Why so many ignore God's Invitation

Here is a line from one scene in the movie: God's Not Dead.  The son is speaking to his mother, making the old argument that life without God can be better than life with God...


Mark: You prayed and believed your whole life. Never done anything wrong. And here you are. You're the nicest person I know. I am the meanest. You have dementia. My life is perfect. Explain that to me!



Mark and Mina's Mother: Sometimes the devil allows people to live a life free of trouble because he doesn't want them turning to God. Their sin is like a jail cell, except it is all nice and comfy and there doesn't seem to be any reason to leave. The door's wide open. Till one day, time runs out, and the cell door slams shut, and suddenly it's too late.


The movie does an excellent job explaining that the rewards for a life with God sometimes occur after death---eternal life of our spirit and peace in heaven. And, that rewards for a life without God sometimes come from God's enemy who God has given temporary power on Earth so that we have a free choice between good and evil. God's enemy is "Prince of this World" and he sets a "trap" for those who choose to ignore God's invitation.


I highly recommend the movie.  Anti-Christians hate the movie because it makes a powerful and effective case of why it is important to have a relationship with God and Jesus Christ.  The only response the Anti-Christians can make is to mock it.

New Book--Restoration: God's Plan for America

Been working on this book on and off for more than two years. Finally was able to finish over this winter.

If you are even a little concerned about the direction of our great country, it might be an interesting read.

Click on the links for more info.

Book Preview Page

Amazon Author Page

End of a Racing Career

With deep sadness I must announce that I am “out for the season” due to a seriously broken wrist.  I would appreciate your prayers for healing. I broke the scaphoid bone, one of the small ones in the wrist and chipped off a piece of the big arm bone that it connects to.  (Riding lawn mower tractors can be dangerous when you hit a tree stump at full speed!)

The injury was more severe than I expected and the healing time longer due to my being a 63 year old man.  I'm pretty sure that 30 years ago, the incident would have been just a sprain. But we get more brittle as we age. Therefore, it has caused me to evaluate the wisdom of my exposing myself to potential injuries from unavoidable future track incidents.  So, I have decided that my racing “career” is permanently over and I am selling my car and equipment. I will continue to make myself available as a Chaplain to anyone who needs to talk with someone about how competitive racing can fit into a rewarding and successful life as a believer in Jesus Christ.

I started racing in Detroit in 1970, converting my '67 Mustang to a drag race configuration.  Decided it was not something I could afford while supporting a family, so the next phase came in 1985,  driving a Camaro in SCCA GT-1 and Trans-Am Series. I won the SCCA's Southwest Region Championship. Moved on to Formula Ford and Formula Vee in SCCA in 1986, with one pro race in FF2000 at Sanair in Canada. Then into NASCAR Winston Cup in 1987 where I crashed hard at Rockingham with resulting broken bones. Returning in 1988, I decided that I would never be competitive as a professional driver at the highest levels and lost interest in racing until 2011 when I bought a Formula Vee. In 2012, the Vortech Formula Vee and I won two out of six races at Summit Point.  In 2013, I purchased a Legends Car and raced at local dirt tracks in Central Pennsylvania. Legends Cars are a lot of fun and very challenging, but there is a lot of car contact that can be rough on a old man's body. Like football, it is probably better suited to younger men.

So all good things come to an end. Perhaps 8 years of on track competitive racing over a 44 year period is enough risk.  Praise God that he has protected me all of those years--despite lots of "incidents" and crashes, I was seriously injured only once, and recovered without too much residual effects.

But, modern technology allows the old racer a wonderful opportunity--on line racing using sophisticated virtual reality equipment. IRACING using computers and racing simulators that even provide road feel and g-forces! So, we can keep seeking mastery without the risk of breaking bones.

BTW, top prize money for oval track IRACING is $10,000. And, top prize money for open wheel road IRACING is $10,000. And, there are almost 50,000 drivers participating from all over the world.  

Confronting Injustice

Many times, Christian behavior is criticized because it is inconsistent with a common mis-perception that Christians are supposed to passively take whatever is dished out and to meekly sit by and witness injustice without any action beyond prayer.

As a follower of Christ, we are to be "Christ-like" and to the best of our ability live according to his teachings.  Christ never taught us to avoid "rocking the boat".

A careful reading of scripture brings to light the fact the while Jesus condemned violence, he did not ignore injustice and when improper behavior rose to a certain level--he was even capable of visible display of anger.  I believe that Christ taught his followers to stand up to injustice and bullying--to confront it in a non-violent "loving" way, without being threatening, but standing firm--and strong with visible courage.

When Jesus entered the Temple and witnessed the focus in the House of God on commerce rather than prayer, he confronted the activity with anger overturning the moneychanger's tables.

When Jesus witnessed the crowd threatening to stone the prostitute, he confronted the hypocritical aspect of the injustice by challenging the crowd with their hypocrisy. "He who is without sin, cast the first stone".

His teachings, many times have hidden meanings. Following is a perspective on the real meaning and purpose of "turning the other cheek".

Here is an article I ran into on a couple of  Christian websites attributed to Marcus Borg.

THE TRUE MEANING OF TURN THE OTHER CHEEK

By Marcus Borg   http://www.marcusjborg.com/my-books/

Both the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi said Jesus' Sermon on the Mount provided the foundation for their political protests. Yet the Sermon on the Mount seems to recommend passive acceptance of injustice and oppression.

According to Matthew 5:39-41, Jesus says:

If any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.

If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give him your cloak as well.

If any one forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.

For much of Christian history, people have heard these verses as affirming political acquiescence, not active resistance. Yet King and Gandhi interpreted Jesus as justifying political action. Which interpretation was right? Recent Jesus scholarship suggests these verses are creative non-violent strategies of protesting oppression. Such is the persuasive argument of New Testament scholar Walter Wink.

