The Fever Lever Center

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. Hebrews 12:1-2a NLT

It is so easy for us to lose focus. There are so many things that are vying for our attention that we often don’t finish tasks that we begin. However, finishing projects are much more important than beginning them. When we first begin an endeavor, we are often very excited and ambitious, but as time wanes we lose our focus by concentrating on the wrong things, concerting our efforts in the wrong direction, or centering our energies in the wrong way. The writer exhorts the Hebrews by laying out a plan for them to finish the course of faith they had undertaken. The previous chapters allowed us to examine the lives of saints of old who had persevered for the cause of Christ, letting us know that we can also finish what we’ve started by laying down weight and sin that hinder us and impede our progress. God has laid out a race that we can win if we keep our eyes on Jesusin essence, stay focused!

I am reminded of the day I gave birth to my oldest daughter, Eboni. When I began to go into full labor I told myself a few things. Although there were several other people in the room, I began to internally talk to myself. I reminded myself that (1) there was nothing I could do about being in this situation but to deal with it(2) I was in labor and the baby had to be bornI had to focus on the fact that there was a task before me that I needed to accomplish. The pain would be there regardless so there was no need in screaming and acting a fool (like the lady I heard in the next room!), but rather I needed to focus. My husband, God bless him, was beside me trying his best to help by quoting scriptures! Well, you can imagine what I really wanted to say to him! However, I focused only on the task God had blessed me to accomplishto bring a life into the world. If I had concentrated on the pain, the fear and all the other emotions women feel during childbirth, it might have delayed my progress.

We often get sidetracked by concentrating on the wrong thingswe allow other things to kick us off the track . If we are trying to lose weight, we get sidetracked by the donuts and the cookies. When we say we’re going to be active in ministry, we get sidetracked by negative comments and criticism. If we want to grow spiritually and desire to go to Bible Study, we get sidetracked by the mall, the television or _______ - you fill in the blank. Whatever the task that shows up in our walkwe concentrate on the wrong things and get sidetracked! The Lord tells us to do something and we concentrate on what others might say or think, or how inadequate we feel in getting it done.

We also concert our efforts in the wrong direction. Many times God will tell us exactly how to do something, who to approach (and sometimes even who not to approach) to assist us. We, however, try to be people pleasers and seek the approval of others about the tasks that God has mandated for us to accomplish.

Finally, we center our energies in the wrong way. Sometimes the task seems daunting or impossiblewe lose vigor and even interest and begin centering our energies on something else! We drop the ball, jump the ship, whatever you want to call itwe move on without completing the task. However, the writer to the Hebrews gives us the prescription for staying on taskkeeping our eyes on Jesus! In Him our faith depends from start to finish. If we begin with Him and keep our eyes on Him, we will end with Him!! It is not in our strength that we accomplish the task.

We must remain focused. Put down the donuts, don’t listen to the criticism, get out of the mall and STAY FOCUSED! God has a job for each of us to do. Watch out for the weight and the sin of unbelief that will take you off the track! Run! Run! Run! You can do it because God has already made provisions for you to succeed! Stay focused, my sister, and don’t give up! ©2004

Candie A. Price is the editor/founder of WOW! Women of the Word emagazine. Candie is Ministry Director for WOW! Women’s Ministry at the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL where her husband of 15 years, Rev. Arthur Price, Jr., is pastor. They are the proud parents of two daughters, Eboni Paige and Amyna Janel. WOW! emagazine can be found at http://www.wowemagazine.com For subscriptions contact Candie at ssbcwow@aol.com

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I owe eternal thanks to Mountain Dew, which had a commercial that first got me to consider: “being cool is a state of mind.” Coolness is like righteousness. You know where you stand, but that gets lost in the shuffle of everyone else trying to tell you what you should think.

This whole hip-hop crap-rap movement is one big sales Club of Cool. We have “fashionably” clad rappers acting outrageously and pretending to have fortunes and women falling at their feet. If they are pretending, then from where do they get their power? Answer: from every teenage kid in the world who is not cool but wants to be.

Buy their music CD, buy their off-the-buttcheek pants, buy their hairstyle - you too can own some stock in the cool movement. It is all part of the same big pyramid scam of acceptance. You too can be cool, if you just adopt the ignorant approach to everything, particularly misspelling and subspeech. Yo be-otch that’s phat. U R a sw33t EZ fr34ky h0e.
Whassuuuuuuupp.

The uncool teenage slice of our population is a huge market for repeat revenues. Define cool as something that’s ever-changing, and the sheep must spend their wages every time the flava of the month changes.

Dre is the man. No wait, it’s Snoop. Now it’s Warren. Or is it Afro Puffs Dyke? If you buy one, you have to upgrade to the buddy and brother and sista add-ons, batteries not included, and even if they were they wouldn’t be cool next month.

Woah, now we got a whole Cool Thang Clan. Sell the whole posse and just rotate who’s a member by politics. Sell the drama of who threatened who, who went to jail, who has the pimpest tight wheelz, and who really busted a cap - not just crap rapped about it. I’m hard; I’m ghetto; you can be cool if your wallet is agile and generous enough.

Sorry fellas, but you cannot sell me coolness. I ain’t buying. My clothes were fashionable ten years ago; my hair, fifteen. That’s just me. I will not aspire to be JayZee or whatever the initials of the month are. Even Groucho Marx could see through that one: “I would never join a club that would have me as a member.”

Sometimes I think that all the sheep who buy into that futile bull should just have a big sign on their foreheads so I know to avoid them. But then I realize: they do! Everyone wearing pants that sag below boxers, sporting Asian tattoos they don’t understand, touting senseless phrases corrupted from honest language, or mashing keys lazily instead of typing as if they were educated.

So I’d like to thank the Club of Cool for branding all the fools out there. Life is so much easier when things are clearly labeled. Know what I’m sayin’? Peace out, G.

Phrasically phunky yet helplessly uncool, John Ashen is an author on Writing.Com
which is located at http://www.Writing.Com/ and is accessible by anyone.

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