Enjoying Suffering for the Greater Goal

During our softball game tonight, I made a play at shortstop that involved diving to my left, fully-extended in the air, and snagging a ball destined for center field. It was probably one of the sweetest sports plays I have ever done. The aftermath was a mouth full of dirt, a shirt covered in it, a broken necklace, and a very sore left shoulder. But none of that mattered when I began in pursuit of the ball or after the catch. It was completely worth it for the greater goal of getting the out.


In light of the catch, this same tolerance (and even joy) of pain or persecution can be experienced as a Christian. As a Christian, we are not promised a simple or easy life (Luke 9:23-26, 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, 1 Peter 4:12-14). But suffering (or on the opposite end, the pursuit of safety) will not be our primary factor(s) of consideration if our physical and spiritual eyes are set on the greater purpose of pursuing Christ (his fame, kingdom and the spreading of it).

All of a sudden, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 starts to make a little more sense:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal

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Over 1 Billion Indians...and Not One Good Basketball Team?

Last week a few friends and I got together to attend a Saturday night service at Harvest Bible Chapel. On our way home we stopped by Gino's East to grab a slice of extremely good pizza. Our conversation was all over the board but one of the things we discussed was that out of 1 billion people, India has to have eight guys that are good at basketball. The probability is on our side! However, you never hear of India in the Olympics. Something is wrong with this equation.

This May Cause Tears....

I saw this video on Justin Taylor's blog a few days ago and was reminded of this incredible story of an Autistic high school basketball manager named Jason McElwain.