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Identity

What it Takes to Be a Servant Leader

by Andy Wood on August 25, 2010

in Enlarging Your Capacity,Five LV Laws,LV Cycle,Leadership,Life Currency,Principle of Eternity,Principle of Legacy

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…]

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Starting Over, Finishing Well

by Andy Wood on August 11, 2010

in Uncategorized

This is about endurance.  

About playing hurt.

About finishing strong.

This is about starting over.  About reinventing yourself, your future, your relationships.

Before there was a Ripkin or a Rocky Balboa (VI), there was Lou Gehrig.  The Iron Man played in 2,130 consecutive baseball games.  However many seasons that was, Gehrig never missed a game. 

Did he ever get hurt, sick, or tired?  Yep.  But he always showed up at game time. 

That’s one of the keys, you know.  Just show up.

After Lou retired, he had a physical examination.  [click to continue…]

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Hide and Seek: The Ultimate Treasure Hunt

by Andy Wood on June 23, 2010

in Esteem,Five LV Laws,LV Cycle,Life Currency,Principle of Eternity,Waiting

Get this scene…

It’s the long-shadow season… a late-October Saturday afternoon.  Alabama has just kicked off to Tennessee, and the rest of life has been put on hold.  I’ve got the snacks and drinks, recliner set to football position, and it’s a glorious day.

That’s when I hear it.  In those few seconds before the doorbell rings and the dogs go crazy, I hear the giggles of a gaggle of adolescents.

Two thoughts immediately flash by:

  • I am obviously not living in Dixie, because nobody in their right mind there would be roaming the streets when the Tide ‘n’ Vols are on TV.
  • I’m about to be scavenger hunted.

Sure enough, I open the door to a group of teenagers, and one of ‘em hands me a list.  “We’re on a scavenger hunt.  Do you have any of these things?”

Game on (while the other game is on pause). [click to continue…]

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What it Takes to Set a Prisoner Free

by Andy Wood on June 18, 2009

in Five LV Laws,LV Alter-egos,Pleasers,Principle of Freedom

ball-and-chainThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1, ESV)

There’s something you should know, though I’m not very proud to say it.

I’m an ex-con.

Ex-convict?  No.

Ex-condemned?  You betcha.

Ex-consequences?  Uh huh.

Ex-con man?  ‘Fraid so.

I lived on the wrong side of a legal system for a long time, and wound up in prison.  But don’t go looking for my name in some Federal or state criminal records.  I haven’t messed with Texas that much. [click to continue…]

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The Grasshopper’s Dilemma

by Andy Wood on April 17, 2009

in Allocating Your Resources,Consumers,Enlarging Your Capacity,Executing Your Plan,Exploring the Possibilities,Five LV Laws,Following Your Passion,Gamblers,Hoarders,LV Alter-egos,LV Cycle,Life Currency,Love,Money,Pleasers,Principle of Abundance,Protecting Your Investment,Waiting

grasshopperThis week a friend sent me a poignant and compelling image that describes what it’s like to live in a climate or with a spirit of fear.  But the image is so strong, I think it describes anybody who feels as though they are in a no-win situation.

I feel like a grasshopper on the ocean hanging onto a leaf.  I cling to the leaf to keep from drowning.  If I eat the leaf to keep from starving, I lose my life preserver, and drown.

I’ll tell you later what he learned in the process.  But can you relate? [click to continue…]

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My Name is (not) Earl

by Andy Wood on April 15, 2009

in Esteem,Life Currency,Turning Points

earl-795885It’s time to clear the air.  To let the cat out of the proverbial bag.  I’ve carried the secret, along with a select few other people, for long enough.  Integrity demands that somebody, after 30-plus years, say something.  I guess it’ll have to be me.

Okay, deep breath, here goes:

There is no Earl Trimbley.

Okay, exhale.  I’ll pause here to let that sink in… I know it’s a shock.  Now here, the late Paul Harvey fans (not his real name, either), is “the rest of the story.” [click to continue…]

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Your Glory Story

by Andy Wood on October 24, 2008

in Esteem,Exploring the Possibilities,LV Cycle,Life Currency

Somewhere in the back story of the drama that is your life, you are rehearsing a Cinderella story.  One that transforms you from zero to hero, from reject to regal.  You imagined it as a kid in ways that were unique to you.  This dream may have been fed by caring parents, or it may have been an escape from the harshness of your world.

Simply put, you dreamed of glory.

Not vainglory, mind you.  Something more.  An image that said you mattered.  Belonged.  Were wonderfully adequate for the role you’d been chosen – for your quest.

