Are you reading the menu or enjoying the meal?
By Sam Williamson. A few years ago, a client of mine visited us for a series of meetings. He asked for a restaurant recommendation, and I suggested The Gandy Dancer, my favorite restaurant. The very next day he came to my office and raved about the restaurant. He was going to recommend it to every one of his colleagues. Smiling, I asked what he’d ordered. “Nothing,” he said, because he’d...
Read MoreWhen?
When? Right click “When?” to download; Left click “When?” to listen now How do we know when it’s time to start moving into our call? I recently did a Campfire Conversation for the Base Camp community with two of my friends and colleagues on the question of “when”. When is my calling clear enough? When I am prepared to move into...
Read MoreWhat’s Important in this Moment?
I’ve been asking God these days to help me to distinguish between great and small events – for my morning as well as for my life. With all that is going around me and all that is going on within me, this feels like an important question. It was Winston Churchill who said, “When a man cannot distinguish a great from a small event, he is of no use.” Is catching up on my...
Read MoreOn the Edge of Scared or Bored?
“Radical dreams make us radically dependent. When we are engaged in what God has called us to do, every part of our spiritual life comes alive. There’s a reason to grow, we have a compelling reason to pray, to stay in close contact with our Leader and Guide when we walk unfamiliar, threatening paths. There’s a strong drive for fellowship, allies, and friends, close at hand because what God...
Read MoreDivinely Assisted
“Ok, the idea that I possess a glory, splendor, strength, brilliance that is extraordinary seems a little farfetched. It’s not my personal experience. I think my effect is pretty small. I can only do the best with what I’ve got and that ain’t much.” I’ve heard this thought many times – within myself and from others. The truth is that if it was YOU ALONE that might be true,...
Read MoreQualification not Elimination
Written by Sam Williamson. When we think about the tests of God, most of us shudder. Yet I believe that they can be a key to Hope and Joy. Let me explain. I began flying lessons in 1997. These lessons taught me to take off and land, to navigate using aviation charts, and to communicate with air traffic control. I particularly liked learning to land. On my second flight, my...
Read MoreLeaning & the Power of Our Life
A week or so ago, while in a worship time giving my life to God as I was lead by the songs, God spoke something I was not expecting. It was in the context of what I was giving to God – my thoughts, words and presence, my calling. He said, “Gary, you can’t wing it.” I knew exactly what He was referring to. I had been living at a pretty fast pace, from phone call to meeting to...
Read MoreHearing God and Controlling the Conversation
In 1989 the company I worked for was dying; it was losing money like the prodigal son, it had a two-year sales drought, and our owner—though previously successful—was out of cash. The company asked me to demonstrate our software to one of our prospective clients. Actually, our only prospective client. If we didn’t land this deal, we were out of business and I was out of a job. The night...
Read MoreWhat’s your Why?
“For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world.” Jesus “I’m bored with my life” and “I’m afraid to make a change.” I hear these two thoughts almost daily in conversations with others and I’ve uttered them more than a few times myself. Apathy and anxiety. Seemingly opposites and yet we can somehow live with both. ...
Read MoreReplenishing & Reorienting for 2012
I don’t know about you, but Christmas is always a little hard on my soul. I love having family around, watching Christmas movies, great meals, getting presents for my wife and kids that I KNOW they will love. But spiritually and emotionally, at a deep level, I am usually very depleted. It could be the busyness of the “season”, simply the end of a full-on year of life, battle...
Read MoreClarity in Motion
It’s amazing how we can think too little or too much. We can think about a desire or idea to the point of it’s suffocation or we can move on it without letting it fully form – to it’s demise. God has given us these two pieces of counsel: “Desire without knowledge is not good – how much more will hasty feet miss the way!” Proverbs 19:2 NIV “Do what...
Read MoreYou Are Not Alone
“In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.” – Robert Green Ingersoll You’re not the only one who gets discouraged. I do. You’re not the only one who works too hard and too long knowing the striving may not be coming from a noble place. I do. You’re not the only one who stares at a list of things that have to get done or...
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