Simple fixes are usually trash.
My cynical side regularly roars in and devours such suggestions before they can even escape the womb from which they were born and find their feet in the soil of reality. [Apologies for the graphic “Discovery Channel” imagery.]
But this one (from Sybil Chavis at LifeHack)? I’ll let this cute little fuzzy idea get a breath.
In fact, I’ll even pause in the midst of my day and catch one myself.
And you should too.
Welcome to some weekend “Wandering & Wondering”.
In an effort to add some information and inspiration to your Saturday, today’s Six-Pack follows the usual guidelines. Most articles are faith-focused or ministry-geared, with the “disorderly pile of who-knows-what” tagline at the top of this page catching everything outside of that!
Today’s collection:
1) Twelve Months, Twelve Religions
Out of Ur provides this springboard into more extensive blog reading OR the buying of a book. If you only have one click to spend on this story, some of the comments after the short article are worth the time.
2) What the Holy Spirit Can Do for Your Preaching
Jim Cymbala sees radical need for churches to be powerful witnesses for Christ in our world. What does your preaching really need to fuel and feed toward this end? It needs the Spirit of God.
3) Prayer is Hard Work
Though prayer is instinctive, it is also difficult labor. David M’Intyre makes and explains this point in his book The Hidden Life of Prayer. Tim Challies provides this excerpt.
4) By What Standard?
A few years ago, a documentary called Collision was made where Douglas Wilson debated Christopher Hitchens on Is Christianity Good for the World? Hundreds of hours of footage was shot and edited down to 90 minutes of solid debate and conversation. Discussion and highlights of this work can be found here.
5) Eulogies and Dyslogies for Charles Colson
Colson passed away last month. I found no better post dedicated to his life and passing than this one from InternetMonk. If, for whatever reason, you don’t know much about Charles Colson, this post will still contain plenty for you.
6) 14 Action-Inducing Lessons from Benjamin Franklin
Dumb Little Man has provided a “get moving” post here that features some great quotes. Provocative enough to nudge the most planted butt off the couch. Read it, and get rolling!
That’s a wrap. Treasure the day, friends–renew yourself and reverence God.
We all hit the wall.
Original thoughts dry up.
Fresh perspectives fizzle.
Creativity dies.
But there WAS a time in life when that never seemed to happen. In our efforts to recreate creativity, what can we learn from revisiting childhood rhythms and rituals?
The folks at Lifehack say, “More than you might think!”
Final weekend of April, and another Saturday Six-Pack.
If you’re “Wandering & Wondering” for the first time, every Saturday’s post features a half-dozen online offerings that have been impacting to me recently. Typically, these articles are faith-focused or ministry-geared, but the “disorderly pile of who-knows-what” tagline at the top of this page catches everything outside of that!
Today:
1) Prisons and Other Places the Kingdom Takes Root
Philip Yancey reflects on a few surprising places he has witnessed the work and wonder of God.
2) People God Uses
From the preface of “Accounts of Revival”, Ray Ortlund brings this list of qualities seen consistently in the men and women that God uses in revival movements. You could be one of these!
3) The Secret Sexual Revolution
Recent research has shown that the call for abstinence, once heralded loudly among Christian youth, is falling upon deaf ears… or upon ears attached to bodies that are unable or unwilling to execute “true love waits”. Relevant Magazine offers an insightful look behind this reality.
4) God Uses Broken Leaders… Like Me
Shane Sebastian was shocked to consider himself as a broken leader. Even more shocking, he was certainly not alone!
5) Making Time
Need more of God? Deeper connection? Nourishment down to your core? Ann Voskamp offers you a few words in that direction.
6) Why Moving the Needle a Little Makes a Huge Difference
Ever feel overwhelmed at life? So much to do, so much to be, so much to change. Where to begin? In two words, start small. Two more words: Then go. Spence Smith wants you to know the power of small movements.
Have a great weekend, friends–renew yourself and reverence God.
A word I heard:
“You worry about the depth of your life, and God will worry about the breadth.”
The point? Spend your efforts and energy on the substance of your life. Focus on your faith, your character, your core. God will do the work of creating your stage, providing your realms for influence, and increasing them as He sees fit. Our faithfulness in the first venture will receive God’s selected best in the second.
Thoughts like that impact my little life.
The also impact spotlight-dwellers like Tim Tebow.
Like or dislike Tebow, a few facts stand:
He never asked to be born athletic or handsome or charismatic or left-handed. He never got a vote to be placed into a missionary family or to be granted some skills that prove fruitful within America’s chosen obsession. But he DOES set himself on being a man of substance, one in whom kindness appears genuine, humility seems sincere, and purity is said to be authentic.
To be the people we need to be, we all need prayer enveloping us, power in play to counter and guard against every force eager to sabotage our efforts toward godliness and goodness.
But high-profile believers like Tebow often live with skin-covered enemies, hopeful to see his downfall, bent on helping it arrive. Don’t believe me? Check out what Noel Biderman is willing to throw a truckload of money toward. Obviously, rich folks get to do what they choose with their money, and no doubt, slick businessmen know that any publicity is good publicity. But neither of those are the point here.
The point is: Powerful and skeptical people disbelieve that life of real substance can even exist. With no experience of a reality where “the one in you is greater than the one in the world”, they go beyond cynical to outright attacking the impossible possibility that people like Tebow claim (and appear) to personify.
And that is why Tim Tebow needs prayers.
Today, when you seek God’s strength for yourself, for your church, for your loved ones…
Add a New York quarterback to your list, that God will continue to strengthen His servants, WHEREVER He places us, to live lives that reflect His glory.