Archives For Wonder

Can We Live A Life of Glory And Brilliance?

May 21, 2013 — 5 Comments

My wife and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary in Italy. In my absence, I asked my friend Gary Barkalow to write a couple blogs.

Gary has spent his life studying Calling—you could call him a Calling Expert. I invite you to enjoy with me as he shares.

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“Ok, the idea that I possess a glory, splendor, strength, brilliance that is extraordinary seems a little farfetched.  It’s not my personal experience.  I think my effect is pretty small.  I can only do the best with what I’ve got and that ain’t much.”

I’ve heard this thought many times – within myself and from others.  The truth is that if it was YOU ALONE that might be Assistedtrue, but it isn’t to be YOU ALONE.

Dallas Willard wrote,

Now what we can do by our unassisted strength is very small. What we can do acting with mechanical, electrical, or atomic power is much greater.  Often it is so great that it is hard to believe or imagine without some experience of it.

But even that is still very small compared to what we could do acting in union with God himself, who created and controls all other forces (The Divine Conspiracy).

Our life was never designed to be “unassisted.”  And yet, that is how we live—okay, I live—most of the time.  Partly because I believe the lie that I’m on my own.  Partly because of my fear that God won’t come through.  Partly because “it’s hard to believe or imagine it without some experience of it.”

Jesus repeatedly said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matt. 4:17

Dallas told the story of growing up on a farm in southern Missouri where electricity was not available.  Then, one day, it was announced that power lines would be brought in.  It was an opportunity for a different way of life if they if they chose to tap into them.  He writes,

The comparison, you may think, is rather crude, and in some respects it is.  But it will help us to understand Jesus’ basic message about the Kingdom of the Heaven if we pause to reflect on those farmers who, in effect, heard the message: ‘Repent, for electricity is at hand.’

How we live   
Continue Reading…

In Beliefs of the Heart, Calling, Calling Driven church, Christianity, Glory, God's Love, God's view of us, Wonder , , , , , ,
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Is It Okay To Love Someone And Not Like Them?

May 14, 2013 — 28 Comments

[Click here for an audio version of the post.]

I recently met with someone and—what can I say?—I I just didn’t like him very much. Oh, it wasn’t his bad breath (I didn’t get close enough to find out) and he wasn’t terribly obnoxious.

I just didn’t like him very much. And I felt bad about it.

And, no, he isn’t a reader of this blog. So if you’re a reader, it’s safe to meet with me. (Unless, perhaps, you just don’t like me very much.)

A week later I was sitting in a coffee shop and I overheard a loud no_like_button(obnoxious) neighbor talking about one of her friends. She said,

“Well, I love her, but I don’t like her very much.”

I thought, “I know exactly what she means. I love this guy; it’s not my fault I don’t like him very much.” I felt much better about myself and thought,

“Yes, that’s me. I’m a loving kind of guy. I obey Christ’s command to love my neighbor even though he’s a bit boring. I like me!”

And then, as these thoughts raced through my mind, I began to dislike myself. As you read my thoughts (above,) perhaps you began to think of me, “What a jerk!”.

Now I’m thinking, “I love me, but I don’t like me very much.”

Why don’t we like some people? Continue Reading…

In Beliefs of the Heart, Christianity, God's Love, God's view of us, Pursuing an Inner Life, Self Esteem, Wonder , , , , ,
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Is It Ever Okay To Seek An Experience of God?

March 26, 2013 — 23 Comments

When I was thirteen years old, I had an “experience” of God. It happened in a small, circular prayer meeting with about twenty other teenagers.

I began to shake. Every nerve waiting and prayingseemed electrified, hyper alert, or aware. I felt alive and bubbling over, a kind of euphoria. I sat, I shook, and then I prayed, “I love you, I love you, I love you.” The experience lasted for close to an hour.

I wasn’t sure what had happened. But I liked it. I asked God for more of it. In prayer times and prayer meetings I’d pray, “Anoint me again; let me soak in that some more.” But that exhilaration didn’t come back very often.

