What would you do if you were Jimmy? You’re caught in a dilemma because your best friend is a hood. Riff-raff. Wrong side of the tracks. Your parents say you can’t visit him. And he’d do just as well to stay on his side of town, too. But there’s something special about him; that’s why he’s your best friend. He doesn’t have much, but he does have heart and passion.
And a cheap, second-hand guitar he doesn’t even know how to tune.
You come from a good family, with something of a pedigree. You live in one of the music capitals of America, and your cousin is a famous country musician.
Maybe you can still be his friend - this kid some people called “white trash.”
Maybe you can introduce your friend to your cousin. Maybe your cousin can cross the tracks in your place.
That’s what Jimmy did. [click to continue…]
The morning sun comes calling a bit later here because of where we sit in the time zone. But even here in a West Texas version of suburbia, it can be a glorious reminder of the comfort and love of its Creator.
I realize that most of us, Christians included, live in awe of the Grand Gesture – those spectacular moments in time that define a life, a love, a generation. After all, nobody ever made a movie about taking out the trash. And we don’t have to look very far to find that in the Lord. The cross of Jesus will forever stand as God’s Grand Gesture.
But it’s in the daily expressions of faithfulness and regular reminders of His care that God’s love is most personally experienced. If, of course, we take the time to notice. To listen. To watch.
And so this morning, like most mornings, that’s what I’m doing. [click to continue…]
Call him Benjamin.
Nice Hebrew name for this fictional, but oh-so-real young man who lived outside of Jerusalem in the first century. Benjamin is 20 years old, and his family raised him in a typical Jewish home.
Until that day. [click to continue…]
Ask most any Christ follower who or what the ultimate model for leadership is, and they’ll point you to Jesus Christ.
Ask that same Christ follower what the ultimate standard for leadership is, and they’ll probably land on servanthood. “Jesus was a servant leader,” they will opine, “and He called His followers to lead by serving.”
Okay, so far, so good. One more question.
Ask that same believer to name somebody from among the most successful ministries or institutions who actually practices servant leadership across the board…
…and watch their pupils widen. The headlights just caught the deer.
In spite of all our claims to servant leadership, the honest truth is that leadership on a grand scale means knowing what to do with opportunity, influence, power, and public image. Can a leader have all of that and remain a servant?
Yes.
But will he?
Camels and the eye of the needle come to mind. [click to continue…]
“Sure I may be tuckered, and I may give out, but I won’t give IN!” (Molly Brown, from “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”)
We spend a lot of time thinking about sinking.
In the mental and spiritual circles I travel in, we focus a lot on discouragement, sadness, grief and such. The most-read article I have written this year is titled, “The Sinking Soul.”
And for good reason. We live in a broken world. Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted. A significant part of the New Testament was written to people who face severe, mind-numbing hostility and pain. And left to our own devices, the devil has sinking souls for breakfast.
But maybe it’s time for a different look. [click to continue…]
The happiest man I ran into yesterday had a distinguishing feature. He only had one arm.
I don’t know is name, but I know his game; he’s a manager at one of the local fast-food Italian restaurants in town. In the short time we were there during the lunch rush, I saw him take orders at the register, manage those delicious breadsticks they’re famous for giving away, manage his team to make sure orders got out and the place stayed clean, and – most importantly – see to it that his customers were happy.
We sure were. And it started with him showing us that he was happy to be there. He has an infectious smile and a good-natured laugh that invites you to laugh along. Sure comes in handy when the lunch line is snaking out the door.
Hmmm. [click to continue…]
What turned my head was the sign for Aunt Beaut’s pan-fried chicken.
Why is it when God wants to get my attention, the easiest way to do it involves chicken? My belt really is a leather fence around a chicken graveyard.
Anyway, last week we were in downtown Charlotte on vacation. And there on the corner of West Trade and Tryon Street was the King’s Kitchen. Open for lunch or dinner, the restaurant trumpets “New Local Southern Cuisine.”
They had me at “Southern.”
True, I can get fried chicken anywhere. But when was the last time you went into a restaurant that had collard greens, cream corn, and butter beans all on the menu for lunch?
So I staked the place out, and the next day my wife and I walked the block from our hotel to sample the King’s Kitchen for lunch.
I immediately knew something was different about this place when I read the quotation on the wall just inside the door [click to continue…]
In the previous post, we looked at some of the kinds of problems that go past hangnails and headaches. Drawing from the experience of Jehoshaphat, Judah’s godly king, we explored some parallels of our own:
- Unprovoked hostility
- Overwhelming odds
- Unresolved fear
- Unfulfilled promises (of God)
- Absolute weakness
- Unclear direction
There are plenty of others, of course. But that’s a healthy list to remind us that faith doesn’t mean you never have problems. Believing God doesn’t mean you’re never afraid, or that you never face impossible situations. And in spite of the way some “believers” act, faith doesn’t mean you have all the answers. In one of my favorite verses in the Bible, this godly man says to God, “We don’t know what to do. But our eyes are on you.”
So when your back is to the wall and the Ammonites are coming, when you’re way past anxious and have no answers or direction, how does faith respond? Let me suggest five ways: [click to continue…]
In the 2004 version of The Alamo, there’s this scene where Billy Bob Thornton, as Davy Crockett, looks over the fort wall at Santa Anna’s approaching horde. There, standing next to Colonel Travis, Crockett mutters grimly… “We’re gonna need a lot more men.”
Sam Houston… we’ve got a problem.
Problems come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Oh, to have the impossible-looking situations we faced in third or seventh grade! But every now and then, you and I are faced with circumstances that go beyond a headache or a flat tire.
We’re in grad school, friends. And we’re getting the third degree. [click to continue…]
Your most trusted employee visits your email inbox with a request for a meeting. When you find the time to get together, he discloses to you that he has a substance abuse problem that requires in-house treatment. Upon further review, you discover that his abuse took place on more than one occasion while on the job – a fireable offense. This is his first sign of trouble. What do you do?
Your teenage daughter is at a friend’s house for a sleepover; you know the friend and are at least familiar with the friend’s parents. You’re awakened at 1:20 a.m. by your daughter asking you to bail her out of jail. The charge: drunk driving. This is the second time you have caught her drinking, but the first time you have had any evidence of drinking and driving. How do you respond?
Your youth pastor has been rumored or accused of inappropriate relationships with girls in his youth groups – one former, one current – which he vehemently denies. He explains that he was just showing Christian concern for someone who had been abused or hurt in the past, and his kindness was misinterpreted. Nevertheless, Scripture is clear that there shouldn’t even be a hint of immorality or impurity among God’s people, and particularly leaders. The youth pastor is very popular among the students, but has his critics among your adults. Keeping him could leave you liable to a lawsuit or public accusation; firing him could decimate your youth group. What do you do? [click to continue…]
What would you do if you were Jimmy? You’re caught in a dilemma because your best friend is a hood. Riff-raff. Wrong side of the tracks. Your parents say you can’t visit him. And he’d do just as well to stay on his side of town, too. But there’s something special about him; that’s why he’s your best friend. He doesn’t have much, but he does have heart and passion. 
