In the Zone

I'll be honest, I was scared. In August 2006, after much prayer and discussion with my wife, we decided God had called me to quit my job in order to pursue a full-time ministry position.  At the time, I had been a full-time sports writer for seven years and a part-time youth minister for almost four years.  The dual role took it's toll on me physically and on our marriage. I remember walking into my editor's office, letter in hand, announcing my resignation.  I agreed to stay on until they found my replacement or I found another job.  I figured that would take about a month.  By mid-December, I was knee-deep in basketball season and had not landed another job, despite a couple of interviews. That Christmas was scary.  I didn't know if we should buy Christmas presents or toss everything we had into savings.  We had a mortgage, plus car payments and credit card debt.  How would I pay all those bills if my replacement at the paper walked throug...

I've never been on rough seas. In my limited experience boating (I've only been on a boat three times in my life, and one was a "glass-bottom" boat to see dolphins), I've never experienced rough waters.  I've never sailed during a storm or tried to ride out the waves. So I have little personal experience to draw on in the story of Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14.  Being a bit of a weather geek, I know the worst part of any tropical storm is the water.  In fact, most of the damage from hurricanes occurs because of tidal flooding or storm surges.  Katrina's destructive power came from the flooding of New Orleans, not the winds.  Hurricane Andrew devastated the Miami area, with most damage occurring because of flooding.  As the hurricane churns the water, the waves become increasingly higher, causing high waves of water to slam into shore when the storm makes landfall.  It causes beach erosion and destroys structures located on the bea...

I love the Indiana Jones movies.  I even like the fourth one that a lot of people hate.  I can't help it.  I love rooting for the whip carrying archaeologist who always seems to fight on the right side of a conflict. Indiana Jones always seems to be outnumbered.  Whether it's fighting Nazis or Russians or whoever those people are in the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones is usually one man against an entire army of villains.  It's fun cinema to watch.  The best part is Indiana Jones always wins. When I study the story of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal (it just sounds like an Indiana Jones movie) in 1 Kings 18, I see a lot of similarities to the fictitious fedora wearing hero.  Elijah took on an entire armada of Baal prophets (450), a huge group of Asherah prophets (400) and the King of Israel.  By my count, that's 851 people who stood opposed to Elijah.  Just like Indiana Jones, Elijah was on the ride side of the conflict....

It's not always being the new kid in town.  I would know.  As a child, my family moved around a lot.  I attended five different schools, and never one school more than three years.  As a result, I was always starting over and trying to belong. When we moved to a house just before my eighth grade year, I found myself starting over again.  After living for a couple of years in an apartment complex, I now resided in a neighborhood.  It was the first time I can remember ever living in a neighborhood. I soon met some of the neighborhood boys and was invited to play baseball.  I met at some guys house, went to his backyard and began to play ball with about 15 other guys.  It was a lot of fun until the neighborhood bully decided to make me a target. He subtly gouged me through the afternoon, and finally, as I rounded the bases after a big hit, he tripped me.  Angry, I pushed him to the ground.  I wasn't looking ...