My Bicycle Riding Hero

I listened in semi-disbelief when I was told, “Jeff rode the bike to Elkhart. And back.”

“The Bike” is a $2.00 garage sale model. A forty-five year-old, overweight clunker.

And Jeff? He’s definitely not the athletic type. But facing near zero-odds of completing the seventy-mile circuit; he did it.

I’m amazed! Jeff’s my bike riding hero.

With a pressing business matter to take care of in Elkhart, Jeff took off. Kind of reminds me of some of my other heroes: the Disciples of Jesus. With Jesus, they had kingdom business to attend to.

So they took off.

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee He saw Peter and his brother Andrew. Fishermen; they were casting a net into the lake. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately these two left their fishing to follow Jesus.

Going on from there, Jesus saw two other brothers. Jesus called to them. Same response. Immediately they left what they were doing to follow Jesus.

Now Jeff could have waited; maybe convinced someone to drive him later. Waited for a better bike. Waited to get in physical shape.

So many great things are never accomplished simply because: “I’m waiting until I ________________” You fill in the blank.

Now heroes get going quickly; applying the element of faith in the unseen and the unaccomplished. Active, steady, patient faith. One peddle stroke and then another. It’s not about speed, rather peddle stroke after peddle stroke.

The Bible describes the disciples as pursuing God’s work with “steadfast perseverance” and “continuing daily.”

What do you need to do today? Start. Continue.

What project is God prompting you to accomplish? Start. Continue.

Imitate the disciples. And imitate Jeff’s method: “I go slow uphill, coast downhill, and stop for ice-cream.”

I’m a Bum

“Oh, so you’re a bum,” the salesman said.

I was shopping for a commercial refrigerator for our church. This salesman, who I contacted via phone, asked some questions; then shifted to inquiring about my occupation.

Wrapping up my explanation, I said: “My activities revolve around ministry.”

I don’t know what triggered his you’re-a-bum conclusion, as the conversation ended rather quickly. As did the chance of him making a sale.

Now he hadn’t angered me in the slightest. I merely discounted the salesman as being rude. And totally wrong.

I thought: “I’m not a bum; I’m serving God.”

And then one day, I concluded: “I am a bum.”

Psalm 103:14-15 says: “For God knows how we are formed. He earnestly remembers and imprints on His heart that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone…”

One of the definitions of bum is “worthless.” Can you think of many things more worthless than dust? We are dust. It blows away; we are gone.

Kind of bursts our self-esteem bubble. So I simply concluded: “I’m a bum.” Worth-less compared to God.

A repeated theme in Psalm 103 is: “Those who fear Him (God).” And here “fear” might be better thought of as: awe, amazement, reverence, a holy fear, a clear recognition of how great and mighty God is compared to our tiny, insignificant existence. Thus our dust-like standing before God.

A clear grasp of the vast difference between God’s unfathomable magnitude and our mere humanity needs to be renewed often—preferably daily. One of the greatest men to ever live, John the Baptist, fully understood this.

Let his words regarding Jesus, be our words to live by: “He must become greater; I must become less.”

The Good Temptation?

“I’m tempted,” George thought while staring at the internet-connected computer screen. Then he repeated quietly to himself, “I’m tempted.”

He wasn’t being lured by pornography, gambling, etc. George is a commodity trader. From his home office, he’s jockeying for position in the world futures market. He was tempted to ride the market a couple more upticks to achieve a higher profit for the day.

Now George is an oddity among traders, because he believes God has given him a very detailed cocoa-futures trading system.

His temptation? To tweak God’s system that day. The money seemed to be right there. And his family sure could use it to bridge their present financial challenges. But George knew what to do. He wrapped up for the day, shut-off the computer, and did his daily Bible study.

Here’s what George has learned:

1. Temptation is not from God. Immediately recognize the source of: “I’m being tempted.” Matthew 4:1 says: “Then Jesus was…tempted by the devil.” Then three verses later the devil is simply called, “The tempter.” And he made his first Biblical appearance as Eve’s tempter.

2. The Bible tells us: “No temptation has seized us except what is common to man.” There is nothing new coming from “the tempter.” Essentially all temptations are an enticement to be disobedient to God. Same for Eve. Or George. Or Jesus. Or you.

3. As the Bible says, “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” Temptation will always be part of the human experience. But God has promised us freedom from its grips.

4. Scriptures tells us: “He (God) will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it,” Then the next words offer God’s best anti-temptation plan: “Therefore, my dear friend flee…” Flee from temptation!

The Atheist Who Despised Me

His words caught me off guard: “...I have no stake in this argument, because I’m atheist.” The “argument” referenced his disagreement with an article I wrote. A spiritual conversation with my friend Nancy was the central theme.

Eternal destinies were discussed; Heaven, Hell, who’s going where was looked at in the light of the Bible.

The atheist concluded that I had judged my friend as unfit for Heaven. He clearly knew Scripture’s warning: “Judge not.” All religions with a “do unto others as you would have them do unto you theme” were praised. The book of Job was referenced as he concluded his disagreements with me.

I carefully scrutinized my words regarding Nancy. Concluding I believe her to be hell-bound would be difficult. Bottom line: this is between her and God.

For me spiritual conversations with Nancy or anyone else are a great way to get to know a person—to deepen friendships as life-beliefs are shared.

Yes, I am a follower of Jesus. I believe the Bible. And yes this offends some people. Jesus himself was referred to as, “A Rock of Offence.” Jesus and His Gospel.

An atheist by definition is someone who denies the existence of God. Concepts of Heaven, Hell and eternal judgment are not life-truths. Followers of Jesus can seem offensive.

I know, because eleven years ago all this judging and hell-condemning talk was confusing and offensive to me. Until these Scriptures became real: “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already…This is the verdict—the Light (Jesus) has come into the world.”

We all follow some light. Choose Jesus, the True Light.

The Good Revival

I still have vague memories of the time Forrest took me to a revival meeting twenty years ago. Even though I had left “un-revived.” And unsaved.

We drifted apart. Then one day I spotted him at the local park while jogging.

I set in my mind: “I’m going to have a God-talk with Forrest,” as I approached him. Our conversation eventually turned to that long-ago revival. Forrest didn’t remember, adding: “I was going to a different church every week.”

He started describing the churches he had attended, mainly focusing on why he left. They all had problems. So Forrest quit attending church altogether. Saying: “I just watch it on T.V.” But dissatisfaction was obvious when he started emphasizing the pitfalls of the T.V. preachers.

Now he made some valid observations. Yet he agreed, all the churches and the T.V. preachers who he was targeting were undoubtedly Christians.

So I suggested a different tack to Forrest.

The Bible says: “Finally brothers; whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Every church, every Christian, every T.V. preacher, me, and Forrest fall short of fully honoring God. We just plain fail at doing what is right.

I told Forrest to quit focusing on all the junk. Focus on the good stuff, the God stuff.

Soon our conversation took a distinct shift. We talked about God’s mercy, faith, our eternal hope. Forrest quoted some Bible verses. I added a couple. We talked about Jesus. And our moods spiked upward. By simply refocusing and emphasizing the: “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy,” we felt revived.

Forrest said, “I’m glad I ran into you.” My feelings were absolutely mutual. It was a good revival.