Author: Tim

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That Was Just a Warning Shot, God Doesn’t Miss

How tolerant is God?

We all make mistakes, right? Sometimes they’re accidental and sometimes we do the wrong thing even though we know it’s wrong. So…what’s God’s level of patience with us?

Fortunately, God often gives warnings before He gives punishments. We just need to be sensitive to hearing those warnings and being humble enough to change the thing we’re being warned about.

In the Old Testament we see a lot more examples of God “letting ‘em have it” as a result of bad behavior. In one instance, the book of Numbers, chapter 11, tells of a recently liberated Israel growing restless with God’s miraculous provision. By this point it had been over a year since God first provided manna, and the Israelites were getting pretty sick of it.

I can certainly understand how eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for over a year would get old. When you’re not carrying any spices, there are only so many ways you can alter the taste of something that’s already bland to start with. The first part of Numbers 11:1 says “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused.” The notes in my study bible say that this wasn’t just a passing grumbling; their complaining was outward and loud. I can imagine God saying “Oh, I’m sorry, you’re not pleased with the fact that I spared you from the horrible plagues that beset your captors, then I set you free from bondage, and now I’m bringing you to a fruitful land you’ll call home? I’m feeding you what you need and your clothes and shoes aren’t wearing out, but I’m not moving fast enough for your liking? Did I miss anything, your highness?”

Moses wrote the book of Numbers, and sometimes it’s kind of funny to see how he was in a hurry or just didn’t feel like taking the time to elaborate as he wrote things down. Maybe writing materials were in short supply. Here’s verse 11:1 in its entirety. “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.”

It seems like God doesn’t take the same approach these days. Imagine if He unleashed His wrath every time we did something displeasing to Him? There’d be nobody left!

Let’s consider what He did, though. Yeah, He let some of His anger off the chain, but He didn’t go as far as He could have. Israelites became known for their complaining. The fact that He focused His wrath “on the outskirts of the camp” suggests that He intentionally limited the damage. God doesn’t miss. It’s not clear how the fire started; I don’t know if we’re talking about raining literal fire down from Heaven or if it was “just” divine fire that sprung up in certain portions of the camp, but the outcome was the same…God made an example out of a relatively small number in order to serve as a warning to everyone else. The text doesn’t tell us who bore the brunt of God’s wrath that day, but from what we know about Him, I’ve got to think that they weren’t totally innocent of wrongdoing.

God tends to give warnings before He metes out punishment. In our current era, having people fall over dead doesn’t seem to be quite as common as in Bible times, but He has other ways of warning us to get back on track. A conscience is crucial for doing that. You’re also more likely to heed small warnings if you have a humble spirit. I can’t be sure, but I’m thinking the folks in Numbers 11 probably weren’t all that humble. God turned to straight up death and destruction as a warning. In your case, if you’re doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing, hopefully you’ve got enough humility that reading a post like this is enough to get you to say “you know what? I need to make some changes.”

God will give only so many warnings before He gives you over to the path you’re choosing. Are you doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing? If so, let this post serve as one of those warnings to you. It’s time to face the fact that changes must be made, and that you’re the one to do it.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

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In the Interest of Interest

Money is probably one of the biggest obstacles for a person’s taking a leap of faith in terms of stepping out of their comfort zones to do something they feel God’s calling them to do. I bring this up now because interest rates are in the process of rising, and they’ll likely rise several more times over the coming year to help start getting a handle on inflation. To help try to make that obstacle a little easier to overcome, I’d like to spend some time today talking about how to pay less for stuff by getting better interest rates, which in turn, means you’re using the resources God’s provided you with wisely and can do more with those resources in your charge.

Ideally if you want to buy something, you’d pay it in full right then and there at the site of the transaction. Cash used to be the dominant way to do this, but it’s not nearly as common anymore. There are times, however, when you don’t have enough cash available (either in your wallet or in your bank account) to make a large purchase. You’ll likely need to borrow money from a bank or credit institution to cover the cost of a house or vehicle, for example. Those institutions, in turn, will charge you money for the service of borrowing their money. (You’ll make payments to them, but the total amount you hand over will be way more than the original amount you borrowed.)

Credit cards are a similar thing, but at the same time they’re a different animal. Debit cards are nice in the sense that they’re sort of the electronic version of cash. You purchase something with a debit card, and it takes the money right out of your account. Just like cash…if you don’t have enough for the purchase, you don’t get to walk away with the thing you’re trying to buy. A credit card, on the other hand, doesn’t require you to have enough money available to pay for whatever you’re buying. In fact, credit card companies would prefer that you not pay off your credit card bill in full, because it gives them the opportunity to charge you large amounts of money for the privilege of using the credit they’ve extended to you. Don’t get lured in by earning reward points. I’d recommend that if you’d like, you can use credit cards to purchase things you were going to buy anyway, but try not to use them for impulse buys. When making a purchase, if you don’t have the money to pay for it right then and there, consider whether or not it’s worth going into debt for.

