If You Want to be Great

If You Want to be Great

The short excerpt is by Dan Britton and Jimmy Page, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.

When I was a high school athlete, the water boys were usually the butt of a lot of jokes.  They did the job no one else wanted to do; they served the needs of those actually good enough to make the team.  They never took a shot, ran a race, or scored a goal, but they still served.  Yet they were often treated as the "least" important part of the team.

But Jesus never views those who play a seemingly "small" role as unimportant.  He never looked down on those who served behind the scenes or did jobs nobody else wanted.  In fact, Jesus flips that concept on its head.  He says that the least among us will be the greatest.  Those we consider great-the best players, the best coaches-will only be considered great in God's eyes if they serve like the water boy serves.

If you want to be great, you have to serve.  We are often just like the disciples.  We want to be great.  We want to be the star.  We want to have all the attention.  In Mark 9:33-37, the disciples were arguing with each other about who was the greatest.  Can you imagine?  Jesus, the picture and essence of greatness, was right there with them, showing them how to be great, and all they cared about was "who's number one?"  So Jesus called them all over and confronted them.  "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."   You'd think that would have ended the discussion.  But shortly after that, the issue arose again.  James and John, brothers, still didn't get it.  They felt entitled to some preferential treatment.  So they brought their mom along when they asked to sit on the left and right of Jesus in glory.  So Jesus answers one more time.

Mark 10:43-45  Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to first must be slave of all.  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.

Jesus came to serve out of the position of humility, not to sit in the place of honor.  He didn't seek status; He served.  Those whom we think are least important, God considers the most important.

We say all the time that we want to be more like Jesus.  But when's the last time you heard someone say they want to be "the least?"  Well, that's what Jesus became-the least.  He served us and continues to serve us.  Serving out of humility produces greatness.  There is no other road to greatness.  If you want to be great, serve everybody.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

It's Reasonable

It's Reasonable

Dear Champions,

The excerpt below is from an Andy Stanley sermon.  It wasn't Stanley that was speaking, but it was part of a skit that was being acted out.  The scripture is John 6:19-21 When they had rowed about three or four miles they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened.  But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

When a dog bites a man, that's reasonable.  But when a man bites a dog, that is news. Critics say that all of the miraculous events of Jesus are fairy tales.  They say that a reasonable and rational person would never believe that a man walked on water, that a man calmed the storm with his voice, or that a man turned water into wine or that he raised people from the dead.  

The critics are right.  The idea that a man could do these things is as outlandish as a man biting a dog.

Jesus claimed not to be just a man, but that he was the Son of God.  The Son of God walks on water.  That's reasonable.  The Son of God sinks, that is news!

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

The In-Love Experience

The In-Love Experience

The short excerpt is from Gary Chapman's book, The Five Love languages, and the Scripture is 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Janice showed up to my office unannounced.  How are you today, Janice?"  I asked.

"Great!"  she said.  "I've never been better in my life.  I'm getting married!"

"You are?"  I said, revealing my shock.  "To whom and when?"

"To David Gallespie," she exclaimed, "in September."

"That's exciting.  How long have you been dating?"

"Three weeks.  I know it's crazy, Dr. Chapman.  I can't believe it myself, but I know that David is the one for me."

What has happened to Janice?  She has fallen in love.  In her mind, David is the most wonderful man she has ever met.  He is perfect in every way.  He will make the ideal husband.  She thinks about him day and night.  The facts that David has been married twice before, has three children, and has had three jobs in the past year are trivial to Janice.  She's happy, and she is convinced that she is going to be happy forever with David.  She is in love.

The person who is "in love" has the illusion that his beloved is perfect.  His mother can see the flaws but he can't.  His mother says, "Darling, have you considered she has been under psychiatric care for five years?"  But he replies, "Oh Mother, give me a break.  She's been out for three months now."  His friends also can see the flaws but are not likely to tell him unless he asks, and chances are he won't because in his mind she is perfect and what others think doesn't matter.

Dr. Dorothy Tennov, a psychologist, has done long-range studies on the in-love phenomenon.  After studying scores of couples she has concluded that the average life span of a romantic obsession is two years.  If it is a secretive love affair, it may last a little longer.  Eventually, however, we all descend from the clouds and plant our feet on earth again.  Our eyes are opened, and we see the warts of the other person.  We recognize that some of his/her personality traits are actually irritating.   Those little traits that we overlooked when we were in love now become huge mountains.  We remember Mother's words and ask ourselves, How could I have been so foolish?

We can recognize the in-love experience for what it was-a temporary emotional high-and now pursue "real love."  That kind of love involves an act of the will and requires discipline, and it requires the need for personal growth.   It is the choice to expend energy in an effort to benefit the other person, knowing that if his or her life is enriched by your effort, you too will find a sense of satisfaction of having genuinely loved another.  In fact, true love cannot begin until the "in love" experience has run its course.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Everyone Is Welcome!

