Tag Al Baird

The score is tied with seven seconds left on the clock. The crowd goes wild as I steal the ball, drive the length of the court, pull up at the free throw line, shoot over the defender’s outstretched arms. The ball arches toward the basket and . . . . Whether you are a twenty-five-year-old hot shot ex-collegiate star from a Big Ten school now playing in the Open League or a fifty-four-year-old, like me, whose glory days of athletic prowess are many years past, playing in the Master’s League, we all dream of scoring the winning basket in an exciting game. Such are the HOOP DREAMS of players in the L.A. Church of Christ Basketball League.

As much as I enjoy getting a good night’s sleep, about the only positive thing that comes from it is the energy and alertness to have a productive day after I wake up. While we understand the need to get enough sleep, it is only when we are awake that our goals are accomplished. Spiritually speaking though, sleep is acceptable to God only in physical death; those who have physically died are said to be asleep (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Otherwise, one is in a very dangerous spiritual condition if he is described as being asleep (1 Thessalonians 5:6). Jesus’ very sobering call to the entire church in Sardis (Revelation3:2) was to wake up! They had fallen asleep.

God is full of surprises. Joseph the slave saved a nation. David the shepherd boy killed Goliath and became king. Gideon the coward annihilated the Midianite army. Paul the destroyer of the church became the greatest church builder. Jesus, born in a manger and crucified as a criminal, is the only way to God. The innocence and simplicity of a child becomes the standard of Christianity.

Six thousands women shared in the glory of God! Rain clouds blanketed “sunny” Los Angeles on Saturday, March 4, but God’s light was “shining through.” In what was probably the largest gathering of women in God’s modern-day movement, lives were forever transformed into the likeness of Jesus. Women of every race, color, age and background imaginable were there, gathered in ten locations to participate in the Los Angeles Church of Christ’s fifth annual Women’s Day. Over 3,600 friends, relatives and neighbors were guests of the nearly 2,400 women disciples in the church! Last year 1,700 women in the church hosted about 2,500 visitors. This year, visitor attendance increased by 45%.

Our theme for this issue "Enter The Dragon” comes from the movie that catapulted the late Bruce Lee to international stardom. Of course, we use the title as a call to take the good news of Jesus Christ to the 1.2 billion people of China. This largest, most populous nation of all times has nearly five times as many citizens as the United States. Next to the Middle East countries, China remains the nation “officially” the most closed to Christianity.

Gloria and I just returned from a very difficult trip – her mother’s funeral. It was even more difficult because Gloria’s father is now relocating to live with her brother and his wife. She was not only coping with the loss of hermom but also with the closing down of a household built on sixty years of a great marriage and happy memories.

THINK BIG. HOW BIG? AS BIG AS YOUR FAITH
will let you think. No matter how big you think, you will not match up to God’s thinking. A brother recently told of his listening to a tape of one of my sermons in 1988. I expected him to share how challenged or inspired he was by the lesson. Instead he said, “Boy, we didn’t have much faith back then, did we?” I have thought about what he said, and he is right.

Today we honor our teens. No, this is not National Teen Week or graduation time. It is just the right thing to do. Stand and Deliver is an inspiring movie about teens, and it is a true story. In it Edward James Olmos stars as Jaime Escalante, a man who gave up a high-paying job in electronics to teach inner city high school students. He discipled them, and they became champions . . . in calculus.

In only one week we have personally witnessed the South Florida Church of Christ appoint their first two elders and attended the black tie National Health Awards ceremony in New York City where Proctor and Gamble presented HOPE for Kids its 1994 award for outstanding achievement.

It was a real "Garden Party" Sunday September 18, over 8000 in the Boston Garden Celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of the Boston Church of Christ.