Free to choose. How you’ll respond. What you’ll believe. The risks you’ll take. Who you’ll listen to. The legacy you’ll leave. Whether you’ll forgive. How generously you’ll give. Which allegiance you’ll serve. We’re all completely, totally free to make the important choices that impact our lives and the lives of those around us. But… Choice […]
Continue readingCheek
HAPPY MONDAY! a twisty discussion leads to today’s word-of-the-week… CHEEK “So I guess you’re gonna tell us we have to turn the other cheek.” The sarcasm puddled on the table. A guy who’s lived on lobster boats doesn’t easily buy the notion of non-violece. We were talking about fear, and I said “He hit me” […]
Continue readingDo You Think About The Benefits?
“How can I contribute?” That’s the question you hear in a community. Everyone knows the mission. They’ve caught the vision. It’s a tipping point, and once you get past it things get really interesting. And creative. And fun. You know what you hear less and less? “What’s in it for me?” “What’s the Return On […]
Continue readingThe Things I Can’t Do
I still get frustrated by the whole wheelchair thing. After so many years you’d think I’d be over it, but not so far. I know I talk a lot about “don’t let what you CAN’T do keep you from doing what you CAN do.” Those aren’t empty words, but believing something doesn’t always make it […]
Continue readingA Burden I’m Not Supposed To Carry
I like to think I don’t judge people. Problem is, I like to think a lot of things that aren’t true. Sadly, not-judging is one of them. I’m thinking about this because our small group is doing a study of the life of Abraham, and I find myself frequently being sure the guy was an […]
Continue readingWe Have To Move
From John Sowers: “When the story of earth is told, all that will be remembered is the truth we exchanged. The vulnerable moments. The terrifying risk of love and the care we took to cultivate it.” ~ Don Miller Love requires us to take that terrifying risk. To take that first dangerous step into the […]
Continue readingWhat If You Change Your Focus?
“The key to storytelling is to focus on the audience.” Garr Reynolds is something of a presentation guru, but when I read his words I thought, “Well, duh! Everyone knows THAT.” I wonder, though. Does everyone understand the essential, deeper truth beneath Garr’s storytelling advice? It’s a principle that applies to everything we do. Life […]
Continue readingFacts Or Truth?
“Facts are the enemy of truth!” So said Don Quixote de la Mancha. And you might wonder about the judgment of someone who seeks wisdom from a fictional dreamer who imagined himself to be a knight and thought windmills were enemies to be vanquished. Don Quixote may have been mad, but he saw in his […]
Continue readingMean
HAPPY MONDAY! A friend’s blog inspired today’s word-of-the-week… MEAN Why can’t the bible just mean what it means? Well, it does. But knowing what the bible means isn’t always quite as simple as it might sound. My friend Jon Swanson wrote about some words in the book of James. As Jon explains, words often require […]
Continue readingTwo Ways to Grow The Circle
How do we get folks to join the circle? We want to build our community, enlist folks in our cause. Makes sense, if we truly believe in what we’re doing. Seems like there are two ways to go. We can scare ’em. The others are coming after us, and you’d better grab your guns, send your […]
Continue readingRejecting The Wrong God
Most people today, in short, assume that the word God refers to a dull, distant, and perhaps dangerous being. Most of those who think like that try hard, not surprisingly, to believe that this being doesn’t exist. “I don’t believe in God,” said the novelist Kingsley Amis, “and I hate him.” They are right. That […]
Continue readingIt Doesn’t Have To Be For Everybody
I talked to a bunch of folks this weekend about the FREEDOM TOUR. It’s an interesting balance, wanting to inspire people and get them involved while understanding that everyone’s free to make their own choices. This great thing we’re doing doesn’t have to be for everybody. I love it when someone walks up to the […]
Continue reading