Being Still

Being Still

 

The short excerpt is from Jennifer Pharr Davis in her book, Becoming Odyssa, to be released later this Fall.  This book is from her first time of hiking all 2175 miles of the Appalachian Trail.  The short excerpt is Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

 

Being still was a relatively new concept for me.  I could not remember much stillness in my pre-trail life.  And the times I do remember were highly uncomfortable.  My whole life had been spent feeling like I should be doing something.  I learned that I did not need much to be entertained.  I did not need loud music, bright lights, or TV.  I just needed to be still.

 

Until now, I had not been okay just being, I had to be doing.  Everything was part of a schedule, a routine, a constantly flowing series of commitments.  I never stopped after I finished an activity, I just looked ahead and prepared for whatever came next.  I started to think about how many different things I used to do in a day.  I would schedule myself to the max, and the only free time I would leave was taken up with getting from one commitment to the next.

 

On the trail, all I had to do was walk.  It was up to me how far I wanted to walk and where I wanted to end up.  I could stop when I wanted, I could eat when I wanted, I could take naps at any point during the day.  The trail allowed me to feel a strong sense of freedom, and it helped me to see the oppression of a busy schedule and the multi-tasking required by civilization.  I no longer saw what was civil about filling my life with commitments if I could not stop to watch the sunset or listen to the birds sing.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Success Screams At You

Success Screams At You

 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller of New York City, and the Scripture verses Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
 
Adversity and blessings can show you the idols of your heart.  Cynthia Hymal used to write for the Village Voice, and she lived in New York City for many years and got to know a lot of people when they were struggling artists, actors and actresses.  Afterwards some of these people would hit it big and become celebrities, so she knew a lot of people before and after.  Here is what she says about celebrities.
 
I pity celebrities, I really do.  Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Barbara Streisand were once perfectly pleasant human beings, but now their wrath is awful.  I think when God wants to play a really rotten little joke on you, He grants you your deepest wish and giggles merrily when you want to kill yourself.  Sly, Bruce and Barbara wanted fame; and the morning after each of them became famous, they wanted to take an overdose.  Why?  That giant thing that they were striving for, that famed thing that was going to make everything okay and make their lives bearable and provide them with personal fulfillment and happiness had happened, and they were still them.  The disillusionment turned them howling and insufferable.

Now Cynthia Hymal is not right about God playing a rotten, dirty trick on you.  However, unless you are delighting yourself in the Lord, certainly she is right in saying that the worst thing that God can do to you (see Romans 1:24-32) is to give you the desires of your heart.  Very few of us get the ultimate success, but the few who do are absolutely appalled.  There is an awful lot of dysfunction and unhappiness amongst the very elite, and there are all sorts of studies that prove it.  Why would that be?  The few of us who do make it to the very top suddenly see something that is appalling.  There is something so wrong with the human soul, a vacuum so big that you can put in 3 million dollars, 10 million dollars, you can become the biggest star and celebrity in the world, and you still are not going to be happy.  It still will not fulfill you and be enough. 

When you realize that you begin to ask yourself what in the world will ever satisfy me?  The Bible says that the hole is God shaped, and therefore success screams at you that you need God. 

Champions, have a great summer!-David Vining

What Makes You Right With God

What Makes You Right With God

 
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 faith­and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God­ not by works, so that no one can boast.
 
One of the things that my wife Kathy and I have had to do over the years is reprogram people who have moved to New York from places in this country where they were living in strong Christian homes, churches and cultures.  They move to New York, and they go through a crisis.  They say, I am meeting atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus,  Muslims and many people who are kinder, wiser, more decent, more respectful and better people than the Christians I know.  I am having a crisis.
 
Here is what we have to say.  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, on the other hand, says that what makes you right with God is things that He has done. What that means is that you expect to find people that are not Christians that believe very different things who are better, wiser, gentler and more generous than you.   If that shocks you, it shows that you really thought that the reason that you were right with God is that you were kinder, gentler, wiser and more generous, and you had an identity that did not understand the doctrine of grace.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
 

Doing What is Right

Doing What is Right

Dear Champions,

The excerpt is by Dr. David Cox, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.

Everyone likes to be liked, and it is biblical to be in good standing with our peers.  In fact, the Bible says about young Jesus that He grew in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:52)  One sign of a good leader, however, is the willingness to make the hard decisions that you know will be unpopular and unfavorable.

Popularity is something that most people desire but not something that can be used as the guiding light when making difficult decisions.  It can be very tempting, however, to make decisions based on how others will react because of the accolades and positive cheers of those around us.

Herod ruled Galilee and imprisoned John the Baptizer for John s strong preaching and stand against adultery. Entertaining the Who s Who Crowd of Galilee at his own birthday party, Herod beheaded John even though he knew he should not do so.  He was very sorry that he had put himself in such a position.  He was king, and he could have done anything he wanted. So why did he go through with the beheading?  Because of his dinner guests. (Mark 6:26)  He had publicly promised his niece whatever... Subsequently, she had asked for John s head.  Feeling that he must save face and please his guests, Herod had it done.  He was a king but not a leader.  He pandered to the crowd in his royal workplace instead of doing what was right and sensible.  In reality, your long-term reputation and credibility take real hits when you make your decisions based on popular opinion. 

