Utica Baptist Church, Utica, Mississippi

  There are many people alive in our day whose experience with God is mostly, if not entirely, second-hand. All they know about God is what someone else has told them. They are living off the spiritual experience of others, never really knowing for themselves the joy and peace of living with Christ. They allow others to spoon-feed them when it comes to spiritual things.

In some rodeo circuits there are those known as "shout-gate cowboys." They are nothing more than spectators who sit on the gate and offer an unceasing barrage of advice and criticism to those who participate in the rodeo. What makes this rather amusing is that these shout-gate cowboys wear the jeans, the boots and the hats, perhaps chew the tobacco and speak the language of the rodeo--but many of them have never even ridden a horse. Their entire knowledge of the rodeo is second-hand in the sense that it is something they have watched, but in which they have never participated.

Shout-gate Christians will never be in a position to see the wonder of holy ground. They are unaware of the awesomeness and majesty of Holy God, because their experience of Him is only second-hand. They may wear the costume, speak the language and even fool a lot of people with their apparent spirituality. But they've never "ridden a horse"--they've never experienced the power of the Risen Christ for themselves. They don't know what it means to walk with Christ in a victorious life, with full assurance of their salvation and peace with God.

So let me ask you: is it time for you to get off the fence and start walking and talking with Jesus?

--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com

  "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13)

Although the sun bombards the earth every hour with billions of kilowatts of energy, we can protect ourselves from most of its effects with a hat and sunscreen. On the other hand a laser can take just a few watts of energy, focus them in a coherent stream of light and drill a hole through a diamond.

The difference is focus. Tenor superstar Luciano Pavarotti learned the importance of focus from his father. The young Luciano became a pupil of a professional tenor in his hometown of Modena, Italy. At the same time, he enrolled in a teachers' college.

When he graduated, Luciano asked his father, "Shall I be a teacher or a singer?"

His father replied, "Luciano, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair."

The same thought was expressed in a quote by an unknown author: "A man with two watches is never quite sure what time it is."

The now-famous Luciano Pavarotti wrote years later: "I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book--whatever we choose--we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair."

The same is true throughout all of life. Take living for Christ, for example. We cannot serve Christ and walk in the paths of the world. We cannot please both Christ and our own desires. It inevitably happens that when we try to do that, our hearts are drawn away from Him, because He will not share His Lordship with anything--or anyone.

So to paraphrase the elder Pavarotti, "Choose one passion." Will it be Christ, or something else?
--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com

The New Orleans Times-Picayune several years ago carried a story entitled "Man Dedicates Life to Serving the Dead." It was about Charley King, who served as caretaker of the Rand District Cemetery in the old mining town of Johannesburg, California. At that time, he had been caretaker there for ten years, and was paid $10 a month by the cemetery board to keep the weeds down, do a little watering, and keep everything groomed.

King admitted, "It ain't much money, but somebody's got to do it. I've got a lot of good friends 6 feet under up here. Least I can do is to keep the place looking' halfway decent for them." King had not had his picture taken in years, and would not even allow it for the article, which originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times. "I ain't looking for no glory," he insisted.

　 Charley King's work and service was admirable--and all for ten dollars a month. But if he could "serve the dead" in such an unselfish manner, shouldn't we be at least as willing to serve the Living, the One who was dead, and now lives forevermore?

-Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com

  The Fall 2001 edition of Proclaim! included a little story about a hand surgeon who specializes in reattaching fingers that have been partially or completely severed in accidents. When he enters the operating room, he knows he will be squinting into a microscope for six to eight hours, sorting out and stitching together the snarl of nerves, tendons, and blood vessels finer than human hairs. A single mistake, and the patient may permanently lose moment or sensation.

Once the surgeon received an emergency call at three in the morning and was really not looking forward to undertaking such a tedious procedure at that time of the morning. To add incentive and help him focus, he decided to dedicate that surgery to his father who had recently died. For the next several hours, he imagined his father standing beside him, encouraging him with a hand on his shoulder.

His little technique worked so well that he began dedicating his surgeries to other people he knew, even waking them up to tell them so!

Then one day he realized that as a Christian, he should offer his life to God in the same way. All the little routine things of his day--answering phone calls, dealing with staff, seeing patients, scheduling surgeries--remained the same, but somehow they were different. The task of living a life for God now began to overshadow his days, and he soon began to treat others with more respect and care.

I wonder if we might do the same? We may not be hand surgeons, but we each have tasks and duties for which we are responsible. There are others who depend on us. Wouldn't it be marvelous if we could "dedicate" each day to the Lord, imagining Him standing beside us with a hand on our shoulders, watching us, guiding us, counseling us, walking with us?

If we would do that, I believe we would find that even the simplest, most routine things in our lives would become colored with a holy sense of His presence with us.

--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com

"Prepare your minds for action."
(1 Peter 1:13)

The late President John Kennedy liked to tell a story about his grandfather, Fitzgerald. As a small boy in Ireland, Fitzgerald would walk home from school with a group of boys. The others in the group would climb over the jagged, high cobblestone walls near the path home, since that route was shorter.

Some of the fences were 10-12 feet high, and were difficult to climb. The other, older boys all were able to do it, but Fitzgerald always had to go around. But one day, he took his cap off and threw it over the wall. Going home without his cap meant that he would be punished, so he knew that he would have to climb over to retrieve it. And he did.

Each of us occasionally needs to create a challenge for ourselves, which forces us to reach out farther than normal, to do something we would not normally do.

Isn't that what faith is about? What walls are crowding your life, perhaps blocking your way? They loom over you, intimidating you and draining your enthusiasm.  In the New Year ahead, think about those areas of your life with God that are blocked by a lack of commitment, laziness, or just simply because you don't really desire to be close to Him. You know those things are necessary for your growth as a believer, but so far you just haven't achieved the impetus to get things moving.

Perhaps it's time to throw your cap over a wall. Set a challenge for yourself that will cause you to stretch beyond where you have settled down in your Christian life. Reach out to someone. Volunteer. Make a difference. Pray. Give. Read your Bible. Attend Sunday School and Worship regularly. Maybe even come to an evening service from time to time. Whatever it is, give yourself to it. Commit your heart to Him, so that this time next year you can look back and be thankful for a year in which you drew closer to your Savior.

--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com

The Seminole Indian tribe of Florida once posted job openings for a very unusual position. The want ad for the job read: "WANTED. Alligator wrestlers. Must be brave and a risk taker. Males and females OK. No experience needed."

Every day at the Okalee Village and Museum, Seminoles jump into a 6-foot-deep swimming pool, stalk a 7-foot alligator hiding on the bottom, and grab the reptile by the tail to the delight of paying tourists. It is billed as the world's only deep water alligator wrestling show.

Intriguing, but certainly not a job I would want. Probably you wouldn’t want it either. It would be interesting to know exactly how many applied before the position was filled!

If I were to apply for it, my first question would be "What happened to the last guy?" The "no experience needed" concerns me a bit, though.

Well, I've got some good news: we're not looking for alligator wrestlers!  Instead, perhaps you need to wrestle with the idea of a new area of service. Perhaps you've been hearing whispers from the Holy Spirit about something He wants you to do, and similar to Jacob in the book of Genesis, you've been wrestling with God!

There's a committee which needs your experience. There's a brow that needs swabbing, a cup which needs to be filled with cold water, and a teen who needs a listening and loving ear. There's a class which needs a teacher, and a child whose hand needs holding. There's a chair in the choir which may have your name on it.

I'm not going to shade the truth. This kind of service takes commitment and sacrifice. If you're willing to take up your cross daily and follow Him, then apply at your nearest prayer closet. Then if God says "Go," please follow Him in obedience and service.

--Rocky Henriques

A couple became interested in helping a Finnish girl immigrate to the U.S. They decided she might be a good prospect for a job in their home. They questioned her qualifications: Could she cook? Do housework? Could she take care of young children? No: her mother did the cooking, sister did the housework, and grandmother took care of the younger children. So, finally, they asked, "What would you do if you worked for us?" "Well," said the girl, "I could milk reindeer."

In our world, there are too many of us who want to milk reindeer, when there are no reindeer which need milking. Instead, there's a young girl who needs a big sister or a mother-figure. There's a family who could use an extra bag of groceries on their doorstep tonight. There's a young man who has great potential for God's Kingdom, but right now just needs someone to believe in him.

There's a class of rowdy youngsters who needs someone to step in and invest themselves into those little hearts. There's an older person who needs a phone call from someone--anyone--just to talk.

I believe our attitude should be that of a feisty 91-year-old who lived alone in a small Missouri town and was recovering from recent hip replacement surgery. The woman's granddaughter was worried about whether she was eating right, so they called Meals on Wheels to see if they would call her and offer their services.

The following day a volunteer called the grandmother and explained the Meals on Wheels program and how it relies on volunteers to help the elderly and ill. Would she be interested in it?

"Well, sure," she replied. "If you can't find anyone else to help you, I guess I can!"

What a great attitude! What a servant heart! How she shames me sometimes!

You see, there are not too many reindeer waiting to be milked around here. Find the real jobs--and do them.

–Rocky Henriques