Eddie's Blog

The Next Generation

 It is Saturday morning, and I am sitting in my office working on the message for Sunday. As I look out of my office window, I can see our Youth, as they go out into the neighborhood, and pick up kids, and bring them back for what I can only describe as a back yard Bible study. They then play games with the kids, feed them, and then take them back home!

 

It is amazing to me how few people will ever see this, and how few people will ever know the effort that these kids are putting out in order to minister to these kids. I’m watching Bryan Holder, and Chris Brank lead these kids in this ministry, and it is such an incredible thing!

 

I’m totally amazed at how many people have shown up for this, how many of out Youth kids are involved, and I can tell you now that our next generation is looking good from where I sit.

 

This all goes back to the question of “Do we practice what we preach?” I can guarantee you that the next generation of leaders at Marathon does practice what they preach. I can see it on their faces, and in what they do, and in the way that they love! Sometimes you wonder if you are really making an impact – if what you teach on Sunday morning is really getting through. It’s really good to know that these kids are getting it!

 

I am so proud of Bryan Holder, and Chris Brank! They are doing a great job!

Ted Williams

 

During our last series, “Broadcast”, we talked about how we use ourselves to get the message of Christ out to the world. God has wired us all – shaped us, made us – in different ways, and with different talents.

 

Ted Williams was a great example of being “wired” differently. Ted Williams had a lifetime batting average of 344! He once hit for .406 in an entire season! This is in a game where the super star players try to get up to a 300 average.

 

When Ted Williams retired, he began to coach, and to train other players. So, one day when he was coachin a player, Ted told him “You need to watch the rotation of the ball.” And the guy complained that the ball was coming at him at 100 mph, how could he possibly see the rotation of the ball? Ted told him that he just needed to watch the stitches on the ball as it spun.

 

You see, Ted Williams had 20/10 vision. He was able to see the stitches on a baseball, and tell how they were spinning, as the ball traveled at him at 100 mph! That is God given ability, and he used it.

 

Not all of us can see and hit the way that Ted Williams could, but all of us have gifts, and talents that we need to use, and that’s what we’ve been talking about. God wants to use us where we are, and He wants to use us exactly how He shaped us and made us.

 

You need to ask yourself; “What are my gifts, and how do I use them where I am?”

Having Cake and Eating It Too

 We’ve been talking about how we fit in this world – how we are God’s physical presence on this planet – how we talk, what we do, where we live, and how we use the gifts that God has given us.

 

So let me tell you about Cathey Rampey. She is my secretary, and she decided to do something the other day that was really interesting.

 

I have been talking about how we don’t even know our neighbors anymore. So Cathey was thinking about how she could get out and meet her neighbors. So she and her husband Mark baked 6 cakes, one for each of the 6 houses that are in their cul de sac. Then they went around the neighborhood, and knocked on the doors. She and Mark told their neighbors who they were, and explained that their pastor had been talking about how we don’t know our neighbors anymore, so we baked you a cake.

 

Cathey says that the reaction from her neighbors was incredible. They were amazed that someone cared enough just to make them a cake!

 

This is what the first century Church did. They shared what they had. Through their sharing and their giving, they built community, and they were able to share what God had done in their lives.

 

Maybe we just need to bake more cakes… That would make the world a sweeter place!

Disney Here We Come!

 Lynn and I are going to get to go to Disney World this year with Faith, and I just can not believe how excited this child has been! Every word that comes out of her mouth is about Disney and Princesses, and all of the stuff that she is going to do.

 

She climbed up into the bed with me at midnight and said “Daddy, let’s talk about Disney!” She said that we needed to talk about which ride that we would go on first. Well eventually, she decided that it would be the Snow White ride, then it was going to be Petter Pan, and then The Small World ride (even though she said that Small World makes her sick, because they sing the song too much),

 

I’m so excited about getting to go, because of all of the excitement that I see in Faith. It makes me feel like a kid again!

Will The True Clemson Fan Please Stand Up?

 

We’ve been doing a series at Marathon called “Broadcast”, and one of the things that we have talked about is “The witness identification program”.  I call it that because Jesus says that we are to be His witnesses, and if the world is going to see God, that they are going to see Him through us. So I’m wondering, are we a God “fan”, or are we a God “supporter”. How do we identify who we are?

 

Clemson football is just about to start up again, so it has made me think, “how can we tell if you are a real Clemson supporter?”

