Pistol Pete Maravich was my hero growing up. He was perhaps the best basketball player of his era (before basketball was that well known). Driven to succeed, the Pistol pushed himself by practicing incessantly until he could master any move and do it with a flair no one had seen before.
I never became a professional basketball player. Once, in a radio interview, an opposing coach said about me, “You know, for someone who has no talent, he’s not bad.”
Talent or no talent, I have learned the value of practice. I practice my faith - never quite getting it right, never ready to perform. Sometimes in practice I feel like giving up (and sometimes I kneel over gasping for breath on the sidelines). Still, I practice and do the best I can. And by the grace of God, that’s enough.
That’s my story. And I’m sticking to it.
What’s your story?
**********
some mini-memoirs….
“Warning: This Post May Be Hazardous to Your Health“
“My Life in Writing (The Early Years)”
“My Life in Writing (The Later Years)”
Interesting blog…enjoyed some of it, laughed at other parts, thought I’d do my part with your ‘obsession of getting people to read your work’… Good Luck with this .
My story begins with, “Once Upon a Time” and will hopefully end with, “She lived well and wide, far and near, and laughed often” The middle part is fuzzy, not entirely fleshed out, the plot falters at times, but for the most part is as messy as it should be…the best stories usually are.
The Pistol fires back: Thank you very much for reading my blog. You are right. Good stories have a lot of plot twists. It isn’t until we turn the last page that we can see how they all fit together.
I love your site! The “humor within the seriousness” is great. My story…at least some of it…is what my site is about. Blogging has become an outlet for me also as I try to follow God in this crazy world…stop on by…I will be back!!
The Pistol fires back: Thanks for the compliment. I stopped by your site & it is very good. I’m listing it in my “referrals” under “Family Therapy”. Keep writing & stay in touch.
Saw your “shameless plug” on amalah.com, and thought I’d check it out….normally I ignore plugs but I loved your blog title. I read through, and enjoyed. Thanks for the light and life in your writing. My story is not very interesting, so I won’t bother with the details. Suffice it to say that I’m a mom, wife, writer (I acutally get paid for it these days!), a construction company owner, former Jersey-girl transplanted in DC, trying to make sense of this crazy world while making sure I teach my strength, integrity, character, and Christ (mircales can happen)…..
I appreciate your wit, and will be back.
The Pistol fires back: Notice my shameless plug (that’s, http://pistolpete.wordpress.com) begat another shameless plug - (http://amalah.com) begat another shameless plug (http://boolbus.wordpress.com). Have we no shame?
None at all. Nope. No shame whatsoever. It’s a sad testament to our lives, our shameless selves, but life’s too short and rather difficult at times for shame to get in the way of flagrant self-promotion.
The Pistol fires back: I couldn’t agree more. In fact, as long as you are mentioning life being short, be sure to read my post “Die Laughing” written earlier today.
i had a great time looking around your blog and reading your thoughts. thank you for the commnet on mine. great job here! very, very creative and honest. we need more voices in the faith community like yours. my story has some echoes of yours, i keep on practicing - never pefect, but God’s grace is more than i could ask for. that’s part of why i blog, the sharing of stories keeps me going, practicing. thanks for your site!
The Pistol fires back: Thanks for visiting the blog & your encouraging comments. One of my favorite expression is “I’m practicing my faith.” If we try to perform instead of practice, with God’s grace, with get into big trouble.
Saw your comment on my blog today. You really ARE shamelessly plugging, aren’t you? Well, good for you! I perused your blog and found it amusing. Very clever….
On to the comment you left on my blog “church would be great if it weren’t for so many sinners.” What are your thoughts about using that comment to excuse mature believers behavior? Yes, we are all sinners, but for those of us who know and hope to follow Christ’s example, do you think that we should be holding ourselves to a higher standard?
What’s your fire back on that?
The Pistol fires back: The sad thing is that we have very few spiritually mature people in church (in spite of the advanced age of many of our members). You are absolutely right those who have been exposed to Christ’s teaching (and especially leaders who are in charge of caring for the flock) should be held to a higher standard. God help us when we come before the throne and discover how many sheep we have led astray through our flippancy and incomplacency. Thanks for visiting my site. I put a lot of effort into shameless plugging, and it’s always good to see where it bears fruit. Keep coming back. Remember tomorrow is my first “Wednesday with Wendell”.
I nominated you for the Bloggers Choice Awards!
http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/
Anyone reading this…go vote!
:-D
The Pistol fires back: Thank you very much. I have no idea what it means, but it sure sounds like an honor. I’ll start preparing my acceptance speech.
Shameless pugs???? Shame on you!
That would be like me doing this:
http://www.seemedlikeagoodideathetime@wordpress.com
or even
http://www.talesfromthetrailerpark@wordpress.com
Now, that would be shameful. “wink wink”
Still reading your stuff and still enjoying it.
The Pistol fires back: Thanks for your patronage. I’m always happy to serve a faithful reader.
Dear pistolpete, thanks for your response, it may be that you haven’t read the rest of my blog post on the subject of monetising god’s grace online, as it’s a bit, well, irreverant, or if you have, then perhaps you’re just not keen on Catholics. Anyway, here’s a thought for your pastoral blog: why not start creating the first taxonomy of key words from the bible, according to the meaning given to them by your congregation. In The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach, the authors Daniel Miller and Don Slater write about the immpact of the internet in Trinidad and one of the things they look at is religion. A practice they look at on pg 184 (it’s Catholic, but never mind) is called Breaking The Word. The congregation online take a piece of scripture and relate it/put it into context with something in their real life. When that’s done with 5 people in a room, that’s cool, when it’s done with an online group of people from different cultures the book says you can see the same passage being lived out “in different places in the world and different meaning(s)”. I think that’s a pretty good use of the web. AND, if you collate and tabulate the meanings against the text chosen, you can build up an aggregated sense of value for the congregation. Not only is this useful for being spiritual, but your marketing will be more appealing, your sermons easier to write and you could potentially sell a term to a sponsor. Like “bread” would go to Hovis, or “seeds falling on rocky road” would go to Ben and Jerry’s or whoever does that flavour. Just a thought.
The Pistol fires back: Good suggestion. I bet my folks will just “eat” that up.
I love your site and I will make it a daily stop to start my day. I recently come to terms with a lot in my life. I have strayed from faith and I have finally picked my head up to see where I am in life. Thanks for the inspirational reading.
The Pistol fires back: Glad you stopped by. Come again often.
you have such a wonderful blogsite.. thanks for sharing your thoughts…. Godbless…
NT replies: And thank you for visiting. Come again soon.
Who are you?
The Pistol fires back: Good question. I’ve been asking myself that nearly all my life. For blog purposes, I’ve chosen to keep my exact identity confidential. Given what I have shared, though, you could surmise I am a pastor living on Long Island, with my wife and children. I see from your blog you have a link to a NYC church. We might be neighbors.
If you’d like more personal information, you can contact me at - unquietmind@juno.com . I’m a bit stingy with what I broadcast throughout the web.
Thanks for writing in. By the way, I like your blog. You do a nice job of connecting faith and life in everyday terms, as Jesus did.
I absolutely love your tagline “Cheaper then a Psychologist”. I’ve been trying to think of a good tagline for my blog and that’s exactly what I was looking for. But it’s taken…oh well.
In my bio, I say “my way of therapy without the $100-an-hour crackpot”, so I’m right along your line of thinking.
Anyway, Happy New Year!
The Pistol fires back: Thanks for writing in and for your positive comment. I aims to please. I really like your blog title “Dad in the Headlights” and would suggest the tagline “Just the Therapy Every Child Needs”. What do you think?
Thanks for visiting Fringe Conversations. Your support is encouraging. I’m enjoying your blog as well.
Peace…
I just wanted to say that I dig your site. I found it really interesting and engaging and look forward to reading more of it.
Check mine out if you ever get a chance. http://www.prodigaljohn.com
Thanks again for sharing.
Jon
The Pistol fires back: I just visited your site and read your latest post (which is a nice reflection on the desire to be known vs. the need to make Christ known). As I mentioned in my comment there, I share your desire to be known (particularly as a writer) and can see how this sometimes gets in the way of my making Christ known (sometimes I intentionally choose subject matter designed to draw the most folks rather than say what needs most to be said).
Another for instance - in leaving a link to your blog site here, were you trying to promote yourself, or further praise God? It’s a tough question, and I’ve asked it of myself many times. To be honest, usually I err on the side of self-promotion and simply pray God will work in spite of it. Something to ponder, nonetheless.
I really appreciate believers of our time. We need more believers in the world like you, so people around the world will not suffer lots of pains, like wars, hunger, ignorance and poverty.. May you always be strong in your faith.. :)
My story? You need to visit my blog every now and then. They call me , Shahrzad; The Story-Teller.. ;)
The Pistol fires back: Thank you, Shahrzad, for visiting and for your positive words. I read your most recent story and was very moved. I plan to do a post about it tomorrow. May God bless you on your journey of faith.
Loved some of the articles I have read so far, The Homeless Guy was already on my blogroll so thats how I finally ended up here.
Instead of shamelessly plugging myself, I am sure that you have my website information that I entered in order to leave a reply. Come visit/stop by sometime…
I have worked in missions since 2001, no I don’t translate the Bible or swing thru the jungle…I cook.
Here is a shameless plug for the organization I work for: http://mercyships.org
I’ll stop by from time to time to see if there are some different views or opinions that I can hassle/give you a hard time about…being a practicing Christian myself I feel the need to practice questioning, dialogging, and/or debating ones personal views on things of a scriptural nature so I can sharpen the ol’ mind.
The Pistol fires back: I’m happy you were led to our site. I visited yours and must say it seems to be heavy on the fund-raising (perhaps necessarily). Nonetheless, from what I could gather of the “Mercy Ship” mission, it looks like a good cause you are engaged in. I encourage folks to check it out on their own. I wish you well and would definitely appreciate hearing more of your experiences as you move further into mission.
I get e-mails from Think Christian and I thought this one link looked interesting. I don’t know if you might, too:
http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2008/01/25/blogging-about-faith-and-depression/
The Pistol fires back: Thanks for the link. Looks interesting. I’ll check it out.
Hey, do you have the Pistol’s permission to use his name and photograph on your site? Isn’t he copyrighted or something like that? Sounds more serious than stealing the price tag off Minnie Pearl’s hat to me!
The Pistol fires back: Well, you raise some interesting questions. I would have asked the Pistol for his permission. But, he’s dead. Besides, I’m not really pretending to be Pistol Pete, just “the blogger referred to as Pistol Pete”. As for the price tag off Minnie Pearl’s hat, you’re talking holy ground now. God forbid I ever mess with something as sacred as that. Images of a dead basketball player? Yes. Price tags off a dead country and western comedienne? No way.
Biblical question for you Pete,
I was reading this morning and came across a verse that seems like it might have the potential to answer a question which has long bothered me:
Will basically good, innocent people who’ve never been exposed to the gospel go to hell (what hell is is another question for another time)?
In Matthew 15:22 Jesus said:
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin.”
I would appreciate any thoughts you might have.
Mark
The Pistol fires back: That is a big question. Personally, I don’t like to make judgements of who’s in and who’s out of hell. I will say some theologians (like John Calvin) have said that God reveals himself to all the world (even those who don’t know the story of Christ) in some fashion. Beyond that, you got me.
The uncertainty of your question should prompt us to be all the more diligent in spreading the Gospel.
…..the correct translation of the verse, actually uses the term “known”….if He had not spoken to them, they would not have been aware of, or “known” that they were guilty of sin…
…..scriptures very clearly state that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”….and the Word of God gives us the very clear command to ” go ye into ALL the world and preach the gospel”…. it also gives us the promise that Christ will not return until some of “every kindred and tribe and tongue have heard”….
…..we often stumble over these biblical concepts, because our human finite minds cannot grasp the whole of Gods infinite wisdom and His right to set the rules… the truths and principles of the scriptures dont have to make sense to us, (His mere creations), in order to be true…
….no scripture can be taken out of context, the Bible must be understood in the context of its core message….God… the rebellion of lucifer (satan)…creation of earth and man….Gods commands or gournd rules set for man…mans sin, (rebelling as satan did against God) …..eternal condemnation and separation from God coming upon ALL mankind…
…..for we ALL have inherited our sin through the blood line off the first adam and by this sin we are deamed to be unworthy of being reunited with God….
……..this being until the day we “hear” the gospel (or story, message) of Jesus Christ and of His payment or atonement for our sins ,by the shedding of His Holy blood…
…..once hearing, we must BELIEVE (as simply as john 3:16)….putting our trust in He who is referred to in the new testament as the ” second adam”…for when we believe , we become “joint heirs with Christ Jesus”…and are born through His shed blood into the family of God…the curse of the first adam being lifted by the payment of the second adam, Christ Jesus..
……. the Word says…”how can we know if we have not heard, and how can we hear without a teacher”…….taken in its proper context, this does not mean that those who do not hear, are not sinners and not accountable before God for their sin….these words were spoken as a desperate incentive for the disciples to “GO INTO ALL THE WOLRD, AND PREACH THE GOSPEL” !…Christ was saying “tell everyone…make sure as many as possible hear the story of what i have done…if they believe, they will belong to my Father”
…..if we were not required to hear and to believe, then it would have been better for Christ to go to His death quietly, without a warning….there would have been no need for the disciples…no need to teach them and instruct them…no need to give a command to “go” to the ends of the earth…He could have gone quietly without any admonitions…and everyone from the moment of His death on, EVERYONE…would have been saved from the penalty of sin….
….if we do not need to hear…then we do not need to believe….for the mere act of Christs death and ressurection would have meant that ALL mankind , past, present and future would be saved , whether they believed or not….whether they followed Him or not…and all the teachings of the apostles would have been in vain…this would mean that the entire message of the new testament was for nought….
….so….we must believe the scriptures, in their entirety….reading the Bible as a whole…studying its story, its message, from Creation through to Christ´s return…only then can we begin to understand in some measure (as if looking in a cloudy mirror, as the Word states)….realizing that we are priveledged to understand only a part of the story, for the whole story would be more than we could fathom or bear to know….for the “half has not been told”…..
….we cannot judge God and His decisions, sin in Gods eyes, is a terrible, terrible thing…it is unbearable to Him…it cannot come near Him in any form…that is why it was so severely punished in the old testament, why He demanded blood sacrifices of perfect spotless animals….and why such a sacrifice as His own Perfect Lamb was necessary to make a final atonement for that sin…and this atonement, this payment for our sin, He gave to us as a “gift” ….not a gift to “all” , but a “gift to all who believe”…….
….it is not for us a mere creation to say to our Creator that His judgements are not fair….how dare we tell Him that we know better……..He has the right to decide…He knows what is right, what is just…it is up to Him to set the rules…He is after all God…