Who’s on First?

by Andrew Cromwell

In the old Abbott and Costello routine, the two argued about a baseball game with the central disagreement starting with the question, “Who’s on first?” For those who have never seen the bit, a quick search on YouTube will satisfy that crucial gap in your education. The two comics banter back and forth with one trying to get the other to understand the names of the players that are playing at each of the base positions.

When watching baseball, football, soccer or any other game, the first question anyone asks is “who is playing?” This question is crucial to our ability to understand and enjoy the game. If you don’t know “who’s on first” then it is very difficult to know whether you are rooting for the right team!

Let me ask you an important question. Who’s on first? In other words, who or what is in first place in your life? How you answer that question has a drastic impact on the rest of your life. It determines how you spend your time, how you treat other people, how you spend your money and what your future looks like.

This is not a question that you answer once and then move on. Instead, it is a question that has to be answered daily. This is because life changes. Circumstances can flip from one day to another and almost without thinking, we have put someone else on first.

Identifying who or what is in first place in someone’s life is generally pretty easy. Take a look at someone’s social media feed and you generally can figure out what is most important to them. For many, it is right there in their profile. For some it is dolla dolla bills and for others it is family. Some list God as their number one priority in life and some, love and kindness. Of course, there are those who say one thing in their profile, but their feed says something different. Their feed screams cars, sex, a hard body, adrenaline, or awesome vacations take first place.

What would someone say after reading your life? Maybe you don’t have a social media feed, but if someone looked in on your life from the outside and evaluated your time, money and relationships, what would they say? Who or what is in first place?

Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Colossae, wrote there is One Person who should be first in everything, Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said when anyone puts His Kingdom first He will make everything else fall into place.

For most of us, the default person in first place is self. We put ourself first -- what we want, how we want it, and when we want it. Our personal desires drive our life. I don’t know about you, but I have found that when I allow my personal desires to drive my life, I generally end up in a place I don’t really like! When I’m in first place, then my wife and my kids feel cheated and ignored. When I’m in first place, I end up wasting my time instead of investing my time. And when I’m in first place, I end up pleasing myself instead of pleasing my Father in Heaven.

So who are you putting in first place? Maybe it’s time to get out of the driver’s seat and hand the keys to someone you can trust.

Seasons of Life

by Tim Howard

I’m preparing to travel out of the country in a few months and have begun to think about what I need to pack. When packing for an excursion to another country, one of the first questions a person should ask involves the season. If it’s summer, you will pack one set of clothing but if winter a totally different set.

The Bible makes it clear that God established 4 distinct seasons. "As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night."  Genesis 2:22 (LB) This is also true for our human existence. There are different seasons of life and when one yields to the next, you will find it needful to repack your bags.

One writing from Carl Jung, the Swiss psychoanalyst mentions the morning, afternoon and evening of our lives. He says “we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning – for what was great in the morning will be little at evening and what in the morning was true will at evening have become a lie.”

All of us carry some baggage from the morning of our lives into the afternoon and evening. If you don’t unpack and repack your bags along the way, you will discover the truth Mr. Jung mentioned. What worked in one season may not be appropriate or helpful in the next.

Unpacking simply means taking a long, hard look at what we’re carrying and why. Seeing if our possessions, perspectives, attitudes, responsibilities and relationships are still helping us move forward or if they are dragging us down.

Repacking then is the ongoing activity of reevaluation and reinvention. Leaving behind what is not needed and choosing to carry only those things that will help you discover a renewed sense of life.

What do you need to release in this season of time? What have you been carrying around that is no longer beneficial? What do you need to hold on to? What things do you need to add to your life in this upcoming season that will help you get to the next level?

Are you in a season of grief? Loss? Waiting? Celebration? Anticipation? Maybe it’s a season of self-doubt? Confidence? Dryness or Rest. No matter what season you are in, remember this:

God has a purpose for every season. Some can be brutal but God can even use those to develop character. It’s not enough to merely ‘grow up.’ One must also ‘grow down.’ Without roots, you won’t be able to weather the storms of life and roots only grow deeper in difficult seasons. I personally like the fun, joyful and easy seasons but the hard ones produce substance and every season should be embraced.

