at what I did with the life He gave me.  And he holds up a thumb and index finger, one inch apart.

“Andy,” He says, “you were this close, to seeing it happen, and you quit.  The blessing you were looking for was just around the corner.”  No wonder he’ll wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Many a wonderful idea started well, but never came to fruition because somebody pulled the plug too soon, and refused to wait.

Just for the record and the sake of full disclosure, I hate waiting.  I hate being told that waiting is the solution to any problem or situation I’m facing.  I believe traffic lights will be in hell, and I hate waiting at them – particularly when nobody’s coming from the direction of the green light.  I hate waiting in line and loathe waiting on hold while listening to a computer on the telephone (which will also be in hell).

That said, and my flesh notwithstanding, there is no substitute for time.  And the larger the investment, the longer the wait.  It takes 40 days to make a squash, and 40 years to make an oak tree.  How long do you suppose it takes to make a man or woman of God?  I heard of a recent controversial study that suggests it takes 26.5 years to make an adult in the U.S.  Makes sense to me.  Jewish tradition held that it took 30 years to make a rabbi.  (Yes, that’s why Jesus waited.) [click to continue…]

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The Popcorn Tree

by Andy Wood on September 5, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity,LV Cycle,Turning Points

The LifeVesting Cycle

1. Allocate your resources.
2. Explore the possibilities.
3. Follow your passion
4. Execute your plan.
5. Protect your investment.

6. Enlarge your capacity

When I was still a kid, my dad built a flower box for my mom. We got some nice, rich soil from a place behind our house where we had a lot of mulch and trees. She planted some flowers in the box, and we were excited to see what would come out.

What came out was something that at first looked like a weed. But this was no weed. It was a tree. A popcorn tree, my dad said.

I was entranced. It was my first sense of fatherhood and stewardship, all rolled into one.

If you aren’t familiar with them, popcorn trees, or Chinese tallows, grow in moist climates. They grow rapidly, and can get pretty big. They make great shade and ornamental trees, and in the fall, their seeds split open to appear like popcorn.

I watched this little tree take off, and soon we transplanted it from the flower box to the front yard. We got more and more into trees, and soon found four more popcorn trees – then some redbuds and dogwoods. I had this sense of pride and ownership in all of them, but none more than the original – the queen of the yard – as she quickly grew taller than the eaves of our house.

Then one day the unthinkable happened. I came up the street to my house, and found the most horrific sight. Someone (my dad) had taken shears and whacked my tree off at about six feet. The queen of the yard now had a crew cut.

It was ugly.

Shameful.

Hideous.

“Pruning,” he called it.

“Disaster” was what I called it.

Of course, my dad knew a whole lot more about trees and all things agricultural than I ever will. (I once asked him, “How’d you get so smart?” He said, “I keep my ears open and my mouth shut.”)

Anyway, the queen began to reshape. To spread. To grow, not just taller, but shapelier, even more beautiful.

This life lesson became even more applicable to me as I grew spiritually. [click to continue…]

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Go Pull Some Weeds or Something

by Andy Wood on September 4, 2008

in LV Cycle,Protecting Your Investment

The LifeVesting Cycle

Stage 1:  Allocate your resources.
Stage 2:  Explore the possibilities
Stage 3:  Follow your passion
Stage 4:  Execute your plan

Stage 5:  Protect Your Investment

Years ago, a Detroit homeowner went to check on his five-bedroom house.

It was gone.

As in, completely removed down to a vacant lot, gone.

Completely baffled, he asked the Detroit Free Press to help him find out what was going on.  A reporter learned that not only was the house gone, but the deed to the empty lot was in someone else’s name.  What had happened?

For starters, several years had passed since the homeowner had left the city without providing a forwarding address.  Moreover, he had failed to make arrangements for someone to keep the property in repair.  So the house was torn down because a city ordinance called for the removal of neighborhood eyesores.

Gives a whole new meaning to “Snooze, you lose,” doesn’t it?

Want to see a farmer laugh?  Tell him you’re going to plant corn or tomatoes or something, take a three-month vacation, and come back to pick your harvest.  Sorry, Mr. Douglas.  It doesn’t work that way, in Hooterville or anywhere else.  Investments of any type require care and cultivation.  Jesus’ story of the sower and the four types of ground show just how rare a harvest really is. The seed that fell on the hard path became birdseed.  The seed that fell on stony ground sprang up rootless.  And the seed that fell among the thorns choked.

Investments – seeds of all types and the environment they’re planted in – require nourishing.  That means breaking up the hard, resistant places, deepening the shallow places, and pulling the weeds.  Did I mention that this was work?  Where every day hurls new surprises and challenges?  But if the harvest is worth it (and you will wonder at times), then the cultivating is worthwhile.

In order to experience the return you want, your investments require your attention, diligence, and adjustments.  Mind if I switch metaphors?  Hebrews 12 talks about the same idea, only it uses the imagery of a marathon race, and you’re the runner.  Based on the imagery in this chapter, here are four ways to protect your investment: [click to continue…]

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Could You Follow a Governor Like That?

by Andy Wood on September 3, 2008

in Executing Your Plan,LV Cycle

Stage 1:  Allocate your resources.
Stage 2:  Explore the possibilities.
Stage 3:  Follow your passion.

Stage 4: Execute Your Plan

“Okay, people, settle down.  This meeting will now come to order!  You guys in the back, keep a lookout for tax collectors and terrorists.

“We’ve called you out today because we have a new arrival in town.  This young man says he’s come from Persia, from the King’s palace.  Says he’s one of us, but has an important message.  Sir, you have the floor.”

“New governor, you say?  I never knew we had an old one.  No disrespect, sir, but you look a bit young to be a governor.  How much government experience do you have?”

“Okay, so let me get this straight.  You’ve never held public office.  You’ve never been a governor, mayor, or even a public defender.  You’ve never commanded an army or even seen a fight.  Your one job has been to serve up wine to the king.”

“Well, okay, I’m impressed.  It seems as if the Lord’s been opening up some pretty impressive doors.  But again, with all due respect, sir, this dump ain’t Persia.  Heck, we’re not even a city.  And I appreciate the fact that you’ve been doing some crying and praying for us.  But you’re not the first guy to try to rebuild this wall.  We’ve been trying this for 40 years.  So why don’t you scurry on off back to your cushy job?  I’m sure the king’s a bit thirsty by now.”

“Wow.  You’re serious about this, aren’t you?  I’ve never seen anybody stand up to the entrenched politicians like that.

“You really believe, don’t you?  I’ve never seen anybody with that kind of confidence in God, except ole’ Ezra, the priest.

“You’re going to actually do this, aren’t you?  I’ve never seen anybody hold a weapon in one hand, and a building block in another.

“Governor, could you hand me one of those bricks?  I’m in.” [click to continue…]

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Pursuit of Passion, or Half-Built Castles?

by Andy Wood on September 2, 2008

in Following Your Passion,LV Cycle

The LifeVesting Cycle

Stage 1:  Allocate your resources
Stage 2:  Explore the possibilities.

Stage 3:  Follow your passion.

Heart Island and Boldt Castle (Click picture to enlarge)

Heart Island and Boldt Castle (Click picture to enlarge)

George Boldt had the touch.  And everything he touched seemed to prosper.  The son of poor parents, Mr. Boldt came to America in the 1860s from Prussia.  George was a man of tremendous industry and organizational skill.  With daring and imagination, he became the most successful hotel magnate in America.  He was also the president of several other companies, and director of the Hotel Association of New York.  For George, to “dream” and to “do” were the same thing.  However fantastic his dreams, they happened.

But business wasn’t his passion.

Louise was.

And what he did, he did for her.

As a testimony to his love for his wife, George purchased an island on the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands Region, and had it carved into the shape of a heart.  He renamed it Heart Island and began preparing for the greatest achievement of his lifetime – a Valentine’s Day present for his wife.  You’ve heard that a man’s home is his castle?  For George, this was literally true.  He would build Louise a castle.

George spared no expense.  He invested $2.5 million (in 1900 currency), bringing in the finest artists and most skilled craftsmen for the project.  He imported marble from Italy, stone from Scotland, and art from the treasures of Europe.  The towers and spires rose imperiously over the waters of the St. Lawrence, and the castle looked as if it would rival those that dot the Rhine.  Rising six stories from the foundation level of the indoor swimming pool to the highest tower room, an elevator served the 120-room mansion with its 365 windows. In all, there would be eleven buildings, including a clock tower, a power house, a playhouse, and a gazebo.

Then in January 1904 tragedy struck. [click to continue…]

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