Two Babes In A Manger

TWO BABES IN A MANGER

 
Dear Champions,
 
I do not know who the author of this story is, but it is very touching.
 
In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics based on biblical principles in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words:

It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem.  Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.  Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger.  Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city.  Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw.  Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia, were used for the baby s blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States.
 
The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy s manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously.  For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately-until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib.
 
He made up his own ending to the story as he said, And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay.  I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I do not have any place to stay.  Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I could not because I did not have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift.
 
So I asked Jesus, If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?  And Jesus told me, If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me. So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him for always.
 
As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.  The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him for always.
 
Matthew 28:20  . . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

God Sought Me

God Sought Me

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by former Greystone camper Kelly Blount Grimsley, and the Scripture is Romans 10:20 And Isaiah boldly says, I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.
 
Two weeks into our six week Greystone session, my parents dropped the bomb of their divorce.  I spent the next decade truly shell shocked, hurt, angry and lost.  I threw everything but God into the God shaped hole in my heart.  I never sought Him because I did not know how.  I accepted Christ during my five years at Greystone and had a Christian foundation laid, but I was nowhere near beginning a relationship with Christ. 
 
I somehow survived my rebellious teen years bouncing from one boarding school to another and married Mike when I was 21.  Mike was 34, a good man, from a good Christian family but had not begun living for Christ yet.  Boy do opposites attract!   Mike frequently points out that God called us together because it was a guaranteed way to have us searching for Him.  As our marriage inevitably unraveled, that is exactly what we did.  Mike took the Disciples study and dragged me kicking and screaming into it the following year. 
 
Through studying His word, our marriage not only survived, but began to thrive.  God calmed the raging storm that was within me, as only He can. Someone had prayed for me and though I was not seeking God, God sought me.  Though I was on a self destructive path, God guided my way and I came to know and love Christ, and He chose a husband for me that has come to be a strong spiritual leader for our family.
 
My parents divorce, death of friends, self destruction, marriage, children, and even a serious illness with our middle child have all proved Romans 8:28.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.   I believe prayers are the reason, and the power of prayer has become very real to me. I feel called to work with youth because someone prayed for me, and the power of a praying person has proven the difference that one person praying can make in the life a struggling kid. 
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

God is Our Head Coach

God is Our Head Coach
 

Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs from his book Gameplan For Life, and the Scripture is Matthew 4:19  Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men.
 
When I came to believe that God had created me and that I was no accident, I should have been willing to let God be in charge of my life, but that realization came much later for me.
 
Football players have to let their coach be in charge.  For many of them, that is not easy.  One of my favorite guys to coach was quarterback Joe Theismann.  He had a passion to succeed, but left to his own wishes, he would have liked to call every play.  He was the type of player who would rather kneel in the huddle and draw up a play in the dirt than let the coach call the plays.
 
At our quarterback meeting before my very first preseason game with the Redskins, I outlined an involved game plan that we had been laboring over all week.  Then I made the mistake of asking if anybody had anything to add.  Well, Theisman had a million suggestions-things he saw, things he wanted to try.  Finally, I had to interrupt him and remind him of who was in charge, that there was already a game plan in place, and that it was his job to carry it out.
 
Everyone seems to have an idea about God, but only one view of God can be correct.  It does not make sense that He can be something different for every person.  If that were true, we would be guilty of creating God in our own image, rather than the other way around. Everybody is going to follow somebody.  In football, it is the head coach, and in life it is God.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Be Thankful

Be Thankful

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt was sent to me and is by an unknown author and the Scripture is Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 
 
A young man was getting ready to graduate from college.  For a long time he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealers showroom and knowing his father could well afford it, he told his Dad that was all he wanted. As his graduation day approached the young man began looking for signs that his father had bought the car.  Finally on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his study and told him how proud he was to have such a fine son and he told him how much he loved him.

He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely leather bound Bible with the young man s name embossed in gold.  Angry, he raised his voice to his father and said, With all your money you give me a Bible? and then he stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

Many years passed and the young man received a telegram telling him that his father had passed away and had willed all his possessions to his son so he needed to come home and take care of things. When he arrived at his father s house sadness and regret filled his heart. He began sorting through his fathers papers and saw the still new Bible just as he had left it years ago.  With tears in his eyes he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages and a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealers name and on the tag was the date of his graduation and the words paid in full.
 
Let us pray for a grateful and thankful heart and receive the gift that our sins are paid for in full by Jesus.
 
Have a great week!-David Vining
 

Deadly Silence

Deadly Silence

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Ron Hutchcraft, and the Scripture is Romans 10:14-15 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

Jack Phillips was a senior radioman on the maiden voyage of the ill-fated Titanic. On that fatal night when two-thirds of her passengers and crew would die, Phillips received a message from a ship called the Masaba. That ship was reporting a major ice field ahead and the message gave the coordinates where the Titanic could expect to encounter those icebergs. It was the place where just two hours later, the Titanic would, in fact, hit one of those icebergs; the one that would sink what was supposed to be the unsinkable ship. The message with the warning of what was ahead - would you believe it – did not get delivered. Jack Phillips was really busy at the time, and he stuck the message on a spindle to be delivered sometime later, and it never was. That one decision would cost the lives of 1,500 people and the life of the radioman himself.

Life-saving information never delivered. That is a tragedy that has been repeated countless times, as followers of Jesus Christ fail to deliver the life-saving message God has given to them. The message of how His Son s death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin and made the way for our sin to be forgiven for us to go to heaven. But if those who know it never tell those who do not know it, lives will be lost forever. That is the deadly silence.

