Scattered Saturday
One success does not a career make: Scott Trattner is returning to Apple - don’t know who Scotty is - well, I didn’t either. He’s the ad exec who did the “Hello, I’m a Mac” commercials. Sometimes we think because someone did one thing well they do everything well. The other side is, if we can learn to do one thing very well then we will do well to do it well. Spring? It’ll come. In 8 weeks most will be wishing for cooler weather.
The easy thing may not be the right thing. Easier to just give money than to help someone be responsible. Easier to just do many jobs than to learn to involve others and develop their abilities.
March Madness - something, something, something. And something. Amazing. Harvard and Florida Gulf Coast, something.
Kentucky getting beat in the first round of the NIT is equal to Alabama losing to Utah in the Sugar Bowl in 2009. The difference is that college basketball, while fun, has reached a point where the elite seem to only be playing to get to the next level. I heard one report that said three of the guys of this UK team will be first round NBA picks. Crazy. The word “amateur” is from a Latan/French derivative meaning “lover of.” It is the opposite of “professional”, an amateur does what they do for the love of it, not for the money of it. We need more amateurs in our time. In the governments, in the school systems, and most especially in the Lord’s church.
No one ever promised this thing called ministry would be easy. In fact, didn't I read just the opposite somwhere? "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake" (Matthew 10:22).
These people I preach to each week. They are friends, they are family, they are people of faith and want to go to heaven just as I do. We are in this together.
BETTER is coming - learn more HERE.
It’s been an interesting week. For the most part I’ve been in our little town of Spring Hill. But Tuesday afternoon I headed to Jasper to speak for a benefit dinner for Indian Creek Youth Camp and tonight I’ll emcee one for Maywood Christian Camp. ICYC and MCC about an hour apart have long had a friendly and unspoken rivalry. Both are grand places where lives are changes. I was practically born at Maywood. I began my after dinner speech with this: “In 1966 my dad started Maywood Christian Camp, I directed a week of Maywood for about 15 years and the last 25 years I have been on it’s board. Isn’t this kind of like inviting Nick Sabin to speak at an Auburn pep-rally?” It was a fun night and they raised over $20,000 needed dollars for ICYC.
Do you evaluate? I do. I rarely preach a sermon that I don’t think “If I could do that again, I’d...” Or a program that I don’t think, next time we should. I think it about my life and about my future. This can either be healthy or unhealthy depending on if you are self-abusing or planning on making the next time better.
The Christian Booksellers Association has posted the best selling Bible translations for 2012:
- New Living Translation
- New International Version
- King James Version
- New King James Version
- English Standard Version
- Common English Bible
- Holman Christian Standard Bible
- New American Standard Bible
- Reina Valera 1960
- New International Readers Version
A couple of huge things stand out. One, the New Living Translation. This is the “great grandchild” of the much maligned Living Bible that was a poorly done paraphrase for a man’s young son. In ’96 the NLT came out and was much improved. While I don’t like it nearly as much as my “old” New King James, or the newer English Standard Version (ESV) one can learn to obey God completely through it. I’ve been doing my through the Bible reading this year with the NLT and it has it’s good moments.
I’m thinking of checking out of Facebook. It’s wearying. Some folks seem to think it’s the place to bring their personal drama, others seem to use it for passive-aggressive behavior. When I try to use it to promote something good some don’t like that. It is a way to see what others are doing and thinking but, I’m just weary of it.
What if in all of our learning we learned to see the good in others? What would that do to our little corner of the world?
The Bible - Melanie and I watched the first two: I loved it for the most part. But it was not easy to watch with an uncritical eye. I did not expect it to be perfect. In fact it was better than I anticipated. I understood the time lapses and things they left out. I didn’t expect it to be just a rendering of the text. There were a few bad, but expected problems. That homosexuality was never mentioned in conjunction with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was wrong but, again, not unexpected. I know that would have been a huge politically incorrect thing BUT was the goal to make a series accurate (as they claimed) or to be politically correct. Sarah’s ability to either teleport or her secret jet that took her in moments to Abraham and Isaac (or maybe Isaac was on the alter for days before old Abe decided to finally sacrifice him. Sometimes you can't do both. While the multiple windows on the ark might have been nice, I doubt it would have floated since God instructed Noah for there to be but one window. That said, I did like the way the narrative began with Noah recounting the story of creation. And loved the way the picture of Adam being created was depicted. I’ve decided the problem is that for them they are just telling a “story” but for believers they are retelling “THE STORY.” It pushes me to remember that what one believes about Inspiration is all-telling.
You are preaching tomorrow. Either from the pew or the pulpit - make your message one the Lord would delight in and that encourages people to want to go to heaven.
That’s what’s on my mind this Saturday morning. What about you?