Have you ever noticed a prickly plant with a purple bloom called a thistle?  While I have been hiking I have oftentimes seen thistles along the way.  It is a plant which I have found to be common to both Colorado and west Georgia (where I live).  The Colorado thistles seem to be less prickly than our Georgia variety.

 

If you tread on thistles you will find that they are producers of pain.  But thistles are also beautiful to behold.  Thistles are a reminder of the cursed earth.  “’The ground is cursed because of you.  You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you’” (Genesis 3:17-18).  Did I read that correctly?  The ground will produce thorns and thistles for us.  Is there some good which can come from thistles?  Is there some benefit for us? 

 

Simone Weil was of the opinion that there are only two things that pierce our hearts: affliction and beauty.  She said, “Where affliction conquers us with brute force, beauty sneaks in and topples the empire of the self from within.”  Perhaps the thistle is a reminder of these two juxtaposed penatrators of our hearts. 

 

There is something eternal about these two extremes.  When we read of Hell, we are told of the affliction and torment.  Perhaps just a brief encounter with affliction and torment is necessary for us to want to choose Heaven, not only over Hell, but over the cursed earth as well. When we are told of Heaven, we are told of its unsurpassed, indescribable beauty.  It is a place of lasting beauty, where we want to linger …forever.  No hurry, no desire to move on to something better.

 

Why is it that the rose (another thorn producing plant) is a favorite flower of our wives, but the thistle would never be given as a gift to a woman?   But a thistle might be an appropriate gift from a female to a man.  Do you remember the scene from the movie Braveheart where Murron (his future wife) gives a very young William Wallace a flower of some sort at the conclusion of his father’s funeral?  That was a thistle.  Wallace saw great beauty in the midst of this most painful moment, not only in the face of a child, but also in the love and compassion of another human being.  There was incredible symbolism in the presentation of that prickly plant.  You see, the thistle is the national emblem of Scotland. 

Legend holds that Vikings from Norway were attempting to invade Scotland from the coastline near Largs.  The Vikings were mounting a surprise night attack, and took off their footwear for a silent approach.  But they found themselves in a field covered in thistles.  One of the Vikings yelled out in pain after stepping on a thistle, and the Scots were alerted to the impending attack.  After the Scots prevailed at this battle, they recognized the role of the thistle in their protection.

  How many times do you think the Clansmen had earlier cursed this pain-producing plant?

The thistle was chosen as the symbol of Scotland, along with the motto, “Nemo me impune lacessit,” “No one harms me without punishment.”  But the common translation is this phrase is “Wha daurs meddle wi me.”  Now say it with your best Scottish accent, and grin like you’re a big burly guy wearing a kilt, marching to the tune of bagpipes, and carrying a claymore into battle. 

 

Yes, beauty and affliction both penetrate our hearts like nothing else.  Both motivate us to pursue things, like a wife, or a noble cause.  Look at the word “heart.”  If you remove the “h” at the beginning, and the “t” at the end, you will find an “ear” at the heart of your heart.  And if you only remove the “t” at the end, what remains is “hear.”   St. Benedict said, “listen and attend with the ear of your heart.”  Beauty speaks to our heart.  Pain/affliction speaks to our heart.  We “hear” these things in our hearts and they affect our very souls.  What is your heart hearing?  What are you doing in response to what you are hearing?  Next time you encounter a thistle on a hike, take some time to think of both beauty and affliction - two eternal themes.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was locked out of my own vehicle.  Being locked out can be very frustrating.  I think many of us are frustrated in our lives today because we are locked out of things we think we should be able to enter.  But maybe there are very valid reasons as to why we are unable to enter into these places.  Let me give you a little background on these thoughts.

 

I lock the doors to my SUV every night.  Sometimes I leave electronic equipment inside, like my notebook computer.  There have been some thefts in our community, even in people’s own carports, over the last few years.  So, I lock my vehicle at night for security reasons.  Early one morning, before my caffeine had fully kicked in, I picked up some keys and went outside to unlock my Ford Escape.  I pressed the unlock button, but nothing happened.  Then, I noticed that I had accidentally picked up Terri’s car keys.  Her keys will not open my doors.  I went back inside and got my keys.  I try to leave my keys in the same place on the kitchen counter so I don’t have a frantic adventure tying to locate them when I’m trying to get to an appointment or court appearance on time.  I like some adventure in my life, but searching for my keys is one time-waster I try to avoid.  My keys were right where I had left them (they were near the place Terri’s keys had been laying).  I picked up my keys and proceeded back outside to open my doors.

 

Only my keys would open my doors.  From my simple mistake, God revealed a very important. but basic, spiritual truth and life lesson to me. Call it Keys 101.  Someone else’s keys will not open your doors.  This is why it is so important to know our identities in Christ.  Knowing who you are will help you know the areas where you have authority.

 

Keys have been a symbol of authority since antiquity.  If I give you the keys to my house I give you authority to enter.  If I give my son or daughter the keys to my SUV they have authority to enter in and drive it.  Without a key you are limited in what you can do. All authority is delegated from God – the ultimate Authority.  John the Baptist said, “’A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven’” (John 3:27).  If you don’t have the keys to something, it is not likely that you have authority to enter. 

