Perspective

There is an obsession with being the "best" at something. People will look all over the place to find that one area where they can be the best. Athletes will look for it in a sport. Am I big, little, fast, slow? Whatever I am, what will I fit into best? For those that realized they weren't all that good at sports, something else might tickle their fancy. Maybe they enjoy being involved in the dramatic arts, or perhaps the work well with their hands in an artistic fashion. Still others may play an instrument well or sing well. Others make like the idea of politics, so a debate club is just right for them. It seems like elementary through high school is set on finding what a child's niche is so that they can say that they are at least good at one thing. Maybe you can cook, or build, or teach? So many possibilities. Those who find something that they are really good at usually find a deep satisfaction, a positive contribution to society, and joy.
And then there is the rest of us... You know what I'm talking about. I have played many different sports. I played basketball, but quickly found that I wasn't all that great so I moved on. I tried wrestling and found I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. I threw discus and quickly learned that my body was not designed to throw such a thing. I played football and discovered I was ok, but very much undersized. I have run a marathon and several half-marathons and I found out that I'm slow. I have played softball and discovered I'm not very good. I tried swimming and was sorely disappointed. I play disc golf and am no where near what others are able to do. Ok... so sports is just not my thing. I enjoy playing and it is much fun, but I'm just not good at it.
Ok, so sports is out, how about working with my hands! Well, I have hung dry wall, put on rooftops, worked with electric, plumbing, and concrete. My work is amateur and not very good. I can put up tents, however to be honest a trained monkey could put up a tent.
Ok, so no sports, and no working with my hands. Don't get me wrong, I love to do both, but I'm just not good at it.
Perhaps, I could be artistic... My pictures aren't very good. My pottery isn't good. My culinary skills are lacking. I am a sub par musician. Ohhhh, I could do poetry... nope that didn't work out so well.
Maybe I am more gifted when I use my mouth. I could teach... except all those blank stares are looking back at me. I could preach... except, well I can do it, but I'm definitely not the best. I could write, but unfortunately only about three people read this blog, so that is probably not a good sign. Maybe I could counsel people, unfortunately I'm success rate isn't very good.
You may be thinking to yourself, that sounds a whole lot like me. You may not be the best at sports, working with the hands, artistic, using your mouth, and probably a whole lot of other things. That is a good thing, because only a select few can be the best at something. What we need are people who are willing to serve in whatever area. I'm not the best cook, but perhaps I can make something for someone who is feeling a little down. I'm not the best athlete, but maybe I can bond with some of my acquaintances by playing. I'm not a great musician, but maybe the song I sing will speak to someone's heart. I'm not the best preacher, but maybe God can use my mouth to speak what he desires.
I always struggle with not being very good at much of anything, but what I do have down is finding ways to serve others in my limited capacity. That is what God desires from each of us. You may feel discouraged because you just aren't all that good at things. Don't get down, because then you miss stepping into a position with all your flaws and serving another human being. Keep up the good work at imperfection, because Christ can be made perfect through it!

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A Blessing

I read this article and it touched me, so here you go...

This column appears in the Aug. 24 issue of ESPN The Magazine.


By Rick Reilly
Courtesy New York Yankees
Burnett stayed into the early-morning hours to pitch Wiffle balls to campers.

The team facing Yankees ace A.J. Burnett a few weeks back at Yankee Stadium has to go down as the oddest in baseball history.



For one thing, it plays only at night. The players have no choice. Even one minute of sunshine can kill them.



They're from Camp Sundown, in Craryville, N.Y., and they live life on the other side of the sun. All of them have the rare disease known as XP -- xeroderma pigmentosum. If kids with XP catch the slightest UV ray, they can and do develop cancerous tumors. Even fluorescent lights fry their skin like boiling oil. Most of them don't live to be 20.



So how could they take the field at Yankee Stadium? Because this was 3 a.m. Superstar right-handers should be tucked into bed by then, yet there was Burnett, throwing Wiffle-ball splitters and chasing down line drives.



There is no cure for XP. If you're born with it, you're one in a million. There are only 250 known cases in the U.S. Until Camp Sundown was founded 14 years ago by Caren and Dan Mahar, whose daughter Katie has the disease, few of these kids had met anyone else with XP. For most of them, Yankee Stadium was the first MLB ballpark they'd ever seen -- and probably it will be the last.



Getting here wasn't easy.



To make the seven-foot trip from the front door of Camp Sundown to the curtained bus with double-tinted windows that took them to Yankee Stadium, all the XPers had to wear hats, tinted eye shields, vats of sunblock, turtlenecks, long-sleeve shirts, long pants and gloves. Even with all that, they ran.



