The Bounce Back Factor Revisited

As I was preparing for this week's message, I did a little search of all of the previous posts with the goal in mind of not repeating myself in sharing an encouraging message of hope. I found two previous FTMs with the idea of "bouncing back" from adversity and affliction as the base topic, yet I believe today's "bounce" message compliments the two previous posts and the idea of getting back up when you get knocked down can't be stressed too much! Adversity comes to us all, that's not being pessimistic, just being real. How each of us handles that adversity is where the "rubber" hits the road ... and then bounces back up! I hope you enjoy today's scriptures  and the song lyrics I've linked to today's bouncing back message of hope as much as I have, all I can say is "Thank you Lord!" Enjoy the read. 

The Apostle Paul serves as an excellent example of a "bounce back" kinda guy or gal in the Bible. Not that there isn't a plethora of other candidates, Joseph, Moses, David, Esther, Ruth, Peter, and most certainly Jesus just to name a few, but what motivates me from the life of Paul is how he was transformed through adversity to move from persecutor of Christians to the man credited with writing the majority of the New Testament. That transformation is what I want to focus on today. I want to suggest that the through the adversity Paul endured, he was being formulated and solidified into an amazing advocate for Christianity. In other words, without the negative Paul may have never learned to bounce back to where he was supposed to be in God's kingdom. 

I think we all would agree, rubber is one of the most bounciest substances we have at our disposal. The elasticity and durability of rubber is accomplished through a multi-step process in which the raw substance is transformed to the rubber bouncy ball I've mentioned. Let's just say there's quite a bit of stretching and enduring heat involved in the drawn out process. That provides us with our comparison of the process by which we ourselves become more elastic and more capable of bouncing back and bouncing higher depending on how well we embrace the process of us becoming more of what God intended us to be. Key concept to remember here: without the multi-step process of creating rubber, rubber just remains a sticky tree sap. We too won't become a person who can "bounce back" from the adversities of life unless we have developed the necessary growth mindset through those downward trajectory events in our lives that allow us to go through the process of learning how to bounce back from the adversity or afflictions we must endure and eventually overcome. 

Paul's transformation is a prime example of how God uses this process of taking the sticky tree sap of our souls and converting it to a bounce back type of man or woman. Paul's life teaches us that we must take adversity and not only embrace it as an opportunity to grow, but also realize that without that adversity we really don't have a life to transform. In II Corinthians 6:1-10 Paul describes how the hard times are what allowed him to appreciate the better times and how through adverse conditions he was then enabled to see the positive outcomes from his life's situations. In verses 1-7 Paul sets the stage for his statement of faith by sharing an overview of what endurance and perseverance look like in the face of adversity: "As God's co-workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "in the time of my favor I heard you and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;" II Corinthians 6:1-7. From there the rest of today's scripture provides a rhythmic visual of how life's challenges may become the impetus by which transformation begins. "Through glory and dishonor (bounce), bad report and good report, (bounce), genuine, yet regarded as imposters, (bounce), known, yet regarded as unknown; (bounce) dying, and yet we live on; (bounce) beaten, and yet not killed; (bounce) sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, (bounce), yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (bounce). Can we all come to an agreement and admit that without the hard and challenging times in this world that we endure, the more challenging it will be for us to overcome the obstacles we face in our life's journey. It is essential that we learn to bounce and recover to move forward and succeed.   

To bring today's message to a close I want to share a song with the lyrics that I feel captures the essence of the positive benefits of not just enduring but growing through the adversities in our lives. Musical artists Ben Fuller and Carrie Underwood have a duet that shares the message that although we would all like to think that an easy road with no potholes or detours would be best, without us learning how to grow through adversity we lose the opportunity to experience God's grace and His love. His love for us holds us up and illuminates our path so that we can see that the light is not at the end of the tunnel, but instead His light is there with us in the tunnels of life. Embrace the struggle, persevere to prosper, and endure to achieve everlasting! Enjoy the ride. 

"If It Was Up to Me"

Coach Carter

What'cha Gonna Do?

