Happy Monday!

I’m in a hurry to write about today’s word-of-the-week…

Wait

I’m writing this on the morning of the Super Bowl. In America it’s perhaps the largest social event of the year—sorta sad, but that’s for another day.

The Super Bowl is apparently a football game that involves maybe an hour of football, two hours of commercials, half an hour of halftime “entertainment,” and another hour or so of analysis, replays, and other semi-sports-related stuff. There’s a FIVE HOUR official pre-game show, in addition to the two-week babble leading to the big day.

If you want to watch the actual football game, you’re going to have to wait. A lot.

I don’t like waiting. I want something to happen. I’m the guy who’s tempted to drive ten miles out of the way to avoid a five minute traffic delay. My default setting seems to be, “Do something, even if it’s wrong.”

Then I read:

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27:14)

Frankly, my honest, prayerful, super-spiritual reaction is: I DON’T WANNA!

“Waiting” for God is associated with  qualities like trust, expectation, hope, perseverance, listening…well, okay, if you put it that way…

Silliness aside, waiting is difficult. The only thing that’s harder than waiting is living with the consequences of the dumb choices I make when I try to control what I can’t control.

The Super Bowl teaches another lesson about waiting. It’s not a good idea to fill that waiting time with junk food. If the waiting has a point, as God’s actions usually do, maybe I should wait with something more substantial than the chips and dips of life.

I hope your team won. Have a great week.

Please leave a comment.

Happy Monday!

This weekend reminded me of an uncomfortable word-of-the-week…

DIVIDE

One of the cool things about speaking to different groups is worshipping in a variety of churches. I find it refreshing to remember that Jesus is worshipped in many different ways. Ministers wear robes, pastors wear blue jeans. Electric guitars, pipe organs, pianos, old hymns, modern praise anthems—they all give glory to the same God.

It’s cool, these differences, but it’s also sad. It’s sad because the differences are so frequently the focus. They’re trumpeted, highlighted like some badge of honor. It happens in my church as well.

And that’s sad, because it’s all about what divides. And that shouldn’t be what it’s about at all.

I suspect that if we made a list of what nearly all followers of Jesus have in common, that list would be very long. So why do we search for an item or two on which we disagree, draw a line in concrete, and use that line to divide and identify us?

I think Jesus cares about right and wrong theology.

I think He’s sad when His followers divide themselves.

Have a great week.

Please leave a comment.

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Happy Monday!

I listened to a discussion this weekend that prompted thoughts about today’s word-of-the-week…

GOOD

Most Sundays I prepare for church while listening to a local radio program called You Get The Blessing. I like it because the hosts take Jesus seriously and themselves not so much.

One of the hosts, Bo Mitchell, spent eight months in federal prison. This weekend he talked about how God has used that mistake for good. He expressed regret that he hasn’t been able to let go of his own negative attitudes about the experience.

Bo seems to believe that he should somehow perceive his prison time as a “good” thing. People have said similar things to me about my injury, but that’s just not how I see it.

Romans 8:28 assures us that God causes ALL things to work together for good. I’m not sure that means every circumstance IS good.

I don’t see paralysis and life in a wheelchair as a good thing, though God has certainly done many good works from those difficult situations. I don’t think I need to pretend that I like the injury, or believe God caused it, to see that God can bring good through it.

God causes even the worst, most evil, circumstances, to work together for good.

In that we find hope.

Have a great week.

Happy Monday!

I wish I could get a better handle on today’s word-of-the-week…

DISCONNECT

I learned today that a friend recently suffered a serious injury that threatens his professional future. His response was gratitude, not for the injury but for doctors and for his friends and family. It’s a great example of action and attitude aligned with principles.

I admire that sort of faith. I know I wouldn’t have reacted with that sort of grace, though I know it’s exactly right.

Sometimes I wonder if I really believe what I claim to believe. I wonder that when there’s such a huge disconnect between belief and behavior. Seems like this faith ought to impact my actions more than it does.

Sometimes I seem to make no progress at all toward integrating personal conduct and faith. I’m thankful for grace, but I sure wish I could do a bit better.