In his books "Engaging the Powers" and "The Powers That Be," Wink argues that Jesus rejected two common ways of responding to injustice: violent resistance and passive acceptance. Instead, Jesus advocated a "third way," an assertive but non-violent form of protest.

 

The key to understanding Wink's argument is rigorous attention to the social customs of the Jewish homeland in the first century and what these sayings would have meant in that context.

To illustrate with the saying about turning the other cheek: it specifies that the person has been struck on the right cheek. How can you be struck on the right cheek? As Wink emphasizes, you have to act this out in order to get the point: you can be struck on the right cheek only by an overhand blow with the left hand, or with a backhand blow from the right hand. (Try it). 

  

But in that world, people did not use the left hand to strike people. It was reserved for "unseemly" uses. Thus, being struck on the right cheek meant that one had been backhanded with the right hand. Given the social customs of the day, a backhand blow was the way a superior hit an inferior, whereas one fought social equals with fists.

This means the saying presupposes a setting in which a superior is beating a peasant. What should the peasant do? "Turn the other cheek." What would be the effect? The only way the superior could continue the beating would be with an overhand blow with the fist--which would have meant treating the peasant as an equal.

Perhaps the beating would not have been stopped by this. But for the superior, it would at the very least have been disconcerting: he could continue the beating only by treating the peasant as a social peer. As Wink puts it, the peasant was in effect saying, "I am your equal. I refuse to be humiliated anymore." That is not all. The sayings about "going the second mile" and "giving your cloak to one who sues you for your coat" make a similar point: they suggest creative non-violent ways of protesting oppression.

Roman law permitted soldiers to force civilians to carry their gear for one mile, but because of abuses stringently prohibited more than one mile. If they ask you to do that, Jesus says, go ahead; but then carry their gear a second mile. Put them in a disconcerting situation: either they risk getting in trouble, or they will have to wrestle their gear back from you.

Under civil law, a coat could be confiscated for non-payment of debt. For the poor, the coat often also served as a blanket at night. In that world, the only other garment typically worn by a peasant was an inner garment, a cloak. So if they take your coat, Jesus says, give them your cloak as well. "Strip naked," as Wink puts it. Show them what the system is doing to you. Moreover, in that world, nakedness shamed the person who observed it.

Thus, these sayings from the Sermon on the Mount, these seemingly mild sayings, are actually potent ways of confounding and exposing injustice. King and Gandhi may not have been aware of the finer points of modern Biblical scholarship, but they were no doubt clear that Jesus was counseling a radical new way of empowering the underclass.

And so, those little verses from the Gospel of Matthew are the foundation upon which King and Gandhi built their world-moving campaigns for social justice.

Qualifying for the ‘A’ Main Event

Message given during "Racer's Church" by Wayne Strout as Co-Chaplain at Dirt Trackin Show 2014, York , PA

As racers, our goal is to “get into” the “A Main” feature race of the night.  In other words to “qualify” for the most important part of the event.  We first must run in the Heat race to which we are assigned, running against many opponents and having to overcome the challenges of that competition in order to finish well enough to “get into” or “qualify” for the Main Event.

In many ways, the Heat race illustrates real life.

The Bible even uses a similar illustration in scripture, Hebrews 12 where we are reminded: “And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (Yes, the Bible acknowledges that racing is a part of living! Our lives, in fact are the “race God has set before us”!)

In real life, the Main Event is everlasting life in Heaven with God. And, what we do in our daily lives is all about our “running with endurance the race God has set before us”. In real life here on Earth, our daily lives are our running the Heat race in order to qualify for the Main Event.

So how do we finish well enough in the Heat race of life in order to “qualify” for entrance to Heaven?

That’s what the wonderful “Gospel” or “Good News” is all about.  God himself came to Earth as a man, God’s Son, by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He allowed himself to suffer pain and death. He then caused himself to be raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven. This is the famous scripture, John 3:16  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

In order to “qualify” for the Main Event and get into Heaven, having everlasting life with God, all you need to do is “believe in Jesus Christ” and follow him.  Jesus said as is written in scripture, Matthew 11: 28-30 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls; For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. “ and in John 10:11, 7-28 Jesus says “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep“ and “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

So to “qualify” we must “accept, believe and follow”.   Accepting and Believing is the first step. Following is what, as believers, we are expected to do in order to “qualify”—“running with endurance the race God has set before us”---in other words---the rest of our lives here on Earth.

Does that mean we have to be “religious”????

No…it means that we have to have a “personal relationship with God”, “believe and follow Jesus” and live our lives according to the two most important and simple commandments:

Love God with all our heart…and do our best to please him as we would our loving Father.

Love one another here on Earth, as Jesus loved us when he sacrificed himself on the Cross.

In other words, live our lives, running our race, putting God and others ahead of ourselves.

The way we maintain a “personal relationship” with God is to pray regularly as well as to read and study the Bible.

The “Good News” is that once we decide to “believe and follow”,  God will send, in Jesus’s name, a “helper”, the Holy Spirit that will help us to follow these commandments. The Holy Spirit also will help us to understand the Word of God as written in the Bible---words that were meaningless before we accepted Jesus now “come alive” and we are now able to understand the message.  Sort of like getting special fuel, giving us more horsepower.  God knows, like sheep, we may stumble (like spinning out in a race) but as long as we keep our eyes on him, “believing and following” we will qualify for everlasting life in Heaven with God forever-The Main Event.

And, everybody that qualifies for the Main Event is a Winner!  A Winner, Not Being First.