What a Difference a Year Makes...

This time last year, life was so very different. 

We were expecting the opportunity to foster, then adopt Mary-Faith, but we hit snags during the Christmas season.  Without going into great detail, on Our anniversary (12/29/2016), Mary-Faith seemed out of our reach.  

Thankfully the Lord was preparing our hearts even more and we eventually became her foster parents by February.  Right before her birthday!  What an awesome time! 

‘Round about that time, I got informed that my Dad had prostate cancer.  

Yeah, a great blessing followed up by something extremely scary.  No matter how many times people, especially my Dad, told me God would work everything out, I didn’t choose to believe it.  I spent the next couple of weeks picking God’s brain as to “Why my Dad?”  I don’t know if you guys know this, but from time to time, I tend to be pretty idiotic.  

Our family has walked the cancer journey a number of times. My Pawpaw had cancer...my Granny had cancer...my Nanny had cancer...Jenn’s Dad had cancer (prior to my joining the family, but it happened)...the list goes on and on.  

But it was never *my* Dad!  

In June, Dad had surgery to remove the cancer and came out like a champ.  

My Granny has had a roller coaster of medical ups and downs the past few years and that’s been a journey.  

It’s a difficult thing to live what you believe and what you speak.  

I’m just being real, I tell my kids at school all the time, God works everything out for His purpose, but I’m not always the one who’s in line to believe it when it starts.  

Here we are, a year to the day we were standing in Wal-Mart and were given a bleak outlook on the future with Mary-Faith.

As I type this, she’s in the next room asleep and couldn’t be a happier little girl! 

We were blessed for about four months with a sweet baby girl, y’all know her as “C”.  We are blessed to be able to periodically keep up with her and see how she’s growing!  She’s so cute, it’s not even funny!

I firmly believe life would be so cool with a soundtrack, like a movie.  If the things you’re going through and your daily life had accompaniment!

As the year closes out, I think the obligatory flashback montage of my life would play with background music by Tauren Wells.  *Hills and Valleys* has been a smash-hit for him and I believe that’s because it’s truth.  That’s what our life is.  The Bible shows us that, that’s what we experience in life.  That song would be the theme of this year.  

All that to say, I can sum life up like this...

It doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive, what house you live in, or what stores you shop at.  The logos on your clothes don’t mean anything.  The trophies on your shelves, the letters after your name, the plaques and certificates on your walls don’t stack up.  The church you go to, the country club you’re part of, you’re Madden Ultimate Team, they don’t matter.  

The only thing that matters in life is relationships.  

First of all, your relationship with Jesus Christ.  Folks, I don’t mean the magical prayer hotline you use when you hit the valley.  I mean the daily walk you have with Him.  Don’t expect a good relationship with Him if you’re only willing to meet him for an hour every weekend.  It’s got to be a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute walk. 

Secondly, you’re family relationships.  I’m writing this at 2:58 AM from a hotel room.  I’m doing what’s become, over the last year, my favorite things to do: travel with my girls.  Our relationships have grown so much over the trips we’ve been able to take this year.  Over the time we spend just sitting on the couch at the house.  It’s about TIME and TOGETHERNESS.  Dads and Moms, as much as we want to *give* our kids, they don’t care.  They want the one thing many people fail to give.  They want your time.  To go further, they want your eyes.  I see too many times parents looking ahead to the next activity or to the next person.  Stop and look your kids in the eyes.  SHOW them what it means to be a REAL man or woman.  Stop allowing Netflix, Apple, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, and all these other mediums steal away your kids attention! 

***Side note:  You have to realize why our kids are so attracted to Social Media apps like YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram.  If you’re completely lost, I’ll tell you why...

They’re so attracted to these things for the **attention**.  We have to get our attention off all our extra stuff and back on our kids.***

Last but not least, our extended family and friendship (and even people we don’t know).  If you’re believer, this is vital.  You can’t do things alone.  God created us to be relational.  We’ve got to start being that.  

So in 2018, let’s be more intentional with our relationships. Let’s love God and love people the way He intended us to!  

TEAM

I’ve been chewing on some different topics over the last few weeks and one thing I keep coming back to is the concept of team.

A lot of times I write with the purpose of taking concepts and thoughts from the sports world and applying them into the Christian life and our daily walk with Christ.  

This time is no different.  

I think our society and even break it down so far as my gender, seems to believe that life can be lived on an island alone.

In our churches today, I think we see that, possibly birthed from the early to mid 20th century, but still holding strong today.

The thought that we don’t need anyone else.  We don’t need help, we’ve got it under control.  Whether that be help from the Lord or help from other people.  

Therein lies our problem.  

Let’s take this in two directions.  First, let’s look at why we can do nothing apart from the Lord.

First of all, we need to, as believers, look to our ultimate example of Jesus Christ for guidance in this area.  Jesus was fully God and fully man, yet he still relied on the Lord.

“So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

John 5:19 ESV

So we see there that even Jesus did nothing on his own.  He does whatever the Father, God, does.  He does all this in His Honda Accord!  Gotcha!  Jesus didn’t drive a car, even if He did, we all know it wouldn’t be a Honda! 

Jesus goes on to say, later in the book of John that we are like branches on a vine.  The way that nature works is that branches do not live apart from their source.  If I go outside right now and cut a branch off the peach tree in my backyard, that branch will die. 

The same happens to us if we try to live our lives away from our Creator.  If we don’t function as a piece of His team, we cannot survive.

To look at it from a sports perspective, there are very few sports that are individual.  

The main sports that I am involved in are the team sports.  Football and Basketball are the two main sports that I coach.  

For those readers who don’t know the basics, here comes your crash course.  Football has 11 men on the field from each team at a time.  Basketball has 5 men from each team on the court at a time.  Those 11 or 5 guys work together to score and keep the other team from scoring.

If I took one football player and threw him on the field with the same rules as the previous contest, then there would be a massive struggle for the fella who’s on his own.

The same applies for us in life. Life wasn’t built to be an individual sport.

If you go back to the basic reasoning for God’s creation of Adam, it was for a relationship. The same can be said for why God created Eve, for a relationship; not only for one with Himself, but with Adam, too.

The Bible speaks to the importance of our compadres and friends in life, our team if you will.

First, again we can look at Jesus.  He didn’t just blaze a trail on His own, because HELLO, McFLY, He could have!  He chose 12 guys to surround himself with, to be His teammates.  

Here are some verses that stress the importance of being a team...

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ESV

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

“For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.”

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 ESV

Those are all pictures of the important of a TEAM concept in life.

The great thing is, if you’re a believer, your team is huge!  People in your church, in your family, and all over you’re community are ready and willing to welcome you into the family.  Start looking then!

The body of Christ is meant to work together, so let’s start doing that!  

Being Dad

Back in February, my life was turned down a completely different path!  Well, let's rewind that back to some time last year.

Mary-Faith has been part of our family for the better part of a year or so now.  She was living with a fellow foster parent who was a member of our church and worked at the same school as me.  I can still remember when she first moved to Henderson, she'd be at Wednesday night supper and would always want to sit with my mom, she called her "Miss Camera."  Little did we know what God already had in the works.  So I guess, you could point back to that and say that's when it all really started.  

At that time, we weren't even thinking about adoption.  When I say we, I really mean me.  Jenn has been an advocate for adoption since we started dating, but I was always resistant.  There is another post in my blog history that addresses the changes God made in my heart on this subject.  

So time rolls on, we attempt the private adoption route and experience our first failed adoption in May of 2015.  Then, later on in that year, another attempt falls through.  So, May 2016, we begin taking PRIDE classes to become foster/adopt parents through the state of Texas.  

We go through the process and become foster parents officially (licensed) in January 2017.  

Prior to all that, beginning in August 2016, Mary-Faith had spent a couple of weekends a month at our house.  She'd begun calling us mommy and daddy, and all that kind of stuff.  We were never for sure that we were going to adopt her for a while.  She was just coming and spending time with us, in hopes of, in the future, of adopting her.  

Eventually, after becoming licensed, we found out she was going to be moving in with us, with the end result being adoption.  She had to live with us for six months before adoption could take place.  

So, we moved her in with us on February 3 and began the process of her becoming our for real daughter.  We officially signed our foster papers on February 6.  

Her birthday is February 8, so soon after she moved in, we were able to celebrate her birthday and have a party later on for her! 

So, we go from zero kids to one quickly, then add in our little foster baby we got in May and we had two kids super fast!  If you read my "Fatherhood: Roller Coasters with Bumps and Fire" post, you got a small picture of how the summer went for us!

