Impact - Heroes to the Rescue
Our recent FCA Weekend of Champions was a time for area high school students to get together for a time of fun, fellowship, and growth. In the midst of the crazy games, icebreakers, and fun, God created a climate where students felt safe enough to be real and transparently bear their hearts and share their struggles. Here are a couple of the questions submitted on 3x5 cards:

How can I overcome temptation so enticing as pornography?

If a person commits suicide, do they go to heaven or hell? Is it a sin to think about committing suicide?

Heavy. But what a blessing to have several young adults who are solid in their Christian faith and knowledgeable about the scriptures avail themselves to the youth! Adults who love kids and love Jesus and poured themselves out as servants. The result? Healing and victory. To God be the glory!

Don't Skip the First Step!

Many quote the Bible verse James 4:7 Resist the devil and he will flee from you. However, that is step number two! The first part of that verse is step number one - Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Christ knows firsthand the power of temptation and He offered this to His disciples: Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. (Mark 14:38).
It is not our strength and willpower that will lead us to victory over temptation; It is our submission to God and relying on His strength and not our own. The key is not trying, it is dying.

There are few stronger indications of ingnorance of the
power and evil of sin than the confident assertion of our ability to resist and
subdue it - Charles Hedge.

New Year's Resolutions
“McCall’s magazine of January 1995 ran a short article on New Year’s resolutions entitled ‘Ten Little Health Resolutions (With Big Payoffs)’: Now health and exercise are important and should be appreciated, but what was interesting was a look at the top four resolutions we make according to a Gallup poll: (1) improve personal finances, (2) stop smoking, (3) lose weight, and (4) get more exercise. If our resolutions reflect our concerns and where we want to improve ourselves to have a sense of contentment, these preferences do not reflect high goals. Except perhaps for personal finances, neither family nor God makes any appearance. We tend to define contentment in a privatized way about how our personal lives are going. Since we set goals that have nothing to do with relationships, many of us find ourselves lonely and discontent, for God created us to relate to Him and others. One of the effects of a culture that elevates individual rights and personal focus as ours is that we lose sight of how we gain contentment by interacting with God and others. Where are the goals that relate to pursuing God or knowing Him better? Why do resolutions for the most part deal with external matters? Is the soul so unimportant? If exercise is valuable for physical well-being, should we starve our inner being? If contentment is based upon externals that slowly wither away, will we not set ourselves up for disappointment if we focus on such goals?” (Darrell Bock)

Obedience

"What Thou wilt, when Thou wilt, how Thou wilt." I had rather speak these three sentences from my heart in my mother tongue than be master of all the languages in Europe.... John Newton (1725-1807)


And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." - Jesus to God the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane befor his crucifixion (Mark 14:36)

"A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning."

- Former Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach, Chuck Noll

An athlete who hates training and practices and only enjoys games has far more bad days than good. An FCA staffer who only allows himself to to celebrate after a big, successful ministry event will find a couple of joyful days a year.

But if I can enjoy the process and not merely the destination, my life will be much more joy-filled. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that should be evident in the life of the Christ Follower. The root word of happiness is happen. My happiness depends on what happens. I win a game, I am happy. I lose a game, I am not happy. However, joy is a constant and is not dependent upon or subject to circumstances. Think of the Bible story of Paul and Silas. Beaten and thrown in jail for preaching the Gospel, they sang praises so loudly that all of the prisoners heard them! Were they happy? No! Were they joyful? Absolutely!

Those who need circumstances and other people (note that these are totally out of our control) to line up just right in order for their attitude to be positive - this person has handed the keys to his life over to others. Inclement weather can kick his tail! Another's actions, words, or even facial expression can effect their day.

I was created to bring glory to God. If that is my life's focus, any and every situation I encounter is a no lose scenario. God is glorified and the result in my life? Joy!

