So many random thoughts or snippets of wisdom (or something)… so little time. Here are seven more ideas that are still in my “oven”. And if you’re a sucker for these kinds of things, and just can’t get enough from Facebook or Twitter, check this out. Or maybe this or this.
Not long ago I read about this great procrastination test on the Psychology Today website. The test helps you target patterns of procrastination, then do something to change them. I clicked on the link and left it on my browser for a couple of days until I could get to it. Yes… I procrastinated taking the procrastination test. Until the browser locked up and I had to restart it… and lost the test. Ugh. The good news is, I found it again (thanks, Google). The bad news is, I’m still procrastinating. If you’d like to load it up and procrastinate taking it with me, you can find it here. [click to continue…]
An audio drama with four characters:
A Narrator,
The Imagined Voice of the Holy Spirit,
King David,
and Bob Dylan
(Note: If you’re reading this via email or RSS feed, this post is best read from the site by clicking on the title above. And now… on with the drama…) [click to continue…]
(Forgiveness Laboratories, Inc. – Part 2)
In our last episode, we were left in a place called Forgiveness Laboratories, Inc. where Joe Jacobson, the owner and founder, was explaining some of their findings. And he was about to share something about forgiveness that I had never seen before. If you haven’t read the previous post, I would encourage you to do that first…
Joe said, “Our greatest discovery happened when we combined what we call Formula 432 with Element 118.”
“Sounds very chemical,” I said.
“Aw, just lab talk,” Joe said with a smile. “One of our guys used to be a youth pastor.”
“Say no more,” I said.
“Formula 432 is actually Ephesians 4:32. We learned it as kids in church:
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
“I noticed that on the wall in your lobby,” I said.
“Then you probably also noticed Element 118 on the other wall,” said Joe. It’s from Isaiah 1:18:
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.”
“When our researchers combined these two truths, we made a breakthrough discovery about forgiveness.”
“What’s that?” I asked, intrigued. [click to continue…]
Jon Acuff recently shared the story of a coworker named Brian who had witnessed the death of a man in the gym a day before. Apparently he had a heart attack, and nobody could help, except to vainly call 911. Now a day later, the coworker was filled with regret and what-if scenarios.
Twenty years ago, James’ life took a detour through some moral quicksand. And though he can tell you in glowing terms today about the grace of God that lifted him out of the “miry clay” and “set his feet upon a rock,” sometimes the past comes blowing back in his face like a cold rain. Even though he lives today as a forgiven man, at times he still finds himself on the Highway of Regret.
I can certainly relate to both of those scenarios – helpless situations and careless choices. But the regrets that nag me the most have to do with unfinished business. [click to continue…]
Here are seven more random things I’ve had in my oven lately. Did I mention it’s really random?
Why is it that some people can believe the gospel or trust God simply and quickly, and others require more… either convincing or extended confession? It’s all about what it takes to activate their faith.
+++++++
First sign your wife may not be ready to give a statement at the accident scene: When asked by the EMT if she knew who the president was, she said, “Osama bin Laden… No… Wait… That’s not right… I don’t remember – I just know I don’t like him.” (She’s doing fine now.) [click to continue…]
And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.
Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs (Isaiah 61:6-7, NIV).
It’s a scary journey, the move from shame to grace. But it’s a journey every growing believer in Christ, every recovering addict, every healing soul must take. The paths are often unfamiliar. Lessons must be un-learned and relearned. You will be forced to face down familiar, but largely unchallenged beliefs.
People who live in the realm of shame live in a world the Brennan Manning describes as “huffing and puffing to impress God.”
It’s a realm of performance. Brownie points or self-condemnation. Self-fixing mixed with wallowing in guilt. Comparing ourselves to others in order to feel superior… or to prove what an absolute joke we are. “You’re nothing,” shame whispers. “And if people really knew you, they would agree.”
As much of a liar as shame is, sometimes it’s more comfortable to return to old patterns of thinking and feeling. It’s embarrassing and uncomfortable to confront the truths of the scandalous grace of God.
“I am a creation of infinite worth?” Ridiculous.
“I am totally forgiven?” What do you mean, “totally?”
“I am completely loved, fully pleasing?” In what universe? What absurd fantasy?
Challenge that! Confess the truth, whether it lines up with your feelings or the twisted logic of shame or not. And most of all, learn to accept the grace of God as it is expressed through the graciousness of others.
The secret is gratitude. When a friend encourages you, when someone offers a gift, when another praises you, receive it with the same graciousness in which it was offered.
Try this for practice: [click to continue…]
Heard any good lawyer jokes lately? Here’s one:
Q: Why did God make snakes just before lawyers?
A: To practice.