It's been a truly rewarding experience.  

On September 12, our journey of fostering with Mary-Faith finally came to an end!  We officially adopted her and she became Mary-Faith Abigail Reynolds! What a joyful blessing! 

I grew up with two younger sisters, so I know a thing about girls, but I've never raised a girl.  Let's not lie, it can be a little overwhelming at times.  

The Lord has truly blessed Jennifer and I with this beautiful little girl.  Many of you have been with us since the beginning of our journey and you've prayed, bought shirts, donated, called, texted, and encouraged.  

We are so thankful for you guys.  We are so thankful to God for putting our lives on this path.  Our fostering and adopting are not finished yet, we've still got the rest of our lives to go!

I hope you'll stay tuned for what's next! 

Division

Division is the goal of our enemy.  Not just the enemies of America, but the enemy of all Christians, Satan.  

I've been the loud mouth who had an opinion on every protest and ya da ya da ya da.

But the Lord is tweaking and working on my heart.  

America is not the perfect nation we all like to make it out to be.  We do like we do in our homes, communities, and churches, sweep the issues under the rug and hope they go away.  

I told my kids in class the other day, everyone has their right to protest.  Even when it seems that protest does nothing but cause division, they've still got the right to protest.  

The Constitution (ironically we just celebrated Constitution week) gives rights to every American.  And it's not just for the patriots, not just for the liberals, not just for the conservatives, not just for the Christians, not just for the Muslims, not just for the straight, not just for the homosexuals; the rights of the Constitution are guaranteed to every single American citizen.

Christians, we see ourselves on some pedestal, I guess.  The shocking thing you may not realize...many of the NFL and NBA players are Christians, and we attack them.    We spend so much time looking down our nose at people.  These divisions have been here and aren't going anywhere until WE love like our Savior loved!  

We've created a corrupted Biblical worldview.  We've cut and pasted the Bible to fit what we want it to.  We delete the passages that won't fit in our comfort zone.  We for sure have deleted the passages that tell us to be servants and love outside the walls of our churches! 

We want to hunker down and hide behind the walls of our churches and expect our pastors to lead out for us.  

We walk out on Sunday and don't think about God til Wednesday or maybe Saturday night when we plan on whether or not to go to church.  

I've sat back and watched over the last year or so.  

I know you're sayin, "you've been a big proponent of putting down these protesters and anyone who does anything different."  Here's the thing. I have, I'm sorry for that, and all I can say for that is God is working on me.

Note:  I have never been stronger in my principles and values, but my heart has been softened and my eyes have been opened a little more.  

If you look back at a previous post, you'll see my opinion on our nation and our faith.  

I think we've created this American Christianity which is not Biblical.  We like to substitute "America" for "God's people" in the Bible.  Read that post to see the rest of my thoughts on that certain issue.

The past few days have shown me this.  Stand up against the United States and get the anger of 1,000s of Christians/people.  

What about those that stand against Jesus? What are we doing? 

We are letting it happen.  

Oh we post about it, and complain, we might call others names, but what are you actually doing?!?

I will refrain from commenting on the comments toward other believers that our illustrious President made the other day which got this whole issue tipped off.  

Don't let division cloud our mission.  (I mean our mission as Christians, not some American subtext here.)

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

1 Corinthians 1:10-13 ESV

Saying Goodbye

As I write this, I am preparing my heart to tell Baby "C" goodbye.  She goes home today after about four months at our house.

It has been quite the adventure, having a baby in our house these four months.  We survived sleepless nights, a vacation to Kentucky with the 13-15 hour road trip, barely sleeping on that vacation because she hated her pack-n-play, and many other adventures as parents.

Jenn and I both told each other from Day 1, that we would love this girl for the time that we had her.  I feel like we have done that in a major way.  We knew from that day she was going to go home, but that doesn't prepare your heart for hurt at all.  The pain is going to come in the mornings, when it was my great opportunity to wake her up, feed her, and usually get her ready for her day.  Its going to be there at night when we don't hear the occasional whine or cough.

But you know what the beauty of all of this is?

I never thought I'd say something like this either....

The beauty of this all is that this little girl gets to go back and live with her family!

Foster parenting is a unique experience and one of a roller coaster of emotions.

Not that "C" was ever our child, but we have bonded with this beautiful baby girl and she has been a part of her family.  She's melted my heart so many times and it's been an amazing ride to see how she's grown and developed.

I've changed diapers, been thrown up on, been sneezed on, danced like an idiot to get her to smile, and rocked her to sleep.

I doubt she'll remember us because of her age, but hopefully for this small stretch of time, we have had an impact on her life!

Pray for her.  That she grows up and is loved and becomes a wonderful young woman.  Pray that one day she gives her heart and life to Jesus!

Pray for her family.  That they love her and they can give her everything she needs.

Pray for us.  Tuesday the 12th, we adopt "M" officially and we can't be more excited.   I told you it's been a whirlwind!  We are so excited!

Our life of fostering isn't over, we intend to love on babies and kids as they have need.  We will continue the call God has on our lives to foster and/or adopt.


"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."  John 14:18

Fatherhood: Roller Coasters with Bumps and Fire

Being a dad can be a roller coaster.  Being a dad and a football coach is sometimes like a roller coaster that can be a little bumpy, a la Texas Giant (pre-remodel).  Being a dad, a football coach, and a procrastinator is like a roller coaster that's a little bumpy that is on fire.  

Tuesday morning, Jenn had to go to an inservice training all day in Dallas.  She got up at 3 and I believe left the house around 5.  

I didn't start inservice until Thursday, but had started football 2-a-days on Monday.  I came home from 2-a-days at around 11:15 and finally got to sleep around midnight or so.  

So it's Tuesday morning and my alarm goes off.  Just a normal day, right? I'm going to take Baby C to pre-school and M and I are going to work in my classroom.  

Being a smart dude, I wake myself up early and get myself ready.  Then I begin to wake up my beautiful little girls.  First, I flip M's light on and say "Good Morning!," in that annoying morning Dad way!  Then I move to the baby's room and wake her up.  

Weirdly, I am really into the routine of waking up the baby and getting her ready for her day.  I feel like I'm contributing, I guess.  I miss a lot being a coach and being gone, so what I can do I try to do.  (Sometimes I don't do a good job at that, helping out where I need to, but who bats

.1000 in this arena?)

Baby C wakes up with very little problem and I change her diaper and head to the kitchen for her breakfast.  

By this point, the "beast of overwhelming" has entered the room.  There's a lot to do and the "early" that I thought was early, already wasn't early enough!  I've got a list from Jennifer and I'm going to get this done.  

Did I mention I'm running on very little sleep? 

I feed the baby and try to hurry M in her pursuit of getting ready for the day.  If you know M, this can be a bit of a challenge. She lives life at her own pace, which most days softens my heart, because I'm at my own pace, too.  

However, today is not that day!

C's solid breakfast goes off without a hitch.  I make her a four ounce bottle and give it to her, this pacified her while I try to get everything for the day together.  Worth noting, she doesn't drink the bottle. She can just drink it in the truck on the way though. M can give it to her. 

So I load everything up in the truck, there's a ton of stuff because C is going to school and M is bringing activities to occupy herself during the day at the middle school and football practice.  

There's slight stiffness in my neck, chest, and throat.  Did I mention I had woken myself up at about 7?!?

So we head out and I've got to make some other drops after C.  

I take C to pre-school, she snuggles to me as I'm trying to hand her off, which totally melted my heart.  This being the first time I'd dropped her off anywhere since she moved in with us in May.

I jump in the truck and run up to the church to drop something off and I walk out of the church to the truck and I hit a wall. 

I'm tired, real tired, I want to go home.  But here's the dilemma, inservice isn't long and my classroom is a complete disaster.  I have some OCD tendencies involving my classroom and how it's arranged and getting it done.  

I get in the truck and decide I'm too tired and I'm going home.

We get home and as I walk passed the dining table I see C's FULL bottle.  My brain didn't slow down long enough to give her the stinkin' bottle.

  Moms are superstars.  My wife is a rock star!  She takes care of M, C, ensures that M takes care of her dog Sarah, and puts up with my overgrown childish ways.  

This evening I had to juggle changing, bathing, and bedding the baby, whilst prepping food for the dog, ensuring M wasn't afraid to go outside to let the dog go potty, feeding the dog, and getting M ready for bed.  

