Author: Tim

Posted on

The Greatness of What Almost Never Was

Any Star Trek fans here? Even if you’re not one of them, stick around for this one.

When I was a kid I watched the William Shatner Star Trek movies like, a bazillion times. I think part of the reason I liked them so much at the time was because they were some of the first “grown up” movies I was allowed to see. To this day, I don’t think I’ve seen an entire episode of the 1960s Star Trek TV show, but I can probably still rattle off some lines from Star Trek II-VI (not “The Motion Picture” though…it moved too slow to watch more than once).

For those of you who aren’t familiar, William Shatner played the pompous, arrogant, yet dashing and heroic James T. Kirk, Captain of the starship Enterprise. His exploits are legendary, and depend as much on his daring impulsiveness as they do good fortune. Surrounded by a terrific supporting cast (Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scottie, Sulu, Checkov, Uhura, and all the rest), the crew embarked upon epic adventures where they saved Earth, and probably the universe, multiple times.

So when you take such a storied franchise and announce that you’re going to reboot it, you have to tread a very fine line between honoring the original and telling a new story with different actors playing familiar characters. The first movie in the rebooted franchise came out in 2009, but until viewers got to see it and start generating a positive or negative buzz, nobody really knew if it was going to be a kick-start for interest in the Star Trek universe or if it was going to be a gigantic slap in the face that resulted in a flop.

The folks that did the new movie did a great job writing the plot so that the new actors were free to play the characters their own way, rather than how their predecessors played them. Without going full nerd on you, someone from the original Star Trek era got thrown back in time and changed just enough history to impact some of the characters in the new movie. In the reboot we meet the colorful cast before they become the confident and experienced legends we know them to be, but the part that keeps it interesting is the fact that we’re never quite sure if the characters we’re watching will be able to rise to meet the challenges we know their predecessors could have conquered.

It’s this doubt that keeps the story engaging, as you wonder whether the heroes will have what it takes to be heroes for the first time.

Hang in there, I’m getting to my point.

Through all of this, there are a handful of characters that spent time in both versions of the Star Trek universe. The movie’s main villain is familiar with the famous, battle-tested Admiral Kirk, and sees in the younger version someone bearing little or no resemblance of the legend. In one of the movie’s great lines, which is the origin of the idea behind this post, this villain speaks to the young Kirk about not measuring up to the well-known hero. “James T. Kirk was a great man, but that was another life.”

Using this sci-fi movie as an analogy, let me switch gears on you. In my mind there are fewer things more haunting than the idea that I don’t measure up to what God wants me to be in this life.

When you think of any hero of the faith, whether recorded in the Bible or not, there was a time in their life before they were that person. Their path was still uncertain; the choices they had yet to make could still take their life in a radically different direction. What if Moses continued refusing God’s calling? What if Billy Graham took over the family farm instead of pursuing evangelism?

In my own life, I am on my way to becoming the person God knows I will one day be…and the same is true for you. The person writing this entry is not as seasoned or (hopefully) as wise as the older version that is yet to come; there are still choices ahead in my life that can either bring me closer to or turn me away from fulfilling the earthly potential the Holy Spirit sees in me. Of course, nobody will be perfect this side of Heaven no matter how hard we try, but with God in charge, our level of trust and obedience to Him has the ability to accomplish undreamed-of things for His kingdom. At the end of my life on Earth, my desire is to leave no unfulfilled potential in my Christian walk, to have no arrows left in my quiver. I don’t want to get to Heaven, see a huge building, and when I ask God what’s in it, He says “that’s the glory you could’ve brought me, but you did not pursue the opportunities I presented to you.”

Are you living in light of the future God has for you, or are you just drifting through this life?

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” -Mark 12:28-31

Posted on

When You Depend on Your Equipment To Save Your Life, Use it the Right Way

It’s obviously very important to be safety-conscious when skydiving, because it’s an endeavor where you purposely insert yourself into a scenario where certain death will occur unless something extracts you from that eventuality. Some activities have equipment that’s designed for high performance and dependability during emergency usage, but in skydiving you actually go into it intending to use life-saving equipment to pull you out of an emergency situation on every single jump. A bad day in skydiving is not even in the same league as a bad day in tennis.

The absolute minimum safety inspection a jumper should perform after putting on their equipment is known as a “six-point check.” A six-point check includes: (1 and 2) making sure each leg loop on the harness is buckled completely, (3) ensuring the chest buckle running between the shoulder straps is fully secured, (4) making sure you can easily access the mechanism that deploys your main chute, and double-checking to see that the handles for (5) cutting away your malfunctioning main chute and (6) deploying your reserve chute haven’t become tangled, twisted, or obstructed and are easily accessible. This can be done before getting into the plane, and it should be done again right before jumping out.

On one plane ride up several of us were stuffed into a tiny plane, just waiting until we reached our jump altitude. On these flights you’re often crammed into some awkward position and there isn’t much to do while you wait. The engine is loud, and you have to yell to be heard, so conversations don’t normally last long. That means when someone starts talking, it’s usually worth listening to. The most experienced jumper on this load spoke up, and he was talking to me. He had trained himself to sweep his eyes over the equipment of his fellow jumpers. He said to me “would you please fasten your chest strap.” Sure enough, I looked down, and it was not secured properly. I had somehow missed it before getting in the plane. That’s when a feeling that was a cross between embarrassment and horror came over me. A skydiving harness, in addition to leg loops, has a strap that goes across your chest and connects the two shoulder straps. It’s there so that as you deploy your chute and you decelerate quickly, the harness doesn’t get ripped off your body. The leg loops are still there, but if they’re the only thing connecting you to the rig, you’d flip upside down and probably slide out of them. A parachute won’t do you any good unless you’re connected to it somehow.

The chest strap prevents the shoulder straps from separating too far apart

In many skydiving circles, the popular currency is expressed in terms of cases of beer. When you first get your skydiving license, you owe the drop zone a case of beer. If you surpass some milestone or perform some new formation during a big jump, you might celebrate by supplying a case of beer. If you mess up, you usually owe someone a case of beer. Seeing the look on my face, he said “I just saved your life. You owe me a case of beer.”

Christians deal with vital safety equipment of a different sort. Think about the armor of God. This is equipment that’s meant to protect your saved soul! Many of our helmets are dinged because they’ve taken repeated blows from the enemy’s weapons. Our shields have varying degrees of pockmarks and burn marks from where flaming arrows struck, only to burn themselves out. Due to an infinite number of variables, some Christians are more battle-weary  or have taken more hits than others. Some are still fresh and are swinging that sword like tomorrow’s not coming, but others are barely standing, reeling and about to start dropping vital equipment that will leave them more exposed to danger.

If there are Christians around you, there are people nearby that are using this equipment to varying degrees on a daily basis. Some will have more experience as a Christian than you, and sometimes you’ll be the “senior Christian” in the group. If you see someone who’s not using the equipment correctly, or it doesn’t “fit” properly, don’t be afraid to help them out. There are pitfalls and traps everywhere for Christians, we often need help from one another to walk through this life intact.

The guy that helped me out on the plane was experienced enough to be on the lookout for problematic equipment not only on himself, but on others. We should try to do the same. I don’t know if he actually saved my life that day, but I’m sure glad he spoke up when he did. Who’s out there, waiting for you to notice a problem and say something about it?

Lord Jesus, You know exactly what I’m going to encounter today, and You’ve charted my path through it long before I was even born. Please help me recognize opportunities You place in front of me to tighten up my own spiritual armor, along with that of others. Help me speak up not out of arrogance, but of a genuine desire to mitigate fellow believers’ vulnerabilities, and be humble enough to listen when others do the same for me. Amen

Posted on

You’d Have Fallen for This April Fools’ Prank, too

Today is the first of April, which means it’s April Fools’ Day.

For the international readers, this is a minor holiday that we celebrate in America by playing jokes on one another and generally creating some well-intentioned mischief. It’s often characterized by false statements that are made for the sake of evoking a reaction, which is generally acceptable as long as the trickster doesn’t wait long to come clean about the truth. It’s the one day a year where it’s acceptable to be deceptive.

This wasn’t really an April Fools’ thing, but I used to know a guy in the Air Force that employed deception to his advantage.

James had a job where he worked in a large building, and it was common for him to be performing duties throughout the building. If people wanted to find him, they’d start at his office, but it wasn’t a surprise to see that he wasn’t at his desk.

In the Air Force, with a few exceptions, any time you go outside, you need to wear your “cover” (your hat). If people stopped at James’ desk and saw his cover and keys on his desk, they assumed he was somewhere in the building and would normally just try again later. What they didn’t know was that James bought an extra cover and kept a set of good-for-nothing keys in his office. If he wanted to disappear for awhile, he’d leave the spare hat and keys on his desk for people to find, then walk out the back door while putting on his real cover, hop in his car, and drive off to do who-knows-what.

Not really an April Fools’ prank, I know. Think back to the biggest prank or good-natured deception that’s ever been pulled on you. When you found out it was all a joke, what was your reaction?

Almost 2,000 years ago, almost this exact time of year, Jesus Christ pulled off the most epic April Fools’ prank of all time. While He dropped some hints about what He was going to do, He didn’t let anybody in on it ahead of time. Christ died, dropped in on Satan and his minions to announce His victory over them, then re-animated the body that had just been crucified for a crime it didn’t commit.

Imagine if the first disciples to reach the tomb stuck their heads inside, only to hear the angel sitting inside say “April Fools! He is not here; He is alive!”

In flawlessly executing this surprise, Christ not only dropped everyone’s jaws, but in the process provided the only way for anyone to escape eternal torment from that point forward. He won’t force you to take it, but wishes you would. This is a free gift, offered to you. The only thing you need to do is accept it.

This weekend, please remember how this unexpected turn of events forever changed history. In light of that, how can we do anything short of share the wonderful news of this divine escape route with people that are bound for destruction?

Have a wonderful Easter, count your blessings, and thank God that you’ve been invited, rather than forced, to be a part of His story!

Posted on

Playing For An Audience of One

Part of our college graduation requirement was to deliver a “Senior Seminar” in our chosen field of study. This was essentially an in-depth presentation on a faculty-approved topic related to our studies. Each department’s students sacrificed a few Saturday mornings during our final semester and took turns presenting our topic to the department faculty and an audience of our peers.

Although it’s not always the case, science presentations can be boring. All of us biology majors had to sit through some dry (but meticulously researched and well-sourced) student lectures. Most of the bio presentations were either in the pre-med concentration or the ecological field of study.

You may remember from a previous post that I had fallen behind in my major early on in my academic pursuits. As part of an attempt to catch up, I did a summer project where I went out into a wooded area near my house and repeatedly set out 25 small live traps to perform a wildlife survey. I set out little red flags to mark the spots to place the traps, and six or eight times I baited them with various seeds and left them out overnight. It was fairly involved and I thought I’d be able to write up a report to obtain a few college credits for this study. Well, that didn’t work out, but since I had already done it, I figured I’d do my senior seminar on it.

Overall it went well. After hearing so many abstract presentations that were difficult to grasp meaningfully, the biology professors seemed to enjoy hearing about an experiment that one of the students actually conducted in the field. In fact this presentation was the only one that drew questions from all of the faculty members. One of my non-biology housemates showed up to support me, too, which meant a lot. I ended up getting a very good grade, and I probably allowed it to inflate my ego a little more than I should have.

Weeks later one of the biology professors approached me and said “we have a campus-wide visit day coming up for prospective students. As part of the programming, each department has a current student give a presentation for visiting students interested in those respective majors. Would you be interested in delivering your senior seminar on behalf of the biology department that day?”

It was an honor, for sure. It would be good resume fodder, and it looked like I could get a bit more mileage out of that summer project, so I agreed. I gathered my notes, looked at the feedback I got from my seminar and made adjustments, and rehearsed as the event drew near.

The day eventually came, and I waited in the lecture hall prepared to do my presentation for the numerous prospective biology students that would surely come to tour the campus that day. I had no idea how many visiting students would show, but I was ready. I had even started getting cocky by this point. “They asked me to do my presentation, probably because it stood out so much. I don’t even have to do a great job; it’s not like this is a class of my peers…these will only be high school kids.”

Well, that guy still had some growing up to do, and his lesson was about to begin.

The clock kept ticking and it was nearly time to start, but nobody showed up. Finally, one student and one of their parents came into the lecture hall. There was nobody else.

Whichever professor represented the biology department that day spoke a little about the department, introduced me, then let me take it away. It felt weird, playing to an “audience of one” (and their mom or dad) who sat in the back row of a theater-style lecture hall. It felt like sort of a waste, but I went through the entire presentation again.

This time at the end, when I asked for questions, there were absolutely none. The visiting student just wanted to get out of there and stop hearing about the mice I’d caught.

It was a lot different from the first time around. I have no idea if that student chose to attend my alma mater, or if maybe they decided right then and there to look for a different school and/or major because they were afraid they’d have to go out in the woods and try to catch mice or something.

Well, the experience helped bring me back to earth. It helped me better understand the concept of playing for an audience of one. As Christians, we need to be careful about whose approval we seek. It’s also important to examine our motivations. Are we working for Christ’s glory, or our own? Yes we all have talents, but are we using them in ways that would make God happy? I don’t know who I’m talking to right now, but someone reading this needs to think about how they’d feel if they’re busy using their talents or resources when Jesus taps them on the shoulder and says “I can see what’s in your heart, you know.”

We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our heart. 1 Thessalonians 2:4b

Lord Jesus, there are things you’ve done in my life that make me uniquely prepared to serve you in certain capacities. Although some of my experience comes from things I’ve worked hard to earn, help me to recognize that You ultimately control what direction my life takes. Please show me the places in my own mind and attitude where I need to make adjustments in order to ensure I’m working to glorify You and not me. Amen

Posted on

Sometimes Simple Things Lead to Excellence

Remember the first few months after getting your driver’s license? For some it meant convenience, for others it meant freedom. Once the DMV punched your ticket there were probably a lot of unnecessary trips that you didn’t mind taking. Whatever the case, it probably took a little bit of experience before really understanding why you shouldn’t let the fuel tank get too low.

People can give you all the advice they want to, but sometimes lessons don’t sink in until you experience them for yourself. I’d heard “don’t let the gas tank fall below half in the winter,” but I didn’t take it to heart until one winter morning I couldn’t get the car to start because of the condensation that had frozen in the fuel system. Okay, lesson learned, but that’s in the winter. When temperatures are safely above freezing, it was okay to flirt with the lower hashmarks on the gauge, wasn’t it?

Well when I was low on gas I’d start driving more conservatively until I could get to a gas station. Maybe not drive so aggressively, drop the speed a little bit, use lower RPMs, accelerate slower, and if it was really bad, coast down the hills. I don’t recall ever having a problem with low fuel…until I used someone else’s car.

I forget what the situation was, but I was driving someone else’s vehicle, and it was low on gas. It was in the same area where I normally drove though, so I was confident I could get where I needed to go.

On the drive, I came up to a long hill that I must’ve driven a hundred times before, but as I drove uphill, the engine started stuttering. “What’s this?! I know it’s low on gas, but this hill is something it should be able to handle!”

As it turns out, the two vehicles were built differently. This car apparently had a fuel line that connected to the front of the gas tank. On paper, that makes perfect sense…if you’re mass producing something, you want to use the least amount of materials and make the design as simple as possible. In reality though, when that particular model climbs uphill on an almost-empty tank, all the gas moves to the back of the tank and the fuel line starts sucking air. The laughable silver lining to that dark cloud is that if you somehow manage to sputter to the top and start going downhill, the engine gets the gas it needs…when gravity is already there to help you coast down.

My car, on the other hand, had a fuel line that connected to the back of the tank. You see, someone had enough engineering sense to say “boy, you know, if the gas is really low, the driver can get up the hill and then coast down the other side, even if the engine dies.”
It’s impossible to measure just how much heartache, hitchhiking, and walking that simple feature has spared people worldwide. You probably never even thought about it (hopefully because you don’t let the tank get that low). That’s okay, you didn’t have to think about it, because someone else did.

What about you? What area of work, your personal interests, or other aspect of life do you look at and say “boy, you know, if we just made this basic modification, it could net a major advantage”? You and the folks on your team could be poised to make a small change that has an outsized impact, one that people in the future don’t even think about because it’s so brilliant they take it for granted. 

The world rarely moves forward in leaps and bounds; don’t be afraid to be a part of making incremental improvements that add up to big gains over time. Someone will be glad you spoke up.

Posted on

Fighting the Battle of the Bulge

As I get older, the bathroom scale seems to become less and less forgiving.

I used to be able to polish off a ton of food and suffer no repercussions. Junk food didn’t pose much of an issue, eating late at night wasn’t a problem, and eating like I was on vacation was a beautiful thing.

Those days are long gone.

“Weight creep” is a real thing. Not a lot all at once, just a little bit at a time…and the numbers only seem to go up, they hardly ever go down.

Now, feel free to do what you want to do, but I’ve decided that I’d like to avoid putting on excess weight. Not only did Paul say in 1 Corinthians that our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit, but staying at a healthy weight helps reduce the chances of developing a litany of other medical problems. (And my wife exercises regularly, so come on, I can’t let myself go!)

As I age and my metabolism slows down though, it takes a larger amount of conscious thought to prevent the love handles from getting bigger. I can use a few tricks, like drinking a glass or two of water before a meal, skipping snacks after dinner, and using smaller plates, but the main weapon in that fight involves regularly confronting the uncomfortable truth: I get on the scale almost every day.

Yes, Monday mornings are usually bad. The day after a vacation or trip to see family is often worse. I need to know the truth, though. It’s uncomfortable, and it’s sometimes ugly. Without having that metric, I only have a vague sense of where I am, and I just don’t know how diligent I need to be in getting back to that target weight.

Think of the Bible as your scale. It’s probably not going to help you with your weight, but consulting it regularly is going to be the way you know if you’re heading in the right direction. It’s going to help you know if your habits are healthy or if you need to make some changes in your life. Sometimes we, as Christians, begin to accept things we should not accept. In the same way that the scale can be used to combat weight creep, use the Bible to fight against “compromise creep.”

You’re not going to stay the same person your whole life, and your judgment, tolerance of the things of this world, and ability to recognize pitfalls and half-truths is going to fluctuate over time, just like your weight. Reading the Bible consistently will help you keep your focus where it needs to be, and without it you’ll only have a vague sense of where you are. If it’s not already a part of your daily routine, I challenge you to move toward that goal.

Lord, thank you for giving us the Bible and for the ability to study it at our own pace. Please lead each one of us to the passages You’d have us read and help us be consistent in reading it. Amen.

Posted on

It’s All Part of the Process

Last week I talked about reconciling the apparent scientific evidence we have of an earth that appears to be billions of years old with the 6,000-10,000-year estimate we derive from the Bible’s account.

This week, let’s talk a little about the process of creation itself.

For now, let’s assume the biblical account of creation is accurate. That is, God made the entire universe, including the earth and everything in it, in seven days. (As an aside, note that even though the work was completed in six days, God considered resting and recharging so important that He set the example of including it as part of the timeline. That’s not my main point, but it’s important, too!)

Why would God take seven whole days? If He’s infinitely powerful, why didn’t He just make it all instantly? He had the option of waving His arms across the emptiness and bringing everything into existence, yet He deliberately chose to break up the stages of Earth’s creation into distinct phases. Why?

I believe He did it as a way of illustrating to us, His followers, that His way of doing things usually occurs through using processes. Everything God does is a process. God could snap His fingers and affect major change instantaneously, but doing so foregoes the opportunity to make the journey.

In addition to a seven-day-long creation, here are some other examples of God taking longer than we might expect:

  • Leading the Israelites along the scenic route through the wilderness to get to the promised land (even before He announced they’d wander until the older generation perished)
  • Prophesying about the coming Messiah for hundreds of years before He showed up
  • Saying that He’s coming back for us “soon.” Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. Revelation 22:12

What are we to learn from this?

Well it seems to me that God’s telling us: “don’t be in a hurry to get to the next thing; live in the moment, because that’s where I’ve placed you. You may have noble intentions of things you want to do in the future, but don’t forget about living for me in the present. I’m giving you opportunities to be faithful in small things over time, and if you do well, I’ll give you opportunities to be faithful in bigger things.”