If you belong to Jesus, you may not fully realize the reason you are where you are and the incredibly important role you play in the plans of God and the eternal destiny of the people you know. God has positioned you where you are so you can help save the lives of the people there by pointing them to Jesus; the only one who can save them.  It is a risk to tell them how they can be cured of the cancer of sin and how they can live forever, and you will not take that risk if you are thinking about yourself. You will take the risk if you realize that the greatest risk of all is that they will die without the information that could have helped them go to heaven with you. We cannot be this close to them for so long and never tell them the life-saving information we know.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Thy Will Be Done

Thy Will Be Done

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Mark 14:36 Abba, Father, Jesus said, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.
 
To pray Thy Will Be Done is to say, I owe you my submission and my allegiance whether I understand it or not, is the greatest opportunity for growth that you can possibly have.  If the essence of sin is not breaking the rules but it is making certain things too important to us, then the only way that you are going to get freedom from that is if God crosses your will and keeps something from you that is very important to you.  What if money is way too important to you?  You are probably not going to know it and as long as you have money you will be in a state of spiritual weakness.  You will be dependent on money for your significance and for your security instead of on God.  In other words, if you have your will when it comes to money, you are in a state of weakness, and you do not even know it.  Only when He crosses your will in an area like that will you start to get free.  Don t you want to be in a position where stuff and circumstances do not bother you, where nothing really gets you down, scares you, or angers you?  How would you get into that situation of freedom?  It will happen only when God crosses your will at so many places where you are too dependent on something, and you learn to say, My real riches are in Jesus.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

God Uses Our Pain

God Uses Our Pain

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tony Evans, and it can be found in Joe Gibbs book Game Plan for Life, and the Scripture is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
 
Maybe a huge mistake taught you a lesson you might never have learned otherwise.  Though God never authorizes sin, and sin carries consequences, He still uses our failures to help fulfill His purpose for us.
 
It was Moses the murderer whom God used to lead Israel out of Egypt.  It was David the adulterer whom God used to write many of the psalms, and it was the same Peter who publicly denied Christ that God used to help found the early church.  The key is that these men repented of their sins, turned back to the Lord, and began to follow Him obediently.
 
God also uses those negative experiences that were not our fault.  Maybe a tragedy in your life has helped mold you into a compassionate counselor.  Maybe you grew up fatherless, or were discriminated against racially, or were treated unfairly on the job.  Those experiences, painful as they are, can shape you into a sensitive, caring person.
 
The story of Joseph is a classic illustration of how God can redeem the ugly events in our lives.  Joseph was rejected by his jealous brothers and left for dead in a pit; he was sold as a slave, unjustly accused of rape, and forgotten in prison.  But the Bible is clear that, each step of the way, the Lord was with Joseph.  God used all the negatives realities in his life to direct him to his destiny.  Joseph would become second in command in Egypt and be used by God not only to save the life of his family, but also to help fulfill God s purpose of founding a nation.
 
God knows how to take your good, your bad, and your ugly and use them for His purpose in your life.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

The Great Paradox

 The Great Paradox

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Chuck Colson and is found in Joe Gibbs book Game Plan for Life.  Early in his career Colson was special counsel to President Richard Nixon, and he served prison time for obstruction of justice related to the Watergate scandal.  Colson founded Prison Fellowship Ministries after he was released from prison, and the Scripture is Luke 9:23-23 Then Jesus said to them all: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
     
Looking back, I can now see clearly the two great lessons from my life.  The first was the paradox I discovered in prison: If you really want to find your life, you have to lose it for Christ s sake.  After years of success and power, clawing my way to the top, I ended up empty and desperate.  But when I surrendered my life to Christ, I found it in prison, real peace, joy and purpose.

The second great lesson is also a paradox. God did not choose to use me when I was at the top.  He used me when I was broken at the bottom.  What I did not understand was that nothing is beyond the power of God.  In fact, God chose me precisely when I was weakest and most broken.  Why? Because then my own pride was out of the way and I could never glory in anything I did in the future. And I have not. God has used my life for His much greater purpose-to spread prison ministries around the world, far beyond anything I could ever dream of.  Indeed, he uses the weak and broken to shame the wise and mighty.

This former Marine captain and powerful White House aide thought he did not need God; the convict washing socks in a prison laundry knew how wrong he was.  The great paradox is that God will use your weakness, not your strength.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Works or Grace?

Works or Grace?

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.
 
The symptoms of sin are breaking the rules, but the essence of sin is taking a good thing and making it more important than God.  It is taking good things and making them ultimates and living for them and being defined by them.  That is the reason why in the Ten Commandments the first commandment, the primary commandment, is to have no other gods before me.  Everything else, all of the other, the cheating, the lying, the murdering, the stealing, and all of that awful stuff, it all flows out of the first one. 
 
No one is righteous, not even one; no one seeks for God (Romans 3:10).  There are bad people who mug you and cheat and hurt people, and they, of course, are not looking for God.  But here is what is scary about good and religious people.  Good and religious people think that they are looking for God, but they are not. They both are taking things and making them into idols; but some idols lead you to be obedient to the law of God, and some idols lead you to be disobedient to the law of God.  But no one is righteous, not even one; no one is seeking God!  Good people think they are seeking God, but they are seeking a god that they can control through their good works-a god who owes them.  Religious people say, I give God a record of righteousness, and then God owes me a blessing. But a Christian says, God through Jesus Christ has given me a perfect record of righteousness which I receive by faith, and now I live for him.
 