Okay, so…let’s pretend you’re a lending company…either a credit card company, somewhere that gives out car loans, or a mortgage company. Someone you’ve never met applies to your company for some credit. Each time you lend money to someone, you’re making an investment in them that involves some amount of risk. What do you use in making your decision about whether or not to extend credit to them?

It turns out these organizations use something called a credit score. Every person’s track record of the way they’ve handled credit or debt in the past plays some role in their credit score. If the lending institution sees an applicant who has a very good credit score, they’ll view that applicant as a safer investment than someone with a low credit score. Those with a high score are more likely to be able to secure larger amounts of credit at cheaper rates.

If an applicant has a low (or worse, no) credit score, they’re seen as a risky bet. They may be approved for credit, but it will likely be in smaller amounts, and will almost surely pay higher interest rates. A higher risk means there’s a greater chance that they won’t reliably pay back the full amount of money owed. To offset this risk, institutions will grant the credit at higher interest rates. (Even if the applicant defaults, the money gained from the high interest rate helps recover some of the money they’ve initially laid out.) A bank’s favorite scenario? When a person with a high interest rate pays off the full balance, but does it as slowly as possible. The bank not only recovers its initial outlay, but also gets to pocket all that high interest as profit.

Now let’s look at it from the other side. If you’re applying for credit, you want to get money for the lowest possible interest rate. Your best bet is to build up your credit score before you even apply for credit. Credit scores run from a low of 300 to a highest possible 850. In general, a “good” score is 700 and up. An “excellent” score is anything above 800. Most people have a score that falls somewhere between 600 and 750.

What factors determine a credit score?

As it turns out, demonstrating good credit habits will naturally build your credit score. As you may expect, the biggest chunk comes from your track record of payments. Thirty-five percent of your credit score comes from your payment history. If you pay all your bills in full each month (including housing, installment loans, and credit cards), that’s 35% in your favor. It demonstrates reliability.

The next-largest chunk of your credit score (30%) comes from your credit usage. If you don’t pay off the balance in full each month, how big a balance do you carry over? What percentage of your available credit are you using? Carrying a balance on one or more credit card isn’t the end of the world, but if you want to raise your credit score, you definitely need to use no more than 30% of your credit line per account, and it would be even better to get those balances down to zero each month. Just because you have credit available doesn’t mean you should use it. Showing restraint works in your favor. Additionally, getting an account balance down to zero is a great thing, but if you close the account after doing so, it decreases the total credit available to you. If you’re still carrying hefty balances on other accounts, closing an account will mathematically increase the percentage of remaining credit you’re using, which could drop your score. It’s better to pay off the balance and then simply avoid adding any new debt to that account. If you really want to close the account you should wait until you’ve paid down more of your total debt.

Those two items, making payments on time and showing restraint in your credit usage, account for nearly two thirds of your credit score. If you want to improve your score, start there. The remaining 35% is broken up into smaller categories that will be less impactful in the immediate term, but play a significant role over a longer period of time.

Another 15% of your credit score comes from the length of credit history. How old are your oldest and newest accounts? What’s the average age of all accounts combined? There are a few other considerations in this category, but for the most part, you just have to have time on your side for this one. Keep reliably making those payments.

Ten percent of your credit score comes from your credit mix. There are fixed obligations (rent/mortgage, student loan payments, the cable bill, etc.), variable obligations (credit cards), and some that are sort of in between (the electric or water bill). Showing you can manage more than just one type shows you can handle the responsibility of credit. At only 10%, this isn’t a huge factor, but it still plays a part if you’re in the gray area between “poor” and “fair” or “fair” and “good.”

The final 10% comes from “new credit.” Don’t open lots of new accounts in a short period of time. Lenders will see a lot of new accounts and wonder why the credit you’ve already got isn’t enough. Is it due to mismanagement? Are you in some kind of financial trouble? It just adds a perception of risk to the mix.

A handful of items go into a basic credit score, but by demonstrating that you can handle various lines of credit, you also make yourself more likely to get the best rates. Access to better rates means you free up resources you can use in your pursuit of furthering God’s kingdom, however you’ve been called to do it.

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It’s Not About “Having” Time. It’s About “Making” Time.

As I’m sure you can guess, in some ways I never actually grew up.