Everyone Is Welcome!

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is John 14:6.  Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  

Jesus is the Savior of the world.  He came into the world, and He made a very exclusive claim.  He said, I am the way and the truth and the life.  Nobody gets to the Father except by me.  I know that is narrow, and it's not politically correct.  It is the way that it is, and that's who I am.

"Andy, that's the part that bothers me so much.  That's just so narrow, and it's just not fair."

It may not be fair or politically correct.  It's just true.  Don't make the mistake of determining what's true by what's fair.  A lot of things are true that may not appear to be fair.  A quick illustration is paying taxes.  Imagine writing the IRS a letter. Dear Sir, I don't think the tax code as it is currently written is fair. Therefore, I do not think that it is true that I owe you this money.  What's true and fair may not line up. 

The question is this.  Is it true?   If it's true, it's up to you and me to take it seriously and to place our faith in the only one who has ever come into this world who claimed to be the Savior of mankind.

I'll tell you a little secret.  I think that it's fair.  What can be fairer than this? Everybody is welcome, every nation, tribe and tongue is welcome.  Americans aren't more special than others.  Everybody gets in the same way by faith, and the price for admission has already been paid.  What could be fairer than that?

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Becoming the Right Person

Becoming the Right Person

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

One woman shared the following with Andy Stanley.  She grew up in a moderately religious home and was kind of taught all of the right things.  After college she moved to Atlanta and just kind of immersed herself into dating the way the culture says to date.  She said, "It's not that I quit believing or had some kind of theological epiphany that Jesus isn't the Son of God or that the Bible isn't true.  I just decided that didn't matter at this stage of my life.  I'm just going to live the life and just get out there and date like crazy and hopefully find that right guy.  I was in pretty deep in that whole scene. 

One evening I was with a group of people, and there was a guy in the group that I had never met before.  We started talking, and he was the total package-looks, job, car, and personality.  He was also a Christian and was living out his Christian faith in the market place and in his relationships.  He had standards, and there were things he wouldn't do.  It just brought back things in my own past that I really used to believe and practice.  I said that all of that doesn't really work in this culture and in this stage of my life, yet here's this guy that is the whole package living out these values.

A day or so later I was at home and I was talking to my mom and I was going on and on about this guy, and my mom turned to me and said, 'Honey, the problem is that a guy like that is not looking for a girl like you.'  When my mom said that I just fell to the floor in a puddle of tears because I knew that she was exactly right.  That was the defining moment for me when I decided to do what all along I knew in my heart I needed to do.  That's when I decided that no matter how long it took, I was going to become the woman that a guy like that was looking for.   It was a total game changer for me."

Are you who the person that you are looking for is looking for?   The key to a great relationship isn't finding the right person.  It is becoming the right person.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining 

Connection or Distance

Connection or Distance

 Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is thought provoking and is by Danny Silk from Redding, CA.  The Scripture is Matthew 19:4-6 Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

The number one issue that leads to divorce is that I have changed my goal from connection to distance.  As soon as I do that in any relationship there's really nothing that you can do right.  When my goal is distance from you all that you can do is feed my justification for keeping distance from you.  So I misinterpret you, I judge you, and I assign motives to you that are not true so that I can protect my distance from you.  That's why it is so important that we learn to take responsibility for our goal in relationship.

If my goal is connection, then I need different skills to interact with you and to create and protect a connection.  When my goal is distance then I have different skills because all of my skills help me create the distance that I need to keep myself from you.  Am I managing my goal of connection with you, or have I changed my goal to distance?  That is the number one killer of relationships.

No one falls out of love.  You just change your goals.  You didn't fall out of love and you didn't fall in love.  You choose love, and you choose your goal.  Love is not a big hole in the street that you fall in.  You might have been very attracted to someone and that felt fantastic, but you chose love. When you committed your life to somebody, maybe you didn't understand what you were doing, but that was a decision that you made.  You decided to eliminate all of your other options and put your focus on this one person. That's a decision.  If you didn't make that decision, that's a bummer for you and the person that you married because you didn't understand covenant.  

You choose love.  You don't fall into it.  You don't fall out of it, you choose out of it.  This makes you very responsible for what you do in a loving relationship.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

P.S.  You have to ask the question why one would distance him or herself.  It is a protective mechanism within each of us.  It is possible that some people have a valid reason to distance themselves.

The Number 1 Regret

Number 1 Regret

 

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

The number one most common regret by people in the last days of their lives shared to Hospice nurse Branny Ware of Australia is that I wish that I had the courage to live a life true to myself and not a life other people and culture expected of me.  Most people had not honored even half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made or not had. 

Our days are numbered, but we live as though we are going to live forever here on Earth. Health brings a freedom very few realize until they no longer have it.  

Our time is limited, so we need to limit how we spend our time.  Our time is our life! 

Father, Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining