August 18, 2012   

Today's Photograph . . . . Don't Get Sucked Into Trying To Share Your Faith Through The Glitzy (Dave M)

Bible Study Verses  

I Corinthians 1:25-28

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not -to nullify the things that are. (NIV)

Thoughts 

I had to chuckle recently with an event that involved my son.  We live on a pretty large inland lake in northern Michigan, and to start off bass season, our lake association hosted a tournament on the lake.  It's a nice kick-off to the summer and brings in bass fisherman from around the Midwest.  The bass tournament was a one day tournament on Sunday.  Bass season opened on Saturday, so this gave all the fishermen one day to scout out the lake and find the fish.

So, here it was Saturday morning, and my son decided that he wanted to go out bass fishing with a buddy of his.  The two of them took off fishing in their high powered paddle boat. Yep, that's right, paddle boat.  There were lots of high-tech super geared and outfitted bass boats flying around our lake trying to find the best spots for the fish, and in sharp contrast, Caleb and Toby were tooling around our end of the lake based on the power of their legs. 

At one point, one of the bass boats pulled up to my son and Toby and asked them if they were catching any bass.  They ended up having a lengthy conversation about the bass and their beds and how much longer the bass would be up in the shallow water.  Here was the pro in his super powered boat that had everything imaginable on it, and he was asking two teenage boys on a paddle boat where to catch fish. 

I'm not sure how the other guys did in the tournament on Sunday, but I know Caleb and his buddy maxed out for the day with their catch - a nice stringer of bass - all with good size.

(Dave M)

Action Point

God doesn't need flashy, and He doesn't need glitzy.  In the fishing world, the boys would have been laughed at, if they would have shown up to a fishing tournament in a paddle boat. 

However, they were "on the fish" in their ever so simple way of doing it.  Don't get sucked into trying to share your faith through the glitzy, personally or in your church. 

There's nothing wrong with media, powerpoints, high quality music, but it's about the message - a very simple message: God loved you so much that He gave his one and only son as a sacrifice for you.  He has provided a way to Him and eternal life simply by believing that His son, Jesus Christ, was sent to save you from your sins.  It doesn't have to be complex, and it doesn't have to be showy ----just believe in Him.

Sportsmen's Tip of the Day
Understanding the cycle of fish will help you catch them.   Find out when the fish are spawning, and you'll be able to find fish.