As a well-read person I knew embarrassingly little about Walter Wink before I read this book. He’s a fascinating man. I wish that I had known him personally.

Reading “Just Jesus”, the final book by Walter Wink, was an introduction to a fascinating man who made public his joys and sorrows, successes and “my struggle to become human.” This book is a quick read. There are stories and discourses in short chapters, poems, and prayers.

I loved reading several chapters; my favorites were:

Tomorrow is third anniversary of my second lease on life.

Tuesday March 1, 2011 I had a near-death experience.

While driving home – surprise – death came calling.

Death Came Calling

I was sitting at the intersection talking to my friend Jesse waiting to turn at the light. The green arrow lit up.

Time to go.

I started to turn left and stopped for no apparent reason.

My foot slowly rose off the gas pedal, for no apparent reason.

Suddenly…ZOOOOM!!!

Stressed? Shaking?
Angry? Frustrated?
Disappointed?

Millions of shoppers drive recklessly, hunt hopefully, relate rudely, and waiting impatiently. For shoppers, shop-owners and employees alike Black Friday is day we need recovery.

3 Black Friday Recovery Tips

Black Friday Recovery Tip #1 – Stop: Stop believing a gift will make you more lovable. Stop hoping. Stop trying. You are always a lovable person. Our Creator knows what we truly need, all efforts to define ourself that exclude our Creator are doomed to fail. Stop.

Dan Adler’s song All I Need is You is a wonderful reminder of what’s really going to bring us hope and satisfaction in life.

Is grace happening to you?
Is grace happening in you?
Is grace happening through you?

I’ve been stuck emotionally and spiritually more than I’d like to admit. Raise your hand if you can relate? Okay, we’re all “not alone.” But, let’s not stay stuck!

Looking to take a step forward in your life?

Want your actions to more closely match your intentions?

Me too!

Each of the themes below links to a previous mysilentscream post that has been helpful to readers looking to make a change. 1

Love – Tired of empty expressions of “love”?

Lord,

You are our lamp,
you turn our darkness into light.
You are our light and our salvation

When we believe that,
do we need to fear anyone?
DO we need to be afraid of anyone?

LORD, help us to trust you as the stronghold of our lives, because when Jesus spoke to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

That’s what we need:
your leadership and clarity.

Please Lord help us to show your love and light to everyone we meet.

As I was approaching fifty years old I sought the wisdom of my elders. I sought out men and women older than I was to learn lessons on life that they had been learning.

Monday I began a series entitled A Treasure Chest Of Wisdom. 

The first lesson the wise would teach us is Don’t Hold Grudges
The second lesson was Take Care Of Your Health.

Compassion Makes Sense

Compassion is more important than pleasure. Many people intentionally blind themselves to the needs of others. When I didn’t listen to my mom my mom would call it “selective listening.”

As I was approaching fifty years old I sought the wisdom of my elders.  I sought out men and women older than I was to learn lessons on life that they had been learning.

I would ask: 

I know that you have spent your career with men and women older than yourself. In that time you have listened and learned as they’ve talked about their lives and their values. You have gathered insights and wisdom from their successes and their failures.

This year I’m turning 50 and I’m starting to feel middle-aged. I don’t know how old you are, but I know you’ve learned from those older than us.

I work at TreeHouse, and at TreeHouse we have four outcomes we track and are proud to explain.

Graduate High School

We are excited that TreeHouse teens are 24% more likely to graduate than their peers. That’s great news, but we want more for them.

Plan for After High School

93% of TreeHouse youth in grades 10-12 report they’ve begun making plans for after high school

Today is the TreeHouse Opportunity Fair.

Opportunity Fair is a night to get serious about the future. Tonight we will meet representatives from colleges, trade schools, the Armed Services, and future employers.

This the final entry in a three-part series on chains that lock us down.

To review, “Gotta Be My Way” people and “Drama Draggers” need gentleness; the gentleness God provides will certainly be sufficient.

When we’re chained to self-pity, we “Something I Can Never Have” envious people, need to rest in gratitude and contentment for what they have.

These chains:
Shackle us to selfishness
Clamp our compassion
Fasten our desire to offer forgiveness
Latch us to loneliness
And padlock our potential

There is another chain that anchors us to our past.

Today begins a three-part series on chains that lock us down. 

By that I mean that:

They shackle us to selfishness
They clamp our compassion
They fasten our desire to offer forgiveness
They latch us to loneliness
They padlock our potential

Today’s two chains poison us:

Gotta Be My Way – If we spend all our time demanding that others think and sound like we do we’ll never really learn, much less embrace, what they think.

Drama Dragger – Trying to drag others into our emotional slop so they will make us feel better never works for long.