"A lot of people remember my last match, they can remember what I wore, what moves I made and who won, they know everything about me, but they don't know me. In many ways that is how we as Christians are, we know everything about God... but we don't know Him" - Ted DiBiase, former professional wrestler & current minister. Founded Heart of David Ministry.
I am a big professional wrestling fan. Have been since I was thirteen years old. I own several DVD's, own several biographies, gone to several house shows, and have even had photo ops with some wrestlers. It's one of my guilty pleasures. I've even managed to convince (some might say brainwashed) my wife to get into it. Every Monday evening, we watch it on the USA network. You may say I am a man of culture... then again maybe you won't.
Every now and then in my writings, I will make references to the things I enjoy. Comic books, pro wrestling, pro sports, Ohio State, Doctor Who, and other sci-fi television and movies may get sprinkled in. Like yogurt, I'm cultured.
Anyways, when I was younger I was a fan of "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. He was an excellent wrestler, great with promos - just an amazing character. He was a bad guy multi-millionaire who used his wealth, prestige, and power to get what he wanted. "Everybody has a price" was his mantra.
Years ago, I bought Ted's biography. I had known that he had become a Christian and was now a minister. It was a good read interspersing his career achievements peppered with how it led him to where he is now. Even though his career was successful, he had action figures of himself, he performed before more than 80,000 fans - he was still unfulfilled. He had struggles with injuries and his marriage. He was extremely honest because from all outward appearances he was happy and highly successful, but internally he was unfulfilled.
The thing that struck me most about him was the quote I started this entry with. I realize we are all like this at one time or another. In today's culture with all the magazines, internet, TV, etc we are inundated with celebrity images. We get so much information that we can believe that we truly "know" these celebrities like members of our own families. All we have is this superficial knowledge, but we are given a sense of being close to something that we are really far from. We know so much about people like Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Robert Pattinson, The Kardashians, and Brangelina that we think we know them intimately. We then become shocked by scandals and truths which reveal our true lack of knowledge.
A lot of us can do that in our walk of faith. We know the stories and the teachings but we don't know the Lord intimately. He becomes a character in a cast of thousands in the Bible to us sometimes. I've done this in my life at times. We do it at different times in our lives or in certain aspects of our lives. A surface knowledge as opposed to something deeper. I walked in that philosophy growing up and at other times in my life. I refer to him as Celebrity Jesus.
I grew up knowing all the stories thanks to church and Sunday School. I knew the Christmas Story, the wedding at Cana, The Last Supper, Sermon on the Mount, The Feeding of the Five Thousand, The Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Those gave me an understanding of who Jesus was and what He had done, but I didn't know Him. As I said to me, Jesus was nothing more than any other character in a book. I knew him, but I didn't know Him.
However, God calls us to know Him in a more personal way. How do we do this? Reading His word daily gives us a deeper understanding of Him. The stories reveal more and more of Him to us. Praying and meditating is also important. How did we get to know our friends better? By talking to them and listening to them. We do the same with God. By talking and more importantly, listening we gain a deeper understanding. Asking the Lord to reveal Himself and His plans for us requires more of us than a superficial commitment. If we desire to know the Lord better, it will reveal who we are truly and our complete dependence upon Him.
Sometimes, the things we may discover may seem hard or cause us to deal with some deep-rooted painful issues. But, like the best best friend we could have, the Lord reveals this to bring healing and to help us grow with His help.
Also, being among other believers helps us to know God even more deeply. We see what the Lord does to those around us each day. This helps to encourage us, strengthen us, makes us hopeful, and helps us to be accountable. I would recommend being involved in a small group or joining a ministry at your church. There you will see more and more of who Jesus is.
When you get to know the Lord intimately, your vision becomes clearer. You become more aware of what it means to see the world as God sees it. And, it never ends. Each day, as I get to know Him more I learn. I never stop learning about God. Each and every day, He amazes me more and more. There are things I take granted and when I look again, I see them in a newer, bolder, fresher way. My hope increases daily as I spend more time on my relationship with the Lord.
My prayer for everyone is that they would strive to know God deeper and more intimately than they have. He's not just a character in a 2,000 year old book. He is so much more than you can imagine. He's more than I can ever imagine. I learn that daily. Trust me, you will not be disappointed each time you spend getting to know Him more.
I am a big professional wrestling fan. Have been since I was thirteen years old. I own several DVD's, own several biographies, gone to several house shows, and have even had photo ops with some wrestlers. It's one of my guilty pleasures. I've even managed to convince (some might say brainwashed) my wife to get into it. Every Monday evening, we watch it on the USA network. You may say I am a man of culture... then again maybe you won't.
Every now and then in my writings, I will make references to the things I enjoy. Comic books, pro wrestling, pro sports, Ohio State, Doctor Who, and other sci-fi television and movies may get sprinkled in. Like yogurt, I'm cultured.
Anyways, when I was younger I was a fan of "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. He was an excellent wrestler, great with promos - just an amazing character. He was a bad guy multi-millionaire who used his wealth, prestige, and power to get what he wanted. "Everybody has a price" was his mantra.
Years ago, I bought Ted's biography. I had known that he had become a Christian and was now a minister. It was a good read interspersing his career achievements peppered with how it led him to where he is now. Even though his career was successful, he had action figures of himself, he performed before more than 80,000 fans - he was still unfulfilled. He had struggles with injuries and his marriage. He was extremely honest because from all outward appearances he was happy and highly successful, but internally he was unfulfilled.
The thing that struck me most about him was the quote I started this entry with. I realize we are all like this at one time or another. In today's culture with all the magazines, internet, TV, etc we are inundated with celebrity images. We get so much information that we can believe that we truly "know" these celebrities like members of our own families. All we have is this superficial knowledge, but we are given a sense of being close to something that we are really far from. We know so much about people like Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Robert Pattinson, The Kardashians, and Brangelina that we think we know them intimately. We then become shocked by scandals and truths which reveal our true lack of knowledge.
A lot of us can do that in our walk of faith. We know the stories and the teachings but we don't know the Lord intimately. He becomes a character in a cast of thousands in the Bible to us sometimes. I've done this in my life at times. We do it at different times in our lives or in certain aspects of our lives. A surface knowledge as opposed to something deeper. I walked in that philosophy growing up and at other times in my life. I refer to him as Celebrity Jesus.
I grew up knowing all the stories thanks to church and Sunday School. I knew the Christmas Story, the wedding at Cana, The Last Supper, Sermon on the Mount, The Feeding of the Five Thousand, The Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Those gave me an understanding of who Jesus was and what He had done, but I didn't know Him. As I said to me, Jesus was nothing more than any other character in a book. I knew him, but I didn't know Him.
However, God calls us to know Him in a more personal way. How do we do this? Reading His word daily gives us a deeper understanding of Him. The stories reveal more and more of Him to us. Praying and meditating is also important. How did we get to know our friends better? By talking to them and listening to them. We do the same with God. By talking and more importantly, listening we gain a deeper understanding. Asking the Lord to reveal Himself and His plans for us requires more of us than a superficial commitment. If we desire to know the Lord better, it will reveal who we are truly and our complete dependence upon Him.
Sometimes, the things we may discover may seem hard or cause us to deal with some deep-rooted painful issues. But, like the best best friend we could have, the Lord reveals this to bring healing and to help us grow with His help.
Also, being among other believers helps us to know God even more deeply. We see what the Lord does to those around us each day. This helps to encourage us, strengthen us, makes us hopeful, and helps us to be accountable. I would recommend being involved in a small group or joining a ministry at your church. There you will see more and more of who Jesus is.
When you get to know the Lord intimately, your vision becomes clearer. You become more aware of what it means to see the world as God sees it. And, it never ends. Each day, as I get to know Him more I learn. I never stop learning about God. Each and every day, He amazes me more and more. There are things I take granted and when I look again, I see them in a newer, bolder, fresher way. My hope increases daily as I spend more time on my relationship with the Lord.
My prayer for everyone is that they would strive to know God deeper and more intimately than they have. He's not just a character in a 2,000 year old book. He is so much more than you can imagine. He's more than I can ever imagine. I learn that daily. Trust me, you will not be disappointed each time you spend getting to know Him more.
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