 Each morning that you wake, I hope you realize what a precious gift you have been given. Us waking up today is a gift, there is no guarantee or promise about tomorrow, we just assume we are going to wake up and go about the business of our daily lives. If you are one of the lucky ones, you have landed on the realization that God graciously gives us each new day, hence we should be showing our gratitude and giving thanks for the day that has been given to us to live out. The fact that so many people don't stop to think about the gift of a new day each day that we live is one thing, but to not do something that will grow you and benefit others is the topic of our time together today. I'd like to pose a little different view to be considered. Realizing that each day is a gift is essential to living our life for God, yet if we can move from realizing the gift of today, to a deeper understanding of defining our purpose in each new day, that notches up our plans for each day that we live. You've been given the gift of today, "What'cha going do with it?

The most basic response to the aforementioned question would be "I'm going to live it" . I agree, but on a different level what does "living life" look like from God's eternal viewpoint. What am I going to do today that is going to leave a lasting, positive, impact on this world in which we live? I would like to propose that there are four basic approaches to accepting the gift of each new day we encounter. We can waste it, we can ignore it, misuse it, or we can take it and run with it. Let's briefly look at each response to our new day approach and see where we each are and where we want to move to on the spectrum of living out the best in each day we are gifted. 

What does it mean to waste a day? When we get out of bed and head to school, work, or wherever you go on a day to day regular basis, you have a purpose, some fulfill that purpose while others "waste" the gift that they have been given. Consider this, the average person spends close to 2 1/2 hours scrolling, commenting, and liking social media sites. Add to that another 3 1/2 hours sitting in front of a television each day. Understanding that most people sleep on average 6 to 7 hours each day so available waking hours equal 18 hours available in a day. If a person spends six hours a day with a screen of some sort glued to their faces, then you can estimate that people on average give up one third of their waking hours to a screen with no productive outcome as an end result of the time invested. Ask yourself this question, what positive impact is achieved by scrolling social media sites or mindlessly absorbing myself into a binge session of Netflix? It's entertainment, I get it, but when we are committing a third of our waking hours to something that doesn't  produce a benefit to self or society it may be time to realign our routines or priorities. "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14. Your time here on earth is finite, don't waste it!

Ignoring the gift of today simply means we don't understand how fortunate we are to have been given a new day each morning that we rise. Today (not tomorrow), is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24. Do you go through the motions of living each day or do you live each day to its fullest because you know there is no guarantee of a tomorrow. If you are someone who procrastinates and says "I'll do that when I get around to it" then my advice is start getting around to it today! Keep in mind the gift isn't somewhere down the road, no my friend, the day you have been given is sitting right there in your lap. If you don't make plans for things you want to get done, my advice would be to create a list and start marking things off while you have been given this day to do them. 

Along similar lines to wasting a day or ignoring the gift of each new day, some folks have a tendency to misuse the day they have been given. If the majority of your waking hours are spent on yourself and your wants in life, then you aren't fulfilling your life's purpose and or calling. The call to serve others is engrained in mankind's existence, with servant leadership being one of the highest callings for any leader to embark upon. Take this example and mirror it in your own life. In John 13:1-17 we find a grand example of servant leadership not misusing time or purpose. Jesus was hosting the last meal that He would have with His disciples, serving rather than being served. Alongside the communion of bread and wine, Jesus gave His disciples an example to follow in what servant leadership looked like. Keep in mind, Jesus knew His days on this earth were narrowing down swiftly, yet Jesus used this day to teach others how to serve others. Jesus humbled Himself and washed the feet of the disciples. After finishing Jesus gave this directive, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's fee. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." John 13:14-17. Truly, serving others is not a misuse of the day that you have been given today!

Finally, the fourth option for how we can choose to spend this day that we have been given. Clearly the path to not wasting a day can be found in how well we impact the lives of others each new day we have been given. Jesus knew His purpose in coming to this world was to wind up being a sacrifice for this world. What did He do knowing His time was limited? He taught others how to live a life focused on serving and teaching others. Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and taught us all how to forgive others for doing us wrong. Jesus didn't take time off to relax or enjoy this world, instead Jesus spent His time here preparing others on how to live a life worth living serving others and giving back for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10. There is no "i" in the word serve! Use your days wisely, give to others and you will be blessed!

Coach Carter

Cross Examined

 "The first one to plead his case seems right, until another comes and cross-examines him." Proverbs 18:17

Over the years I can't even guess how many times I've made the statement, "Well, there's two sides to every story" while working in the world of education. Students arguing with each other, parents relaying their child's rendition of an event at school the prior day, and myriad other instances of "he said", "she said" encounters. I guess this type of behavior is to be expected with our school aged children, yet the real problem is that this isn't a phenomenon relegated only to playground scuffles and cafeteria messes. We have become a society of hear it and believe it rather than a world where a story has to be confirmed first before we account it as true. How would that work in a court of law, if the prosecutor only had to stand up and proclaim that the defendant is guilty? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty thankful for the process of cross-examination. I contend that if we did a little more listening and a little less time condemning, the world might be a little less conflicted. 

I don't have a statistic, not sure how I would validate one, but my estimation is that as a world we are a little too quick to pass judgement before the full story has been presented. As a society we hear something and we accept it as the "whole truth and nothing but the truth", although we may have just heard one side of the story. In the world we live today with instant communication channels through the internet and social media, it is easy to mistake an opinion with a fact. Many of our "news" sources today are nothing more than one end of the geo-political views spectrum or the other. Jumping to conclusions before we have all the factual information to make an informed decision is something that would not fare well in a court of law nor does it produce positive outcomes in our relationships on a day to day basis. In a world where information is accessible in an instant, we are better served to slow down and listen to the whole story before we draw our conclusions and invoke our verdict of innocence or guilt. 

I believe we would all be better served if we followed the advice found in the Book of James "My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger." James 1:19 ERV. Listen more than we speak? Wouldn't that be a novel approach to sifting through the facts being presented in our one sided transcript of the story. Let's weave the two scriptures we have referenced today together. Here's what I came up with: After the first person presents their side of the story, slow down and listen to the other side of the story before you ever start to draw your conclusions on what actually happened. Giving the other side of the story an opportunity to be expressed does require us to be active listeners. We can't just hear the side we want to hear and then draw our conclusions even while we are supposed to be listening to the other side of the story. Active listening means we won't quickly settle on our decision until both sides have fully shared the facts. Being slow to speak and quick to listen keeps us from getting angry over what we perceive to be the truth. Recently, I have found myself relinquishing the truth that perception has became reality, and that perception is founded in quick one-sided presentations of the truth in many instances. We as a society have stopped proving things to be true and have adopted a mentality that if I heard it, it must be true. Media today quickly proves that to be an incorrect statement and a dangerous slippery slope to travel. 

The good news here is we don't have to make rash decisions. We have been given two ears to listen with and one mouth to speak with. Just as the words of James 1:19 challenge us to listen twice as much as we talk, if we are going to be listening more then we are drawing our conclusions then hopefully we will be quick to hear both sides of the story before we pass our own verdict. Always, always keep in mind there are two sides to every story so it is our duty to examine and then cross examine! 

Coach Carter

The More Things Change ...

 There's an old saying that the more things change the more they stay the same. The premise of this old adage is that although this world is continually advancing, maybe a little too fast in my opinion,  the core foundations and principles that balance this world stay pretty much the same. Clothing styles have drastically changed over my lifetime, yet basically outfits still consist of a top, a bottom, and accessories such as shoes and belts or purses and other accouterments. Another example of this adage can be found in the auto industry. Sure we have electric and self-driving vehicles today, but at the base level these vehicles still have four wheels, some type of motor, and inside almost any car you can find there is a radio situated on the dash somewhere. The life we are living fits into this category as well. The more society changes, the more people change and the more we learn to adapt to the new normal, the more things ultimately remain the same.

As we consider the concept of things changing while at the same time remaining the same, I'd like to share a story from the Bible that spotlights how in days of old and down through the history of man this theory proves itself to be as relevant then as it is still today. (The more things change the more they stay the same!) This particular story circles around a theme of coveting what our neighbor has. King David was a powerful and mighty ruler for the Kingdom of Israel. You could hypothesize that David could pretty much breathe the words. "I want ..." and there would be a host of servants readily beckoning his every desire. Some may be familiar with this not so glorious chapter from King David's life, so I will hit the high water marks from this II Samuel chapters 11-12 saga for the sake of respecting our time together today. While David was meandering around on a nighttime rooftop walk, he noticed a woman bathing on a nearby rooftop. She, Bathsheba, was beautiful and the King "wanted" her. His servants brought Bathsheba to his quarters, David took her and she ultimately became pregnant with David's baby. The problem was Bathsheba was a married woman. Her husband Uriah was a soldier fighting in King David's army. After David tried to conceal, unsuccessfully, the sinful betrayal by trying to get Uriah to be with his wife after bringing him home for a furlough from the fighting, the king gave orders to have Uriah sent to the front lines of the battle and ensure he would be killed in the line of duty to his country and king. This happened and David married Bathsheba, their child was born, but soon thereafter the child became sick and died as predicted by the prophet Nathan. This was definitely not a high water mark for the same man who slayed Goliath and scribed a vast number of the psalms filled with praises and worship to our God. This constitutes a firm example of the covetousness of man and leads us into how things may have changed today, but ultimately I believe you will agree they pretty much remain the same. 

Coveting by definition means an intense desire for something that belongs to someone else. In our society today covetousness rears its ugly head in so much of our daily culture today. Our neighbor gets a new ride, we have to get a newer ride. A five bathroom house goes up in our neighborhood and suddenly we have a "need" for a six bathroom house, even if there are only four people living in the house! Or, if we see that the biggest celebrity star just purchased a new custom designed Italian dress, we would do anything to have one just like hers! But our covetousness has found a totally new way of being expressed. Social media has created a global world at our fingertips where we can connect with anyone and or groups of thousands anywhere at any given moment. What that has created is a world where we want more symbols of acceptance than the person we envy and want to outperform on our site of choice. This envy runs deep creating our example of the covetousness of man in today's world. We want what someone else has whether it is the number of followers or if it is the total of likes our posting receives. The extreme measures that David resorted to may seem unrealistic in today's society, yet if we step back and reflect, the extent to which society is willing to go to reach their personal milestones may reveal that we are not a society far removed from the world of the ancient King David. The more things change the more they stay the same. 

So, some of our reading audience may be thinking, "I thought Flat Tire Ministries was supposed to be inspiring??" Not so much so far but, you are one hundred percent correct. Although the context of our message today has been a not so positive reflection on the nature of man, the potential for a positive outcome is most certainly readily available. The impetus for today's message was berthed in a resoundingly truthful scripture found in the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8. The more this world advances, and as the reliance on technology and technological advances decreases the desire to stay founded in a faith that places trust and hope in things that may be unseen to the human eye, but all along things do remain the same! (Hebrews 11:1). The covetousness of King David cost him the death of a son, yet after David sought redemption from his sin, Bathsheba bore him another son that would go on to become known to mankind as one of the wisest men in history, King Solomon. And that same redemption from our sins is available to you and I today. 

Maybe your conviction isn't covetedness, it really doesn't matter, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). The sins of today are packaged in material purchases, the chase for non-tangible riches, and the lure of the ways of this world we live in, yet on a basic level they are still connected to the sins that have trapped humans throughout the annals of history. Although the sin remains the same regardless of how different it looks today, the loving mercy and grace of God has never changed and it remains unchanging today. As a matter of fact, the love of God displayed in the embodiment of the Son of God remains the same yesterday, and today, and forever! Knock, seek, and you will find Him, today, yesterday, and forever! Amen. 

Coach Carter