Dying for Nothing???

Blog readers, I pray that all is well with you. You know there are times when things are on my mind and I must stop right then and there to write it down or otherwise it may go into the sea of Easterbaby forgetfulness. So what is so pressing that I stopped everything to give you another blog in the same month? Usually this happens when I have some spiritual enlightment that I feel inclined to share with you. As always not everyone will understand or receive this message but hey, that is the way it is sometimes. But I can't let that stop me...


So here's the deal, I am on the internet looking for a particular image on Google images and I came across a picture of Pat Tillman (not the one shown here). I believe we all know who he is but for the rock dwellers, he is the ex-football player for the Phoenix Cardinals turned soldier who was killed over in Iraq and then the military allegedy gave false information surrounding his death. So I saw this image and something made me click on it. It brought me to this blog of an athiest. This didn't surprise me because I had heard recently that Pat Tillman was an atheist. So maybe Pat was this blogger's atheist hero. Anyway, before I lose you, let me say this blog (mine) ain't about atheism per se. Nope, it is more for the monotheist. In the blog, the writer claimed that a statement was made by a military official to Pat's mom..."Pat Tillman died for nothing because he didn't believe in nothing." This statement got the little wheel in my head a'turning...

My first thought was how tragic to live life not believing in nothing, a life without God...Then my thoughts turned to wonder why he didn't believe...Then my thoughts turned to wonder why no one told him about the good news...Then I thought isn't that what the believers of Christ are suppose to be doing...then I thought so what are we as Christians really up to? So that is where I am in my thoughts.

In Matthew 28: 18 - 20 there is what is known as The Great Commission and it says :

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

So if we claim to be followerers of Jesus then shouldn't this be what we are about? Sometimes but not all the time, church gets me frustrated. Now before yall call my pastor, let me 'splain. See I am talking in general, not specifically. Believers gather on Sunday, in our segregated Sunday best and in the confines of the four church walls to worship, praise, and ooze loving kindness towards the Lord and often we send a little love to our church members. In those moments, most feel they are good Christians and believe that time spent in church (on Sunday) excuses them from doing what God asked (i.e. The Great Commission). People get happy, shout, and get saved that day and then sent out into the world. Some of them don't last long cause they don't understand what happened or what their salvation means. For instance, I had a friend get saved for about a week. A week??? Yep, a week. After that she said she couldn't do it. Not sure what it was she thought she had to do...cause salvation is a gift. All she had to do was receive it. Anyway, who was responsible for seeing her through this journey?


Ok, put the phone down. My pastor is too busy to listen to you talk about me and my blog. I am not against church, in fact I love attending church. It is a great place to fellowship with fellow believers and more importantly, get divine instructions from God's Word from His servant. My point is that I just think we sometimes get it wrong. We think we are okay if our prayers and needs are met and answered. All is well in our little world. But what did Jesus say about himself in Luke 4: 18 - 19:


18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

So why have the followers of Jesus changed the mission? Some of the business we are about is so far removed from what Jesus did while he was here. Some churches won't even let you be a member without completing an application. So how do the poor, imprisoned and oppressed fit into the picture at this type of church? But Sherry, we aren't Jesus. You got that right, far from it. But Jesus gave us the power He had so we could do what He did. Act 1:8 says:


8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Now when Jesus sent out the 72 disciples...What? Yeah I said 72. You think there were only 12? Now how do you suppose these other 60 disciples came to be? Here's a thought, they had seen or heard about Jesus, maybe at the big fish fry or maybe in the temple or maybe they witnessed Jesus performing miracles or maybe one of the 12 witnessed to them. Who knows? But what didn't happen is that they sat around waiting for the next Sabbath day to roll around to meet back up with Jesus at the temple. No, Jesus said "Okay yall got to get to work. What you know about me, everyone needs to know. Don't keep it to yourself. Get busy and if they reject you, don't sweat it, keep on moving!" (Sherry's paraphrase). And they were walking yall...Imagine if they had cars to drive. And when they got back they were excited. In fact, the bible uses the term "joy". Luke 10:17 -18

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

And their joy made Jesus very thankful. Luke 10:21 says...

21At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.


So let me see, there is joy in doing God's work, and Jesus is grateful...so much so, He writes our names in heaven. WOW! So I say, why did Pat Tillman die for nothing? Why are so many others like him gonna die the same way? You see death can be overcome. But we gotta tell people. Not just the ones we see at church every Sunday but everybody. Why do you think God tests us? To give us a testimony. And what will a testimony do? Save a life! Yep! Sounds simple, huh? But hey I didn't come up with that. That is the Word! Revelations 12:11 says:


11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

I just know someone is out there going, "so Ms. Sherry, what are you doing? Telling us what we ain't doing..." To that I say, I am not doing nearly as much as God has for me to do. But in my defense, God gives us all certain abilites to do His work. Like the 72, they had two good feet and some pretty durable pairs of sandals, I imagine. As for me, He gave me a PC, a blog, and a way with words; thus I use what I got to get what HE wants. Oh I hear ya...you think this doesn't count as spreading the gospel. Perhaps it is and perhaps it ain't. But believe it or not, not everyone that reads my blog is a Christian.

In closing, the atheist blog had a little motto...it said "Hands that work are better than lips that pray." Hmmmmmmm...now don't get all indignant because even the bible says in James 2:20 - 26:

20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"and he was called God's friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Imagine if we, the Believers with our power from on high, had praying lips AND working hands, what a difference that would make. Perhaps all Pat needed was to have someone share a testimony with him. Of course, he'd probably still be dead 'cause he got shot BUT he may not have died for nothing. That WORD may have lead him to Jesus and he would be living again with Him in glory.

FREEDOM of the MIND

Blog Readers, wow have I missed you all. It seems the time has gotten away from me. I last blogged in April and before I knew it, it was July. So I decided it was time to correspond with my "peoples".

Of course so much has been happening since my last blog that I could probably write for hours about stuff but I don't have that kind of time. So with the time I do have, I just wanted to type about something that I have pondered since my last blog. In honor of Independance Day, I am gonna "free my mind" somewhat.

I want to free my mind of what it means to be in graduate school earning a PHD. A friend of mine (Big shout out to Dr. Michelle) says that P.H.D. stands for "Permanent Head Damage". For all those who know, this statement is very funny and very true. I think people often underestimate the time and energy it takes to go through this process. And I say this because I think folks think I am kidding when I say "I am going to school (on a Sunday afternoon) or "I don't have time to..." It is more than just taking classes...for me, it is like a form of "hazing". Uh-oh, did I say hazing? Yep and it lasts for 4 years as opposed to the few weeks, greek orgs. have their pledgees on line. Oh and yes I did say four years! So for those who keep asking me if I am STILL in school. Yes I am. Some programs can take you as long as 5 years depending on your research. So don't look at me like an "underachiever" or a "career student" when I say I am still in school. That is just the nature of the beast.

So what is research in the PHD program? Research is developing your very OWN problem and solving it. Sounds easy? NOT! Because before you can do this, you have to make sure no one has ever done it before so you are not a copy cat. And you have to make sure when your committee asks, "So how do you think this research has contributed to the body of knowledge?" You will be able to answer with confidence. "THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE"...now that is saying a whole lot right there...that statement alone is enough to cause permanent head damage. So what does it mean to solve your own problem AND contribute to the BODY OF KNOWLEDGE...it means that my research is always on my mind...ALWAYS!

I had the plesasure of attending a conference a couple weeks ago. I learned lots there but I had pangs of guilt b/c I wasn't working on my research. Yes, part of the permanent head damages involves guilt about not spending every waking moment on your work. Not writing or reading something 25 hours a day and 8 days a week and 366 days a year is not an option (at least that is how you feel)...see how messed up I am??? Oh yeah and what exactly is a "holiday"? Me and some collegues went to a 1 day conference for a presentation in VA during the Spring Break and called it a "vacation". Yep, in the PHD program, you take what you can get and are glad about it.

And let me free my mind with something else. Getting a PHD does not change the person, it changes other people and how they treat you. Most of the time if someone asks me what I do, I simply say, " I am in graduate school". Why? Cause the minute I say I am working on my PHD (getting that permanent head damage), folks change. They start talking funny (all proper like) and I am thinking "what is going on?" cause I am still speaking as "southern" as I was before. I probably said I was getting a PHD real country like too...Or folks start trying to prove how smart they are by talking about "educated-type" stuff and I am thinking "So we can't joke no more?". Or they act like we are on Jeopardy and try to "test" my brain. It's like "since you are getting a PHD, you must know this stuff." I guess they want to know (along with my committee) if I can truly contribute to the BODY OF KNOWLEDGE". Some folks will politely end the conversation with me.

People have asked me, "So what do you want to be called?" or "You don't expect me to call you Dr. Springs, do you?" And I am like call me "Sherry". They have me wondering if Sherry has been my name all these years or was I dreaming? Now in the appropriate setting, I am sure I will be addressed as Dr. Springs but the people who usually asks this will not be sitting in my classroom or attending a conference or working at the same institution as myself. So I often wonder why they ask me stuff like that.

And finally, I must free my mind of one more thing. People have asked me about my research. Boy I dread this question...Why? Because I know that if I explain it the way I understand it, in the end, the person who asked will be looking at me like "WHAT?" Which causes me to have to answer more questions. And then the person thinks you are just trying to show how smart you are. But that's not it at all. Most of the time, we are just understanding what we are doing ourselves. Trust me, everyone's contribution to the BODY OF KNOWLEDGE is so different and specialized, it is not uncommon to find no one understands but you. This is a common plight of most PHD students (yeah we talk).

We have joked that a Reality Show could be made about the life of a PHD student. Hey, don't roll your eyes...it would make for some interesting television 'cause we have our share of drama.

Anyway, I am glad I was able to free my mind. Thanks for your attention. And if none of this makes any sense or there are any typos or grammatical errors please understand that I suffer from getting that P.H.D. (permenant head damage). Happy July 4th, Er'body!!!

*This blog is dedicated to all the folks who have that P. (Permanent) H. (Head) D. (Damage) and those still in the trenches with me (especially the "lab rats" of IRC #328 and IRC #222.)