 

 Jesus said to Peter, “’And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven’” (Matthew 16:19).  “The keys of the kingdom of heaven” are authority-based.  Do not miss this key principle: in a kingdom it is the king who rules.  He is the ultimate authority, and all authority within the king’s kingdom is derived from him and his authority.  So “the keys of the kingdom” refer to delegated authority.  But if you don’t have the right key, you cannot lock a door and you certainly can’t unlock that door.  I believe that each of us is given certain keys.  And the things to which we are entrusted with keys are the things that we can lock and unlock.  The popular “name and claim it” theology puts the ultimate authority in our hands.  Wrong!!!  “God is in charge, and we are not.  God is intent on seeing His kingdom succeed, not endorsing ours.”  Lost In The Middle, Midlife and The Grace of God, p.222 (Shepherd Press 2004).  Each of us must recognize the limits of our authority.

 

After His resurrection, Jesus stated, “’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth’” (Matthew 28:18).  God gave Jesus authority over all things.  God has given me authority over certain specific things, but not all things.  I have authority in my family.  I have authority in my law practice and mediation practice – you don’t.  I don’t have authority over your things and you don’t have authority over my things.  But God has authority over each of us and all our things.

 

A major cause of conflict is where someone tries to exercise authority where they have not been given authority.  But where God has given us authority we have great power. “Where the word of the king is, there is power; and who may say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful” (Ecclesiastes 8:4-5).

 

By what authority are you doing what you are doing?  Has the King given you His keys to open the door before you?  If the door before you is not opening, perhaps you do not have the right key yet, or maybe you are trying to open the wrong door.  Entering in is easy when you have the right key.

 

The most popular devotional book of all time, Oswald Chambers’, My Utmost for His Highest (Discovery House 1992), begins with a reading which explains the title.  “’My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest – my best for His glory.’” The cover of my first copy (given to me in 1994) is well worn and ragged, from years of daily use.  Aside from the Bible, this book has had the most profound impact on my Christian walk.  While I was hiking up Stone Mountain recently, I was reminded of a similar concept.  The highest and best use of Stone Mountain is not as a cotton field.  Let me explain.  When I was very young, I remember hearing a story about some of my ancestors owning Stone Mountain.  But it seems that they determined that since you couldn’t grow cotton on this big rock, it wasn’t much use to them.  So, they traded it for a shotgun – something much more useful.  I guess they just didn’t have a long-range vision for the tourist trade.

The lens thru which a farmer would view the world is growing things.  Not much grows out of granite, except the Confederate Yellow Daisies found in the shallow soil of the outcrops.  At least a shotgun fits into the hunter/gatherer worldview.  Highest and best use is a concept of real estate appraisal.  It holds that the value of property is directly related to the use of the property.  The highest and best use is the reasonably probable use that produces the highest property value.  The highest and best use may or may not be the current use of the property.  Growing cotton was not the highest and best use for Stone Mountain.  It was much better suited for a rock quarry (which was done at varying levels from the Civil War until the early 1970’s), recreation, and tourism.

 

When we apply the highest and best use principle to people it is called potential.  The root of “potential” is “potent,” which means be able or powerful.

The above Civil War print is called “The Return of Stuart.”  It depicts General J.E.B. Stuart as he returns to camp near Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.  Why does General Lee have that “Where have you been” look on his face?  Many historians believe that the absence of Lee’s cavalry, led by Stuart, during the first two days of battle at Gettysburg may have been pivotal in the South’s defeat at that battle.  Lee depended heavily on his cavalry, which he called the eyes of his army.  During most of the first two days of Gettysburg, Stuart had taken his horseman on raids, far away from the action at Gettysburg.  Lee was handicapped because he was unable to monitor the Union troop deployment, as he normally would have with the help of his cavalry.  Stuart was doing a good thing raiding the North’s supply lines, but it was not the highest and best use of the cavalry.  Their potential was not fully realized by running raids on the North’s supply lines.  This is not what Stuart had been called to do. It has been said that the greatest enemy of the best is the good.      

 

Recently, my family and I went through the Entry Point program at Midway Church.  The first half of the session was spent discussing the history and current direction of the church.  The second half of the session was spent evaluating each person’s SHAPE.  This is an acronym: Spiritual gifts; Heart; Abilities; Personality; and Experiences. After going through this analysis, meetings with mentors result in the placement of new members in ministry opportunities for which they are best suited.  I was very encouraged by this approach.  I think all too often people are placed into ministries at churches for which they are not best suited.  They may be doing good things, but not the best things.  Our potential is not realized when our time and  talents are not applied to their highest and best use. 

 

 Erwin McManus writes, “A part of living at your highest level is developing the competency of focus – locking into your big yes, your mission for life.  Focus gives you the capacity to say no to all the other great and wonderful opportunities that come and to say no to those devastating choices that will jeopardize your future.” Wide Awake, p.130 (Thomas Nelson 2008).  “Every ones of us has a unique and important role in human history.  All of us have been created by God to bring Him honor through serving humanity and doing something that makes a difference in the world.  There is a hero within you waiting to be awakened…While you can’t do everything, you were created to do something of incredible importance.” Id. at 141. 

 

 We are most valuable in God’s kingdom when we are serving in our highest and best use.  What is your highest and best use in ministry?  Are you serving in that capacity?  If not, why not?  Each of us is here for a reason.  If we will function at our highest and best use we will make a positive difference in the world.  We can become someone’s hero.  Realize your full potential, and in so doing you will come alive and thrive.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Never measure the height of a mountain until you reach the top.  Then you will see how low it was.” - Dag Hammarskjold

I hiked up Stone Mountain the other day.  I had wanted to do this sometime during 2008. It was just a goal I set.  So, when I had a mediation in Decatur (not far from Stone Mountain), and it finished in the early afternoon I saw an opportunity to achieve this goal. But not only had I seen the potential for this opportunity in advance; but I had prepared for the opportunity as well.  I had packed my hiker dude clothes, boots, and camera in my SUV before I left that morning. 

