Does Your World Revolve around You? The World of Katniss Everdeen

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It's Not About You
What if it was all about you? I have read 2 books that are complete juxtaposition of one another. The first one is, that many of you have probably already read, The Purpose Driven Life. The other is a book that is intended for "young readers" titled The Hunger Games. It is premiering March 23rd as a movie (which my wife and are going to see).

One book begins with this line, "It's not about you." The other encourages us to live for ourselves, preserve our way of life, and exploit others for enjoyment. While there are many that equate The Hunger Games with the Circus Maximus of the Roman empire, I think there are many applications to our own world and time.

Katniss and the Capitol
The world of Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the books and of the upcoming movie, is a world where the masses are kept alive by the hand of the government known as "the Capitol". This happens with food rations that all revolve around participation by the districts in the "Hunger Games." The horror of the tale is that each district had to deliver two teens called "tributes" to the Hunger Games. When a district won the games, it was a huge honor and extra food for any district that came out as champion. The problem is, in order to win, they must kill 23 other teens. So, it was anything but "not about you." It was all about you and your survival. The beauty of The Hunger Games is that what was intended to bring out selfishness and barbarism actually brings out the best in Katniss. Once she got her eyes off of herself and onto others, the entire dynamics of the game changed.

The Benefits of Caring
The tributes were told to win at all costs to keep themselves alive. Many of you have taken the challenge to change your world in 52 days. That too will cost. It will cost time...energy...resources...and finances. But the rewards will far outweigh any costs you might have to bear. Hear is what it takes, you chosing to stop looking so much at yourself and have chosen to have an explosion of care and see a burden for the those hurting. The challenge now is to experience a burden and develop a mission statement that defines that same burden for others.

Your Care for Others Cares for Jesus
Jesus places a great burden on us by equating our care and love for the hurting of our world with our care and love for Him. This is how He tells us how we can care:

I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; was in prison and you visited Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?' "And the King will answer them, 'I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.' (Matthew 25:36-40 HCSB)

It Might as Well Be Me
Who do you hurt for? Who are you willing to place your comfort and convenience on hold for? Maybe its the girl who has been sold into slavery. It could be the pastor who is being persecuted for his faith in Christ. It might be a soldier miles away from his home family, and friends. What about the child who needs someone to help feed him through a desperate time of famine and war? The one thing they all have in common is they need someone...anyone to care. Will it be you? Will you change your world?

Changing the world one life at a time,


Pastor Trey Rhodes

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Faith that Hurts

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More than Feeling Sorry
Who hasn't seen a commercial come on TV around the holidays and hurt for those children, families, or victims of a disaster? Sure, we've all been there. What happens most of the time is that we simply change the channel. But, occasionally, something that we see...something that we hear moves us. We want to do more than simply feel sorry for the hurting person we see on the screen, so we get out the debit card, call the toll free number, and give. Now, let me say that there is nothing wrong with giving. Many times God uses our financial resources to accomplish great things.

CNN news reports a harrowing experience for one man who went through the most recent onslaught of killer tornadoes:

Steven Vaught of Greenville, Kentucky, said he is lucky to be alive to tell how he survived the storm.
"Why? I don't know," he said. "But I did."
He teared up while recounting the moment the storm came rolling through in an interview with CNN affiliate WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee.
"I was laying on the couch and all the sudden I start hearing a train," he said. "I got up and took two steps off the couch and then me and the two dogs I have and the trailer started rolling down the hill."
Five times. That's how many times he and his trailer flipped continuously down the road as the storm tore through, he recalled.
"Once it hit the ground on the fifth time, I saw daylight and I was sitting up against the stove like I was sitting in a chair," he said.
Vaught had to get stitches in his bloodied chin and staples in his head from some of the injuries he sustained. But those were nothing, he said, compared with what he went through.
He shook his head as he took stock of the destruction around him.
"I don't know how I'm here," he said as his eyes welled up with tears. (click Tornado Stories for more from CNN)

How can I respond?
What happens next is what really matters. With the horror of the tornado over, the response by caring people can make all the difference. The good news is there are people who have chosen to work with disaster victims. They have been labeled "disaster junkies." I'm not sure if the media is making fun of them or trying to label a group that cares in order to stop their own conscience from hurting. Regardless, they are helping the hurting...right here in our own country.

Personal Experience of Being Cared for
I was a recipient of such care after Hurricane Hugo. We had just gotten back to our home on the Isle of Palms and had nothing. The caring volunteers were already there making a difference in the lives of displaced families like ours. They didn't send money, they came themselves. As far as we were concerned, their presence made a huge difference. Disaster junkies were making a difference. And you can make a difference too through ministries like Disaster Relief and Samaritan's Purse.

Get Involved
In the same way, there are times when we sense God not only wants our money, but our involvement. It is then that our small faith in a great God should really kick in. It's not that we can't do some great things because of our finances, but we sense that nothing short of us getting involved will be enough. That is a faith that hurts. It is when we truly understand that God uses us who aren't necessarily the best, but can care the most. When we care, determine that we will make a difference, and then get involved with the hurting, our impact can only be measured in eternity.

What matters to YOU?
Who do you care most about? Then that is where you can make a difference. It was Nehemiah...he believed that God could use a guy like him whom God had placed In a place of prominence to do what looked like the impossible, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. I want you to hear the care in his voice. Here are his words:

"...why shouldn't I be depressed when the city, the city where all my family is buried, is in ruins and the city gates have been reduced to cinders?" (Nehemiah 2:3 MSG)

His heart is broken for his beloved city that is not protected, is a place of scorn, and a place no one would want to live. The broken down walls were symptomatic of the broken nation, so Nehemiah's burden caused him to trust in God and believe that God could use him. If something has to be done...

It might as well be me,


Pastor Trey Rhodes


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Great Explosion

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Me and my old red-neck self were up late on Monday night watching the Daytona 500. After a full day and a half of waiting, it was now race time. I was excited and ready for a good race. Except for the second lap melee that collected several big time drivers, notably, Jimmy Johnson, Danica Patrick, and Trevor Bayne, it was an uncharacteristically quiet race.

That was not going to last. With 40 laps to go (that would be comparable to the last quarter in football), Juan Pablo Montoya slams into a "jet dryer" truck and trailer that was on the the track blowing debris off the course while there was a yellow flag. What happened next was unprecedented in the annals of NASCAR. The jet engine exploded, spilled 200 gallons of jet fuel on the track, and erupted in huge flames. By this time, the driver of the car and the driver of the truck had gotten out and were whisked away from the flames.

The Daytona Explosion

For a while, it looked as if the jet fuel would just have to burn out, but the well-trained and dedicated firemen used foam and water to beat back the flames and finally extinguish the ravaging inferno.

How could this happen? It seemed that everything was in the worst possible situation possible. The Montoya car veered out of of control because of a rear drive failure that caused the car to swerve out of control toward the third turn wall where a jet dryer truck happened to be loaded with fuel. What was never thought possible became reality. Only by God's superintending care was no one severely injured or killed as a result. I hope there are many race fans and drivers thanking their Lord that they were protected from what could have been a terrible disaster.

As I look at what happened on Monday night, I am forced to consider another explosion...this time, not a destructive one, but an explosion of care and concern.

This sheep is "bear bait"

You see Jesus cared for those who were around Him. The Bible tells us: "He saw a huge crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd" (Mark 6:34). I'm sure as Jesus looked at the people of Israel, He was broken over what He saw: poverty, sure, economic poverty, but even more, spiritual poverty. He saw His people who were like sheep without a shepherd. Anyone that heard those words understood exactly what Jesus meant when there was no shepherd...they were "bear bait." If left to the elements and to themselves, sheep would wander through the treacherous hills and valleys until they died of exposure, starvation, poisoning, and became food for the scavengers if not the predators. Jesus knew this, so he started where he could: "He began to teach them many things." Of course, it was His wisdom and instruction that they needed. They had to hear and experience His words of life for it was in Him that they would find answers to life's most difficult questions.

How about you? Isn't it time there was an explosion in your life? Who is it around you that you could demonstrate the love of Christ in a practical way? Who could you demonstrate God's love and care for today? Who are you burdened for? The sex slave? The unloved child? The unwed mother? The hungry? The fearful? The hurting? There are so many who need our touch. That's why we must get involved wherever we can and begin where we can. Let's start by showing those we are nearest to an explosion of care. With God's help and by our actions, they can be introduced to a Savior who loves them and cares for them so much that He would rather die than live without them.

Exploding with care,

Pastor Trey Rhodes

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