Giving It Your Best Shot

Posted on October 7, 2010 by jesustrek

Brenner and Me

My 14-month-old friend Brenner recently came over for a play date. At one point, Brenner picked up my basketball and marched resolutely to the 10 foot high goal that is nailed to the side of the barn behind our house. Looking up at the goal, he took aim and tossed the ball. His shot ended up going about 2 inches beyond his fingertips, nearly 8 feet short of the goal. In the process of his effort, Brenner also fell to the ground. Later he tried it while perched on my shoulders, but the little guy’s toss still didn’t come close to the goal.

You have to admire Brenner’s attitude. He knew what was supposed to be done, and even though he fell short of succeeding, he gave it his best shot.

Sometimes we feel quite small and ineffective when trying to serve the Lord. But Ephesians 4:12-16 talks about how God’s people mature as they receive training and as they work together in love. The promise in verse 15 is that “…We will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

Someday I hope to see a bigger, stronger Brenner effortlessly swishing 3-pointers from all over the basketball court. And someday I hope to be more mature in my faith as I try to serve Jesus. All any of us can do in the meantime is give it our best shot.

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Noticing the Needy

Posted on October 6, 2010 by jesustrek

The young lady I saw at the gym yesterday seemed to be enjoying a routine workout. I smiled at her and said “Hi” as our paths crossed moving from one exercise machine to another. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as I saw her a couple of minutes later sitting at a machine and staring at the floor. “She’s just resting”, I thought. “People do it all the time.”

The next thing I knew, a trainer was running toward her. The young lady was having some sort of physical difficulty. The staff questioned her about what she had for breakfast, and they brought her some juice to drink. After just a few minutes, she was feeling much better, and said she was going to get something to eat.

I apologized to her as she left, explaining that I didn’t notice she was having trouble.

It seems that we all too often fail to notice those who are hurting, suffering from some kind of physical, spiritual or emotional need. It’s easy to become like the priest and Levite of Luke 10, rather than the Good Samaritan. Let’s all try to do a better job of noticing the needy.

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That Girl

Posted on October 5, 2010 by jesustrek
Tom and Karen Cox

Our 5-year-old neighbor was having a difficult time remembering our names. One day, wanting to know where my wife was, he asked me, “Where’s that girl?” Knowing what he meant, but wanting to get him to say Karen’s name, I asked him what girl he was talking about. He replied, “You know, that girl that follows you around.”

Karen has followed me around for over 21 years now. That path has taken us to several different towns and churches. She has stayed with me through unemployment, sickness, surgery and other times when I wasn’t the easiest person to follow. I feel quite blessed because she has been with me every step of the way.

“…Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)

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Much Fruit

Posted on October 4, 2010 by jesustrek
Truckload of tomatoes

This time of year it is not unusual to see tomatoes lying in the streets of Kokomo, Indiana. The trucks hauling the freshly harvested tomatoes are usually loaded to capacity, and when they turn a corner they often lose a few tomatoes.

This reminds me of how Jesus expects his followers to produce a lot of fruit. In John 15:5 he says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Gal.5:22-23 tells us what kind of fruit we are to produce—“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…”

Let’s all strive to make sure that Jesus sees an abundance of this kind of fruit in our lives. In John 15:8, Jesus states, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Can the people in your home town see the trail of fruit that you have left behind?

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Get Back on that Horse

Posted on October 3, 2010 by jesustrek

We’ve all heard that when you fall off a horse you need to get back on it again. Diana Moore, a competitor in the World Equestrian Games, literally did that. 20 years ago, when she was 18, she and her horse both fell on pavement, and she has been paralyzed on her left side ever since. She says that the first thing she said when she regained consciousness was, “I am going to ride horses again.”

After her accident, Moore had to learn to talk and eat again. At times she had doubts about riding again. But thanks to her determination and an upbeat outlook on life, she got back in the saddle again. This week she will ride for Argentina in an event that will include disabled competitors.

Sometimes we take a bad tumble in life. It could come in the form of a failed marriage, lost job, illness or accident, addiction, family problem, moral failure, etc. It may take time to recover from such a fall, but thankfully, we have a God who gives second chances, and quite often the Lord uses bad breaks to make us stronger people.

