Something I Heard

Today I walked into the office and I was actually here before everyone else.  That is new for me.  Anyway, as I was walking to my office, Bill Goodpasture came in the door.  Ok, so I just beat him to the office.  AS he walked in a women from the church was there.  I know what you are thinking, she got here at the same time as me, but she doesn’t work here so she doesn’t count.  She told Bill, “I finally figured out why I like you so much.”  She was speaking about his preaching.  She said something like,  I like your preaching because you study for yourself and not just to preach what you have read.  At first that sounds weird and my explanation may not be the best, but as I realized what she was saying , I really liked her compliment.  She was trying to tell Bill that his preaching is great because he studies and works for himself before he preaches to everyone else.  Bill puts in the time and effort to really learn on him own.  He is not just tell everyone what someone else said, but taking the time to understand and then share his knowledge with everyone else.

This may sound strange and you may think that all preachers do that, but I don’t think so.  I believe many preachers just focus on that preaching part and not the studying and understanding part.  These ministers are going through the motions and not trying to make difficult things seem simple.  That is the test of a really good minister.  If he can take a difficult passage or topic and make it simple for others to understand, then he is a good preacher.  He is doing exactly what Jesus did.  Jesus made difficult things easy for everyone and when they still didn’t get it, he made it even easier for them.

So now you are wondering how this matters to you because you are not a preacher or a teacher.  Well, you see we are all Christians and we are all supposed to study and learn about God.  First, for ourselves so that we can live the way God wants.  And second, because we are to show the world what we have learned and how they are supposed to live.  If a person claims to be a Christian and they do not study for themselves, then they will not be able to show others what they have learned by the way they live.   Just like a preacher you would be going through the motions and not really doing your job.  This person makes everything about them and not about God.  So let us learn to study for ourselves and then to show others how they should live.

Golf is Hard!

On Monday I played golf with some friends.  It was an odd group because it was me, two high schoolers, and an elder in our church.  Not to make elders really old, but he is not a spring chicken.  So the day started off early because our tee time was at 7:40 am and then it became strange because two of us were late since we forgot to tell the new guy about wearing a polo shirt.  I still think golf rules are weird.  Anyway, we finally got started and I was all set to have my best game ever.  The reason I thought it would be the best game ever was because last week I played with some guys and I really did have my best game ever.  I every got a birdie, and it wasn’t after a lot of bad shots that didn’t count. 

So back to the current game.  As we started to hit I got up and was ready to smash the ball all the way down the fairway.  Looking at the game I was focused and just destroying it.  Lifting my club all the way up, all I could think about was what an awesome shot this was going to be.  As the club came back down with a hiss of the the wind and crack, I hit the ball.  And to my horror the ball didn’t go straight, far, or even on the fairway.  My first shot of the day pulled hard right into some rocks in front of the water about 100 feet in-front of.  Well it probably wasn’t 1oo feet, but just to make me feel better we will say it was.

Drive after drive I tried to hit a good shot and I just couldn’t do it.  I kept trying and everything just seem to get worse and nothing was working for me.  It was tiring, long, and hot.  All I wanted was a good shot and I couldn’t get it.  Finally I thought I should just stop and do something else because this is obviously not working for me.  Everything was telling me that golf is not for me and that I should try something else or just go back to the things I have always done.

At the time I didn’t think anything about all this and I just wanted to get a good shot, but then I started thinking that a lot of people have experiences as Christians that are similar to my golfing experience.  The people become Christians and read about all the good things that happen to Christians and everyone talks about what God has done for them.  There in lies that problem.  Christians always talk about what God has done for them and that you should be a Christian because God can do the same thing for you.  But Christians never share about the struggles, problems, heart ache, pain, and suffering that they sometimes have to go through in order to be happy.  When someone becomes a Christian they think that everything will be ok now, but that is not true always true.  So when the problems happen and everything doesn’t go as planned, they think that something must be wrong and that maybe they should quite.  They think they should either find something else or go back to the things they were doing before.  Romans 6:3-5 tells us that sufferings produce perseverance and perseverance character and character hope and that hope does not disappoint because God has poured out his love in our heart.  You see, God allows suffering so that we will grow.  Not to beat us down and destroy us, but to help us grow closer to him and to realize what really makes us happy.

So when the going gets tough, the tough rely on God!

So I am a little different.

I have been going to the gym now for about a month.  At the gym you will see just about everything you could ever image at a gym.  From the funny to the stuff you wished you hadn’t seen.  One day I noticed that a lot of people loot at me a little strange.  I realized it is because I wear pants and a hoodie to workout in.  While everyone else is wearing very tight clothing and sometimes not wearing enough, there is me who is wearing more then you would think I need.  People just look at me like I am a weirdo.  I know they are thinking that they are so hot and that I am nuts for making myself even hotter then I need to be.  Well, I wear that stuff because I am cold and it makes me feel better to sweat a lot.

This story reminded me of people that I meet every once in a while.  The people who find out that you are a Christian and ask you why.  And not why because they don’t what Christianity is, but why like you are stupid.  They just don’t get it and they think you are a weirdo for wanting to be a Christian.  They don’t understand and don’t usually want to.  1 Corinthians 1:18 tell us “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  People who don’t know what God can do and don’t want to.  They think it is dumb and that anyone who is a Christian is dumb too.  Our job is to show them that Christianity is not dumb by the way we act, talk, and live.  The people who don’t understand will never understand unless we show them.