Being a dad is such a rewarding experience. I am not sure it's cut out for everyone, much like many things.  

In the coming days we will be adopting M and I pray that I can be all the daddy she needs me to be and more. Even in the midst of the bumpy roller coaster that's on fire! 

The Coach's Wife

From the time I felt God's call on my life to coach, I knew He was setting aside someone special for me.  All those years ago, I didn't know who, but He was preparing the heart of a beautiful young lady to be my bride, and I don't think she knew either!

I doubt Jennifer ever dreamed she'd be running the roads, sitting in the stands, cheering and screaming for football and basketball teams.  

There was a night, when we first started "talking" or dating that we had a conversation about how a coach's wife had to be different.  I felt as though a coach's wife had to be strong and thick-skinned (true), independent (true), and enduring (true). Through a long conversation, I finished up with asking her if she felt like that was something she was comfortable with.  Mind you, I was still working at ETBU and had ZERO job prospects.  She agreed and said, of course, she'd have to learn along the way, but she felt like it was something she could do.  I was relieved.  That was a weird conversation to have and I really had no idea the full scope of what I was explaining, but I felt it was extremely necessary.

We've been a coaching couple for the last 5 years.  The first season, we were engaged and married mid-school year. The last four, we've been a married couple.  She has seen a lot of nights, where she arrived home alone and I came in way later.  She's had Saturdays and weekends alone.  Shes traveled miles and miles down the highways of East Texas and beyond, to watch me and watch my kids.  She's been a trooper through and through. 

This year, we embark on a new journey.  We finished up the last school year with 3 months with a kid.  We went through track season with M living in our home.  That wasn't too difficult because track is a lot different and a little less strenuous and time-consuming as football.  We coasted to the end of the school year, adding one more child. 

For those of you who are wondering what is going on, we are foster parents and adoption is in our future.  

So this year, Jenn and I will be a coaching couple with kids!  It's going to be different and new, but through the grace of God, we will not only survive but we will stretch and grow.  

We've already gotten a small preview the last few days.  Football camp and meetings started yesterday, I leave at 6:30, come home for lunch, then may not be back until 4 or 5.  

The wives of coaches are cut from a different cloth, no offense to you other wives.  They essentially become single women and single moms for the portion of the season their husband is coaching.  They are usually in the stands and hear all the mess that is said or screamed about their husband or other coaches.  

They drive all over the country with kids in tow.  They sometimes stay up and wait for their coach to get home, then listen to his stories. (Believe me, that's happened at our house and we end up staying up two extra hours.)

In short, when you're at a football game or other sporting event, be watchful for the coach's wife. They're the strong women supporting their team and their husbands. They usually know what's going on and know many of the kids names.  

Show them some love, if nothing else, pray for them.  

In the meantime, if you want a look into the life of a coach's wife, check out Jenn's blog...

www.iheartthecoach.com

American Christianity's Love Affair With America

Our nation just recently celebrated it's independence.  While I am as patriotic as the next person and as apt to spend money on fireworks and food to celebrate, I've taken  notice of something in the last couple of years.

I've always been the "good baptist," up until the past couple of years, I'd get a tear in my eye when "God Bless America" was sung or the American flag was unfurled on stage.  It's what I've been accustomed to these past 30 years of attending a Baptist Church.  It's what I see from most churches in my area.  It must be a Southern thing, an established tradition, cuz that's what we do.

I want to keep it real.  This is not an attack on any church, any pastor, any believer; this is an introspection that I believe the Lord would have all of us reflect on.  

What are we (American Christians) more concerned about?  What are we worshipping?

I'll make this note, I see more Christians get fired up for church when a patriotic song is played than I see them get fired up when a mission team is sent out, or a need is lifted to the church.  I hear more "Amens" and hand raises when a pastor speaks of the need to bring America back to God, than I do for when a pastor calls for needs to be met within the body or when volunteers are needed for the inner-city backyard Bible club. 

*In America, there are very few Christians who are willing to get their hands dirty.*  

What do I mean? 

I'm saying that when the rubber meets the road, many American Christians throw money at the problem or run from it all together.  I lump myself into that category too.  

God calls us to something and we try to weasel our way out of it, or we substitute our offering or a gift for it.  

