From the Pastor at Trinity!

I read a story recently that made me think about my "old high school days" and of Clarence, who was on our basketball team. At 6'10", we all knew that Clarence would take us to the State Championship in no time. Wrong! Clarence was tall, but he was?well, as I said, Clarence was tall.

Yes, Clarence was tall, but as we soon found out on the basketball court, he was also slow and couldn't or wouldn't jump that high. In the end, Clarence was like all the rest of us, he needed to be disciplined before he could ever reach his full potential as a member of the basketball team. Therefore, he, like me, was going to have to practice, and practice we did, sometimes three or more hours. It just depended on the kind of mood Coach Smith was in or how well we had performed the night before. Regardless, "Coach" was forever drilling us on the fundamentals of the game and running us up and down the court time and time again.

To be sure those long and enduring practices were excruciating and painful, but the results were always good. When we practiced well, we played well! And the better we learned the game and the importance of discipline, the more games we won!

Since those days in high school I have come to appreciate the hard work that was required of us ballplayers. I didn't realize it then, but those long hot days in the gym help to prepare me for the future in more ways than I was willing to admit back in high school. One of the most important ways that my time in the gym paid off was in my understanding of the Christian faith.

Make no mistake about it Christianity is not for "sissies"! To become the best disciple of Christ we can takes hard work and commitment, just like becoming the best basketball player does. There are no short cuts to maturity on the court or in real life, especially when it comes to following in the footsteps of Jesus. If you want to excel in sports or your Christian faith, you've got to make sacrifices! Just ask Clarence, who by the way, didn't get any taller, but improved his skills in the game of basketball immensely!

With Love, From and For Jesus,

Pastor David