Great short video about how America really works

Playing slow pitch summer time softball after high school is a great outlet for competitive athletes. Personally, I started playing at the age of nineteen and quit at forty. The pitcher on our team was fifty, when I quit playing, and he gave me lots of flack for hanging up my cleats at such a young age as he used to put it.

One summer night, as I was playing center field, a long fly ball was hit to my right. I thought I had plenty of room to make the catch. As I hit the warning track with my feet, my first thought was to stop running so hard, but the rover on my team yelled out, “You’ve got plenty of room!” So I kept running. As I raised my left hand to catch the ball I collided with the chain link metal fence at full speed.

When I came back to my senses, the rover was standing over me saying, “Are you okay?” I said to him, “No, I am not okay and I thought you told me I had plenty of room?”

How close can you get to something before it hurts you? How close can we get to sinful things before we get burned? Is there a warning track in our lives that tells us beware trouble is close at hand? Sometimes our friends tell us, “Its okay, don’t worry about it, everyone else is doing it.”

We do have a built in warning track within us. Those of us who believe in Christ it is our conscious and the Holy Spirit. Those who don’t believe in Christ have something also that the Bible says is clearly perceived.

Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Proverbs 3: 21-23 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble.

One of the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord teach us to pray.” Jesus responds, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

In my own life, my parents taught me the following night time prayer as soon as I could talk, “Now I lay me, down to sleep. If I should die, before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to keep.” This prayer ‘Now I lay me’ was written by Joseph Addison and was in ‘The Spectator’ a daily publication in England that only survived for about a year in 1711. The prayer has lasted a lot longer than the publication and I am so glad it did.

My job as a Dad is to teach my children to pray. The first prayer my wife and I taught our kids was, ‘Now I lay me.’ But we also pray at each meal that we sit down to eat, which is usually supper. Now when you pray for the meal you can also add in some other things. Here is how that might go, “Our Gracious Heavenly Father, we are thankful for the opportunity to be here together as a family. We miss Sam and Evan and we pray for your blessing upon them and for a safe return home. Please bless the food that we are about to partake of, to the nourishment of our bodies. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.”

Dad your job, which was given to you by God the father, is to take your kids to church and to teach your kids to pray. Research shows that if Dad does not go to church, no matter how faithful his wife’s devotions, only one child in fifty will become a regular worshipper. A link to the article I took that quote from is at the end of this article.

When I first read the article it made me angry. I feel as though I am on the front line fighting against the enemy and too many men are slipping away to go golf, watch the NFL, get drunk, sleep in or whatever else they do instead of going to church and teaching their children to pray.

“Our Gracious Heavenly Father, I come before you today with heavy heart. After reading the article below, I was convicted in my soul for the times I have bailed out on my fellow man that stayed engaged in the fight. Please forgive me. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me the guts to stand and fight against the enemy, satan, and to tell him, ‘Over my dead body, will you ever get my children.’ In Jesus precious name we pray this in expectation of it, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.”

The Truth about Men and Church

I saw this video recently and thought you might like to see the quick five minute story of a great American hero who happened to also be a Kansan.

I think we still raise young men in Kansas, just like this today.

(The pronunciation of the name of Father Kapaun  the speaker uses in the video is correct.)

Years ago, when I was a young guy, a friend asked me if I wanted to go on vacation with him. I asked, “Where you thinking about going?” He said he was thinking about Los Angeles, just to put his feet in the Pacific Ocean. I told him yes, I was interested and a few days later off we went.

Now for me, the high point of the entire trip was the Grand Canyon. In person the Canyon is beyond description and is way more impressive than any picture. Before you start down into the Canyon there is a sign that says, “Hiking the Canyon is just the opposite of mountain climbing. When you hike uphill on a mountain you are fresh and excited and when you are tired you turn around and go downhill. Unfortunately, at the Canyon you go down into the Canyon while fresh and excited and when you are tired you turn around to go back, and then you must hike a mountain to get out of the Canyon.”

The sign also said to take plenty of water with you. Of course it was summer time and the temperature was forecasted to be over a hundred degrees that day. So we grabbed a couple of water bottles and down into the big Canyon we went. At first we thought we would go all the way to the bottom, to see the Colorado River, but decided after working our way downhill maybe we should not attempt a ten mile hike down with a ten mile hike back out. Instead we decided to go six miles in to Plateau Point and then six miles back out of the Canyon.

After we made it to Plateau Point, which is 1,300 feet above the river and a stunning view, we decided it was time to go back to the car and drive on further down the road. We had no idea how difficult the next several hours were going to be.

