Wrong Way Roy

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I’m sure at one time or another we have all gotten turned around and headed out in the wrong direction. We were once with friends, en route to Death Valley, when the GPS system instructed us to turn into the desert for a shortcut. An hour later we were backtracking to find the real road again. That GPS definitely needed a brain check!

But nothing can compare with “Wrong Way” Roy Riegals, whose wrong-way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl is often cited as the worst blunder in the history of college football. Riegals picked up a fumble by a Georgia Tech player but somehow got turned around and ran 65 yards in the wrong direction. 65 yards! Teammate Benny Lom chased Riegels, screaming at him to stop, finally catching up with Riegals at the 3-yard line. A College Football panel chose Riegals’ “Wrong way run in the Rose Bowl” one of six “Most Memorable Moments of the Century.”

Sometimes going in the wrong direction can be harmless enough. I mean – in football it’s only a rubber bladder surrounded by heavy brown leather with a bunch of brawny jocks in hot pursuit. But what happens when going the wrong direction involves real issues and affects real people? Things can take a dramatic turn for the worst that can often last into eternity!

2 Timothy 3:16 teaches us that “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.” Proverbs 30:5 – short and sweet, “Every word of God proves true!” But when we veer off-track and pull a “Wrong Way Roy” it can have devastating results!

At DP we like tell people that we believe the Word of God from Genesis to maps! But there are many “postmodern” Christians who profess to believe the Bible and will use the same words we use – but with totally different meanings. It often takes a good deal of discernment to tell the difference. P

ostmodern Christians will tell you they believe the Bible is Divinely inspired, but they are not thinking “Holy-Spirit” inspired. They imply the Bible is inspired much in the same way the works of Charles Dickens or Ernest Hemingway were inspired.

Postmodern Christians will tell you they believe in the authority of the scriptures. We do too, but postmoderns claim scripture has been misunderstood and misapplied for the last two thousand years. Apparently, there are parts of the Bible that should be ignored or taken out — not!!

Postmodern Christians will tell you they believe that God is love. We agree – that’s THE reason God gave His only Son to die on the cross for our sins, and without accepting that free gift, we do not have a way into eternity with Him. But postmoderns believe a loving God would never judge sin or even condemn an unbelieving sinner to a Christ-less eternity — contrary to scripture. Their list goes on and on …

One leading postmodern teacher condemns what he calls the “gospel of saving individual souls from hell.” Instead, he advocates for environmentalism, the gay rights agenda, along with social and political issues – with spiritual matters taking a backseat. Wayyy back! His Christianity is not the Christianity of the Bible – and unfortunately, taking the wrong course on these weighty issues can keep a person from walking in the highest truth. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from Me.” That’s the truth!

On October 31, 1983, Korean Airlines flight 007 left Anchorage, Alaska for a direct flight to Seoul, Korea. Unknown to the crew, the computer controlling the flight navigation system had a one-and-a-half degree routing error. When they left Alaska, the mistake was insignificant, and even one hundred miles out the shift was still small. But as the airplane continued over the Pacific, the giant 747 increasingly strayed from its course, eventually flying over Soviet air space. Soviet radar picked up the flight and fighter jets scrambled to intercept Once flight 007 was over mainland Russia, the jets blew them out of the sky, with all 269 aboard loosing their lives.

I am constantly reminding people that we are on a long walk in the same direction. Is it a big deal to get off course? Yep! You bet your life it is!

—-

Bob and Susan Becket pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you can visit them at DPCityChurch.org.

Susan Beckett | Dwelling Place City Church

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