God’s Poem

God’s Poem

This is a true account of a sign and wonder.

In 1994, Jenny and I met to pray with a very troubled woman. Our youngest sons were toddlers at the time, and that day, there seemed to be a lot of commotion–fighting over toys, crocodile tears, and the tromping sound of unhappy feet. Every time we sat down to pray, some new difficulty would arise.

Jenny recognized it as spiritual warfare. Though the term has become cliché, if you’ve ever been on assignment for God you know that’s usually when the dog runs off, the milk spills, or the car won’t start. Firebrands. That’s what I call them. Sent by the enemy stir up trouble.

So what did we do? We sang a song and worshipped God together. Remember that if you’re ever in a time of distress, if you’re scared in the dark or feeling hopeless. It’s a powerful countermove.

Right after we sang, Jenny sensed that the Lord was about to give her a prophetic word. She often compared it to the feeling you have right before you sneeze. You know something is coming.

Jenny would basically “see” or “hear” in her mind—a phrase. When she spoke it out loud, another phrase would form, and she’d continue until the words stopped coming. That day the words came in such a downpour, I barely had time to take notes. Fortunately, I had my laptop. I can type much faster than I write.

Because it came rapidly, I typed her words in one continuous sentence. Later, when I made spelling corrections and added punctuation, I realized the phrases formed a rhyming poem.Continue reading

To Live Anyway

To Live Anyway

What if someone rewrote the story of Little Red Riding Hood from the point-of-view of the grandmother? Or how about the wolf? Might be a very different tale.

God is sometimes known to orchestrate those kinds of shifts—putting us in someone else’s head—through a movie, a book, or even a conversation.

In 1998, two movies released within four months of each other, and both deeply impacted me.

The first one, Hope Floats, is a romantic drama about an unassuming housewife named Birdee, whose life completely crumbles when her husband reveals his infidelity in a very public way. Humiliated, she returns to her mother’s home to figure out her life in the aftermath.

The second movie, One True Thing, is a story of a young career woman named Ellen, who goes back to her childhood home to care for her dying mother. Ellen idealizes her father, a celebrated novelist and professor. Yet, she barely conceals her distain for her mother, regarding her as a shallow, ditzy, homemaker. Over the course of Ellen’s stay, she begins to reassess her view of her parents. Her admiration flips to her mother, as she realizes what her father has become. The reversal turns into a crisis for her, because she is also losing her mother to cancer.

Both Birdee and Ellen reel under the pain of broken dreams. Life turned out so different than they thought. The truth is, you can’t be human very long without experiencing some kind of heartache. I felt their strong inner conflicts. My own losses surfaced, and I wept bitterly.

Several years later, both movies were on the same TV channel back-to-back one afternoon. Was it odd, or was it God?

I decided to watch them again. However, this time something remarkable happened…Continue reading

The Thrash Effect

The Thrash Effect

I was traveling home from Cleveland and noticed an article about Ashton Kutcher in the in-flight magazine. Though this popular movie star has had the dubious distinction of being the most followed man on Twitter, the interview wasn’t the usual fare of celebrity worship.

Kutcher stated his aim in life is to generate what he calls “thrash,” or creating movement in a disruptive kind of way. He describes thrash saying it’s like a wake made by a boat, but moving toward some kind of goal. It’s not thrash for the sake of thrash. “Occasionally, you have to be forced outside your comfort zone, right?” he says. “You just gotta have thrash.” Of course his show, Punk’d, is an example of thrash, but came with mixed reviews when his elaborate pranks brought some to tears. Still Kutcher maintains, “If everyone is happy, you’re not doing anything.” I finished the article, but continued thinking about thrash.

Creating movement in a disruptive kind of way.

A few days after my return, Duncan and I went to watch our son’s varsity basketball game. It was senior night, and our team hoped for a win after a losing season. One senior played his best game but fouled out in the fourth quarter. We’d seen a lot of bad ref calls, and that kid was clearly frustrated as he headed to the bench. Tears lined his cheeks.

Then, the coach of the opposing team made an unexpected move…Continue reading