Then came the collision.  Dreams were broadsided by disappointments.  You never quite figured out how to translate that high school stardom into a career or a destiny.  Or worse, you actually found your place in the world, but stared in the mirror at a fraud.  Maybe you got what (or who) you’d always wanted, and you bombed.  Maybe you just settled into paying the bills and keeping house, and woke up a generation later wondering what happened.

Sometimes I think our greatest fear or vulnerability isn’t the evil we’re all capable of.  What we most dread or most grieve is that we’re just so ordinary. [click to continue…]

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The Hidden Battles of a Man (or Woman) of God

by Andy Wood on September 29, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity,LV Cycle

Job sites can be noisy places.  The clanging of tools, the heaving groans of loud masculine voices, and the hacking or high-pitched grinding of cutting instruments all suggest that something is being built with earnest.

There is another kind of construction, however, that makes precious little noise.  But the effects are powerful and completely necessary.  In the Day of the Second House, none of us can move forward without it.  I’m talking about the inner construction – the molding and shaping of character and spiritual power.

It does no good to rebuild the outward structures without taking a tough look at the inner priorities and attitudes of the heart.  That’s what’s so ridiculous about somebody facing a crisis (remember the Sunday after September 11, 2001?) by scurrying off to a church building they haven’t darkened in months.  The building or setting is meaningless unless it’s occupied by a transformed heart.

So while our friend Zerubbabel was busy governing and building a temple, his partner, Joshua, was facing some building of his own.  But this high priest was facing down his own broken walls, burned gates, and impossible mission.  Joshua was engaged in a battle for his heart, and for the soul of his nation.  Here’s how the prophet Zechariah described this internal battle:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “ The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, ” Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by. (Zechariah 3:1-5)

Every man or woman who is serious about spiritual life and victory faces similar battles.  Our destinies, as well as the destinies of others, hang in the balance.  Here are five inner battle zones: [click to continue…]

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Leading the Broken Organization: Seven Strategies for Healing and Renewal

by Andy Wood on September 10, 2008

in Leadership,Life Currency

“We have a problem,” Perry said.  Thus began the conversation the led to my first senior pastorate.  The problem he alluded to was an open church conflict that led to a lot of angry words at a time when the church Perry attended was without a pastor.

He was asking me to come and preach (I was the associate pastor at a nearby church).  I did, and the rest, as they say….

As long as businesses, churches, and other types of organizations are comprised of humans, they will eventually experience setbacks, upsets, dysfunction, and problems.  Nobody gets it right all the time, and even healthy organizations must confront serious problems.

Broken organizations, however, are different.  [click to continue…]

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A Product of Grace

by Andy Wood on August 1, 2008

in Five LV Laws,LV Alter-egos,Pleasers,Principle of Eternity

(This is a piece I wrote a few years ago after meditating on 1 Corinthians 15:10.  It amazed me how quickly the words came, and it always seems to get a surprising (to me) response.  I recently received a very nice note about it from someone I’ve never met.  Since I’m traveling today, I thought I’d share it with you.  I hope it’s an encouragement.  And, of course, if you are encouraged by it, I would be encouraged if you would encourage somebody else with it by clicking “Share This” below.  Most of all, I hope you can say it’s your testimony, too.)

A Product of Grace

by Andy Wood

 

I am a product of grace.

No measure of performance could ever achieve in a lifetime

what the grace of God performed in an instant.

No failure to perform could erase

what the Spirit of God has completed for all of eternity.

 

I am a product of grace.

No nod of any human’s approval could compare with the fulfillment, the joy,

the wonder of knowing my Heavenly Father has turned His face toward me.

No amount of mortal rejection can change the fact that my Lord God

has made me accepted in the Beloved.

 

I am a product of grace.

No sin of the past, no matter how grave,

can resist the transforming power of a Risen Lord.

No future failure can change the fact that I am an heir of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ.

 

I am a product of grace.

No situation, no pain, no frustration can rob me of my hope.

No force without or within can deny or change the fact that I am a new creation in Christ -

that every old thing is passed away and everything has become new.

 

I am a product of grace.

And grace never sleeps.  It never gets tired or weak, old or crippled.

It’s as new as the sunrise, and as powerful today as it was the first Easter.

Grace is my testimony and I its trophy.  There is never a time when grace is not

covering my sin or revealing me as God’s work of art.

 

I am a product of grace.  And I have a story to tell.

Once I was lost, but now I’m found.

Marvelous!

Once I was blind, but now I see.

Infinite!

Once I was afraid, now I am at peace.

Matchless!

I am what I am.  That’s grace.

But I am not yet what I will be.  That, too, is grace.

Oh, how amazing!

Grace.

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