By Pastor Tim White

It was the first day of practice.  The coach stopped practice. He came over and asked the quarterback if he could throw a 20 yard out and then he ordered the play called.  After the throw, he came into the huddle and showed another play with a difficult read on the defense and a deep route for the all-American wide receiver after coming off a double pick.  Well, picks are and always have been illegal, but everyone runs them anyway.  They call them “rub routes.” The quarterback took the snap and dropped back to complete the pass in practice just before being slammed into the ground by a behemoth defensive tackle.  The coach blew the whistle and gave everyone a break and had his assistant coach take the quarterback over to run a 40 for time.  Then he brought over the best player on the team, a defensive tackle, who would later play for the Houston Oilers.  He introduced the new quarterback to the huge lineman from inner city Washington D.C.  He told them “I want you to be friends, to work out together every day. I want you to take a long run at dawn and live in the weight room.”  The coach let practice continue as he and the strength coach took the young quarterback to the weight room to test bench press, squats, and a half dozen other lifts.  After all those tests the depth chart showed the new quarterback as the starting quarterback.  When you are getting tested by someone who wants you to succeed it’s because they are getting ready to bless you.  And it is the same way with God.

Are you being tested right now?  Does it seem like your life is going to require more faith and growth than you can pull off alone?  There is no easy way around it. 

This coming Sunday is going to have inspiring patriotic services followed by an hour and a half picnic and BBQ. There will be hamburgers and hotdogs with all the fixings.  There will be a DJ and dancing for our church family.  There will be bounce houses and all kinds of games.  And the Biblical message about reviving our nation entitled “It’s A Young Minded Thing.”  It’s the story of the generation that took the promised land and how their youth pastors - Joshua and Caleb led the way with youthful thinking that outdid any of the younger ones.   Colonel Erskine Austin, of the United States Marine Corp, will present our own Medal of Freedom to some unsuspecting hero in our congregation.  Please remember that the 4th of July is more than just another holiday. It is when we remember, as Christians do all over the world and have for 2,000 years, that we love our country.  Please join us this weekend as we celebrate God blessing America and asking for more blessings, so we can be more of a blessing.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White