Replenishing & Reorienting for 2011
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 MoreConquest & Courage Amidst the Relentless Assault On Our Life
A friend last week explained to me how Judo works. The key in Judo, he said, is to use the enemy’s force—his strength, balance and momentum—against him. So when the opponent lunges in a kick or steps into a punch, you merely move aside and pull. And the momentum of the opponent—aided by the tiniest of pulls—throws him off balance. You redirect their strategy to bring their defeat. You...
Read MoreRecollecting Our Self
The last several days my heart has been out-of-sorts. I have found myself easily upset, driven to constant busyness and shrouded by doubt concerning life, God and myself. Trying to find relief from this soul-influenza, which seems to hit hardest between Thanksgiving and New Years, I got busy working on “the things I need to get done.” Instead of finding gradual relief; I became more...
Read MoreThe Inevitable & Necessary Tensions of Life
It’s amazing and frustrating how opposing realities can exist simultaneously – and this tension can often create a great deal of confusion. As I have observed and thought about this reality, I find that these tensions are both inevitable and necessary. Here’s my short list. Aggressive and Waiting We must not call an unwillingness to – move waiting on God. Nor should we...
Read MoreWhy I seek out Sages
This is a very insightful blog written my my friend, Jack Lynady (jacklynady.com). We live in a culture high on analysis, but low on interpretation. Analysis is like when you dissected a cat in high school anatomy class. Sure you may have learned more details about the gastrointestinal tract of a feline, but by the end of the class does what you have left even remotely resemble the essence of a...
Read MoreYou’re Not The Only One
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 else...
Read MoreGo With What You Know
Over the years I have met many gifted, aware, devoted people who felt lost, stuck or paralyzed in the pursuit of their calling. Then, of course, I have my own paralysis. Every story and conversation about this issue has caused me to ask “why”. We have all acted out of what we have believed (be it falsehood or truth) or what we have owned about ourselves at a deep heart level. So, I have...
Read MoreEking Out a Living in the Midst of a Breathtaking Setting
I have been re-reading the book, Discipling Nations: The Power to Transform Cultures, by Darrow Miller. I first ran across this book a little more than ten years ago and was captured by the simple yet comprehensive why Miller explained the differences and effects of worldviews. This is a great book to help in our becoming “rooted” as Jesus mentions in the parable of the seed and the...
Read MoreTrust That God Knows What He Is After
The world sets the agenda for the professional man; God sets the agenda of the spiritual man.” John Piper I want to share a remarkable story that involved a friend of mine, John Moorhead. I invited John to attend a Calling Intensive in Colorado this past month. Though he wanted to come, he was unable because he was taking a friend to a Wild at Heart retreat that same weekend. At the last...
Read MoreThis Is That For Which He Was Made
“There is a chamber in God Himself, into which none can enter but the one, the individual, the peculiar man, – out of which chamber that man has to bring revelation and strength for his brethren. This is that for which he was made – to reveal the secret things of the Father.” George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons What an amazing way to look at our life and calling – our being with God...
Read MoreWearing Out Our Soul by Attrition
I open my personal journal to you, my expeditions and explanations with God, this morning. I was reading an excerpt from C. S. Lewis’, The Screwtape Letters. In this selection, senior devil Screwtape is instructing junior devil Wormwood how to defeat followers of God. “The long, dull monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. ...
Read MoreWhat Then Is Genius?
God continues to speak to me about how we are to live like an artist. This morning I read this excerpt from The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer. These words ad depth and color to the quote I concluded with in my last eLetter: “Art is a collaboration between God and the artist…” – André Gide. The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer – The Speaking Voice, Chapter 6 When God spoke out of...
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