Like I said earlier, the temperature was well over hundred degrees. We were drinking water like crazy and the water was only available in certain places. We took nothing to eat with us and we were hungry. The trail slowly got steeper to where it felt like we were going straight up. The last part of the switchback trail is actually called, ‘Heartbreak Hill’ because you are so close, but yet so far from the top. It took hours to move up the trail. There were so many people coming into the Canyon and plenty of mule riders that you had to move to the side of the trail constantly.

When going through difficult times, around other people doing the same thing, you make friends easily with others experiencing the same thing. We made great friends with a couple of nineteen year old guys walking with us. One was a Frenchman and the other was an Israeli, who was reporting for his six months of required duty in the Israeli Army in ten days. We laughed, talked, sat by the side of the trail and we couldn’t believe how foolish all of us were for taking off down hill so unprepared, after they had warned us at the top of the Canyon.

Sin in our lives is just like hiking in the Grand Canyon. God warns us about sin. Our parents warn us about sin. The pastor or priest warns us about sin. But we want to do what we want to do and what others are doing and look at all these people going down the hill, into the Canyon, and into the sinful ways of man. The problem with sin is someday you may want to quit and then the devil has you in the bottom of this Canyon and you are going to have a difficult time getting out by yourself. Remember Jesus and call out to him even in your unbelief.

Romans 8:39 Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Several years ago, my youngest daughter was watching me as I worked out. One of the exercises I was doing that day was kipping pull-ups on a bar outside. My daughter said to me, “Dad, that bar is going to break.” I told her, “It was not going to break” and continued to do my workout. After another couple of sets of pull-ups, while at the top of a pull-up the supports holding the bar broke and I landed on my back. My daughter, ever so stoically said, “I told you Dad.” I would have answered her, most likely in anger, but I couldn’t, since I had knocked the wind out of myself!

Children see the world differently than adults. As adults we need to watch and listen to our children more. Instead of automatically thinking we know everything about everything.

Matthew 18: 1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Little children depend on others for everything. God wants us to depend upon him in a simple and trusting way. People of faith rely upon God instead of themselves.

Salina Central football player Grant England takes a knee on the field after the final game of his high school career, Wichita Heights defeated Salina Central 10-7. The youngster is Salina Central Coach Mike Hall’s son.

Young people look to their parents first as role models and then at some point they also start to look at other people and try to emulate them. The young are trying to figure out who they are and who they should be like and our local high school athletes can be great role models for the youngsters in our towns.

High school football players may not know it but they are being watched closely by other people, young and old alike, to see how they will respond not only on the field but off the field in all areas and aspects of life.

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The Bible is filled with role models, people that we should try to follow. They were not perfect (except for Jesus) nor are we, but we could look to them for guidance.

I still like Joe Ehrmann’ talk ‘Be A Man’ it lasts fourteen minutes, you will like it. He is a great role model to follow. An NFL player that grew up to be a high school football coach and preacher.

Maybe you have never heard the title to this article before now but it should be a truth in all of our lives. No Bible, no breakfast, no Bible no bed.

Years ago when I still owned part of the Kansas Pregame magazine, I was in a high school weight room visiting with the football coach. We wanted his football team’s preseason information for our magazine, but we got to talking football and his philosophy of how to manage a team. Now this particular football coach took this team from a losing program each year to a multiple state championship.

Here is part of what he told me that day, “First of all, recruit the hallways of your school and encourage the kids to come join the team. We want lots of kids on the team but if you want to compete for a varsity spot on the team you must lift weights year round.” The coach says he tells the players right up front, “We want you on the team and you can play on the freshman team or the junior varsity team without lifting weights year round but to try to earn a varsity starting position you must lift weights year round.”

To be a football player we must have discipline or be disciplined. Webster’s dictionary says discipline is training intended to elicit a specified pattern of behavior or character and or train or develop by teaching and control.

Long before the football season starts you can ask high school football players what they want to accomplish during their football season and most of the time you will hear the comment, “We want to win a championship” whether it be league, district or state. Then you can ask the players, “What are you doing to become that champion?” Their answer usually sounds something like this, “We are lifting weights, running, playing 7 on 7, playing catch, practicing punting and kicking, studying film and the playbook.”

That is awesome that we have disciplined football players and coaches in our state. There is so much work that goes on before we actually get to the football season and the football games.

Let us compare your disciplined local football team that wants to win some kind of a championship to your local church and your own walk of faith.

What is the goal of the Christian religion? The goal is to go to heaven. So what are you doing to get to heaven? The football team is doing something practically everyday getting ready to compete for a championship. What are you doing everyday to get ready to combat Satan so that you can make it through the obstacle course called life and make it to your goal which is heaven?

