Playing golf (and life) in the wind

If you want to play golf in Northern Nevada, then you better learn to play in the wind. The wind blows all the time around here. I am not talking about breezes, I am talking 30 or 40 mph sustained winds with 60 mph gusts. It wreaks absolute havoc on a well struck pitching wedge. So you have to learn how to hit punch shots, stingers, and even learn how to putt in this wind, because yes, it will move your putt. It's amazing how your games changes drastically when you play in the wind. It can be exciting, but it can also be miserable. You have to pay attention, understand which way the wind is blowing, look for the signs in the trees, the flag and even what is blowing across the green. You have to understand that not every par 5 can be reached in two, or sometimes even in 3. You have to make choices on hitting a ball in a different direction than you would normally hit the ball. But the most important 3 parts of playing in the wind is your stance, your grip, and your swing.

Your stance can be a little quieter than normal. By that I mean, try not to sway or rock your knees too much. The quieter the better chance you have to hit the ball straight and if you choose the right angle the wind can actually help you out.

Your grip is important too because if you grip too tight, you are not going to get the ball trajectory you wanted. You see sometimes in the wind you need to hit it high and sometimes you need to hit it low. Grip is directly tied to trajectory.

Finally, your swing. Here's a saying you need to remember. "When it's breezy, make sure and swing easy." Tempo is the heart and soul of the swing. The harder you swing the more damage the wind can do. A good tempo, a steady tempo will get the ball where you want it to go.

I am seeing a lot of people playing out their life in the wind right now. What usually is a simple game with a simple plan all of a sudden becomes difficult. Couples are struggling with their marriages, just trying to hang on, and their fingers are slipping. People losing their jobs after 15 or 20 years working there. Now at the age of 50 or so, they wonder "who is going to hire me?" Parents seeing their kids getting "loose" out there on the world and they aren't doing so well. It's getting tough out there, people blowing around in the wind and not knowing exactly which direction to go and how hard to push. In this time I think 3 things are important to remember.

First is your stance. What are you standing on? God's Word gives us the values and principles that we need to live by each and EVERY day of our lives. Sometimes when we are doing life in the wind we need to quiet our stance and be still and know that HE is God and we are not. Listen to Him speak to you through His word to provide a good direction.

Second is your grip. This one is a little different than golf. Here we want to grip on a little tighter. You may not always know "what" but you can be absolutely sure of "who". God wants, get that, WANTS, you to grab hold of Him.

Finally, our swing. How are we progressing through these times? You are not called to sit down in the midst of the strong winds and just hope it goes away. You need to make some decisions, even if you aren't feeling good. Sometimes we let our emotions be our guide. I heard a quote attributed to James MacDonald "Emotions make great servants, but lousy masters." The temptation is going to be to let your emotions guide you. Don't let it get away from you. You need to keep up your tempo of life but making your you keep doing what is right, no matter what.

God seeks to honor this kind of life. Can He honor yours?

Been a long time...

Okay, I am going to try this again. I started a blog a year ago or longer, posted a few times, then stopped. So I really want to make this happen and hopefully be used to help, encourage, challenge, or even entertain. So here it goes...again.

Have you been reading all this controversy about Rob Bell and his book "Love Wins"? Wow, what a mess. When Rob first came on the scene I liked some of the stuff he did, the NOOMA videos at times were really good. His book on Sex and God's view shattered some walls in the church...I didn't mind that too much.

But now, I think Rob needs to slow down. I think he is starting to believe his own press clippings here and creating a theology. I am not sure as to why...maybe he felt the gospel needed to be more palatable. He cannot say it is scriptural. God is love, NO DOUBT, but God is also righteous and just. Scriptures teach clearly

And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:9-15

Listen--you don't have to like hell...in fact you probably shouldn't like the idea of a place called hell. But is God lying? Is the scripture not true? Of course the answer to both of those is NO!!!

So what do we do? We teach truth, we can warn of God's judgement but we MUST proclaim God's love! My words would be to Rob, I understand that hell is not pleasant, but it is truth. So is it more loving to take it away and allow people to feel better about God today only to go there when it is too late or is it more loving to teach truth and try to prevent people from going there?