BERNARD SHUFORD

Sometime back in November or December, I broke my watch band.  Well, the pin came out.  I guess that qualifies as “broke”.  Regardless, the watch became useless, unless one prefers to tote a watch around in one’s pants pocket.  So, I’ve been “watchless”.  I didn’t like it.  Using a cell phone to check the time or the date is a solution, but it’s not very practical in a lot of situations.

So, due to an upcoming piano gig that requires being able to see what time it is, I actually bought a watch.  A Timexs 1440 Sports. Surprisingly, I actually LIKE the watch.  That’s rare – most watches I buy are uncomfortable or simply lack functionality.  This one has good large numbers, a great IndiGlo illumination system, and feels great on my arm.  (It’s also large enough that I think it looks cool – I hate small watches on my arm, as I feel too much like a geek.  Oh, wait.  I am a geek…)

Now it’s much easier to know what time it is.

Normally, the Christian thought here is that “if we Christians knew how close the end is, we’d get up off our duffs and get busy.”  But that’s not what I’m thinking.

My question is this – “What time is it RIGHT NOW?”  What is God’s plan for me RIGHT NOW?  What do I need to do, what do I need to say, who do I need to encourage – RIGHT NOW?

What time is it?

Like

Unlike

I’m a huge fan of flashlights.  Every real man should own at least one, if not two, Brinkmann Pro-Max 3-D flashlights, preferably in black.  The 2-D is acceptable for home use.  The 4-D is just too big, even though it makes a nice nightstick.

However, technology has intervened and made things different.

For one thing, D-cell batteries are incredibly expensive these days.  Well, actually, ALL batteries are expensive, but the small ones cost what the big ones used to cost…

So, enter the new era of LED flashlights.

I’ve got one of the cheapie Brinkmann LED lights, a sort of tatical “look alike”.  But I’m amazed by the fact that there are tactical flashlights out there with five LEDs that are three times as bright as mine.  Those puppies cost $40 or even as much as $60.  Or more.

Just goes to show, if you want to shine brightly, there’s a price to pay. But I’ll guarantee you, if I ever buy such a light, I’ll brag about it.  I’ll probably blog about just how awesome it is.  I’ll show it off to all my friends.  I’ll be amazed.  I’ll want you to be amazed.  I’ll shine it a lot.  I’ll use it instead of turning on the light in the basement.  I’ll shine it into a few folks’ eyes just to aggravate them.

One thing I won’t do, though, is put a piece of duct tape over the lens.

Jesus Christ has already paid the price for our light.  It’s an incredibly bright light, more than any tactical light could ever lay claim to.

As Christians, we spend a lot of time with duct tape over our lens.  Maybe we need to be amazed by the power of the light.

Take off the duct tape.

Like

Unlike

Church shouldn’t be boring. 

However, it’s difficult to avoid boredom for 6 year olds. 

Neither should church be entertaining.  There are more than two choices.

Church should be church.  If we leave saying, “That was AWESOME!”, I wonder what God thinks. 

Shouldn’t we leave church with a clear impression of the majesty and love of God?  Shouldn’t being at church give us the desire to know God more fully? 

I don’t want a church that is boring.  Neither do I want a church that entertains.

Like

Unlike

A good friend of mine – a real world friend (I do actually have some of those, but most of them are too ashamed to admit it…) – posted a question on Facebook yesterday.

“Do you say Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays?”

So, I’ll answer. 

I say “Merry Christmas.”  I don’t think the words “Happy Holidays” have ever left my lips as a serious greeting, although I’ve said it a few times in a sarcastic fashion.

My opinion is this – If someone wishes me “Happy Holidays”, I’m going to assume that they mean it.  I’m going to assume that they want me to have a good time between Thanksgiving and New Years.  I’m going to ignore the possibility that they don’t know about Christ or that they don’t like Christ, and assume that they are wishing me well.  I will utter, in return, a genuine “Merry Christmas”, but just for fun, I might say “Happy Holidays”, simply because Christmas IS a holiday and New Years’ Day IS a holiday, and I hope they have a happy time then as well.  If someone says “Happy Holidays”, I’m going to regard it as an opportunity to be Christlike, even though I’ll probably fail miserably. 

When a cashier bids me adieu with these words, I will consider the fact that she is probably simply trying to keep her job so that she can buy Christmas presents for her kids, and I will not subject her to a tongue lashing for saying the wrong words.  I will allow for the fact that this decision has been made at a level FAR above her pay grade and I will simply say, “Thank you! Merry Christmas!” and try to show her the love of Christ in whatever way I can, even though I’ll probably fail miserably. 

In other words, while I understand that there’s a huge debate about this, Christ will NEVER be removed from MY Christmas, whether I use “X-mas” or “Happy Holidays” or simply “Good morning, mate!”  I will never forget the child that came so that I can be forgiven of my sins, and I will never forget that He came so that the people who say “Happy Holidays” can be forgiven of their sins.  I refuse to stop celebrating the birth of Christ simply because someone says “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”. 

I hope that a LOT of people wish me “Happy Holidays” this year. 

Happy Holidays – let’s celebrate the birth of Christ!

Like

Unlike

I lay in bed last night, flipping through my Bible, my big black King James Study Bible, in search of Scripture references about “creation”.  I’ve found that I “study” my Bible better if I have a topic to pursue, rather than just reading.  (There’s a lot to be said for just “reading”, too, but I LEARN less when I just “read”.) 

As I did this, I thought to myself, “I enjoy this.” 

Somewhere in the midst of that thought and that pleasure, a glimpse of Perry Noble entered my mind. 

If I just study the Bible like this because I enjoy it, I’m likely to consider myself a real Christian, while never doing anything Christlike at all. 

If I just lay around and consume the Bible, I’m going to be spiritually fat but be absolutely useless in the kingdom.

I bet that raises the hackles of some of you.  I understand.  It raises my hackles, too. 

It’s a lot easier to get in a corner and study the Word of God than it is to get out on the streets amongst people that desperately need to know Jesus loves them.  It’s a lot easier to cruise into church on Sunday morning and critique the preacher for T.C. (that’s “Theological Correctness”, to you PC types…) than it is to sit down at McDonald’s with a homeless guy and say “Tell me about your life, bro…”  It’s easy to raise a big leather book in the air and say “THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD!”, but is it so easy to say “I love you, and I want to be Jesus to you” to a pregnant teenager with tears running down her face because her mom and dad have kicked her out of the house. 

I enjoy getting into the Bible.  I think it’s incredibly important that Christians study the Word.  That we KNOW the Word.  And I think KNOW that it’s okay – even mandantory – to ENJOY our relationship with God and getting to know Him through the Word. 

But if we only do the parts that we “enjoy”, then we terribly miss the point. 

Ya think?

Like

Unlike