Get In The Game!

I heard a coach the other day talking to his new team. No, it wasn’t the European Soccer League. It was a great young father, coaching a group of eleven year olds. You could tell by looking at them that some were all there and some were not.
There was the little girl, standing shuffling her feet with head down and mom and dad twenty feet away encouraging her to “step up.” The over zealous wired boy with long brown hair, trying to tell the coach how it should be done. In between were a diverse group of nondescript kids who were there for one of two reasons. One group was there to play the game. They showed excitement and enthusiasm all rolled up in one. Just waiting for the preliminaries to be over so they could get out there and “DO IT!!!” Then there was the second group. You could tell they were almost listening to everything they were told. Nodding their heads yes to yes questions and nodding no to no questions and looking at each other to make sure they were nodding in the right directions. They too were waiting to get out there and “Do it!” They wanted to play the game but to have fun at it. When the whistle blew, each one of those children did what was predictable according to their own personal commitment to the game.
The parents sat, stood, cheered, or just talked and watched. We will call them the almost coach. They were just like their children, or almost. Some parents had more to offer to the game then the kids. To them it was more then a game. It was win at any cost. Because I am a people person, I watched the kids for two or three minutes and spent the rest of the time watching the parents.
It doesn’t take much to see who is here for the game and who is here for the kids. But then again, it doesn’t take much to look at the people in the pew and know where they are in their Christian life, either as a participant or a parent. A long time ago a man once talked about the visible church and the invisible church. One is there to be part of what’s happening. You see their heart is involved with what’s happening and what’s going down. It’s their church and they have lots of enthusiasm. Then there is the invisible church. These are the people who reside within the visible church. But they have more, They are there for Jesus. One belongs to an organization and the other belongs to the Lord. One you see, one you don’t. Or do you?
In a day and an age where the visible church that we see all around us is suffering, I wonder how the true Christ’s followers are doing? It comes down to you. Are we part of the game or is the game all about Jesus?
Something to think about.
Rob

The year was probably 1953. As I remember it, all my siblings were in school that day. Even my older brother had graduated from home to school and kindergarten. It was just mom and I. Well, for most of the day that is. It was a warm late spring afternoon. Summer was coming and we just had to look out the door to see the green grass and leaves on the tree. The world to this young life was filled with wonder and adventure just like every four-year-old would see at any time and so many other places. It was great to be alive and have all the toys to myself that afternoon.
And just as if it was yesterday, I remember my grandfather coming over to talk to his daughter, my mom. Now a child of four doesn’t hear what adults are saying when such an exciting event is happening all around them. Grandpa was here and, and, and I would get to talk to him.
This last week in church I shared with the people what I started with. That children see everything as a new experience. They have never been here before and life throws at us wonderful times and places. There were aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbours, grandparents, even friends of your parents, and places!
On that day I can only remember a brief moment of my young impressionable age. Back then, we lived in an age when two things reigned supreme in family life. You know what they were but I will put it down for younger readers who were never there. Children were to be seen and . . . you got it, and not heard. The second, children were not to speak until they are spoken to.
As I sat there waiting to talk to him, I looked up into his eyes, looked at his face and waited, and waited taking in all the characteristics of his face. I remember looking at the glasses, moustache, wrinkles, a smile, and shiny large forehead. All the time he was taking I remember his hand on me and me holding his hand. Almost ready to burst, holding myself back, I waited, and then, he faced me and smiled.
How much more are we awaiting the moment when we look into the face of Jesus just like the little children whom He called saying, “Suffer the little children to come unto me . . . ” That moment, when in the twinkling of an eye, we are transformed from this world to the next and we get to see his face. And to hear His voice call us by name saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant, come into your rest.” Will you see His face, hear His voice? Give your heart to Him today and that day will come.
Something to think about
Rob

Father's Day 2009

My bible says a lot about it. In fact the word is used more than twelve hundred times. It is used to refer to a certain person but also to a certain way of living. It is used negatively but more often then not, in a positive way. It’s about a person each of us have. Someone at church yesterday invited everyone to church next Sunday morning for breakfast but only the people who have or have had one need attend.
You’re right, and the word is Father. For those who almost forgot, Sunday is Father’s Day. It’s a good day for most but an emotional day for others. Not all males have been good fathers. I believe that is why God decided that He should be thought of as a Father. He is the father of all fathers. An example if you will, of what a father should be doing, of what to live up to.
We live in a sinful, perverse world and even now our idea and concept of so many things are going through change. When I was a kid, dad went off to work in the morning, did macho things all day and came home tired. He sat down with us for dinner that mom made and proceeded to the livingroom to read the evening Spec while listening to the evening news on CHML am radio. The only thing that changed back then was, a tv replaced the radio in about 1956. We saw dad for about three hours a day until bed time. And we saw him when discipline was to be administered. . .
A number of years ago things changed. Men had to reach out and take hold of their feminine side, whatever that meant. I think it meant you were supposed to learn how to share your feelings and cry once in a while over spilled milk, or something to that effect. More men went to office work and left the “manly” work of steel worker or carpenter or some such job. It was a world that changed. Or did it?
Today we live in a world that is so far removed from those days of our youth. I have been told that few families sit down for supper together. And if they do, they sit on the couch with dinner on their lap, listening to mindless chatter on tv. No more talking and telling each other about the day. And fathers? Just another person in the house to do the jobs no one else wants to or can do. “Dad, can you drive me . . . Dad, can your fix my . . . Hey Dad, can I borrow”. ..
You know, and have the T-shirt to prove it. Mine reads, “Mr. Fix-it, Known also as Grandpa”.
I am so glad God my Father as described in my bible as the same yesterday, today and forever. He is there to talk to, to share with and to give me a hand when things in life are too big for little me.
Happy Father’s Day men. Have a great day and thank your wife and children for giving you opportunity to be the father God intended you to be.
Something to think about
Rob

Going Home

Ever wonder if things will be the same when you come back? Just arrived home from vacation. Everything in the house is fine. Same kitchen, same office, same driveway. It was a great time away. Saw things, did stuff and met many new people. Even talked to the staff on the ship to hear their story. These people go away to work for months at a time. Two in particular stand out. One was a fellow who has been away from his wife and children for nine months. He has been doing this for eight years and hopes to only do it for two more.
The other was just a young man who goes home next Sunday for the first time in eleven months. We kidded him about everyone moving away. We laughed but . . . we knew he was missing home. After all, don’t we miss home when we are away? For both these men, they have given up much to be somewhere where they can make a living. They come from countries where a month’s salary is less then we earn in a week. Coming from places where dreams are dashed against the reality of life and providing for a family. The husband said something significant, and I will never forget. After all these years and seeing or many places in this world, there is only one home. We asked if, now that he has experienced life here, would he prefer bringing his family to live in North America with all it has. Without hesitation he told us that he loves his wife, and children, but he also loves his country and his home. He is going home for only one or two months in thirty days. And then he leaves again for another ten months.
Our heart went out to these people, so far from family and home. In a week or two, after a vacation we go home. The words of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, are true for all of us, “There’s no place like home.” My bible tells me we are away from home right now as well. It tells me we are on a journey in this world waiting for that moment when we go home to be with Our Father. If our home feels so good today in this world, how much more will out a heavenly home feel like when we get there?
“What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see.
When I look upon that face, the one who saved me by his grace.
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be”.
Something to think about
Rob