We may not all be called to Zimbabwe or the Philippines, but we are dang sure called to the guy next to us in the bullpen at work, the teacher down the hall, our neighbors across the street, or the thousands of other people we come into contact with daily.  

We "amen" when the pastor says America needs God, but we aren't doing anything to show them.  

I think part of it shows in our commitment to our local body of believers.  We treat church like a gas station and only visit when we need to fuel up.  We don't invest in the lives of our fellow members, we don't invest in our community.  

We pay our pastors to do that kind of stuff, right? 

Wrong. 

Your pastor can't single-handedly reach your community. In all honesty, your pastor can't single-handedly reach your whole church, no matter the size.  It's our job as the hands and feet of the Father to do those kinds of things.  The Bible tells us to care for the orphans and the widows.  I can tell you, we aren't doing that.  There's too many kids in group homes and foster care to account for that failure, but that's another topic for another day. 

We've pimped out the Bible to make it read how we think it should.  The way we've manipulated it, you'd think that God brought America out of Egypt and had them wander the desert.  Sorry folks, sorry Kalon, that was Israel.  

We've got to get American Christianity back to a Biblical perspective.  The theology of our belief is rooted and bound in the Bible, so we must abandon anything that is not.  Over the years, I think we've adopted the thinking that if it's Christian, or sounds Christian, it must be in line with what God wants.  The only way you're going to know that is if it checks up against the Bible.  

Maybe we need to drop the whole American concept.  If you go overseas, you don't meet Christians who label themselves in such a way.  You meet Christians who are sold out for Jesus, who walk the streets not knowing if they'll be killed for walking with Jesus.  

May be that's it, may be we are too comfortable. 

Maybe it's time for us to quit it with the casual Christianity, besides I think that is something that Jesus himself speaks to...

*“"'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"”*

Revelation 3:15-22 ESV

Easter: Through Different Eyes

Put yourself in their shoes.  You've followed this guy around for a couple of years, you've seen the things he can do.  You know he's different.  You know he's the Promised One, the Messiah.  You believe it.  He's told you he was going to die and that he would rise again, after three days, but you didn't really understand.  You know he's coming back, you're just lost as to when.  You've been hunkered down with your brothers, in an upper room, hiding.  Outside, you're pretty sure there's a manhunt for his followers.  They swiftly dispatched him, but it was all under the cover of night.  They could be coming after you.

Before they arrested him, you were experiencing life like never before.  Jesus was working miracles left and right, he was speaking of a kingdom that was coming, and you just knew it'd be here soon!  You knew at some point, he was going to overtake the Romans and Israel would be out from under oppression.  You left behind your family and everything dear to you, for him.

They didn't know it, but soon they'd lay everything on the line for Him.

Now, right now, you're looking around into the eyes of your brothers, no doubt seeing the fear and the uncertainty.   You'd just had dinner with Jesus and your brothers.  He dropped them bombshell that one of the twelve would betray him, and that one of his closest friends would deny his name three times.  Then, while praying in the garden, he'd been arrested in the dark of night.  He was dragged before different audiences and different leaders.  This was your leader and you'd seen all this with your own eyes.  He'd been sentenced to death, by Roman crucifixion.  This was one of the worst forms of torture in your world.  It was bloody, nasty, and brutal.  There's weeping in this room, most strongly from those who saw him die with their own eyes.

He told you he would die, but did you really let that sink in?  You listened to his words and you may not have thought fully about what he'd said.  You were about to have the opportunity to believe him, you just don't know it yet.

(It's easy for us, in modern times, to read our Bibles and see how ignorant these men were to not understand, but we have history on our side.  Hindsight is 20/20)

So it's the wee hours of the morning.  He died a few days ago, everything has been quiet.

All of a sudden, shouts break through the silence.

"He's Alive!  He's Alive!"

You feel like you're hearing things!  Can it be?  Jesus is alive!

Then you think back, he told you he was going to do this!

You're gathered with your brothers, the doors locked, and Jesus appears in the room.  It scares you all at first, then he shows you his scars.  You all sit down and have a meal with him.

Over the next forty days, he appears various times to various people, proving he is who he said he was.  He teaches you more and speaks with you more.  He then ascends into Heaven.

Now, you're tasked with sharing His word throughout the world!  The same task that we have!  The disciples and followers of Jesus headed out from the Mount of Olives and spread the Gospel!

