It’s classic Charlie Brown and Lucy. Charlie’s charging down the field to kick the football that Lucy’s holding, and at the last second, Lucy moves the ball and Charlie goes flying. Now, few people know the name of the guy who holds the ball, but he really matters to the kicker.
Folks used to look at the sky and say, “The sun’s revolving around the earth.” They were wrong. Copernicus showed us that the earth revolves around the sun, and we should be glad. The other way around…we’d all be dead!
I was a mess the night they took me to the hospital because I’d passed out from dehydration. See, I’m not the hospital type, and I let it show with my stinky attitude in E. R. When this hard core nurse said they had to admit me, let’s just say I’m not proud of how I handled it until my wife said, “I want to remind you, Honey, of something you told me.” Oh, I hate that. I can’t argue with myself. She said, “Don’t forget who you are, and don’t forget why you’re here.” Wakeup call! Well, I had an empty bed in my room, so we set up a Christian bookstore; gave away books and CDs, and spread the Gospel. And the last day I was there, Miss Hardcore stopped by and said, “Some of us were talking, and we’ve figured out why you were here. You were sent here for all us pagans.”
Most people would have called it a dump—a 200,000 square foot old building in a deteriorated urban area, long deserted, most of the windows broken. But one Christian businessman looked at it and saw more than the dump everyone else saw. He saw what could be transformed into an active citywide ministry center. I toured that building recently. It’s the center for feeding and clothing the needy, reaching skaters, reaching hunters, and offices for ministries, all because one man saw, not what it was, but what it could be. That’s exactly what my Jesus has been doing for 2,000 years.
I call it blown diet syndrome. You’re doing really well, shedding some pounds. Then you’re out with your friends and you take “one French fry”, and you go, “Oh no! Well, I might as well eat all the fries.” “Oh, no, no! I ate all the French fries. I’ve really blown it! I might as well have a shake to wash it down. Hey, how about a pizza later on?” Next day, “Hey, I really blew it! Oh, what’s the use? I might as well hit the Chinese buffet today.” It’s crazy. Just because you messed up once doesn’t mean you have to keep messing up and lose all the ground you gained…or wait. Maybe it’s gain all the ground you’ve lost.
