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It usually starts in the fingers and toes. Then blitzes the middle of the back, radiating out from there.
It’s cold. Oh baby, it’s cold. And those extremities start to go into rebellion. They just…don’t… want… to… moooove.
Do you know what I’m talking about? Throw on the socks, wrap up in the blankie, and you’re still shivering. Body parts you usually ignore are sending you a signal – Do something now! Your ears – normally quite the lady or gentleman – are getting a bit irritate with all this. Your already-cold nose starts running – for cover.
Oh baby, it’s cold.
For relief, you look outside for some sunny encouragement. What you find are swelled up birds, vapor-blowing animals, and icicles on your icicles. The ground is so frozen that even with the howling wind (was that a chill that just ran up your back?), nothing moves. [click to continue…]
Perdido Key, Florida. I was in a hotel room, desperately reading my Bible, even more desperately crying out to God. Somewhere along the way I had, well, lost my way. And I couldn’t find my way back.
Back to a consistently focused walk with God.
Back to a first-love commitment to Jesus.
Back to a sense of spiritual usefulness and power.
Back to a faith that could at least move me, even when it couldn’t move mountains.
Back to the hope that somehow tomorrow could actually be better than today.
I could have told you how to find your way back to wherever you left your path. But I was lost as last year’s Easter egg when it came to me.
I heard all the things I already knew in my head. Didn’t help.
I heard all the platitudes and steps and methods I’d told others and they had told me. Ditto.
I heard all the sermons I had preached to others about coming back to Jesus, and they were profoundly useless to me.
And what I was reading in the Bible wasn’t helping much, either. I kept reading passages in psalms where David would pray things like, “Vindicate me, O God, because I have walked in my integrity.”
I didn’t have any integrity. And the last thing I needed to see in that situation was vindication. Justice either.
In desperation I silently cried out, “God! Is there a verse in there for the rest of us?”
And He showed me something that changed my life. [click to continue…]
It takes time and intention, this Soul-Anchoring Moment,
And a willingness to wait for those fleeting experiences
That are tomorrow’s soul roots.
(Did I mention a willingness to wait?)
A Soul-Anchoring Moment…
Maybe it’s the possibility of holding all of your scattered grandchildren in one day.
Or a chance to hear again the sounds common to your birthplace
And sigh with satisfaction at the most trivial and most special of memories. [click to continue…]
Joey’s feeling pretty small today. That’s what happens when you’re supposed to have the right words to say and there are no right words for a family in needless grief and pain. So Joey just hangs there, offering the ministry of presence. Hoping to offer some kind of life or lift that will help. But who will lift the lifter, and remind Joey what it’s like to stand tall and strong again?
Joey needs a carrier.
Alicia would never admit this, but she’s a living example of a Proverbs 31 woman. Greatly admired, if not revered, she never seems to sleep, and lives pedal-to-metal most of the time. She gets more work done by lunchtime than girls half her age and boys of any age do all day. But behind the success and flair, Alicia hides an ugly secret: She’s exhausted, and nearing the point of just not caring anymore. And though she has a hard time admitting she can’t do it all, she, too, needs a carrier.
Joey and Alicia are real-life examples of somebody who’s near you, or who is you, right now…
- Tired, but no end or help in sight…
- Overwhelmed, but no clarity about what to hold onto and what to let go of…
- Weepy at times for no apparent reason, or for any little cause…
- Feeling abandoned or opposed against the tide of opinions, accusations, or criticism…
- Disappointed by those once trusted, confused in the very areas that once produced confidence …
- Surrounded by pain, yet seemingly helpless to do anything about it…
All these and more are the unmistakable signs of someone – maybe you – who is calling for a carrier, whether they know it or not. [click to continue…]
I hate sleep. I’m afraid I may miss something.
Yeah, yeah, I know. I “get it” and I get it.
I know that, too. God’s design and all that. It just chaps me a little that somebody who lives to be 90 will spend 30 years of their lives physically unconscious… and then talk about “sleeping in” as if it’s a life goal.