Living life at God’s pace instead of our own builds and hones our character. Remember that He knows exactly what choices we’ll make and what kind of person we’ll be in the future. Part of the sometimes glacial movement of God’s work in our lives is for our benefit, not God’s. As you accomplish tasks God sets before you, it grows your faith and deepens your trust in Him. As that trust grows, you become more willing to take bigger leaps of faith on His behalf…leaps that you would not have been willing to take if God had simply snapped His fingers and brought you to the level He wanted you to be after the long, hard journey. Skipping the journey means missing part of the experience that makes you…you.

If you’re going through an especially difficult time right now, just remember: God knows where He wants you to end up, but the route you would’ve chosen wasn’t going to get you there in the manner He wanted. It’s easy to think of surprises and unforeseen pivots as “detours.” The reality is that this was always the charted course, but sometime in the past we tried going in a different direction than God chose.  

There aren’t too many people that would plan their lives according to the way God does. That feared diagnosis, that pink slip, that broken relationship. Though it’s painful, please remember that all the difficult struggles in your life are part of the process God is using to shape you who He wants you to become.

Lord, sometimes there are no words to describe the feelings we have when life doesn’t go the way we expected. Please help us to have patience, to live in the here and now, and to see how to align our wills more closely with yours. Amen.

Posted on

We Now Rejoin the Previously Scheduled Program, Already in Progress

And now for something different.

A lot of Christians struggle to reconcile what the Bible says with the available scientific evidence. Case in point: according to your beliefs, how old is the earth?

Science says that the earth is more than four and a half billion years old. That doesn’t square with a strict reading of the Bible, though. The Bible says that not only the earth, but the entire universe…everything that is…was created in seven literal 24-hour days, probably between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.

This presents a problem for many Christ-followers. I’ve heard some water down what the Bible says in order to make it fit the science. “I don’t think it was one literal week, I think it was figuratively referring to the process that actually took billions of years.” Or maybe “I believe God intentionally inspired the author of Genesis to use vague language, so that it’s not clear.”

Consider another alternative. The scientific evidence we observe is accurate and makes sense, and God created the whole universe in seven literal days less than 10,000 years ago.

How could this be? I offer this theory: instead of creating the earth as if it were brand new, God created it as though it were already in-progress.

What does that mean? It means when the earth was only a month old, it already had the appearance of being much older. Instead of creating a molten Earth with flat terrain, taking millions of years for plate tectonics to build mountains and for glaciers to carve valleys, there were already crumbling mountains and an amazing Grand Canyon by the time Adam and Eve showed up.

Half-lives of Carbon and other elements used for dating old materials would present a compelling case for an earth that’s much older than 10,000 years. The part that’s not going to jump out at us is the part where those elements were created in a partially decayed state. Science can present us with verifiable facts, but in order for us to get the full story there are still considerations apart from science.

“Mmmmm, yeah, I’m still not buying it,” says the science-leaning Christian. Okay. How about this spin on the “chicken or egg” problem? Adam took his first breath as a full-grown man. He was never “born” in the traditional sense. Since he never had a need for an umbilical cord, do you think Adam had a belly button?

If Adam did lots of crunches and took selfies

It’s an odd question, perhaps. Of course, we have no way of knowing from our reading of Genesis, but since Adam was made in God’s image, would he be functionally different from what we are today? I can’t say it with certainty, but I say no. The main recorded physiological difference between Adam and modern man is that he may have been born with more ribs than we were. (Genesis 2:21-23 gives a little more information on this subject.)

From what we know about the way Adam was brought to life, if he had a belly button, it was more for decorative use than functional. Obviously he didn’t need it, but if it was there, it was likely because everyone else after that point would have one, and since he was the first man he should look like everyone else. Is this an odd discussion? Absolutely! It meshes with the theory listed above though: God created everything as though we picked up in the middle of a movie. If that’s true, is it such a stretch to claim that yes, science would suggest the earth is over four and a half billion years old, but that there’s also a perfectly good reason to think it’s much younger?

Not only is God good, He’s the God of logic. Why would the Creator of science leave a trail of evidence that leads His followers away from what He claims in the Bible?

Food for thought!

Posted on

When Your Tank is Empty but There are Still Miles To Go

During my Junior year in college, our men’s dorm held its own version of the Olympics.