We have the same task, go throughout the world and spread the Good News of His resurrection!

Use this Easter holiday as a chance to let others know of the great power of our God!

Sidelines: David

Our final look at Biblical characters that went from the sidelines to the starting line-up leads us to the life of David.  

David was a boy, who defeated a giant, who became king, who royally screwed up, then is known as a man after God’s heart.  

We first meet David in 1 Samuel 16.  Samuel, the high priest, has gone to seek out the Lord’s next appointed King of Israel.  King Saul had been dishonored in God’s eyes and God was preparing a new king.  Now, note that the fact that Samuel was out seeking this would have gotten his head chopped off, but God sent him, and he encounters the family of a man named Jesse, whose youngest son God had already chosen.

Jesse parades his sons in front of Samuel, and Samuel turns down each one.  

Interestingly enough, the youngest, David, wasn't home, he was out tending to the sheep.  Another thing to note is what God told Samuel at the beginning of the “parade of sons”...

“But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16:7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So here, we already see, before we even meet him, David isn't anything to write home about.  He's obscure, he's a boy, he's not a man, how could he even be king?

The key is in the second half of that verse, “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

I think we could even go a little further with it.  We see the here and now, God sees the future, God sees potential.  

So Samuel anoints David and David becomes a musician in Saul’s service.  There was a spirit that tormented Saul and any time it did, David played music and Saul would be refreshed and calmed.

In the very next chapter, we see another way David comes off the sideline and lets God put him in the game.  

The Israelites were at war with the Philistines and the Philistines had a huge advantage, his name was Goliath.  Goliath was a large dude, he was somewhere between 6’9” and 9’9”.  Nobody in Israel wanted a piece of him.  He came out twice a day for forty days and challenged anyone who'd come to a one-on-one battle.  

David was going back and forth between the front lines and the flocks of his father’s sheep.  At one point, his dad sends him back with food for 3 of his brothers who'd been fighting alongside Saul.  He goes up and starts talking with his brothers for a second when he arrives, and then Goliath comes out for his daily call out.  

All the other men of Israel cower in fear.  But David asks a couple of questions…

“And David said to the men who stood by him, "What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Soon after an altercation with his eldest brother, Saul calls for David.  David tells him he wants to fight…

“And David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:32

Saul doubts David ability and tells him he's just a kid and can't fight this dude that's been a warrior his whole life.  Then David proceeds to recount his experience of protecting sheep from lions and bears.  In verse 37, we see David’s unwavering faith…

“And David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you!"”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:37‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So Saul outfits David with his armor.  Ironically, it's technically David’s armor since he's already been anointed as king!  David quickly takes off the armor, because he's not tested it.  He probably couldn't fit into it since he was still just a kid.  

So, David marches out to meet Goliath.  All he's got is his staff and 5 stones and his sling.  Goliath laughs and mocks David and the Israelites.

Then David dropped the mic…

“Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord 's, and he will give you into our hand."”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:45-47‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Goliath charges, David charges and pulls a stone out of his bag, slings it, and hits Goliath square in the forehead.  Goliath falls and David runs over and chops off his head with Goliath’s own sword!  

Seeing this, the Philistines flee.  God had done a mighty work through a little boy!  

Soon after, David becomes best friends with King Saul’s son, goes through lots of drama when Saul figures out he's the king-in-waiting, becomes king, sees a woman bathing on a roof and commits adultery with her, goes through that rough patch, continues to follow God and be a great king!  

So going back and gathering all that we've looked at up, we see that God takes the ordinary, the second-string, and makes them extraordinary for His namesake!  

The Bible is full of account after account of ordinary men, women, and children placing their faith in the one, true God.  Then, God takes those people and does a great work and the world is changed!  You and I can both be instruments of the Most High if we allow Him to truly work through us.  

What does that take? For Abraham, Joshua, and David, it was full-on faith in God.  In all three lives, they fully surrendered themselves to God.  The cool thing for us is, they are human!  They all messed up here and there, but they continued to follow the Lord!  They kept their eyes on him.  God worked great things out through these three men and He will work things out through you if you allow yourself to be His instrument, to be pliable clay in His hand, and watch the great work He does.  These three stories show us it won't be easy, but it will be worth it all!  When you're mind is on God’s mission, you're life is right where it needs to be!