Let’s skip ahead forty years to last week. I had just returned from a retreat. I was tired and perhaps a bit crabby. The next morning something happened again. I felt stirred and moved. I somehow sensed the reality of God.

My prayer time lasted four hours.

But this experience was different     Continue Reading…

In Beliefs, Beliefs of the Heart, Christianity, Experiencing God, God's Love, Growing in intimacy with God, Hearing God, Wonder , , , , , , ,
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What’s The Secret Of Connecting With Another Soul?

February 5, 2013 — 40 Comments

Twenty-five years ago a client asked me to meet with her president for an hour-long lunch. Her president was an industry innovator. But, she told me, the president was also almost wordlessly introverted. She proposed I come prepared with a stockpile of stories to fill the conversational void.

The night before my visit, I talked with my father. He suggested an alternate plan.

My father said there is nothing people like more than to hear the sound of their own voice. Instead of telling amusing anecdotes, he suggested I ask questions.

silver-doctor-ec-gregg-3The next day (at lunch with a reticent president) I asked question after question. The one-hour lunch stretched beyond two, and he talked almost non-stop. He waxed eloquent of his fly fishing hobby. He explored the mysteries of different fly rods. He told tales of the intricacy—and successes and failures—of tying fish flies.

After two and a half hours, he glanced at his watch astonished. He was late for his weekly executive board meeting.

A board member later laughed about that board meeting. He said that the reclusive president practically bubbled with passion about our lunch. He wanted each executive to meet me. He said I was the greatest conversationalist he had ever met.

The thing was, I hadn’t told a story. Not one. I just asked questions.     Continue Reading…

In Beliefs of the Heart, Christian Leadership, Christianity, Desire, God's Love, Growing in intimacy with God, Pursuing an Inner Life, Wonder , , , , , ,
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I Long To Live My Life As An Artist

January 15, 2013 — 28 Comments

A friend of mine challenged me to adopt—perhaps embrace—a Transcendent Pursuit for the coming year, something life changing, something I can bring to the world to make a difference.

Then I re-read the first chapter of Genesis. It felt like I was reading it for the first time, and I felt the nudge of God.

The first thing I noticed was the creative artistry of God. The opening verses do not focus on God’s unparalleled power. Instead they reveal—and almost revel in—the beauty.  After each creative act God doesn’t say, “That was powerful;” he says, creation+of+adam+michelangelo“This is beautiful” (a better translation than what we are used to).

Next I noticed that God sees potential where no one else ever could. God hovers over and looks into the chaos and void; he takes the raw materials of darkness and depth, and he creates light, and it is beautiful. As are the oceans and fields and skies.

After observation and creation, God gives. He gives this unparalleled treasure of creation to man. The opening chapter of the Bible surges with swarming fish, teaming land animals, luscious vegetation, and a sky pregnant with stars.

And God turns to man and says, “It’s yours. Take it. Care for it. Love it.”

The opening of the Bible reveals a completely different God than any man has ever created. The opening of the Bible reveals God as an artist, seeing beauty, creating incomparable art, and giving it away. It is a radical image of God.

I long to live like that artist

Continue Reading…

In Beliefs of the Heart, Calling Driven church, Christianity, Desire, God's view of us, How we view ourselves, Pursuing an Inner Life, What is the church, Wonder , , , , , , ,
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When You Lie, Lie B-E-E-E-G!

December 18, 2012 — 14 Comments

My sister Sarah went to a small college where you actually got to know the professors.

Her Eastern European History professor was her favorite, Professor Petrovich. He was Yugoslavian, and he was the official interpreter for President Jimmy Carter whenever Yugoslavian President Tito was in Washington D.C.

Professor Petrovich was also a character, and was almost always late for appointments.

One day he was really late, late for a Pulled overplane flight. He raced down the freeway at almost ninety miles an hour. A police car began to chase him with sirens wailing, but he kept going. Soon half a dozen police cars joined the chase, and they pulled him over.