Imperfect, Acceptable Offerings
Have you ever withheld a kindness because you felt it wasn't enough? I spoke with a friend recently who has a college friend who is dying of cancer. My friend called his other teammates and encouraged them to call the friend. Many hesitated and stated, "I don't know what to say." My friend explained that calling was the important thing and imperfect words were better than none.
Have you ever hesitated giving something to the Lord because you felt it wasn't enough? If you have kids, you know how exciting to you their efforts are when done in an effort to please you. When you receive a messy crayon picture from a child who is excited to give you the gift as a blessing, what is your reaction? I am stoked and even more pumped up when the child is mine!
We must realize that God the perfect Father has the same feelings toward us when he sees our hearts are in a posture to please Him. He doesn't focus on how feeble our attempts or gifts. He who knows us best loves us most!

But sons who are more generously and candidly treated by their fathers do not hesitate to offer them incomplete and halfdone and even defective works, trusting that their obedience and readiness of mind will be accepted by their fathers, even though they have not quite achieved what their fathers intended. Such children ought we to be, firmly trusting that our services will be approved by our most merciful Father, however small, rude, and imperfect these may be.
... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion
[1559]

Tony Dungy Speaks on Pain

This is content from an email that is being passed around...Below is a very touching story about Tony Dungy, Coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and the essence of his purpose in life. It was most amusing to hear Coach Dungy's responses to the TV sports interviewer, when he was asked how great it was to be one of the first "African-American" head coaches to take his team to a Super Bowl? Head Coach "Tony Dungy" responded immediately with: "Yes that's good, but what is really great and awesome, is how God worked this out for us; it's just amazing how He made this all come together!" Thus, (as Paul Harvey would say after reading the following) "and now, you know the rest of the story."Dungy Makes Super Bowl Stop to Speak at Athletes in Action Breakfast DETROIT, Mich. - They were there for breakfast, and they were there to cheer New York Jets running back Curtis Martin. And it was Martin who received the Athletes in Action Bart Starr Award Saturday morning, but the hundreds who gathered in fourth-floor ballroom at the Marriott Renaissance in Detroit, Mich., on the morning before Super Bowl XL were clearly touched by the featured speaker. That speaker was Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy.Two hours into the breakfast, emcee Brent Jones introduced Dungy, who was welcomed with a lengthy standing ovation. Dungy thanked the crowd, shared an anecdote about Martin, then told the crowd he was going to speak for about 15 minutes. "It's great to be here," Dungy told the crowd, then adding with a laugh, "I just wish I wasn't here in this capacity so many times of being just that close to being in the game and just being an invited speaker. "My goal is to have our team here one day and have a couple of tables with all of our guys here. Because we have a special group of young men, a great group of Christian guys. It'd be wonderful to have them here so>you could see their hearts and what they're all about. "It hasn't quite happened yet, but we're still hoping one day it will."He told them he was going to talk about lessons he had learned from his three sons. The crowd fell silent. Then Dungy spoke. And although this was a breakfast - and although at many such events speakers speak over the clinking of glasses and murmurs from semi-interested listeners - for most of the 15 minutes the room was silent except for Dungy's voice. He spoke of his middle son, Eric, who he said shares his competitiveness and who is focused on sports "to where it's almost a problem." He spoke of his youngest son, Jordan, who has a rare congenital condition which causes him not to feel pain. "He feels things, but he doesn't get the sensation of pain," Dungy said. The lessons learned from Jordan, Tony Dungy said, are many. "That sounds like it's good at the beginning, but I promise you it's not," Dungy said."We've learned a lot about pain in the last five years we've had Jordan. We've learned some hurts are really necessary for kids. Pain is necessary for kids to find out the difference between what's good and what's harmful." Jordan, Dungy said, loves cookies. "Cookies are good," Dungy said, "but in Jordan's mind, if they're good>out on the plate, they're even better in the oven. He will go right in the oven when my wife's not looking, reach in, take the rack out, take the pan out, burn his hands and eat the cookies and burn his tongue and never feel it. He doesn't know that's bad for him." Jordan, Dungy said, "has no fear of anything, so we constantly have to watch him."The lesson learned, Dungy said, is simple. "You get the question all the time, 'Why does the Lord allow pain in your life? Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is a God of love, why does he allow these hurtful things to happen?'' Dungy said. "We've learned that a lot of times because of that pain, that little, temporary pain, you learn what's harmful. You learn to fear the right things. "Pain sometimes lets us know we have a condition that needs to be>healed. Pain inside sometimes lets us know that spiritually we're not quite right and we need to be healed and that God will send that healing agent right to the spot. "Sometimes, pain is the only way that will turn us as kids back to the Father."Finally, he spoke of James. James Dungy, Tony Dungy's oldest son, died three days before Christmas. As he did while delivering James' eulogy in December, Dungy on Saturday spoke of him eloquently and steadily, speaking of lessons learned and of the positives taken from experience. "It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as painful as it was, there were some good things that came out of it," Dungy said. Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging James the last time he saw him, on Thanksgiving of last year. "I met a guy the next day after the funeral," Dungy said. "He said, 'I was there. I heard you talking. I took off work today. I called my son. I told him I was taking him to the movies. We're going to spend some time and go to dinner.' That was a real,>real blessing to me."Dungy said he has gotten many letters since James' death relaying similar messages."People heard what I said and said, 'Hey, you brought me a little closer to my son,' or, 'You brought me a little closer to my daughter,''' Dungy said. "That is a tremendous blessing." Dungy also said some of James' organs were donated through donors programs. "We got a letter back two weeks ago that two people had received his corneas, and now they can see,'' Dungy said. "That's been a tremendous blessing."Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl from the family's church in Tampa. She had known James for many years, Dungy said. She went to the funeral because she knew James. "When I saw what happened at funeral, and your family and the celebration and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there had to be a God," Dungy said the girl wrote. "I accepted Christ into my life and my life's been different since that day." Added Dungy, "That was an awesome blessing, so all of those things kind of made me realize what God's love is all about."Dungy also said he was asked often how he was able to return to the Colts so quickly after James' death. James died on December 22, and>Dungy returned to the team one week later. Dungy said the answer wassimple. "People asked me, 'How did you recover so quickly?"'' Dungy said. "I'm>not totally recovered. I don't know that I ever will be. It's still very, very painful, but I was able to come back because of something one of my good Christian friends said to me after the funeral. "He said, 'You know James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know he's in heaven, right?' I said, 'Right, I know that.' He said, 'So, with all you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back now, would you?' When I thought about it, I said, 'No, I wouldn't. I would not want him back with what I know about heaven.' "That's what helped me through the grieving process. Because of Christ's spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there, at peace with the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that's very, very painful. "That's my prayer today, that everyone in this room would know the same thing."

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding - Proverbs 9:10

Unless one has acknowledged the LORD, one has not even begun in the pursuit of wisdom, for fear of the Lord is the starting point. We have all met folks who are worldly smart and those who are highly educated and esteemed as "brilliant" - only to show their lack of wisdom in failing to give proper reverence to God. In their endeavors to become wise, they prove their ignorance. Look at how Phillips describes it:

To me there is a much more frightening ignorance in our modern world than the ignorance of the heathen." I am referring to the almost total ignorance of the content and implication of the Christian Faith shown by many "clever" people today. Frankly, I find it horrifying to discover that men who are experts in their own line--in astronomy, genetics, or nuclear physics, for example--have no adult knowledge of what the Church of Christ stands for, and a complete blank ignorance of what the Church is achieving today. It is the more horrifying because people who rightly respect the expert for his knowledge in his own field have no idea that he has not carefully examined and reluctantly discarded Christianity; but in all probability he has never studied it at all!

J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), The Church Under the Cross [1956]