Not the most uplifting way to begin the week, but sometimes that’s just the way it is.

Have a great week.

Happy Monday!

If you’re committed to doing something differently in 2012 you might be thinking about today’s word-of-the-week…

CHANGE

In Isaiah 43:18 God says, “I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up! Do you not perceive it?”

I believe He’s doing a new thing. My problem is the “perceiving” part. Last week I posted a story over at Rich’s Ride called The First Ride. Here’s  my take on the lesson from that simple event.

Life mostly doesn’t consist of dramatic changes and momentous decisions. Your present situation is the amalgamation of thousands of small choices that accumulate over months and years. We want to believe we can change course in an instant, but altering your long-term path is more like steering an aircraft carrier. Rather than instantaneous ninety-degree turns, life is more about one-degree corrections.

We don’t like slow, small change. We want to see results right now, and one-degree turns take a long time to show up. On a ten-foot journey a one-degree course change only alters your final position by about two inches. But if you maintain that one-degree alteration for one thousand miles your location changes by more than seventeen miles.

Each of us is one small choice, a single one-degree course correction, from a radically altered life. The changes don’t usually show up immediately. Life is long-term because God is long-term. Certainly there are times when God steps in and causes a one-eighty. But more often He works through everyday situations and circumstances.

I moved a bike I couldn’t move. That’s a miracle that changed my course, but nobody watching on that day would have recognized it. It’s the kind of miracle that’s only apparent downstream after hundreds and thousands of miles when you understand that you’re a long distance from where the original course would have led. It’s a one-degree miracle, and it alters everything that follows.

Perhaps it’s not water to wine, but it’s no less a miracle.

Mostly I think God works in our lives through one-degree miracles. We need to open our eyes and look carefully if we want to perceive them.

Have a great week.

Happy New Year.

Over the weekend I encountered (in Scripture) today’s word-of-the-week…

BUSYBODY

It’s a word I’ve never noticed in the Bible, but there it is:

We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 2 Thessalonians 3:11

According to one dictionary, a busybody is “a person who meddles or pries into the affairs of others.”

I hope I’m not that guy.

Yesterday our pastor talked about priorities, putting first things first, and investing in efforts that really matter. As he spoke I thought about the energy I too often waste in places that just don’t matter. I wondered what I do that actually gets in the way of someone knowing Jesus.

Jesus clearly stated priority #1 for His followers (Matthew 6:33): “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”

It’s a good reminder as we begin a new year. Let’s be busy doing the right stuff. Let’s not be busybodies.

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Last week I told you I’ve started working on a manuscript that’ll tell the story of Rich’s Ride. As I make progress I’m going to post excerpts at the Rich’s Ride site. I invite you to check out the first story, titled Exordio Somnii—The Beginning Of The Dream.

I’m anxious to hear your comments.

Have a great first week of 2012.

Happy Monday!

I hope you enjoyed a peaceful Christmas weekend. Today we begin a week traditionally dedicated to  our word-of-the-week…

REFLECT

During Rich’s Ride I used this photo in a post titled The Right Rear View. The gist was that the rear view mirror should be small. Most of what’s important is ahead.

You shouldn’t stare at the mirror, but a wise rider doesn’t ignore it, either. There’s a time to look back. The point is to use what’s in the mirror to improve the ride.

This week is my time to reflect.

I base my reflection process on one of my absolute favorite metaphors: Lessons From The Jar. I just re-read this important message—I invite you to take a look.

This year I’m also meditating on the passage that inspired me during Rich’s Ride:

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

I’ll re-examine my core values:

• Agape (The Choice Of Agape)
• Grace and Truth (Grace And Truth)
• Courage (The Priority Of Courage)

I’ll look back at my three key words for 2011 and the goals they represent:

• Readers
• Workshop
• Ride

Then I’ll look forward, because that’s the reason for reflecting.

God’s doing a new thing–I want to perceive it.

Have a great final week of 2011.

* * * * *

An Empty Kindle …

… is a terrible thing.

