Sunday, January 6, 2013

Guest Post by Thomas Meisinger: Mark 1:17

By Thomas Meisinger
Originally posted on August 10, 2012 at www.spiritualvitamin.blogspot.com
 

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people." Mark 1:17

 My home church in Joliet, Illinois, has been sending out care packages with spiritual vitamins for as long as I can remember. For those of you who have never heard of them, they’re kind of like fortune cookies for people who enjoy reading the Bible more than eating Chinese food. I didn’t get my hands on any until this past holiday season when I spent my first Christmas away from home. Over a span of six months, I depleted the jar and not gonna lie, I felt kind of sad when it was empty. The only thing I could do was fill it back up and start over.

I try to be honest and not handpick a verse but I do feel around until I find a smaller piece of paper with a shorter verse. The less there is to read, the less I have to interpret. I came across this from the book of Mark and thought it tied in well with the purpose of the blog as well as a comment made this past week by the senior pastor at my current church.

Last Wednesday, Chick-Fil-A restaurants had Christians lined out the door waiting to buy a chicken sandwich and support family values. If we’ll wait in line for a chicken sandwich, then we should have people waiting in line to get into church on Sunday morning. Believe it or not, I guarantee that there were some patrons on Wednesday who were there just because they liked fried chicken and waffle fries and had no knowledge of the counter protest. I also guarantee that some of the patrons had no knowledge of Jesus, his love, or what he stands for.

And there were thousands of Christians standing in line, breathing the same air as lost individuals, and we let them walk on by. If that’s the case, it didn’t matter if ten or ten-million people ate at Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday. This isn’t a post about gay marriage, it’s a post about how we had the perfect opportunity to share the Word of God and we blew it.

Many of you don’t know that I’m a dispatcher for a trucking company. I don’t talk about it because I don’t feel it’s my true calling. It stresses me out and I have to pray literally every day for help not to turn into a negative person when I’m sitting at my desk. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met a lot of interesting people that I truly care for. But I’ve met others who make me sigh every time I see their phone number pop up on the Caller I.D.

On Monday I got three calls from one of those drivers named “Mark”. I don’t think highly of him for various reasons but the biggest is because he hasn’t gotten my name right in the six months he’s worked for us. Besides that he’s a driver that needs a lot of coaching.

He needed help planning a route from Iowa to Mississippi. That’s not in my job description. There’s a lot of things I do, but it’s a driver’s responsibility to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B. They’re the captain of their big rig. However, after twenty minutes, I finally thought I got “Mark” straightened out only for him to call me an hour later asking for me to check.

I brought up his GPS and looked at the map and slumped in my chair. He was going East instead of South. I don’t know how he did it, but he did it. By now, he was like an hour out of his way. I typically have 300-500 other drivers I have to watch over. I didn’t have the time to stay on the phone with him until he got where he needed so I just told him calmly, “Man, you need to pull over and look at a map and get turned around. I can’t explain this to you any other way.”

Frustrated, he lost his temper and said, “I can’t pull over because I'm driving, I was hoping you could help me!” and I snapped. I beat my right fist and my left palm together so loud everyone in the room stopped. There was nothing I wanted more at the moment than to jack him right in the face and scream, “You’re beyond help! What else can I do?”

I eventually talked over his yelling until he listened. After telling him exactly what he needed to do in detail he apologized and said, “I know I messed up but I just got a lotta things going on right now. I know you guys are real busy but if you could Tom, I just need ya to pray for me.” That was the first time he’s ever gotten my name right.

I’ve played that moment back in my head over and over again. I’ve prayed for him every night since that phone call just like I told him I would. A man was drowning asking for help, and I almost just became a spectator. And for what reason? Too busy? That’s selfishness. Beyond help? Imagine if Jesus didn’t want to save mankind because we appeared "beyond help."

You see, there are people you’re going to pass every day. People who know Jesus is Our Savior and people who think Jesus is just a Mexican guy’s name. If we truly follow Him and make it known that we are Christians and tell others what difference he’s made in our lives, then He’ll make us fishers of men.

If you’re reading this blog because you think I know all the answers, I’m going to tell you right now, I don’t. I write because I have the most questions. I’m not the best Christian, and I’m definitely not the most knowledgeable person on the Bible, but I do know how to direct you to the nearest support group.
 
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Thomas Meisinger was born, raised and educated in Chicago's southwest suburbs. He began performing stand-up comedy in 2009 while in college. You may have seen him at The Comedy Shrine, Edge Comedy Club, and other establishments he doesn't like enough to give free publicity. If he spent as much time filling out job applications as he did writing jokes during his last semester, he would probably have a better paying job. Currently residing utterly alone in Missouri, he has since shifted his focus to writing.

He spent a year
working on his first novel, The World Is Shallow; That's Why I Never Learned How to Swim, which is currently available on all major eBook retail sites. The humorous fictional autobiography has received rave reviews from family, friends, and stray cats wandering his apartment.

Meisinger’s favorite hobby is people-watching at coffee shops but let's face it, he really just has a staring problem.
He currently writes four blogs: Penguins are Pretentious (www.penguinsarepretentious.blogspot.com) is a collection of Meisinger’s ideas, opinions and experiences. Bacon, Eggs, and Whiskey (www.baconeggsandwhiskey.blogspot.com)  is life from a bachelor’s point of view. Spiritual Vitamin (www.spiritualvitamin.blogspot.com) contains Christian-themed reflections. Dear Grandma Margie (www.deargrandmamargie.blogspot.com) is a series of fictional letters Meisinger wrote to his real grandmother. He hopes to honor her by self-publishing those letters by her 88th birthday, March 24, 2013.
If you must, "Like" Meisinger's Facebook Fan Page, follow him on Twitter at #TomMeisinger., or check out his website at www.funnythomas.com.
 
 
 

 

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