Roller Derby Revival

So this morning while I was at the gym one of the TVs was on ESPN and they were interviewing girls who are into Roller Derby - there is a Roller Derby Revival. One of the Roller Derby Queens said "Some people go to church, I'm into Roller Derby." Her quote was part of her discussion on how she finds peace and contement being part of a roller derby team.

Her quote is filled with many implications:

1) There are still a lot of unsaved people who assume that people who are Christians and are going to church are using their faith as a crutch to cope with life. The unbelievers philosophy is people cope with life by drinking alcohol, doing drugs, going to church or by being a Roller Derby Queen.

2) Unsaved people are so deceived into thinking they can find fulfillment without God.

Okay, I must admit I have been afraid to post a blog for the last couple of weeks. I was beginning to think that maybe I was not "Spiritual" enough to be writing about God, the Bible, or anything regarding Christianity so I created a post called Snakes and Turtles. Perhaps I am the blind leading the blind down that slippery slope right into the fiery pits of hell.

The other issue that I've really been struggling with is legalism. Legalism in the sense that I should not watch certain tv shows, listen to certain music, watch certain movies - that really I should be spending 4-6 hours a day on my knees in prayer seeking the unction of the Holy Spirit. That all of my spare time should be spent praying and reading my Bible. This came from the idea that so many people are getting saved at the the revival in Lakeland, FL. I began to wonder if my whole philosphy of building relationships with people and winning them to Christ is wrong. That we should just have healing revivals all across the country and everyone will get saved.

As I watched the girls going around the roller rink I kept thinking "That is really cool and looks like so much fun." And the girls were all wearing these really cute outfits and getting into fights. As I continued to watch them I began to wonder - would these girls attend a revival or would the very word freak them out and send them running in the other direction?

Jesus met people where they were at. People came to him in different ways and with different needs. So too, people come to salvation in different ways... Jesus told Peter simply to follow Him, while Paul was blinded by a light on the road to Damascus. I was saved attending youth group with a friend, but, I know other people who have been saved in their cars and others in their bedrooms.

How will the Roller Derby Queens be saved? What about the people who think Christianity is just a crutch and still those deceived into thinking they can find fulfillment apart from God. I certainly won't be able to reach them if I'm spending all of my spare time praying and reading my Bible - although both of these are very, very essential to the Christial Life, there needs to be balance.

I may come to develop an interest in becoming a Roller Derby Queen so that I can share the gospel with them (Romans 10:14). The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 9:22 (LB) "Yes, whatever a person is like, I try to find common ground with him so he will let me tell him about Christ and let Christ save him."

Perhaps we should just start a Roller Derby Church and have a Roller Derby Revival???

Turtles and Snakes

Living in North Carolina has been an adventure! Especially concerning wildlife and more particularly snakes.

As spring has finally hit here in NC there have been a lot more turtles on the road. Turtles are soooo cute! Every time I see one sitting in the middle of the road hiding in his/her shell I want to stop my car and pick him/her up and carry him/her across the street so it doesn't get run over. They move so slow I just know they are bound to get run over.

Now if it were a snake, I would aim my car so that I would run it over. Yet, a snake is still part of God's creation and shouldn't I care for the snake as much as the turtle? Aren't they both equally important in God's eyes? Does it grieve God when a snake dies?

Glory

Jessica has written an awesome blog about women and the word of God http://andnarrowistheway.blogspot.com/2008/04/bible-chauvenist-propoganda-pt-1.html.

One thing that really struck me while reading her blog was the word "glory" and her discussion of man being the glory of God and woman being the glory of man. I think up until now I've had the wrong idea of glory and how it relates to God.


One definition of the word "glory" according to dictionary.com is "something that is the source of honor, fame, admiration, a distinguished ornament or an object of pride."

As Jessica has pointed out in her blog man is the glory of God. But what does that mean exactly - man is the glory of God? If we look at the above definition, then we see that we are a source of honor, fame, admiration, etc. We are a SOURCE! Which in essence means that we, by definition, are what brings glory to God. It's like the way parents are proud of their children's achievments. The children are the glory of their parents. That's how we are the glory of God.



Doesn't it make sense then to live a life that brings Glory to God? To live our lives according to His Word. James 1:22 (NLT) says "But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves."

If we look God's glory can be seen all around us. Psalm 57:11 says "Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth." When we experience a beautiful sunset, doesn't that bring glory to God? He is the one who created the sun.

I think the greatest example for me has been to see the changes in my body as I've begun a new fitness routine. I'm learning that I have muscles that I didn't even know existed. But the other awesome thing is just thinking about how the human body was created. God designed us, these perfect machines.

When I first started working out I was like "maybe I'm wasting my time. I mean, shouldn't I be using this time to pray?" As I thought about it more, I began to realize that I'm bringing glory to God by taking care of myself and the very thing that he designed - me. He designed me. He designed you. He's also given us to the tools to further our development to bring Him glory.

Think about endorphins - obviously God put them in our body for a reason. They make us feel good, they make us happy and put us in a better mood. I feel so good right after a work out. It would be very easy for me to get caught up in myself, but I don't when I remind myself that God created me this way.

When stress creeps in I can pray about it and I know some of the stress will be absolved because I find my peace, joy and comfort in Him and in His word. But I also know that it can be absolved through exercise. But I don't see exercise as my God. I see it only has a tool that God has given me. The important thing here is God has given it to me. I know the reason I feel good is because He created our bodies with endorphins, endorphins that are released through exercise.

I am able to bring glory to God because I feel good and I turn start treating others nicer because I'm no longer stressed.