It's Not The Title You Hold, But How You Hold The Title

Image Courtesy of Great Lakes Voice 

Lance Armstrong was crowned Tour De France Champion for a record seven times until he was stripped of his titles. He held the most prestigious title in the bicycling world until the discovery of his cheating. He held the title seven times temporally and wrongfully. Sadly enough he could have possibly won without cheating, and rather than being noted he would be noted as the biggest let down in cycling's history, he would have been recorded arguably as one of the greatest cyclist of all time. 

We all hold a title of some sort; World Champion, friend, Branch Manager, General Manager, Supervisor of Whatever You Do, so on, and so forth... 

The title that I am personally most thankful for, however, is:

MIC, or aka Most Imperfect Christian. 

The Most Imperfect Christian title assures me that I'm still a child of the ultimate crown holder, that I am a child capable of forgiving, capable of being forgiven, and a child of the undisputed King of kings, Lord of lords (I Timothy 6:15&16), and Most High (Acts 7:48). Therefore, I am a crown holder by being an heir to the King. 

How should we (as His children), hold our crowns? We'll share that in the next one. Until then:

Peace, blessings, and joy... That real PB&J

Ele(mental) Challenges

Some folks get a new ball, and leave the old one out in the cold. Is the ball warped from the beginning, or does it grow warped from being uncared for? If so, perhaps it is time to be rid of it? The imperfect Christian thought about how some friends will do each other that way. We tell each other that we love each other, then bail when things get tough. In most cases we neglect to try or give that friend a choice. Jesus even gave Judas a choice. He knew what choice he was going to make, but He gave him the choice. God could have stopped him, He could stop us all, He did once, it was called the flood. But what is even more amazing... most will walk away from, or push away some, Jesus said to Judas, (paraphrasing) Friend, come do what you have to do. (Matthew 26:50) How amazing is that!? The person that was going to lead Him to death He called, "friend."

Peter is another example. Jesus said in front of all of his friends and cohorts... "Get behind me Satan!" (Matthew 16:23) Peter was hurt, but was strong enough to stay with Jesus and understand that Jesus didn't call him Satan, but rather that Jesus was calling Satan, out. He (Jesus) knew that Peter was influenced by the devil, and was not himself. Peter stayed the course, albeit he drifted, he stayed with Jesus. How many of us stick by friends, when times get tough, and even worse, how many of us stick with Jesus until times get tough. It seems more and more the only time we call on Him, or fellowship with him is when we need something.

Friends will leave you over a political figure. They will ditch you over someone that neither of you even know personally. Out of their element, and into the elements, a storm over something that little know what they are talking about, or whom it is that is involved. Sports are the same way. People argue over who has the best team, or that their favorite player is the best, and when someone disagrees, then they are satan, and no longer their friend. The imperfect challenge is to not sweat the small stuff, and not leave your friends out in the elements. Jesus calmed the storm, and brought His friends in with Him, we should strive to do the same.

Peace, Blessings, and Joy... that real PB&J

From Beneath The Ashes To The Top Of The World!

My looking back over a very memorable day... Ten years seems like ten weeks. The brevity of life amazes me. The thought of death and advancing makes me more appreciative on a daily basis. My 9/11 was not spent in a metropolitan area. My view was not from a skyscraper. My view was from the top of the world today. I washed bikes with my sweetie today. Her little pink bike sparkled, but not nearly as bright as those beautiful little chocolate diamonds that she looks up at her daddy with. I spent a little over an hour on top of the world with a great riding partner, my middle son. We were in top of the world thinking about those atop the World Trade Center Towers ten years ago. We were on top pf the world thinking about how God is the maker of it all, and this is His footstool. (Isaiah 66:1) So even when terrorist try to pull us down, and our problems seem to be out of this world and over our heads, they are just under His feet! I am on top of the world tonight, and sorry for those that are not, because the view from here is lovely! Gods' view is breath taking. That light on the mountain is not just the sun calling my name. But when I see it and get to it, there is an indescribable peace there called home, and from there I hear the voice of Almighty God. You see it's not just my mountain that makes the view captivating, but the Spirit that is within me. Now I will finish the day on top of the world by resting high on that mountain with the woman God ordained me to be with. Good night brothers and sisters, may God bless America, make his face to shine upon you all, and may He grant you all memories of perseverance, love, and true hope that stem from this day that outshine all of the rest!
Peace, Blessings, and Joy... that real PB&J

Are You Quitting!?

