Julia Vess – Missing

Wow, it has been a while since I posted.  I have so much going on between work and the kids baseball (and the rabid fox).  Very busy time of year.  I hope to get another post up over the weekend about Jonah.  We are studying the book on Sunday’s at church, and it is very convicting of how we are, always whining and complaining to God about our situation and not simply doing what God wants us to do despite our circumstances.  Anyway, that is another post for another day.

Today I want to pass on information about a situation here in our little Simpsonville for which I would appreciate your prayers.  A lady that I used to work with, Julia Vess, has gone missing from her home.  She has been gone since Sunday, and her family is very concerned (obviously).  The police are working with the information they have to try and track her down.

Although I don’t know what happened, and I don’t know what will happen, I do know that God is in control of this (just like everything else).  Please pray for Julia and her family that He will work through this in their lives.

CC

Honor The King

Not so very long ago, one of the men in our church mentioned that he had gotten the Bible on CD and was listening to it when he walked on the treadmill.  This inspired me to break out my Bible on CD.  While I’m not as productive to listen on the treadmill (I need something a bit more distracting me while I’m walking), I have put the New Testament in my car and I’m listening as I drive to and from work/baseball/CAP/etc.  It has been a great blessing, but also difficult at times.

Last week, I decided to listen to the “General Epistles” (Hebrews, James, I & II Peter, I – III John and Jude).  We often overlook these great books in favor of the meat that is found in the letters Paul wrote, but there is meat to be had in these books as well.

I said it was difficult  earlier, and what I mean is that there are things that I hear when listening that are not always easy to apply to my life.  This was the case when I was listening to I Peter last Thursday.  After listening to I Peter 2, I had to do some additional study when I got home.  I was convicted by what I found.

Let me again say that I am not generally a political person.  I’m not fond of the direction I see our current administration going, and I will often freely hint of this to people I’m speaking with.  Especially with those whose political ideology is close to my own.  However, I’m not so certain this is the right response.  There are several places in the New Testament where we are taught how to respond to our leaders, but three in particular refer to how to relate to our overall leader.

I Exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers,  intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.    ~  I Timothy 2:1-2

The teaching here is very clear.  We should be in prayer for those in authority, especially for the civil leaders.  Paul says that this is so we can live a “quiet and peaceable life”.  This is not the life that some Christians strive for.  We believe that in order to have our religious freedoms protected, we have to fight for our rights.  However, God tells us here the key to living a “quiet and peaceable” life is that we pray.  If we spent time praying for our leaders like we should, perhaps there would be less of a need to fight over political issues.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake:  whether it be to the king, as supreme…    ~  I Peter 2:13

Here we find the main principle taught in the New Testament about authority.  Submission is repeated over and over as our correct response to our authority.  Since the election of our new President, I’ve heard several people make comments about how “they better not come to take my guns, or they’ll have a fight on their hands!!”  Brothers and sisters, there is no Biblical right to have a gun.  “I have a constitutional right to by guns!”  Yes, that is so, but you also have a Biblical responsibility to submit to your leaders, even if they contradict themselves.  Let me remind you that this passage, as well as Romans 13 (which begins “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers…”) were both written either during or after the reign of the Emperor Nero.  It was in this environment that Paul and Peter both command us to live in subjection to civil authority as long as it doesn’t violate God’s law.

Now, I get to stand on my soapbox and pick out one of my pet peeves.  Although I have to be careful to remember that it has only been a few years since God showed this to me and before He did, I was a grievous offender.  That pet peeve is quite simply the Speed Limit.  This is a law established by our civil authorities that we easily find excuses to disobey.  “Well, they don’t pull you over if you are only five miles over.”  That is not an excuse to disobey.  “But I’ll be late to church if I don’t speed.”  So, be late and remember to leave earlier next time.  Just something to consider.  Obedience doesn’t just mean we don’t murder or steal, it also means we don’t speed or disobey traffic laws as well.