If you are a Christian, grace has come in and grabbed a hold of you and shown you that you can only be saved through the works of Jesus and not your own works.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
 

Joy in the Midst of Pain

Joy in the Midst of Pain

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is from the heart of two moms that were gotten off of the CarePages.  The first is from Katie Dowlen.  Her son, Sam, received a spinal cord injury after his second day of his freshmen year at Tennessee Tech this past August 29th.  The second is by Cindy Landis who lost her precious 12 year old daughter Connor in her fight with cancer this past June of 2009. 
 
From Katie Dowlen:  One of the most precious parts of this whole deal has been the opportunity for us to reconnect with Sam in a way we could not possibly have done otherwise. Is that not just like God? One of those for the good parts that He talks about in Romans 8:28 (We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.).  Thank you so much for not growing weary in bringing Sam and our family to the feet of Jesus. We see Him everywhere. And in every step of this journey. I continue to pray for Sam s complete healing and recovery. As his mom, I am simply unable to pray for anything less. Yet while I pray for his body to return to what it was before August 29th, I pray his heart and his soul never will. Nor mine. We know that God never wastes pain. And that He uses everything to grow us up into who He has for us to be. Everything.

From Cindy Landis:  God has blessed us through our tragedy. Your love, support, and many acts of kindness have overwhelmed our broken hearts.  My heart has not only been broken though, it has been shattered....shattered into a million pieces that will take time to piece back together. And once it is back together, it will remain forever altered by the chips and cracks that could not be repaired. Perhaps, with time even the remaining rough edges of my mended heart will be smoothed away by the many of hugs and mountains of love poured over and into my wounded spirit. My heart will never be the same but God will enable this abiding heart to help others see the miracle of HIS amazing, unconditional love. The miracle that allows me to see the million and one twinkling stars in the sky and smile because I know Connor is among them....even through the darkness we are experiencing now.

We are sad and sometimes afraid. We are mad and sometimes very angry. Yet our God loves us. He loves us and He knows our pain…. pain that only comes from loving and losing a child. He cries with us. And He knows our despair. And we know it is through our despair by which we have come closer to Him. I have never felt pain so intense, yet I have never felt joy so immense. Pure, inexplicable joy in the midst of pain and grief that could only come from the loving arms of our Lord Jesus. The arms cannot remove the pain but they will give us peace and comfort. They will lift us and mold us into servants of HIS great love. In our pain we seek him more and by doing so we are held a little tighter and lifted a little higher. We thank our God for the pain that has brought us closer to Him.

Jesus said in John 16:33 . . . in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Where To Run

Where To Run

Dear Champions,
The short excerpt was sent to me by Elise Glasser and is from the August 21^st edition of The Tennessean in Nashville, TN, and the Scripture is in the excerpt. 
 
19 year old Josiah Berger was driving along Del Rio Pike on Aug. 11 when police say he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree. He was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center, where he would spend the next four days on life support.  While Berger s family stayed around the clock, prayer warriors, as they are now being called, also stood by. Despite their prayers for a miracle, Berger did not recover. He passed away Aug. 14, 2009 on his 19th birthday. His organs and tissues were donated to 77 people. Five of them had been on their deathbed before receiving the transplants.

Berger s father, Steve Berger, senior pastor of Grace Chapel, will tell you he has laid out on the floor many times shedding uncontrollable tears and has had sleepless nights since Josiah s death. He will tell you how his family has joined hands, prayed together and wept together behind the private walls of their home in one of the darkest moments of their lives. But then he will also tell you about the inexplicable joy and peace that has settled in and has turned their grief into a testimony and opportunity to help others.

The specific miracle that we were praying for was not answered, but other miracles were answered and they continue to be answered. Those five families ­ one man was praying for a heart and another vital organ to sustain his life. That prayer was answered that day. Can you imagine the prayers that those families were praying for that day? Those miracles came that day.

Berger continued, There were times in the first few days where you cannot imagine that this is happening; but I have 25 years of passionately following Christ in my heart, so I know where to go and who to cry out to and where to run. I know He is my strong tower, my shepherd, my banner of hope, my strength, my deliverer, and my healer. So because I know Him, when I need what I need, I know where to go.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

P.S.  During Josiah s memorial service Berger asked those in the crowd wanting to turn their lives over to Christ to stand. Nearly 100 people stood up and answered the altar call.  You can read the whole article at http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200908210210/COUNTY090101/908210320

How Are You Going To Live

How Are You Going To Live?

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is part of a devotional given by 6th grader Max Casey on November 16, 2005 to the entire middle school at McCallie, a prep school in Chattanooga, TN.  Max went to heaven in August of 2006, and this is a look back.  The scripture is Psalm 18:24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
 
In April of this year, right after I was accepted to McCallie, I started to have double vision.  After a visit to the eye doctor and getting an MRI, I thought everything was clear, but my mom said that I had to go back to see another doctor.  I sat down in his office, and he said that it looks like you have a brain tumor. 
           
I was in a situation where I did not think I deserved to be.  And I know you have probably experienced this before, and it made you mad.  At the time, I had no faith in God and was a full-blown atheist.  During the first couple of months, I was dead-set on not believing because I did not think that it was fair to just start believing when you are in a time of need.  After a while, I decided that maybe God did this to me to teach me that, at any time, I could love him, and that He would forgive me.
 
