On quitting...

"I get knocked down
But I get up again
You're never gonna keep me down"- "Tubthumper" by Chumbawamba

Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd. As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession—a woman's only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, "Don't cry." Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, "Young man, I tell you: Get up." The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother. - Luke 7:11-15 (The Message)

"Never, never, never give up" - Winston Churchill

I run a lot of races. Not very many short ones, but lots of medium-distance and longer ones. Frequently, someone will fall down- either from exhaustion or jostling in the pack or just not paying attention. But, I have never seen anyone fall down in a race and get back up and win, especially not in a very short race. Not, that is, until now. The video below is from the Women's Big Ten track and field championships a few weeks ago. Watch as Minnesota's Heather Dorniden falls during the 600, gets back up, and wins her heat.



This is a really rare occurence - think about it. In a field full of elite athletes, a wrong step or a missed breath can be the difference between first place and last. So, to not only pop back up, but come back and win your heat, is really a minor miracle. And it seems like Miss Dorniden recognizes that. In an interview for "Down the Backstretch", Dorniden gives all the glory for her victory to Christ.

Why not? We know he can do it. In the story from Luke, he brought a man back from the dead. If he can use a 600 meter race to bring glory to himself, he can use something in your life or mine. If he can bring a man back from the dead, he can certainly resurrect whatever it is in my life that I think is dead or gone or unforgiveable. No matter where we are in life, no matter how far we've fallen, Christ can bring us back. What a great story of redemption. Never, never, never give up.

How far would you go to bring a friend to Jesus?

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” Luke 5:18-20

I have friends that have waited in a cold drizzle for 6 hours to meet the Jonas Brothers. I have a friend that camped overnight in front of a Target store in below freezing temperatures to buy a Nintendo Wii. I am always amazed at the determination some people will go through to get what they want. But really, these friends of the paralyzed man were over the top in their zeal to meet Jesus.

In an age where a church service going 10 minutes too long is enough to send people into a tizzy, these guys were "all in." First, they carried their friend to this house on a sleeping mat - not a stretcher, a mat. Have you ever tried to carry a grown man on a mat? Then, when they couldn't get to the house, they carried him up ON THE ROOF! Hello? Then they removed some tiles (which were, hopefully, easily replaced later) and lowered him down in front of Jesus. This was early in the ministry of Jesus, but there was something about him - about the way he taught or lived or loved people - something. Something so powerful that these guys thought, "If only we could get our friend in front of Jesus, I know he'll walk again." And the cool part is, it worked. Now, we don't know if or how they prayed for Jesus to heal him, or if they asked friends to pray, or how that part of the story worked. But what we see is that they brought their friend to Jesus through their own faith and dogged determination. They decided that nothing - not people nor walls nor roofs, not even sheer exhaustion - nothing would keep them from bringing their friend to Jesus.

For me, I'm sometimes embarrassed to even ask if my friends know Jesus. Even people I know need healed, I know need forgiven, I know need loved. I often don't even try to bring them in front of Jesus. So, how far would you go to bring a friend to Jesus?