The games consisted of a variety of events. There were some conventional events, some less-conventional events, and some downright nutty events (I was thankful to be one of the referees, rather than one of the participants, in the event where you had to reach into a bag and eat whatever you pulled out). The games were memorable and went late into the night.

For some events the scoring system was straightforward. There were four floors represented, so in an event where all four floors participated simultaneously (a relay race, for example), the first-place finisher got 400 points, the second-place finisher got 300, then 200 for third place, and the last-place finisher got 100 points.

For bracket-style events, the scoring system was a little more controversial. We had two very good chess players in the dorm, and chess was one of the events. Events like this were split into two matches for round one, and then the winners from both matches would meet in the finals, and both losers from round one would also go head-to-head. The winners’ bracket would place first and second overall, and thus be awarded either 400 or 300 points. When these two talented competitors faced off in the first round, one of them had to lose. That guy was then forced into the loser’s bracket, where he could earn no higher than third place overall.

Well somehow I found myself representing my floor in the arm wrestling event. I was no slouch, but in this event I was definitely outgunned. It would be an understatement to say that I was not favored to win the event.

Due to the scoring system, the strategy I settled on was to use up everything I had in the tank to try to win the first match. That way if I could pull off a win, I’d avoid the loser’s bracket and be guaranteed a minimum of 300 points for our team even if I lost round two in an embarrassing fashion.

For the first match I got paired up with a guy named Tyrone. Tyrone was a buddy of mine, and we regularly lifted weights together a few times a week. We each had our strengths when it came to different exercises in the weight room, but trust me when I tell you that he had the advantage when it came to the explosive power and brute force required for arm wrestling.

I developed a new strategy…just try to last longer than 10 seconds!

We both sat down and established our grips, and the judge started the match. For about a second and a half, our hands went nowhere, a perfect balance of strength. Then Tyrone’s muscle simply overpowered mine. My fist steadily descended toward the table. A few seconds into it, this one was already just about over. My knuckles were so close to the table, but he couldn’t seem to close the deal. He didn’t quite have the leverage to bring his power to bear on my barely alive wrist.

I think at that point Tyrone changed strategies. It seemed like he took his foot off the gas and just waited for me to get tired. Since his advantage lay with his power though, he should have gone for the kill.

Surprised that I was still in it and that I wasn’t yet headed for the lower bracket, I resolved to give it everything I had. The problem was that the force I could generate using “everything I had” became less and less as time went on.

The seconds ticked by. A match that should have been over in 5 or 10 seconds was still going at 30 seconds. Then it passed 60 seconds. Those watching started out enjoying the match with shouts and yelling. Some of those spectators got bored and walked away, only mildly curious about the outcome.

Anybody watching could see that I was in pain, wincing and just barely hanging on. The whole time, Tyrone sat there, cool as a cucumber, just waiting for my strength to give out. He tried a few more times to go for the kill, but it didn’t work. Nobody was more surprised than me when he just gave up and stopped trying. He let me push his hand to the table surface. I can’t say I beat him, but I advanced to the winner’s bracket!

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been talking about finding and pursuing the thing that God put you here on Earth to do. It’s your “I have to;” it’s your God-given purpose. For those of you trying to ignore it or push it to the back of your mind, consider this: everyone that’s ever existed either already has, or someday will, experience two “rounds:” this one on Earth that we’re living right now, and the one that comes after this one. You may not think of it in these terms, but this current round is the one that determines where we experience the second round.

If you’re a Christian, please don’t misunderstand me, it’s fantastic that you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior…but for almost everyone other than those who experience deathbed conversions, your Christian walk is probably meant to go deeper. The Holy Spirit has a way of prompting you to move in directions you don’t want to go, of pushing you to do things you don’t want to do. And you know the crazy part? Many times it’s for the sake of making an eternal impact on someone else, but it’s not something you could have (or would have) planned on your own.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. –James 1:12

So even if you’re wincing in pain while barely holding on, surprised that you’re even still hanging in there, let me encourage you to give everything you’ve got despite the pain so that this round has a bigger impact for those on your team (and those that will join your team in the future)! The opposition may look like they’re fresh and powerful, but you never know what’s going on behind the scenes. Do not give up! Save nothing for round two; put everything you’ve got into round one, and let round two figure itself out.

