by Andy Wood on January 26, 2010
Our granddaughter, Laura Kate, with Elmo’s help, is learning about holes. The square hole, the round hole. The star-shaped hole, the rectangle hole. She’s learning to put the square piece in the square hole, and Elmo tells her how awesome she is.
At 20 months, that’s pretty good. Before long, she will graduate from Elmo and his octogons and stars. And she will discover new holes to fill. Deeper holes. One downright abyss. And many more complex shapes.
Who Said That?
There’s this quote that’s been ascribed to all kinds of people over the years. I’ve heard that Billy Graham said it. Then Augustine. Or maybe C. S. Lewis. But most popularly, Blaise Pascal. The quote reads, [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on June 19, 2009
Things got a little weird that day at the Taco Bell in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. A customer tried to pass two 1928 five-dollar bills as cash to pay for his meal. The clerks had never seen such old money before, presumed it to be counterfeit, and called the police. Here’s the sad part – as currency, the cash was legit. As collectors’ items, they had to be worth way more than a bean burrito combo or a chalupa.
What a waste, right? Right up there with Esau, selling his birthright for a bowl of peas. Or the prodigal son, wasting his inheritance on a never-ending party.
But another part of my brain wants to defend our fast food shopper. After all, maybe he was hungry, and that was the only cash he had. Maybe he had no idea what he had! I’ve learned that if you don’t know the value of what you possess, it really doesn’t matter to you what you waste it on. Esau and the prodigal learned that, too – the hard way.
Anyway, what’s so different about the taco king? [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on August 6, 2008
Tense Truth: God promises a life of genuine security for His children. But those who seek security by hiding behind what is “safe” have no security at all. Security only comes as a result of bold obedience and courageous faith.
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Want to experience real security? Live dangerously. Seriously.
No, I don’t mean being a reckless gambler. But I do mean living with purposeful boldness and courageous faith.
Who was the guy who talked about the Lord being his shepherd, or who said with such confidence,
“The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” (Psalm 27:1)?
It was David, the giant killer. A simple look at his life, especially the younger years, reveals a life constantly protected, and amazingly powerful. A closer look also reveals that he seemed to skip from one dangerous situation to the next. He didn’t always go looking for trouble, but he never backed down from it, either.
Contrast that with somebody who so focuses on risk avoidance that they never really live. Like the guy (true story) who left California to avoid earthquakes and settled in Ohio – where his house was promptly leveled by a tornado. Or the wealthy Australian who foresaw global trouble brewing in the 1930s and decided to move to a safe place. So he settled on a tiny island called Guadalcanal!
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