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If you just read the title of this and are still reading, you don’t have time for cute stories or complicated formulas, so I’ll just get to the point, if that’s OK.
If you are in a situation where you are at a complete loss as to what to do, it’s because you need to reset your glance and your gaze. You have allowed your gaze – your long-term focus – to become set on your circumstances, your prayer request, your frustration, your pain, your desperate desire for change, or something other than the Lord. You’re glancing at God, asking Him to fix whatever you’re gazing at.
Nice try. I understand why. But it doesn’t work that way. Reset your gaze on God, and your glance on the world around you.
That’s what it means to wait on the Lord.
That’s what it means to praise, or to worship
Yes, that’s in the Bible. [click to continue…]
Have you ever woken up first thing in the morning and realized you were in a museum?
And you were what was on display?
You may not have recognized the location at first because everything seemed so real. You were traveling through one mental display after another of your past life.
Names.
Faces.
Feelings.
Friends.
Sometimes the scenes are wistful and happy reminders of people and days gone by. Sometimes you’re reliving the glory days. But sometimes it plays out more like a horror movie or a disaster cleanup. It’s ugly – and you’re the reason.
It may be a new day on the outside, but in here you’re trapped in the old ones. [click to continue…]
Looking for ways to kick-start your spiritual growth this year? Or perhaps gather ideas and resources for leading others in their spiritual growth? Check out some of the sites listed here.
I had some help with this one. Recently a group of students I was working with searched the Web to evaluate and identify their favorite websites for spiritual growth and discipleship. They evaluated the overall effectiveness of the sites they selected and considered how they could use the site in the future.
I was so delighted with the variety and enthusiasm they brought to the project, I thought I’d put together a master list and share it with you. The brief, edited comments about the sites are mostly from one or more of the students.
Okay, here’s the official disclaimer: I haven’t evaluated all these sites in detail.
Here’s official disclaimer #2: While these are presumed to be doctrinally sound, you won’t have to look far to find people from different traditions, theological stripes, or whatever on the same list. Use your Bible and your brain (in that order).
For lack of a better plan, I’m listing these in alphabetical order. Let me know what you think. And PLEASE let me know if you have other suggestions. All of these sites were the result of someone doing a web search for “Christian discipleship.” There are plenty more where these came from. But check these out first: [click to continue…]
Joy. It’s probably the most common word associated with Christmas. You see it on the faces of every witness and every participant. Though it was expressed very differently, every single character in the drama that was the birth of Jesus experienced profound joy.
Maybe that’s why we try to go back and relive the story every year. Maybe that’s why we do the children’s pageants, exchange the gifts, and pull families (best we can) back together for Christmas. Maybe we’re in search of the joy that can be so elusive.
The details of the coming of Jesus – and those who experienced it – point the way to how you can I can experience a joy that’s timeless, and doesn’t depend on the circumstances or the calendar. Here’s a sampling of the 12 Joys of Christmas that are yours to experience year-round. [click to continue…]
Change your nation instead. Or your community. Or your neighborhood. Or in those really desperate cases, change yourself.
Changing the world has become a cliché.
“This generation will change the world.”
“You have the power to change the world.”
“That [insert role of another person] you [insert action you perform] may just change the world someday.”
Maybe they can. Maybe you will. And yes, it is possible.
And no, you probably won’t. [click to continue…]
In your Christian practice, do you find yourself drawn more toward law-based living or more to grace-based living?
Students in a class I teach deal with that discussion question. I always look forward to their answers. Nearly all of these students are pretty seasoned in their faith, so the overwhelmingly most popular answer is grace-based living. After all, that’s the “correct” one, right?
Nobody ever gets misty-eyed in church singing, “Amazing Law, how sweet the sound…
There are, of course, some brave souls who cop to law-based living. Some do it as an aw-shucks-pray-for-me kind of confession. Some try to reframe the question. “I prefer to think of it as obedience,” one student said recently. I like that.
Others crawfish a little more and ask questions like, “Now what do you mean by that?”