For those seeking closure, even if I were fresh and didn’t have an exhausted arm, I wouldn’t have been able to beat Dave, the guy I met in round two. I think that round ended with my hand on the table less than 3 seconds after the match started.

Tyrone, if you’re reading this…I still can’t claim victory, because I didn’t actually beat you; you just let me win. I have no doubt you should’ve won! You were an animal in the weight room. As a testament to how strongly I believe this, I’ll admit that I’m kind of afraid you’re going to read this and come find me and demand a rematch!

PS – The answer’s no, unless you’re really weak now.

Posted on

You Don’t Win by Accident

Years ago I was in a leadership class in the Air Force, and during one exercise the teacher named several controversial topics, one at a time. Each time she named a topic, the 12-15 of us in the class were supposed to go to one side of the room or the other, depending on our personal views on the topic.

For many of the issues, the class was close to evenly split. Sometimes maybe it’d be 75% on one side vs. 25% on the other. I don’t remember the topic, but there was one time where I found myself the sole representative of one particular viewpoint.

I don’t actually know what everyone on the other side of the room thought about me taking that position on the matter, but I know what it felt like. I was one person bearing the judgmental gaze of everyone else in the room. It was lonely and uncomfortable.

Guess what? If you openly follow Jesus, this is something you should become accustomed to. Become comfortable being uncomfortable. Christ Himself let people know that following Him would come at a cost, and that hasn’t changed over time. The world always has…and always will…disavow the teachings of Christ. Are you willing to associate yourself with Him and His teachings?

There’s a strange new development in American culture. I think the concept has been around for ages, but the interconnectedness of today’s world probably amplifies it. In today’s culture, the concept of “agreeing to disagree” is gone. It’s not enough to simply disagree with people; you have to show everyone else that you disagree with them and look down on that “invalid” opinion (as though an opinion could possibly be invalid). It’s a bizarre form of insecurity that ultimately has the effect of silencing or watering down dissenters.

Many Christians are swayed by this for some reason, as though getting along with the culture is more important than the message we carry. We’re now at the point where Christians are the counter-culture people in our society…but even many Christian pastors and priests avoid sensitive topics or only focus on subjects that the culture approves of.

Well, in times when preachers water down their message and pride themselves on showing others how “woke” they are, remember this: YOU (the Church) are God’s plan to help redeem the world. Your actions, your words, your lifestyle are what will make a difference in someone else’s eternity. If your pastor or the Christian voices you’ve long been listening to now seem like they’re “evolving” the message of Christ, it’s probably time to look for a new pastor or spiritual mentor. Stick with Christ and the Bible; in a world where morality varies with the day of the week, Christ and the Bible don’t change.

Christians will naturally ask “how can we get the world to like us better?” I understand the question and the reason for asking it, but the only honest answer is to become more like the world. Sorry everyone, but it’s not the Church’s job to make the world like us more; it’s our job to help save the lost that live in it. That’s going to come from speaking the truth in love and demonstrating the love of Christ to others. We’ll have plenty of time to skip through fields of daisies and butterflies in Heaven; while we’re here though, we should be getting sand kicked in our face by the people that don’t want to hear what we’re saying.

Did you watch the video I added at the end of last week’s post? What’s “that thing” that you believe God is calling you to do? In a world that’s desperate for lasting truth, it might just be that whatever’s coming to your mind is going to make a bigger impact on the lost in this world than some of the “politically correct” pastors that are out there.

Make no mistake: living for God is hard, but it’s good. We’ll have to discipline ourselves to dig deep in order to give God our best, and it’s going to mean consistently choosing things that we wouldn’t ordinarily choose, but it’s worthwhile.

First Corinthians 9:24-27 describes the Christian life as a competitive race. We’re not in this race just to get the tee shirt, just so we can say we finished, or even just to break into the top 10…we’re supposed to run to win. That’s not something that happens by accident, it takes focus, training, and determination. The more of those things you have, the more you allow God to use you for the expansion of His kingdom.

For more on living with purpose, check out this talk from a pastor whose message is about living a life where you “run to win.”