I want to talk to you about something that for some people is pretty painful and scary. Because of that, I want to say first that I am writing this in love. I hope you can feel the love that compels me to say these things, even if they are difficult to receive or comprehend.
If this isn’t for you, it’s for somebody you know. Maybe you can pass it along.
The truth is, I am afraid for you.
As you look in the mirror, as you go forth into the world, and as you relate to others, you only know two views.
“What would you do if you wuz the devil?” Aunt Ruth asked.
“I’d retire and sue the movie industry for back pay,” I said.
Aunt Ruth was neither my aunt, nor was she named “Ruth.” Through a series of circumstances I don’t have space to tell, that’s what I wound up calling her. Crusty, funny, frank, and yes – godly – Aunt Ruth had eyes that danced long after her feet no longer could. Today her eyes were dancing.
“I’m serious,” she said. “What would you do?”
“Oh, the usual, I guess. Lust, greed, bitterness. Why are you asking?” (We’d been talking about how blessed we were as a church, and how excited I was about the future.)
“Come on, boy, he’s got more sense than that! Too bad you don’t.” [click to continue…]
It all started with that 55-mph speed limit. In the mid-1970s, Americans traded in their muscle cars for Toyotas and slowed down.
But a certain segment of the population balked. These people were paid to transport goods to their destinations in a timely manner, and felt that the new speed limits were doing considerable harm to their livelihood. So they started working together to cover each other’s back.
This created a fad that spawned a counterculture, complete with its own lingo, music, and personal identities. Everybody, it seemed, rushed out to get a CB radio.
Once the stuff of rescue workers, hobbyists, and the like, citizens-band radios became standard equipment in many vehicles. Gone were the official call-letters used by the “legal eagles” who actually paid for a license to use the things (KFN 0508, if you even remotely care what ours was). Everybody used a “handle.”
A handle was a nickname you gave yourself so that people could “grab hold” of you by saying something along the lines of, “Break, one-nine. How ‘bout that Blue Goose? You got your ears on”? And you, assuming that was your handle, would reply something like, “Ten-four, good buddy.”
No, children, I’m not making this up.
CBs, for the most part, have gone the way of the 55-mph speed limit, though our trucker friends still use them. But you still have a handle – a unique identity by which you can be “grabbed.” [click to continue…]
Just before I started grad school, I got a sales job with a unique premise. “Come to work for my janitorial company,” Sergio said, “and I will pay you a commission for as long as we clean the building.”
Remember that thing your mama told you about something sounding too good to be true? Yeah, that.
Living in a city the size of Fort Worth, I could easily see the potential for making some really good money for a long time. After all, the city was filled with office buildings, and that was the focus of Fort Worth Enterprises – particularly the big ones.
You can imagine how my eyes danced with dollar signs when I helped land the company’s first big account – no less than Hulen Mall. [click to continue…]
Wisdom asks questions about consequences when all I want to do is enjoy myself. What’s wrong with a little fun, know what I mean? Wisdom uses words like “safe,” “abstinence” and “consequences.” Now THAT’ll get your blood pumping. Zzzzzzz. Look, all I want to do is have a little pleasure in my life. I know there’s more to life than feeling good. But I can control myself. [click to continue…]
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.
Unsophisticated, earthy, almost guttural – rags are blue-collar, made-for-dirt, hidden-from-company kind of stuff.
We all have them, but some people go to considerable lengths to deny it.
“It’s not a wash rag, dear. It’s a wash cloth.”
“Oh. Yew not from around heah, are ya’?”
That t-shirt or those shorts you’re wearing? Rags in the making.
I grew up with wash rags, shop rags, shoeshine rags, snot rags (my dad’s term), and dust rags. “Dust cloths” were the property of Yankees and people from other parts of town. [click to continue…]
God 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.
First a little Burger King spoofing fun, then a modest little reminder that religion killed Jesus…
Until Jesus returns, we will always have to face the difference between man-made religion and authentic relationship with Christ.
But isn’t religion a good thing? Nope. Religious people killed Jesus. And the “infidels.” And those they labeled heretics. And the Anabaptists. And suspected witches. And a few churches I know.
Religion is different than relationship. Religion is man’s search for God. Relationship is God’s search for man.
I want to talk to you about something that for some people is pretty painful and scary. Because of that, I want to say first that I am writing this in love. I hope you can feel the love that compels me to say these things, even if they are difficult to receive or comprehend.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
Rag. Now there’s an every-day word.