Month: February 2023

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Be Ready; Things Can Change and Change Quickly

Ever been in a situation you thought you were prepared to handle, only to find out that conditions kept changing beyond what you anticipated? In February of 2002 I had the privilege of attending some of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah with my college roommate.

If you’ve followed my posts for awhile, you’ve heard about this before. As college students, we had to make this trip happen on a budget. No hotel rooms, no airfare. We drove from New York state to Utah and either slept in the car at rest stops or winter camped in a tent in a national forest.

One of the things that’s most difficult to anticipate or describe about this kind of trip is the cumulative effect of constantly being in cold temperatures for a week. We only attended one indoor event (and it had an ice arena, so it wasn’t the warmest). Aside from driving from place to place we didn’t really spend a lot of time either indoors or being warm. A few fast food restaurants, a Walmart once or twice, and various gas stations and rest stops were the only real times we had a roof overhead. Between poor nutrition and having to spend more calories on staying warm, I lost almost 15 pounds on that trip. My nose was cold for an entire week.

Spending so much time in the cold was a major reason why we were so happy that it got sunny and warm on the day we went to watch bobsledding. I think it got up into the 50s, and the sun felt amazing. It was almost too warm to bobsled. They had to put sun shades over parts of the track to keep the ice from melting.

The previous day we had worn some of our warmest gear when we went to watch Giant Slalom. Walking up a mountain in hot clothing on a mild winter day led to some sweaty times. We weren’t going to make that mistake again, and we opted for lighter clothing that day. Instead of our thermal underwear, big jackets, and wool hats, we went with long-sleeve tee shirts, windbreakers, and baseball hats. I remember there was some dude there with no shirt, something painted on his chest, and he was swinging some nation’s flag around. I felt nice and warm, but not that warm.

Well bobsledding was cool to watch, but the novelty sort of wore off after awhile. The event was two days long, and we had tickets for day one. It was neat to see the sleds whip past on a vertical wall going 70 mph, and of course we kept an eye out for the Jamaican bobsled team (unfortunately they only had competitors in the two-man bobsled races that year). There were more wrecks than they show on TV, too. Overall, though, the stuff we saw wasn’t super exciting. It wasn’t like we were seeing any medal-deciding runs. I think a lot of other people felt the same way because the crowds started thinning out as the day went on.

We really noticed a change when the sun went down. We started getting a bit more chilled, and we had to move around more or stamp our feet to stay warm. Hands went in pockets and stayed there. Arms stayed glued to our sides. One guy standing near us, on his way out, said “here, I think you need these more than I do,” and handed my roommate some 6-hour handwarmers he had been using.

The bible is the kind of book that has stuff for both beginners and expert users. Some readers on the newer side of the spectrum will decide that they’ve read it enough to know what they need to know. Although I’ll concede that they can easily read enough to know the most important things, I’d argue that they’re simply not in a position to accurately predict what passages of scripture they’ll need to be familiar with. The only way to be better prepared for what God throws at you in this life is to keep reading that bible and keep engaging with Him in prayer. Finished reading one of the books of the bible? There are plenty more. Finally got all the way through the Bible? Congratulations, that’s awesome! Do you feel like you understand it all, or are there parts you need to have another look at? (If you understand it all, there are some things in there I don’t totally understand; maybe you can explain them to me.)

Another way to look at the illustration is that while you may feel prepared and equipped for the phase of life you’re currently in, there’s always change coming. Keep that bible handy and keep reading it. What about if you think it’s a stretch to say you’re prepared and equipped for the phase of life you’re in? All the more reason to study and prepare.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; -2 Timothy 3:16

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What Absurd Things Might You be Called Upon To Do for the Gospel?

Have a unique talent or ability? God can use it for His glory.

When I was in high school I got involved in rappelling, and that interest further developed in college. I was fortunate enough to be able to take college coursework that provided me with instruction on safely using the equipment used in descending down cliff faces. It was a lot of fun; I started doing some outside-the-box stuff with it, and I’ve written about some of those adventures elsewhere in this blog. While I was in college friends and I rappelled off cliffs, out dorm windows, set up ziplines, and made promotional videos. Some of you may remember the post I made a few months back about rappelling down a cliff in a kayak.