He jumped out of the car and yelled at the officers, “I am the interpreter for the President of the United States. I’ve got to catch a plane. If I don’t, it will be a humiliation for President Carter and a dishonor to President Tito. I’ve got to get to the airport now!”

The officers looked at each other, rushed back to their cars, and escorted the professor to the airport with lights flashing and sirens wailing, as though they were escorting the president himself. It was the ride of the professor’s life.

After he told my sister this story, he concluded in his thick accent: “Sawah, the moral of the story is, ‘When you lie, lie B-E-E-E-G!’” Continue Reading…

In Anxiety, Beliefs of the Heart, Christianity, God's Love, Pursuing an Inner Life, What does it mean to believe?, Wonder , , , ,
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Is Modern Worship Sort of Like A Cocaine Rush?

August 7, 2012 — 29 Comments

I once met with a man—let’s call him Adam—who described himself as a, “recovering charismatic.” His mother fanatically—maybe frenetically—flitted from one worship experience to another; she visited Toronto, Florida, Bethel Church in California, and anywhere she heard “something” was happening.

When she wasn’t traveling to Christian conferences, worship music blared throughout the house, or her iPod (filled with worship songs) was glued to her ears. She needed the euphoric “oomph” of worship music to provide motivation for the tiniest of tasks.

However, she remained anxious, self-concerned, and perhaps narcissistic. She’d say, “I just want to go where God is working,” but it seemed she really wanted escape, a place where her problems could be anesthetized.

Adam added, “A friend of mine became a crack addict. Frankly I didn’t see much difference between him and my mom. They got their highs in different ways, and their lives remained a mess.”

“I wonder,” he said, “if modern worship is just a cocaine rush.” Continue Reading…

In Addiction, Anxiety, Beliefs of the Heart, Hope, What is worship, Wonder , , ,
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I Wonder If We’re All Spiritually Insane

July 9, 2012 — 21 Comments

A few weeks ago I met a twenty-eight-year-old woman who told me of a struggle. Growing up, she longed for a good husband, a nice family, and a moderate house.

Shortly after college, she married a really good man. They found good jobs in their fields. They bought a nice house. A year later they got pregnant and had a healthy baby.

She had all she had wanted but she still felt restless.

They bought a newer car. They repainted the house. They added granite countertops; then stainless steel appliances. They were promoted. Her husband got an MBA. She quit her job and become a full-time mother. It felt good but the satisfaction didn’t last.

Soon, again, she felt discontent and restlessness. She asked herself, “Is this all there is?” She saw the same restlessness in her friends. Then she read an Einstein quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.”

She said, “I wonder if we’re all spiritually insane.” Continue Reading…

In Addiction, Beliefs of the Heart, Satisfaction, Wonder , , , ,
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I Wonder If Sunday School Is Destroying Our Kids

June 26, 2012 — 63 Comments

Several years ago I met with a woman distraught by her son’s rejection of Christianity.

She said, “I did everything I could to raise him right. I taught him to be like the ‘heroes of faith,’ with the faithfulness of Abraham, the goodness of Joseph, the pure heart of David, and the obedience of Esther.”

She wondered why he rejected Christianity.

I wondered why it took him so long. Continue Reading…

In Beliefs of the Heart, God's Love, God's view of us, God's pursuit of our heart, Significance, Wonder , , ,
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I Long for a Calling Driven church

June 12, 2012 — 26 Comments

At a prayer group in 1988, I felt urged to pray over a man. As I prayed I felt God say, “If this man left this prayer group, it would make no difference. And that is a tragedy.”

Instantly I felt grief for this unappreciated man. I prayed, “Yes Father, it is a tragedy. I feel so sorry for him.”

Immediately I heard God respond, “No, his life is not the tragedy —I’ll take care of him. The tragedy is the loss to this body because he was not allowed to offer what I put in him to give. This body will never be what it could have been.” Continue Reading…

In Beliefs of the Heart, Calling, Calling Driven church, Guidance, Wonder , , ,
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