Mike and I got off the plane in Las Vegas, Nevada. We were on a three-day trip. That’s right; a three-day trip. It was 1994, I believe. It was the early years of my many travels. I had only been a few places. Mike’s wife Jan booked our flight and hotel accommodations.
I had bought an Isuzu Trooper earlier that year. Isuzu sent me two tickets to the Celebrity Golf Association Tournament in Tahoe, Nevada. I asked Mike to go with me. Jan made all our reservations. Due to my lack of westward travels, I didn’t realize that Las Vegas was a long way from Tahoe. Jan missed it too. We realized about two months from the trip that we would never be able to make the tournament because it was too far away. So, Jan booked us a flight from Vegas to Tahoe on the day after we arrived in Vegas. The trip was crazy. Remember that what you are about to read we did in three days.
Day 1:
Mike and I left Birmingham one morning and arrived in Vegas that afternoon. We rented a car and headed to Harrah’s Hotel and Casino. That is where we stayed. We hit the road to Hoover Dam. Then, we drove about eighty miles into the desert and stopped at the far west side of the Grand Canyon. We watched the sunset and listened to classical music in the middle of the desert. We drove like bats out of hell back to Vegas. We made the 8:00pm magic show at Harrah’s. Then, we hit the streets of Vegas baby. We stayed out till about 3:00am.
Day 2:
We got up a 5:00am and headed back to the airport. We flew from Vegas to Reno. There we rented another car. We drove down to Tahoe. We watched one day of the tournament. We met Julio Iglesias, Dan Quayle, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, John Elway, Bryant Gumble, etc… It was really cool. After the tournament, we hit the road back to the airport in Reno. We made a couple of stops along Lake Tahoe. On the way back we realized that Bonanza was filmed there. So, we stopped off to see that. We beat it back to the airport. We returned the rental car in Reno. We flew back to Vegas, got the other rental car and drove into town. We hit the strip again. We stayed out in Vegas till about 5:00am. Around 3:00am, we ate Prime Rib and Lobster.
Day 3:
We woke up at 6:00am and headed to the airport. We flew back home. When we got home, I turned on the news and O.J. Simpson was being chased down the road by cops.
One more thing I have to tell you. When we were at the golf tournament, we had decided to follow Dan Quayle’s foursome. We were standing up close to one of the greens where Mr. Quayle was putting. There was rope surrounding the green. It kept us about fifteen feet away from the edge of the green. I was standing in the crowd to the left and just in front of my friend Mike. I was kind of lost in the moment. Evidently Mike was too. I had kind of forgotten that he was behind me.
Mr. Quayle was not alone. He had some big dudes all around him. They were secret service. No one was allowed to be real close to him unless they were permitted. I thought that it was a good idea to abide by this requirement. I didn’t want to get shot. These guys were watching every movement in the crowd that made the next event so shocking.
Dan Quayle puts and sinks about a ten footer. He goes over to retrieve his ball from the cup. People are cheering and clapping. I believe it was the 18th hole. Once again, I am lost in the moment. But, I hear someone from behind me yell, “Mr. Quayle, your ball.” I also see someone’s hand stuck up in the air in my peripheral vision. It never occurred to me that it might be Mike. The person obviously wanted Mr. Quayle’s ball. Mr. Quayle heard this person because he turned and made eye contact just behind me. I could see that he was looking beyond me. He then pitches his ball toward this person but it fell woefully short, about ten feet short. The ball was just ten feet inside the ropes toward the green. At this point, I see someone lunge over the rope and dive toward the ball. Much to my surprise, I realize that is Mike. I also noticed secret servicemen converging toward Mike. At this moment I think that Mike is dead and I am in jail as an accomplice. Many thoughts rushed through my head. I thought of gunshot wounds and how painful they would probably be. I thought of Mike dying and ruining the rest of our trip. That one seemed most important at the time.
Mike didn’t get shot. He did get the ball. It had Dan Quayle’s name and seal on it. It was a narrow escape but he got the ball.
It never entered Mike’s mind that the secret servicemen would not want him to dive toward the former Vice President. He just wanted that damn ball.
I preached about depending on God two years ago. I listened to the tape today. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path,” (Prov. 3:5).
One of the things that struck me on that June day in 1994 was Mike’s unfettered determination to get that ball. He put everything else aside. He was abandoned in his purpose. He cast off etiquette and logic. He became a child for a few moments just to get a ball.
I am writing this today wondering what it would be like to live life in such a way. I am sitting in the middle of a time of my life where I literally live day-by-day and trust that God will provide. He has to this point. I am certain that He will tomorrow. I am living in a time where if God doesn’t do it, it simply doesn’t happen.
There are two worlds. The obvious one is the one that we see everyday. It is the one people get up and get ready for. It is the world of the flesh. Now, it isn’t made of flesh. It is made of work places and humans and systems and time clocks. It is made of schedules and business and games and relationships that are superficial. It is where we live the majority of our lives. We get sucked in early on and most spend the rest of their lives there. It is unfulfilling. It has little meaning. We are told that it is the way to succeed and to get what we want. It is only a lie. It leaves you old, tired, and empty one day. If you live only in this world, you find yourself one day sitting in a rocker, if you make it that far, and questioning the meaning.
Then, there is another world. There is the world of the Spirit. This is the one that we are least familiar with. A person who lives in this world looks a lot like Mike. He or she is totally abandoned to the will of God. A person in this world says, “I’ll trust that God will provide.” “I’ll wait on the Lord to bring the answer.” “My circumstances look bleak, but God is big.” This person says, “There is no way for this to turn out for my good, but I know that God will make it happen.” This is the place where the real stuff happens, the stuff that real life is made of. This is where the pain is surpassed by the joy, the suffering is overcome by celebration, and hopelessness is swallowed up in hope. This is real living.
Why is it that we find ourselves more often than not living in the first world? If you can, envision both of these worlds side by side. The world in the Spirit is one where the Shepherd leads you by the still waters. This is where He picks you up when you need it. It is a world slowed down by the very presence of Jesus. It isn’t complicated. It is simple. It is hard sometimes, but you are never alone. Peace exists because Jesus is there. This world moves a pace that seems slow to the other world but accomplishes more than the other world could ever produce. And, what it accomplishes is forever. It doesn’t last for just 75-100 years. It becomes a treasure “where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,” (Matt. 6:19).
The other world steals your time your energy. It takes your family. It destroys relationships. It says that you must work harder to get what you want. It says that you have to be wealthy and beautiful. You must be the best athlete. You can’t focus on who God made you to be. You have to be what this world wants. If you don’t, you will never be anything. It isn’t slow in this world. It is really fast. The reason it is so fast is that the force behind it, Satan, wants to keep you so busy that you don’t have time to deeply consider the joy that exists in the world he is competing against, the life in the Spirit.
Imagine these two worlds side by side again. One is flying by with no regard for the person involved and only producing stuff that is temporary. The other is spinning at what looks like a slow pace yet, it is producing eternal rewards.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28).
To answer the question I asked a few paragraphs ago, we live in the first world because we are convinced that what it offers it will produce. It never does. Even when we discover that there is no real life there, we keep pressing on . We chase after what if offers time and time again. Meanwhile there is rest, peace, a light burden, joy etc… in Christ. Living in the world and the life of the Spirit brings everything that we could need or want. But even if we didn’t get all the stuff, Jesus is there.
Today, I want to live in His Spirit. I want to take the next breath because I know that Jesus lives. I can face tomorrow because of that fact. I want to be abandoned to Him. I want to disregard what the other world says and jump over the security line to chase a ball. I want to trust God with all my heart. I don’t want my own understanding. I want Him to direct my ways.
I love you, your servant, your friend,
Tim
I had bought an Isuzu Trooper earlier that year. Isuzu sent me two tickets to the Celebrity Golf Association Tournament in Tahoe, Nevada. I asked Mike to go with me. Jan made all our reservations. Due to my lack of westward travels, I didn’t realize that Las Vegas was a long way from Tahoe. Jan missed it too. We realized about two months from the trip that we would never be able to make the tournament because it was too far away. So, Jan booked us a flight from Vegas to Tahoe on the day after we arrived in Vegas. The trip was crazy. Remember that what you are about to read we did in three days.
Day 1:
Mike and I left Birmingham one morning and arrived in Vegas that afternoon. We rented a car and headed to Harrah’s Hotel and Casino. That is where we stayed. We hit the road to Hoover Dam. Then, we drove about eighty miles into the desert and stopped at the far west side of the Grand Canyon. We watched the sunset and listened to classical music in the middle of the desert. We drove like bats out of hell back to Vegas. We made the 8:00pm magic show at Harrah’s. Then, we hit the streets of Vegas baby. We stayed out till about 3:00am.
Day 2:
We got up a 5:00am and headed back to the airport. We flew from Vegas to Reno. There we rented another car. We drove down to Tahoe. We watched one day of the tournament. We met Julio Iglesias, Dan Quayle, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, John Elway, Bryant Gumble, etc… It was really cool. After the tournament, we hit the road back to the airport in Reno. We made a couple of stops along Lake Tahoe. On the way back we realized that Bonanza was filmed there. So, we stopped off to see that. We beat it back to the airport. We returned the rental car in Reno. We flew back to Vegas, got the other rental car and drove into town. We hit the strip again. We stayed out in Vegas till about 5:00am. Around 3:00am, we ate Prime Rib and Lobster.
Day 3:
We woke up at 6:00am and headed to the airport. We flew back home. When we got home, I turned on the news and O.J. Simpson was being chased down the road by cops.
One more thing I have to tell you. When we were at the golf tournament, we had decided to follow Dan Quayle’s foursome. We were standing up close to one of the greens where Mr. Quayle was putting. There was rope surrounding the green. It kept us about fifteen feet away from the edge of the green. I was standing in the crowd to the left and just in front of my friend Mike. I was kind of lost in the moment. Evidently Mike was too. I had kind of forgotten that he was behind me.
Mr. Quayle was not alone. He had some big dudes all around him. They were secret service. No one was allowed to be real close to him unless they were permitted. I thought that it was a good idea to abide by this requirement. I didn’t want to get shot. These guys were watching every movement in the crowd that made the next event so shocking.
Dan Quayle puts and sinks about a ten footer. He goes over to retrieve his ball from the cup. People are cheering and clapping. I believe it was the 18th hole. Once again, I am lost in the moment. But, I hear someone from behind me yell, “Mr. Quayle, your ball.” I also see someone’s hand stuck up in the air in my peripheral vision. It never occurred to me that it might be Mike. The person obviously wanted Mr. Quayle’s ball. Mr. Quayle heard this person because he turned and made eye contact just behind me. I could see that he was looking beyond me. He then pitches his ball toward this person but it fell woefully short, about ten feet short. The ball was just ten feet inside the ropes toward the green. At this point, I see someone lunge over the rope and dive toward the ball. Much to my surprise, I realize that is Mike. I also noticed secret servicemen converging toward Mike. At this moment I think that Mike is dead and I am in jail as an accomplice. Many thoughts rushed through my head. I thought of gunshot wounds and how painful they would probably be. I thought of Mike dying and ruining the rest of our trip. That one seemed most important at the time.
Mike didn’t get shot. He did get the ball. It had Dan Quayle’s name and seal on it. It was a narrow escape but he got the ball.
It never entered Mike’s mind that the secret servicemen would not want him to dive toward the former Vice President. He just wanted that damn ball.
I preached about depending on God two years ago. I listened to the tape today. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path,” (Prov. 3:5).
One of the things that struck me on that June day in 1994 was Mike’s unfettered determination to get that ball. He put everything else aside. He was abandoned in his purpose. He cast off etiquette and logic. He became a child for a few moments just to get a ball.
I am writing this today wondering what it would be like to live life in such a way. I am sitting in the middle of a time of my life where I literally live day-by-day and trust that God will provide. He has to this point. I am certain that He will tomorrow. I am living in a time where if God doesn’t do it, it simply doesn’t happen.
There are two worlds. The obvious one is the one that we see everyday. It is the one people get up and get ready for. It is the world of the flesh. Now, it isn’t made of flesh. It is made of work places and humans and systems and time clocks. It is made of schedules and business and games and relationships that are superficial. It is where we live the majority of our lives. We get sucked in early on and most spend the rest of their lives there. It is unfulfilling. It has little meaning. We are told that it is the way to succeed and to get what we want. It is only a lie. It leaves you old, tired, and empty one day. If you live only in this world, you find yourself one day sitting in a rocker, if you make it that far, and questioning the meaning.
Then, there is another world. There is the world of the Spirit. This is the one that we are least familiar with. A person who lives in this world looks a lot like Mike. He or she is totally abandoned to the will of God. A person in this world says, “I’ll trust that God will provide.” “I’ll wait on the Lord to bring the answer.” “My circumstances look bleak, but God is big.” This person says, “There is no way for this to turn out for my good, but I know that God will make it happen.” This is the place where the real stuff happens, the stuff that real life is made of. This is where the pain is surpassed by the joy, the suffering is overcome by celebration, and hopelessness is swallowed up in hope. This is real living.
Why is it that we find ourselves more often than not living in the first world? If you can, envision both of these worlds side by side. The world in the Spirit is one where the Shepherd leads you by the still waters. This is where He picks you up when you need it. It is a world slowed down by the very presence of Jesus. It isn’t complicated. It is simple. It is hard sometimes, but you are never alone. Peace exists because Jesus is there. This world moves a pace that seems slow to the other world but accomplishes more than the other world could ever produce. And, what it accomplishes is forever. It doesn’t last for just 75-100 years. It becomes a treasure “where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,” (Matt. 6:19).
The other world steals your time your energy. It takes your family. It destroys relationships. It says that you must work harder to get what you want. It says that you have to be wealthy and beautiful. You must be the best athlete. You can’t focus on who God made you to be. You have to be what this world wants. If you don’t, you will never be anything. It isn’t slow in this world. It is really fast. The reason it is so fast is that the force behind it, Satan, wants to keep you so busy that you don’t have time to deeply consider the joy that exists in the world he is competing against, the life in the Spirit.
Imagine these two worlds side by side again. One is flying by with no regard for the person involved and only producing stuff that is temporary. The other is spinning at what looks like a slow pace yet, it is producing eternal rewards.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28).
To answer the question I asked a few paragraphs ago, we live in the first world because we are convinced that what it offers it will produce. It never does. Even when we discover that there is no real life there, we keep pressing on . We chase after what if offers time and time again. Meanwhile there is rest, peace, a light burden, joy etc… in Christ. Living in the world and the life of the Spirit brings everything that we could need or want. But even if we didn’t get all the stuff, Jesus is there.
Today, I want to live in His Spirit. I want to take the next breath because I know that Jesus lives. I can face tomorrow because of that fact. I want to be abandoned to Him. I want to disregard what the other world says and jump over the security line to chase a ball. I want to trust God with all my heart. I don’t want my own understanding. I want Him to direct my ways.
I love you, your servant, your friend,
Tim
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