After college, I was no longer surrounded by the same kind of people that “encouraged the crazy.” I moved back in with Mom and Dad for awhile and worked construction for a bit. During this time I helped out with our church’s youth group.

Every Presidents Day weekend, our high school youth group took part in “Winter Weekend” at a nearby Christian conference center. All the youth groups from our denomination’s district were invited to take part, and it was generally one of the high points of the year for the high schoolers.

Killing a few hours between daylight filming and nighttime filming. Some of the grease paint rubbed off when I blew my nose.

This particular year, the organizers asked Allen, the leader of our youth group, to film a video about some of the rules that would be in effect during that weekend. It was supposed to cover things like curfew/lights out times, not riding in personal vehicles, etc. To make it more fun to watch, Allen decided to add an entertaining twist. He recruited a couple of guys to be the rule-breakers in the video, and he asked me to more or less be the “bogeyman” that always caught them. I dressed in camo and grease paint for the video, and popped out of ridiculous places to catch the guys doing bad things. Then on opening night after the rules video finished playing, the plan was for the two guys to walk out live on stage, looking like they were going to do something shady. My role at that point would be to rappel down from the ceiling, gently touch down behind the two guys without them noticing, tap them on the shoulders, and then chase them out of the room. Honestly it sounded like a lot of fun, so I agreed to do it.

I had some camo gear from the Salvation Army store, and I had some leftover camo paint from something I did in college. We shot the video one cold February day and Allen spliced it together the way he wanted.

On the first night of the weekend, before they let any of the high schoolers into the auditorium, I dressed and geared up, and some people moved a scissor lift into place for me. While people were putting the finishing touches on the stage decorations, I rode the lift up into the rafters above the stage, set up the anchors and rope I’d need, and climbed off the lift onto a metal beam. They brought the lift back down, rolled it backstage, and then opened the doors for the first session of the weekend. I probably sat up in the rafters for 20-30 minutes, waiting for my next part. While I waited I painted my face up in camo, checked and re-checked my equipment, and tried to avoid having the lower half of my body go numb from sitting on a thin cold metal beam.

Once the session started, they welcomed everybody, then went over some of the things you have to cover right at the beginning. Then it was time for the rules video. It had a pretty positive reaction, and I could hear laughter from the crowd during different parts of it. As it drew to a close I slid off the beam and transferred my weight into my harness. Once I was steady I swung upside-down.

The two guys walked out onto the stage, almost right below me. The crowd started going nuts for them (everybody either missed the point of the video or they thought the two guys were cute, I dunno). I waited just a few beats for the crowd to show their enthusiasm and then started sliding down head-first. The rope I used didn’t hang down to the stage; I wore a backpack that held the rope, and I had pre-measured it so that it was just enough to safely get to the ground, but then the tail end of it was easy to pull right through the rest of the gear so I could chase the guys without having to stop.

It was a little strange. As I came into the audience’s view, the cheers of the crowd went quiet while they tried to understand what they were seeing. I came down right in front of the screen the video had been playing on, so they were probably trying to figure out if I was a real person or if they were watching something that was being projected.

I descended low enough to reach the ground, flipped rightside up, and pulled the rest of the rope through my gear so I was disconnected from it. I stepped up right behind the two and tapped them each on the shoulder. They looked at me, gave each other a funny look, and then sprinted off the stage and up the main aisle of the auditorium with me right behind them. The crowd burst into cheers again.

The photographer was a little late on this one, but it’s the best photo I’ve got. You can see my feet criss-crossed on the rope against the background of the screen. The two “bad guys” are just to the left of the “One Way” sign.

Now…did this stunt lead anyone to Christ? I can’t imagine it did. Sliding down a rope upside down just doesn’t have that kind of effect on people. The important thing to remember, though, is that Christianity is a team sport. The speaker that weekend, the various youth leaders, and the counselors leading small group discussions that weekend all did the heavy lifting in that area. All I did was help break the ice and bring a smile to the face of people who were still deciding whether or not they had made a mistake in coming to this retreat.