 Stone Mountain Park is 50 years old this year.  It was purchased by the State of Georgia in 1958.  And on October 1^st of this year I will turn 50 years old.  So, as a part of my year of jubilee celebration I hiked up the one mile trail to the top of Georgia’s big rock. www.stonemountainpark.com.  It didn’t take very long (about 1 hour and 10 minutes up and back down), even with me stopping along the way to take photographs.  But the sense of accomplishment was great!  As much as I love setting goals, I love accomplishing them even more. I guess its part of my persister/achiever personality.  Yeah, I know, its not like climbing El Capitan in Yosemite, but this was a goal right here in Georgia that I could reach in less than half a day.

 

Stone Mountain rises 825 feet above the surrounding land and covers 583 acres. When I looked at the mountain from the base, it looked much higher. The top of the mountain is 1,683 feet above sea level.  Stone Mountain is the largest exposed granite ’stone’ in the world in terms of overall exposed granite.  And while it pales in comparrison to the 14ers out in Colorado, I still wanted to take on this local landmark.  It would be a good, quick little workout which was close by.  It was a goal - a great big granite goal, and guys need goals. 

 

Former football coach Lou Holtz said, “If you’re bored with life – you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don’t have enough goals.”  I wholeheartedly agree with the statement, “You can’t reach a goal you’ve never set.”  The reason many people don’t accomplish very much in life is because they fail to set goals.  Goals cause us to focus.  Goals give us direction.  Goals cause us to press on thru difficulty and obstacles.  When we accomplish goals, we are inspired and encouraged to take on more difficult goals.  And when those goals are inspired by God, they can change the world (and at the same time change us).

 

The apostle Paul was a goal-setter: “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).  Look at everything he accomplished in his life.  Missionary, church planter, evangelist, writer - wouldn’t you like to see one of his “To Do Lists” for a typical day? 

 

Hiking up a mountain will help you in goal-setting.  A mountain climber, Jochen Hemmleb, once said, “A climb has a beginning, a middle, and an end.  It has a clear purpose – getting to the summit and dealing with the intricacies of the route and the sense of exposure – and it has a clear outcome – you reach the summit or you do not. It is not vague or uncertain or equivocal, like so much of modern life…Nothing epitomizes the idea of accomplishment and satisfaction one gets from it better than climbing to the top of the mountain.”  Each of us has mountains in their lives.  Sometimes we choose the mountain; but sometimes the mountain chooses us.  Some people see a mountain and they see only an inconvenience. I have adopted G.K. Chesterton’s outlook, “An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.”   Every mountain we encounter gives us a goal - get to the top.  So, as that great philosopher Theodore S. Geisel, a/k/a Dr. Seuss once said, “Today is your day!  Your mountain is waiting.  So…get on your way.”

 

 Here I am at the top of Stone Mountain (with Atlanta in the background) - goal reached! 

 And here are a few more of my favorite thoughts about goals.

 ”If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” - Andrew Carnegie

 

 “Crystallize your goals. Make a plan for achieving them and set yourself a deadline. Then, with supreme confidence, determination and disregard for obstacles and other people’s criticisms, carry out your plan.” - Paul Meyer
 

“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things - to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” – Sir Edmund Hillary (first man to summit Mt. Everest)

“Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” - Aristotle

“If you have a goal in life that takes a lot of energy, that requires a lot of work, that incurs a great deal of interest and that is a challenge to you, you will always look forward to waking up to see what the new day brings.” - Susan Polis Schultz

“The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.” - Benjamin Mays

“Goals determine what you’re going to be.” - Julius Erving (Basketball player “Doctor J”)

“Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.” - Les Brown

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” - Epictetus

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” - Zig Ziglar

What are some of your favorite thoughts about goals? 

 

I just knew it.  I don’t know exactly how or why I knew it, I just did.  I knew I was supposed to get up early and walk over to my brother’s lake to take pictures of the wild geese around daybreak.  Crazy, huh?  Well, the Saturday before, while on one of my early morning “wisdom walks,” I heard the wild geese across the road at Sidney’s lake.  It was a reminder of the Wild Goose chase that following the leading of the Holy Spirit can be. 

 

I had first heard about the Holy Spirit being referred to as “the Wild Goose” by John Eldredge, author of Wild At Heart (Thomas Nelson Publishers 2001), several years ago.  In just the past few weeks I read more of this concept in Mark Batterson’s book, Wild Goose Chase (Multnomah WaterBrook 2008).  Both were great books with something very special in common – Wild.  Has modern-day Christianity gotten too tamed, maybe even caged?  These were things I considered as I went on my on personal Wild Goose chase this early morning.

 

Wouldn’t it make for a nice, neat story if I walked over to the lake and there was the flock of Canadian geese?  But life is rarely a nice, neat story – story, yes, but no, not nice and neat.  I walked over to the lake, camera in hand, but there were no geese there.  I waited around for a little while, but there were no signs of the geese.  Did I miss God on this?  Was this “call” something I just conjured up in my own imagination?  Was I too late?  Had they been there and left already?  Many questions swirled around in my mind. 

 

Then, I remembered.  I had not really thought about this possibility.  Maybe I was supposed to take pictures of the fake geese in my parent’s front yard.  A couple of years earlier, when the popular local yard art seemed to be Canadian geese, my Mom had put a couple of plastic Canadian geese in her front yard.  Mom and Dad’s house was on the way back to our house, so I decided to drop by and snap some pictures of the plastic geese.  I had not noticed them in a while, but as I approached their driveway I saw that the fake fowl had been moved into a flower bed by the big oak tree in their front yard.

