by Andy Wood on September 28, 2009
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Carved into the side of one of my favorite places in the world – Deer Bluff, near the family farm in Alabama…
That brings up a thought:
Ever seen something like this carved in a rock or a tree (or written on a bathroom wall or somebody’s notebook)?
J.S. + E.J. = Tru Luv 4 Ever.
Without bothering to even ask whether you ever wrote something like that, I wonder where J.S. and E.J. are now? I wonder how “tru” their “luv” is today? I wonder if “4 Ever” really meant 4 days, or 4 weeks?
Then again, who knows? J.S. and E.J. may be J.S. and E.S. today, with four kids, three pets, two cars, and a nice mortgage. Maybe there was more than just “4” in their “4 Ever.”
Forever. Yet another of those charming words we overuse and undervalue. Often said in the extremes of emotion, for many of us “forever” only means until we calm down or come up for air. And yet we do live in a world of certainties, where words like “forever” and “always” really mean something. Trouble is, because of the ways we so often water it down, sometimes we lose the force of forever when it’s the real thing. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on May 18, 2009
Imagine being one of the 5000 people who ate bread and fish at the hand of a miracle by Jesus Himself. Bet it tasted good! I’ll bet it was an amazing spectacle to behold.
The laughter between bites.
The wonder.
The amazement.
The satisfaction of your appetite.
Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if, after the miraculous feed, you had never hungered again? [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on May 27, 2008
A Picture and a Hundred Words
In a train station somewhere is a parable for our time. Just count the arrows.
Don’t you wish sometimes there was just one way out?
One way home?
Don’t you wish somebody – anybody – would make it plain?
Multiple choice is fine when you’re picking soup or paint colors.
But some decisions require a way – a truth.
When the “way out” only involves a map, any set of steps will do.
But when it’s real life you’re looking for, limit your choices to Someone who is willing to be the way – not just point.
“I AM,” said He.
He is.
(Photo by liamvictor)
by Andy Wood on May 15, 2008
I’ve said it often in church life: there is nothing more useless (and sometimes obnoxious) than a new grandparent.
Uh huh.
So anyway…
Amazing creatures, these babies – resting peacefully in somebody’s eager arms or lying in the bed, quietly watching the world go by. Filled with wonder at times, filling the room with noise at times. Innocent and defenseless, yet powerful enough to hold your heart in their tiny hands. So capable of needing and being needed, even before she takes her first nap. Babies! I realized the other day how long it had been since I had held one, or played with one. I remembered how little we still truly know about them.
How does God do that anyway? How can one life be created in the image of two, a miniature version of her Mommy and Daddy? How can she be so unable to care for herself, yet totally equipped to learn, to grow, and to develop? What’s really going through her mind as she lies there quietly? What will she become one day? Will she be a woman or a witch, an angel or a devil? We talk of “accidents,” but God never does. What does God have in mind for her? How much of God will she ever truly experience? What kind of God will she see in me? Or in her parents?
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4).
[click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on March 21, 2008
(with a big salute to Michael Card)
He waited, and waited, and waited. He put up with so much. While His love was spurned, He suffered long, awaiting that one climactic moment in time that was a part of His eternal plan.
When that moment came, He took the initiative and arrived on the scene. In kindness He reached out to us with tangible expressions of His love – a healing touch, the pleasure of His company, a word of forgiveness. His kindness was refreshing, because it touched those who weren’t used to receiving it.
He was criticized, questioned, suspected, and ultimately undermined by jealous people. But there wasn’t a jealous bone in His body.
He went toe-to-toe with an establishment of hypocrites who loved to parade themselves before men. But in spite of His immense popularity, He never flaunted Himself.
[click to continue…]