Honor all men.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honour the king.          ~ I Peter 2:17

This was the verse that started me on this path.  This was the verse that, when I heard it last Thursday, convicted me.  “Honour the king.”  It is such a simple phrase, and yet so difficult when we disagree with the “king”.  Let me remind you that when Peter wrote those words, Nero was either the Emperor or had recently been the Emperor.  Remember that, according to historians of the time, Nero was the first Roman Emperor to begin extensive torture and execution of Christians.  This was the man that Paul and Peter said to submit to.  This was the man that Peter said to honor.

Just to clarify, the word honor there is the same Greek word used in Ephesians to refer to the commandment “honour your father and mother”.  Remember as you think on this, do you want your childred honoring you the way you honor the “king”?

CC

All About Love…

We have a family in our church that is going through a very difficult time.  Without getting into specifics, I will simply say that there was public sin involved and while there has been repentance, there is still much to be worked through.  Because of the public nature of the sin, it has placed a burden on our church as we collectively and individually work through these issues.

Through this difficult time, our elder is consistently reminding us that, while God didn’t want the sin to occur, He is using it to further develop the character of Christ in our lives.  I believe the phrase he used it that “God is multidimensional” enough to use these events in all of our lives to His glory.  Our duty, then, is to agree with God and work with Him to achieve His ends.  But what are God’s ends?

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.    ~ Galatians 6:1-2

And what is the law of Christ?  Christ’s command was for us to love one another (John 13:34, 35 & 15:12).  I was reminded as we discussed these issues recently of the passage in I Corinthians 13 dealing with love.  I was amazed at how well it ties in with dealing with someone who has offended us through sin.

(Love) Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.    ~ I Corinthians 13:7

Beareth all things- When we are offended, our tendency is to become, well, offended.  In our sinful nature, we want to hold a grudge.  But in doing so, we allow bitterness into our lives and place more than ourselves in danger (Hebrews 12:15).  We must maintain a spirit of forgiveness and not hold onto offenses.  The Greek word translated beareth means to protect something by covering.  This is not to say we should cover sin, but we need to cover over any offended feeling in our hearts and forgive, even before we are asked.

Believeth all things - Satan wants us to think the worst of each other.  When someone repents, especially someone who has offended us, our sinful nature drives us to doubt the sincerity of their repentance.  I suspect this has a lot to do with the nature of our own hearts and lives, we doubt others because we ourselves have a lack of sincerity in our lives.  However, true love believes the other person.  When we have been offended and the offender repents and asks our forgiveness, we should believe their request is sincere.  The Greek word believeth means to put trust in.  We should place trust in God’s working in the other person’s life and in their sincerity.

Hopeth all things - Hope in the sense here, and as it is often used in the scriptures is not anxious and nervous concern that what we want to happen might not happen.  Hope in this sense is a confidence of what will happen.  We have a “hope of eternal life” (Titus 1:2), and the verse says that God promised it and He “cannot lie”.  This hope as it relates to the one who has offended us means that we have a confidence that through God’s working they will be able to overcome and be restored.  Restoration is not instant, nor is it always easy.  However, God’s desire is that the offender be restored (Galatians 6:1).  We, likewise should have hope (confidence) in God’s ability to work.

Endureth all things – When someone offends us and repents and is trying, with God’s help, to forsake the sin that created the offense, sometimes they will fall.  When that happens, we need to endure in our loving response.  That means we need to bear the offense, believe them when they repent, hope in God’s redemption and restoration.  God even tells us how long we should do this (Matthew 18:22 – although I think the word endure is pretty clear).  Personally, I don’t think God intended for us to have an accounting ledger keeping track of how often individuals offend us.  Rather the implication of the verse is that we simply continue forgiving whenever we are asked.  With repeated offenses, restoration may require more, but forgiveness should always be granted.

When we are offended, our duty is to be forgiving.  Christ teaches that if we are unwilling to forgive others that we will likewise not be forgiven of God (Matthew 6:14-15).  We are to love those who offend us.  This is difficult, but is necessary.  Remember Christ, whose image we are trying to conform to, forgave the very men who were crucifying Him.  How much more should we forgive those who offend us.  Christ loved those who were crucifying Him; He loved them enough that He died for them also.  How much more should we show love to those who have offended us.

I Corinthians describes a church full of cliquish, unrepentant, better-than-thou people.  The book begins with Paul correcting them regarding the cliques.  Later, he addresses the open flagrant sin in their midst.  Even later, he teaches on spiritual gifts that the people were trying to use to “one-up” each other.  In the midst of this, there would have been plenty of room for offense.  Paul leads into his description of God’s love that should be evident in our life by saying, “… and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”  (I Corinthians 12:31)

Our lives should be evidence of the “more excellent” way of Christ, especially toward those who have offended us.

CC

Whatever Happended to Reporting?

OK, I don’t usually delve into politics, especially not on the Internet, but I can’t avoid it this time.  (One day I will run an Internet only campaign to be president, but not today.)

The title is really the true question today.  Am I alone in thinking that the news media should report the news and not become the news?  I understand that this is one of the foremost principles of journalism.  However, this is not the case today.  I know that no matter what happens, anyone with a brain will taint information with their perspective, but journalists are supposed to be the most trained in avioding this.  Yet, twice in as many days I see that CNN has taken a forefront in the news, not in the news reporting.

The first item I heard about on the way home from baseball practice.  I was trying to find the Braves game (yeah, you know me), but they must have played in the daytime because a talk radio show was on.  The host was talking about a CNN reporter, Susan Roesgen.  Now, I’m well aware that the host of news radio shows tend to be overly biased to a viewpoint, so I didn’t spend too much time thinking about what was being said.  I found some humor in the tirades (both the host, and the audio of Susan Roesgen’s reports), but other than that, I simply filed the information away as another radio host embellishing for the ratings.

Then today I found another news article about the events and it even had the CNN video.  You can read the entire article here.  This was my favorite (if I can use that word) paragraph…

CNN took a different tack. They sent reporters to at least some of the Tea Parties. Roesgen was at the Chicago Tea Party and apparently wasn’t one bit happy about it. She was belligerent and confrontational with protesters. She asked questions without giving time for answers and spouted out left wing talking points aggressively. She seemed angry to see Obama referred to as a fascist. She declared it wasn’t a family friendly gathering and verbally hammered the man who had the sign. However, Newsbusters has a video of the very same Susan Roesgen covering an anti-Bush rally in New Orleans and seemingly having no problem at all with President Bush being portrayed with horns and a Hitler mustache. Different standards? Lack of objectivity in reporting? Say it ain’t so!

That was interesting enough, but then I played the video.  WOW!  Here is the journalist (I say that with apologies to real journalists everywhere) inserting herself into the news.  She is rude, belligerent, and overtly biased (and I didn’t even look for the ant-Bush video).  I was shocked and amazed that after she forces herself into a debate with the man with his child, she then refuses to let him finish until shouted into submission by the crowd.  Finally, unable to answer his comment, she tries to move on, but her security steps in and shuts the man up.  I hope eveyone who sees that video understands it for what it was.  It was a blatant example of a reporter shoving herself into the story rather than simply reporting the story.

I could almost find it in my heart to forgive CNN for this, even is she isn’t punished (although as the article says, she is probably being praised).  However, when I first looked at the news today, I saw that CNN was in a “friendly” competition with Ashton Kutcher over Twitter account numbers.  Now I don’t Twitter.  I don’t even Facebook or My Space.  This simple blog is really enough for me.  All that being said, I won’t pretend to understand all of what the numbers were about, but that doesn’t really matter.  What is important to note here is that it seems CNN is breaking the “rules” of journalism, and not in a good way.  Here the company is inserting itself into the news just as much as Susan Roesgen did.  Folks, this is not reporting, and it is not news.

Can we please go back to having the news be something the reporter simple talks about?  I remember growing up they would always end the newscast with three to five minutes of someone giving his editorial.  Remember that?  That was the way it used to be.  The news was just the facts and the editorial was separate.  I like it better that way.  When I want news, I want the facts of the situation or event.  Honestly, when I want to know what to think about that situation or event, I don’t really want a reporter telling me (I’d rather check the Bible).

CC

ETA:  There is hope.  Just checked Yahoo to get the link to the Ashton Kutcher story and it was gone from the front page.  From a little checking, it seems that there was much negative Buzz (Yahoo’s way of rating a story thumbs up or thumbs down) about the lack of “news-worthiness” of the story.  Along with some interesting comments about why it would be considered special to beat CNN in popularity.

Spring Is In The Air

And that means it is time for baseb….  Er, (try that again) SPRING IS IN THE AIR, and that means it is time for BASEB….

<sigh>

Hello?  It is April, and while I can accept some cold mornings, even a few with frost on the window, it is supposed to warm up during the day.  Especially the days we have baseball practice and games.  Somewhere, the memo got lost yesterday.  Yesterday during the two hours we were practicing, the temperature fell from 52 degrees to 48 degrees (Farrenheit), and the wind stayed a consistent 14-15 mph.  Not ideal softball/baseball conditions.

After about half to three quarters of an hour watching my wife’s softball girls (9-12 years old) shiver and try to field balls with a hand in their pocket, we went inside to discuss some of the “mental” aspects of the game.  Yes, I’m probably getting soft in my old age, but it was pretty chilly out there.  The boys had arrived and were ready to take the field for my son’s practice anyway, so it all worked out.

We talked over some of the difficult baseball concepts to pick up on.  Everyone has trouble understanding the idea behind force outs and tag outs.  The principle is simple, but in the heat of a play it can be hard to determine.  Simply, if a runner has anywhere else he can safely run to, you have to tag him.  If the runner has no where else to go safely, you can simply step on the base.  The simplest form of this is the batter running to first base.  He can’t turn around; he has to go to first.  So the fielder only has to step on the base to get him out.  It gets more complicated with more base-runners and previous actions on the same play.  For example, when the boys were practicing, the bases were loaded and the batter hit the ball to the first baseman.  The first baseman stepped on first for a quick and easy out because the batter was forced to run.  The first baseman then threw the ball home where the catcher got the ball and dove at and touched the plate just before the runner, but he didn’t tag the runner.  The call?

The runner at home was safe because once the out was recorded at first base, all the runners had the option of safely returning to the base they had come from (the runner going home could have returned to third).  Not confusing at all.

The other thing we talked about is positioning.  One fact of baseball that I try to drive into every player I coach is that there is no such thing as a spectator on the field.  That means if you find yourself not moving after a ball is hit an just standing watching, you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing.  This is a difficult concept for everyone, but especially difficult for kids.  Once they leave the T-ball age (where the entire field runs after the ball no matter where it goes), they tend to stand and watch if the play isn’t coming their way.  In reality, everyone has a place to be on every play; even the outfielders should be moving to back up the infielders.  If you have an opportunity to watch a professional baseball game, pick an inning and choose a player.  For example, during the 6th inning, watch the second baseman regardless of where the ball and the play go.  You will find that the professionals are always moving, or at least, the good professionals are always moving.  When the play is not coming at them, they will be backing someone up.  That makes all the difference in the defense ability of your team.

Thursday is supposed to be sunny with a high of 73 degrees.  The wind is supposed to be the same, but with the higher temperature, I don’t expect we will mind.  I hope the weather is as good as the forecast because we promised the girls we would work on their batting.

CC

It Happened Again

OK, so all is left except the championship game in NCAA basketball. And all is left except the crying in my group of picks.  Once again, my wife has dominated the prediction contest.  Granted there were only three of us in our little group, but she is the hands down winner.  In fact, she is only 10 picks out of the leader in all of Yahoo’s contest with 46 correct out of 62 picks (10 out of 62 picks is just over 15%).  She is the Champion.

I don’t understand how she is able to do this well every year (and she does this every year).  Maybe she is being sneaky and watching basketball and reading Rivals.com behind my back.  She is probably even announcing games when I think she is getting a hair cut.  OK, well maybe not but it sure seems like it sometimes.  Good think I am ok with my wife being better than I am at this.

Oh, in case you were curious, I ended up 9 picks behind her with 37 correct out of 62 picks.  She will be further ahead of me if North Carolina wins the game tonight, because she has UNC picked as the Champions.  Yeah, bad enough that my wife beats me at a sports pick ‘em game, but her favorite team is likely going to win the Championship game as well.  I guess that means there is only one thing to do.

Yes, that is right, I’ll have to take her out for dinner somewhere nice to celebrate.  The good part is I get to go out too, even though I lost the competition.  I wonder if I can get a steak?

CC

Blessed Christian Life…

Sunday, the message at church was studying the Beatitudes, the first 12 verses in Matthew chapter 5.  Each family took a couple of the verses and discussed them as a family for a few minutes, then we came back together as a group and discussed the entire passage one verse at a time.  As we were studying these, it occurred to me how they are a picture of the Christian Life.

vs 3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit:  for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

The beginning of the Christian life, and any true step of growth therein originates with being poor in spirit.  Being poor in spirit is simply recognizing what God says, that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”.  This means that the best we can do on our own simply doesn’t measure up to the standard God has set.  Fortunately, God has made a way of escape for us through Jesus Christ sacrifice.  But until we come to the point that we realize that we don’t meet God’s standard, we cannot begin or grow in the Christian life.

vs 4 – Blessed are they that mourn:  for they shall be comforted.

Once we see ourselves as we truly are before God and become poor in spirit, we will mourn for our sinfulness.  When we see ourselves as God sees us, we understand the deep sorrow that our life has caused to both God and ourselves.  It is in that state of mourning that we come to God, begging for His mercy and forgiveness.  His answer is simple, “Be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.”  We are comforted through the sufferings of Christ, and His death restores us into fellowship with God, who provides the comfort.

vs 5 – Blessed are the meek:  for they shall inherit the earth.

As we begin and continue to grow in our Christian walk, we begin to see opportunities to display a Christ-like attitude.  We should strive to be like Christ, “Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, he threatened not”.  Our human, sinful nature produces natural responses in us.  When someone speaks against us, we, naturally, want to lash out against them.  When someone intentionally does us physical harm, we, in our sinfulness, desire to respond in kind.  If you don’t believe this, simply watch two children at play.  Before long one will do or say something to the other who will respond in kind until the situation escalates.  This is our nature.

Meekness is that quality of having our reactions under control.  Meekness is responding (correctly) not simply reacting.  Not just our physical reactions, but our internal reactions as well.  How difficult it is to overcome that natural response of “Why I oughta…” and respond as Christ, in meekness and under control.  Christ showed the greatest restraint and control, not just during the hours before His crucifixion, but throughout His entire life.  We grow more like Christ by “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”.

vs 6 – Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:  for they shall be filled.

As we both respond correctly and incorrectly to the situations around us, we see how far we really are from God’s standard.  If we are truly saved, the we should have a desire in our hearts to be filled with the righteousness of God.  We should want to grow closer to Him and be more like Christ.  It is God who both gives us this desire and satisfies the desire (see Psalm 37).  God will grant us the desire of our heart by showing us the areas He wants to purify and bring under control.

As we see our failures, we again become poor in spirit and mourn over our sinfulness.  We confess our sin and turn over that aspect of our life to God and allow Him to help control our responses.  In turn he fills our “hunger and thirst” for being like Christ.

vs 7 – Blessed are the merciful:  for they shall obtain mercy.

When God works in our life to convict us of something that we need to control, we allow Him to work in us to control that area of our life.  Often it is during the time of our conviction that we will notice the sin of others.  Our response is to judge this sin and condemn others.  We often forget that God is the one who works in the lives of others, and He moves at His time.  We also forget that He was patient with us before we responded to Him in other areas.  This is when we need to be merciful to others.  Whether it is a direct offense to us personally, or simply an offense caused because someone is doing something we disagree with, we must learn to be merciful and avoid judgement.

This is not to say we avoind all conflict and confrontation.  There were indeed times when Christ rebuked and reproved sin, and Paul commands the same of us in Timothy.  However, the rebuke and reproof must be from Scripture, and it must be administered in love and mercy, remembering the attitude God had towards us in our sin.

vs 8 – Blessed are the pure in heart:  for they shall see God.

As the cycle of hungering after God, confessing our sin, and submitting to God continues, we grow.  This process of converting our reactions purifies our heart.  When our instinctive reaction matches what our proper response should be, we are acting correctly in that area.  This does not mean we can rest or take a break, simply that the Christ-likeness we are desiring is being brought forth in our lives.  We see God in ourselves and in those around us growing the same as we grow.

vs 9 – Blessed are the peacemakers:  for they shall be called the children of God.

As we grow, God wants us to help others also.  Whether this help is in the form of leading others to a saving knowledge of Christ, or simply helping another with a difficult issue, we are making disciples.  Having seen peace between ourselves and God grow in our own lives, we should reach out to others to help them make peace between themselves and God.  Man, in his natural state, is the enemy of God, not because God wants it that way, but because man is sinful.  Christ came to provide a way of peace between God and man.  It is our responsibility to work toward that peace in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

This, of course, is not an open invitation to be meddlesome or arrogantly intrusive in the lives of others.  Rather, it is an opportunity for us to watch for those divine appointments that God provides for us.  God will bring into our lives those to whom He wants us to minister.  We violate God’s will just as equally by overstepping God’s plan as we do by not ministering at all.  As with all other areas of our life, we need to let our ministry be in meekness, under the control of God.

vs 10 – Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake:  for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

As we do grow and reach out to help others grow, we will find those who are not pleased with our lifestyle.  Whether these people are convicted by our attempts to live godly or are simply choosing to remain God’s enemy does not matter.  There will be people who are angry at us for our beliefs, or who become angry with our attempts at ministry.  In each case, we should be certain to evaluate our motives and actions to ensure we are allowing God to work through us and not moving out on our own.  If we are acting in a manner submitted to God’s control, we can be certain that God is aware of our persecution.  We can also be certain that God has our best interest at heart, and has the persecution in our life for a reason.  With that confidence, we can truly minister to others and be blessed despite the persecution

So Great A Salvation

I believe there is a danger creeping into modern Christianity.  That danger presents itself in two different ways.  The danger is so serious that many books in the New Testament dedicate at least a portion to the proper understanding of what God intends.  The danger is over the nature and results of our Salvation.

Make no mistake, it is the grace of God that allows us to have forgiveness from sin and a restored fellowship with Him.  Yes, there are other benefits that we often talk about (like going to Heaven), but the primary purpose of Salvation is to apply Christ’s payment to our sin account.  That payment allows the restored fellowship with God.

There is a danger in this; however, when we think that there is anything we can do to restore that fellowship with God.  It is only the finished work of Christ on the cross, paying the penalty for our sin, that allows that restoration.  And it is only the grace of God that gives us access to this.  The Bible is clear that Salvation is “not of works”.

Unfortunately, in our zeal to avoid a “works-based” Salvation, we often go too far and miss the truth.  Once we are saved, that isn’t the end of the story.  We are saved for a purpose.  Consider the following passage:

For the grave of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world;

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Who gave himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

~ Titus 2:11-14

This is very clear that we are to pursue good works after our Salvation.  Not in order to redeem ourselves, but because that is what we are saved to do.  If there isn’t desire and effort in our lives towards good works, then we should evaluate our Salvation.  Make it sure before God.  Salvation should produce a change in our life.

However, this pursuit of good works has also developed into another error that is almost as common as the lack of change.  This error is the error of legalism.  A belief that our good works affect our standing before God.

Often legalism is narrowly defined as trying to earn Salvation with good works.  This is indeed a form of legalism, but legalism also extends to our lives after Salvation.  Our standing or position with God isn’t based on the number of good works that we do.  In reality, the Scripture is clear, submissive obedience to God is our “reasonable service”.  Good works don’t gain us extra favor, and we aren’t held in a higher esteem if we do good works.  They are simply what is expected of us.

The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Galatians to defend the truth of Salvation that was already under attack in his day.  How much more can we expect the truth of God to be under attack today.  Do not allow Satan to deceive you into accepting either of these errors.  Salvation is not without good works, but neither is salvation (or standing) dependent upon good works.

CC

Bowlin’, Bowlin’, Bowlin’, Keep Those Pins A-Rollin’

So we went out Saturday with some friends for bowling and dinner.  First, let me say we had a great time and need to do it again soon.  That was the good part.  It was really fun and nice to catch up again with Sara and to get to know James better.  Sara was in one of teens in the Youth Group that Shannon and I worked with a few years back.  Busy lives had kept us in touch only once in a while, and we all decided to spend some time together to catch up.

So, the fellowship was great!  The food was great as well.  I got to eat steak (always a good thing) and some shrimp, and Shannon had a seafood platter.  Of course we started with calamari appetizer.  It was all delicious.  We followed dinner with coffee so we could keep on talking some more.  That was all fun and great.

Now, on to the bowling!  Ugh.  Bad enough that I am not a very good bowler, but that wasn’t the worst of it.  We bowled two games, and while I lost both, I did beat Shannon in the second game.  (PS- If Sara ever asks you to bowl, be prepared to lose, she is a shark!)  But no, losing wasn’t the worst either.  The worst part was that I am not in shape to bowl.  Or at least from the pain after it was all done, I guess I am not.

Now you would expect maybe my arm or shoulder hurt.  Nope, not really.  OK, well, if I try to keep a semi-proper form, maybe my left leg hurt since that is where I balance when I actually let go of the ball.  Nope, again, not correct.  My right leg was sore all night after we left the bowling alley.  And not the whole leg, just the small muscle/tendon/ligament/whatever above and to the inside of my right kneecap.  At one point my leg almost buckled from that small muscle being sore.  What I don’t understand is why this was the sore part, all my right leg does is walk like normal, then sweep behind while I release the ball.  Go figure.

Anyway, I survived the weekend without too much more pain (mostly gone by Sunday morning), and I would definitely go bowling again if/when the opportunity presents itself.  And we will most definitely be getting together with Sara and James again.  I just hope they had as much fun as we did.

CC

March Madness

OK, so I’m not the biggest college sports fan.  Yes, if you read here long enough, you will know that I like to cheer for LSU, but that is another story for another day.  By the way, did you notice that LSU made it to the NCAA this year?  Sure, they likely won’t make it past the first round, but they are there.

Anyway, March Madness is one of the few times that I pay attention to college basketball.  I do enjoy watching a good college game (there seems to be less showmanship and more teamwork than the pros), but most of all I enjoy the competition.  So, I fill out a March Madness bracket.  This year was no different, and I filled out my bracket yesterday.  (For those of you not familiar, the tournament is 64 basketball teams in a single elimination tournament.  The brackets are your picks for who will win each game.)

Since I don’t pay too much attention to college basketball during the season, I always have an interesting time deciding who will win.  I used a slightly different approach this year than in years past, and actually looked at some statistics rather than just picking who I liked better.  I’ll have to keep you posted about how that works out for me, but I have Gonzaga winning it all, so maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.  (I do have until tomorrow to change, so I may have to re-evaluate.)

The biggest fun with March Madness, though, didn’t start until a few years ago when I invited my wife to fill out a bracket in our online group.  Now, she doesn’t particularly pay much more attention to college basketball than I do (although she does seem to remind me whenever UNC beats Duke).  That year, and ever since, she has done a much better job than I have at picking teams.  Perhaps she does like my mom used to do with football and pick the prettier colors.  Whatever she does, it works.  I think what makes it fun is that we are on such equal footing, neither of us really following the sport.

So, hopefully this year, my special secret selection method will help me make better picks.  Maybe this year I will be able to beat her (FINALLY)!

CC