About three months after my conversion, my uncle was told that he had cancer.  Well, my aunt started to become angry with God and did not see how this was fair that the people she loved all had bad things happening to them.  And when I found out about this, I thought, if God did not love us, then my uncle and I would not have a chance.  And, even if this did turn out for the worst, the world is not perfect.  If it were, Jesus never would have had to give his life for us, and Adam and Eve would never have eaten the fruit from the tree.
 
No matter what happens, God always loves you.  That is why he looked after Adam and Eve after they were banished from the Garden of Eden.  That is why my uncle and I do have a chance, and that is why Jesus did give his life for us.  Even if my aunt was rightfully mad, and even if everyone on earth was going to die tomorrow, the question I have for you is, How are you going to spend your last day of life?  Sad and angry with God?  What a way to spend your last day of life.  Earl Nightingale once said, Our attitude towards life determines life s attitude towards us.
 
You might ask what my attitude really is now.  It is mostly positive, because I cannot be mad at God, just like I said earlier.  I do not think that is what he intends for me to do.  I also try to keep a good sense of humor and laugh whenever possible.
 
In closing, I am to going to use a quote from folksinger Joan Baez: You do not get to choose how you are going to die or when. You can only decide how you are going to live… NOW.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
 

Against All Odds

Against All Odds

Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is in honor of the start of college football, and it is written by Larry Williams from TigerIllustrated.com.  The Scripture is Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
 
When I see these guys, I see more than just football players, Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney said.  I see a lot of myself in a lot of these guys.  Lost kids trying to find their way.  Scared.  They do not know what the future holds.  Problems at home.  Financial problems.  Whatever it is.

Swinney endured all of that and more starting at age 8, when he began to notice the effects of his father s drinking.  I started seeing things that kids should not see, said Swinney, the youngest of three boys.  There were times where my dad would be gone and would not come home, and I did not know why and mom would say this or that.  There would be big fights and arguments, police called to the house, windows broken.  I can remember praying to God to keep my family together and make things OK and protect my mom and my dad.  My dad was a great dad.  But when he would drink, it was not a good thing.

Were Swinney given an opportunity to change anything, he would change nothing.  Because all the strife, the heartache and heartbreak have shaped him into who he is today; a devoted Christian, a loving and committed father and husband, a successful coach.
 
When Swinney was 14, his fathers appliance business began to flounder and the family lost the home it had lived in for 10 years.  The slow deterioration culminated in his parents divorce when he was in the 11th grade.  He remembers sitting in the field house at Pelham High School crying like a baby after he heard the news.  To that point, he had tried to keep everything from his friends while painting his family as happy, sober, and normal.  I was playing three sports and in the Honor Society and all of that, but it had really taken a toll on me.  Swinney and his mother moved out and began renting a condo; but her job at the mall could not pay all the bills, and the eviction notice was nailed to the front door after just three months so they moved in with one of Swinneys high school buddies.

He says that he would not have been able to get through it without his relationship with Christ.  He remembers the day he was saved (Feb. 3, 1986), remembers what he wrote in his Bible that day (I dedicate my life to the Lord, and my life will never be the same.).
 
After mine and his mothers marriage broke up, we had some hard times for a while, his father Ervil Swinney said.  But he was just always an inspiration, and he was definitely an influence on me getting sober because I realized I wanted him to be as proud of me as I was of him.

It is just amazing how things work in your life, Coach Dabo Swinney said.  I know how to be successful, and that is:  You put your eyes on the Lord in everything you do, you believe in yourself, and you never quit.  If you do those three things, you are going to be successful. 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

P.S.  The entire article may be found at this site: http://clemson.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=882281

Communion on the Moon

Communion on the Moon:  July 20, 1969

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Eric Metaxas and was gotten from his blog found at http://www.ericmetaxas.com/   (click there at the July 19 posting if you want more), and the Scripture is in the passage.

Forty years ago on July 20, 1969 two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon.   But what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it.

I am talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon.  The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas during this period in his life, and knowing that he would soon be doing something unprecedented in human history, he felt he should mark the occasion somehow.  Here is his own account of what happened:

In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.  Apart from me you can do nothing.  I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas.  I agreed reluctantly.   …I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.

And of course, it is interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon ­ and Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the Love that moves the Sun and other stars.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Authentic Christianity

Authentic Christianity

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Bethany Haley, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.

There is a world out there of false faces where we say what we say because we are supposed to say it, and we do what we do because we are supposed to do it. We are who we are because we are supposed to be it, but it is not real. We are afraid to be our authentic selves for fear of the judgments, whispers, and opinions of others, and we try so hard to be who others think we should be that we never know who we are.

In that land of fakeness, we waste so many glances looking around to either compare our selves, families, or marriages with others.....to either seek approval or to one up someone....that we forget to look up, becoming distracted from the only One who we truly need the approval of.

In that land of supposed tos Satan hides, and we never know he is there. It is the Land of Masks, and he has the largest one. If he is able to convince us to become distracted into what we think we are supposed to be, he knows we will never find out who we are in the eyes of the Father.  He knows if we become so caught up in achieving, accomplishing, comparing ourselves with others, then we will fail to see His purpose for our lives: to love God, to be loved by God, and to love others through His example of love....and act accordingly.

The Land of Reality is when we become free to live in the real world which is overflowing in mistakes and ever-abundant with grace with giant hands that pick us up when we fall.  It is in such a World that Christ was born: to minister to the sick - not the well. A world where grace is not a license to sin, but a fuel to feed a longing to please Him -The One we love.

Matthew 6:25, 33 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. . . . But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Father, Free us to live lives in search of being more like you - in pleasing you and you alone. 

Champions, have a great summer!-David Vining

Grace to the Humble

Grace to the Humble

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt came from the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, Jim Cymbala, and the Scripture is James 4:6 . . . God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

I was so depressed by what I saw-and even more by what I felt in my spirit-that I literally could not preach.  Five minutes into my sermon, I began choking on the words.  Tears filled my eyes, and gloom engulfed me.  With that, I just quit.  It was embarrassing, but I could not do anything else.

I leaned into the pulpit, my face planted in my hands, and sobbed.  Things were quiet at first, but soon the Spirit of God came down upon us.  People began to call upon the Lord – God help us, we prayed.

Suddenly a young usher came running down the center aisle and threw himself on the altar.  He began to cry as he prayed.  I am sorry!  I will not do it again!  Please forgive me!  Instantly I realized that he was apologizing for taking money from the offering plate.

That evening, when I was at my lowest, I realized that God is attracted to weakness.  He cannot resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need Him.  Our weakness, in fact makes room for His power.

In a parallel vein, people are not put off by honesty, either, and I did not have to keep up a ministerial front.  Jesus called fishermen, not graduates of rabbinical schools, and the main requirement was to be natural and sincere.  I had to stop trying to act ministerial – whatever that was, and what a breakthrough that was for me as I learned to trust God to use my natural personality.  God has always despised sham and pretense, and the minute I started trying to effect a posture of pose, Gods Spirit would be grieved.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Thy Will Be Done

Thy Will Be Done

 
Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Romans 1:22-24 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

To those who object to the doctrine of hell C.S. Lewis asked several questions.  What are you asking God to do?  Wipe out all past sins?  He did so on the cross. To forgive them? They will not ask for forgiveness. To leave them alone? Alas, that is what He must do
 
Lewis points out the truth of Romans 1 – God gives people what they want.  Do you want to be your own person and live without God?  He will let you. Hell is a monument to human freedom.
 
There are two kinds of people.  There are those who say to God, Thy will be done, and those to whom God says, thy will be done.  It is such hell because it is a self choice. Most people have a bad view of hell – people in a pit trying to get out and God laughs and closes the lid to keep them in. Not so. No one in hell is saying let me out because God gives them up to THEIR desires.
 
2 Peter 3:9 . . . The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  We serve a God that would rather die for us than to live without us.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

It is the Sick That Need a Doctor

It is the Sick That Need a Doctor

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by from Our Daily Bread, and the Scripture is Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I heard about a judge who used bumper stickers to encourage better driving.  He gave two options to people guilty of driving while intoxicated.
 
The first option was to attach this message to their bumpers.  This car owned by a convicted drunk driver.  Almost all offenders preferred the second option:  Enroll in an alcohol treatment program.  The majority of people cared about what others thought of them and wanted to maintain a good image.

The fear of embarrassment applies to other kinds of unacceptable behavior as well.  For example, not many of us would be willing to walk around with a sign on our backs that read something like this:  Danger:  I am a Christian who does not spend time in prayer or Bible reading, I gossip too much, I am too often self-righteous and judgmental, and I am controlled by lust rather than love.

The bad news is that our Heavenly Father sees all of our sins and shortcomings, and we must all appear before Him and face judgment when we die..  The good news is that is why Jesus came.  Matthew 9:12-13 Jesus says, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . . .For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.  We are all sick, but Jesus took the judgment for us on the cross when we put our trust in Him. He does not just give us fire insurance for the end; but He equips us to live now, and He changes us from the inside out to be conformed into His image. 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Being Thankful

Being Thankful

Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Appalachian State FCA campus minister Jim Musser, and the Scripture is Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

If you listen to people, being thankful is not a very common attitude. They complain about their classes, their jobs, their practice schedules, their parents (or kids), their friends, the weather, their teammates, and on and on it goes. In the world, it is easy to complain because everybody does it. Yet, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be thankful. That is no easy task when everyone around us is doing the opposite, so it is just easier to fall in with them and do the same thing.

So how do we change, and how do we stand apart from the crowd? The answer I think is found in Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… As we get to know Jesus better, He begins to change us from the inside out. It will likely begin with an uneasiness when you complain, and what used to be so natural begins to feel inappropriate. Complaints that once flowed so easily off your tongue become more uncomfortable to share; and at the same time, expressions of thankfulness begin to increase.

Ezra Taft Benson says the following:  The Lord works from the inside out, but the world works from the outside in.  The world would take people out of the slums; but Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums.  The world would mold men by changing their environment, but Christ changes men, who then change their environment.  The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

What is Your Ultimate Beauty?

What is Your Ultimate Beauty?

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
When I was in college I had a music appreciation course, and I had to listen to Mozart so I could pass the test.  I had to pass the test so that I could get a good grade on the course, so I could get a degree.  I had to get a good degree so that I could get into a good grad school, and I had to get into a good grad school so that I could get a white-collar job.  I used Mozart to get money.
 
Something has happened to Mozart and me over the years, and now I use money to get Mozart.  Why do I do it, and what does Mozart give me?  Mozart just gives me Mozart. 
 
When you find something beautiful; then it is its own reward, and you look at it or have it or  listen to it or you are  with it just for what it is.  If, on the other hand, you listen to it or look at it or have it in order to get something else, then you are not doing it for itself. 
 
Some people obey God in order to get something that they find beautiful.  However, when you recognize that you are a sinner saved by grace you begin to find that you love God for who He is, and you obey Him not for what He has given you.  As a result your obedience becomes personal and absolutely unconditional.  If you have a condition on your obedience, if you say, If God does not answer that prayer, then what good is being a Christian?  Then what you are saying is that God is not really the thing that you need.  God is not your ultimate beauty; and He is not the thing that your heart is really after. 
 
What makes you a Christian or not a Christian is not so much whether you are obeying the will of God, but why are you obeying the will of God. 
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

False Intimacy

False Intimacy

Dear Champions,

The first two paragraphs of the short excerpt is by Greg Speck from his book Sex: It is Worth Waiting For, and the Scripture is Song of Solomon 2:7 Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires, and Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure. . .

When you go out with a person, you get to know him or her spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually, and you begin to develop open communication.  If you decide to sleep together, now suddenly you know each other very well physically.  You say, I feel we are so close and know each other so well.  This is a false feeling because there is a gap between where you feel you are and where you really are.  When you become sexually involved, you have fooled yourself and settled for an imitation of intimacy, and you can lose an objective view of the relationship.

Listen to your parents and others around you about your relationship, because they can see the situation more objectively.    Also, if you are in a relationship that is corrupting you and causing you to become deceitful and to do things that you would have never dreamed of doing a few months before, then it is a bad relationship.  Bad company ruins good character.

God created sex, and He has a perfect design for great sex-with one person in a committed marriage. 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

On A Journey!

On A Journey!

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.
 
To be a Christian is to be a disciple, and discipleship is a journey.  To go on the journey means to give up My right to self-determination and to say, I will obey You, Lord, and I get rid of all the ifs and conditions.    However, after your decisive beginning of the journey, the fact of the matter is that it is still a journey, and you do not have to have it all together.  It is a process, and it takes time. 
 
If you think that discipleship is the way you are saved -- by being committed, focused, and by giving Jesus the priority – you are missing the point.   Jesus does not say, If you follow Me, I will go to the cross for you.  No -- He says, I am going to the cross for you, so follow Me. 
 
Of all of the religions and philosophies of the world and every basis of every identity says that what makes you right with God is things that you have done.  Christianity says, No, what makes you right with God is things that He has done.
 
Other religions say that their founders were prophets.  But our religion says that Jesus was the Son of God and that the resurrection proves it.  Christianity says our founder is not just pointing the way to God – but rather, He is God.  Christianity says, Our religion does not tell you how to find God by your efforts, but how Jesus came and did it all for you.  He died for your sins and was your substitute; and He brings you to God.
 
Why would you want to try and submit and give up the Lordship and control of your life to God knowing that you will stumble some in the journey?  Mark 14:38 Jesus says, Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.  In Christianity you have a God that has already submitted and given Himself away for you, and no other religion gives you a god like that.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Serving Others

Serving Others

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Alan Williams from his book Walk On, and the Scripture is Mark 10:45  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

The one glitch about the Wake Forest basketball team meeting room was that there were not enough seats on the sofas and chairs for all 16 players to sit.  Consequently, there were three or four stools directly behind the sofas-and this is where I always sat.  On days we met, I naturally passed over the sofas and sat on the steel stools.

For whatever reason, this particular day was different.  I walked into the locker room, got a Gatorade out of the cooler, and sat down in one of the big leather chairs.  It was an ambitious move, but I was tired of sitting on the stools.  As I sat down, one of the members of the basketball staff immediately confronted me and said, Come on man, let Josh and those guys sit in those chairs.

I conformingly nodded my head, got up from my seat, and made my way back to my stool.  I did not know it at the time, but Josh Howard happened to be right behind me and had heard my exchange with the coach.  He said, No, go back and sit down.  Alan is sitting there today, Coach.  I will sit on one of the stools back here.  The assistant coach, of course, could not say anything to Josh.  On that day, for the first time, I listened to the scouting report from the big leather chair.  Josh made me forget that I was a walk-on.

Josh Howard was the star of our team and probably does not even remember what he did, but I do.  He played all of the minutes and scored most of the points.  Conversely, I was the walk-on, who rarely got minutes and hardly ever scored points.  To this day, whenever I think of Josh Howard, I never think about the fact that he was the ACC player of the year or that he was a first-round NBA draft pick.  Instead, I think about the one day that he cared enough to give up his chair for a walk-on.

Josh in many ways reminds me of what Jesus did for me.  Jesus had a throne in heaven at the right hand of God, yet willingly and humbly gave up his seat to come to earth to save sinners like me.  And because of this undeserved grace, I am confident that even walk-ons like myself will one day have a seat in heaven-the greatest seat of all.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Our Home is in Heaven!

Dear Champions,

The Scripture is in the excerpt, and the excerpt is by Tim Keller.  This is a repeat for some, but some excerpts are worthy to be said again and again.

C.S. Lewis said the following in his chapter on Hope.  If most people really learned how to look into their own hearts they would know that they want something that this world can never give them.  There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never keep their promise. The longings that first arise in us when we first fall in love or first think of some foreign country or first pick up some subject that excites us, these are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning will ever satisfy. I am not speaking about what would ordinarily be called unsuccessful marriages or trips and so on, I am speaking of the very best possible ones.  There is always something that we have grasped at in that first moment of longing that just fades away into reality.  The spouse may be a good spouse, the scenery has been excellent, it has turned out to be a good job, but it, the thing that we thought was going to be in the center of it, always evades us.
 
When you finally see that nothing in this world will ever satisfy you (and you will eventually see this), there are only four ways to possibly respond.  You're going to have to choose one of them, and it will totally shape the rest of your life.  You will either blame the things that you have and say that I have got to get better ones (better woman, better man, better job), or you will blame yourself and hate yourself, or you will blame life and harden yourself so that you will never hope for anything at all, or you can blame your theory of reality.  You can say, If there is nothing in this world that ever satisfies me, then it must mean that I am made for something beyond this world.  One response makes you a fool, one makes you a self-hater, one makes you an utterly hard cynic, and one makes you a Christian.

