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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…]
Halftime, Durham, North Carolina. The Duke Blue Devils have just scored the first touchdown that top-ranked Alabama has surrendered in two-and-a-half games.
Not exactly a moment to panic, however. Alabama leads at the half, 45-13.
Cue the halftime interview with Coach Nick Saban. “Coach,” Sideline Babe says, “Were you upset about giving up your first touchdown of the season?”
“I don’t care about the touchdown,” Saban replies. “I’ve just been talking to our guys about playing to a standard.”
Fast-forward one week. Halftime again. This time, nobody wearing white and crimson was strutting to the locker room. The defending national champions are trailing a very strong Arkansas Razorbacks team in Fayetteville 17-7, and it’s no fluke. These Hogs are good, and Bama’s looking rough.
Somebody… not namin’ names here… but somebody woke somebody up. Final Score: Alabama 24, Arkansas 20.
After the game, Coach Nick had this to say:
“I want them to remember what it’s like not playing the way you’re capable of playing, not playing with the intensity and focus you need to have. We have a standard we want to play to, we want to play to it all the time. We certainly didn’t get that done in the first half.”
Another Clock is Counting Down
Football is not the only place where the clock is ticking toward zero. [click to continue…]
Time for full disclosure.
In the previous post I shared ten false beliefs that lead to shame. You may have your own variation, and probably do.
Those are mine. Every one of those came right out of my journal.
Not that I actually believe them, but they are the lies the enemy hurls or has hurled at me over the years. And given the right set of circumstances, they can be very persuasive.
Maybe that’s why Jesus revealed Himself as the Truth (John 14:6). God knew it would take a personal relationship with Truth-as-a-Person to ever set us free from the lies of shame.
Stop. [click to continue…]
Feeling worthless lately? Like you’re living under a cloud of futility or failure? Chances are, it’s because you’re being lied to, and you’re choosing to believe the lie. Below are ten hidden rules – ten lies – that, when we take them to heart, leave us knee-deep in a life of shame (and shame-based behavior). They are beliefs, using lies, leading to shame, hopelessness, ineffectiveness, and turmoil.
See how many have seeped into your belief system:
1. If I do it, I must do it reasonably well.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. But it certainly should be awesome.
2. If I do it reasonably well today, I must do it even better tomorrow.
Growth and improvement lead to better performance, which ultimately leads to perfection. [click to continue…]
Pssst.
Tap, tap, tap.
Sorry to interrupt. I know you have a lot of important things on your mind, so I’ll only keep you for a minute.
Oh. And let me quickly say that I’m not here to sell you anything. But, as the envelope says, you may already be a winner!
So wouldn’t it be sad if a winner was living like… well, otherwise?
Wouldn’t it be tragic if this incredible wealth was there all along, but went unnoticed or unclaimed?
Let me show you how extraordinary the Grand Prize is. [click to continue…]
Thomasville, Alabama. A long time ago. I was driving from Jackson to Tuscaloosa and had stopped for gas at one of those places where they still pumped it for you. Young man walks out and gets the pump going while I’m pretty much minding my own business. I’m wearing jeans and tennis shoes, with some casual shirt.
He eyes me and asks, “You a minister?”
(I hated then and hate now looking like a preacher.)
“Yes,” I replied, surprised. “How did you know?”
“You have this glow about ‘cha,” he said with a smile.
I was surprised again, and blessed. This wasn’t a particularly glowing trip. I was driving north to unload a car on the back end of a dumb purchase that had left us pretty beaten down financially. It was a desperate move to get out of a stupid debt.
Glow? I’d have to take that one by faith. It felt more like I was panting.
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1-2)
Ever feel like you were panting? Like you couldn’t quite catch your breath as you went from one thing to another? From one stressor to another? From one disappointment to another? [click to continue…]
Ever have this happen in school? You study most of the night for your 8:00 history class. You’re ready with the names, dates, big themes and theories. You show up loaded for historic bear… only to discover your history exam isn’t until next week.
Meanwhile, in your 9:00 chemistry class…
Oh… crap… Tell me I didn’t just study for the wrong test.
I did. And maybe you have, too.
You see, for years I’ve been studying for the Midterm Patience Exam. It’s become something of a byword in Christian circles, if not a bad joke: [click to continue…]
There wasn’t much about Barry Wheeler to command respect. He was certainly no athlete. His skinny frame was the product of a lifetime of allergies and a bad case of asthma that earned him the cruel nickname of “Barry Wheezer.”
Barry was no musician or class politician. He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and his shy, withdrawn personality made him just another face in the crowd at high school in Topeka.
Barry was no geekzilla either. A “B” student in regular classes, nobody called Barry out for the National Honor Society – or any honor, for that matter.
Barry was just a guy. But he had one thing going for him. [click to continue…]
I still miss her sometimes. Pity I’m so busy I don’t miss her more. For me it’s mostly in passing sighs… Like now. (-From my journal a couple of days ago, referring to my mother, who died earlier this year.)
Heard any sermons on longing lately?
I doubt it.
In spite of the fact that it’s such a common experience, and one that is treated a surprising number of times in the Bible, “Dealing with Longing” doesn’t typically generate offerings, baptisms, or slick series brochures from the local worship establishment.
And yet it’s there… right in plain sight. The Bible’s own version of “Miss You Like Crazy.”
Paul wrote those wild child Corinthians a pretty dress-you-down letter (we call it 1 Corinthians). Their response? They turned their hearts, and longed to see Paul. His reply? Same thing. [click to continue…]
I want to talk to you about something that for some people is pretty painful and scary. Because of that, I want to say first that I am writing this in love. I hope you can feel the love that compels me to say these things, even if they are difficult to receive or comprehend.
If this isn’t for you, it’s for somebody you know. Maybe you can pass it along.
The truth is, I am afraid for you.
As you look in the mirror, as you go forth into the world, and as you relate to others, you only know two views.
You’re either a hero or a zero.
You are either on a pedestal or in the sewer. [click to continue…]
I’ve told this story before in a little less detail… 