One example of this is the fact that I still enjoy reading the Sunday comics. One of the comics I like the best is called “Pickles.” It’s a comic about an elderly couple, Earl and Opal, and the humor that occurs in their lives. For some reason I’ve always liked Earl. The top of his head pokes out from under his white hair, he’s got glasses, and he walks with a slight hunch. I’ve joked before that I’m a grumpy old man in training, but Earl’s an old man without the grump (most of the time).

I read one Pickles comic not long ago. Earl sits up in bed as he faces a new day, then gets up and shuffles to the bathroom. As he looks at himself in the mirror he begins to ponder his life. “Look at yourself Earl, you’re an old codger!” With still-mussed hair, he asks “When and how did this happen?”

He keeps reflecting on his life as he begins brushing his teeth. “One day you’re a young buck with the world at your feet…” In the final panel, “…and the next day you’re an old dude brushing your teeth with Preparation H.”

I’ve always enjoyed hearing from Earl, but in the back of my mind, I’m afraid the distance between where I am and where he is probably isn’t as large as I’d like to think. There are certain seasons of life that seem to drag, but overall the time flies.

Personally, I’ve never been slapped with the jarring wake-up call from a doctor that includes the words “it’s time to get your affairs in order.” If that day ever comes, I’m sure I’ll have regrets over the time I’ve wasted doing various things.

To shift gears for a moment, back when I was first starting this blog, there was a pretty sizable chunk of time where I had no ideas about what I’d call it. As far as I was concerned, the whole point of the blog was to bolster readers’ faith, encourage them to dig deeper in their relationship with Christ, and exhort them, even try to push them, to increase the amount of time and effort they give to the Lord. Heaven will have people that barely made it through the “pearly gates,” and of course we’ll be happy they’re there. There will also be those in Heaven with many jewels in their crown. I’m not focused on greed here, but I think Christians should aspire to receive ornate crowns. (We’ll be giving those crowns to the Lord anyway, so the only “tangible” benefit of having a highly decorated crown is to have more to offer back to God.) I want my writing to help people receive crowns that have more jewels than they otherwise would have. I’m not looking to foster a sense of greed; I want to encourage readers to live their lives in such a way that additional jewels are a natural byproduct of their lifestyle.

The way people will do that is by being willing to risk something in their pursuit of Christ and the life He wants them to live. Maybe it’s risking comfort, or being willing to stand up for Christ’s teachings when everyone else seems to be sitting down. In some way, it involves graduating from the role of a spectator or someone who watches from safety, and taking on the role of someone who “gets out of the boat” the way Peter did.

During this time of searching for a title, I attended a conference where I heard a quote from Teddy Roosevelt that embodied a lot of what had been swirling in my mind:

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

The quote instantly found a special place in my heart. Knowing Christ is a fantastic thing, and if you know Him, I’m very glad to hear it. Let’s not let the story end there, though. While most Christians live relatively quiet lives, there are some that are involved in making history; they affect God’s kingdom on a larger scale than they would have ever anticipated. It’s not because they themselves are great…it’s because they said “yes” when God offered them an invitation, and He did something great through them. Success (at least as we imagine it) is never assured, but each invitation has a purpose. As the world keeps getting darker, we’re going to need more history-makers. In order to get more history-makers, we need to help “everyday” Christians say “yes” to God instead of saying “no.”

After hearing the quote, I had a large piece in “dare greatly.” Sadly, the domain “daregreatly.com” was already taken. If you go to that address, you get rerouted to a luxury vehicle website (maybe not what most people think of when imagining someone who “dares greatly”).

That led me to the final piece of the puzzle. In a tip of the cap to the urgency with which the world needs Christianity’s salt and light, I settled on daregreatlynow.com. It helps convey the idea that the world needs Christian influence, it needs it from you, and it needs it now.

If we haven’t already reached the point where we’re looking in the mirror and wondering where the time went, we probably will someday (sooner than we think). In order to be able to meet your own steady gaze when that day comes, I invite you to consider accepting whatever challenge Christ has been laying in your path recently. Your version of victory is not guaranteed, and there’s likely some cost or sacrifice involved. God could have given the assignment to someone else, but He didn’t. He gave it to you.

So I ask, will you be content with bemoaning your age in the mirror, or once you reach that point, would you rather be content with a life well lived? I urge you to live a life where you follow God into the unknown. You can’t see the path, but He can. Dare greatly, and dare greatly now, for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom and those that have yet to join it.

Father I thank you for the precious and fleeting gift of time. Once it’s gone, it’s never coming back. We’ll have all the time we want in Heaven, but there are some things that have an eternal impact here in this life. Help us to embrace Your calling for our lives, to have confidence in Your ability to enable us to do it, and to avoid reaching the end of this life while still holding onto untapped potential. This I ask in Your name, Amen.