 

 

As I approached the flowerbed, I thought, “No, this couldn’t be what this was all about – plastic substitutes.”  Then, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me, “This is what most people will settle for – fake.”  Wow!  How many times have I settled for fake?  No Holy Spirit, no problem - I’ll just follow a pre-programmed agenda instead.  It’s easier to follow a plan and so much more predictable.  No, this would not do today!  I wanted the real thing.  I would not settle for less, so, I continued on my “unsettling” Wild Goose chase.

 

There were other places I had seen the wild geese besides the lake, so I walked to those places.  I decided to invite the Holy Spirit to come join me, so I sang as I walked.  First, I went to the pasture by Mom and Dad’s house.  No - not there.  Then, I went to the pasture on the other side of the house and started walking toward the small pond below our house.  As I started in that direction, I thought I heard a faint honk back in the direction of my brother’s lake.  I stopped and listened, but didn’t hear it again.  So, I continued on toward the small pond.  Nope, no geese there.  I thought maybe I should go back over to the lake and try it one more time.  It was getting close to the time I needed to go back to my house and get ready to leave for a mediation in Atlanta, but I decided to return to the lake first.

 

When I got back to the lake I fully expected to see the geese, but they were not there.  Had I missed my only opportunity the Saturday before?  I had shared with my son, Grant, just a few days earlier that I had learned that the word “opportunity” came from a Latin phrase ob portu, which referred to the moment in time when the tide would turn and allow ships to enter into ancient ports or harbors.  If you missed the moment, you would have to wait for the next tide to come in.  Had I missed my moment?  I hoped not.

 

Sometimes the geese would eat grain in the pasture behind my brother’s house.  So, I decided to walk that way.  The faint honk I thought I heard earlier seemed to have come from that direction.  As I came to the crest of the hill in the back pasture there was still no sign of the geese.  I decided that I needed to start back to my house so I could get ready to go to work.  But as I turned I felt led to start praying for different people: my brother and his family, my brother-in-law, my son.  These were all people who I knew I needed to be praying for, but I also knew I had not been interceding for them as I should have recently.  As I finished praying for the people God brought to mind, I heard it! 

 

I heard a honk, that unmistakable honk!  It is not a soothing sound.  It is an unsettling sound.  It is a sound which commands your attention – just like the voice of God.  So, I turned to the south and saw a flock of Canadian Geese.  It was almost as if the cavalry was coming to the rescue over the horizon, with a bugle announcing their charge against the enemy.  What an encouragement!  I snapped some pictures so I could remember this moment.

 

 

 

I made a few observations about my Wild Goose chase. 

 

You’ve got to be willing to wait for God.

 

The Spirit does not come in accordance with our schedule.

 

You cannot settle for fake. 

 

When you hear even the faintest hint of God’s voice, you must be willing to follow it. 

 

And, maybe, just maybe, intercessory prayer is the key to communion with the Holy Spirit. 

 

What do you think? 

 

Have you ever had an irresistible call to go do something that didn’t make a lot of sense?  If so, you may have gone on a Wild Goose Chase.  Mark Batterson observed, “Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something…

 

Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.”  Introduction to Wild Goose Chase (Multnomah WaterBrook 2008).  As I was considering these words recently, the word “unsettling” seemed to jump off the page, jump up and down, demanding my attention.  Unsettling - don’t most of us settle for less in order to have safety, security, and certainty in our lives? 

I couldn’t help but think of the “Father of our Faith,” Abraham, and his great adventure first into, and then thru, the Promised Land.  “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance; he went out not knowing where he was going.  By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs of the same promise” (Hebrews 11:8-9)(HCSB).  The adventure did not end once Abraham got into the Promised Land. I had never really thought all that much about why they lived in tents, but I think it has something to do with being unsettled.  Abraham was a rich man and could certainly have afforded to build a big palace, like the one he saw during his detour down to Egypt.  But he stayed in a tent instead – unsettled, and ready to move when the Spirit beckoned him.  I love it!!!

As I pondered his unsettling call, I was reminded of the journey of my friend, Robert Whitlow.  He had a very successful law practice in Dalton, Georgia.  Then, several years ago, I learned that he had sold his practice, moved out of state, and had gone in to some sort of ministry.  At that time I knew of Robert, but did not really know him well.  A couple of years passed and I went to the Peacemakers Conference at the Billy Graham Training Center in Ashville, North Carolina.  I ran into Robert and asked him what ministry it was that he had gone into.  He told me it was writing, and he gave me a copy of his newly released novel, The List (Word Publishing 2000).  I had just started writing, and Robert encouraged me greatly during our brief time together.  On the inside cover of his book Robert signed his name, along with his signature verse, Romans 8:14: “All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.”  Robert has faithfully followed that unsettling call of the God and has now written eight novels.  The List has been made into a movie, and Robert is still writing and inspiring others. God has encouraged me so very much in my own faith journey, and my journey as a writer, by Robert’s response to God’s unsettling call.

My good friend, Reverend Eric Foley shared with me, “I understand that the phrase ‘wild goose chase’ originally referred to a horse race in which the lead horse would set out on its own unpredictable path, and other horses would be required to follow it in a formation that matched that of wild geese in flight.  I like that image so much. I want to fly in formation with the Holy Spirit, wingtip to wingtip with other believers who consider it natural to follow God in this way, rather than insisting obstinately that God pore over the map with them and justify and explain His choice of direction.  It reminds me of [Henry] Blackaby’s dictum that we should see where God is and get involved there. The wild goose chase image in this way strikes me as one better, since it recognizes that God rarely alights anywhere for long.”  You’re so very right Eric.  