What’s even more disturbing, though, is how easy it is to be asleep when our eyes are open. Spiritually oblivious to a world of life and movement and transformation and possibilities – all ready and waiting… for the awakened spirit.
Snapshots of Awakening
February 3, 1970. In a small Kentucky Christian college, students showed up for what they thought was a routine chapel service. It was anything but. What was supposed to be an hour-long service lasted for 185 hours round the clock. And the lights never went off in the chapel until Ju [click to continue…]
“I will recognize that this day is a gift to me. Today and every day I will take the time to encourage the encourager. I will recognize that my greatest gifts become available to others only when I offer them first to myself and to my God.” -from “The Encourager’s Creed“
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” -Psalm 46:10, The Message
+++++++++++++++++++
His innovative, radical ministry shook and shaped the town where he lived. He started a church from scratch and tossed tradition on its ear. He insisted that worship services be seeker sensitive – events that people would actually enjoy attending. His preaching was simple and plain, filled with word pictures, practical application, and charisma.
He led his people to reach out with God’s love by establishing an innovative system of literature distribution and visitation. In a matter of months his church went from mission to mega, with more than a thousand people attending his Thursday night Bible study.
He was a prayer warrior. This guy spent an hour a day just praying for the Jews! Another hour daily in general prayer and meditation. An hour and a half in breakfast and family prayers. Six hours in prayer and devotional reading on Sundays.
Oh, and then there was the revival. Returning from the Middle East, he found the town turned upside down with a fresh invasion of the Spirit. People came nightly to hear him preach the gospel. Hundreds came to Christ. Without question, he was one of the greatest Christian leaders any generation has ever witnessed.
He died in 1843.
Age – 29. [click to continue…]
Let my lips pour out praise,
Let my tongue sing of your promise,
Let my soul live that I may praise you.
(From Psalm 119:171-172, 175)
(Note to self)…
When you’re stymied by writer’s block,
slowed by illness,
sleepy emotionally, or
stressed by unfinished business,
go back to the basics.
God is – I’m His.
He has designed and purchased,
created and redeemed
the right to a life
– my life –
poured out,
singing,
lavishly living in praise.
Creativity flows from where worship goes.
And nobody animates tired souls like the Living God.
Spring is a season of new beginnings and exquisite beauty. Everything that just appeared lifeless and grey is bursting forth with new energy and color. I call it the Renaissance, because it reminds me of new birth. And for me, that’s a multi-dimensional experience.
Because so much life appears all around us, it’s easy to assume that renewal just sort of happens automatically. But nothing could be further from the truth. Springtime represents a triumph – a victory won through a fierce, even savage struggle and patient determination.
We love, for example, to see the trees or vines begin their growth for the year. But it’s easy to forget how many of those plants were pruned – some of them nearly all the way back to the ground – in order to produce maximum beauty.
Plowing is another struggle of spring. [click to continue…]
I have a friend who’s living in-between. He once had a position of ministry and fulfilled calling, and believes he’ll have another one again. In between, he waits – preparing for the day of the Second House.
I have another friend who was blindsided by an unwanted divorce. He has suffered the loss of a family, a vision, and a sense of being at home. Still, he waits – convinced that he will see, in some measure, the day of the Second House.
I can relate to both, but for different reasons. More than 10 years ago, I began a Second-House journey of my own – explainable only by the stunning grace of God. I have watched in awe as dreams I had given up on, callings I had once felt, and opportunities I once squandered began to be fulfilled. More than a God of second chances (which He is), He has shown me that He is a God of second seasons, second lives, sometimes second families, and even second callings.
He’s the God of the Second House. [click to continue…]
“The winter is over. The rain and snow have gone. Come away with me, my love, come away.
“I miss our time together. How long has it been since I heard the sound of your voice in the morning? Come away with me, my love, come away.
“I have seen you struggling, and I’ve heard your cries in the night. I have been with you, even when you felt alone. I have been faithful, even when you were losing faith in Me. I have been patient, even when you were impatient with Me. Now the flowers are budding, and the time of singing has come. Come away with me, my love, come away!
[click to continue…]
It usually starts in the fingers and toes. Then blitzes the middle of the back, radiating out from there.