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Wait a Minute…How Epic Would it be if…

While training to be an Air Force survival instructor, the first hurdle to pass was a screening course that occurred immediately after Basic Training. Recruits fresh out of Basic spent a few weeks getting their bodies strengthened through rigorous physical training, leading up to the official two-week course.

Week 1 of the screening course involved performing a lot of tasks in preparation for week 2. The second week took place out in the field. Training on base can help familiarize you with a lot of things, but if you want to be a survival instructor, sooner or later you need to get away from civilization. Week 2 of the screening course took place in the scrub country on a military installation north of San Antonio, TX. Here we got our first real dose of land navigation, drinking scummy water, and eating things we normally wouldn’t consider eating.

During most of our time in the field we worked in pairs or in groups. There were lots of tasks and activities to perform, along with new things to learn. Then at the end, we spent our final night going solo. On that night our instructors gave us a list of items we had to accomplish and dropped us off in locations where we were isolated from one another.

The list of items seemed fairly long, but none of them were terribly complicated. I went through the course in March, so my biggest challenge was completing as much of the list as I could before dark. I think the first thing I did after getting dropped off was find a spot to set up my shelter. I set down my ruck, then looked through the list of tasks to see which ones would be best to perform during daylight.

One of the things I needed to do was make a ground-to-air signal out of the materials available. Since I needed to wander around a bit in order to scavenge items to use in building the signal, I wanted to make sure I got that done while it was still light out. I started collecting logs and brush to arrange in the required pattern.

I can’t remember if I was using an axe or a military-issue bolt knife, but I started hacking away at some brush. Almost immediately I heard a sound I’d never heard in person before but knew right away what it was. While thrashing in the scrub, I had disturbed a rattlesnake, and it let me know in no uncertain terms that I needed to back up.

Of course I was startled and jumped back. It didn’t take long, though, for me to have this thought…how epic would it be if I were eating a rattlesnake when the instructors showed up to pick me up in the morning? That would become, like, the stuff of legends back at the survival schoolhouse on base!

I eyed the snake as it started slinking away, trying to decide whether I should try to kill it or not. Here I was, about to pass the course. I was hungry, but wouldn’t have a problem making it until the next day without anything else to eat. I’d never eaten a snake before, so I wasn’t sure how to prepare it. Since it was venomous, there were plenty of ways for things to go wrong. All you did was cut off the head a little below the widest part, right? I think so…but, how much am I willing to gamble on that?

Was it a good idea? By almost any measure, no. Would it be awesome? Absolutely and unequivocally yes!

Should I make the decision with my feelings or with my head?

I watched the snake as it slowly left the area, still flirting with the idea. In the end, the risk didn’t seem worth it. I didn’t want to make some kind of stupid mistake that ended up with me being injected with (or accidentally eating) venom when I was on the cusp of passing the course…a course I had no desire to repeat. When it was all said and done I gave the snake a wide berth and decided to pick a new spot to build my shelter for the night…a spot that wasn’t so near the brush the snake had been hanging out in.

The penalty? This story is less cool than it could have been. (I passed the course, though.)

It’s funny how we make choices in life. I’d compare this experience to other times when we’re trying to decide whether or not to pursue something we know isn’t a good idea…pick whatever sin is especially hard for you to walk away from. Even when you know it’s something that could bite you in the end, there’s that draw that pulls on you. Despite the fact that you know it’s a bad idea, you may still spend some time thinking it over despite the fact that you know you should walk away.

This is something you probably know, but I’m going to say it anyway. The closer you stay to and the longer you flirt with doing something you know you shouldn’t, the more likely you are to do it. When you find yourself in that position, take action to just shut that door. Walk away from the computer if you’re about to start looking at stuff you’re not supposed to look at. Put your phone down and walk away from it if you’re about to text something you shouldn’t. If you get yourself into trouble when you’re alone, go somewhere where you’re around people. If you get yourself in trouble when you’re around people, go somewhere where you’re by yourself.

Sin isn’t always going to be as obvious as a rattlesnake, but God gave you a conscience for a reason. If you consistently ignore it, it’ll eventually leave you alone.

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History in Progress

Let’s talk Ukraine for a little bit.

Things have gotten out of hand there lately. Although there’s been plenty of turmoil in the world lately, it feels like it’s been awhile since there were outright military engagements between nations.

This is only the most recent example of a world whose occupants have fought with each other since Adam and Eve were forced out of the garden. Ever since the two of them, our enemy has been working to pull humans away from fellowship with God.

Awhile back I wrote about why Satan benefits from the deaths of both those that don’t follow Christ and those that do. When unbelievers die, it cements their status as someone who has not received Christ; they have no additional opportunities to accept His gift of salvation, and Satan revels in the twisted joy of having prevented God from spending eternity with someone He loves. Conversely, Satan rejoices at the death of Christians because those that belong to Christ are more likely to play a part in snatching souls from his fold. Christians are equipped with the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, tools which can cut deep into our adversary’s kingdom. Can you blame him for celebrating when mighty warriors of the faith pass from this life, even if it means they graduate into God’s presence?

