August 19 2016–Devotions from Rio Olympics
Cycling

“Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?” 2 Corinthians 11:22-29
I own a bicycle. I have been hooked on the idea of riding for long distances in the heat, the rain, and with traffic. There are a lot of inherent dangers in being a cyclist. But, that is nothing compared to the rigors of riding in a cycling event in the Olympics. I was glued to my television in the women’s cycling event in the Rio Olympics. There was a Dutch rider, flying down the mountains just 11 or 12 kilometers from the finish line, moving further and further from the American rider in second place. It was just starting to mist, a very slight rain that can make a road surface feel more like an ice skating rink than a road. She was moving effortlessly and without even a care about the conditions, when all of a sudden, she was flying over the handlebars and landing almost head-first onto the road. It was a moment where you caught your breath and prayed she was ok.

Paul must have had many of those moments where he felt as if he was about to crash and not be able to get up. But, Paul kept getting up. Even when he was sitting in prison, he continued to write to the churches and try to pick up the spirits of those he knew when he established their churches. He endured many sleepless nights, ship wrecks, false believers, and times without enough food and other supplies, but he continued his journey.

The Dutch rider suffered several fractures on her spine, but she will get back up and ride again. Several of the men in their road race also crashed and suffered broken wrists and collar bones – and yet they will get up and ride again. Why? Because this is what they are called to do.

And we are called to endure hardships and other difficulties in our efforts to live out the Grace of the cross of Jesus Christ in our own lives, and taking that message to others. No, we may never be ship wrecked for our faith, or starve for our belief in Jesus, but living the Christ-like life is not easy in this world. It takes courage and endurance – and we have plenty of examples of the faith that we can read about in the bible to help us continue our journey and never give up.

Pastor Dave

August 18 2016–Devotions from Rio Olympics
Volleyball

“When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.”  Genesis 6:1-4

Volleyball is one of those sports at the Olympics that I just love to watch. There is something about watching these giants, men and women, who are just so tall and elegant, try to “out-giant” the others. The whole game is so fast, and yet there are moments when it seems as if they are moving in slow motion. Yes these people are such giants, but they also seem to have the agility of ninja warriors – “digging” balls just millimeters from the floor, diving into the crowd to bring a ball back into play, and serving the ball as fast as a mediocre fast ball.

There seems to be a time when the earth was populated by Olympian volleyball players – the Nephilim. There does not seem to be any agreement on the meaning of his text, and maybe, just maybe, we need to resign ourselves to the fact that we will just never know if this is a story meant to be metaphor, or reality. But, it does not matter, because in my mind, nothing is out of the realm of G-d and G-d’s activity in the world. We see giants in the world even today – but we know that their condition is either genetic or due to tumors on the pituitary gland that allows growth hormone to produce uncontrollably. We have reasons for “gigantism” – they just saw people like Goliath and called them “men of renown”.

What G-d is hoping is that we might, from time to time, “uncontrollable growth of our faith hormone”. When we put our complete trust in G-d and faith in the cross of Jesus, then the Holy Spirit will take control of our acts of faith, trust, mercy, love and Grace may just produce people of renown regarding faith.

Pastor Dave