Just recently, Eric asked me to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Seoul USA.  This is a nonprofit ministry dedicated to linking the resources of the two largest missionary sending countries in the world (South Korea and the USA) on behalf of individuals typically left outside the outreach of the Christian church. Eric and his wife, Hyun Sook, founded this ministry, which is doing many great things for the cause of Christ in Asia today.  Although I did not feel qualified for the position, I did feel called.  I remembered that God does not always call the equipped, but He does always equip the called.  So, with that in mind, I accepted the position.  Shortly afterwards, I felt God was leading me to resign my position as Chairman of the Legislative Sub-Committee of the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council.  This is a position which I had held since 1992.  It was a position of considerable influence, since this sub-committee had formulated compromise legislation for the Georgia legislature in the field of workers’ compensation since 1992.  I had gotten pretty comfortable in that position.  I had settled in, so to speak. But, I needed to be unsettled.  I remained on the sub-committee, but now only as a member, and not the Chairman.  God was taking me in a different direction.  This is just one example of many unsettling calls God has made on my life recently. 

I look forward to flying in formation with other brothers in the faith like Robert and Eric on some great adventures in the future as we follow God’s leading.  But we must always remember that if we would follow God we had better be prepared to be unsettled.

Has God called you into an unsettling situation recently?  If so, please share your unsettling experience.

 

A fellow hiker dude, Philip Yancey, observed, “Increasingly, time pressures crowd out the leisurely pace that prayer seems to require.  Communication with other people keeps getting shorter and more cryptic: text messages email, instant messaging.  We have less and less time for conversation, let alone contemplation.  We have the constant sensation of not enough: not enough rest, note enough exercise, not enough leisure.  Where does God fit into a life that already seems behind schedule?”  Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference, p. 15 (Zondervan 2006).

 

Several years ago, one of the Christian radio stations in our area played a commercial which was pretty revealing about prayer lives of most of us.  A man was rushing out the door in the morning and he remarked, “Uh oh, I almost forgot to pray today!”  He then quickly rattled off a bless me/bless them list, and hurried out the door.  He didn’t spend much time with God at all.  The brief time that he did spend with God was a one-sided conversation without his giving any thought as to what God might want to say to him. 

 

Have you ever been involved in a conversation with someone, and all they wanted to do is to talk, and apparently hear themselves talk, without regard to anything you had to say?  It is pretty frustrating, isn’t it?  If you are married, and you treat your spouse this way, it will not be long before that relationship suffers greatly.  I am afraid that this is the case with many of us in our relationship with God.  I know that for many years my prayers were pretty one-sided conversations.  I didn’t give much consideration at all to what God might want to say to me.  Sure, I wanted Him to “lead, guide, and direct me,” but the funny thing is that I didn’t spend the time with Him necessary to get God’s leadership, guidance, or direction.  Was I just too busy?  Was I rude and selfish?  Did I really want to know what God thought about these things?  Or was I just following the firmly ingrained me-first tradition of prayer from my generation of Americans?  I began to ask myself these questions, and I came under conviction.  I wanted to hear what God had to say.  I needed to hear what God had to say.  So, I decided to invite God to speak to me during my prayer walks at daybreak.

 

I got the idea from the story of Samuel.  While he was a young man acting as an apprentice to the priest, Eli, he began to hear God call his name at night.  At first, Samuel didn’t realize it was God.  Eli, the aged priest, eventually gave him the instruction to invite God to speak to him.  So, when God called his name the third time, Samuel replied, “’Speak for your servant hears’” (1 Samuel 3:9).  And God spoke to him. How simple – yet profound, invite God to speak.  Let Him know that, not only are you listening, but you will obey and serve Him. 

 

Servants are to serve. As you know, I am an attorney.  I once had a professor in law school who insisted that he be called a lawyer rather than an attorney.  The reason he did not want to be called an attorney is because attorney in its truest sense carries with it the connotation of being a “servant.”  He did not want to be considered anyone’s servant.  That is one of the major problems with my profession, and it is one of the biggest problems with us today as Christians.  Too few of us are willing to be known as servants.  Even fewer of us are willing to actually be servants.  I believe two keys to hearing God is to let him know that we are (1) ready to listen, and (2) willing to serve.

 

So, I began to dedicate time during my prayer walks specifically for the purpose of hearing from God.  I would pray, “’Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’”  Then, I would be silent and wait to hear from God.  Have you ever thought about why it is called quiet time?  When we are quiet, we can hear what God has to say to us.  Do you need to include some quite time during your prayer time so God can get a word in edgewise? 

 

I remember one morning in particular when I had a very interesting conversation with God as I walked down our long driveway several times.  We live in the country, and as I walked along listening for God to speak to me, I heard a rooster crowing.  I immediately thought of Peter’s denial (Luke 22:54-62).  This is a reminder that we all need from time to time.  We cannot allow fear to cause us to deny our Lord.  A rooster announces the coming of a new day.  It is a day in which we can deny our Lord in the face of peer pressure, or we can acknowledge Him, and be a strong witness.  Too often I have been the Peter who denied his Lord rather than the Peter who boldly preached and proclaimed the name of Jesus.  The rooster reminded me that I needed the Holy Spirit to give me the same boldness as Peter. 

 

Next, I heard an owl, then another owl, and finally a third owl.  These creatures, that are known for wisdom, seemed to be asking the question, repeatedly, “Who?  Who?  Who?”  I began to ponder the questions, “Who am I following?  Is it God, or is it me, the world, or Satan?  Who, or what, do we fear?  Who do we trust?”  These are questions most of us need to be asking ourselves.

 

Then, I heard crows in the distance.  “Caw, caw, caw.”  I was reminded of something I had heard about a Joyce Meyer teaching on eagles.  Christians are likened to eagles, and Joyce taught that crows try to irritate eagles.  However, the eagles don’t strive with the crows; they just mount up and ascend to a higher altitude.  They go to a level where crows cannot survive.  Eagles mount up on the wind, a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  As I continued my prayer walk, I remembered that our Founding Fathers considered making the turkey our national symbol, instead of the eagle.  I was glad that we did not select a bird which has that much difficulty flying as our national symbol. 

 

After that, I heard one of my brother’s horses neigh.  This brought to remembrance the passage of Scripture, “He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of man.  The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy” (Psalm 146:10-11).  Fear God – hope in His mercy, got it. 

 

As I continued my prayer walk, I heard song birds singing their morning song.  This reminded me that all of God’s creatures have a natural song of praise to their Creator.  The Creator of the whole universe is worthy of our praise…every day, at the beginning of the day.  What is your song?  Has God heard you sing it lately?

 

Near the end of my prayer walk, God told me a joke.  Has God ever told you a joke?  I recently read that Pastor Mark Batterson sometimes tells jokes during his prayers.  Yeah, I know that will cause some stony-faced Christians frown to the extent their faces may crack, but, after all, it is God who gave us a sense of humor.  Don’t you enjoy sharing jokes with your close friends?  So, why wouldn’t God enjoy a good joke?  If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, shouldn’t that include some laughter?  Some have even suggested that we glorify God by enjoying Him forever.  Well, anyway, God told me a joke.  He allowed me to hear one of the wild turkeys in the woods behind my house, “gobble.”  I laughed out loud, remembering my prior thoughts about turkeys! 

 

Then, as I ended my prayer walk, I said, “Thank you God.  It’s been good talking to you.  I’ll be back tomorrow.”  I do hear God speak to me much more often in English, but on this particular day God spoke in another way.  Some might be skeptical that you can get a message from God thru a menagerie.  But I believe that if we tune our ears to God He can speak to us thru many sources – and why not His creation?  As you read this, you might think that I live on old McDonald’s farm.  Close, but not quite.  I live on my Father’s farm.  And when I’m quiet, He speaks to me - “Eli, Eli, Oh!”  You see, I have a sense of humor too.  I got it from my Father. 

 

Do you ever give God an opportunity to speak to you, or is your prayer time a one-sided conversation?   He might have something important to say to you.  Or, He might just want to tell you a joke.  Friends have those kinds of conversations, you know.

 

P.S.  I went out for a prayer walk this morning after my initial posting of this piece.  I heard a couple of owls calling out, “Who.”  This time I was reminded of the important question, “Who are you?”  God wants us to ask ourselves this question.  Also, it was faint at first, but I was pretty sure I heard it.  As I continued my walk, I heard the unmistakable honk, of Canadian Geese.  It put a smile on my face as I thought of Mark Batterson’s new release, called Wild Goose Chase (Multnomah Books 2008). http://chasethegoose.com/media/video/an-geadh-glas  God is good, and He still has His sense of humor!

 

 

 

 

So, what’s new with you?  Have you ever replied, “same ole, same ole?”  Life can get pretty repetitive and redundant, can’t it? 

 

I’ve been taking family vacations on Hilton Head Island for about 30 years.  I started out going with my parents, and now I go with my own family.  But there has always been a pretty consistent routine of tennis, beach-time, reading, and eating.  Over the last 10 years, I had added in sunrise prayer-walks and photography.  But this year we shook up the routine dramatically.  Grant and I decided to do something totally new.  We scheduled a kayaking adventure. 

 

In my 30 years of trips to Hilton Head, I had never gone kayaking.  We first went on a 4 ½ hour guided “Outback Tour.” www.outsidehiltonhead.com.  We were taken by boat to a private island and then took off in individual kayaks around Daufuski Island.  We learned a lot about the eco-system.  We saw a lot of dolphins.  We enjoyed the change of pace of paddling.  A couple of days later we rented a two-person kayak and went out on an unguided adventure.  We fought the tide.  We navigated down tidal creeks and inlets.  We saw many more dolphins - really up close.  Grant caught a couple of shrimp and dubbed our kayak, The Jenny, in honor of Forrest Gump, and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.  We had a great time doing something totally new together.  I’ll never forget that trip. Relationships seem to really grow when we do new things with people.  Can the same not be said when we do new things with God?

 

I recently read, “Spiritual growth is a conundrum.  The key to spiritual growth is developing healthy and holy routines.  We call them spiritual disciplines.  But once the routine becomes routine, we need to disrupt it.  Why?  Because sacred routines become empty rituals when we do them out of left-brain memory instead of right-brain imagination….Good routines become bad routines if we don’t change the routine.  One of the greatest dangers we face spiritually is learning how and forgetting why.  Call it familiarization.  Call it habituation.  Call it routinization.  Call it what you want.  When we learn how and forget why, we start going through the motions spiritually.” Wild Goose Chase, p.58 (Multnomah 2008).   This is when relationship can deteriorate into the religion of routine, or is it the routine of religion?

 

I remember in 1997 when I went through the Experiencing God study.  We were encouraged to shake up our prayer routine.  My routine at that time was to have my prayer time kneeling by my chair in the study at home.  I was dutiful in this daily routine, but it had become kind of dull.  I know that sounds bad – God is not dull.  He is amazing.  The problem was not with God, it was with me.  God is a great big God, and sometimes I think we just need to explore and get to know Him better in different settings.  So, I started taking prayer walks.  Wow, did that ever re-energize my prayer life!  I found that when I get out into nature and begin the experience the wonders of creation, it is so much easier for me to commune with my Creator.  So, one way to get out of the rut of routine is to change the place of our prayer.

 

Another way may be to change your posture of prayer.  I have prayed kneeling, laid out prostrate, sitting with my head bowed –eyes closed, standing - looking up with my hands raised, and walking with my eyes open in expectancy that God would show and tell me great and mighty things.  I think that you will find that there are examples of all these different postures in Scripture.

 

I have also added other people to my prayer time.  I joined a one small prayer group in 2001.  Actually, we started meeting on 9/11/01!  I missed the first meeting because I was at the hospital with a friend who was having surgery.  But afterwards I was faithful to meet with that group in prayer for several years. There were some pretty intense prayers prayed immediately following 9/11.  There were powerful prayers prayed in that group and I have had the privilege of seeing many of those prayers answered.  I started a new small prayer group in the law library at my law office about three years ago.  On Tuesday mornings we will meet for about 1 ½ hours of prayer at the beginning of the day. 

 

I have tried to record all the answered prayers and periodically review these in my journal.  That is so encouraging!  I’ve said several times over the past three years that I feel like the law office is my Obed-Edom, a place that has been especially blessed because we have welcomed God’s presence into my place of business.  See 2 Samuel 6:10-12; 1 Chronicles 13:14.  Our family tries to set aside times of prayer together on a regular basis.  This is not an every day event, but we do try to make sure we have family prayer several times during the course of the week. 

 

Over the last couple of months, I have been participating in a monthly conference call time of prayer with a ministry I’ve become involved in called Seoul USA.  People in that conference call are praying from all across the United States and Asia.  I have sensed the Holy Spirit’s presence so very strongly as I have listened to the fervent prays offered up in Korean.  I didn’t understand much of what was said in Korean, but God does, and I know He is pleased as His people come together in prayer.  I feel His pleasure.  Prayer partners are very important to keeping your prayer life fresh. 

 

Over time, I have changed my prayer paradigm.  I no longer view God has a stern judge who I am trying to convince with compelling arguments why He should bless me in the way I desire.  He is not a cosmic vending machine dispensing blessings based on the length or earnestness of my prayers.  I now desire His presence more than His presents.  He is our loving PAPA, who desires to give us the things which are best for us. I have learned, as Larry Crabb writes, “The chief end of prayer is not to get things from God.  Neither is it to praise Him from a distance.  The chief purpose of prayer is to get to know God, to deepen our relationship with Him, to nourish the life of God He’s already placed within us, and to do it all to satisfy His desire for relationship with us.” The PAPA PRAYER: The Prayer You’ve Never Prayed, p. 42 (Integrity Publishers 2006).  PAPA is an acronym for: (1) Present yourself to God; (2) Attend to how you are thinking of God; (3) Purge yourself of anything that blocks your relationship with God; and (4) Approach God as the “first thing” in your life. Id. at p. 63.  That last one is a biggie!  It is where we can join Jesus in surrender to God’s sovereignty in changing our prayers from “My will be done,” to “Thy will be done.” (Luke 22:42)   

Finally, I have added a pause to my prayers.  I used to rattle off my wish list for God and go on my way.  But now I try to always try to make sure I have a time of silence so I can hear what God may want to say to me in reply to my prayers.  My prayers are much more conversational now.  I talk to God and He talks back.  Yes, I know some people think God only speaks thru the Bible, and that is primarily the place I hear Him as well.  But when I talk to God I expect to hear Him, and most of the time I do – and it is not always thru an open Bible on my desk.  Over time, my prayers have become much more conversational. 

 

As John Eldredge says in Walking With God, Talk to Him.  Hear from Him.  Really, p. 17 (Thomas Nelson 2008), “An intimate, conversational walk with God is available.  It is normal, even.  Or, at least, is meant to be normal.  I’m well aware that a majority of people do not enjoy that …yet.  But it is certainly what God desires and what He offers.  My assumption is based on the nature of God and the nature of man being made in His image.  We are communicators.  My assumption is also based on the nature of relationship – it requires communication.  It is based on the long record of God speaking to his people.”  The Bible is full of examples of God speaking to His people.  Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice.  “Why would God give you a book of exceptions?” Id. at p.14.  www.walkingwithgod.net. 

 

You’ve heard the old axiom, “Variety is the spice of life.”  Sometimes we need to add some new things into the mix.  Our wives love it when we surprise them by disrupting the routine of everyday life.  Have you ever tried surprising her with some flowers when it’s not a special occasion?  Relationships grow stronger and deeper when we break out of the rut of routine.  And this holds true for our relationship with God as well.

 

So what’s new in your relationship with God?  Is it time to try something different?   Do you need to shake up the routine?  Get creative.  God loves it when we use the creative abilities with which He endowed us.  Do something new! Why don’t you share some of the ways you have rekindled your relationship with God? 

 

 

 

It looks like I’m going to hike up the Mount of Olives!  The opportunity just came out of the blue.  In May of this year, I was meeting with Todd Wright, the pastor of Midway Church www.midwaychurch.com, to share with him a vision I had for a ministry to middle-aged men.  Todd is very innovative, creative, and a true leader, so I was interested in getting some feedback from him.  At the end of our lunch meeting he invited me to join him on a mission trip to Israel.  I am certain that God was in the middle of this middle-aged man being invited to go to the Middle East.

 

I asked Todd three questions: (1) Would I get to stand on the Mount of Olives?  (2) What would the ministry be that we would be doing?  (3) When was the trip? 