If you or someone you know found a Kindle under the tree, how about adding Relentless Grace to your reading list–at a special reduced price?

Happy Monday.

During church yesterday I encountered today’s word-of-the-week…

COST

We talk about the price Jesus paid at the cross. As I listened to beautiful Christmas music I wondered about the incredible cost of Christmas.

I thought about infinite God choosing to confine Himself in a human body. He volunteered for nine months in a womb, the helplessness of a human baby, and the limitations of a man’s mind.

I don’t claim to understand how that worked or what the experience must have been like. I can only imagine that the sacrifice of self-limitation was enormous.

Jesus was God’s gift to you and me. Today, and for the rest of this week, let’s reflect together on the unfathomable cost God paid for that gift.

Have a great week.

Please leave a comment here.

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Relentless Grace

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Happy Monday.

Christmas arrives in two weeks, and I’m having trouble finding today’s word-of-the-week…

SPIRIT

You know, that wonderful glowing Christmas Spirit—lights and shopping and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. This year for some reason it’s
just not happening.

I thought about it a bit over the weekend and wondered if perhaps it’s not such a terrible predicament. Maybe missing that warm, gushy feeling isn’t a bad thing.

I’m trying—and struggling—to learn that a quality life isn’t about reacting to feelings. Anyone can do what’s right when it feels good, but the real test happens when those fuzzy feelings aren’t present.

And let’s be honest—that cultural “Christmas spirit” often masks the true meaning and purpose of the season. It’s awfully easy to get caught up in parties and food and tinsel. It’s easy to allow the wrapping paper to hide more than gifts under the tree.

Christmas is about Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us. And Jesus isn’t a feeling.

Jesus is a person. He chose a stinky stable, not because it felt nice and cozy like the shiny nativity scene on the mantle, but because it was the only way. But how often do I respond to Him based on my silly temporary emotions?

Maybe my missing “Christmas spirit” is a reminder to celebrate when I don’t feel like it, to be grateful because I am grateful rather than responding to a marketing strategy.

Maybe I’ll find the real Christmas spirit by not feeling the Christmas spirit.

Have a great week.

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Don’t Forget…

to take advantage of our 2-for-1 deal.

Click this button and give the gift of Relentless Grace this Christmas.

And thanks for helping spread the word.

Everybody’s got a story, and we heard many amazing personal experiences on Rich’s Ride.

One of the inspiring people we met was a pastor in a wheelchair. He fell from a ladder while painting a house. His injury left him totally paralyzed below his neck with absolutely no use of arms or hands. But his physical limitations didn’t paralyze his heart or his spirit, and he’s served as senior pastor of his church for several years.

It’s an awesome testament to God’s faithfulness, but one particular aspect of our meeting impacted me. We met at a pastors’ retreat, but this inspirational man couldn’t have addressed the conference. Why?

The relatively modern church building hosting the conference provided no wheelchair access to the platform. Four steps provided an impossible obstacle for his heavy mechanical chair.

Am I the only one who perceives a problem?

Every church has a mission that includes calling people to faith in Jesus, helping them discover their unique gifts, and supporting them in the use of those gifts.

I don’t make accessibility my personal mission. (As I explained on Monday (Anniversary) I’m writing about my injury more than usual this week. This is the last in a series that includes What Would You Change?, Who Belongs?, and An Able Bodied World?)

But when someone solicits my perspective, I ask if they believe God can use folks with physical limitations as teachers, preachers, leaders, or musicians.

A church building is a “facility.” Its purpose is to “facilitate” the central mission. What message is conveyed by an inaccessible platform? I’d argue—if anyone asked—that those steps block the church’s ability to fulfill its central purpose.

Whenever this discussion arises, the response involves funding. “We can’t afford it.”

I get that. Resources are limited. But if an issue prevents progress toward your primary mission, how can you afford NOT to address it?

Please leave a comment here.

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Relentless Grace

I hope you’ll take advantage of our 2-for-1 deal.

Click this button and give the gift of Relentless Grace this Christmas.

And thanks for helping spread the word.

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