Our job as a Christian going to heaven is to bring others with us. We are to recruit the hallways of our lives and encourage others to join God’s team. We are to be transformed and live our lives in such a fashion that others will want to join the team. Just like a football team that starts winning games the stands start to fill up and more kids want to join the team.

How do we become transformed as individuals? First of all you must ask Jesus to come into your life and you ask to join the team. Jesus is the coach of the Christian team and if you aren’t on the team you can’t hear the coach talk. After you join the team, then you can read the Bible and understand it. You can spend time in prayer, you fast, you meditate and you go to church whether you feel like it or not. If you want a starting position on the varsity team you do the heavy lifting year round!

The time to become a disciplined Christian is now! Dust off that Bible and start everyday to read one chapter a day no matter what. Let God transform you into the best Christian teammate possible through your daily workout with Him!

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Do you ever get bored during football season? My guess is no, the competition is coming every Friday night during the season and there is so much to do to be prepared.

Years ago I read General Norman Schwarzkopf’s book It doesn’t take a hero. Something that really stuck with me, when he was in command of an Army unit in Germany; he wanted no boredom and drift of his soldiers. He said it was easy to motivate the troops to do the physical workout each morning. He would take his unit to the wall that separated the two Germany’s and would tell them, “Men, we are the first line of defense if the Russians decide to come across this line.” The enemy was so close you could see them.

Typically in our day-to-day lives, we can’t see the enemy. We don’t see the need to read the Bible, we don’t see the need to pray, we don’t see the need to go to church on Sundays and we can’t see the enemy, so why prepare for the battle?

Lots of church going people don’t even believe in satan anyway, so why do we need to prepare for spiritual combat?

2 Corinthians 2:11 “Lest satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

The football coach studies the film of his opponent and may go watch them in person if possible. The coach does this so that hopefully nothing the opponent does is a surprise to him or his team.

The opponents of our football teams are studied in great detail, but do we do that in our own lives against the greatest enemy man kind will ever know? Do not be ignorant of satan’s ways and devices.

The enemy is close at hand. We should be preparing for combat everyday, with our own workout with God each morning or evening. The workout is not easy, that is why most folks won’t do it. It takes work to read the entire Bible, it takes work to memorize scripture and it takes work to carve out fifteen minutes of quiet time to walk and talk with God the Father. It takes work to get out of bed and get those cranky kids up, dressed and fed and to church on Sunday mornings. It takes work to go to Bible studies and Sunday school.

Just like General Norman Schwarzkopf did with his Army unit, may God open your eyes to the dangerous adversary we face each and every day.

I moved to Scott City in 4^th grade. My next door neighbor was my age and had moved to Scott City two years before. We hit it off immediately and became best of friends.

We built several things together, including a tree house along the alley and the only way to get in was a fifteen foot rope climb. We built a zip line between two trees along our property line that started twenty feet up in the first tree. We also built a very sturdy fort made from old pallets and old cross arms from electrical power poles.

One day as we were building the fort my neighbor jumped off the top of the eight foot tall structure and landed on a board with a nail sticking out of it. The nail went through the bottom of his tennis shoe through his foot and then through the top of his shoe and was sticking above his foot and shoe about two inches!

When it happened, my neighbor let out the most incredible blood curdling scream. I ran up to him, realized what had happened and told him to sit down so I could pull the board off the bottom of his foot.

He instead started walking home, which was only about twenty five feet away, with the fifteen inch board and nail attached to the bottom of his foot. But with every step on that foot, he would scream again.

As kids we were in awe of what happened to my friend and every kid that heard his story of the incident was in awe also. Just to remind you the definition of awe is: an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear. Awe is exactly what we felt when we thought of nails, boards and my neighbor’s situation. I have told that story hundreds of times over the years and so has my neighbor.

The lack of awe in today’s church is because of the lack of testimony by people who have experienced God. God saved you from a life of sin to be a testimony to someone else. It is like we are stepping on nails and not telling anyone about it. Can you imagine having something that traumatic happen to you, but remaining silent about it?

Have you told your story, your testimony? People are experiencing trauma all around us because satan has his yoke around their necks and he controls their lives. They are addicted to drugs, gossip, alcohol, pornography, sports, computers, knowledge and lots of other things.

Satan does his best to keep folks out of churches on Sunday and if people do go to church he wants them to get out of the church quickly and only go once a week. Why does satan not want folks at church? They can hear testimony from others who have experienced God. In my experience, the places where you hear testimony from others at church is in bible studies or Sunday school classes. It isn’t usually in Sunday morning worship services and maybe that is also why there is a lack of awe in our churches.

We need to tell our story, our testimony, not only inside the church but outside the church. God will help you to figure out where, when and how. But you must listen to the Holy Spirit and obey when the opportunity comes along.

Revelation 12:11 They triumphed over him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.