We are not made from this world; and Philippians 3:20 tells us that our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

God is Bigger Than Your Problems

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Max Lucado and the Scripture is Numbers 13:30-32 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it. But the men who had gone up with him said, We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored.

It helps for us to see God as the one in whom all the affairs of our life fit.  For instance, when the twelve spies went up from Kadesh Barnea to check out the Promised Land, ten of them saw only the size of the giants in the land. They did not see God looming larger than the giants. David, on the other hand, when he saw the giant Goliath, was not afraid of being smaller than the giant because he saw the giant as being smaller than God. If we look hard enough in this life, we will always find a problem bigger than our current one. But if we look with spiritual eyes, we will always see that God is bigger than them all. If you are facing a problem right now that is bigger than you are, look again. That problem nests inside Gods purposes for your life. The problem is larger than you, but God is larger than the problem.

Keep stepping back until God, not your problem, fills your vision.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

SHAPED BY RELIGION OR THE GOSPEL

SHAPED BY RELIGION OR THE GOSPEL

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is John 10:14-15 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me­ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father­and I lay down my life for the sheep.
 
Why do Christians live the way that they do?  Not how do they live because basically they live like other good people, but why do they live the way that they do?  Jesus says that all shepherds basically tell you that here is how you should live, but I am the only Shepherd who does not just tell you how you have to live, but I came to live the life that you should have lived and died the death that you should have died in your place.  So when you come to God in my name, God delights in you now.
 
Religion says that if I try real hard to live right, then God will accept me.  The gospel says that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ; you are already accepted, now live right.
 
In religion you live right out of the anxious hope that if you try hard enough to live right you will move God to bless you and take you to heaven.  It also says that you better live right, or God will reject you.  The gospel says that because of an infinite cost to Himself, God will never reject you, and it makes you want to live right to delight and please Him.
 
A person shaped by religion is shepherded by fear and a whip is what is moving that person to live right.  A person shaped by the gospel is moved to live right out of joy. 
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

A DEBT THAT MUST BE PAID FOR

A DEBT THAT MUST BE PAID FOR

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

This idea of a debt that has to be paid for, surely if there is a God, can He not just forgive it?  No, He cannot just forgive without a payment.
 
If someone really, really wrongs you, there is a debt.  There is something between you and that person who has seriously wronged you, and it cannot be washed away or ignored.  There are only 2 things you can do with a debt.  You can make them pay it down by hurting, berating or excluding them or by finding ways of making them suffer.  As you see them paying for their debt, you can sense the debt being paid down and at a certain point it is gone. 
 
The other thing you can do is forgive them.   To forgive means that when I want to hurt someone, I do not do it.  When I want to slice up their reputation by talking to other people, when I want to just think hateful thoughts about how they have done awful things I do not do it.  And if I do that, I will find as time goes on that my anger slowly subsides because I am paying the debt down myself.  It is costly and difficult, but someone has to pay the debt. 
 
There is no one on the face of the earth that can face an evaluation of how they have lived their lives.  We have wronged God and our neighbor, and there is a debt that must be paid.  There is a debt that must be paid and when Jesus Christ cried, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?  The Father paid the debt -- Jesus had to die.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

A Violinist in the Metro

A Violinist in the Metro

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt was sent to me by Cammy Bethea, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.  

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.  

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.  

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. 

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.  

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Romans 1:19-20 what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities­his eternal power and divine nature­have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

P.S. You can verify this story by going into Google and typing Pearls before Breakfast.

Angry Prayers

Angry Prayers

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Andrew Murray, and the Scripture is Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

There are a lot of books on the subject of prayer, but few contain chapters on Angry Prayers. The greatest book on prayer, however, is the Bible; and it records some angry prayers times when perplexed souls, confused by life, complained to God. The writer of Psalm 44:23-24, for example, wrote, Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?

In Jeremiah 12, the weeping prophet complained to the Lord, saying, in effect, Lord, I know You are righteous, but I do not understand why You are allowing these heartbreaks.

While we must not harbor bitterness toward God after all, He is righteous, and He does do all things well it is all right to express our frustrations and questions to Him. Even Jesus cried, My God, My God, why . . . ?

God knows all about us, and He is concerned about the details of our situations. We should never fear telling Him anything. It's by expressing our innermost feelings that we come to the point of confessing our sins and understanding His perspective which heals our minds.

So be honest in prayer, even when you are angry. Tell Him all about it, and you will find His grace is sufficient.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

From Rags to Riches-Part 2

From Rags to Riches-Part 2

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Reach Boivin and is more on Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner. The Scripture is 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

During his final season at the University of Northern Iowa in 1993, Kurt Warner went to a country-music dance bar called Wild E. Coyotes. He spotted Brenda Carney Meoni and asked her to dance. Her immediate reaction? Get away. Get away, she thought. Here is this cute guy in a bar with an entourage of females, and I am the last person that makes sense for him to go to, Brenda said. I am a divorced woman with two kids, one with special needs. And Kurt is 21. They danced, and the next day, Warner was knocking on her door with a rose.

Again, I am screaming in my head, Go away, but I opened the door and said, Come on in, she said. My 2 and a half year old grabs him by the hand and shows him every radio we own. He fell in love with my kids before he fell in love with me. When we would have a fight and were going to break up, he would say, Well I get the kids. I am like, but they are my kids!

