I remember when I was a boy of about nine years my dad had a friend who was a black belt in Karate. The story goes that he could catch a mosquito between his first and second toe. I don’t think this was true, but I believed it. I was amazed by this and I shared this story with my grandmother. She was not impressed and wanted me to be more impressed with my own father and how he had handled losing most of his left arm. I thought she was way off. My dad had just lost something; his friend Mike could do something very that was very cool!!

That interaction has stayed with me for over 30 years. While I continued my walking the half mile to the place where the wounded wait for the next flight (CASF) I thought about how the type of people I admire has changed with time. When I was a boy, before I became a Christian, I admired people who could catch mosquitoes in unique ways. I would also admire great athletes, television stars, or people who could easily get girls to like them. That was never my gift. When I became a Christian, I began to change who I admired. Now it was the Pastor of a very large church who had written books, the Christian music star etc. From the Bible I knew they were just like me but I wanted to meet them, have them know me, and have them sign something for me. As I got a chance to spend a little more time with some of the “big name” pastors of California, I became convinced that they were much more like me than they were like God. This is to take nothing away from them or to elevate myself but just an awareness of the mightiness of God. Now there are some people who hardly anyone in the world may notice who I admire greatly and there are those that are well known that I do not admire at all. What has changed? As I thought of how I would put into words my feeling toward the admiration of Man this is what I came up with: I admire people based on how much they allow God to accomplish things through them. These people are not walking advertisements for themselves. They do not talk about “their” ministry they call it God’s. They do not talk of “their” accomplishments they use every opportunity to bring glory to God for what He has done. They are walking billboards to the strength and power of a life totally dedicated to and truly transformed by God.

It is easy to see how we are becoming a society that worships men and women, be they Pastors, scientists, athletes, musicians or movie stars. John Wesley said, "Give me twelve men who love Jesus with all their hearts and who do not fear men or devils, and I care not one whit whether they be clergy or laity. With these men I will change the world."

I will probably never be a national hero, a rock star, or a NBA Hall of Famer, but I could be one of those men John Wesley described. The question I must ask myself is; am I willing?

Solis Deo Gloria

More thoughts to come