He said “yes,” we would go to the top of the Mount of Olives.  I had attended the Passion Conference in Atlanta just a few weeks earlier, and the song “Hossanah” had been ringing in my ears ever since.  I had studied the topography of the Mount of Olives several months earlier and I had a deep desire to see “The House of Peace” from the same vantage point that Jesus did just days before the crucifixion.  The Mount of Olives overlooks the city of Jerusalem and was a place pilgrims traveling into Jerusalem would often stop for a rest break  There, they could survey the spectacular view of the city and temple which were a couple of hundred feet below.

 

The ministry would be teaching Jewish children the game of baseball and evangelizing them thru a ministry called Global Youth Baseball Federation.  I was a baseball player in high school.  I love baseball.  I have coached it.  I still watch it.  The idea of teaching a youngster how the throw a curve ball and how to come to Christ in the same day was very appealing to me.

 

But the real kicker was the timing of the trip.  It would be from 9/27/08-10/9/08.  The modern state of Israel is celebrating its 60^th year of existence this year.  I am celebrating my 50^th year of existence on October 1st.  So my 50^th birthday would be while we are in Israel.  What a birthday present from God!!!  Earlier, I had envisioned a 50^th birthday trip to Scotland.  I wanted to hike up Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in Scotland).  But I had abandoned (or at least postponed) that trip because I knew Terri was just not ready for me to go on that adventure yet.  The Scotland trip would have been a good thing…even a great thing, but Israel – that would be a GOD thing!  The Mount of Olives trumps Ben Nevis for me. 

 

 

 I could hardly contain my excitement when I shared this opportunity with my wife.  I knew this would be a huge step of faith for Terri, and I let her know that unless she had a peace about it, I would not go.  I prayed for several weeks that God would make it clear to us, as a couple, whether I should go or not.  I didn’t try to force God’s hand, but rather I tried to feel His heart.  I felt very strongly that God wanted me to go on this trip.  But I did not want to override my bride’s voice here.  We are one, and I would not, and could not go unless it was something Terri was OK with.  I knew that the same God who arranged for my invitation in the first place could give Terri a peace about this if He really wanted me to go.  We too often forget that the Maker and Mover of mountains is able to move human hearts.

 

 Coincidently,…yeah right…, Terri started a Beth Moore Bible study about that time called Stepping Up (LifeWay Press 2007).  This study examines the Songs of Ascents, which were sung by the Israelites as they went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the annual feasts.  The Songs of Ascents include Psalms 120-134.  Terri later related to me that this was one of the things which gave her a peace about saying “yes” to my request.  She said “yes”…again.  About 24 ½ years ago, I asked my lovely wife Terri to marry me.  She said “yes” then, and she said “yes” this important question as well. 

 

And now it is only about five weeks until I get to hike in the Holy Land!!!  This will be a great adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you ever feel like you are caged by responsibility, routine, assumptions, guilt, failure, or fear?   God did not make you to be caged.  He made you to be free.  And He made you for adventure.  Consider that the very word “adventure” cannot even be spelled without “advent,” the name given to God coming into the world through the birth of Christ Jesus.  Two thousand years ago, Jesus shared amazing adventures with His disciples, and God wants to share adventures with you today.  If you will listen carefully and be patient I believe that you will hear an invitation from God to join Him outside your comfort zone in a place of glorious adventure.  This is the theme of Pastor Mark Batterson’s new book, Wild Goose Chase (Multnomah 2008), which is being released 8/19/2008.

 

It is said that the early Celtic Christians, including St. Patrick, referred to the Holy Spirit as “The Wild Goose.”  While not all the reasons are known for this comparison, you can certainly see some of the reasons as you think about wild geese.  I have observed some of the attributes of Canadian Geese as they stop off briefly in a pasture and lake by my home during their migrations.  They are untamable, free, and somewhat unpredictable.  A wild goose always seems to be on the move, and as Bill Tenny-Brittian observed, “on a pilgrimage ordained by the Lord Himself.”  Some might say that living a life of being led by the Spirit is nothing but “a wild goose chase,” and to that I say “Amen.”  From a common-sense standpoint, many of my most memorable spiritual adventures must have seemed to outsiders to be nothing more than a “Wild Goose chase.”

 

Pastor Mark says of his own Wild Goose chase, “I am determined to pursue God-ordained passions until the day I die.  Life is too precious to settle for anything else.  I’m not convinced that your date of death is the date carved on your tombstone.  Most people die long before that.  We are dying when we have nothing worth living for.  And we don’t really start living until we find something worth dying for.  Ironically, discovering something worth dying for is what makes life worth living.” Wild Goose Chase, pp. 16-17 (Multnomah 2008).

 

For those who say that sounds risky, consider this: “Jesus never promised safety or certainty or predictability.  And He certainly didn’t die on the cross to tame us.  He died to make us dangerous.  He died to invite us into a life of spiritual adventure.  And if you will have the courage to come out of the cage and chase the Wild Goose, life will turn into another day, another adventure!” Id. at p. 171.  If you chased the lion into a pit on a snowy day with Pastor Mark in his last book, you will not want to miss Wild Goose Chase which invites you to “reclaim the adventure of pursuing God.”  I think I used up a whole highlighter on this terrific and compelling read. 

For more information visit www.chasethegoose.com.

I have one free copy of Wild Goose Chase for the person who leaves a comment with the best explanation as to why you want to go on a Wild Goose Chase.  Be sure to give your mailing address so I’ll know where to send the book.  The winner will be selected from the comments received by midnight on 8/22/08.  If you don’t win the free copy, Wild Goose Chase may be purchased at the following sites:

www.amazon.com

www.barnesandnoble.com

www.borders.com

www.cbd.com

www.familychristian.com

www.parable.com

 

 

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