Last summer, my wife and I headed to King’s Dominion early morning one random Thursday with her sister, Emily, and a friend, Mirae.  We planned the day to get there right when the park opened and enjoy the newest rides first with minimal to no wait.  We jumped on the Dominator first after all of a 30 second wait. We enjoyed the ride and walked briskly to the Intimidator 305 aptly named after Dale Earnhardt, Sr for which he earned the nickname following the 1987 Winston. Note: Without exception, everyone I know who has gone on this ride blacks out (momentary loss of vision) due to the high level of G force from the banked turns.

Following this ride, we popped over next door to the Flight of Fear, an indoor coaster which jump starts from 0 to 60 in under four seconds.  True to plan we continued to walk on this ride with no wait.  Probably a third of the way through this ride, I came to the revelation that I indeed, without fail was going to vomit.  The nausea had reached a breaking point and I knew the “Abort/Self Destruct” button had been activated irreversibly in my head.  There I sat with Emily by my side and directly behind me my wife of less than 6 months with a split second decision to make: lean over the side of the car and vomit (inevitably hitting my wife) OR sacrifice my own well being and re-direct the vomit onto my lap using an appropriately angled hand.

I chose the later and vomitted profusely onto my chest, lap, and legs.  The floor of the car was slick’ned nicely with a thin layer of vomit, meanwhile the coaster was still zooming through twists and turns while Emily yelled, “Oh my gosh, Spencer is puking on me!”  What I haven’t mentioned was that before we got to the theme park, we had stopped at a McDonald’s for breakfast.  Not wanting to spend lots of money in the park for lunch, I “wisely” downed TWO value meals with orange juices and tater tots included.

Back in the coaster, we pull up to the end of the ride to find pieces of McGriddle stuck in my leg and arm hair.  They promptly shut the ride down, but not before I receive several looks of disdain from the attendee after I alert her, “Ma’am, I just vomited ALL over myself.”  I proceed to the exit and strip down to my birthday suit while my wife holds a towel in front of me, enabling me to change into a new set of clothes I had brought for the water park.

Its surprising to think how much of an impact our split-second decisions can make.  The consequences can at times be lasting and vary greatly with what we decide to do in “the heat of the moment.”  In a similar fashion, these types of decisions come along everyday and can impact our spiritual life and walk with God.  An easy example is our thought life.  When a temptation comes our way, the split-second decision we make immediately can move us closer to God or cause us to step away from what He desires for us.  2 Corinthians 10:5 reads as follows: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (NIV)

When I read accounts in the Bible of past events I always seem to find my mind wondering, “How would this look on the big screen? or Who would I cast as this character?”  Two such accounts that jump to mind are found in Luke 5 and Matthew 8.  In Luke 5 we see Jesus finishing a sermon, asks Simon (Peter) to head back out onto the lake of Gennesaret and let down the nets another time to catch fish.  Reluctantly, Peter does so and they end up having to get help from another boat because the nets had caught so many fish!  In Matthew 8 we find Jesus is sleeping on a boat while traveling with the disciples and a storm kicks up.  So much so, the other men fear for their lives and desperately wake up Jesus in panic exclaiming, “Save us Lord!”  Jesus calms the storm with using only his words.

Now IF I were there in either situation, I’d be ecstatic. High fives and chest bumps all around. Picture the volleyball scene from Top Gun. But is that what happens?  Interestingly in both of these accounts the men around Jesus aren’t so jovial.  Hit play on the Blu Ray player and you’ll see that Peter falls to his knees after seeing all the fish caught saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” And after the storm is calmed, the disciples ask each other, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him?”

Their reactions give us insight into how powerful and awesome Jesus really is.  I know that sounds cliche to a lot of people out there and you may have heard that before regarding Jesus.  In a moment when I would be celebrating, the men who experienced these two accounts were taken aback and awe struck.  The reaction we read from the men on the boat in a form of a question even appears to have the connotation that they thought Jesus is “not from around here.”  They seem to imply that Jesus may have had a lot more in common with E.T. than we think….okay that picture just cracks me up every time…

When a storm kicks up, the oak tree sways quite a bit in the wind and will rub against the deck making a daunting noise fit for Scream 4 or 5 or whatever they are up to now. Its really a sight to see, watching a massive oak tree move side to side because of the storm. By all logic, you would think something that massive would simply stay put.

In reality, all the trees move with the wind and give way so they don’t snap as easily with a windy storm. The reason our oak tree snags your attention right away is because of the circle in the deck which acts as a reference point. The deck doesn’t move and when you watch the tree sway and creak within the circle, it nearly makes you nauseous…..its awesome.

Just like the deck circle gives you a reference point to see how much the tree moves, the Bible acts as a reference point for our daily lives. Juxtaposing our daily interactions with people and our viewpoints against the Bible helps to make clear the standard we, as Christians, are called to. Continually looking at ourselves in the light of the reference point the Bible provides is a great way to keep us in line with HIS will.

Its 2011 and I’m jumping on the band wagon of resolving to blog more often.

And to answer the question posed by “David after the dentist“, YES this is real life (or RL for my gaming friends).

Reflecting back on all of our previous relationships I say to myself, “Is this it? Is this the end? Have I hit the finish line?” All those first dates, phone calls, flowers sent, it was all in the mindset that marriage was the possible endpoint. Isn’t that what church tells us is the point of dating afterall?

Well all the married people reading this probably want to chime in at this point with a newsflash hot off the press: Marriage is NOT the end. Say what now? But I thought…

In the midst of it, I’ve started to see marriage similarly to the narrow gate that Jesus talks about in Matthew 7:13-14. In this part of Matthew class is in session and guess what, Christ is the Master Teacher (Insert Bow to Your Sensei Here). He’s giving all these life lessons and teaching people how to live their life following Him. Notice I said live your LIFE and not just snippets or moments in time. The narrow gate is NOT the end goal. His point is that the narrow gate LEADS to the path that brings life. Entering in through the narrow gate, just like marriage, is a starting point in which we get on a path. Will there be more paths to come? You bet, with twists and turns that will make you more confused than playing Zelda on NES without the map (but wasn’t the golden cartridge cool?).

Check it out for yourself. Matthew 7