Don’t Like Your Story? Change Your Script

Do you like your story?

I asked a few weeks ago the question, “What’s your story?”  That’s a great question.  I love to hear other people’s story.    What I have wondered for a while, though, is if you like your story.

There have been different periods where I didn’t like mine.  I didn’t particularly like high school.  I didn’t care for June 2002 through July 2004.  Those are just a couple of stories that I don’t like.

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Curtis Zimmerman came to my employer a few years ago.  He performed during one of our quarterly company meetings.  He juggled.  He performed some magic tricks.  He ate fire.  Curtis called himself Speaker Boy.  That’s because his tricks were just props.  What he was really there to do was to speak to us.

The thing that stuck out to me about Speaker Boy was that he said that we can change our scripts.  Your life is going one way and you want it to go another?

Change the script.

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That’s the opportunity we get with Christ.  That’s what He told folks.

Nicodemus?  You must be born again.  Change your script.

The Samaritan woman at the well?  I have Living Water.  Change your script.

The woman caught in adultery?  Go and sin no more.  Change your script.

When we come to Christ, our story changes.  We cannot remain the same.  We must change our script.  The old one doesn’t do the job any longer.  We become new creatures.  The old has passed away.  The new has come.  You don’t like your story?  You get a new one in Christ.

Change your script.

You don’t like what you are getting from the world?  Ok.  Don’t be conformed to it.  Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Christ transforms your story.  Christ gives you a new script.

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If you don’t like your story, do something different.  Take it to the Author of life.  Let Him rewrite your story.

Change your script.

Do you like your story?  Do you need to change your script?

What We Can Learn From Bristol Motor Speedway

I am not a NASCAR fan.  I turn races on and watch a few laps almost every week, but I do not watch entire races.  I know who wins the races and usually know where they are racing.

However, there are a few things about NASCAR that I am fascinated with.  I love the teamwork and how it takes the entire team to perform.  A NASCAR win is something that you can rarely attribute to one individual.

This week it was announced that Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN, would make changes to their progressive banking.   In other words, they are going to flatten the track a little bit.

Perhaps it’s been the economy or perhaps it’s been the track changes.  Whatever the reason, attendance has been dwindling since the changes Bristol made to its track in 2007.

The owner, Bruton Smith, could have been stubborn and stuck with  his changes.  Give him credit.  He decided to make changes based on feedback from the fans.  He wants to give them what they want.

We can learn a lesson there, can’t we?

We, as individuals, cannot afford to remain the same.  We must be willing to change.  We must be willing to grow and adapt.  I’m not suggesting changing our values.  However, there are times that we just have to stop what doesn’t work and move on to something better.

It’s the same with our churches.  I’m not saying go with every passing fad or fancy.  I don’t mean compromise the Gospel.  But we can’t really sit back and do church like it was done in the 50′s, 60′s, or even the 80′s or 90′s.  Church then was even done like it was 100, 500 or 1,000 years ago.

We can’t be afraid of making changes because “we’ve always done it that way” because it hasn’t always been done that way.  Take a chance.  Take a look at what needs to be changed.  And change it.

What needs to be changed in your life or in your church?

What You Need

What do you need?

That’s how I’m beginning this post.  I’m simply asking the question, what do you need?

Think about it for a minute and let me know.  I know Who can get it for you.  However, what you ask for might not be your greatest need.

You might think you need money.  You might think you need a new job.  Or a new relationship.  Or a change.  I’m not saying that you won’t get those things.

It’s just that those things are not your greatest need.

You have a Father who will give it to you.

Jesus said that no father will give his son a snake when he needs a fish.

Jesus said that no father will give his son a stone when he needs bread.

You can check those out in Matthew 7

Jesus said that no father will give his son a scorpion when he needs an egg.

Check that out in Luke 11.

He said that the Father is better than all of us fathers who will give these things to our children.

He said that the Father will give what is good to those who ask.

He said that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.

What do you need most of all?

You need what is good.

You need the Holy Spirit.

Do you have the Holy Spirit?  Have you been given what is good?  Have you been given what is better than anything you would ever ask for on your own?

140 Words (or less) About Change

It’s Twitterific Thursday, where I write 140 words or less about a subject.

My twenty-fifth high school class reunion is a week from Saturday.  Believe it or not, most of us have changed a great deal.  That shouldn’t be a surprise.  Twenty-five years will do that to people.  But it doesn’t stop with just those of us who will attend the reunion.  So many other things have changed.  Here are just a few things that have changed in the last twenty-five years.

Cell phones were barely a thought when we graduated high school.  Who would have thought how common they are now?

Music delivery is nowhere near the same.  Tapes were high tech.  CD’s were on the verge of arriving.  None of us would have dreamed of downloads.

Those are just two examples of change over the last twenty-five years.  What will change over the next twenty-five?