Bernard Shuford

Bankruptcy

Bernard Shuford — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:01:26 +0000

Back last fall, when I went through one of my many spells of being fired up about physical fitness, I began reading Vic Magary's blog over at Gym Junkies. Vic is a trainer, ex-military, a martial artist, and a guy who just puts it out there like it is. He was also the owner of a "gym", as they are called in the trade, but now has apparently filed for bankruptcy. Vic's a roughshod kind of guy, but he's apparently a good trainer, knows a lot about fitness, and has a lot of friends.

But his business is bankrupt. It has ripped his life to shreds to try to run the business of his gym, and there are so many "church" parallels here that it's not funny.

Lots of pastors are really good Christians. Lots of Christians are really good Christians. They love God, they love Jesus, they love people, they love Scripture, and they love following Christ.

Yet, somehow, there's a brick wall that they run into on Sunday morning when they pass through the church doors, and they find themselves struggling in the context of that ministry.

They have no idea of how to teach a Sunday School class. They don't know how to sing. They don't play a musical instrument. They don't know how to run an evangelism effort. They don't know how to counsel. They're not outgoing, so just HAVING friends is a stretch for them. Or perhaps their kids don't behave the way everyone wants them to. Or they disagree with some minor teachings of the church.

Being a good Christian doesn't mean that we are automatically qualified to lead a church. Being a good Christian doesn't automatically make us "successful" inside the church environment.

Yet, all too often, judgments are made about our spirituality based on how we function in the church environment.

And that's unfortunate.

And I am also baffled at how to interpret Matthew 16:18 based on the fact that so many churches, mine included, are continually suffering in a way that sure makes it look like Satan is prevailing. Hard to resolve. Maybe that's another post.

Michael Spencer, The Internet Monk

Bernard Shuford — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:19:20 +0000

Praying for Michael Spencer. Like him or not, it's painfully sad to read of a Christian brother suffering what is quite likely his last year.

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/michael-spencer-update-392010

New Bibles and Ink

Bernard Shuford — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:56:47 +0000

So, thanks to Thomas Nelson, I have a new KJV Study Bible.

I like it.

But it almost broke my heart to actually make notes in it today.

Now that the ice is broken and the pages are now defiled with my scribblings, it won't be hard to continue. But the first ink was a bit saddening. I almost didn't take it to church because I didn't want to write in it, but then I realized that would be entirely stupid and insulting to the fine men at Thomas Nelson who went far beyond the call of duty to get me the replacement for my old one.

We do that a lot with Jesus. He gave His everything for us and for people like us who needed a perfect sacrifice on our behalf.

Yet I insult His sacrifice by not using it as it was intended. Let's spread the news.

Ouch

Bernard Shuford — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:52:14 +0000

The number of losses I’ve suffered over at chess.com this week has been monumental.

That’s what I get for entering a tournament for folks at least twice as good as I am.

Feels kinda like fighting the devil on my own.

Or like trying to conquer sin in my own strength.

The odds are not in my favor.

Now, if Garry Kasparov were to play my games for me….

See, Jesus took my mess on his shoulders at Calvary and did what I could never do.

Kick Satan in the teeth. Send sin packing. Laugh at the grave.

Snowmen

Bernard Shuford — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:16:13 +0000

I found this just downright hilarious. Belly-laugh hilarious. Had to snap this while driving, but it still cracked me up.

Blank Canvas Gmail Signatures

Bernard Shuford — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:55:00 +0000

One thing I HATE about Gmail is the lack of any ability to customize signatures. Signatures in email have the marvelous capability of just being signatures, or of being templates for email

Enter Blank Canvas Gmail Signatures, a plugin for Chrome and Firefox.

Some stuff just ROCKS.

The Presence of Greatness

Bernard Shuford — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:02:15 +0000

I met Bryan when he was about 6. We threw snowballs at each other and slid down a hill in about twenty inches of snow. The electricity went out and Karma and I wound up sleeping in his den. I remember banging on the piano in that den while he and his sister listened.

I remember when he first started playing fiddle, and it became clear very quickly that this was no passing fancy. I remember meeting once a week with a bunch of pickers at Rock Springs Baptist Church, and that group included his mom and dad, his sister, and some other friends. As a 7 or 8 year old, he was definitely no slouch. They went on to form a rather well known band in bluegrass circles, the McDowell Family Band.

Shortly after my heart surgery in 2007, my cousin graduated from her homeschool. Bryan and his sister, Emma, the girl with the voice of an angel, provided some special music. Once again, it was obvious that he is no slouch.

Bryan and Emma have won so many fiddle contests that it, really, isn’t funny. Winfield, MerleFest, Galax, Georgia, you name it. Stringed instruments simply kneel in submission when either of them enters the room. There’s some really good examples of their music on that site if you’d like to hear the genius to which I refer. Some really good photography, too, courtesy of Karma Shuford Photography. I know the photographer pretty well.

New Year’s Eve 2010 (2009???) found Bryan and I in the same building for the first time in several years. He actually allowed me to play the Bob Thompson guitar that he had recently won at one of the biggest bluegrass flatpicking contests in the world, the 2009 National Flatpicking Championship. Turns out he also won the contest for the fiddle and the mandolin, the first triple winner ever, and all that before he turns 19.

Bryan’s a very quiet, humble, and calm young man who is perfectly happy to sit and play guitar for hours on end. His life has been centered around music. He’s already a teacher with several years of experience, and he’s played with the likes of Bryan Sutton, Caleb Smith, and virtually any famous bluegrass picker you could care to name.

I drove past his house this morning on the way to work.

To me, he’s the kid “next door”. (It’s not really next door, but it’s close…)

Sometimes, we’re in the presence of greatness and really don’t even know it.

Just yesterday, for instance, thousands of people gathered in buildings dedicated to the worship of the Almighty God, to the King of Kings, the Creator Himself, and God Himself was in the middle of it with them. The Holy Spirit of God, with the same power that He showed at Pentecost in a very visible way, was THERE. With us. At Crossroads. At any church where Christians gathered in the name of Christ.

Yet, many of us mistakenly thought of it as just another Sunday morning to drag ourselves to a place and pass a couple of hours.

As well, that same Holy Spirit is with every believer in Christ every moment, every minute, every hour, every day.

We’re in the presence of Greatness, and yet we respond as though He is just the kid next door.

God, please help me to live more in awe of who You truly are.

Congratulations, Bryan, and congratulations to Karma for clicking the shutter for the pic that made a magazine cover.

Lately

Bernard Shuford — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:33:53 +0000

What I’ve been doing lately….

Sitting and standing around at the VA Hospital with my Mom and Dad
Not Facebooking much
Hardly ever Twittering
Reading Dick Francis, the greatest fiction writer I’ve ever read
Reading C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower, the greatest stories of the ocean that I’ve ever read
Trying to find copies of the Dick Francis and Hornblower stories that I started while sitting and standing around the hospital
Deciding to read more books and surf the web less
Playing online chess
Losing a lot at online chess. Even to Karma.
Working on the Jeep and the Chevrolet
Buying a collection of Andrew Murray books
Reading Francis Chan’s Crazy Love
Trying to brainstorm youth stuff for church. Failing.
Trying to find real life again.

Still here

Wow, Thomas Nelson

Bernard Shuford — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:10:51 +0000

Looks like I’m not alone in my disappointment with Thomas Nelson’s Bibles. I do really like my King James Study Bible, but not the fact that the pages come out very easily. Seems like a few years ago (mine is about 8 years old) they must have had some difficulties. Don’t know if they used a cheap glue, or what.

NOTE – I posted my situation in the comments above and received an offer from Mr. Hyatt within 10 minutes to replace the Bible. That’s exceptionally good service for a Saturday morning, especially since I wasn’t even thinking of any such thing. I’m impressed and pleased.

Tough Times

Bernard Shuford — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:03:44 +0000

Most of my close friends out there know that times have been a little different this week at the Shuford house. Thanks for all your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for my Dad. Sorry to leave the blog in a driverless condition, but I’ll be back in some form at some time.