subject: Heart Of Hearts [print this page] Before we get started, let"s bow for a word of prayer together. Father, you have brought each of us here for a dynamic reason and that reason is to hear your truth and your word. I thank you now for life. I thank you especially for our physical bodies. Father, hammer into our spirits and our hearts your truth about this vital subject. For we voice this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, our living Lord, amen.
This is the time of year when we are bombarded by those infomercials, those talking heads promising us that being buff and beautiful is just one toll-free number away. These glassy-eyed fitness gurus say if you will just buy my supplements or my exercise equipment, then physical nirvana could be a reality to you. These infomercials are pretty convincing. They are complete with teary testimonials, before and after pictures, the total package. I love those infomercials and I am sure a lot of the products and supplements work.
This is also the time of year when a lot of us make New Year"s resolutions. We make resolutions like, "I am going to work out every day in 2002."
Or, "This next year, I am only going to eat chocolate three times."
How many of you have made wacky New Year"s resolutions, resolutions that you know in your heart of hearts you can"t keep? I have before. We have all done that.
I am sure that when many of you heard what was on the docket today, that we are embarking on this brand new series, Body by God, some of you thought to yourselves, "What in the world are we doing talking about a physical matter in church? What in the world are we doing talking about the body? Isn"t that kind of vain?"
No. The body is big in God"s economy. The body is important in his work. If it was just for vanity reasons, believe me, I would not waste your time and mine talking about it. However, a lot of people, and I am talking about a lot of people who go by the label of Christian, have no idea, they are clueless, concerning how important our bodies are.
Sadly, we have let Cosmopolitan, Glamour, GQ, Muscle & Fitness, Seventeen, Vogue and Vanity Fair and all those magazines set the stage for the body, as opposed to allowing scripture to set the stage for the body. Most Americans are body conscious. I believe the church should be even more body conscious than the world. We should take the lead concerning what God created. So, we should not be ashamed to talk about what God was not ashamed to create.
Having said all of that, I want to share a story with you that occurred at a very important juncture in my development. Ed Young Lead Pastor stated that when I was fifteen, I began to learn how to drive an automobile. My father attempted the impossible. He tried to teach me how to drive. It was pretty humorous because after about two or three sessions, he finally threw up his hands and said, "Ed, I cannot do this. I don"t have enough patience to teach you how to drive. I am going to have to bring in an expert to show you how to drive a car."