At times, you must be to be a leader at the expense of being unpopular.  It does not mean that you are rude or insensitive to those around you, but it simply means to do what is right.  It may be that in the end you really are appreciated for the tough call you made, but even if the admiration society does not show up when you have made a wise but difficult choice, doing what is right carries with it its own reward.  Making decisions based on personal popularity is like eating a bowl of banana pudding with extra marshmallows and vanilla wafers:  it tastes good at the moment but if you make a regular habit of it, you are not going to like the results! 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
 

The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd

Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is John 10:14,27-28 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me . . . My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
 
A sheep is a stupid animal, and they follow one another and lose their direction continually in a way that cats and dogs do not.  But even when they are found they are never happy to be found.  It is extremely difficult to round up a lost sheep and bring it home unless you have a dog to scare it.  The lost sheep rushes to and fro so that even when you find it, you must seize it, cast it down, tie its four legs together, put his hind legs together, put it over your shoulder and carry it home struggling.  The sheep never feels loved when it is being loved, and it never feels safe when it is being made safe.
 
In John 10 Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.  The hired hand when he sees the wolf coming; he abandons the sheep and runs away, but I lay down my life for the sheep.  Jesus is the only shepherd who became a sacrificial lamb.  Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus is saying that you can be sure that He will do anything for you because He lost His life and everything so that He would not lose you. There is no better way to intimacy with God than to have something horrible happen in your life that makes you really doubt God s love and go to Him anyway and say, By God s grace, Thy will be done.  When it is hard, pray anyway.  When it is hard, obey anyway.  When you feel like you are being ceased and thrown unto the ground, just say, Thy will be done, and it will push you into an intimacy that you never had because you will have to get to know Him as a shepherd.  If you have been wounded and you say, Lord, I want you to heal me, but it does not look like you are getting healed, then there is only one way through it.  You must say, Evidently God you want a wounded me in this world to do certain things and to be a certain person and to get certain things done that I could not get done unless I was wounded.  What are those things?
 
To say Thy will be done by the grace of God is a way to intimacy with God.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
 

The Encouragement Flu

The Encouragement Flu

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Dr. David Cox, and the Scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:20. We are therefore Christ s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. . .

For the first time in 15 years, I was blessed to be part of a softball team recently.  The season ended this week.  I played for PowerSecure of Wake Forest, North Carolina.  Playing on that team was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had; and an unprecedented experience in my recreational life.

The President and CEO of the company, Sidney Hinton, sent a memo to the entire team at the outset of the season, and one of the goals was to be an ambassador to the community.  This team really went overboard to ensure that they were representing Christ.  In fact, Sidney (the company President and our starting pitcher) said in a subsequent email that it was his hope that our team s play, conduct and demeanor would infect the entire league with the encouragement flu.   Here is what I will remember about this season:

1) Praying before and after every game.  2) Having a 1-9  record for the regular season and having more fun than I have ever had in any one sport.  3) Watching the disbelief of the other team when our team provided them with a cooler of Gatorade before starting play each night.  4) Observing the deep appreciation of the umpires as our team members sought to encourage them and also provided snacks and beverages for them, too!  5) Hearing about a member of another team say that everyone in the league always looks forward to playing PowerSecure because of the great attitude that they display.  6) Watching our Coach, Charles Ligon, give refreshments to the official scorekeeper before every game.  7) Being a part of team that did their best but also kept a sense of humor in the midst of losing most games and making a lot of errors...and I committed my fair share of those errors!  8)  Seeing a sports team really make an impact on the lives of everyone in the league!  I witnessed what I believe to be the early signs of transformation in the hearts of some!

Ambassadors to the community for Christ s sake: Mission accomplished, in my personal opinion!  Recently, in an email to each team member, Sidney wrote these words with regard to the kindness and Christlikeness demonstrated on and off the field this season, When they [the fans, players, umpires, and opposing team members] see the PowerSecure name around town they will have positive memories toward each of you and our company.  That is goodwill and you cannot buy it....you earn it!

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Accepted in Christ

Accepted in Christ

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
Legalistic churches are always saying that you had better perform or God will get you.  Permissive churches are always stressing how loved and valued that you are without talking about the importance and seriousness of sin.  They say that God loves everybody, and He basically accepts everybody no matter how you are.  
 
The gospel instead does not create a legalistic kind of message or a permissive kind of message.  The permissive type of message promotes a person who says, Great arrangement!  God enjoys forgiving sin, and I enjoy committing it!  The legalistic mind set goes more like this:  I know I am in God s will because I am miserable.
 
The marked difference between a Christian and a legalist is that the legalist repents out of fear and anxiety while the Christian repents out of gratitude for what Christ has done for him/her.  Out of the desire to be like Christ, when you know that you are saved, accepted and loved, you have the freedom to repent.
 
If my acceptance of God is based on my performance, then I have to repress how bad I am because I cannot repent if I think that is the basis for my acceptance.  The gospel message is that you are more sinful, evil and weak than you ever dared believe, but you are more valued, accepted and loved than you ever dared hope. And when you know that you are accepted in Christ, it makes you more able to repent.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining