Yoda was a Christian

“For thus loved God the world, that the Son, the unique One, He gave… For did not send God the Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that might be saved the world through Him.” John 3:16a, 17

Throw a little Yoda “hmmm…” after that and it could have been a line from Star Wars®.

The Greek grammar and sentence structure of the Bible is different than our English.

The verse above is in the actual word order of the original Greek text.

Yoda knew what he was talking about.

I am not saying that the author intended it to be a “Christian” work but so many themes in the Star Wars® movies and books hovercraft dangerously close to being Biblical.

Take the term paduan which not only seems quite close to the Greek paidion but is used correctly as far as the Greek definition goes.

Certainly there are things that are way off.

But ultimately… the battle between right and wrong,…

NASCAR Christianity

I remember reading or hearing somewhere that more people watch a single NASCAR® race each week than do the Super Bowl.

I don’t know if you are a fan but until a few years ago I didn’t even know what the acronym meant.  So I went into the maintenance shop where I used to work and asked.

About eight guys simultaneously let me know…

National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing.

With such a massive following you have to ask yourself (or at least I did)…

What can the Church learn from NASCAR®?

The big question... If there is God then why...

Do I even need to finish that question?  Wasn’t there a something on the tip of your tongue or the top of your mind?...

If there is a God…

… why do bad things happen to good people?...

… why is there so much suffering in the world?

Hmmm.  Good questions?

Have you ever sat beneath a tree on a sunny day and asked, “Why is there shade here?”

Often the answer doesn’t rest in why something is as much as in what something is.  The questions as to right or wrong, good or evil, joy or suffering lie in the definitions –at least within a biblical context – of each.

Shade is the evidence that the light from the sun is being blocked.

Shade itself could neither exist without light nor without something to block it.

Suffering is an event, situation, or experience that affirms that evil is still present.

A good spotter never takes all of the weight...

“…but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.“ 1 Cor 10:13

Jim was a strong guy.  He could literally crack a walnut with his chest.  At the time (many, many years ago) I weighed in at about a buck-fifteen soaking wet.  So when I heard Jim say, “Gimme a spot,” I had to do a double-take to see if he was talking to me.

Do you know what 325 lbs looks like on a weight bench?

Pretty intimidating.

After a few reps he was slowing down… but he was determined to finish.

I was getting nervous.  I thought I was in the clear after ten… with his veins popping and his face red. Then… he said it…

“One more.”

I was sweating just worrying about having to lift this.  So I kicked in to “motivation” mode.

“Let’s do it!” I said, as if I really had anything to do with it.

I must have yelled “Push it!,” “Come on!,” “You got this!” more times over the 5 seconds it took him to lift that bar than I have since.

I knew I could never lift that weight.

But being a spotter isn’t about showing people how strong you think you are…

It’s about showing people how strong you think they can be.

God would never put you on a bench with more weight than you can bear.

I know that.

So I know that when it looks like you are struggling…

When we find ourselvs being replaced.

One of the most uncomfortable things to go through is change.  We find comfort in things being predictable… manageable… the same.

While we may appreciate a challenge here and there… maybe in certain areas… or certain things… it is good to know that something is secure.

That there is something we can rely on.

Too often, that “thing” is our “place”… wherever it might be.

We begin to find our identity… our security…  in that place and we become established.

Maybe it was a job that you were in for a long time.

A church.  Or a ministry.  Perhaps it was a group of friends that you spent a lot of time with.

And then, what seems like “all of a sudden” it changes.

You no longer have that “place”… that security.

But when change comes… and it will… we need not look at what we might be “losing” or where we may have been…