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Do Not Be Afraid

November 3, 2011 in Spirituality with 9 Comments

This post is going to be a bit more vulnerable than normal.

The last few weeks have been riddled with odd “coincidences” around me–both in my personal life and at church. I’m not one who sees demonic activity behind every inconvenience, but the collective thought that my wife and I have had lately is that we are definitely dealing with some spiritual warfare around us.

As Michelle and I were driving this week, we discussed how we should respond to what is going on right now. The feeling between both of us was one of anxiety and a little bit of fear. Then I suddenly remembered something that happened to me last month.

On October 15th, I wrote the following note in my journal:

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Do You Like Mystery?

November 2, 2011 in Life, Spirituality with 4 Comments

“The ideal mystery is one you would read if the end was missing.” Raymond Chandler

I recently read that quote and it got my mind thinking. Is it true? Can you have a good mystery with no reveal at the end? J.J. Abrams addressed this in his TED talk and in his iconic show Lost.

I don’t think that all people have the same appetite for mystery. Some people have an appetite for certainty, and will only entertain mystery on its way to providing us with a certain ending. As I reflect on this, I think I’m one of the people who would agree with Chandler’s idea above.

I recently read about a document known as the Voynich manuscript. It is described this way:

It is a handwritten book of 246 pages containing numerous illustrations and approximately 170,000 characters. What is special about it? The script employed is utterly unknown and therefore illegible. According to a radiocarbon analysis conducted in 2009 by the University of Arizona, the manuscript was created in the first half of the fifteenth century (probably between 1404 and 1438).

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When Life’s Not Working

May 23, 2011 in Reading, Spirituality with 7 Comments

I recently finished Bob Merritt’s book, When Life’s Not Working. It’s a rather ominous title (and one that makes for some funny questions when you carry the book around) but it’s an overall look at how we live and the priorities that we choose to live with.

Discipline and Time Management

Much of what I thought was valuable in this book was his focus on discipline and time management. Basically, if your life isn’t working the way you’d like then often times it is one of those two factors. Here are a few of the ideas along this theme:

“A discipline can be learned, but it must be practiced, and it becomes an actual life discipline only when it becomes your natural, automatic response to any and all situations.”

“There’s nothing easy about living an undisciplined life.”

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Spiritual Leadership

May 17, 2011 in Leadership, Reading, Spirituality with 2 Comments

I finished J. Oswald Sanders book, Spiritual Leadership, a few weeks ago and I’m just now getting to my review of it. Originally written in the 60′s, you can definitely feel the dated nature of his theology and writing style. As a result, much of what was said struck me as either cliche or spiritually archaic. The flip side of this was that there were a few nuggets of “timeless” wisdom in it that were very beneficial.

We read this book as a leadership team in the department I’m in at church as a way to increase the spiritual dimension of our leadership. Ironically, we all concluded that the book really doesn’t focus on the spiritual side (at the exclusion of more practical application) but gives an overall summary of leadership as a Christian.

There were three primary themes that I particularly enjoyed in the book. Oswald’s focus on ambition, leadership, and reading.

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The Humility of the Axe

April 18, 2011 in Spirituality with 7 Comments

“The axe cannot boast of the trees it has cut down. It could do nothing but for the woodsman. He made it, he sharpened it, and he used it. The moment he throws it aside; it becomes only old iron. O that I may never lose sight of this.” Samuel Brengle

There are a few areas in my life that I am keenly aware that Satan could use to take me down. Pride is one of those. How quickly I am able to convince myself of my own greatness only to be gently reminded by the Spirit of God how absurd those thoughts are.

I love Samuel Brengle’s analogy of the axe and the woodsman. Like Jesus taught using an image of vines and branches, we are powerful when His Spirit is using our life. Whenever we lose focus of this we lose true power. Ironically, we also gain pride.

I pray I may never forget that I am but an axe in the woodsman’s hands.

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