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Laura Kate Wiley is finding her voice.
At 17 months, she’s off to a good start.
With safe surroundings and a fearless heart,
A free spirit and a supportive family,
She plays and rests and dreams and wants –
Sincerely believing that what she has to say actually matters.
She will need these things again and again,
As her world evolves and her voice is threatened.
Nobody can sing the songs meant for her alone.
Again and again, she will have to find her heart with clarity,
And express her mind with grace and courage.
So will you.
Find your voice.
It’s time to dream again.
And in doing so, I will not content myself with yesterday’s progress.
I have seen my share of victories; I’ve won some battles, and maybe even a war or two.
But there are new victories to be won, and yesterday’s dreams will never achieve them.
When my greatest challenges are boredom and fatigue, I will rest in the womb of a new vision, and call forth even greater measures of faith and courage.
It’s time to dream again.
And in doing so, I will see beyond the road blocks and crashes. [click to continue…]
Some of the rules have changed.
- Time Magazine, in it’s provocative “Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now,” reports that having a job is cool again. Rather than regarding employment as a necessary evil to be escaped as soon as possible, jobs are now considered an asset. (Nothing like losing something to recognize its worth, I guess).
- Someone just told me about his father, who for eight years tried to make a go of his home-based business and now, in his 60s, realizes the need for an employer. He’s finding it difficult.
- My favorite job/career-hunting book, What Color is Your Parachute?, which has been updated annually since 1970, was back on the best-seller list in December.
So with the new demand for paying day-jobs and the shortening supply, I thought it might be helpful offer some strategies for improving your chances. [click to continue…]
Another saint doing battle with the powers of darkness
“Arose.”
Fascinating word. Occurs 173 times in the New American Standard Bible. Nearly always, something interesting, if not transforming, follows.
Jesus uber-arose, as I hope you know. As in, from the dead.
Abraham arose, too, as in from the bed.
Jacob arose, and bugged out of town.
A new king arose in Egypt, and things got ugly for Jacob’s descendents.
Moses arose and went up the mountain.
Balaam arose and got up on his donkey.
Arose is the difference between sleeping and moving. Between sitting and acting.
Arose changes things. [click to continue…]
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In spite of all her lamentable weaknesses, appalling failures and indefensible shortcomings, the Church is the mightiest force for civilization and enlightened social consciousness in the world today. The only force in the world that is contesting Satan’s total rule in human affairs is the church of the living God. -Paul Billheimer
What does it take to rouse a sleeping giant?
Whatever it takes, I think now is the time.
One of the biggest clichés and repeated experiences in history is that of unrealized potential. It’s one of the reasons I believe heaven will be a place in which God wipes every tear from our eyes. When we see what was in light of what could have been – with our lives, and with our corporate potential – we will have no alternative but to weep.
For years, as a global body, the Western church has been asleep at the wheel or, worse, awakened to fight the wrong battles, the wrong enemy, or with the wrong weapons of warfare. We’ve made an art form of “trivial pursuit,” and the world is worse off because of it.
The first Century Church didn’t keep up with its time, didn’t spend its energy keeping up with its time. The first Century Church changed time. It rewrote history. It radically impacted culture. The church was the forerunner, not the runner up. – Erwin McManus
If you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, I’m referring to you. I’m referring to me. But the news isn’t all bad. We serve a God who is wonderfully capable of waking sleeping giants. He did it on a national scale, both with His own nation and at times even with foreign, pagan countries. And I believe He’s doing it today. [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…]
Tense Truth: I must learn to accept the world and its circumstances as it is, not as I would have it. I must also learn to take courageous action to be an agent of change. The wisdom to know the difference is found in the discipline of hearing God’s voice.
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Contentment and Change decided to play table tennis one day. I was the ball. Can you relate?
Serve: Be grateful for all you have.
Return: Do something to change the world!
Rest in the Lord. Wait quietly for Him.
Press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ.
Be still.
Get off your butt.
Surrender.
Seize every opportunity.
Be content!
Don’t be complacent!
Don’t be covetous.
Be courageous.
Wow. I’m tired, and I’m not ever keeping score. I’ve never bothered to even count the number of times I’ve zigged (tried to change something) when I should have zagged (been content with the situation). Or vice-versa – when the call was to hit the ground running, I hit the hay. [click to continue…]
Neville Davidson
Somewhere, sometime, somebody left a simple, small, cedar cross as an anonymous gift for someone they’d never meet.
Sometime later, on a spiritual retreat, a broken, blind, and deeply depressed man received that cross, and his life was changed. Now mine has been, too, because of how that man chose to rise from the depths of his pain. I’d like to share his story; Neville Davidson is a LifeVestor.
If you see the glass as half-empty, Neville has gotten a raw deal. Born in Warrenton, a small town between Liverpool and Manchester in the UK, his childhood memories are dotted with the sound of German bombs, forced relocation of himself and his siblings for their safety, and unceasing danger during World War II. Later, at age 26, Neville was told his wife had terminal bronchial pneumonia, and would have to move to a warm, dry climate. He considered an offer to move to Australia. But his sister had married an American GI, and moved to Lubbock, Texas. Neville chose family, and literally had to uproot his own household and start his life over in a place where he knew virtually no one. A few years later, his marriage dissolved.
Neville married Jenny, his wife today, in 1971. Just five years later, he developed a disease in one of his eyes, and lost his sight in that eye. In 1984, he completely lost the sight in his other eye. Neville’s world literally and figuratively became completely dark. [click to continue…]
Kinetic Church was robbed. I don’t mean by the refs in the church league basketball tournament. I mean a thief (or thieves) stole a trailer containing 75% of the Charlotte area congregation’s equipment in early March, leaving the portable church with virtually nothing.
What would you do? How would you respond? How would you define your life if you discovered that three-fourths of your tangible assets – to say nothing of the hundreds of man-hours invested in labor – were instantly gone?
Can’t relate? How about the time somebody stole your dreams or your hope? Or your reputation? Or your innocence? Or your marriage?
You won’t believe what these guys did.
They went on the offensive. They started a billboard campaign with five different messages, as well as a YouTube video aimed directly at the thief. Check out the video below.
Kinetic Church’s response illustrates some powerful lessons in transforming painful experiences into remarkable opportunities:
[click to continue…]
