My Alter Egos

I’m a packrat. I like to hold on to stuff that remind me of the various seasons of my life. Movie ticket stubs, old credit cards, matchbooks from restaurants, and even spent ammunition from a variety of firearms that I’ve used at shooting ranges (as well as not-so-legal places to shoot).

The statute of limitations has expired for (most of) these transgressions, but I digress…

I was searching for my Miami-Dade Library Card in a plastic yellow Erector Set case (which serves as a sort of personal time capsule) when I came across a medium-sized object wrapped in cheap black fabric.

I didn’t need to unveil it to know what lay inside.

Three golden letters.

“NIV”

One summer in the mid-nineties, I was a middle-school counselor at a youth camp in central Florida. At this camp, each grade level was assigned a color for the week.

The 8th graders were the brown team.

There’s not much flashy about the color brown…

We raised points through a variety of means, but needless to say, the brown team was left behind in the mud. These were middle school kids competing against high schoolers.

At the end of the week, we had to do a skit. As we sat down to discuss a strategy to get more points, we rolled different ideas around. What do you do with brown?

It was then that I was blinded by a flashback from the past.

I had always been fascinated by superheroes.

My cousin Orlando fed this obsession with stacks of comic books for my brother and me. Orlando even helped me with training to be a superhero.

I was running through his apartment one day, a towel fluttering across my shoulders, when he asked me if I wanted to learn to fly.

I don’t remember agreeing.

Actually, truth be told, I don’t remember ANY of this. It has been handed down as Boronat folklore over the years.

The story goes that he “got hold” of me and shared that he was going to teach me to fly to the couch (which was across the living room) a few feet away.

“One … two … three!”

I didn’t quite make it to the couch.

My older sister Patti remembers seeing my head smack the floor, which prompted her to yell,

“OH MY GOD YOU KILLED HIM!”

My super-powers (a hard head is a Boronat trademark) protected me that day, but I had to begin to come to terms with the fact that I was not meant for the superhero lifestyle.

And yet, the fire still burned to be super at something…

What if for the skit, I became a brown superhero? Brown Man? NO! BIBLEMAN!

We hastily drew up the skit (which had me using Bible verses to help various people with their problems) and I made the Bibleman costume out of some old brown t-shirts, a web belt, and a brown towel. I even cut out the initials to be emblazoned on my chest.

Needless to say, the skit was a hit, and everyone wanted us to do an encore when we got back to the church for our Sunday Evening camp reflections service.

I donned the suit again, and waited outside the doors of the sanctuary for my cue in the skit (the Super theme song). I entered in all my chocolate splendor and we proceeded to bring down the house.

It was later on that evening that one of the ministers came up to me with a big grin.

He pointed to the initials “B.M.” on my chest.

“Hey Joe, I know it stands for Bibleman, but when I was a kid, BM was short for “Bowel Movement.”

I can still hear the resounding laughter around me as I was brought into the joke.

And that’s why future Bibleman outfits had a golden chest plate that read “NIV”…

Who are we trying to be? As we grow from season to season, we get ideas regarding what life should be like. What type of car do I drive? How big a house do I get? What career will give me the most money, prestige, satisfaction or joy? Some of us find contentment only in dreaming about “when my ship comes in”.

What if THIS is your ship?

If you are reading this on a computer, congratulations! You’re among the 3-5% of the world’s population that has access to the internet. You’re rich!

Being wealthy gives you opportunities that many in our world lack.

What do we do with our talents?

What do we do with our gifts?

Today.

Sometimes we look so far forward or so far back that we miss the life we were meant to live today. Is there any wonder why Jesus commanded us not to worry about tomorrow?

Next week we’ll discuss ways we can live out the life that God has for us.

You have been given a talent. What are you doing with it?

What kind of superhero are you anyways?

Joe

Related Verses
Matthew 25:14-28
“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

“The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

“After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

“The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

“The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 6:24-34
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

NLTse



The River Community Church. A Community of Connections!
www.zriver.org
http://whendawnbreaks.blogspot.com/