by Andy Wood on February 21, 2010
I hated Ann Finch.
Three times she sent me to the principal’s office, and two of those times I emerged with a butt-on-fire.
One time she made me stay after school in an Ann-imposed detention. I lied to my mother and told her I needed to stay late because of band. When she picked me up, who should be walking out of the building but Miss Finch? She tattled on me, and then it was double trouble.
Once I ended the grading period with an 89.4 average. She gave me a “B” for the quarter. One lousy stinking tenth of a point! Too bad. She wouldn’t budge.
I liked Ann Finch.
Probably for the wrong reasons, but I liked her nonetheless. She was so easy to pick on. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on October 28, 2009
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks for the pleasures God has designed for me to enjoy,
But no longer will I allow my life to be driven by the pursuit of pleasure.
I will no longer sacrifice joy on the altar of happiness.
I will never again measure my success by my ability to escape pain.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks for the material blessings God entrusts to me,
But no longer will I associate money with happiness.
Never again will I believe the lie that gain is godliness,
Or that my worth is measured by what I own.
From this day forward, I will use things and love people,
Not the other way around.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks to God for the ways
I can be a blessing to others.
I will accept with humility
The words of gratitude and honor I receive from others.
But I will never again live to please other men.
Today I choose to get off the pedestal,
Knowing that I don=t have to live in the gutter to do so.
I will find my honor in being no more than a man,
But no less than a child of God.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
And instead, I reach for the stars.
I will spend my life in pursuit of my God-given destiny.
By His grace I will fulfill the purpose for which
I was created and redeemed by Christ.
By His love I will touch the lives of those He died for.
And by His power
I will span the breech between time and eternity.
From this day forward,
I will seek dreams as big as the heart of my God
And visions as great as the need of this world.
And though through human failure
I may never see all those dreams come true,
When I stand to face my Lord and my God,
I pray He will see a heart determined to do exploits for His glory.
by Andy Wood on April 8, 2009
“Something’s wrong with your work.” The conversation eventually landed there.
A member of the denomination’s hierarchy delivered the critical review to a faithful old pastor during a prescribed periodic evaluation.
“Only one convert has been added to your church this year, and he is only a boy,” the boss said.
Later that same day, the pastor languished alone in his study, praying with a heavy heart, when someone walked up behind him. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on October 15, 2008
So you want to design a life, not just make a living? You want to experience the sensation of victory, or spiritual power? You want to build something, not just take up space on the planet? You want to say you’ve run your race, won your prize, fulfilled your calling or purpose?
If that doesn’t describe you, don’t waste your time reading any further. Go back to the Food Network or CNN or something.
But if that does describe you, and you believe you were put on this earth to do more than recycle gases and other organic stuff, read on.
In any meaningful endeavor, but particularly in one that involves the fulfillment of a spiritual vision, people (and leaders in particular) are faced with three inescapable questions.
1. Do your actions demonstrate a commitment to that which is most important?
2. Will you continue to move forward, even when surrounded by a hostile or apathetic majority?
3. Where will you look for the internal power to finish the job? [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on September 5, 2008
The LifeVesting Cycle
1. Allocate your resources.
2. Explore the possibilities.
3. Follow your passion
4. Execute your plan.
5. Protect your investment.
6. Enlarge your capacity
When I was still a kid, my dad built a flower box for my mom. We got some nice, rich soil from a place behind our house where we had a lot of mulch and trees. She planted some flowers in the box, and we were excited to see what would come out.
What came out was something that at first looked like a weed. But this was no weed. It was a tree. A popcorn tree, my dad said.
I was entranced. It was my first sense of fatherhood and stewardship, all rolled into one.
If you aren’t familiar with them, popcorn trees, or Chinese tallows, grow in moist climates. They grow rapidly, and can get pretty big. They make great shade and ornamental trees, and in the fall, their seeds split open to appear like popcorn.
I watched this little tree take off, and soon we transplanted it from the flower box to the front yard. We got more and more into trees, and soon found four more popcorn trees – then some redbuds and dogwoods. I had this sense of pride and ownership in all of them, but none more than the original – the queen of the yard – as she quickly grew taller than the eaves of our house.
Then one day the unthinkable happened. I came up the street to my house, and found the most horrific sight. Someone (my dad) had taken shears and whacked my tree off at about six feet. The queen of the yard now had a crew cut.
It was ugly.
Shameful.
Hideous.
“Pruning,” he called it.
“Disaster” was what I called it.
Of course, my dad knew a whole lot more about trees and all things agricultural than I ever will. (I once asked him, “How’d you get so smart?” He said, “I keep my ears open and my mouth shut.”)
Anyway, the queen began to reshape. To spread. To grow, not just taller, but shapelier, even more beautiful.
This life lesson became even more applicable to me as I grew spiritually. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on July 9, 2008
It’s not enough to be a team player. To get things done, to be a leader, you’ll have to be a team builder. Together has great power, and an isolated Christian has a fool for a companion.
A Stanford Business School study bears that out. Researchers examined the qualities that companies look for in promoting young managers toward senior executive positions. The study concluded that one of the most important qualities required for great success in leadership is the ability to put together a team and function as a good team player. Since all work is ultimately done by teams, and the managers’ output is the output of the team, the ability to select team members, set objectives, delegate responsibility and get the job done, was central to success in management.
That’s bad news for all the Lone Ranger types. But hey, even he had Tonto!
Together has power in four dimensions:
1. Synergy.
Synergy is the concept that one plus one equals three. You can do the work of one, and so can I. But together, we can do the work of many times more. That flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Maybe you can do it better by yourself in the immediate circumstances, but in the long run, it’s always more productive to go together.
You’re probably not going to hear this at church Sunday, so let me go ahead and tell you now: [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on March 26, 2008
Okay, first take a look at the following 60-second video. SPOILER ALERT BELOW! Then click on “Read the rest of this entry” if you’re on the home page and let’s talk about it.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.
[click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on January 29, 2008
This Sunday Tom Brady will lead the New England Patriots toward the pinnacle of NFL success – a fourth Super Bowl win, riding the wave of an unprecedented undefeated season. He is one of the most adored and admired players in football history. On top of that, he has been heralded as America’s Most Eligible Bachelor by “Entertianment Tonight” and a host of others who know this kind of thing.
And he’s anything but satisfied.
In a December 2007 interview on “60 Minutes”, Brady got honest and vulnerable. Take a look. If you are a Christian, your temptation will be to preach to Tom Brady. Before you give in to that urge, I suggest you let Tom Brady preach to you.
[click to continue…]
