Amelia Student Ministries - Amelia Church of Christ

This morning I woke up and came to a realization.  I am pretty out of shape. Considering how soccer is rapidly approaching and I need to be ready to play in less than 3 months, I decided I should probably start running again.  So alas (does anyone still use this word?), I rolled out of bed, put on running clothes, my running shoes, and grabbed my iPod (never run without an iPod, its super boring).  After I got about three steps down the road, I came to this conclusion…RUNNING IS HARD!!!

Running is not something that is super easy for us to do. People have to train pretty hard to run well. The people that you see racing in the Olympics devote their lives to training to run at a high level.  After this morning, I am pretty sure that I am not destined to run in the Olympics.  However, running did remind me of something that Paul said…4 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  1 Corinthians 9:2 “Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  That same dedication that the runners in the olympics train with, is the same dedication that we need to put into following Christ. And guess what guys…IT’S HARD!!! Following the things that Christ wants us to do is not easy. It isn’t easy to say no to going to a party that you know every other person on the planet is going to be at. And it isn’t easy to put Christ in the center of your relationship when you and your boyfriend/girlfriend are alone.

But even though it isn’t easy for us, we are called to be totally dedicated to our walk (or run in this case) with Christ.  We are training to be the best, and when you train, it takes sacrifice. When you think about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, somehow that seems easier to me.  Sacrifice is not something that we look at and naturally say, “Man, I really want to sacrifice.”  However, thats what it takes.

So I leave you with one final scripture:

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Run with perseverance guys!!

Ok, so I first must apologize for the incredibly large gap between this and the last Random Thought that I have posted. Finals week and getting all wrapped up with school wreaked havoc on my life and schedule, and finding time was challenging to say the least. That said, its no excuse, so I am apologizing.

That said, I would like to share with you a couple of thoughts on Philemon. This is a really short book. In fact it is only 1 chapter and 25 verses, but there are a lot of very cool things tucked away into this. The premise of the book of Philemon is that Paul is writing this this guy named…you guessed it, Philemon. He is asking him to accept back a slave that had run away from him and joined Paul. The trick here was that Paul wanted Philemon to accept Onesimus back as a brother and not as a slave.

1:11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. This is where I want to camp for a bit.  He was formerly useless.  Is Paul saying that he was pretty much the worst slave known to man? And now that he has become useful he is now suddenly a good slave? No I don’t think that this is what Paul is talking about in this verse.  Onesimus, after leaving Philemon’s house and meeting Paul, found Christ.

See before Onesimus had Christ, he was, for all practical purpose, useless.  The menial tasks that he performed were not really important  for anything. Now, because he has Christ in his life, Onesimus can serve a much greater purpose in the world.  Christ is the key to living a purpose-filled life. He is the reason that we live.

There is one small hurdle to get over, but it can easily be jumped when you understand the significant difference between useless and worthless. Never did Paul say that Onesimus was worthless. That would go against Biblical teaching because that says that he has no value whatsoever. Instead he said that Onesimus was useless, meaning that he did not have a function because he was doing nothing for the glory of God.

So today are you going to be useless, or are you going to strive for the function that God created you for?

So I know the title of this Random Thought is not really that creative, but I couldn’t think of anything. However, in light of the fact that I am adapting my appearance, I have decided to create an homage to horrible hairstyles throughout the years.

The first style that I would really like to look at is, of course, The Mullet. This is of course the obvious choice for terrible hairstyles.  Although, for being disgusting, it is versatile. I mean you have to respect all the different types. I mean you’ve got the skullet and the femullet, just to name a couple. And if you add a mustache to the look, you can send it over the edge.  Now I can’t be totally negative about mullets. It is true, I, in fact, had a mullet. Now you would think that it would have been in the early 90′s right? Well, in actuality it was my Junior year of High School, I can show anyone pictures if they ask me.

Next on the list of terrible hair is one that I never had, but I remember, that is the Pineapple Cut. This cut was nothing more than a buzz cut with poofy bangs.  It was essentially the ugliest cut of the late 90s.  I had  a lot of friends who rocked it.  I remember thinking back then about how ugly it was.

There are many more terribly ugly cuts. You can look at the 80s and see that, so I ask this, What is the ugliest haircut that you have ever seen?

Alright. So as everyone has surely been able to see, it is that time of year again.  It is time for the road crews to get out there and mess up traffic. They say it is for the greater good, but I’m not really sure about that.  I am also not sure why they do road work in the order that they do. Their priorities seem slightly askew sometimes, if you ask me. But all this construction got me to thinking…people complain a lot. I mean lets look at the facts. If there is a bump in the road, people complain about that. “Man!! This road is TERRIBLE!!! Its gonna tear my car to pieces!!”  Yet once road crews actually start working on the roads, all people do about that is complain. “Man!! This road is TERRIBLE!!! Its gonna tear my car to pieces!!”  Finally, when  all is said and done and the road is actually drivable again they say this, “.”  No one cares. They don’t appreciate the road, or even remember that the road was terrible there to begin with.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 says this, (Everyone had better rememeber this verse. My 2-year-old niece could remember this.) “Be joyful always;”  Wow, always?!? Surely that is way too much!! I mean evidently Jesus didn’t have to worry about bad roads. Well, if that is what you think, let me remind you of a story Jesus told. You know that story about the Good Samaritan? (Luke 10:25ff) Well, what made that story believable was that fact that it was believable!!  There were actual robbers that would kill you if you walked by. You want to talk about bad roads.

So when you are sitting in a car waiting for the traffic to move from a construction-induced traffic jam, remember this–No one is trying to kill you. So today, why won’t we “be joyful always.”

Ok, I can’t really figure out the popularity of the band ICP (Insane Clown Posse).  I drive around and see all these ICP decals on people’s cars, and I come to assume that they in fact listen to ICP. I can’t figure it out.  I am pretty sure that whoever writes their music also wrote the beepbeep.com jingle.  And the lyrics mean absolutely nothing. It with vulgarity for the sake of vulgarity. They degrade women to a point that I have never seen before in my life, yet I see women who like them? So I have come to the conclusion. Because if their music and lyrics are not possibly the reason for their alleged popularity, then it must be for some other reason. It has to be the stickers. That is the only thing I can figure. People like the sticker of the clown with the butcher knife. This kinda makes me wonder if you can sell anything as long as you have a good sticker? If they can market filthy lyrics set to terrible music, then surely I am right.

It saddens me that people will listen to this crap.  Especially Christians. Paul tells Timothy, “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” (1Ti 6:11)  I don’t see righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, or gentleness in ICP, or their stickers for that matter.  So no matter how cool their stickers are, that shouldn’t be a follower of Christ’s reason for listening to them.