There’s even a promise in the difficult seasons for those who put their trust in Jesus. Rom. 8:28 “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

I’m not a gardener by any means but I do know that in order for plants to flourish, they have to have changing seasons. The same is true for our lives to be healthy.

Eccl. 3:1 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” Don’t hold onto what’s old and unproductive. Make sure to repack your bags for the next season. It is a season of great possibilities if you hang with Jesus.

Keep On Keeping On

by Andrew Cromwell

We’ve all seen the cartoonish depiction of the frog who is choking the neck of the stork even while he is being swallowed whole. The caption reads “Never Give Up.” There is something about that image that speaks to us because we frequently need to be reminded to keep fighting and never quit.

Life is difficult. I’m not saying that it doesn’t have its wonderful moments, but because we live in a fallen world, death, disappointment and disease are part of our reality. Sometimes things don’t turn out the way we think they should. Sometimes that job doesn’t work out. Sometimes people let us down (or we let them down). And sometimes tragedy strikes.

But have you noticed that there are some people who just keep floating to the top? Life might throw them in the drink again and again, yet they find a way to float back up and start again. I believe it is these people, more often than not, that in the end are the winners in life. They have learned the secret of not giving up. If life deals them a bad hand, they take the blow, shake it off and get up and move on again.

Too many people quit too early. They get discouraged—and we all understand why—because the wait is too long or the pain too intense or the cost is too high. But when you quit you take yourself out of the race and only the ones who stay in win the medals.

There is an interesting passage in the book of Ephesians where the Apostle Paul talks about the battle of life. He says, “and when you have done all else, stand.” Listen, sometimes you have done all the work, you have paid all the bills, you have talked to the right people and you have put in the time—but you are still not seeing the victory. That is not the moment to give up, that is the moment to stand. Don’t sit down and don’t turn your back or walk away. Keep on keeping on.

What is it that you are tempted to give up on right now in your life? The dream of your college degree? The beauty of a love-filled marriage? The joy of a significant relationship with your kids? Success at your work? Don’t give up just yet! Keep pressing, keep trying, keep working—victory is around the corner!

The best news is that Father God wants to see you find victory as well, and the greatest joy is discovering that true success can only be found through and in Him. The pastors of Kings County would love to encourage you and your family to keep on keeping on this weekend. Why don’t you visit one of the many wonderful churches in our community....don’t give up just yet!

Don't Be Boring

by Andrew Cromwell

Life is too short to be boring. Life is also too fantastic to be boring. God has created this incredible world in which we live. He is so amazing He has actually arranged things in such a way that we each have a destiny and a purpose. But far too often we take this wonderful, challenging and awe-inspiring spark and turn it into a dull and dreary existence.

More than ever, it is creativity that can make the difference. A little creativity can transform something ho-hum into something memorable and fun. Because as humans we are creatures of habit, we fall into routines that get old and stale. The love that used to crackle between your and your spouse, has fallen prey to the old routine. Your job that used to be fun (okay, fun may be stretching it a bit), has reverted into the old grindstone that we can turn without even being awake.

Some people are masters at the creative. They just make life fun. We all want to be around these individuals because they put that little twist on life through their humor, their work, their smile and their conversation that makes all the difference.

You see, the creativity we all need is not the kind of creativity that resulted in the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or the design of the Taj Mahal. That type of genius is granted to only a few. But the creativity that can take a dull situation and turn it into a fun moment is something we can all find.

The dad that decides to do something spontaneous with his kids every once in a while instead of allowing the family to repeat the same old routine. The co-worker that decides to change up the office gathering so that the people attending aren’t mistaken for corpses. The homemaker that moves the furniture, “just because.”

I think we actually work at removing the creativity from our lives. Our education system certainly does its best to turn creative, vibrant children into mind-numbed robots that can spit out the right answer for a test. And somehow we get older and decide that it’s easier to be boring than to be creative.

We serve a creative God with a sense of humor. He made you, didn’t He? He is the most creative person in the universe and according to the Bible He has made each one of us in His image. That same creative spark is inside us; we just need to use it.

The pastors in Kings County would love to help you learn more about our creative God and the incredible oh-not-boring-at-all destiny He has for you. Let me encourage you to visit church this weekend...it may not be as boring as you think.