casey strikes out

i am by no means the babe ruth of youth ministry or the hank aaron of youth messages and i in no way ever want to indicate that i think i'm even close. i mess and screw up a great deal. i don't understand enough to be in control of much of anything. i was reminded of this today.

you see the past 4 weeks of lessons have gone great. the four messages i did for the view have gone tremendous. the sunday school lessons that i have done during this four week time frame have been great. even the chapels, church sermons, and various other "extra" speaking opportunities have been quite good. i've had youth and adults telling me this and i personally have had a sense that these messages were really connecting and challenging the people with whom i was talking. i was beginning to "believe my own press" and think that i am actually a good speaker on my own. my GOD likes to keep me from such thoughts and to keep me from thinking it HE let my pride catch up with me. today's sunday school lesson bombed badly. worst than just bomding it was about my favorite passage of scripture (which should have been a "gimme") and it stunk.

this morning's sunday school lesson flopped misserably. it was aweful and everyone there, including myself, knew it. i was brought back to earth in a big, loud, crash. if you heard an incredibly large "thud" this morning that was the sound of my lesson hitting the ground as it crashed and burned. i'm sure the crash could be heard for thousands of miles.

i hate it when GOD keeps me humble.