Friday, March 30, 2012

Fix It on the Go

I love late winter because baseball comes back to life. Now it's spring and the MLB season is just days away. Actually, two teams went to Japan this week to start the season. Everyone else starts next week.

Riley's team has been practicing for about six weeks. We (I can say "we" because I'm the assistant coach!) are in a pre-season tournament this weekend. The Rockets won the game last night. The boys hit pretty good, ran bases pretty good, fielded really well, and pitched great. Still room for improvements and we'll work on that.

The next game is tonight then a full day tomorrow if we keep winning.

The tweaks we need to do will have to happen on the fly - no much time for practices once the season starts. It's like working on the car engine while driving 50 mph down the road.

My spiritual life is like that, too. You don't many days off spiritually. It's a battle every day for every believer. It's good to go on retreats or to conferences but those are special occasions, not everyday events.

My advice: take advantage of the special occasions but don't count only on them. You'll have to work on your spiritual walk daily. And get some help. Your pastor will help. Your Christians friends can be a great resource.

The two indispensable keys to a healthy spiritual life are prayer and Bible study. You need to experience these two things privately and corporately. So start the discipline of a daily quiet time where you can spend a few minutes in prayer and Bible study, preferably before your daily schedule takes off. Then gather with other believers frequently to do the same.

Speaking of gather with other believers, did you know that most church-goers consider themselves "regular attenders" if they attend once a month. Let me suggest that that's not enough. Actually, once a week is weak. If your pastor is like me, he has a teaching plan that intentionally moves toward a discipleship goal. For example, I'm preaching through the book of Mark on Sunday mornings leading up to Easter to show how Jesus is active in our lives especially to the point of salvation. And on Wednesday nights I'm teaching on prayer using passages throughout the Bible to bring out principles for daily living. If you only come once a week you will miss some important teaching. If you only come once a month you won't get much at all.

Then think about the value of being in a Sunday Morning Bible Study each week where another series of lessons are designed to help you grow spiritually. But most church-goers miss most of that.

One more thing, being in the building does not quality as going to church and gathering with believers for prayer and Bible study. Everybody needs to sit under the teaching of the pastor regularly.

So, pull into the garage when you can but realize that most of your spiritual growth will happen as you are racing through life - when you can immediately apply what you are learning.

Go Rockets!

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