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Spiritual Warfare

The Day from Hell

by Andy Wood on April 24, 2010

in Enlarging Your Capacity,Five LV Laws,Insight,Life Currency,LV Cycle,Principle of Freedom,Turning Points

“I swear, I keep thinking, if somehow I press through, I can get where I want to go.  If, of course, it doesn’t kill me or I don’t kill myself in the process.”  (from my journal, July 18, 2005)

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“This is warfare,” Robin said.

“It’s God!” I snapped back, dispirited and resigned.  “Let’s just go home.”

Well, there you have it.  Now you know what we fight about at my house. 

It was the day from hell.  It started with a hard funeral – a suicide victim – at which I was to speak.  My message to the grieving family and friends was to “be still – cease striving – and know that he is God.”  It was on a Monday, following a very harried and stressful Sunday, in the middle of a very harried and stressful summer.  

But this was the Monday when the scenery was supposed to change.  With the help of my office staff, we had scheduled a trip to the mountains to write.

As in, the LifeVesting book.

Here’s a little proverbial advice, for what it’s worth:  Beware of trying to change your scenery on Monday.  [click to continue…]

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Saving Pastor Ryan

by Andy Wood on December 22, 2009

in Uncategorized

(The Twelve Ways of Christmas, Part 7:  The Way of Warfare)

Ice StormDecember 23

The first thing Ryan Fisher felt when he awakened was an obnoxious cold wind, pelting his face with sleet.  The searing pain coursing down his legs and across his chest further aroused him.  Opening his eyes, he saw movement outside, but the angle of his SUV in the ditch made it difficult to tell what was happening.  One thing was sure – the distant siren and flashing lights were for him.

Another thing became certain pretty quickly.  Assuming he lived, Ryan Fisher would spend Christmas alone.  There’d be no plane to catch, and nobody boarding a plane back to Birmingham.  Not in this storm.

It was the end of the day from hell, punctuating the week from hell, capping off the year from hell.  And now, freezing and in shock, Ryan Fisher closed a mental door.  He was done. [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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Hold On – He’s Coming

by Andy Wood on April 27, 2009

in Ability,Life Currency,LV Cycle,Protecting Your Investment

sun-through-clouds1During the American Civil War, General William T. Sherman was driving his troops through Georgia on his decisive march to the sea.  He had left a small contingent of men behind in a fort on Kennesaw Mountain to guard the rations.  General John Bell Hood of Texas attacked the fort, and a fierce battle followed.  One-third of the men were killed or wounded, and J. M. Corse, the general in command, was severely injured in the fighting.

Just as he was about to hoist up the white flag and surrender, a message came through the signal corps set up on a chain of mountains.  General Sherman was within 15 miles of the fort and had sent the message:  “Hold fast.  We are coming.” Those few words so encouraged the defenders that they held on and kept the fort from falling into the hands of their attackers.

You and I are a little like that contingent of Union soldiers.  We’re part of a victorious army that has been left for a season to be stewards of the resources of our Commander-in-Chief.

And we’re under attack. [click to continue…]

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How to Dispose of a Raging Corpse

by Andy Wood on April 6, 2009

in Five LV Laws,Principle of Freedom,Tense Truths

hide-behind-crossI’ve been noticing something in me that I don’t like.  It’s been around ever since somebody first said “no” to me and I ignored her or him.  But lately it’s been strutting around with a vengeance, so I thought I’d expose the big puke for the world to see.  So take that, flesh.

I first noticed it in particular when I started reading Watchman Nee’s classic, The Spiritual Man.  While I read some really good stuff, I find my mind racing with a torrent of thoughts.  Crazy thoughts.  Rebellious thoughts.  Ugly, fleshly thoughts.

I find it raging sometimes in church when I’m supposed to be the spiritual leader pointing toward Christ and instead I feel this compelling urge to point to me.

I notice it, strangely enough, when I’m with the people I love the most and I’m feeling a flood of emotions that are anything but loving. [click to continue…]

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The Resurrection Army

by Andy Wood on January 26, 2009

in Enlarging Your Capacity,Life Currency,Love,LV Cycle,Tense Truths

Tense Truth: If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a citizen of a kingdom that is always one generation from extinction, and you are that generation. On the other hand, you are part of a kingdom that will never die. Armed with the most relevant, life-giving message ever known to mankind, we reach out with urgency to a dying generation, yet with confidence in a living God.

angel-prayerBorn on the first Easter and commissioned forty days later, the history and destiny of the world has been forever changed and shaped by an army sent forth by the Lord Jesus Himself. You are now part of that army.

Conceived in the eternal heart of God, nurtured in the womb of a rich man’s grave, this army entered the world with very little fanfare. There were no parades. No marches. No legions of soldiers with their pomp and circumstance.

Rome hardly noticed; most of Jerusalem heaved a sigh of relief. The Rabble-rouser was dead, His disciples terrorized, His followers shocked numb. The Armies of Death had won again, and life(!) would go on as usual.

