Llove Letters

Sour Grapes?

I don’t know much, if anything, about world class gymnastics. I can watch a routine and see some of the flaws. Last evening as I watched the Olympic women’s individual competition on the uneven bars, it was clear that the Chinese competitor made more mistakes than the American competitor. Those “in the know,” with the exception of the judges, of course, were also convinced that the final result was wrong. If that sounds like sour grapes, I apologze. These are just kids, really, performing at the highest level. They are owed a honest evaluation of their work.

Sometimes, in the Church of Jesus Christ, we get our evaluations of the work being performed, wrong. I’m sure that we undervalue the guy who moves tables and chairs, or the “hearer” in AWANA. Sometimes we fail to listen to the pre-service music calling us to worship, even though the excellence, of which we are always reciepients at my particular Church, requires years of preparation and practice. We don’t often hear much thanks for the folks in the nursery who are dealing with diapers and the like. I can’t remember when we celebrated the ladies who made the food, arranged the food, and cleaned up afterwards.

Don’t get me wrong! You’ll never hear a complaint from those folks. They do it because they llove Him, and they llove you. They deserve an honest appreciation for their work.

Here, But Unable To Go

Liu Xiang and the entire nation of China looked forward to this moment for years: The defending Olympic champion lining up to run the 110-meter hurdles at the Beijing Games. He didn’t even get to race.

Watching the Olympics is always an exciting time for me. I llove to watch the runners as they warm up for the biggest races of their life. Some are already proven winners, some are in their first race on the World stage, and I know that the anxiety of the moment is profound.

As I watched the preparation for the start of the 110-meter hurdles, it was clear the favorite was having problems. As it turned out, he couldn’t go - and a billion people were disappointed.

I couldn’t help but think of the vast number of people who are confident they are prepared for the return of Christ to claim His Bride. Yet the reality is, many will not be able to go. Some are counting on having lived a “good” life, others on church membership, or perhaps some on the fact that they are residents of a “Christian nation.” The Truth is that only those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God will make the journey to Heaven. Disappointment (an understatement of the year) will be wide-spread, according to the Scripture, when Christ will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

The “race” (see Hebrews 12:1-2) is on! You are going to want to be ready!