In light of this “death is good” mentality, it would make sense for Satan to do everything in his power to foment war, famine, and disease. Individual deaths are okay in his eyes, but death on the scale of thousands is something for him to aspire to. A shooting war is a good start for him, but it’s made better by the disease and famine that accompany combat conditions in an area under siege.

It’s hard not to wish ill will on Vladimir Putin. If it’s God’s will, Putin could choke to death on a pretzel today and have this whole invasion fall apart quickly. Maybe that’s the plan, but in the meantime, it’s important to remember that Putin would not have risen to be Russia’s president without the Lord allowing it.

Even though us mortals can’t see right now how God’s plan will play out in this situation, we are getting a better picture of what’s been happening. I saw a news report where a captured Russian soldier claimed to have been told by his superiors that Ukraine had been overrun by Nazis. If that claim is true and that’s what the whole invasion force has been told, we’ve got a whole bunch of misled, but well-intentioned, troops getting in firefights with people trying to defend their homeland. It’s easy to see how patriotic Ukrainians would then put together raids to hit Russians manning the stalled miles-long Russian convoy.

The whole time, in the background where we can’t see…there’s our supernatural adversary, snickering and rubbing his hands together gleefully each time there’s a death on either side or among noncombatants.

Hopefully this post serves as a reminder…there’s a lot on the line here…not just in Ukraine, but in the world today. Don’t forget about the urgency with which we should view this fleeting life. Eternity hangs in the balance, and you might be the only way the Gospel can reach some people.

Lord, the lies and injustices in this world make us long for Heaven. Some day You’ll return or call us home, but until that day comes, please help us to have the right focus, to use our spiritual gifts and talents, and to help raise God-fearing generations that will likely live in darker times than we do. Please end the violence in Ukraine and prevent things from getting any worse than they already are. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the things we see in our world, so we thank You for allowing us to cast our burdens at Your feet. We ask these things in Your name, Amen.

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You’re On Your Way to What You’ll Be Later

During my time in the Air Force I spent some time trying out to be a survival instructor. Known as SERE Specialists (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, & Escape), these professionals focus on preparing high-risk-of-capture personnel in the event they become isolated and cut off from friendly forces in neutral or enemy-held territory.

This was in 2004, so the Air Force was pretty busy at the time with both Afghanistan and Iraq. Lots of people needed SERE training, and there weren’t enough SERE Specialists to go around. To help boost numbers, representatives from the SERE career field spent time recruiting people while they were still in Basic Training. This got a lot of people interested, but before we could really get started with SERE Specialist training, we had to pass a screening course, known as SERE Indoc (indoctrination).

There are some odd situations that occurred along the way as a result of how things unfolded. In Basic Training, they really regulated what (and how much) you ate. You’ve got a bunch of civilians from across the country and its territories that in most cases had a little extra pudge when they first showed up to Basic, and you give them healthy food, but you give them less of it than they’d like. Everybody loses weight, and some people lose a lot of it. (When I graduated Basic Training, I think my Mom was a little traumatized when she saw how skinny Uncle Sam made me.) Then, when you’re the skinniest you’ve been in awhile, they fit you for your dress uniforms.

After Basic, I went to SERE Indoc, which was very demanding physically. It usually involved five days a week of rigorous PT…lots of running, pushups, pull-ups, and rucking with heavy packs. I don’t remember how much, exactly, but between being able to eat normally again and putting on a lot of extra muscle over a couple of months, I probably gained over 30 pounds from my low point at Basic. The buttons on my dress shirt were definitely stressed, and there was no longer a crease in my dress pants above the knee because they were more like spandex or leggings at that point.

Mom & Dad came to see my graduation from Basic. They barely recognized me!
Some $5 footlongs & a few thousand pushups later

I can honestly say that I’m no longer as muscular or as heavy as I was back then, so that adds still more volatility to the weight yo-yo. It’s been awhile since I tried on my old dress uniform; maybe I should dig it out of mothballs to see how it fits.

I went into each of those phases with one set of characteristics, and due to the conditions I went through, it led to a new set of characteristics. It’s the same for the Christian. Not only are you imperfect when you’re born, you’re still imperfect when you’re born again. From the moment of salvation until the moment you slip from this life, God’s working on your heart and on your mind, shaping you into a tool He can wield to accomplish things in or through you that you’re not yet prepared to do.