Because they couldn't leave until the sun was almost down, and because it was a three-hour drive, they knew they'd be able to see only the last couple of innings of the game. But then it rained, causing a more-than-two-hour rain delay. While the rest of the crowd cursed, the campers rejoiced. How lucky can you get? The bus arrived just before the first pitch. "It was almost like the game was waiting for them to show up," Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. "That kind of gave us goosebumps."



To get the kids out of the bus and into their VIP suite for the game, Yankees media-relations director Jason Zillo -- the man who dreamed up the whole night -- had to take them on a rat's route of back staircases and tunnels to avoid any fluorescent lights. After the Yankees beat the A's 6-3, the stadium lights had to be dimmed to 30 percent. Once they were, all the kids came running onto the field with smiles that could've lit up the Bronx.



"It's cool to be part of this," said Burnett, whom Zillo forced to leave at 3:15. "And it's kind of mind-boggling. I can't imagine if I couldn't take my children outside."



Eleven ghostly-pale XP campers took the field, including Yuxnier Beguebara, who is coming up on 71 operations, and Kevin Swinney, who has had over 200, and the rest of them, grinning through faces operated on so many times they seem to be covered in plastic. Feel sorry for them if you want, but they have one thing most kids will never have: For one night, the Yankees' field was theirs.



Courtesy New York Yankees
Cashman and Aceves play a little Police for the campers.

They high-fived Derek Jeter, ran madly around the bases and wallowed in the instant carnival the Yankees had set up -- from the magician to the bouncy castle to reliever Alfredo Aceves strolling the yard, strumming his guitar while Cashman sang the Police's "Message in a Bottle." For one night, at least, these kids found out they are not alone in being alone.



Not that they don't play baseball at Camp Sundown. They do -- at midnight, to the accompaniment of owls and bullfrogs -- against the local fire department. "We're pathetic," says Caren Mahar. "But we always play."



By 3:30, it was time to go, and there was no time to waste. They had to make it back to Camp Sundown before sunup. Welcome to life lived like a vampire.



On board the bus, Katie Mahar, 17, was whipped. Her hearing is down to 50 percent, and her vision is going fast, and her words are starting to lack vowels. But anybody could understand her as she kept saying, "That was a blast! What a blast!"



And I keep thinking of my friend Jason Zillo and the 14 years it took him to make this night happen.



"I saw one little girl," he said afterward, exhausted. "When the centerfield wall opened and the whole carnival started coming out -- she just started jumping up and down, over and over. She wouldn't stop, she was so excited. People wanted to thank me. But that's all I needed."



And you thought the warmest light came only from above.




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Victim

Did you know the word "victim" is not in the Bible anywhere? No Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek word that fits the same qualification as the English word for "victim". The ancient Hebrews were keenly aware and preached that God is sovereign and has complete control over all that takes place. Thus, when bad things happen, ultimately God was at work in it some way. Oh sure, there are definitely evil forces that come against us and free will makes things messy, but amazingly God is still in supreme control over all this.
The Old Testament very much emphasized God's sovereignty, while the New Testament very much emphasized His goodness. Most would look at God's goodness and his complete control and point to a problem. How can a good God allow bad things to happen? The tension that this creates bothers many and should, until we simply accept that God is completely good and completely in control and His ways are simply greater than my ways.
Having said all of this, we go back to the word "victim". Many people use it and characterize their entire lives around being the victim. Nobody is denying that evil things happen, but when one chooses to live a life of the victim, then one misses out on quite a bit. The Hebrews never used the term victim, because ultimately one can always trace back the victimization to God. A man beats up his son on a regular basis. However, the man was beaten up by his father and knows no better and the same can be said of the father before that. Thus, when you get right back to it, God is the one victimizing because he created us all. On several occasions, the Hebrews cried out to God for what took place. And on each of those occasions God revealed himself enough to help the person step out of the place of victimization and into one who walks with God.
We blame everything on everyone else and truly fail to take responsibility for our actions. I was born with the propensity to be angry and lust. Does that give me licence to hurt another human being or commit adultery, absolutely not? Rather, the buck stops here, because God's spirit is in control of my life. Until people begin to pick up the pieces of brokenness regardless of whether that brokenness was forced upon them or chosen, they cannot completely fulfill God's calling on their lives.