One of the neat things about Christianity being a team sport is that even though we don’t actually huddle together to go over the strategy, God knows exactly what His players’ strengths are, when to use them, and how to motivate them. Believers that are complete strangers can unknowingly help each other out if God sets it up that way. When He needs someone to move on His behalf, He starts working on some people three years ahead of time, but only 10 seconds ahead of time for others. In the end, His timing is perfect…you just need to say “I’m in.”

So I urge you: be open to using your unique talents. Even if they don’t directly lead to salvation for someone, you can’t possibly know how your part factors into the furthering of God’s kingdom until after you’ve done it.

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. -1 Corinthians 12:12

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Lions Don’t Lose Sleep Over the Opinions of Sheep

Let’s go back in time 30 years. Imagine you’re an opponent of Christianity. You want to dethrone Judeo-Christian values in a country that was founded on them. How do you go about doing that?

The simple answer is that you have to introduce enough chaos into the system that it causes confusion on a wide scale. It’s a slow, subtle thing, but it’s one that doesn’t stop. Want to see a few examples of what I mean? If you went into the same church both 30 years ago and on a Sunday morning in 2023, and asked the following questions, which era do you think would have a more resounding response?

“Does God say homosexuality is wrong?”

“How many genders are there?”

“What’s more important, equality (having the same opportunities for all) or equity (being given credit for the same results as others, regardless of level of performance you put in)?”

My friends, I hate to break it to you, but those opponents are well on their way to dethroning Judeo-Christian values, merely by adding little qualifiers so that what used to be “truth” is now “my truth” or “your truth.” There aren’t any versions of truth, there’s only the truth!

Let’s put this another way. If you’re an opponent of Christianity, you want to silence any voice that advocates for Christian beliefs. The goal is to make Christian voices irrelevant and easy to stifle. Why? Because those voices preach something the world doesn’t want to hear. They become so enraged at the concept of a power that is higher than them, who has the authority and intent to judge them, that they can’t tolerate anything that represents those beliefs. “Tolerance” is only valid if it doesn’t oppose certain viewpoints.  

Given enough time, Christian/religious beliefs will be outlawed. You may think I’m exaggerating…that the likelihood of legislating against religious beliefs in a nation founded on religious freedom is laughable. Well, did you ever think schools and sporting organizations would support the decision to allow someone with a male body to compete in female sports and act like it’s legitimate?  

The progress of this erosive trend is comprehensive enough that in today’s society, people seem to think they have a right to treat unsupported statements as fact, and compel others to follow suit. Take for example a biological male that insists his gender be recognized as a female (or anything other than a male, for that matter). He, without proof, simply tells others he believes he’s not a man. He legally changes his name to a female name. Fine; that is the person’s new legal name, and he has the right to be referred to as such. But if he insists on being referred to as a she/her, that is an overreach because it now infringes on my viewpoint, and my viewpoint also carries weight and has value. This person can choose to live however he wants. He can pretend to be a woman, but he can’t compel anyone else to pretend he’s a woman. You have two diametrically opposed viewpoints that cannot coexist; why is the logically/biologically/medically unsupported viewpoint given priority over the fact-based one? Guess what? It’s only given priority if you yield your viewpoint and give credence to the false one. Push back against the erosion of truth.

(Sidebar: it’s important to note that above all, the most important thing you or I can do is share the love of Christ with them. Therefore I feel it’s prudent to also specify that pushing back for the sake of picking a fight isn’t what I’m advocating. You still want to maintain enough of a relationship with nonbelievers that you can share the Gospel with them. As a “meet in the middle” approach, refer to your colleague/acquaintance by their legal name because that’s what it legally is, but do not feel compelled to use pronouns you know to be untrue. This is sure to make for some contorted sentences, but you also have the right to live out your viewpoint. You may need to get used to saying things like “Michelle said that Michelle wants to join us for lunch.” I’m not in favor of turning “they” into a gender-avoiding pronoun, because “they” was already being used for something else and this evolution of language isn’t something I’d support. I’m open to the addition of a few new pronouns for exactly this purpose.)

Think I’m being a little over the top? This evolution of language and viewpoints tends to be a one-way flow, and by that I mean it tends to move away from the way God would want it to, and rarely back toward it. Can you imagine if somehow Christians built enough momentum to stop referring to the December 25th holiday as “Christmas” and instead called it “Baby Jesus Day?” People would lose their minds! There’d be all kinds of arguments about the separation of church and state, about how people have the right to “freedom from religion,” and about how unfair it is that religious viewpoints are being forced down the throats of Americans.

Yet, that’s how I view the growth of the power of the State. Devotion to the State is, in my viewpoint, its own religion. I think “State-ism” will be an important prerequisite to the outlawing of Christianity or otherwise hindering of churches (stripping them of their tax-exempt status, for example). That’s one of the main reasons I’m usually against candidates that embrace the growth of the role of government in our lives.

I can’t be alone in this perspective. I know others of you are out there. An AP-NORC survey from June of 2022 said 85% of Americans think the country’s headed in the wrong direction. Eighty five percent! If you’re reading this, you live in an era where you can affect change. You’re not alone. Stand up and say something.

Not confrontational? Well, in the future you may find yourself wishing you had spoken up a bit more. But if that’s something that’s really hard for you, try using this one: “I’m a pretty religious person, and that viewpoint goes against what God says He wants. I might not be the most humble guy/gal, but I’m not arrogant enough to think that I know better than God does.”

Stand up for truth. Proclaim it, because your proclamations and the simple fact that you take a stand will slow this erosion of truth.

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Sometimes A Calculated Risk Pays Off in Spades

I had to do one of my first research reports in 5th grade. I don’t think I’ve spent a whole lot of time checking into the state of Indiana before or since.

I wrote up a report on the state’s population size, its different regions, its climate, likely some stuff on its economy, and probably a few other things. My handwriting was nice and neat (for a change), and I assembled my papers and supporting graphics into one of those folders with the little brass things you stick through the holes in the paper to keep it secure in the folder.

On the day we were supposed to turn it in, I was pretty happy with my well-researched work of academic prowess. I had placed it carefully in my Trapper Keeper and brought it to class without even bending the edges.

As I looked around the class, I was horrified to realize that I had done nothing at all for the cover! While some kids had color photos, printouts, or elaborate drawings on the front of their state reports, all I had was a plain blue folder.

In a panic, I racked my brain about what to do. There was no possible way to do anything substantial before turning it in. That kid over there had cut out pictures of famous landmarks from their state and used a glue stick to fix them on the cover. Kids were already starting to hand their reports in!

The best I could do was to haphazardly draw a picture freehand. I whipped the report open to a picture of the state’s shape and committed the proportions and south border to memory, then started drawing on the front. The drawing was a little off center, but I topped it off with a star roughly where the capital city was. Then I threw the state name in big letters under it and put my name under that. The cover design wasn’t very good, but it was the best I could do in such a short time. I knew I’d get no points at all for the cover if I didn’t do anything, so what did I have to lose?

I don’t remember how I did on the report, but I remember that I got three out of 10 points for the cover portion. Not my best work, but three was better than zero.

If you’re not really ready to jump into this “Jesus thing” with both feet, ask yourself: “what do I have to lose?” Most people are tentative about having to give up some part of their lifestyle or quit something they’ve grown to like. This isn’t like a gym membership where you feel you have to get in shape before you walk through the doors for the first time. Come as you are. Let’s say you grow deeply committed and change your whole lifestyle and then it turns out there’s nothing waiting for us after death. In that case you won’t even possess a consciousness to realize what you’ve given up. If, on the other hand, Christ actually is who He says He is, you will have gained immeasurably more than what you had before. Sounds like very little risk for an immense payoff.

What do you have to lose?