Friday, November 30, 2007

You can DO IT!

A few weeks ago my boss came in to my office and said, "Hey type in this website on the internet, BODYALIVE.com." I asked if he was trying to get me fired and he said just do it. He was serious. So I typed in the address and Tony Little, the exercise infomercial guy that sells the Gazelle with long hair, baseball cap and who obviously works out all of the time, pops up on my screen and says, "You can DO IT!" My boss had directed me to a website advertising a new network marketing scheme similar to AmWay or some other name he said where you sign up to the program, agree to spend a specified amount of money each month and then try to sign up more people. Other than his wife, I was my bosses first real attempt at signing someone up. Obviously I was hesitant, but I really didn't know what to say. He said if you get in early you can make tons of money and still only spend $50 a month on fitness/exercise/nutrition stuff. He described it as joining onto to a leg of people. The closer you are to the leg and the more people you get to add on the more money you make. So I would sign up ten people and each of those people would sign up ten people and so on and so forth. I really did not know what to say and for that I am saddened.

First of all I knew that if I tried to go home and explain to my wife that I wanted to spend $50 a month on fitness literature, equipment and supplements; she would suggest that I take it out of whatever I had left from the child support and alimony payments that I would start making in the coming weeks (not really, that would just be a joke with a stern face). My wife can sniff out an ill-conceived plan better than anyone I know. If she says, "I don't think that sounds like a good idea," she is right 95% of the time. I suppose she has honed her skills from living with me for so many years.

Second of all, the plan sounded strangely familiar to something else. Oh right, spreading the Good News and winning souls for the Lord. How could I forget? What I should have said to my boss was "You know rather than spend $50 a month on exercise equipment that would go to waste, I could give it away to my church or to charity or to random people who need a little lift. And instead of trying to gather in "$50 Believers" who could earn $100,000 a year, I should be gathering in Eternal Believers who can know and accept the love of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and have eternal life.

As usual, I felt pretty bad for not speaking up. I have been learning that it is my responsibility to be a disciple for the Lord and that I should live my life for the Glory of God in all that I do.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - 11:1 (NIV) says:
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God - even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

If you have a chance and are willing, please say a prayer for me so that I can be courageous and lead my life for the glory of God.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

A Psalm of Me

It wasn't until the last few months that I have come to better appreciate the Book of Psalms and the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. For most of my life, Psalms was the strange really long book of the Bible that was the location of the ever so popular 23rd Psalm. I remember as a small child in Children's Church having to memorize Psalms 23. I got a neat little wooden wall hanging with a painted sheep on it and the words, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

Beyond that Psalms was just a bunch of really short chapters that I guess were once sung by David with a harp. And Proverbs, the times I remember hearing something from Proverbs, someone was trying to make THEIR point with a bit of wisdom from Solomon as their crutch. Proverbs to me as a child was the location of every little bit of common sense that you alway heard your parents saying. "Better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Don't run with scissors. Wait 30 minutes after eating before swimming." Obviously those things are not written in Proverbs, but to the random reader of the Bible (or at least me) that was the content of the Book. I actually attended a sunday school class that was using a book about Proverbs for its lesson book for a few months. The author of the book was trying to convince others that by conducting yourself in the ways described in Proverbs, you could be very successful. I think the word "GOD" was mentioned maybe 5-10 times in the whole book. That's sad.

So why this talk of Psalms and Proverbs. Well, this past year I have started reading the Bible on a two-year plan. It is a really cool Bible with daily devotionals by Max Lucado and several other religious authors. For the first time, I have actually stuck to reading the Bible without straying too far off of the path. Well, I am almost halfway done and Psalms and Proverbs are about halfway through the Bible. By reading each Psalm carefully and then reading a brief commentary on the reading, I began to understand that the Psalms could have been written by someone like you or me. Many of the Psalms seem to be confessions of a person who is scared of what is about to happen to them in their life. I personally am not to concerned about being slayed by a Giant, but I think you get the picture. Psalms are about telling God how great He is, and yes I believe you could probably sing along with some of them. I definitely have a better appreciation for this book.

As I was reading, my devotional for that day said that I should write a Psalm about myself. So here goes:

A Psalm of John (Johnny) - Sung to the tune of Finlandia (just kidding)

You brought me into this world,
into open loving arms.
You raised me up under your wings,
though my eyes were not yet opened.
I stumbled aimlessly for many years,
yet you watched over me and kept me on the path.
You blessed me with an earthly guide and companion
with whom I could walk and love and be loved.
You blessed me with a loving church
and softened my heart.
You blessed me with a child
and opened my eyes as a father.
You blessed me with another child
and opened my heart as a loving father.
You continue to bless me and my family.
You are so good to me.
GOD is Good!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

But first a moment from our sponsor

Acts 4:18 (KJV)
And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

It really is amazing how we are often so concerned about how our words will impact others. It has become the norm to suppress your true emotions and beliefs in order to avoid making someone feel uncomfortable. I suppose as a somewhat timid person this has not been a real issue for me in my life. However, as I grow in my Christian faith and move along on my walk with God, I am beginning to wonder if a brief period of awkwardness or making someone feel uncomfortable is a small price to pay for the reward of knowing the love of the Lord.

I enjoy watching TV. Life is a lot like a TV program, both get their support and beginnings from your sponsors. Quite often a TV program begins with a brief reminder of how it came to be that the producers of your TV program could afford to put together 60 minutes of riveting contests of real life contestants battling each other to win the title of survivor, biggest loser, amazing racers?? and of course a nominal cash prize. But throughout the programs that we enjoy so much, we must pay homage to the sponsors throughout the time slot or break to go to the fridge/bathroom. We are constantly reminded how the program was made possible.

Life is so similar. Our parents in most cases do most of our sponsoring. I know that in my case, not much would have been possible for me, without the support of my sponsors. But for me, it goes much deeper. My life, our country, this world, would be nonexistent without the sponsor of our Lord. I feel that I have reached a point where I must make it known who my sponsor is in this world. I am still working on a way that will grab someone's attention and not have them trotting off to the bathroom as soon as I begin. But I have to imagine that by possibly risking an awkward or uncomfortable moment, I will be enlightening someone about the greatest love that was ever known.

Acts 4:29-31 (KJV)
And now, Lord behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of the holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.