Bills blog stop: Oct 3, 2007

Pepe's Great Escape!

Today, while we were foraging for a new food supply for our Love Bird, Pepe, we spied some new environmental enhancements for his cage(er, living habitat). An attachable, edible, beak sharpening branch to enhance his hunting and pecking skills and a beautiful red ring the size of a large swing with a bell hanging from it to accompany his visions of swinging in a tree in the jungle! After fighting the strong currents of traffic on the asphalt river to arrive back at camp, I proceeded to “green up” Pepe’s habitat. Well, as soon as I brought one of these strange new objects in through the door, he was having none of this! With wings of steel, he squeezed through as space so small I couldn’t see it without my glasses and off he went into the wild blue(uh, wondrous air spaces) in our house! Sooo… armed with nothing but a couple of soft towels and a non threatening, wooden back scratcher, we set out on a find and capture expedition that should have aired on “Wild Kingdom”! Through sheer strength and maneuvering on our part, we began to wear down the resolve of our adversary! At one point, I had to hit the switch for the overhead fan with the swift dexterity of a gazelle to extricate the fowl winged beast from his perch without flinging him into the wall! After many attempts to cast our nets(ugh, towels) over our ungrateful friend, I guess he just valued his newly found freedom too much, he finally managed to fly into the side of a cliff(wall) and wedged himself between it and a large bookcase! After great thought about our dilemma, we decided to pull one end away from the wall, then I proceeded into the dark recess with my trusty little belt flash light and towel. Much to my chagrin, the little beggar pushed forward behind the next book case! So with great trepidation, I place the towel next to this opening with one hand, and with the other, proceeded to simulate the tremors of a minor quake to the other case! Low and behold, I saw a small red and green streak flash into the towel and voila, I had him! So I transported him to his home and gently extracted him into his own, familiar environment with the new additions and left him to himself to get used to them. I came back a little later hoping to catch him happily swinging on his new swing only to catch him soundly sleeping away, totally oblivious to his new toys! oh well, so much for the great jungle experience!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

The Weekly Walk from James MacDonald
Eliminate the Drain

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:1-2

If you had a hole in your gas tank, it wouldn’t be long until you investigated why your tank is always empty. I just filled up, you think. Why am I on empty again? The same thing happens in the Christian life. We get filled up with great Bible studies and sermons, and we think we’re good for the long haul. But not far into the trip, we’re out of gas. Completely drained. What happened?

I believe one reason our spiritual strength drains quickly from our lives is because we hoard it. Sounds like the opposite would be true, but it’s not. If we keep everything we gain in the Christian life to ourselves, we end up running out of gas. Paul tells Timothy: “What you have heard from me . . . entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

The way to grow spiritually is not to pack every study, every sermon, every lesson you can into your skull. You might think you are a great Bible scholar but really you’re just a big Bible fathead. Some of the most spiritually weak people I know have more Bible information in their cranium than anyone around. But they can’t face temptations or weather even the smallest storm because they haven’t been growing in what they’ve learned. You’ve got to transfer truth to others in order for it to make a difference in your own life.

Do you take sermon notes when your pastor preaches each week? What do you do with them afterward-stuff them in a drawer? Carry them around in your Bible until you purge them all? Find someone this week to share something new you learned from the sermon or from a message you’ve read in a book or heard on the radio. In Paul’s words, entrust to others what you have learned. You will experience a fresh infusion of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Merely reading the words will do nothing for you. But if you do what they say, you will fill up on God’s strength.

How about it?