The imperfect Christian was blessed with perfect riding weather all weekend!!! He rode 20 miles on the track on Friday, got a nice burn due mostly to not having any pressure in his tires, but by the grace of God, He sent along an experienced rider that had a floor pump in his car. Yes it's the little things in life that mean so much. This fella had blazed past the imperfect Christian like a greyhound with his tail on fire looking for cold water all afternoon. Which in the end helped strike up the conversation that led to the imperfect one getting the assistance he needed. Now that the imperfect Christian is no longer the shy kid that he once was, he had the audacity to approach this speed merchant, and ask a favor. The imperfect Christian complimented the rider on his speed, and technique, got a humble thank you from the other rider, and then politely asked him if he had a pump. The rider was gracious enough to point the imperfect one to his bike transporter (car), where he said he would and did indeed help him with his tire woes. As the experienced rider assisted his ailing new cycling brother, he said, "Wow! you have nearly nothing in the front, and a whopping 30 lbs of pressure in the rear! Now that we have you back up to regulation (100psi), you should go about 10 mph faster!" Saying this with a slight chuckle due to the over exaggeration, and most assuredly to his amazement that I was riding on almost flat tires. I didn't have a pump, or an adapter for the slim (presta) valve stems that are on most top of the line road bikes. What I did have, however, was a willingness to get a few miles in on a gorgeous Friday afternoon.

Saturday was beautiful as well. The imperfect one took his middle son with him on this ride, and they rode the town loop via the Blue Ridge Parkway. One of the best rides that I have been on in a long time! We had the road to ourselves!!! It was great. 16 miles, and a few step climbs, but nothing major. That all changed on Sunday!

Sunday, which was supposed to be the imperfect ones day off, saw the same two father and son combination taking on an even bigger feat! Sunday we decided to try and conquer the mountain. The upside was I had someone to share the agony with, the down side was that it was really agonizing because neither of us had prepared. We didn't hydrate properly or have any lunch, and it showed when we started climbing. Anxiety set in, and the hunger made us weaker by the second. The imperfect one thought to himself as he was writing this blog... "Self we were only riding bikes, I can't imagine what those Chilean miners had going through there minds!" The miners were reported to have had suicidal thoughts, and planned cannibalism. Now the imperfect one and his son were not that bad, but it was bad enough. Plus the way the imperfect Christians kids eat, shoot... the imperfect Christian would have only made a snack for the middle son if the imperfect one would have died, and the son had to resort to cannibalism in order to survive! The imperfect ones son said, "Hey we could turn back and head down the mountain again and call our one woman with a little lady rescue team (Mama and Baby Girl)! I said let's just get a drink here and press on. It was our first climb together, and the first one that the imperfect one had been on in more than a decade and a half! Desk work will kill you! I kept hearing Coach Haskins telling Bobby Joe White, "If you quit today, you will quit everyday for the rest of your life!" So, we trudged forward!!! The imperfect one and his son got to the top, and both he and his son were fatigued and more than hungry. The One WOman Rescue Team (Mama) was concerned about her fellas, so she safety harnessed the Baby Girl and took her rescue wagon out after them early. The imperfect Christian and son were thankful that she did! The imperfect one was truly glad to see his lovely rescuer/wife, even if the first words out of his mouth were not, "Honey I love you, it's great to see you." No instead he said, "Oh praise the Lord, have you got a pack of crackers in there anywhere?" She replied, "I don't store food in here, all I have are some cough drops!" The imperfect one with no sense, or hesitation says, "Cool I'll take one." Hunger will do some crazy things to a fella. A planned fast is tough, but an unscheduled one will make you one of two things:
1. A stronger imperfect Christian, or
2. Just plain crazy!

Perhaps the imperfect Christian needs to practice his fasting and praying with a bit more due diligence? To make matters worse the imperfect one and son took money from the rescue team and rode the last two miles to Burger King. That's where they made there worst mistake... "Whoppers!" The imperfect Christian stomach still hurts today from the grease and fatty food that he has slowly but surely tried to ween himself away from!!! So don't quit! Don't give up. Stick to your ride (game plan) whether it involves fasting, or just praying, and don't stop when you get to your mountain top. There are other people that will need you, and there will be other mountains to climb.

Peace, Blessings, & Joy... that real PB&J!

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