 

There are a lot of people who wear Clemson hats. There are a lot of people who wear Clemson shirts. The question is; does wearing the clothing really make you part of the team? Recently, we had a person arrested for shop lifting, while wearing a Marathon shirt. So I pretty sure that it’s not the t-shirt that makes you who you are. It has to be something else.

 

Maybe, it’s going to the ball games every weekend. Maybe that is what makes you a part of the Clemson team. Maybe (Could it be?), that giving your time and money in support of Clemson makes you a part of that team – if you are a season ticket holder, if you are a member of IPTAY – that is how Clemson would identify you as being a true supporter and a member of their team, because you spend your money with Clemson.

 

Where did they get that idea? That came straight from the Bible. The Bible says: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:34

 

So I would ask, “Are you a fan of God? or Are you a member of His team?” “Are you a Marathon fan? or “Are you a part of the Marathon Team? Are you in on it?”

 

The Steroid Shot

I’ve been having some trouble with my shoulders. I’ve been getting a lot of exercise from playing basketball, building (then re-building) a wood shed, and trying to play a little bit of golf. Recently though, I realized that I can’t move my arms very well, and I was having too much pain to sleep. So, I ended up going to the doctor. Of course, we looked it up on the internet to figure out what was happening, and Lynn figured it out, and she kind of knew what was going to happen, but she wasn’t telling me, because she knew that I wouldn’t like knowing that I was probably going to have to get a shot!

 

So we make the appointment and as we’re heading over there, I start sweating before we even get to the doctor’s office. By the time that we’ve sat in the waiting room for a while, and then gone into a little room to wait on the doctor some more, I’m sweating so badly that I have to take my shirt off. Lynn is standing there fanning me, and all of this is happening before the doctor even comes into the room!

 

When the doctor does finally come in, I’m standing there shirtless and waving my arms around while Lynn is fanning me. He checks me out, and announces that I have tendonitis, and that he can fix it by giving me two shots. He said that he was going to give me a shot through the back of each shoulder, and into the joint, where he was going to fill the joint with steroids.

 

I thought that I would be a man and said, “Ok, bring it on. I’m ready.” So the doctor gets behind me, and I feel a little pain, and I say “Ok well, I can live with that”, but he says, “No, that wasn’t it, I’m just marking the spot where I’m going in”! So he went ahead, and gave me the shot in the right shoulder, and I hung in there, even though sweat is now running off of me everywhere, and dripping down.

 

Now, the nurses have all come in to watch this happen. Two of the nurses go to Marathon, and they just could not wait to see me pass out!

 

So the doctor moves over to my left shoulder, and as he is giving me that shot, I say “I’m not going to make it”. Lynn sees me turn white and says “He’s going! He’s going”. 

 

I went!

 

When it was all over, I had gotten both of my shots, and they gave me candy, and orange juice and everyone was clapping for me. “Yay, Yay, Yay!”

 

So, that was my first steroid experience. I hope it is my last!

Don’t Leave It On The Table

 Over the past few weeks, we’ve been going through a series called “Broadcast”, and we have discussed the Prayer of Jabez.

 

Now Jabez was a guy who is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4, which nobody ever reads, but in the middle of all of the “begat this and begat that”, the Bible says that Jabez asked God to bless him. Jabez needed blessing, because his name means “pain”. So he was going through his life having been a pain since the very beginning.

 

Jabez asked God to “Bless me Indeed!” That means that there was nothing that Jabez left out. He didn’t go to God with a list of things that he wanted, and tell God the best way of giving him those things. Jabez basically just said; God please Bless me in any way you want, because I’m willing to take whatever you give me.”

 

Most people won’t pray that prayer, because we have a list, we know what we want from God, and we know how things are supposed to go in our lives. So that’s what we ask God for. The problem is that, when we do that, we are leaving so many blessings on the table, because we are afraid to say “God give me whatever you want. I’m willing to take any blessing that you give me.”

 

I really don’t want to leave anything on the table. If God has got something that He wants to give me, or my family, or Marathon, I JUST WANT IT! It may not be what I was expecting, and it may come from a different direction than I was thinking, but I want whatever He wants to give!

 

Do you trust God with your prayers?  Do you trust Him with your Blessings? Are you brave enough to pray “God bless me, and I don’t care what it looks like”? Now THAT is a prayer!