No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Cor. 9:27
I hated daily doubles. As a freshman in high school, going out for the football team meant that before the school year even started, we would be called upon to go to the school for twice daily intense workouts. Mind you, this was in the hottest part of the summer. I remember being so overheated by the sun and by the workouts that I thought my head would explode. I dropped out of football my sophomore year. In truth, I probably would have continued with football, in spite of daily doubles, if it weren’t for my desire to make money! These were the weeks I made the most money all summer long working 80 hours a week selling corn dogs at the Oregon State Fair. I couldn’t see giving up that kind of money, making time and a half (which brought my wage up to more than $6 an hour!!!), to go workout in the hot sun for nothin’. Funny, I was willing to work the long hours for money, but not for football. Looking back, I now see that the money was far less significant than I thought it was then. I regret dropping out of football. Not that I would have ever gone on to greatness, but that I missed out on the joy of the competition, camaraderie, sport. Isn’t this true about all areas of life? For some things we are unwilling to sacrifice even a little, whereas we will sacrifice significantly for others. It’s all about priorities, values, desire. We are often willing to go to great lengths for the sake of the things that are most important to us. It is for this reason that, this morning, I was feeling especially convicted by Paul’s words above. Beat my body? I don’t think he’s talking about self-harm here. But I do think he’s talking about self-discipline. What is the context of this self-discipline? Why is it that he’s willing to undergo such extreme discomfort? One word: The Gospel. Alright, I guess that’s two words. But you get the point. If you read the entire chapter (I invite you to do so right now; go on, pause this blog and read 1 Corinthians 9) you find that it is for the sake of the Gospel, the Kingdom, Christ’s mission, that Paul is willing to discipline himself. A few years back, I had the privilege of joining Ranger Rick, my favorite hiking guide, on a gentle walk to the floor of the Grand Canyon (see pic above), then back up again (barely). Leading up to this trip, I disciplined myself to engage in some difficult hikes here in the PNW. There were times, on those hikes, especially when I was nearing the peaks, that I had to push myself to keep going, even though my legs felt like jelly and my chest was heaving with every breath. Why did I do it? I had a goal, a purpose, something I wanted enough to put up with the pain. What are the goals, in your life, for which you are willing to sacrifice? What are the things for which you are willing to rise early or go hard or make and follow through on commitments? Or maybe it’s a more indirect kind of discipline, like devotion to your 9-5 to make the funds to buy what it is that you really, really want. I wonder if there are any things in our lives for which we might look back, years from now, and wish that we’d chosen to invest ourselves differently, like me with daily doubles? I wonder if we will ever wonder why we gave so much to things that were so relatively insignificant? One thing I know full well, I’ve never regretted investments I’ve made in the kingdom of Christ. Never! The joy of seeing new life arise in another, to see hope replace hopelessness in someone with whom I’ve shared the Gospel (and my life), is always worth the investment. The blessings of growing together in Christ with His people is always worth the sacrifices of my time and money. The peace I derive from prioritizing daily time in Christ’s presence (when I do so!) is always worth the sacrifice. No regrets. It takes me back to words I read decades ago in Jerry Bridges spiritual classic, The Pursuit of Holiness: "There is no place for laziness and indulgence of the body in a disciplined pursuit of holiness. We have to learn to say no to the body instead of continually giving in to its momentary desires. We tend to act according to our feelings. The trouble is, we seldom “feel” like doing what we should do. We don’t feel like getting out of bed to have our morning time with God, or doing Bible study, or praying, or anything else we should do. That is why we have to take control of our bodies and make them our servants instead of our masters." I don’t know what this would look like for you. I am guessing that for all of us it may look a little different. But one thing’s for sure, there is no place for laziness in the pursuit of Christ and His Kingdom. My prayer for you is the same as the prayer I prayed for myself this morning: that God would help me to prioritize those things that matter to His kingdom and let me learn to say yes to Kingdom things and no to that which distracts, deters or even disqualifies me from the race to which I’ve been called.
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The following is Pastor Dan's report on worship for the Renton Bible Church Annual Meeting March 21, 2021
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The opening lines from Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities seems the appropriate way to begin our worship report for 2020. Truly, we started on a jubilant note with our very first worship service in our new sanctuary (2/9/20). What an awesome celebration of all God accomplished in our body! With the advent of Covid, however, our worship went in a direction we never could have anticipated. A worship service without any congregants physically present? Preaching to an empty sanctuary? An entire congregation worshiping virtually? Yet, in spite of the very strange journey 2020 has taken us on, we must rejoice in God’s faithfulness. Certainly, we are grateful for the protection we’ve experienced from Covid. A handful of our members have been sickened, but none seriously. And God has preserved us from any outbreaks. Yet, by His grace, every Sunday at 10:30am found us praising God in the sanctuary and preaching the Word. Granted, it’s taken many forms, from worship with the Von Gannon family (plus techs) to socially distanced worship to worship with a single vocalist and pianist. But week in and week out, worship has continued and our body has gathered whether in-person or on-line. It goes without saying that one of the most significant blessings of this strange time has been the way our faithful tech workers have enabled us to live stream our services. I cannot begin to tell you how many struggles I’ve heard about from fellow pastors regarding their live streams. Of course, we would have survived if we had such struggles. Yet, the level of success we’ve enjoyed technologically has been such an encouragement. Praise be to God! The blessings haven’t been confined to preaching and praise. It’s been so encouraging to be able to offer children’s programming each Sunday in Kids Grow, thanks to our faithful volunteers. It’s also been encouraging to see the many who have continued work on our expansion, including a whole lot of painting and the installation of a beautiful cross. Certainly, we rejoice in the special celebrations we’ve been able to take part in including the beauty of baptism and the commitment to growing together in the welcoming of new members. It’s hard to say what 2021 will look like. Our prayer is that we will be able to see all of our Sunday morning ministries fully functioning to the glory of God! After a 2020 Easter service limited to virtual attendance, we are so grateful, for 2021, to be able to offer an in-person (and on-line) celebration of Christ’s death, on Good Friday, and His resurrection, on Easter Sunday. And though postponed for more than a year, we are looking to October for the opportunity to have an official celebration of the completion of our building expansion. Certainly, there are still many unknowns as to how our ministries will continue in 2021, but like the old saying goes, “I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.” God knows…and it’s all in His faithful hands. With thankfulness for all who help to bring us before the throne week in and week-- Pastor Dan Elder over Worship |
Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
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