Pastor's Corner: Train yourself to follow him

For the past 11 summers we’ve had the privilege of hosting SMBC Sports Camp for sports such as volleyball, wrestling and basketball. I don’t need to tell how big sports are in our culture and are a great “connecting point” into our community. Every camp is followed by a theme that we talk about each day. Our theme last year was “TRAIN,” taken from I Timothy 4:7-8:

“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Our challenge and encouragement to the campers was that we all make choices in life as to how we use our time, prioritize our lives and ultimately live. Paul is reminding Timothy that we can get caught up in all kinds of arguments or pursuits in life that can sometimes be a waste of our time (e.g. too much media) or not really yield eternal results (e.g. physical fitness). Essentially the idea is to make Jesus the most important pursuit of our life and train ourselves to follow him. Here are the highlights of what we taught the campers on how to TRAIN:

• T – teachable (be willing to learn from others)

• R- responsible (use what you’ve learned)

• A – available (be willing to take the time to learn)

• I – intentional (have a plan to learn)

• N – notable (think about what you’re really known for and makes changes where necessary)

We were disappointed that we couldn’t hold our summer camps this year in light of COVID-19, but are already looking forward to next summer! Let’s keep ourselves in “training” for Jesus each and every day!

Pat Coyle is pastor of the Shafter Mennonite Brethren Church.