He’s refining unwanted things out of your character or preparing you for a coming challenge. Some seasons of life will leave you gaunt and weak. Others will make you stronger. It’s all leading somewhere, though. Rarely does the path you’d chart out for your life align completely with the path God’s chosen for your life. Looking back, it becomes easier to see how a phase of life or a certain string of events prepared you for something that came afterwards. Right now you’re on your way to what you’ll be later. Seek God’s will for your life and see Him do something wonderful. Keep seeking God’s will for your life and watch how He entrusts you with more responsibility and higher callings.

Not sure what God’s will for your life is? Start by increasing the amount of time you spend in prayer. Confess the things you’ve done wrong, then tell Him all the things you’re thankful for. Do this on a recurring basis and see where it takes you.

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Is the Clock Being Run Out on You?

In the world of sports, if you’re winning near the end of the game, one of your biggest goals is to keep the clock running. You work within the rules of the game to avoid doing things that will stop the time from ticking away.

The goal is to make it harder and harder for the opponent to do anything significant in the diminishing amount of time that’s left. In football you want to tackle runners before they get out of bounds. In basketball you want to chew up as much of the play clock as you can before taking a shot. In hockey you want to control the puck and make the other team come to you. It’s all meant to use up as much of the clock as you can in order to give the opponent less time to mount a comeback, ultimately increasing your chances of victory.

So now let’s put a spiritual application to this.

Consider Satan’s situation for a moment. First John 5:19 says “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” Since each member of the human race is born a sinner, we are all initially part of Satan’s domain and are destined to spend eternity separated from God. The only way he can lose those souls is if they accept Christ and cross over to His domain. In that sense, Satan doesn’t need to play to win, he just needs to play to not lose.

Time is the one thing that everyone has the same amount of. Whether talking about the unsaved or believers that aren’t striving to go deeper with God, I’ve got to imagine that one of Satan’s biggest strategies is to run out the clock. Let’s look at unbelievers first. From Satan’s perspective, as long as they’re preoccupied with something that has no eternal impact, they’re in a good place. “Learning about 18th Century French literature (or physics, or social activism, or anything else that consumes your passion and drive)? That’s great…you get after it with everything you’ve got!” As long as that person’s busy with something that takes a lot of their brain power, there’s not a whole lot left over to take a look up at the stars in the night sky and wonder about their creator.

It’s the same thing for those that have accepted Christ but are preoccupied with the here and now. If you have a talent that Christ has called you to use, but instead you’re spending your time streaming the latest season of whatever show you happen to be enjoying, in all actuality, that’s keeping you on the bench. I’m learning that life moves pretty quickly, and it seems like it moves a little faster with each passing year. I have no idea how much sand I still have left in the hourglass, and you don’t know how much you’ve got left in yours, either. The things we thought we’d have plenty of time to do don’t actually get done unless we live with intentionality. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy shutting off my mind through a variety of ways, but there’s a difference between a little bit of relaxing and a seriously large amount of cumulative hours.

So I have to ask…what’s your biggest time-suck? Facebook/Instagram? Netflix? Some sort of mindless games? YouTube? Wordle, anyone?

Some of the cheerier armchair philosophers will say that this life is really nothing more than sitting around and waiting to die. For those that aren’t following God’s lead and using their spiritual gifts…maybe those philosophers are right.

I urge you…live your life with eternity in mind. We only get one go-round to make a lasting difference, and we’re supposed to be taking this opportunity to glorify God and be part of building His kingdom. Don’t let the adversary run out the clock on you when there’s still so much left to do.

Lord, there are so many distractions out there today. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by sensory overload. Help me know the difference between healthy forms of unwinding and plain old wasting time. When giving to You, finances are usually the first thing to come to mind, but show me where and how You want me to honor You with my time, as well. Amen

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Road Trips are Less Fun When You’re the Only One Awake

While we’ve still got some Winter Olympics going on, here’s another tale from when my friend Jeremy and I went to check out the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

On the way out west we had plenty of time to get there, so we drove during the day and stopped at night to sleep at rest stops. On the way back east we were in a hurry to get the rental car turned back in and get back to school. To save time, our plan was to drive through the night.

On our last day in Utah we watched a cross-country skiing event and then left to start the trip east directly from there. Jeremy took the first shift driving, and drove most of the day. Still keyed up from our experiences so far, it dawned on me a little too late that I should be trying to catch some sleep while he was driving. I do okay when I have to get up early, but I don’t do real well when I have to stay up late. I think I tried catching a nap, but when there’s pressure to fall asleep, it makes it harder to do, so I don’t think I got any sleep to speak of.

When the time came for Jeremy to tag out, I got behind the wheel and started driving. I don’t remember if it was dark when I started, but if it wasn’t, it wasn’t long before night fell. Jeremy racked out in the back seat for awhile. Between the darkness, drone of the road noise, lack of conversation, and the cumulative excitement of the day (and past week plus), I was ready for some sleep and it got hard to stay awake and alert.

