The Big Reveal

The Big RevealA few months ago we were delighted to hear from our youngest daughter and her husband that they are expecting their first child next March. As is the trend with today’s parents-to-be, they opted to find out their baby’s gender before birth. Katie had an ultrasound and a blood test done. Though the news was concealed inside an envelope, it was a little too simple to just open it up to know whom they will be welcoming into their family. So, the envelope with the precious information was passed off to a couple with remote acreage. They prepared an elaborate contraption that when hit would explode, shooting the appropriate colored chalk in the air (blue for boy, pink for girl) revealing the gender of the little one Katie is carrying. On the last Saturday of October, we had a celebration brunch with some family and friends and then headed out as a caravan to the said property for the Big Reveal.
Chase is licensed and experienced using a rifle, but it took him a couple times to correctly hit the target, which was about one hundred fifty feet away from him and all of us who were cheering him on. Waiting with great anticipation, many of us held cell phones to catch the “big reveal,” making it a bit hard to pay attention to all the details. When the rifle shot finally made contact with the disclosing mechanism, a small puff of grayish smoke appeared above the target site, leaving most of us a bit confused. Some noticed, however, that a pile of pink chalk had spilled out on the ground, causing them to shout, “It’s a girl!” Daddy-to-be wanted to get it right, however, so the property owner fixed the target, and a few minutes later we watched as a huge pink cloud appeared above the site, causing us all to clap and shout for the news that a baby girl would be born.
Of course, God needed no advanced procedures or technology to foretell the birth of His Son. The first pronouncement came hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, as Isaiah states, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;” (Isaiah 9:6, ESV). The surrounding passage speaks of a great light shining and exceeding joy for the nation of Israel. Closer to the event, God sent the angel, Gabriel, to Mary to reveal that she was carrying His Son. No ultrasound was needed; no blood test was taken; no shot was fired at a faulty device. The almighty God sent His reliable messenger to the chosen mother to let her know that she would have the promised One, and to inform her, “and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31b-33, ESV). Though their conversation was quiet and private, God’s news exploded into the world. There was excitement and celebration when Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth, and the baby boy she was carrying “leaped for joy.” And Mary glorified the Lord in her celebration of the baby who would be born to her for all mankind.
Jesus’ birth happened just as Mary was told. God employed angels once again to make the grand announcement. It was to shepherds in the field that the angel of the Lord appeared. Though the sight caused the shepherds to be afraid, there was no error or doubt regarding the message. “The angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’” (Luke 2:10b-14, ESV). The shepherds responded by visiting Jesus and then proclaiming what they had been told by the angel. When they left, they too gave praise and glory to God for the baby boy who was born to be the Savior of the world.
I didn’t mention before that even with the most sophisticated testing to date, gender predictions can be wrong. But God’s accuracy rate is always 100%. Jesus was in fact born, lived a sinless life on earth for thirty-three years, and then died on a cruel tree to make atonement for the sin-stained world. We can rejoice continually because He was resurrected from the dead, and He lives forever to rule and reign. So let the angels sing and the blue chalk fly! ‘Tis the season to remember and celebrate the Big Reveal: “It’s a Boy!” And, He has been born for you.

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Exceeding Expectations

Olympic fever has been running high at my daughter’s home in North Carolina. Though my granddaughters are only four, two and newborn, we have been sitting down together as a family to watch events in swimming, diving, archery, and gymnastics. (The video of the pool has been an amazing pacifier!) We have used live streaming as the means to catch the action, thus the commercials are often longer than the video coverage, but we have still enjoyed viewing the competition and cheering for the athletes.
As have many Olympic fans, I have taken to the Internet to garner facts about present competitors and prior champions. I happened on a site called How Stuff Works. They had an article highlighting the stories of “Five Amazing Olympic Athletes.” Though Michael Phelps did not make their list, four solo athletes and one two-man team did. The piece included participants from games that took place over a one hundred year plus span. I was already acquainted with Jesse Owens, a black athlete competing at the games in hostile 1936 Berlin. Hitler’s hatred and pride did not squelch Jesse’s athletic prowess and determination as he took four gold medals and set some amazing records in running and jumping events.
An athlete named George Eyser received six gold medals in one day as a gymnast, competing with a wooden leg! This was forty-four years before the Paralympics came into being in 1948. Two female athletes made the list: Larisa Latynina for her skill displayed as a gymnast in three Olympics. She collected eighteen medals, nine of them gold. Apparently she also won a slue of medals in World and European championships, some while she was pregnant! A female athlete named Babe Didrikson Zaharias was so talented she qualified in five sports, but due to the rules for women athletes in 1932, she was only allowed to compete in three. Consequently, she took home the gold in the javelin throw and the eighty-meter hurdles and a silver in the high jump. The list of sports in which she excelled covers a wide range of events including volleyball, tennis, swimming, diving, cycling and golf. Then there is the duo of Thomas Bimis and Nikolaos Siranidis who competed in Athens, Greece on the Greek Diving Team. Though not expected to medal at all, when someone from the crowd crashed through to climb up to the diving board and splashed belly first into the pool, with other competitors flustered by the incident, this pair did not lose their cool, and they took the gold in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
One thing that may be said of all these athletes is that they exceeded expectations. For whatever reason, whether it was the era in which they performed, the odds they faced, or the circumstances surrounding their event, each competed far beyond what was anticipated. They have sealed their place in the records of Olympic history as the epitome of what it means to be a champion. They trained, they fought hard, they stayed focused, they gave their all. They stand as examples of the way to compete and win.
The Bible uses language that evokes images of competition regarding the faith walk of a believer in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul said of himself, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” (2 Timothy 4:7, ESV). He encourages us in 1 Corinthians 9:24 saying, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” He also said, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own [attaining to the resurrection from the dead]. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 3:13-14, ESV). We receive further encouragement from the writer of Hebrews who said in chapter twelve, verses one and two, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God,” (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV).
Clearly, we are in a competition, not to win a place in heaven, but to be the best we can be for the glory of God and for the sake of His kingdom. We train, we fight hard, we stay focused, and we give our all. The Lord Himself is our example as 1 Corinthians 2:9, ESV states, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” He always exceeds our expectations, and for those who desire to be good and faithful servants, it is important that we strive for excellence to champion the cause of Christ. May we be counted as amazing in the race to which the Lord has called us!
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen,” (Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV).
A ministry note: I am so happy to report that those who have been in the studio with us working on the recordings for CDs three and four, have far exceeded our expectations and have given their all to create an excellent product. We have been especially in awe of the children and young people that have joined us. We can’t wait for the day that we will be sharing the results of their efforts with all of you. Way to go Godstruck Team!
References:
All Olympic facts were taken from the site How Stuff Works Entertainment
Olympic Rings picture courtesy of Public Domain Pictures
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