I hate golf

When it really comes down to it, I hate golf! Here is what normally happens... I will get up extra early, get out on the course at 7 in the am, get my stretches in, wait for my dad and brother to arrive, trash talk, and go to tee #1. Everything has been great up to this point...

Then the hooks start... the slices... the swings that take up more dirt than back hoe.... the shots way past the green.... and the putts that I miss that Ray Charles could have made.... and then I get in the car and wonder why I just spend $30 to get mad??

My dad use to say that if he wanted to get mad, he stomp his toe and save the $30 dollars. haha. We call that a "dad joke" in our family.

So the other day, I was determined I was going to turn into the next Phil Mickelson and hit the driving range. I remembered my old baseball days and our coaches always yelling at us to practice the fundamentals... slow everything down and practice each step slowly to make sure that you have proper form, stance, and follow though. I thought that would be genius to try on my golf swing....

I WAS WRONG

I could not even hit the ball with my driver! When I would slow my swing down, I could do nothing...

And it hit me. How many of our Christian lives are so similar to my golf swing. It is not to bad when I just swing fast but when I break it down, it falls apart. So many of our spiritual journeys seem to be going just fine because in the chaos of life, we still make it to church on most Wednesdays and Sundays, pray at least 3 times a week(when we need something) and read the bible about once a week. Our spiritual life is great! We think....

But when we our honest with ourselves and really look at our fundamentals of our Christian lives, it is falling apart.

One verse that I keep meditating on and going back to is one of the most fundamental verses in our lives.

James 1:22
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

Read the word and do what it says.

That is elementary Christianity that the majority of Christians leave out. As all these authors come out and right these books on being "Radical" and having "Crazy Love," they are just teaching what the bible has said for thousands of years but because of the shape of American Christianity, these ideas seem radical and crazy... but they are just as fundamental as the proper way to hold a baseball or how to stand while hitting your tee shot.

Slow your life down and see how your fundamentals are in your pursuit towards Christ. Chances are, you will be surprised at what you find.

Like a proud father

Last night at Impact, I spoke on the power of forgiveness and the freedom that comes from forgiving others. Instead of harboring those feelings of anger and hate, forgive and celebrate freedom. I shared of a personal story of my unwillingness to forgive that lasted almost 2 years and the conversation I had with that person the day before. The freedom was overwhelming for finally forgiving him and asking for forgiveness for all the anger and bitterness I had felt towards him! We looked into Ephesians 4:32, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." We came to the conclusion that as Christians, we dont have the right to not forgive. I urged the students to go as soon as we finished and call those that they needed to forgive or ask for forgiveness from...........

And they did!!

I was so shocked by the work the Lord was doing in their lives. As soon as we finished, the front lawn was full of people on their phones calling and finally forgiving people. We even had leaders with cell phones in hand forgiving people in their lives.

They would come running back in telling me all about it!! Some were discouraged by the response but I assured them they did their part. It takes one to forgive and two to reconcile.

Like a proud father, I saw students stepping up and realize the power of forgiveness to reach their potential in Christ.

Reality Students, you rock!!