I’m not saying anyone should do this, but we had learned through experimentation that the max speed you could set the cruise control to was 82.5 mph. That speed sounds really fast, but it wasn’t egregious when the speed limit was 75. We regularly set it that fast, but slowed down when we saw cops off in the distance. It was great because out there, where there were big stretches of wide open road, cops with radar guns had nowhere to hide; you could often see for miles.

You can’t see them at night, though.

You know that point in sleepiness where your eyes are half-lidded and moving your eyeballs around seems like it takes too much effort? That’s where I was, when, at 82.5 mph, I blew past two cop cars parked on the median somewhere in Nebraska.

Well, the red and blue lights came on and started coming my way. That makes for an uncomfortable way to rouse someone from their slumber. “Hey dude, wake up. Um…we’re getting pulled over.”

If I had been half asleep 30 seconds ago, I was wide awake now.

I pulled over on the shoulder and waited while the officer ran our plates. Eventually he came alongside the passenger’s window, taking a peek inside with his flashlight. He probably didn’t know what to think as he saw a dude in a sleeping bag in the back seat, boxes of supplies and cold-weather gear scattered throughout the front and back seats, and skis and ski poles stuffed along the side of the car. We handed both of our licenses over and sat there waiting as he ran our names through his computer.

I don’t totally remember the sequence of events, but I ended up going to sit in the front passenger’s seat of his cruiser with him (no, not while wearing handcuffs). I told him a little about us, that we had driven across the country to go watch some of the Olympics, and now we were on our way back. It’s important to understand that the animosity toward cops that’s so prevalent today wasn’t the case back then. This was a mere five months after the events of 9/11, when police officers and other first responders were hailed as heroes. There was a much greater attitude of “we’re all in this together” among Americans. He asked me about some of the events (and big-name athletes) we’d seen and what else we had done while we were out there. I think we probably broke up a boring night shift for him.

He had clocked me driving at a speed that gave him leeway to decide whether to give me a ticket or to let me off with a warning. I think he kind of liked the idea of the adventure we were on, so he let me off with a warning, but he did recognize that I was a legitimate danger to myself and others on the road because of how tired I was. He stressed the importance of being alert and urged me to get somewhere safe and get some sleep…soon…then let us go. We stopped at the next exit, gassed up, and switched drivers. We made it back to school the following evening.

Nobody likes to see those flashing lights come on in their rear-view mirror. I’m not sure how long it took me to realize it, but getting stopped on this occasion quite possibly saved not only my life, but the life of the passenger in the back seat, and maybe others on the road that night. If I hadn’t been stopped, I probably would’ve fallen asleep at the wheel. I guess you could say that God threw a little hiccup in my plans, which ended up saving me from myself.

There are things that will happen in this life that you’ll gripe and grumble about as they’re happening, only for you to realize later that those were things to be grateful for. Live through enough of those events, and it helps you realize that you’re probably better off not grumbling about things that seem bad in the short term, because you don’t yet know how they tie into the bigger picture. God often makes you take the scenic route while you have the express lane in mind, and vice versa. We don’t see until after the fact that it was something we wouldn’t have chosen, but had unforeseen benefits.

The next time you get hit with something that seems like something to groan about, try holding off on the complaints for awhile. It might just be God’s way of saving you from yourself.

To all those officers out there, thank you for being willing to step into tense and uncertain situations on the public’s behalf every time you go to work. Additional thanks to those of you that have cut a little slack to people that just needed to be scared a little bit by the flashing lights of a police car.

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Winter Olympics, From Salt Lake City to Beijing

Though I’m not really paying much attention to the 2022 Winter Olympics, it does bring up some fun memories. For those of you that are long-time readers of the blog, you may remember that when I was in college my roommate Jeremy and I drove from Western New York State out to Utah to attend some of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It’s crazy to think that our Utah trip was 20 years ago. Today’s entry doesn’t really have a “moral” to it…just some memories.

I don’t want to rehash a whole lot right here (you can read some of the previous Olympic entries here), but when you’re trying to pull together a trip like this on a budget, you’re going to have to forego some amenities. During our whole trip (nine days), we didn’t shave or sleep indoors at all. We either slept in sleeping bags in the car at rest stops or in a tent in the mountains. Ours was a very outdoorsy college, so we were able to rent a large amount of camping gear from the recreation department. Our diet wasn’t the healthiest, either. I remember a lot of Cheez-Its and an apple every now and then.

Anyway, we got out there early enough to have a day without any plans before attending our first event. I forget if it was a state park or a national forest somewhere, but we parked in the parking lot and used cross-country skis to head in and scout a spot to set up camp.

