I am sure that many of you have already seen this clip of the Miss Teen South Carolina butchering her answer about maps during the Q&A portion of the event. It is very funny and very uncomfortable to watch her struggle with the answer. There are two possible reasons for her failure. She did not know the answer (which is more than a little concerning) or she was so overwhelmed by the moment, the lights and that hunk A.C. Slater, ehrr, Mario Lopez that she buckled under the pressure.
This young lady made a big goof on national television. Of course the only real difference between the two of us is that I make most of my mistakes away from the public eye (and I know how to read a map.) The Apostle Paul writes the church in Rome about all of us falling short from time to time.
"But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-24, The Message.)"
Pray today that we will all live the lives that God has called us to. I hope you have a great week, such as.
I don't know how many of you all out in cyberland read this little blog, but I thought I would channel St. Augustine and write my own little version of "Confessions." I pride myself (which sounds like a sin in itself) in my deep patience and abundant self control. Our daughter Amelia tests this every night when it's time to go to bed. She loves sleep, but hates going to bed. Go figure. Every night is a battle, but we trust that God is teaching us patience in the process. Speaking of patience, I can hang out with teenagers for days on summer trips and overnighters. That alone should add a few gems into my heavenly crown.
All that said, yesterday my patience ran out. A day later, I feel a little better, but I still have that knot in my gut reminding me of my still strong case of righteous indignation. What would turn a mild mannered Presbyterian pastor into sullen, angry and bitter man? The simple answer, corporate incompetence.
You see, Sarah and I purchased a digital camera a couple of years ago to document the life of our first born child. We went ahead and purchased the extended warranty from Sam's Club just to be on the safe side. Sure enough, right around the birth of our second child, the camera gave out. Several attempts to fix the unit proved unsuccessful and finally a nice man named Mike from a camera store in Anaheim, California told me it was a lemon. Representatives from Sam's Club told me I would have to fax in the receipt saying it could not be fixed in order to receive a refund. I did this a month and a half ago. I don't always trust that faxes have gone through so I called to confirm its receipt just to make sure.
Two weeks pass and there is no word from Sam's so I call. I am told that everything is fine and it takes a few weeks to process this kind of request. Another week passes and I call again and get the same answer...and I got something similar last week when I called in. Yesterday, I checked the mailbox again and again, the refund check was no where to be found. I called into Sam's Club and after waiting the obligatory 20 minutes to talk to someone, I was told that they had no record of receiving my original fax and that I would need to send it back in. Of course, they had told me on four separate occasions before that it was in their system and all I needed to do was wait patiently for the check that was coming soon.
Even now, I have to take a deep breath as I write this. At best, I had to deal with ignorance or incompetence. At worst, I just got a taste of a corporate deceit. Of course, this is nothing new. Ask anyone who has problems with insurance companies. It can take several phone calls to solve a problem. There is a part of me that wonders if they make it too difficult that customers will eventually give up. I feel this may be the unwritten policy with many faceless corporations.
I know that I should bring this back to God and provide some kind of spiritual insight. Maybe the lesson learned is that if you rely strictly on human beings you will be disappointed. When you really want answers, you might just get the stock line of "I understand that must be discouraging to you," which really translates into "I will not help you." God doesn't use corporate-ese in the way He deals with us. God is always steady. God is always loving. God is always there to help. We trust that God is the one who provides love and love is patient. My prayer is that I can be patient through this process and not allow the wrongs I experience take me away from God's call on my life.
I recently preached a sermon about running the race that God has laid out for our lives. It was based on Hebrews 12:1-2.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,*2 and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God."
During the sermon preparation, I kept coming back to the words and life of Eric Liddell. Known as the "Flying Scotsman", he was an accomplished track star and rugby player long before he won gold at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. The movie, "Chariots of Fire" introduced a new generation to Liddell's racing ability and his love for the Lord. In addition to being a world class athlete, he was also a missionary to China.
I believe that God has a race laid out for all of us. It does not matter whether we are young or old, the Lord has a path for all of us to run. It is natural to get tired and discouraged, but we are called to keep running.
I believe God made you for a purpose and He also made you fast. Run the race the Lord has marked for you!
I came into the church office this morning and made my normal lap around the world wide web. It is one half a desire for information and one half compulsion. After a visit to my email and a persual of the evening sports news, I made my way to my ultimate guilty pleasure. I visit the Presbyterian Layman from time to time to hear what new with the denomination. It is an odd thing calling a visit to the Layman a pleasure, guilty or otherwise. It is filled with all kinds of slanted articles, spiteful letters to the editor and yellow journalism. Normally, it involves reactionary stories about how the liberals have destroyed our beloved denomination and that any church that really loves Jesus and honors the Bible should have left for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church years ago.
I found one article today to be especially interesting. They had a list of the "50 Most Influential Churches" in America. I searched with great interest to see if our small Presbyterian church in Eufaula made the list. Unfortunately, we did not make the top 50. I can only assume that it was just a minor oversight and we'll be included next year. I wonder how it feels to be church number 50 on this list. Do you celebrate your inclusion? Do you work harder to move up to spot 45 in next year's count? Do you even care?
I believe lists like this represent what is wrong with the American church today. These subjective rankings only exist to foster pride, angst or unhealthy competition. I do not believe that the Bible really encourages any of these ugly traits.
I do not know if many of the pastors on this list really care about where their church is ranked. I am sure they are far too busy teaching, preaching and caring for their flock. However, it is a reminder to all of us that while this is a race, it is not a competion. It is time to cast off all this competition, hand wringing and chest thumping.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,sin that easily distracts+e --> and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 -->looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of who instead of+e --> the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2)."