All fooling aside, I have a new appreciation for the justice system these days. There, when a person is accused of a crime, it is required of the system (the court) that he/she have an advocate. The advocate’s sole responsibility is to look after the best interests of the accused.
Q: Why won’t sharks attack lawyers?
A: Professional courtesy.
It is not the advocate’s job to determine guilt or innocence; that’s for the judge and/or jury.
Q: What do you have when a lawyer is buried up to his neck in sand?
A: Not enough sand.
It is not the advocate’s job to be liked or appreciated.
Q: What’s the difference between a dead dog in the road and a dead lawyer in the road?
A: There are skid marks in front of the dog.
The one task – the one focus – of the advocate is to stand in the gap for the accused.
When popular culture collides with the legal system, advocates get a bum rap. These attorneys are portrayed as ruthless, win-at-all-cost scoundrels who will do anything to get the defendant off, guilty or not.
Exactly.
Q: Why is going to a meeting of the Bar Association like going into a bait shop?
A: Because of the abundance of suckers, leeches, insects, and nightcrawlers.
So why the appreciation for advocates? Because I know what it’s like to need and not have one. My guess is, you do too. Have you ever sat defenseless outside a closed door while somebody else made decisions affecting you?
For those who trust and follow Christ, however, the story doesn’t end there. Even when we have no advocate in the board room, the committee or wherever, we have an Advocate nonetheless. Check this out: [click to continue…]
Inspired by an analogy I heard from my friend Bill at lunch yesterday…
Let’s say you’re a camp counselor. And on this day you’ve loaded up 45 nine- and ten-year-olds on the bus for an outing. Everybody’s had a great time as you have taken them into the city or to the beach… picture you own favorite locale for a gang of kids to have a blast.
Now it’s time to head back to the camp. So you load ‘em up and move ‘em out.
That’s when it hits you. You forgot the first rule of kids-on-the-bus management.
Yep. You forgot to count heads.
Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-three. Forty-uh oh.
It’s every kid herder’s worst fear. You’ve left somebody behind. He’s lost.
So what do you do? [click to continue…]
Ever hear of the Law of the Hammer? Also called The Law of the Instrument, it has been attributed to both Abraham Maslow and Abraham Kaplan (neither of whom were carpenters, I don’t think).
The Law of the Hammer is based on the idea that people tend to look for cure-alls or over-use familiar tools, especially in dealing with people. It says, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”
Wise. In other words, diversify your toolbox.
I’m not a carpenter either, and six months of bending nails in 1979-80 can attest to that. But I’ve spent a lot of my life building, working with, leading, and being an instrument of healing to people. And I have observed a corollary to the Law of the Hammer that is important to remember in dealing with people. I call it The Law of the Nail:
If you are a nail, and especially if you’ve been pounded a time or two, everything (and everybody) looks like a hammer.
I’ve been on all sides of that. I’ve been the nail. Banged the nail. Straightened out bent nails. Sat in on more than my share of Nails Anonymous meetings (including pastors’ prayer meetings). I’ve hired nails to go to work for me without realizing how pounded they had been. And I have learned, sometimes the hard way, that living in a broken world means working with and leading broken or bruised people. So at the risk of pounding the metaphor too much (sorry), here are some ideas for finding healing if you are the nail, or in the next post, working with and leading the nails in your organization or workplace. [click to continue…]
“If only I could build an exit ramp. Something that would allow me to escape the rules and the never-ending expectations. Why doesn’t he realize that I’m just not cut out for this kind of life? That he and I would both be happier if I were on my own?”
Sound familiar? It should. Thoughts like that are repeated daily, as people try to define freedom in their own terms.
We all long for authentic freedom – the power to make choices yourself, and joyfully live with the consequences. The good news of our relationship with Christ is that He came to set captives free! Unfortunately, many believers fail to experience that freedom because they pursue a counterfeit form of it in one of two directions.
In one of the most often-repeated stories in the Bible, Jesus reveals God’s heart toward His children. It’s the story of a father with two sons – an older one who served faithfully for many years, and a younger son who longed to be “funky and free.” Each son pursued and believed in his passion. Neither understood the life of joy and abundance their father wanted to give them because each pursued passion in his own terms. One sought it through pleasure, the other through outward performance. To the younger son, freedom meant license to do what he pleased. To the older brother, freedom meant legalistic obedience to the rules.
At any given time, you, too, can be a Prodigal or a Pharisee. All it takes is a desire to find freedom apart from an intimate love relationship with God. [click to continue…]
So many random thoughts or snippets of wisdom (or something)… so little time. Here are seven more ideas that are still in my “oven”. And if you’re a sucker for these kinds of things, and just can’t get enough from Facebook or Twitter, check this out. Or maybe this or this.
