Dear Graduates:

You’re not home yet. You’ve been sadly misled to think that this world has something to offer you. It doesn’t. The reality is that you are a stranger here, a traveler who hasn’t yet arrived safely home. You are passing through, sojourning steadily until you reach that final destination, and your eyes lay hold of the place that has been prepared for you. It’s hard to hear, but it’s not here.

The next step in your journey is in many ways the biggest one yet. There are new freedoms to enjoy, new horizons to set after, new boundaries to establish, new relationships to embrace. With these next ten years come shattered wishes, broken promises, intellectual enlightenment, and surprising emptiness. You will likely question your faith, ignore your family, wander from Jesus, follow your thoughts, defend your reasoning, challenge your worldview, and wallow in meaningless. Trials will pound you, temptations will haunt you, fears will bind you, sin will blind you, Satan will find you, and your past will remind you. But God will also be there to guide you.

His way is narrow. His road is tough. God’s path is steep, and barely traveled.
Few find it. You’ve been shown the way to walk, now the choice is in your hands. Don’t lose heart. Don’t fear. Be strong and courageous, because God is with you. You’re about to become a statistic: you’re either an evangelical Christ-follower who will abandon their faith in college, or one who will change the current tide. You are either a thermometer or thermostat. You’ll either be changed, or make change. Mom and dad can’t defend you anymore. It’s in your hands now. Are you ready?

These are the last words of wisdom before you enter the world, and I hope you listen well:
Rise early.
Drive slower.
Eat lighter.
Work out.
Read often.
Walk fervently.
Pray earnestly.
Seek diligently.
Abide closely.
Lead gently.
Live humbly.
Speak gladly.
Smile hourly.
Laugh daily.
Listen deeply.
Choose joy.
Try harder.
Give generously.
Serve faithfully.
Go frequently.
Play hard.
Work hard.
Sleep hard!
Do something once a day that surprises you.
Take the commands of scripture literally and practice what you already believe.
Make time to call your grandparents and just chat.
Fast once a week and don’t tell anyone. Use that day to spend time praying and seeking God’s will for your life.
Find those people in your life with the most needs, and encourage them.
Pat people on the back when you greet them. Use a firm handshake.
Wait for God’s timing for your future spouse. They are out there somewhere…
Start each morning praying and worshiping. Let the first words out of your mouth be a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord. Let your last words of the day be the same.
If you doubt what you believe, study it even deeper. Don’t abandon it because another argument comes along. Press in and discover the heart of God.
Nothing is beneath you, so be willing to feed the pigs. Eventually you’ll enjoy the fattened calf.
Act confidently, even if you’re acting. You’ll be surprised how you feel and look.
Find your clothes at Goodwill, and buy a lot! Then when you are done with an outfit, bring it back to Goodwill. People need jobs and the clothes rock.
Reduce your carbon footprint. Do so by losing weight or amputating your feet.
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, because difficult days lie ahead.
Never forget those who have gone before you. They know what’s in store.
Listen. Then keep listening. Once you get it, then speak.
The most important thing in life is this: _______________.
How are you going to fill in that blank? It’s up to you.

Thanks for letting us have such a small part in your life. We love you and are praying for success and blessing in all you endeavor to do.
God bless you.

“Foul Ball”

You’ve probably never heard of Steve Bartman. But ask someone in Chicago, specifically a Cubs fan, and you’ll get more than an earful! It was game 6 of a Cubs playoff game against the Florida Marlins, with the Cubs leading 3-0 in the game and 3-2 games in the series. In the eighth inning, with only five outs away from the World Series, the Cubs players and fans were thinking the impossible was about to happen. Enter Bartman.

Bartman was sitting in the front row near the left-field corner wall, when a pop foul came toward his seat. The Cubs left-fielder leaped into the stands with his glove extended to make the catch and subsequent out, but Steve Bartman’s eyes were also on the ball. As he also went for the catch, the Cubs player was unable to make the play, and the ball fell into the stands. The Cubs tried to argue for interference but because it was in the stands it was considered out of the field of play.

The Marlins drew life out of the coincidence, and then came back to not only win the game, but also the next two games, eliminating the Cubs from the playoffs and heading on to defeat the Yankees in the World Series. Bartman’s life was threatened and he had to be escorted off the field with a detail of security guards. Fans now take pictures of Bartman’s outfield seat and reminisce about what could have been. Then months of media interest and fan fury drew too much attention to poor Steve, and he issued a formal apology for the “accident”.

I find in this story such a sad truth. Often in the church leaders will draw unnecessary fire for their ‘interference’ in the plays. Steve was simply going to make a catch, along with the dozen people around him, but because his hands dropped the ball, he received the criticism. Pastors and church leaders are often attacked by the sheep because we fail to make the play, or get in the way of what others believe is the right play, and seem to make decisions that are not in the best interest in the crowds.

Jesus made such an ‘error’. In John chapter 6, when His following was greatest, His notoriety most widespread, He drops a theological bomb on His followers. He explains that if you weren’t drawn by the Father, you’re wasting your time, and that some were there that did not believe. I can see the disciples smiling and trying to reassure the masses of people leaving that “perhaps what Jesus meant to say was…”, or “now don’t take Jesus too literally! He’s just being sarcastic!” At the moment of greatest impact, Jesus chased some people away. But His reasoning was that He “knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him” (John 6:64). On the field it appeared to be a foolish play, but Jesus had a purpose and intention.

Church leaders should not make the plays dictated to them by the stands. We are not elected officials who are nominated to represent the people’s wishes. We are men called by God to lead the church of God by the Word of God under the direction of the Spirit of God for the glory of God to be faithful to the gospel of God. We care far more about what our Coach thinks than what the critical columnist writes. So take heart if you are in the stands. What seems to be a bad play may actually be exactly where God is leading our team. And if you are Steve Bartman, be encouraged. Five days after that fateful game, a group of 13- and 14-year-old baseball players whom Bartman had coached in little league held a rally for him, where one kid called him "a great coach, a great person and a great role model". That probably meant more to Bartman than we’ll ever know.

-Pilgrim