Joel Stiff's Adventure

Steven Covey taught that life was like a jar. We have many things we want to do with our time or fill up our jar with. The way he went about the lesson was by putting as many big rocks in the jar as he could fit. He asked a class if the jar was full. They responded that it was. He took out a bucket of gravel and poured it in to the top. He again asked if it was full. Catching on, they said they weren’t sure. He took out a bucket of sand and then filled in the cracks between the big rocks and the gravel. The jar seemed absolutely full. Until he pulled out a bucket of water and filled the jar with as much as it could hold.

The point he makes is that your life is going to be filled to the brim. He stresses the importance of getting the big rocks in first. If you do not put the big rocks in before the gravel or sand or water, they will never make it in. This is indeed true. If you don’t schedule your work hours before your facebook time, you will soon be out of a job.

I would like to entertain a different thought. This thought being that we sometimes forget what our big rocks should be. If I were to venture a guess, many would start listing the big rocks as being work, family, responsibilities, chores, errands, etc. As I struggle with this myself and watch others who do also, we have mistaken for big rocks what should be gravel, or sand or water.

Just one for instance. Career seems to be the first big rock for so many. Really? The fifty-ish hours spent working for the companies bottom line is the first big rock? Now certainly, an income must be earned but I’m certain that my wife, my children and my God would take issue with such prioritization.

John 2:15: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

Yes, He did. There is no denying it. He made a scourge to run bad people out of the Temple for taking advantage of good people.

Some will use this example as a reason to make their own whips. This is perfectly reasonable and right.

Just be sure you are using it on the right people.

I’ve seen a lot of scourging of good people.

Leave the good people alone.

During college, I worked at Sears selling home electronics. TV’s, VCR’s, camcorders and home stereos were all in our department. There isn’t a more delightful product to sell than entertainment goods. How fun is it to show someone how good a picture can look on a television, or how awesome the audio can be if they hook the right receiver and speakers to their tv. Selling a video camera to new parents so that they can have a record of their little one’s growth and development is like taking candy from said baby.

Yet, there were guys on my sales floor who seemed to have a problem with it all. They had a problem with the customers, the products, the company, the return policies, the management and the commissions. While they were busy leaning up against the console tv’s, a few of us were busy selling product to customers. The malcontents were what I like to call basement dwellers.

A basement dweller is one whose thinking is in the basement. It’s all bad and nothing is good. If things are going well, it is only a matter of time before they go sour. If they are sour, it’s only going to get worse from here. People are only obstacles in the way of our happiness.

Another thing about basement dwellers is that they want you to be in the basement with them. Thus, they complain, argue and criticize all in an effort to show you just how bad it all really is.

My advice is to stay out of the basement altogether. Even if it looks nice because it has been remodeled, it is still a hole in the ground where you can’t see the light of day.

Some things are not worth our time.

Critics.

Argumentative people.

Fame.

Perfection.

Drama.

The need to be in control.

Power.

Authority.

The need to be right.

Stuff from wal-mart.

Road ragers.

Nags.

Complaining about the weather.

That person whose business you just can’t seem to get.

That customer who is never happy no matter what.

Bossy people.

Unrealistic goals.

Self destructive habits.

People who blame you for their shortcomings.

Basement dwellers.

The need for attention.

The desire for credit.

Let go of these things and your quality of life will immediately improve.

Every day, I get to read the Bible and study about God.

I get to spend time in prayer talking to Him.

I get to rejoice with people when they have victories.

I get to help lift them up when they have suffered defeat.

I watch people grow in the grace and knowledge of God.

I watch Him use them and their lives to bless others and bring honor to Him.

I am able to love people.

I get to pray with people and help them ask God to meet their needs.

I get to hear the reports of how He answers.

I get to see people put their faith in Jesus for forgiveness.

I preach the funerals of their loved ones who have gone to Heaven.

I get to see the smiles that are moistened with tears.

I get to get up and preach the goodness of God and the requirements He makes of us.

I get to serve with my wife and children.

I am privileged to have my extended family as a part of our church.

I have spent my life serving with people I love very much in several different states and churches.

I have been able to have fun doing what it is I do.

I enjoy the challenge that encompasses working with people.

I enjoy the struggle of never having enough money, laborers and resources.

Every single day, I get to wake up and know that the things I do matter.

Crystal Pepsi

Sony Walkman

Changing the few channels on the tv by hand with a knob.

Being yelled at for turning the tv channel knob too fast.

Checking pay phones and cigarette machines for coins in the return.

Now ‘n laters

Mimeograph machines

Velcro wallets

Shrinky dinks

Wax teeth

Stop.

Seriously. Think about it.

Just stop.

I grew up on all of the delightfully violent cartoons of the 70’s and 80’s.

Much of the time I was frustrated. I was frustrated after watching Wile E. Coyote chase the Road Runner and never catching him. I was frustrated watching Sylvester pursue Tweety Bird and never catching him (her?) I was frustrated watching Tom run after Jerry and never catching him.

Once, just once, I wish one of them would catch, kill and eat the one they had been chasing for so long. There was just something so smug about the three being pursued.

I was also the kid who mailed in the “yes” ballot to vote for the Trix rabbit to actually enjoy a bowl of Trix.

I root against the sports dynasties. I was happy to see Wisconsin defeat Kentucky.

I always pulled for the underdog. I rooted for the one who never seemed to win. I still do.

Anyone can side with the crowd. Anyone can align themselves with the proven. Anyone can choose the safe route.

I’d rather go with the one who is ignored, in the shadows and counted out.

To all you underdogs out there, keep trying. Never give up. You’ve got someone pulling for you.

Why doesn’t anyone ever question the Good Friday tradition?

It is common knowledge that Jesus was in the grave three days and three nights. It is also common tradition to celebrate the death of Jesus on Friday and His resurrection on Sunday. So if He dies about three o’clock on Friday and goes into the tomb, He would be there Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night for a total of one day and two nights. That falls short of three days and three nights by two days and one night.

So why do we celebrate Good Friday? Because that’s what we’ve always been told to do.

Why doesn’t anyone ever challenge it? Because “they” must know more than we do. Even when it comes to something as simple as counting to three.

For those of you wondering about the actual timetable of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, here goes:

First – the Bible nowhere says or implies that Jesus was crucified on a Friday – it isn’t in there.

The idea for this comes from Mark 15:42 where it says, “And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath.” The Hebrew sabbath began at sundown on Friday night and went until sundown on Saturday night. Days begin and end at sundown rather than sunrise as we view them here in the West.

The problem with viewing this sabbath as the day of rest is that it isn’t taking into consideration the fact that the first day of a Passover week, regardless of the day of the week it came, was a sabbath.

The Passover sabbath in the year that Jesus was crucified was on Thursday, the 15th of the month Nisan. This would mean that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday. We are told in Mark 15:34, that just after the ninth hour, or three o’clock our time, Jesus died. Joseph of Arimathaea requested His body to place it in the tomb.

So Jesus goes into the tomb and is there, Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday night and Saturday. Jesus then rose from the grave Saturday night. We know this because at daybreak, Mary went to the tomb, found the stone rolled away from the entrance and Jesus gone.

Three days and three nights.

Something else noteworthy to consider is that Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation and offering for the Passover. The Passover required the slaying of a lamb without blemish. John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world!” So Jesus, the Lamb of God, was slain on the very same day as the Passover lambs. His blood was spilled and applied to the mercy seat in Heaven.

One more thing is that the Passover lambs were to be chosen on the 10^th of the month – 4 days before they were slain. Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem occurred on Saturday, four days before His crucifixion. He perfectly fulfills every detail regarding the selection and slaying of the Passover lambs. Had He been crucified on Friday, none of this would have been true.

There is nothing in scripture supporting a Good Friday view. Everything in scripture points toward a Wednesday crucifixion.

So again, why does Good Friday even continue to be observed?

Following without thinking.

Today is the Saturday before Easter.

At the time, Jesus would have been in the tomb three nights and today would be the third day. He would have risen from the dead sometime after sundown tonight. His tomb would be empty at sunrise.

What were His followers thinking?

They knew of His claim to rise. They knew three days and three nights. But sometimes the heart and the head don’t connect like they should.

We have all had those instances in life where the hours and minutes crawl by at a snail’s pace. Each tick of the clock is like a dagger in the heart. This is where they are. Waiting. Painfully waiting.

You have been there. You have also survived the wait. You came out on the other side just fine.

If the hope you seek cannot be found right now, keep waiting.

The sun always comes up in the morning.