Life Lessons
Top Ten Mistakes in Outreach
I’m listing a few days worth of thoughts on mistakes I’ve made in the area of outreach. I’ve made plenty! I’ve had to pare the list down to just ten for this blog. As you look it over maybe you will save yourself some energy by not repeating my misfires. #1 Mistake: Didn’t go fishing…
Read MoreLesson #16: Look for More
#16: Look for More There is something that is very real that commences once we breathe our last breath in this life. Been there, done that. Jesus’ people have been looking for and experiencing, more than the here and now, for thousands of years. Since the days of the Early Church, God’s people have been…
Read MoreLesson #15: There Are Reasons For Hope
#15: There Are Reasons For Hope In going through a death one’s hope tank is emptied. Afterward, there is a reason for hope again. God is faithful to touch us afresh. He sparks us with a new reality including the following truths: God is present still. God will go before me. I don’t walk forward…
Read MoreLesson #9: You Will Need To Monitor Your Regrets
#9: You Will Need To Monitor Your Regrets Death will usher in a flood of second thoughts, regrets, and negative inward ponderings. Such thoughts come easily to us in the aftermath of devastation. Could I have done something differently… Was it my fault that this happened… Did I say something wrong… If only thus and…
Read MoreLesson #7: God Will Intervene
#7: God Will Intervene I was in a coma state for an extended time after my death. When I came out of the coma I was still attached to a ventilator—something that was incredibly uncomfortable. There is something painfully artificial about breathing through a small tube jammed down your throat! I found it very difficult…
Read MoreLesson #5: Resolution Is Essential
#5: Resolution Is Essential When you experience death, you WILL have people to forgive. I wrote recently about some “Job friends” related to my death experience. Several asked if I resolved my issues with them. The answer is both yes and no. Yes, I have forgiven them. I have moved on in life, figuratively and…
Read MoreIt’s About Challenge
I’m taking a break from my book for today. I was talking with a pastor friend this week about the changing face of commitment. The new reality is most of the USA is this: those who consider themselves committed to a local church will only attend once every two to three weeks. (When they aren’t…
Read MoreLesson #3: In Humbling, There Is Restoration
Lesson #3: In Humbling, There Is Restoration Once you’ve gone through a death process you have experienced the most extreme version of humbling. No one understands this sort of loss unless they too have gone through death. No one but you and God knows the depth of the pain you’ve been through. Anyone who comes…
Read MoreLesson #2: When God Shows Up Everything Is Subject To Change
Lesson #2: When God Shows Up Everything Is Subject To Change When I died I was given numerous deadly prognoses. I won’t rehearse them. It is just too painful to bring these up to save one: I was told I would have very limited lifelong mobility. Several “experts” delivered the same message: the most I…
Read MoreGod Is Up To Changes All Over
Ever get to a fork in the road? Yogi Berra exhorts us to take it in times like that. We can hopefully all relate to the notion of coming to a fork in the road in the best sense of the possibilities that God is opening up for us. I know more people who are…
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