Life | Heartstone Journey

Why Following The Yellow Brick Road Is Bad Advice

The words home-home tell us a little of what Jesus was meaning when He said, “…apart from Me…nothing.” He wants to be our home-home. Not our summer place, not our vacation retreat, not somewhere we go from time to time, but the place we are when we want to be home-home. He is saying that we will never be at home until we are at home in Him. For there is no life apart from the source of life and He is the source. When He says “apart from Me,” He is not just talking about what we do. He is asking us where we live.ⁱ

Wanting to come home is a desire in each and every one of us, but how we get there is another matter. There are so many small voice telling us to follow the yellow brick road. You know how the story ends. You come to a place that appears to look good just to find failed expectations hiding behind a curtain.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

—Matthew 7:13-14

Why is following the yellow brick road bad advice?

How To Hit The Target — All The Time!

As our church men’s group worked through week nine of our Stepping Up series, we learned the metaphor of the arrow in reference to having a clear vision for our family and specifically our children.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

—Psalm 127:4-5

Have you ever shot an arrow? You take an arrow out of your quiver, you place it into position on the bow, you pull back looking down the length of the arrow…waiting for the target to come into focus before you launch it. It’s awesome! Hitting your target with an arrow requires skill, strength, patience and a calming focus. The destiny of the arrow is completely dependent on many factors.

Ok, so what does this have to do with vision or children for that matter?

Fathers, Are You Making This 1 Huge Mistake?

Another powerful snow storm with blizzard conditions was hammering us in New Hampshire this past weekend. This was another in a series of storms that have been delivering heavy snow, wicked winds and significant snow accumulations on top of an already 2+ feet of snow.

We hunkered down in the family room around the warmth of the wood burning stove and decided to rent a movie. Ready to give up on the vast listing of non-interesting moves we came across ‘The Judge’ with Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall.

Quick synopsis. Robert Downey Jr. plays Hank Palmer, a successful defense attorney in Chicago, who finds himself returning to his childhood hometown to attend his mothers funeral. Early on we see the stress fractures of his “picture perfect” life played out in a bitter divorce narrative as he walks out the door to head home.

If you go online and visit the common places for movie reviews you might skip over this movie because it got beaten up a bit by the movie critics. What do the critics know, right? I thought the movie was engaging and deeply moving and it hit a really BIG chord with me.

What chord was that?

3 Super Bowl Ads That Challenged Today’s Culture

If you haven’t noticed, in today’s culture the very idea of fatherhood is under attack. The narrative highlighted by the media, movies and society throws out labels such as clueless, knucklehead, bumbling idiot, fill in the blank ________.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of seeing these ads that leave you with a dads biggest contribution to child rearing is the narrative “yes dear” as their wives do all the work!

Superbowl 49 was an awesome game! I’m one of those Patriots fan that jumped off the couch when Butler intercepted that pass in the end zone with seconds to go, but also I noticed major brands deciding to take on fatherhood and it got noticed. During the game that was seen by more than 100 million people, these ads showcased dads as they really are; loving, caring, supportive, helpful, courageous, protective, masculine and a major part in their children’s lives. What a concept!

Each ad pulled at my heart strings, so lets take a look at each of them.

Why The Story Of Louie Zamperini Should Have Been Titled ‘Broken’

Went to see Unbroken with some of my band of brothers and wow what an inspiring movie. If you really want the full impact of what this man went through, I highly recommend the book by Laura Hillenbrand.

I want to start by acknowledging that the movie ‘Unbroken’ based on Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling biography Unbroken is incredibly inspiring. What pops off the screen is Louie’s grit and courage. His sheer grit alone was awe inspiring — the likes of which not many men could ever hope to exhibit. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and Louie shows us through his brave example of true belief and courage that forgiving your enemies is possible.

Here is a quick summary of the movie before I take a deeper dive with my thoughts.

Why Following The Yellow Brick Road Is Bad Advice

How To Hit The Target — All The Time!

Fathers, Are You Making This 1 Huge Mistake?

3 Super Bowl Ads That Challenged Today’s Culture

Why The Story Of Louie Zamperini Should Have Been Titled ‘Broken’

Favorite Quotes

Cool Scripture

Never Out Of The Fight!

Resources