Skip to main content

What Do We Really Believe?

Last month, when we had that giant storm come through and cause all sorts of ruckus, I was awoken in the middle of the night by my wife saying, ‘There’s a tornado warning. I have all the kids downstairs. You should come downstairs.’ 

Jen and I have been married for over 17 years. We’ve had discussions on what to do in a storm. Despite my tendency to scoff and doubt weathermen, I went downstairs and promptly fell asleep on a couch next to one of the kids. Jen stayed up for a few more hours on high alert.

After about an hour of the roof not falling in around us, I went back to bed, seeking a spot where a child's leg would not be lodged in my back.

I think we discovered our differences in storm situations back when we were engaged. She was spending some time in Florida one summer, when the people on TV started telling us to evacuate to nearby schools because of impending hurricane-like weather. Jen looked to me and asked what we needed to pack and if we had an emergency bag to take along. I just laughed while my dad changed the channel to find something else to watch on TV.

We laugh about it now (well, I laugh about it now) but it’s a perfect example of how our beliefs should dictate our actions. My family didn’t take action that day in Florida because we’d never before been hit. (I know you can say there is always a first time, but that’s for another sermon.) Our actions reflected our beliefs.

We might want to ask ourselves, if all of our actions were written down, what someone reading our story would assume we believe. What do we really believe?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Studies on the Go...Genesis

To be honest, I had not heard of Studies On The Go before being offered a review copy by my god friends at Youth Worker. But since I’m always looking out for study ideas, I said yes to this opportunity. Studies On The Go by Laurie Polich-Short has 30 studies. This particular edition is on the book of Genesis. Any book of the Bible can be daunting when you’re trying to interest and impact teenagers. But Genesis increases that difficulty due to the many questions that arise on the topic of creation. On top of that, you have the many stories of questionable characters that we often call heroes of the faith. Each study comes with great questions, not mindless Sunday School questions where every answer is Jesus. They also come with an optional activity to take the lesson a step further and create true impact. Add to that a weekly plan for students to go deeper and you have a winner of a study in one little book. If all the book studies are as well done as this one, I’d ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Capable Of?

I fancy myself to be just like Batman...without the money, the cave, the vendetta, the car and the cool belt. Other than that, we're pretty much the same guy. Does it help my case that I have a boy wonder? It's my son, but I'd take him over a dude in green tights any day. I've also imagined myself to be similar to Superman...you know, but without the super strength, speed, or that thing he can do with his eyes. Oh, and I'm also not from another planet. But he was a reporter and I like to write, though that hasn't been proven much by my blog. At least, not compared to what I used to write. The first time I write this post, it sounded like an apology. But that's not really the message I want to convey. Yes, I wish I were posting more. I also wish I had super strength or a cool utility belt, but those things aren't happening right now either. Maybe some day . The truth is I have been keeping busy. I'm not sitting back, sipping lemonade. I've never c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more