See, nobody wants to admit they’re a legalist. [click to continue…]
Hey. Glad you’re here for the tour. I have something I want to show you. Well, actually, lots of things I want to show you. And it’s a little weird because you know more about this stuff than I do. You see, this building – and all the rooms in it – is actually your life.
That explains why the upper floors are still under construction.
It also explains why many of the lower floors are being renovated.
Yes, it explains why some of the floor and rooms are dark, dark, dark – and why many others are very bright and festive.
Now before we begin the walk-through, I have some things for you to keep with you at all times. First up – your hard hat. Hey, it’s a construction zone. Hard hats are required. Sure, you can call it the “helmet of salvation” if you want. I don’t care what you call it – just wear it.
Safety glasses are also a must. It’s important that you protect your eyes, and also that you see clearly. Some people say these are a rose-colored. I like to think of them as shades of grace.
Also, keep this little container with you. You’ll see why later. Inside you’ll find some bread (unleavened, of course) and wine.
One more thing to notice is the inscription on your container. After all, this is the Gratitude Tour…
always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father (Ephesians 5:20).
Finally, I have a bonus surprise for you. [click to continue…]
The other day I turned left out of a parking lot and started heading south on Avenue Q, between 19th and 34th Streets in Lubbock, where I live. If you’re not familiar with that stretch of road, it’s a seven-lane thoroughfare, with three lanes each heading south and north, and a turn lane. Big. Wide. Sprawling. Busy.
It was in the afternoon, around 3:00 or so. I was talking on the phone with Joel, my son. Traffic was busy enough, but not nuts. I was in the middle lane, with cars pretty much all around me – left and right, front and back. I was probably about a quarter mile from the 34th Street intersection when the strangest thing began to happen.
I went blind. [click to continue…]
Dylan hadn’t smiled for days. His grandmother, whom he loved dearly, had died, and the ten-year-old was crushed. His friends were worried about him, and convinced him to visit their special friend, an old man they called The Storyteller. The Storyteller loved children, and often helped them with the special stories he would make up. The Storyteller also knew Dylan’s grandmother.
“This is Dylan,” one of the kids said that Monday afternoon. “His grandmother died last week, and he’s very sad.”
The Storyteller looked up from his gardening and sized up the boy. “Sad” was an understatement.
“Looks like she found the Big Surprise,” said the Storyteller, with a twinkle in his eye.
“What’s the Big Surprise?” asked Dylan dejectedly.
“Well, let me tell you about it,” said the old man as he turned to sit on the grass and the kids sat around him. [click to continue…]
The call or opportunity to lead is a call or opportunity for conflict. I doubt if I’m the first to tell you that, but if so, well, sorry. That’s certainly true on an interpersonal or team level. It’s also true organization-wide. Whether you’re leading a church or a business, a nonprofit or an institution, a state or a nation, the bigger they are, the harder they brawl. Or squall.
If your goal is to avoid conflict at all costs, let somebody else take the leadership roles, because what you’re saying is that you don’t want to influence anybody.
Assuming you’re still reading, let’s assume that the idea of conflict hasn’t scared you off – at least not yet. I have good news. Some of the greatest demonstrations of leadership in history took place when someone rose to face the challenge of seemingly impossible conflicts. So if your organization is facing competing values and visions, wise leadership can help make it stronger and more successful than ever. If it’s true that conflict is the moment of truth in any relationship (and I think it is), then the way you lead your organization to face those conflicts sets the course of the organization, sometimes for years.
It’s important to remember that the people in your organization have brains, hearts, and feelings, just as you do. Resistance to your or the organization’s direction is a way of saying you haven’t communicated the vision clearly. Or maybe you haven’t anticipated their objections or their priorities. Maybe you have yet to earn the trust of the people. Or maybe they are insecure in the roles in which you are asking them to perform.
Here are five ways to work with – not against – the members of your organization to turn conflicts into jumping off points. [click to continue…]
If you just read the title of this and are still reading, you don’t have time for cute stories or complicated formulas, so I’ll just get to the point, if that’s OK.
