It was used on TV last night, by two very popular and powerful men. One was white and the other was black. I don't know the white man's name, but he is the team owner of the new world champions of American Football, the Indianapolis Colts. The black man was Tony Dungy. He is their head coach and a great man.
Many of you know what it means and practice it to a greater extent than I do.
But I am attempting to catch up!
I am not going to delve into the dictionary here.
I want to talk from the other way - really, the main way - which we learn what words mean. By hearing them used in context.
And one of the few places you hear the term "Give God Glory," is in a biblical or church setting. In that setting, it means that God deserves the ultimate credit, because he gave us the raw materials and the wisdom to use them. It means that I would be lying (by NOT telling the whole story) if I let you congratulate me and I did not give credit to other people and to God for what on the surface appears to be MY accomplishment.
As I have been reading "the Revelation" book in the Bible, I have seen this phrase in various forms throughout. It has reminded me of my past promises to be thankful to God for His help and blessings, and to be thankful to people who have helped me:
- get where I am and
- have what I have and
- know what I know.
In Revelation 14: 6, 7, (NIV) John wrote,
- "Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth - to every nation, tribe, language, and people. He said in a loud voice, Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of His judgement has come. Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.
You don't have to be a Bible Scholar.
Or a preacher.
Open up your eyes and look at the creation around you and have the sense of a child.
If there is a creation, there must be a _ _ _ _ _ _ _. (Seven letters, rhymes with "theater")
Think, Think, Think.
Have you ever seen an atom? I haven't. Most of us haven't. Yet you will take the word of a professor of science, who works at the state university and who is as sleazy and untrustworthy in character and you will take him at his word that he looked into a microscope and found that atoms are one of the building blocks of all matter.
If I were to point to the beautiful globe that sits next to my dad's pool table, and tell you that no one had anything to do with creating that globe, that it just formed itself that way, with its abalone and mother-of-pearl nations, and its polished brass mounting, and the names of the countries painted on them, if I said that, you would call me insane.
And if I said I gathered up the raw materials of that "work of art" and threw them off of a tall, downtown building, and when I took the elevator down to the street, and shazaam!... here sat this globe! If I were to tell you that, you would not even answer me, because it is so preposterous.
But then you push a much more preposterous theory. That the universe just dropped itself into a state of order that is googols more complex than my dad's globe... and you mock me for my ignorance?
"But," they say, "All the scientists agree on this."
Really?
Does that make it so?
Not so long ago, all the popular scientists used to agree that black people were inferior, too. Meanwhile, good and godly and wise black men and women just kept building, and inventing, and discovering and founding businesses. Men like Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and more recently, Martin Luther King, Jr.
• (And before you bring up anything about him that has been used to discredit him, remember the threats that were made against his life. He didn't make that up, did he! Remember how he stood against his own supporters who wanted to strike back with violence against those who were violent against them and he refused. Remember the jail time for sitting at the lunch counter and how that he didn't curse them, or hate them. My God, that is living more like Jesus than most of us do with long lives not cut short by a bullet!)
I could add my personal friend, George Redman, to that list. He was a chemical plant operator and is now the lead safety tech for his plant. This man knows his business. I count on him when I or the people I work with have to venture into the process areas of his responsibility.
What about my friend and Christian brother, Lloyd Geters, who knows more about electricity and especially how to apply its principles to industrial uses, than I ever will. He knows how to build it, how to fix it, and how to do all of it safely.
Don't tell me how many people don't accept them as equal. That only reveals strong the strong ignorance of the accuser, not that of the people they accuse.
God is so good. He loves everybody and once again he is calling to anyone who will listen and think beyond the seen world and ask this question. "Who made all of this creation that I can see?" Jesus once said that God causes rain to fall on both good people and unjust people. He sends blessings to everyone. Can you find it in your heart to give him credit, glory, for the good things that have come from him?
Ask in your inner thoughts for an understanding of who God is and send it out. He will answer you if you will get quiet and think.
I'm convinced that God not only made the physical world, but that he is helping me in the details of my life, right now.
I didn't do it all by myself.
I am not a self-made man.
So, I am thankful to you God, the Creator of the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them. I give You the credit for the good I have seen in my life. And, I repent for the evil that I have instigated in words and deeds, and I ask you to forgive me and help me change.
I ask you to let me know you and understand who you are. Guide me to the truth, and not just some religious opinion.
Thank you, Creator.
I give you glory!
Later!
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