Fred and Bill were having their weekly round of golf at the Land o’ Sky Golf Course.  As they were walking down the fairway on the long par-five number six hole, a funeral procession drove by them along River Road. Fred paused and took off his golf hat, held it over his heart and stood motionless, watching the cars drive slowly by with their lights on. Bill was touched. He didn’t know Fred was so religious or sensitive. He walked up to him and said, “That was a nice thing to do, Fred. Was that somebody you knew?”

“Yes,” Fred said, wiping away a tear as he pulled a four wood from his bag, “she was my wife. We would have been married twenty-eight years today, if she’d have lived.”

The obvious conclusion is this: Here’s a man who loved his sport much more than he loved his wife. The thing that really had his affection and time was the golf course, and not his family. It really isn’t funny, is it?

Let’s think of this in spiritual terms. How many of life’s activities come before God in your life? Could it be that idolatry has you by the throat? The Apostle Peter sent this warning out to all the early churches:

1 Peter 4:3

For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.

Psalm 106:3

Blessed are those who keep justice,
And he who does righteousness at all times!

Prioritize your life by putting the things of God first.

Think about it.

Gary

You don’t consider this in your youth, but you should. The subject is death and the situation that is to follow that event. Some place their hope in annihilation, while others believe themselves good enough to enter a glorious place. Still others believe there is a place of punishment, but after a time, they will be set free. Then there are those who trust completely in the finished work of Christ on Calvary. With this last group of individuals, they have the right to sing:

We are all traveling in the footsteps

Of those that’d come before

And we’ll all be reunited

On that new and sunlit shore

Just a few more days to travel,

Just a few more days to roam,

Then I will enter heaven’s portals,

When the saints are gathered home.

Matthew 25:21

 His Lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.

As bad as it might get here, we have a future.

Give it some thought.

Gary

CBS News anchor Dan Rather admits he was always fascinated by the sport of boxing, even though he was never good at it. “In boxing you’re on your own; there’s no place to hide,” he says. “At the end of the match only one boxer has his hand up. That’s it. He has no one to credit or to blame except himself.” Rather, who boxed in high school, says his coach’s greatest goal was to teach his boxers that they absolutely, positively, without question, had to be “get up” fighters. “If you’re in a ring just once in your life–completely on your own–and you get knocked down, but you get back up again, it’s a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Your sense of achievement is distinct and unique. And sometimes the only thing making you get up is someone in your corner yelling.” 

–       Reader’s Digest, December, 1990.

The Apostle Paul used many sports illustrations. It is highly possible that he attended some of the games. Here are a few examples for your consideration:

1 Corinthians 9:26

Therefore, I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

1 Corinthians 9:24

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

I don’t know about you, but I would rather play in a game than watch it.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Samuel Brengle, who was an early Salvation Army official, was once introduced as the “Great Dr. Brengle.” He later wrote in his diary, “If I appear great in their eyes, the Lord is most graciously helping me to see how absolutely nothing I am without Him, and helping me to keep little in my own eyes.

A man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility.

   Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899)

Humility is a word that characterized our Lord while he was here on the earth, and it should characterize us.

Rom 12:3

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

   Whales really do communicate with each other. One whale sounded the following caution to his dear mate:

   “Better watch it; when you get to the top and start to blow, that’s when you get harpooned!”

   What’s true at sea is also true in our world.

Think about it.

Gary

Andrew’s name appears only twelve times in the Bible. He was introduced to Jesus and quickly went to tell Peter, his brother, “We found the Messiah.” Peter was in unbelief until he came to hear Jesus for himself. As the years rolled by, Peter became a major part of Jesus’s inner circle while Andrew faded into the background. That didn’t matter because he accomplished what he was chosen to do.

How could a man not be concerned for his brother’s salvation when he has discovered the way to heaven? It is not about a religion, but a relationship; it’s not about an institution, but a person.

John 1:40-42

One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.

Have you been introduced to Him? Have you told your family?

Think about it.

Gary

A father was approached by his small son, who told him proudly, “I know
what the Bible means!” His father smiled and replied, “So, Son, what does
the Bible mean?” “That’s easy, Daddy. It stands for Basic Information Before Leaving Earth!”

I don’t know who came up with that acronym, but it sure hits the nail on the head. There is some pretty serious information you need before leaving the planet. The fact that you are a sinner is uppermost. Then, the realization that sin can be removed because Christ died for the sins of the whole world. There is lots more information, but those two facts can get you into a much better place.

Romans 10:13 

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Isaiah 57:15 

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Have you read the Book? It’s not hard to come by.

Give it some thought.

Gary

There were two evil brothers. They were rich, and used their money to keep their ways from the public eye. They even attended the same church and appeared to be perfect Christians.

Then, their pastor retired, and a new one was hired. Not only could he see right through the brothers’ deception, but he also spoke well and true, and the church started to swell in numbers. A fund-raising campaign was started to build a new assembly.

All of a sudden, one of the brothers died. The remaining brother sought out the new pastor the day before the funeral and handed him a check for the amount needed to finish paying for the new building.

“I have only one condition,” he said. “At his funeral, you must say my brother was a saint.” The pastor gave his word and deposited the check.

The next day, at the funeral, the pastor did not hold back. “He was an evil man,” he said. “He cheated on his wife and abused his family.” After going on in this vein for a small time, he concluded with, “But, compared to his brother, he was a saint.”

Even in the ministry, it takes wisdom to make the best of a bad situation. The church draws the sincere and the dishonest. Someday, God will separate them, but for now, be always thinking.

Matthew 13:47-48

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 

Give it some thought.

Gary