Friday, March 03, 2006
BE PREPARED!
I love to watch the Olympics. I enjoy the summer Olympics a whole lot more than the winter games, but I will still sit and watch a curling match, skeleton race, or Super G in my spare time (I never thought I would be able to work some of those words into a newsletter article!). While taking the time to watch the different athletes prepare for their performance I have noticed something very important. How you prepare often determines how you play the game. Let me give you some examples of what I mean.
Bode Miller is one of the top downhill skiers in the world. He was a gold medal favorite in 4 or 5 events at the Turin games. How did he prepare for his races? You may have heard about all of the interviews where he discussed issues such as being drunk while he was skiing at over 60 miles per hour. A swirl of controversy surrounded him as he prepared for the games. How could he be focused with all of that going on? So far he has run four events and failed to medal in any of them!
Then there are the two men speed skaters, Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis. Both men are incredible athletes with several opportunities to win medals during these games. As a matter of fact they both won gold medals in their first races. But how did they prepare for their other races? For some reason these two decided to forma rivalry between themselves over some personal issues. They lost focus of what they had trained for for so many years and as a result neither of them has seen another gold medal. Every time one of them is interviewed the questions have nothing to do with skating, they have to do with the other guy. How could they be focused? Since they each won their first gold medal, they have had 8 opportunities to win another gold between them and they have failed each time!
It is the same with the church. When things are going well in a church, Satan is not pleased. He will do whatever it takes to try to make the church lose focus. There are many ways for a church to lose focus, but I believe that the easiest way is the result of the tongue! Did you know that the average male tongue weighs about 2.5 oz. and the average female tongue weighs about 2.0 oz.? It is such a small thing, but the damage it can do is incredible!
I want to give you a quick acronym to help you. Maybe you need to cut this out or write it down to help you “avoid controversy” and lose focus. Ask these questions before you speak . . .
T—Is it true?
H—Is it helpful?
I—Is it Inspiring?
N—Is it Necessary?
K—Is it Kind?
You know that phrase, “If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all!” Let’s make that our motto as we try to avoid controversy and continue to allow God to work in the great ways that He has been here at FBC Grandview!
Trying to T.H.I.N.K.,
Russell ¶ 5:00 PM
Bode Miller is one of the top downhill skiers in the world. He was a gold medal favorite in 4 or 5 events at the Turin games. How did he prepare for his races? You may have heard about all of the interviews where he discussed issues such as being drunk while he was skiing at over 60 miles per hour. A swirl of controversy surrounded him as he prepared for the games. How could he be focused with all of that going on? So far he has run four events and failed to medal in any of them!
Then there are the two men speed skaters, Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis. Both men are incredible athletes with several opportunities to win medals during these games. As a matter of fact they both won gold medals in their first races. But how did they prepare for their other races? For some reason these two decided to forma rivalry between themselves over some personal issues. They lost focus of what they had trained for for so many years and as a result neither of them has seen another gold medal. Every time one of them is interviewed the questions have nothing to do with skating, they have to do with the other guy. How could they be focused? Since they each won their first gold medal, they have had 8 opportunities to win another gold between them and they have failed each time!
It is the same with the church. When things are going well in a church, Satan is not pleased. He will do whatever it takes to try to make the church lose focus. There are many ways for a church to lose focus, but I believe that the easiest way is the result of the tongue! Did you know that the average male tongue weighs about 2.5 oz. and the average female tongue weighs about 2.0 oz.? It is such a small thing, but the damage it can do is incredible!
I want to give you a quick acronym to help you. Maybe you need to cut this out or write it down to help you “avoid controversy” and lose focus. Ask these questions before you speak . . .
T—Is it true?
H—Is it helpful?
I—Is it Inspiring?
N—Is it Necessary?
K—Is it Kind?
You know that phrase, “If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all!” Let’s make that our motto as we try to avoid controversy and continue to allow God to work in the great ways that He has been here at FBC Grandview!
Trying to T.H.I.N.K.,
Russell ¶ 5:00 PM