Then came Sunday. Oh, then came Sunday!

Then rolled the stone.

Then fell the guardians of the grave.

Then rose the Lamb, the Lion, the Prince of Peace!

Out came the cry, at first as hoarse as a whisper: “He’s alive! And He’s calling for you.”

From everywhere they came: Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, male and female, the religious and the rebels. They saw for themselves the difference a risen Savior would make. And true to the prophecies of Daniel, out of the kingdom of Rome there rose a kingdom that would never, never die – one that would subdue all other kingdoms and fill the world. And true to God’s promise, that kingdom and its Resurrection Army – your Resurrection Army – is still alive and well today.

What gives this Resurrection Army its power to overcome? [click to continue…]

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Hark! The Angels Didn’t Sing

by Andy Wood on December 17, 2008

in Five LV Laws,Principle of Abundance

Sorry to be the latest to assault your traditional Nativity scene.  But this isn’t just an exercise in historical trivia.  Something happened near Bethlehem that, in my 50 years, has gone unnoticed or ignored.

Have you ever had times when, for a split second, it seems that God has “parted the curtain” between the seen and unseen world, and given you a glimpse of the Larger Story?  You can find one of those in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus.

Setting the Scene

Joseph and Mary, both descendants of King David, had returned to their ancestral home town for census and taxing purposes.  This shuffling of the population of Israel was a massive undertaking, and caused some serious housing shortages for months.  But somebody in Bethlehem (possibly a distant cousin, who knows?) offered them shelter in the place where they kept their animals.  This was probably a cave.  We don’t know how long they were there before Jesus was born, but it was probably a little time.  It doesn’t seem as though ol’ Joe was banging on doors at midnight, hollering, “My wife’s in labor!”

On the day (yes, day) Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph were still in the cave.  The animals’ feeding trough became the infant’s first bed.

Then the sun went down, and the drama began. [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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The LifeVesting Principle of Abundance

by Andy Wood on July 3, 2008

in Five LV Laws,LV Cycle,Principle of Abundance,Waiting

GrapesGod has established an ordered world based on eternal principles found in His word.  I’m not talking about so-called “principles” that preachers invent to make people feel good, then try to attach a random Bible verse to in order to sound legit to the church crowd.  I mean truths, grounded in His character, that apply to many different situations.  That’s the difference between a rule and a principle.  “Don’t commit murder” is a rule.  “Value life” is a principle.

That said, to the degree that we align our lives with God’s principles, we experience the fullness of God’s purpose in creating us in the first place.  And the root from which every other principle springs is that everything begins with, and culminates in, the glory of God.  You and I were created for his glory – to express His image, extend His life, and execute His will.  And in order to fulfill that purpose, we were given the awesome gift of one lifetime.

That’s it.  No Plan B.  No second chances as a toad or platypus.  You get one shot, with no guarantees of how long exactly that will be. But with that one lifetime, you receive the opportunity to produce consequences affecting your future, in both time and eternity.

LifeVesting is about understanding the possibilities and taking action in the direction of the compelling future and eternal reward that can be yours.  It revolves around five biblical principles.  You can find them expressed in a variety of images – agriculture, business, family relationships, even fishing.  But the principles are consistent, regardless of the metaphor.  Today I’d like to briefly explain the first one.

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The Watermelon Thieves

by Andy Wood on July 2, 2008

in Five LV Laws,Principle of Abundance,Turning Points

(A Turning Point Story)

Watermelon 2“Boys, if you want a watermelon, all you have to do is come knock on my door and ask.  I’ll give you all the watermelons you want.  But please, don’t steal my watermelons.”

You know where this is going, right?

I couldn’t help but laugh. A lot.  I was on the bus with a group of men from our church coming back from a meeting, and we were discussing one of my favorite subjects: watermelon.

I suppose as long as there have been watermelon farmers, there have been watermelon thieves, and Lloyd was describing how he and his friends had done it in their younger years in Indiana. They smiled and said “yes sir” to the farmer’s request.

Later that night, they went to work.

Lloyd and his friends weren’t content just to sneak into the patch and dash away with a big, fat prize. They added insult to injury! Under the cover of darkness, they would take long, sharp knives and carefully cut a plug out of the end of the melon attached to the vine. Then they would eat the heart – the sweetest part – out of the melon and replace the plug.

The next day they’d return to the scene of the crime, climb a tree near the patch, and watch as the farmer came to check his melons. He would carefully thump the watermelon and listen for just the right sound that told him the fruit was ready. The climax came when the farmer picked up a hollow melon and discovered the plug. He would throw his cap on the ground, shake his fist in the air, and vow to kill whoever did it. Not only had he been robbed, he had been deceived as well.

Oh, we laughed.

The image of sitting in a tree trying to hold in the hilarity while someone below is losing it was very amusing. But what was funny to me one day soon became very sobering. God has a way of doing that.

[click to continue…]

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