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Flooded

And so my day has consisted of catching a significant leak in the basement of the church building. About 7 inches from the floor the wall was urinating onto the floor. Bucket after bucket after bucket was used to catch the water. The shop vac on continually. At its worse, the bucket had to be emptied every 3 minutes or it would overflow. The bucket was emptied into a large trashcan and then emptied into a drain just outside the door. Back and forth, back and forth. Through it all I attempted to find meaning in what I was doing. It wasn't backbreaking and it was necessary, but mostly it was just annoying.
Just three days ago, we had hundreds line up outside the church to collect school supplies. In total we served 373 children. It was alot of work getting to it and we could tell the need was great. I truly felt so blessed and privileged and happy to be a part of it. I wanted to shout from the rooftops because for one day the needs of the people were met and we had connected people with Christ. It was awesome and I am already excited for next year. And yet, here I am staring at a wall with water running through it, threatening to ruin the carpet and classroom supplies.
And here's why all of this is significant...God deserves our love and respect regardless of the circumstance. Whether we are underwater or on top of it, we must do this. And why must we do this? Because if we fail to do this, then we fail to come anywhere close to emulating Christ. Next time you want to toss in the towel on things or only live for great moments, understand that God desperately wants a relationship with you regardless of what is going on.

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Set Apart

The term "sanctification" at its most basic of level means to set apart. This time last week I was set apart at a youth camp in Southern Indiana. I had no radio to listen to, no television, no computer, no people around me who make inappropriate comments or curse, no temptation to spend too much money because I had no money with me, no temptation to be lazy because things simply needed to get done, no lack of God-inspired instruction, no lack of fun, and no major obligations that caused stress. Oh my, was it good to be set apart! However, I am home again and all those things that set me apart for a week are back.
So here is my challenge today for me and for you. Become simpler! Get rid of the television, shut off the computer, avoid those conversations which bring you down, bring your focus onto Christ and be filled with his Spirit rather than on the things of this world. I am not advocating you become Amish or anything, but maybe we have such a tough time breaking through to God because so many other things are influencing us because we have allowed it. Get away from the monotony of daily life and get excited about Kingdom living!

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Defining Success

For most people, it is very easy to define success for themselves. Success is when they have met their expectations or possibly exceeded those expectations. Even people who set lofty goals and don't meet them who still be looked at as successful by others. We determine how successful a business is by its profit margin and public perception. We determine success in the family by looking at those who have become upstanding citizens and contribute in a positive way to society. Recently, we also determine success in the Church by how big the buildings are and how many attend on Sundays. And yet, if we are honest success in the kingdom is not necessarily measured this way.
Don't think that I am a "big church" basher. Not at all! I have a great appreciation for what they are doing and marvel at how God blesses them. I have long learned that I don't think I am geared like these church leaders. God's measure of success is much, much different. Based on Jesus' time on earth, he would have been a flop compared to today's standards. He had a congregation of only 12 close followers. Out of those, several of them argued who was the best. One of them stole money out of the treasury and handed Jesus over to crucifixion. Every single one of them, save one, abandoned him in his time of need. And yet, so many have been transformed by the words of Jesus and what he did. I look at Jesus and I see what made him successful and these are what I saw...
1. Jesus built close relationships with his disciples who in turn gained disciples and it spread. Thus, relationship is a form of success.
2. The power of God was present in Jesus and he performed many signs and wonders. Thus, success is when the power of God saves the lost, heals the sick, and sanctifies the sinner.
3. Jesus did not bow to the pressures in the religious world. Ouch, this is a tough one. Many friends who are in various churches I view as not "getting it", but am I willing to go against the grain to do what is right, not what is popular?
4. Jesus had such a great relationship with the Father. Do our churches have just as good a relationship?

Be careful how you judge success, you may find it and then learn that you were successful in the wrong set of eyes.

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Community

What does it mean to be part of community? What does it mean to look like a community that truly is an expression of Jesus Christ? What does it look like to fully live out the great commandments of loving God and loving people? Here is my picture of it...

People talking with one another. People meeting each others needs. True and honest friendships blossoming. Prayer taking place everywhere. Congregations meeting and simply testifying about what God is doing. People enjoying going to their place of employment and believing in what they are doing. Crime no longer exists. All needs are met: food, clothing, shelter, relationships. Families spending time with each other. Signs and wonders taking place all over.

Oh how glorious it will be! And yet it seems so impossible. For those who dream about some things it sparks excitement, but also sadness. For the dream to come a reality a simple few must begin to really live like the dream. If you see your neighbor needs help moving a couch, you move it! If your child needs help on homework, you help with a good attitude! If somebody needs a friend, then you put down what your doing and be a friend! Be not just a hearer of the Word, but a doer also!

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