The snow was pretty deep, and if you tried walking through it without snowshoes or skis, you’d sink up to your knees or so. When we first arrived, it was snowing pretty hard and it was starting to get dark, so we had to find a spot and set up camp pretty fast. We skied off the main trail and uphill into a wooded area where we weren’t likely to get mowed over by snowmobiles. We made a few sharp turns to get through the trees…something that can be tricky in tight quarters if you’re wearing skis that are taller than you are. We found a spot that would work, then skied back out to the car to grab our backpacks and gear. We hurried back in, set up camp, then warmed up some food and turned in for the night. (I think up until that point I had only camped in someone’s backyard overnight a single time. Between worrying about getting buried by a snow squall, being afraid of freezing to death, and hearing coyotes howling all night, it was a pretty intimidating experience for me.)

We spent two nights there, and on the second morning we broke camp to head to our first Olympic event. As we packed up everything and made sure we didn’t leave anything behind, we prepared to ski back out to the car. We attached our skis and buckled on our packs. Jeremy went first, heading back downhill toward the main trail. I brought up the rear.

On the way down, I approached one of those sharp turns a little too quickly. I had plenty of experience using cross-country skis, but I wasn’t accustomed to wearing a pack that was heavy enough to throw off my center of gravity. I took the turn like I normally would have, but between the deep powder and unusual weight distribution, my legs made the turn, by my upper body kept going. I biffed right there in the snow.

Remember what I said about walking in snow that deep without snowshoes or skis? Now imagine you’re lying face down in that kind of snow while wearing a backpack that’s pushing down on you. Every time you try to push yourself up with your arms, your arms sink back into the snow. I don’t even remember what I did to get back upright again; I must’ve packed the snow or grabbed some small trees or something, but I’m sure I looked like some kind of sedated walrus or something as I tried getting my feet back under me while wearing a puffy jacket and a backpack.

Anyway, the memories are mostly good ones. The bad ones just add a little variety. I’m thankful to have been able to go when I did, because if I were going to do it all again, there were some things I was willing to tolerate back then that I’m no longer willing to put up with now.

I hear that Salt Lake City is in the running to host the 2030 Winter Olympics. I don’t really see myself going, but if I did, I can’t say I’d be willing to drive there from an East Coast state, sleep in a tent (or in a car, for that matter) for more than a week in freezing temperatures 28 years after the first time I did it. Also, while Cheez-Its may still be on the menu, I think they’d be a much smaller portion of my overall diet than they were back then. I’m not totally shutting the door on the possibility of going, but I think I’m a tentative “no” for 2030.

Lord God, this life is full of memories, good and bad. Thanks for both kinds, and please help us to keep our focus on You as we age, and not get wrapped up about the things we can no longer do. Please grant safety and health to those participating in the games, as well as to those in attendance, and many, many thanks for a warm, comfortable bed and indoor plumbing! Amen

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You’re Not Needed, But You ARE Invited

Here’s a question with a twist. Were you ever on a team or in a group of people that was trying to accomplish a certain task, and you felt like you had the task well in hand? I’m guessing yes.

We’ve all been there, but here’s the twist. In that same situation, did someone else then unnecessarily join your team? I’m talking, like, “we don’t even need you, but we’re happy to have you along.” It could be someone that’s genuinely a delight to work with, or maybe someone that tells the best stories or has a tremendous sense of humor. Whatever it is about them…yeah, you’re happy they’re working with you, but in all honesty, you’d accomplish your task just fine without them.

That’s God, dealing with us. Granting someone else salvation is completely His doing. Each of us is powerless to grant it to someone, even if we desperately want them to come to a saving faith in Christ.

And yet…He’s overjoyed to include us as part of His process of moving in this world. If He wanted to, He could work out His plan for a specific individual’s salvation in a way that cuts all other people out of the process. That’s not how He works though. He loves including His followers as instruments of His plan. We’re unnecessary components, but it’s His pleasure to have us along for the ride.

If you’re a Christian, you’ve been given spiritual gifts that are meant to be used for the benefit of Christ’s kingdom. It’s up to you whether or not you use them, but He wants you to jump in. If you choose not to employ them it’s not going to foil His plans, but I imagine He’ll be disappointed that you chose not to use what He gave you. It’s like keeping a Lamborghini parked in the garage because you don’t want to get it scratched or dirty; it’s ensuring something highly specialized does not get used for its intended purpose.

So today, if you’re presented with the opportunity to accept God’s extended hand to go along with Him on an adventure, you can accept the invitation and be caught up into something that may make an eternal difference for someone, or you can choose to skip it and make the highlight reel of your life that you’ll see in Heaven a little bit shorter.

The choice is up to you.