They stuck together, even when it appeared football was not in the future. He signed with the Green Bay Packers as a free agent in 1994 but was cut before the season began. He returned to UNI to work as a graduate assistant football coach and spent nights stocking shelves at the local Hy-Vee grocery store. He moved in with Brenda, who was struggling financially and turned to food stamps for a while. They drove a car that died every time it turned left.

Around this time, Warner began challenging Brenda about her faith. He questioned her, suggesting she was picking and choosing her beliefs from the Bible at her convenience. During this exploration, he closely studied the Bible. When I did, it was obvious what the truth was, Warner said.

Before they married, he told Brenda they should follow the Bible faithfully, which meant, among other things, no premarital sex. They married in 1997, and what followed was two Super Bowls and two MVP titles. During a visit to The Oprah Winfrey Show, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner basically had three sentences to say, so, in the middle one, I made sure I mentioned my faith, because how could they cut it out? I went to watch the show on replay . . . and they cut it out!

Warner says, If you ever really want to do a story about who I am, God has got to be at the center of it. Every time I hear a piece or read a story that does not have that, they are missing the whole lesson of who I am.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

From Rags to Riches

Dear Champions,

I received this excerpt several years ago, and I think that it came from an FCA article but I'm not sure. The Scripture is at the end of the excerpt.

Kurt Warner, quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals, became a Christian shortly after tragedy touched his life. The parents of his girlfriend Brenda, now his wife, were killed when a tornado demolished their home in Mountain View, Ark. They had planned to be baptized that night, but stayed home because Brenda's mother had a headache, USA Today said. People at the church were spared. Warner watched as Brenda, a Christian, responded to the tragedy with poise and grace rather than self-pity. He also knew how she had dealt with a crippling accident suffered by her son, Zachary, eight years earlier, when he was dropped on his head as a baby. Brenda sat in a rocking chair next to Zachary's hospital crib for 17 days, watching as he suffered seizures, quoting Bible verses, and asking God to perform a miracle. Although legally blind and brain-damaged, Zachary can read and gets around fairly well.

Warner's long road to gridiron success was filled with setbacks and bad breaks. He warmed the bench for four years at the University of Northern Iowa. Finally getting a chance as a fifth-year senior, he led the Panthers to the NCAA Division I-AA semifinals and was named the Gateway Conference Offensive Player of the Year. But he was passed over in the NFL draft and rejected by the Canadian Football League. Warner took a job stocking shelves for minimum wage at the Hy-Vee supermarket in Cedar Falls, Iowa, while he worked out at a college practice field during the day. A year later he was playing again, but in small-time Arena football, an indoor game using eight players on a side and 50-yard fields. He missed a tryout for the Chicago Bears in 1997 when he was bitten on the elbow by a vicious spider, leaving him unable to throw. After three years he took a step up. He was signed by the Rams and sent to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe, where in the spring of 1998 he led the league in passing yardage and touchdowns. The Rams hired Warner for the 1998 season, but he played in only one game. He was left unprotected in the expansion draft, but the new Cleveland Browns didn't want him, either. Warner was still with the Rams in 1999, but the team signed superstar-prospect quarterback Trent Green before the season for $16.5 million, and it looked like Warner would be overlooked again. Green got hurt, and Warner stepped up to take his place. To the surprise of almost everyone, he threw a record 41 touchdown passes, led the league in completion percentage, and took the Rams to the best record in their conference, 13-3. In five months he had gone from being an anonymous bench-sitter to a Pro Bowl selection, and was named the NFL's most valuable player.

Warner told his story years ago at a Billy Graham event. Who am I? I am a devout Christian man, he told the crowd of 40,000. I am not a football player. That is what I do. When I throw a touchdown pass now, my thoughts are on how can I use this success on the field as a platform to glorify and praise my Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Performance or Grace Based Christianity

Performance or Grace Based Christianity

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Jerry Bridges with a little help at the end by Tim Keller.

�As I see it, the Christian community is largely a performance-based culture today. We think we earn God�s blessing or forfeit it by how well we live the Christian life. Most Christians have a baseline of acceptable performance by which they gauge their acceptance by God. For many, this baseline is no more than regular church attendance and the avoidance of major sins.

For committed Christians, this baseline of acceptable performance includes regular practice of spiritual disciplines, obedience to God�s Word, and involvement in some form of ministry. If we focus on outward behavior, many score fairly well. But these Christians are even more vulnerable to self-righteousness, for they can look down their spiritual noses not only at the sinful society around them but even at other believers who are not as committed as they are.

�We think we earn God�s blessing or forfeit it by how well we live the Christian life.�

Then there is a third group. The baseline of this group includes more than the outward performance of disciplines, obedience, and ministry. These Christians also recognize the need to deal with sins of the heart like a critical spirit, pride, selfishness, envy, resentment, and anxiety. This group of Christians is far more likely to be plagued by a sense of guilt because group members have not met their own expectations. And because they think God�s acceptance of them is based on their performance, they have little joy in their Christian lives.

Tim Keller puts it this way. Religion says, �I give God a record of righteousness, and then God owes me blessing.� But the gospel says, �God through Jesus Christ has given me a perfect record of righteousness which I receive by faith, and now I live for him.� The gospel message is that you are more sinful and evil and weak than you ever dared believe, but you are more valued and accepted and loved than you ever dared hope. John 14:6 Jesus answered, �I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.� Grace shows you that you can only be saved through the works of Jesus and not your own works.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining