“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” John 15:16 

A man sat with a friend complaining bitterly about all the troubles in his life. After listening for a while his friend finally spoke up. “Look, Joe,” he said, “this is your life, and these are the conditions. Now, what’s the invitation?”

One of my favorite scenes from the movie “Forrest Gump” occurred when Lieutenant Dan climbed up the mast of Forrest’s shrimp boat. A storm arose, yet there he remained straddled to the mast throughout the night, all the while screaming at God about all the troubles in his life. It was there that Lieutenant Dan, who had lost both his legs in Vietnam, came to a moment of truth with God. Bitterly, he had kept asking the same questions over the years since his tragedy. Why did this happen to me? What am I good for now without my legs? Finally, atop the mast of a rickety old shrimp boat in the middle of a violent storm he laid it all on the line. Shaking his fist toward the sky he challenged God to either grant him some peace and show him a purpose, or let him die.

At long last the storm subsided, the seas calmed, and miraculously Lieutenant Dan survived. More importantly, he had faced the moment of truth about his life, an acceptance of the fact that this was his life, and these were the conditions. Now, “what’s the invitation?”

In the next scene we see Lieutenant Dan beneath the clear blue sky leaping off the shrimp boat into the calm waters like a kid in summer diving into a swimming pool, where he is playfully backstroking about, smiling at the sun, catching its glorious rays – free at last from his bitterness. And we hear Forrest Gump narrating in the background that Lieutenant Dan had made his peace with God. Invitation received, invitation accepted!

“You did not choose me,” Jesus said, “but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” God did not choose our condition; rather He invites us from whatever our condition – and appoints us!! – to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last . . . This is our life, yours and mind. Our respective conditions are what they are. Now, what is our invitation? How can we bear fruit with the conditions we’ve been handed?

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” – Luke 12:48 

A few years ago, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, two of the world’s wealthiest individuals, issued a challenge to their fellow multi-billionaires to give away a significant portion of their wealth, as they had committed to do. And while it would be presumptuous to assume they had been directly influenced by the above passage from the Gospel of Luke, it would also be presumptuous to assume they were not. The fact of the matter is I don’t know what if anything influenced their philanthropy except that they seem to understand that along with their extreme good fortune comes extreme responsibility. Other than that, I am hesitant to speculate much about the motives of these two gentlemen since I do not know either one personally, nor do I know much about their personal values or beliefs.

Regardless of their motives, though, it is encouraging what these men did by making a public statement about their wealth that ultimately says it is not theirs to keep but to give away – and to give away for the benefit of the greater good of mankind. At an even deeper level their message is all but an admission that their wealth had never been theirs to begin with, but a gift, their extreme philanthropy being a public recognition of that.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded . . .” is not a message intended exclusively for the mega-wealthy, though. It applies to all of us; for we have all been blessed in some way with more than enough. And just as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet seemed to have recognized, it is not for us to keep but to give away. Some have been blessed with financial wealth, some have physical strength and energy, some with special talents, others have wisdom, and most of us at the very least have the ability to offer a smile or an encouraging word. Whatever our gifts, talents, or resources might be, they have been entrusted to us not just for ourselves but for the greater good of humanity. What a privilege to be called to offer our God-given gifts for such a purpose!

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged.” – Joshua 1:9 

A giant water tower once stood at the edge of the school yard in my hometown, arguably the tallest structure in town, which was an ever-present source of temptation for mischief with the local high school kids. In fact, more times than not the old water tower was covered with graffiti painted by those brave enough – or crazy enough – to shinny up one of its massive steel beam legs wagging a bucket of paint.

Legend has it that once upon a time one young hooligan who had ventured up the tower to test his artistic talents slipped and fell off, a mishap that should have been fatal, except this lucky lad happened to land in the middle of a large elm tree that had grown up next to the tower. Thus, so the story goes, he only suffered a few scrapes and bruises. Lots of people have climbed up that tower through the years, but of all the stories his is by far the most notorious. As for me, I never had the guts to try.

Ever wonder why it’s the risk-takers who get all the attention, even the crazy ones who take stupid risks like some of the hooligans I grew up around, instead of the play-it-safers? Could it be that we envy them, that we wish we could be more like them, be as fearless as they seem to be? It could be for good reason too; for it is the risk-takers – although not the foolish ones like I just described – who are the difference makers in the world. They are inventors, creators, adventurers, explorers, and entrepreneurs. And yes, they are fearless in that the possibility of failure never seems to frighten them away. By playing it too safe, on the other hand, we might just miss out on those opportunities to invent, create, explore or start something new.

I’ve never regretted not climbing that water tower, although I must admit I’ve always secretly admired the ones who did. But thank goodness I’ve not always been a play-it-safer either, for some of the best decisions I ever made in my life involved some risk taking – like getting married, having a family, becoming a bond trader, leaving that profession to go out on my own and become an executive coach. Yes, I survived a few close calls, but I can’t imagine what life would be like if I’d never taken a few risks. It’s just a fact of life, to live abundantly one must step out from time to time and take a few risks. As the Lord told Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified . . .”

“Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.”

–          Psalm 37:27 

I recall sitting in the office of an executive with the Wall Street firm where I was once employed discussing the challenges of dealing with unethical or marginally ethical people within our industry.  (Every profession has them, by the way.)  The executive with whom I was meeting made a comment I will never forget.  Bad people never last, he assured me.  Eventually they go too far, step over the line, and get caught resulting in disciplinary action, firing, revoked licenses, law suits, or prosecution – and on rare occasions all the above.  I disagreed at the time; for it seemed these clever shysters were ever present in my world placing an enormous burden on my staff and me to constantly monitor and police their activities – not the best use of our time and energy.  It’s just a fact of life, though, that from petty dishonesty to crime to terrorism to murderous dictatorships, evil is forever among us, and indeed has been throughout the history of mankind.

Someone once said that no matter how things may appear, there is no future in evil, only in good.  Pondering that has caused me to take heart; for discouraging as it is when it seems the bad guys win, when we consider that throughout history when evil actually is defeated – and it always is eventually, though not necessarily within our lifetimes – it is because in some way good has prevailed, thus validating that there is no future in evil, only in good.  Or as my old Wall Street executive friend assured me, bad people never last.

On Mount Sinai Moses received the same assurance from the Lord himself who said, “. . . for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

So, we should take heart in doing good, for by doing so we are paving a path for the future; as there is no future in evil, only in good.  Or as the Psalmist affirms, “. . . do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.”

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  – 2 Corinthians 12:10 

If you’ve ever seen the 1986 movie “Hoosiers”, about a small-town high school basketball team, you might recall there was a rather obscure character in the story by the name of Ollie McLellan.  The story takes place in a tiny community in rural Indiana back in the early 1950’s where Coach Norman Dale (played by Gene Hackman) was hired to coach the team.  Despite much resistance within the community to his unusual coaching style, Coach Dale nevertheless succeeded in taking the team all the way to the state championship where they defeated one of the largest high school teams in the state.

There is a scene early in the movie where on Coach Dale’s first day on the job he is trying to get acquainted with the ragtag group of players on the team, of which there were only seven.  Going around to each one he asked for their name and what position they played.  When he got to Ollie, a clumsy little short guy, Ollie responded that he was really the team’s manager, he only suited up for practice and to warm the bench during the games.  “I’m too short,” he explained, “I ain’t no good,” as his teammates chuckled.

It has been said that the one test of a person’s strength is that person’s knowledge of his or her weakness.  I would add that it is also a test of a person’s strength that the person be willing to admit his or her weakness.  Ollie’s strength, as it turned out, was much more than taking care of the team’s uniforms and warming the bench; his real strength was in admitting, “I’m too short, I ain’t no good.”  The test came at the very end of one of the critical games after someone fouled out leaving only four players on the floor.  In goes Ollie, the only sub, who immediately got fouled.  Miraculously Ollie sunk his free-throw to win the game, advancing them to the state tournament.  It was his moment of glory.

I’ve watched “Hoosiers” dozens of times over the years, it being one of my all-time favorite movies.  But it has only been in recent years that I have come to fully appreciate Ollie, maybe from recalling all those times when I too have been “too short,” and “ain’t no good.”  Except, unlike Ollie, I refused to admit it.  “For when I am weak, then I am strong,” says the Apostle Paul.  That’s because when we admit we are weak, allowing space for God to fill us with His power, then we are stronger than we could ever be on our own.  And that’s exactly what happened with Ollie McLellan.