Sex

Just kidding... I seem to get about 3000 hits if sex is mentioned in this blog.

Years ago in the 80's, Miles Mcpherson of San Diego's The Rock Church, used to meet one on one with me for a weekly mentoring and discipleship. Get this; we would meet at 5am on Tuesday mornings. One series, we went through the book of Philemon in the New Testament. I called him up one morning to say I couldn't make it in, I wasn't feeling well. "Just read verse 8 and 9 of Philemon" he said... "Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love." 

We live up on a knoll and sounds always travel up.  The other night In heard a very ugly fight going on somewhere in the valley.  Lots of unwholesome words coming from both parties and escalating louder and louder- heads butting like two mountain goats from a Dodge Ram commercial from the 90's.

So I turn on the TV to drown out the craziness below and surf the channels when I come across Richard Attenborough narrating a Nature sequence with two mountain goats on a steep impasse.  As the goats approached each other, each feinted a power move at the other in what looked like the beginning of a battle. In a surprise twist, however, one goat suddenly collapsed onto the narrow ledge so the other goat could walk over its back. Then each moved on.

I was impressed and wanted to share with the couple below in the valley. Here was strength defined by submission. It allowed two opponents to survive a crisis so both could get on with more important things.  Guess what, sometimes (mostly) putting others first is best.  My dad put it best-True JOY is Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last.