Going for the Mold

So I'm eating breakfast this AM and reading the box that my "Breakfast of Champions" has been housed. On the box is an homage to past champions of the Olympics and this box has a picture of Janet Evans, the swimming great from the 80's and early 90's. It lists her records and times and how many world championships and gold medals she won. The bio sheet never actually used the word "Olympics." I learned the International Olympic Committee has copyrighted many terms associated with the Olympics and many media uses are prohibited without paying a fee to the IOC. No wonder that my enthusiasm for the games is not as robust as in past years.

That being said I am watching them but without the enthrallment I once did. I also noticed how quite a number of the past Olympic champs from London ('12) and Bejing ('08) are placing 3rd or 4th or not even making their event's finals. There are exceptions like Ryan Lochte, age 32, and Michael Phelps, age 31, who despite their advanced ages are doing well. No doubt the old man, Usain Bolt, barring injury, at 29 will win most if not all of the sprints in track. Gabby Douglas, the all-round Olympic gymnastics champ in 2012, is just a nicely spoken of cog in the USA machine and a relic at age 20- a relic for female gymnasts anyway.

    It seems that in most, though not all cases, you hit your prime in late teens to late twenties and its downhill after that, which is only okay if you are a skier. Iran has a 56 year old ping pong Olympian ( I know it's table tennis). Uzbekistan has a 41 year old female gymnast and the US has Mary Hanna, a 61 year old Olympic athlete. Truthfully, however, her horse does most of the work on the equestrian course. Time is the enemy and after a certain passing of it, you may still compete and keep the Olympic spirit but in terms of medals you are going for the mold. Like this guy: Oldest Olympian.

He was found in Italy in the late 1950's and not examined till the 80's. They found four "medals" from the Panatheniac Games from 480 BC buried with him. He also had a jar of ointment athletes were known have used then (by his left thigh). It was labeled Benus Gayas.  His bones showed density from working out and wear and tear in the right shoulder bones and sockets. Scientists believe he was a thrower and\or a  Pentathlete.

There are so many good and wonderful experiences and lessons that come, no doubt, from the disciplines, the training, the competition, the losses and the wins that despite their relatively short span, I would encourage anyone with skills, abilities, and desires to pursue those noble sports and see where they take you. Most of us won't have those opportunities, most of us simply lack some key elements to take us to Olympic podiums.

In terms of the Christian walk of faith, time is not the enemy but our friend.  The experiences of life on this planet are the training sessions in trust, obedience, maturing, and love that our Savior uses to equip us for eternity. Some training sessions are hard, maybe even harsh it seems. There is always so much more to enjoy, more to see, more to understand about our King and His Kingdom that we will spend a glorious eternity exploring all the wonders of it all.

 Robert Browing put it this way in his epic poem Rabbi Ben Ezra:

            Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be,
            The last of life, for which the first was made: 
             Our times are in His hand Who saith "A whole I planned,
             Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!"

              Ay, note that Potter's wheel, That metaphor! and feel
              Why times spins fast, why passive lies our clay,--
              Thou, to whom fools propound, When the wine makes its round, 
              "Since life fleets, all is change; the Past gone, seize to-day!"
                                    
              Fool! all that is, at all, lasts ever, past recall;
              Earth changes, but thy soul and God stand sure:
              What entered into thee, That was, is, and shall be:
             Time's wheel runs back or stops: Potter and clay endure.

 Potter and clay (that's us) endure. The Olympic motto shouldn't apply just to teens and twenty years olds. Citius, Altius, Fortius is apropos for the believer in Christ. May as time speeds on we find ourselves moving faster to trust and obey; soaring higher in our aspirations to Christ-like character and hopes for mankind; Living braver (stronger) in our application of the truths of scripture in our culture as we share the gospel with the lost and bring justice to the poor and hurting.

So turn for a few days to watch the Olympics and marvel at the athlete's skill. But all days turn in faith to Christ and marvel at His grace that always takes us Faster, Higher, and Stronger in love and service. Don't just go for the gold in life, remember, in heaven, gold is merely pavement.

Destined for the podium,
Cos






 

Going for the Mold

So I'm eating breakfast this AM and reading the box that my "Breakfast of Champions" has been housed. On the box is an homage to past champions of the Olympics and this box has a picture of Janet Evans, the swimming great from the 80's and early 90's. It lists her records and times and how many world championships and gold medals she won. The bio sheet never actually used the word "Olympics." I learned the International Olympic Committee has copyrighted many terms associated with the Olympics and many media uses are prohibited without paying a fee to the IOC. No wonder that my enthusiasm for the games is not as robust as in past years.

That being said I am watching them but without the enthrallment I once did. I also noticed how quite a number of the past Olympic champs from London ('12) and Bejing ('08) are placing 3rd or 4th or not even making their event's finals. There are exceptions like Ryan Lochte, age 32, and Michael Phelps, age 31, who despite their advanced ages are doing well. No doubt the old man, Usain Bolt, barring injury, at 29 will win most if not all of the sprints in track. Gabby Douglas, the all-round Olympic gymnastics champ in 2012, is just a nicely spoken of cog in the USA machine and a relic at age 20- a relic for female gymnasts anyway.

    It seems that in most, though not all cases, you hit your prime in late teens to late twenties and its downhill after that, which is only okay if you are a skier. Iran has a 56 year old ping pong Olympian ( I know it's table tennis). Uzbekistan has a 41 year old female gymnast and the US has Mary Hanna, a 61 year old Olympic athlete. Truthfully, however, her horse does most of the work on the equestrian course. Time is the enemy and after a certain passing of it, you may still compete and keep the Olympic spirit but in terms of medals you are going for the mold. Like this guy: Oldest Olympian.

He was found in Italy in the late 1950's and not examined till the 80's. They found four "medals" from the Panatheniac Games from 480 BC buried with him. He also had a jar of ointment athletes were known have used then (by his left thigh). It was labeled Benus Gayas.  His bones showed density from working out and wear and tear in the right shoulder bones and sockets. Scientists believe he was a thrower and\or a  Pentathlete.

There are so many good and wonderful experiences and lessons that come, no doubt, from the disciplines, the training, the competition, the losses and the wins that despite their relatively short span, I would encourage anyone with skills, abilities, and desires to pursue those noble sports and see where they take you. Most of us won't have those opportunities, most of us simply lack some key elements to take us to Olympic podiums.

In terms of the Christian walk of faith, time is not the enemy but our friend.  The experiences of life on this planet are the training sessions in trust, obedience, maturing, and love that our Savior uses to equip us for eternity. Some training sessions are hard, maybe even harsh it seems. There is always so much more to enjoy, more to see, more to understand about our King and His Kingdom that we will spend a glorious eternity exploring all the wonders of it all.

 Robert Browing put it this way in his epic poem Rabbi Ben Ezra:

                                         Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be,
                                         The last of life, for which the first was made: 
                                         Our times are in His hand Who saith "A whole I planned,
                                         Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!"

                                          Ay, note that Potter's wheel, That metaphor! and feel
                                          Why times spins fast, why passive lies our clay,--
                                          Thou, to whom fools propound, When the wine makes its round, 
                                          "Since life fleets, all is change; the Past gone, seize to-day!"
                                    
                                          Fool! all that is, at all, lasts ever, past recall;
                                          Earth changes, but thy soul and God stand sure:
                                          What entered into thee, That was, is, and shall be:
                                          Time's wheel runs back or stops: Potter and clay endure.

 Potter and clay (that's us) endure. The Olympic motto shouldn't apply just to teens and twenty years olds. Citius, Altius, Fortius is apropos for the believer in Christ. May as time speeds on we find ourselves moving faster to trust and obey; soaring higher in our aspirations to Christ-like character and hopes for mankind; Living braver (stronger) in our application of the truths of scripture in our culture as we share the gospel with the lost and bring justice to the poor and hurting.

So turn for a few days to watch the Olympics and marvel at the athlete's skill. But all days turn in faith to Christ and marvel at His grace that always takes us Faster, Higher, and Stronger in love and service. Don't just go for the gold in life, remember, in heaven, gold is merely pavement.

Destined for the podium,
Cos






 

Going for the Mold

So I'm eating breakfast this AM and reading the box that my "Breakfast of Champions" has been housed. On the box is an homage to past champions of the Olympics and this box has a picture of Janet Evans, the swimming great from the 80's and early 90's. It lists her records and times and how many world championships and gold medals she won. The bio sheet never actually used the word "Olympics." I learned the International Olympic Committee has copyrighted many terms associated with the Olympics and many media uses are prohibited without paying a fee to the IOC. No wonder that my enthusiasm for the games is not as robust as in past years.

That being said I am watching them but without the enthrallment I once did. I also noticed how quite a number of the past Olympic champs from London ('12) and Bejing ('08) are placing 3rd or 4th or not even making their event's finals. There are exceptions like Ryan Lochte, age 32, and Michael Phelps, age 31, who despite their advanced ages are doing well. No doubt the old man, Usain Bolt, barring injury, at 29 will win most if not all of the sprints in track. Gabby Douglas, the all-round Olympic gymnastics champ in 2012, is just a nicely spoken of cog in the USA machine and a relic at age 20- a relic for female gymnasts anyway.

    It seems that in most, though not all cases, you hit your prime in late teens to late twenties and its downhill after that, which is only okay if you are a skier. Iran has a 56 year old ping pong Olympian ( I know it's table tennis). Uzbekistan has a 41 year old female gymnast and the US has Mary Hanna, a 61 year old Olympic athlete. Truthfully, however, her horse does most of the work on the equestrian course. Time is the enemy and after a certain passing of it, you may still compete and keep the Olympic spirit but in terms of medals you are going for the mold. Like this guy: Oldest Olympian.

He was found in Italy in the late 1950's and not examined till the 80's. They found four "medals" from the Panatheniac Games from 480 BC buried with him. He also had a jar of ointment athletes were known have used then (by his left thigh). It was labeled Benus Gayas.  His bones showed density from working out and wear and tear in the right shoulder bones and sockets. Scientists believe he was a thrower and\or a  Pentathlete.

There are so many good and wonderful experiences and lessons that come, no doubt, from the disciplines, the training, the competition, the losses and the wins that despite their relatively short span, I would encourage anyone with skills, abilities, and desires to pursue those noble sports and see where they take you. Most of us won't have those opportunities, most of us simply lack some key elements to take us to Olympic podiums.

In terms of the Christian walk of faith, time is not the enemy but our friend.  The experiences of life on this planet are the training sessions in trust, obedience, maturing, and love that our Savior uses to equip us for eternity. Some training sessions are hard, maybe even harsh it seems. There is always so much more to enjoy, more to see, more to understand about our King and His Kingdom that we will spend a glorious eternity exploring all the wonders of it all.

 Robert Browing put it this way in his epic poem Rabbi Ben Ezra:

               Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be,
               The last of life, for which the first was made: 
               Our times are in His hand Who saith "A whole I planned,
               Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!"

              Ay, note that Potter's wheel, That metaphor! and feel
              Why times spins fast, why passive lies our clay,--
              Thou, to whom fools propound, When the wine makes its round, 
              "Since life fleets, all is change; the Past gone, seize to-day!"
                                    
               Fool! all that is, at all, lasts ever, past recall;
               Earth changes, but thy soul and God stand sure:
               What entered into thee, That was, is, and shall be:
               Time's wheel runs back or stops: Potter and clay endure.

 Potter and clay (that's us) endure. The Olympic motto shouldn't apply just to teens and twenty years olds. Citius, Altius, Fortius is apropos for the believer in Christ. May as time speeds on we find ourselves moving faster to trust and obey; soaring higher in our aspirations to Christ-like character and hopes for mankind; Living braver (stronger) in our application of the truths of scripture in our culture as we share the gospel with the lost and bring justice to the poor and hurting.

So turn for a few days to watch the Olympics and marvel at the athlete's skill. But all days turn in faith to Christ and marvel at His grace that always takes us Faster, Higher, and Stronger in love and service. Don't just go for the gold in life, remember, in heaven, gold is merely pavement.

Destined for the podium,
Cos






 

A Tree Grows in Cleburne*

So I'm coming out of my fav burger joint in Cleburne and look across the street and see this tree. It's a mesquite tree growing out of a rain gutter two stories up.  I couldn't tell if the tree's roots went all the way down the gutter and through the sidewalk or if its roots are just in the top of the gutter. Either way I thought that was quite an accomplishment. Ideas of tenacity and "bloom where you're planted" themes rushed through my head, except it wasn't planted there.  It was probably just dumb luck, a hard wind, an inconsiderate bird, and poor cleaning of gutters that made it possible for a mesquite tree to grow up there. Still, I kinda admire the little tree. It's a "Little Tree That Could" story I guess.

Life will not be stopped and people can overcome some incredibly harsh conditions. In looking at that tree I was reminded of a line from the original Jurassic Park movie when the geneticists who made the dinosaurs assured a visiting scientist that the creatures where engineered sterile and could not reproduce and overtake paradise. The scientist was skeptical; "Life finds a way."  Yep.

Our world, this nation, our cities and your life have gone through some horrible days, some are recent, some are in the distant past. There will be more of them in days to come-just being honest. But life, when given the chance, finds a way--a way through, a way over, under, or around. The Bible says that Jesus is life, so let Life find your way. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the resurrection and the life. Paul said in Colossians 3:4, "When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." Life finds a way-- follow and embrace it.

Some days the Christian may appear as out of place in this world as a mesquite tree growing on a roof, but you are alive, a living marvel of faith, and your best days in Christ are still to come.

Keep living; hang in there; keep growing in Christ, who is our life!

Cos

*apologies to Betty Smith 1896-1972

A Prayer

Help us O Lord!

We are a hurting, torn and grieving people--
-Our hearts are torn by racial, economic, and religious strife...
-We grieve over the loss of the five Dallas policemen and the men in our nation's cities killed after minor offences.
- We hurt for the officer's families, colleagues, and friends. We should hurt for all those families and communities where fear, anger, and  needless violence leaves widows, orphans, anger and mistrust in their evil wake.

We cry out because in our hurt, torn and grieving heats we are not sure what to do. And yet, maybe the reason we continue to hurt, be torn apart, and grieve is because we know what to do and haven't done it.

       We change policy but not our hearts.
        We seek to control the methods of violence but not our own madness.
          We desire retribution instead of reconciliation.
            We execute vengeance instead of justice, and then we execute each other, and then
             We bury the very ones we should have blessed.

Help us O Lord!

Help us repent and turn from fear, violence and anger to You.
Help each of us take these events personally and determine to be a part of the solution instead of an extension of the problem.
Let us fight for justice for all viewing every life as a life that matters and as Holy and Precious in Your sight. Make us to see the value of every human as made in Your image.
Help us love one another and extend that love across every line of division Satan would draw in our hearts and in our nation.

May we find our unity as a people through faith in your Son, Jesus our Lord. He alone has the power to forgive us, heal us, and form in us His will as He conforms us to His character. Help us love Him supremely and each other faithfully.

 In Him we find our hope, our peace, and our joy.

Help us O Lord.

In Jesus name.
Amen


Prayer written in response to Dallas, Minnesota, Baton Rogue and every city where anger, prejudice, and hate have devastated too, too many. Delivered White Bluff Chapel 7-10-16 
Cos

The List Grows

Sadly, we add another city to the list. It is a sickening, demonic, maniacal, hate that increases the list of cities and places where terror strikes and kills. I am so sorry Orlando. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.   I feel so helpless in many ways. But my helplessness turns to probing that turns to prayer which turns to anger as I hear so many opinions as to what can be done.

I hear gun control is the issue.
I hear mental health is the issue.
I hear radical Islam is the issue.
I hear religion in general, fundamental religion specifically, is the issue.
I hear law enforcement, anti-terrorism agencies are the issues.
I hear political problems such as immigration and bombing ISIS is the issue.

More guns, less guns.
More mental health care, more facilities for the mentally ill.
More walls. No walls.
More prayer. Even more prayer.
Less surveillance. More surveillance.
Less religion. More religion. No religion.
Less of YOUR religion. More of MY religion. None of either.

None of these opinions and solutions surprise me. It is what I haven't heard from anyone that bothers me.

No one postulates that what is needed is a better race of human beings.  I suppose it would be politically incorrect to suggest that human problems come from flawed humanity. How about a race that doesn't hate but loves instead? How about a sturdy race of humans that doesn't equate agreement with security and doesn't see disagreement as discrimination? How about a race so concerned with justice and fairness for all that no amount of money or power could turn humans against one another? How about having a wise race that desires liberty for every human but knows that liberty is not the same as license? How about a race that is not motivated by anything less than holiness and righteousness that at the same time identifies and spurns unholiness and unrighteousness? How about a race of humans that can feel so deeply the hurt and pain that life and loss can bring that it would never do anything to inflict such pain or loss on another human? How about a human race that is so respectful of life that it holds life and the living as a sacred trust?

Gun laws cannot create this kind of life.
Politics cannot usher in this way of life.
Mental health facilities cannot create this quality of life.
Walls cannot create this life, nor contain it for that matter.
Technology to surveil, spy,  and monitor cannot sustain this type of life.
Even religion cannot bring this abundant and eternal life into existence.

Only Jesus Christ can create, cleanse, sustain, equip, develop, mature and impart such a life. And He does this with people in relationship with Himself and one another. For all who trust in Him, submit in faith and loving obedience to Him, and follow Him, He begins to work into those lives His very life.

Utopian gibberish you say? Nice, sentimental drivel you say? Impractical platitudes that are unreachable and unlivable you say? I say it is possible. I say this is the very race God in Christ is creating. This, and so much more, is the kind of life and living that the Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit enjoy among each other. This and so much more is what God intends for His children to enjoy with Him and one another in a life He calls abundant and eternal. The question then essentially becomes not one of whether He can do it but whether we really want Him to.

Tell me now world, how is your way working?

Cos

I John 4:13-21

A Tale of Two Men

They weren't the best of men, they weren't the worst of men. In many ways humans measure, they were considered a cut above. They rose to the pinnacles of their profession and knew great success.

And yet....

We read about these two men who would be kings in II Chronicles 25 and 26. Their endings are sad, made much more so by the fact that it didn't have to end the way it did. Together they ruled Judah for 81 years, 29 for Amaziah and 52 years for Uzziah. How did they rise so high and fall so far? The Bible gives much insight into these things but leaves a few questions also, possibly because each heart needs to answer those questions for itself.

The particulars are that Amaziah became king of Judah when he was twenty-five years old. His father, Joash, was a good king that slipped and slid away from God at the end of his days. He abandoned the temple and its worship. He worshiped false gods, killed rivals, killed the prophet Zechariah, sent to warn him, and eventually lost a war with Syria and was assassinated in his bed. Maybe Amaziah learned better from seeing those bad examples, maybe he had a good teacher\mentor, for whatever reason Amaziah determined to rule rightly.  II Chron. 25: 2 says, "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord," but there was a problem built into this insight. The next part of the verse records a very disturbing truth, "but not wholeheartedly." He got folks worshipping aright, he executed justice but not vengeance, he acted according to the word of God, he strengthened the armed forces, he even listened to a preacher God sent to warn him about a certain battle. But a half-hearted devotion eventually led to a full departure and Amaziah began to worship false gods from the people he conquered. A prophet came to him and asked him, "why do you consult these people's gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?" Amaziah didn't listen this time and he fought a battle against Israel and though warned, lost decisively, spending the rest of his reign as a tribute-paying king. From the time he turned away from following the Lord, he was conspired against. He tried to escape and was hunted down and killed.

The next king was Uzziah, Amaziah's son. He reigned fifty-two years. The same words are used of Uzziah in II Chron. 26:4, "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,,," Verse 5 at the end says, "As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success." There is a warning in that sentence, one that wasn't heeded..

Uzziah sought God, used technology and wisdom to make life better. He rebuilt towns, towers, walls, and modernized the army. He subdued enemies and his fame spread "far and wide" (vs15). The "oh-oh" comes in verse 16, "but after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall."
Amaziah decided that he now should perform the duties of the priests and went into the temple to burn incense. 80 priests confronted him but he railed against the priests in anger. He was immediately struck by leprosy. He quickly got out of the temple. He was never healed and spent the rest of his days in isolation and excluded from the temple of the Lord.

Two sad stories of two men who, if they didn't have it all, had a lot of it. But they blew it, lost it, messed up, and in their older years, when they should have known better, it all came apart.  What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? We are told just a little or at least can readily see: arrogance, anger, privilege,  and maybe even forgetting. What we don't know should really serve as a warning for us today. How did the arrogance manifest itself? When did the anger trump reason? On what day did these kings, these two men among men, awake and decide they were men above men? After which victory did they believe they couldn't be touched by truth that wasn't convenient for them? It probably wasn't one day, but an accumulation of days where they listened more to the praises of men, believed the headlines, and enjoyed the fruits of victories rather than hearing their own voices praise God, thank God, seek God, honor God, and pledge to obey God. Maybe they got so busy being the king, they forgot to be God's king.

This tale of two men is really a tale for all men. We have the same spiritual dna. We all have a God-shaped heart meant to invite Him in but in our sin we have gotten bent out of shape and forget to make room for God. But God in Christ has always made room for us. He loves; He redeems; He forgives. The false gods of sin, self, slack, substitution, success, and celebrity exact an exorbitant tribute, which no one can afford.

We should read these stories with humility. Except for the crown, the army, and maybe the riches, these kings are us. In our own realms in which we rule we tend to do the same things unless we fight against those arrogant, prideful, loose, self-serving, forgetful tendencies that leave God and His will out of our lives. One of the best places to start, whether leading the business, the school, the home or just our own hearts, is to remember that there is but One King and He alone is worthy to be worshiped. May our lives in Christ be summarized by II Timothy 4:7-8. May we all then be

Fidelis ad finem.

Cos