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| The historical accuracy of George Washington’s prayer at Valley Forge, in the winter of 1777-78, is unknown, even though several men including the Marquis de Lafayette are said to have witnessed it. Yet, the legend depicted in Arnold Friberg’s famous painting is consistent with what is known of the man, and the later prayers that he offered for his country. They are a part of his legacy. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| We usually know when something is broken. It stops working, or it begins to sputter or misbehave in quirky ways. A car transmission can stop shifting properly. A beautiful vase can shatter into thousands of seemingly useless pieces. Similarly, lives can be broken. We don’t normally think of this as being a good development – and we don’t usually respond like Pollyanna playing The Glad Game.[2] Yet, it is through our brokenness that God chooses to do His greatest work in us. Sooner or later, we each experience these difficult times. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| Each of us occupies a place in history where we are watched by others. We do not normally live our lives alone. We are part of a community. We think of ourselves in terms of our life roles within the community. Psychologists might tell us that these self-image constructs are largely determined or defined by others, as they reflect back to us what they see in us . . . Whatever your role is, you did not arrive there by mere happenstance. You made a choice to follow someone or something – you had a model . . . If you are a Christian, at some point in time you decided to follow Jesus. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| Every leader I have ever known has been driven by the idea of accomplishing something grand and glorious – for themselves and, sometimes, for others. Occasionally, a person will come along who is not like others around, and his or her time will coincide with breakthrough and breakout in a remarkable way. From our modern times, you might think of business leaders like Bill Gates, political leaders like Ronald Reagan, or spiritual leaders like Billy Graham. You might think of Jesus, who transcends time. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| One way to talk about this being real thing (you can review Part One at http://livenoby.com) is to observe that there are two features of it that bear on the matter of authenticity. The first is that there is an actual world, both seen and unseen. The second is that there is a virtual world, which is simultaneously in operation with the actual. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| I was sitting alone in a crowded fast food restaurant when I overheard part of a conversation. One young woman was saying to another, in very loud tones, “Honey, you gotta get real!” I didn’t need to hear more to understand that a basic belief system was being challenged, a worldview that was not grounded in reality. Have you ever been told to “get real,” by a friend, a spouse, a daughter, or a son?
What does it mean to be real? In her 1922 children’s book, The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams tells the parable of a stuffed rabbit who asks the same question of a ragged old companion in the nursery, the Skin Horse. The bunny asks his older friend this question.
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| If you are a business owner, why did you go into business? Many owners have a clear vision that drives them to their ventures. They have a tangible hope that is best served by opening shop and risking everything. Others are driven by circumstances and find themselves in business as the only option to unemployment. Still others seemingly stumble into opportunities that they did not seek, or build. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| The Bible is filled with stories of men and women who succeeded in the face of adversity. It is a major theme of Scripture; the idea that the blessing of winning and success comes through weakness, failure, danger, and hardship. But, make no mistake, you were born to succeed, not to fail. Setbacks may come in your life, but you were uniquely designed to win. Your future is not locked-in by your past, but rather it is energized anew by who you are becoming in your relationship with Christ. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| Most of us do not purposely start out to fail. We don’t set goals that say, “Within five years I will be a financially-strapped business owner, on the verge of bankruptcy with nothing to show for my labor except a stack of unpaid bills.” You don’t see many books hyping failure as a key to success – no “How to Lose at Golf,” or “How to Strike Out Every Time.” |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| The late actor, Jack Palance, made his career out of playing the tough guy in over 125 movie and television roles. One of his most unforgettable shorter appearances was in the 1991 motion picture, City Slickers, where he played Curly Washburn, a weathered old cowboy and trail boss.
After a rocky start, Curly and Mitch the city slicker, played by Billy Crystal, have become friendly. Eventually, we find them riding side-by-side behind a group of stray cattle, with Mitch questioning Curly by posing a series of moral dilemmas. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| What do you believe? Every day, 140,000 vehicles would cross the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis, based upon the belief that it would allow them to safely cross the Mississippi River. During rush-hour on August 1, 2007, the bridge collapsed and thirteen people lost their lives. In the ensuing hours and days it seemed that the entire world focused its attention on that bridge. News camera crews descended from all of the major television networks, broadcasting from the banks of the Mississippi. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| As observers, boys are naturally drawn toward things female; curious, puzzled, and infatuated. However, they want to become men, and they want to be around those who are doing men-things. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| Being a boy is not a good thing. Not in the world. Not in America. Not among those who are of the social constructionist school of gender identity. However, after more than forty years of radical feminist social dominance, boys have not matured into less violent, less aggressive, less warlike men. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| What gets you moving? What stops you? What kinds of things overcome the inertia in your life? Don’t tell me that this is not, or has not been, a problem for you. Perhaps you are saying to yourself, “You’ll have to prove it to me. I’m satisfied with things as they are, thank you very much.” Bingo. Ipso facto. Inertia. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| Going downhill anyone? One might say that doing so could be an exciting ride with the potential for grave developments (pun intended). Here you are, at the edge of a decision that could affect the rest of your life. Do you take the plunge, or turn back? Do you buy the business, take on the demanding client, fire the key employee, sellout and retire, or choose from a thousand other pathways? Doing nothing is still a choice to do something. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| My grandkids run everywhere. No matter where we are going or what we are doing, they want to run there. When we are not going anywhere they still want to run, so they chase in circles around the house until someone or something stops them. Bumped heads and scratched knees seem to halt the fun, which is not unlike how we all react to adversity. We wonder, what was that all about? |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| I am reminded of the opening line of Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, where he says, “It’s not about you.” While we do learn what Warren intends by this startling statement, it is somewhat misleading because understanding the assertion depends upon what the meaning of “it” is. In one sense, “it” is about you, and about me, and God’s ordination of all that we do in life. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| There are probably not very many American boys, over the last 40 years, who have not been introduced to the characters in the Disney adaptation of A. A. Milne’s classic Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| What do you want to be when you grow up? Adults may have asked that question of you as a child, as they watched you play. You were ready for it, replying with a list of the manly roles that caught your imagination. “I wanna be a fireman, an’ a asta-nut, an’ a cowboy,” you said. “Oh, yeah, an’ a doc-ter ‘cause they make a lotta money an’ you might need summa that.” Or, you may have looked at your father and said, “I wanna be like you, Daddy.” |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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| Men often feel lost and alone, with a growing sense that life has passed them by while they were not looking. They have gone along with the flow or ignored the warning signs, and suddenly have no clue as to what they really want to be or to do in the world. They hold jobs that allow them to live a preferred lifestyle, but that bring little satisfaction. |
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| Posted by Bill Kinney at | | | |
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