"Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.  Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You have done.  The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare."
----Psalm 40:4-5


It's happening again --- famous people who are "the people to watch" are the stuff of gossips and media wonks.  We've endured another week of the escapades of basketballer Kobe Bryant, the socially retarded wunderkind who is charged with the sexual assault of a Colorado female employee of a hotel where he stayed.  Once thought to be a youthful straight-arrow, recent revelations of Bryant's upbringing and past reveal that he is woefully lacking in the ability to deal with people socially.  Having been programmed and relatively isolated most of his life seems to have left him prey to his own lusts and mistaken interpretations of others' intentions.

Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh, the premier talk show host and sometimes sports announcer, revealed under pressure this week that he is addicted to painkillers.  His detractors are having a field day while his loyal listeners are somewhere between shock and grief.  Limbaugh has checked himself into a substance abuse clinic for 30 days, and his future doubtless will include a mega-dose dose of humility.

Perhaps it is appropriate to ask the question again, "Whom do you trust?"  Now, I don't mean simply, "In whom do you have confidence?" or "In whom do you rely?"  The question is much more far-reaching than that.  The genuine focus of the question concerns the one we follow or the person in whom we place our ultimate faith.

Some people seem to bounce from one "hero" to another always trying to find a person who is perfect.  Nothing could be more self-defeating!  People are consistently human --- that is, they are sinful and broken.  People fail!  Each of us has his or her own personalized package of weaknesses and foibles.  Each of us is susceptible to our own type temptations.  James 1:14 says, "But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed."   Respecting people is one thing; placing one's faith in people is quite another!

If you cannot have faith in people, then what are we to do?  The answer, according to Scripture, is to place our ultimate trust in God!  It means to look to Him for our salvation and guidance.  It means to obey His commands, and inquire as to His will for daily decisions.  It means to recognize His gracious actions on our behalf and the wonders done amidst mundane life.

The writer of Hebrews put it this way, "...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."

I don't know where your race will carry you this week, but I do know where you should be looking as you run.  Look up!  Look down and you quickly become tired and discouraged.  Look down and you become preoccupied with what is at your feet.  Our command is to look up --- look to Christ --- and trust God!

Be vigilant this week and don't allow yourself to become too focused on following others, no matter pious or spiritual they seem.  Keep your eyes on Christ and do what He says.  He'll never disappoint you, and He will never have embarrassing "revelations" to make!

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2003

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings...."  --- Philippians 2:14


I've thought for a long time that one of the things we Christians need to get over is the belief that the New Testament Christians were somehow more holy or inherently closer to God than we are.  However, in the verse above, the Apostle Paul, writer of the pastoral letter to the Philippian Church, exhorted the group to "knock off the griping and complaining" and do what needed to be done.  Apparently, many of the Christian folks 2,000 years ago were essentially the same as many of us --- too quick to gripe and too slow to get to work!  Far from being icons of perfection, they were ordinary people who struggled in their Christian faith with the temptations and human frailties common to all of us.  The human saga continues --- even for us Christians.

As the summer effectively ends this Labor Day weekend, our schools have begun, our wallets are strained, and much work remains to be done.  We are all tempted to gripe, gripe, gripe.  While some people dismiss this as harmlessly "letting off steam," it does have a way of compounding the misery of mistakes, misunderstandings, and sheer hard work.  In the long haul, though, griping  proves to be counter-productive.  It's like shooting "bird shot" from a shotgun at a high flying aircraft --- it makes a big bang, it appears to be using energy, but it cannot really address the problem at hand.  THAT takes thought, persuasion, and concrete actions!

There's more than an even chance that into your life this week will come things  that infuriate you or frustrate you.  Don't waste time griping on and on about them.  Do what you can to change or improve things.  If that isn't possible, put  your energy into a new direction toward something you CAN affect!  And while you are doing all that, don't forget to PRAY!  God has the most amazing way of being involved in our lives in ways that are --- for the moment --- undetected. Hang in there, though, and let God do His work.  You'll be surprised at the results!

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Sept.2002