Rom.5:3-5 offers these words of encouragement—“…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

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Stop the Bleeding

Posted on October 2, 2010 by jesustrek
Tex Cobb

Ex-boxer Tex Cobb recently came up with a good line when he was talking to the Philadelphia Inquirer about graduating from Temple last year at the age of 57. Cobb is quoted as saying, “It was nice to have that opportunity to wear a robe, to step up there and not have to worry about bleeding.”

It sure is nice to be able to go to church and not have to worry about bleeding. The church has been called the only army that shoots its wounded. Many people who are hurting–physically, emotionally or spiritually—come to church needing comfort and instead find people who kick them while they are down. Others come to church in relatively good shape…until the church gets through with them.

Gal.5:15 says, “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

The church shouldn’t inflict pain on people; it should be a hospital for the hurting. Let’s do everything we can to stop the bleeding at our churches.

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Not Forsaken

Posted on October 1, 2010 by jesustrek

A record number of children have died in hot vehicles this year. According to a group that keeps track of such deaths, 48 children have died after being left or becoming trapped in a hot car or truck. The previous record of 47 was set in 2005.

Experts say that leaving a child in a hot vehicle is not always the result of negligence. Quite often these tragedies occur because the parent or guardian becomes distracted or has a sudden change of routine, and forgets that a child has been left in the car seat.

Your heart has to go out to a parent who has to pay such a high emotional price for a forgetful moment. It reminds us that even the best parents are not perfect.

We can be thankful that we have a perfect heavenly Father who will never, ever forget us. Deut.31:8 says, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

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Good Role Player

Posted on September 30, 2010 by jesustrek
Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal has been an All-Star for most of his NBA career. However, as he enters his 20th season, he is expected to come off the bench for the Boston Celtics. Rather than sulk about his new role, Shaq is not complaining at all. He realizes that the first part of his career was all about him scoring and being the star of the team. Shaq says, “That part of my game is over now. It’s time for me to be a …good role player.”

You have to admire O’Neal’s willingness to take a lesser role and allow other players to be in the spotlight. It shows maturity on his part. He is willing to do whatever it takes to be the kind of team player that Boston needs in order to be a winning team.

The church at Corinth had too many members who wanted to be the star of the show. Others thought that they weren’t important because they weren’t as gifted as other members. Paul wrote to them about this issue. In 1 Cor.12:12 he says, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”

He goes on to say that the parts of the body shouldn’t think that they are any more or less valuable than other parts; every part is needed. The body couldn’t function properly if every part did the same thing. So in the church, we have diversity, and at the same time, we have unity.

V.27 sums it up with these encouraging words—“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Like Shaq, your role might change over the years. But you are designed to be an important part of your local church. We should all relish the role that God has prepared for us and joyfully offer our unique contributions to a winning team.

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Winners!

Posted on September 29, 2010 by jesustrek

The Cincinnati Reds have just won the Central Division championship in the National League. The Reds clinched the title in dramatic fashion, with a walk-off home run by Jay Bruce in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the 45th come-from-behind victory for Cincinnati this season. It feels especially good when you can turn things around and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Sometimes it feels like the world is winning and the church is losing. On many issues, the battle is going the wrong way. But we can take heart in knowing that we will be ultimately victorious. We have read the story, and we know how it turns out in the end.

Jesus sent a message to the church in the last part of the first century. The book of Revelation was addressed to believers who were struggling to hold on to their faith in a world where evil was prevalent. The early Christians faced persecution and many other hardships. They were discouraged in the face of such severe adversity. But Jesus urged his people to remain faithful to him, no matter what happened. The promise he made to them applies also to believers today—“…Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev.2:10).

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The World’s Greatest Christian

Posted on September 28, 2010 by jesustrek

I once met the world’s greatest Christian. How did I recognize her as such? She had no halo or aura to signify how special she was. So how did I know? She told me. Oh, not in so many words. But by the way she went on and on about all the good things she had been doing that day, and about how others should be doing the same but they weren’t, I got the message–I was standing in the presence of greatness.

When confronted with such cartoonish behavior, we might tend to focus on the arrogance of the offensive individual. Instead, I must take a good look at myself to see if I am practicing humility, or if I am blowing my own horn. Do I bring up a certain matter as a prayer concern, or as a means of fishing for compliments by showing how involved I am in trying to minister to people?

Prov.27:2 says, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.”

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