New Golf Clubs

Last year I had really been struggling with my golf game. Granted it was my first year of golf but I wanted to see more improvement. Then my friend Victor who is an excellent golfer told me the Ben Hogan Irons I was using were too stiff and not forgiving. They were for more advanced players as you had to them exactly on the sweet spot or you had a terrible shot. So last Monday night Adam, another golf buddy of mine called to tell Target had some Cougar clubs in sale. So I ran over to Target with my Christmas money and grabbed the brand new set of clubs. I was so excited!

 

Today I got to try them for the first time. The first nine holes I found myself going left all the time which I never did with the old set of clubs. My putter also took some getting used to as I was not hitting the ball hard enough. Later in the game I sank a couple of long putts though. I ended up with a final score six strokes above what I had last time on that same course with the old clubs. Will it just take some time to get used to the new clubs? I really like them. The driver is great. I had some great drives. Any advice on how long it takes to get used to new clubs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

I did manage to get three pars on the back nine though. One of them was a fluke as I was putting from just off the green. My putt went about 15 feet and bounced off my partners ball and rebounded into the hole. They said it was a legal shot because I was not on the green yet and he was.

 

Please check out my Bible Studies and pictures at http://www.inlightofthecross.com

My Top Ten Highlights of 2008

Welcome to 2009! I pray that 2008 was very good to you and that 2009 will find you happier and closer to Jesus than ever before! To celebrate bringing in the New Year I have decided to share my top ten list. Please enjoy!

 

My Top Ten Highlights of 2008

 

10. On December 16 I was talking to a friend in Texas and on the spur of the moment we both took off for Louisiana for a game of golf, both of us meeting there that same evening. I love spur of the moment trips like that!

 

 

9. I have decided not finish my list as I just decided to fly to England tonight! Just kidding. My ninth highlight is getting to fly to Tulsa with my sister and spending Mothers Day with our parents.

 

 

 

8. Improving my golf game but more importantly getting to spend time with friends on some of the most beautiful golf courses in Florida, including getting to golf with my Dad this Christmas.

 

 

 

7. Kevin Craig getting a hole in one on the second fairway he ever played on in my church’s small golf group.

 

6. Getting to perform two weddings. One was the brother of a good friend of mine and then another was a good friend of mine who’s wedding was in Palm Springs.

 

5. Making new friends and re connecting with old friends on Facebook, Myspace and the Internet in general.

 

4. Finding real cream filled (none of that yellow junk) maple bars at 7-11 even if it was short lived as they stopped carrying them in favor of the donuts with that yellow junk. It was nice while it lasted.

 

3. My Rays going to the World Series! Go Tampa Bay! A hundred years from now the Rays will have 30 world championships and serious historians will be the only ones who will know what a Red Sox or a Yankee is.

 

 

2. Going to Tulsa last October for my parent’s 50^th wedding anniversary. Even though its been 50 years, the last 43 years have been the best years of their entire lives!

 

 

1. 17 People getting baptized at my church including 5 from the ASI meetings we had and wonderful Bible Workers and young people coming from all over the world to help win souls including several from Texas! In Texas you know your good when you get invited to work in Tampa!

 

 

The Lafayette Classic and Alligators

Today Victor and I were golfing at Pebble Creek here in Tampa when we ran across another alligator. Never seen one with his mouth open before. Made me a little nervous but I had to get the picture. I had a terrible start but ended up with a 98. Victor got a couple birdies including a couple chip shots from off the green that went right into the cup. He ended with a 77!

Last Tuesday I was driving around the Florida panhandle doing some sightseeing. I called Doug, my friend from Fort Worth and on the spur of the moment we decided to meet in Lafayette for some golf. We both got to a hotel in Lafayette late that evening and went out to dinner. The next morning we went to the Wetlands. It was foggy and we played the first six holes in the fog. I did terrible so after the first nine holes I told Doug he had won the game in the fog and now that it had finally cleared lets play a new 18 hole game. Doug won the second game as well. That night we had dinner and each headed back to our own homes. Even though I lost and did not get to show off my golf skills to Doug, what was really kewl was that I had a friend who was glad to drive across country on the spur of the moment to hang out with me!

Please check out more of my pics and stories and studies at my personal website http://www.inlightofthecross.com

Keep Your Own Score

 

Here I am putting for my par after barely missing a birdie shot.

 

Keep Your Own Score

 

Golf is a gentleman’s game and as I continually learn the game of golf I continually learn to become more of a gentleman. Golf will test your etiquette skills as much as your athletic skills. In football the opposing team’s crowd will make as much noise as possible to distract the other team’s offense. In golf you must be quiet and considerate of your opponent when he is swinging. In baseball a pitcher will throw at a batter’s head. In golf you must yell “fore!”* if your ball is sailing close to someone else. In football you cheer when the opposing kicker misses a field goal. In golf you keep a straight face or give a sympathetic word when your opponent misses a putt. The list goes on. Golf is a game that will test your manners as well as your skills.

 

I have learned something important this year about golf and about life. I love to keep score. I love to win but more than just wanting to win I am a statistics freak. I have to know all the numbers and I have to know what the score is. As a matter of fact I have logged into my computer every game I have played this year, where I have played it and what the scores were.

 

However I have learned that some do not like to keep score. A while back I was golfing with my older friend Ron who has been teaching me how to golf but more importantly has been teaching me how to be a better gentleman. The two of us set out to start the first hole when a man golfing alone came up behind us. Being the gentlemen that we are we invited him to join us which he did. After each hole I would ask him what his score was so I could write it down with ours. After a couple holes Ron told me not to ask his score. If he wanted me to know he would tell me. The fact that I had to keep asking was a sign he really did not want to give it. I should have known that.

 

Since then I have run into other people who don’t like to keep score. As a statistics freak I have a hard time dealing with that. But here is what I have learned. It should not matter what the other people’s scores are. There is a par for the course which is the standard for the course. Instead of comparing myself to others I should just focus on reaching the standard. I should be matching my performance against the standard and not against my fellow man. Once again the game of golf has taught me something no other sport will. I once saw a t-shirt on a teenager that read, “Inspiration is not when you outdo your opponent. It is when you outdo yourself.” How true!

 

In life Jesus does not inspire us to compare ourselves to others or be like them. Christ inspires us to compare ourselves to Him and become like Him. He is the par for the course and we will never make par while comparing ourselves to anyone else but the Standard Himself. It does not matter what anyone else’s score is in golf or in life. There is a standard to be reached.

 

Like a wise sea captain once said years ago, “we must set our course by the stars and not by every passing ship.”

 

* When someone yells “fore!” most people look around to see where the ball is coming from. The correct response is to quickly cover your head with your arms.

Kevin Craig Gets Hole-In-One!

 

Kevin Craig receiving his baptismal certificate last February.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin holding the ball and six iron he used for his 150 yard, par 3 hole in one!

 

This morning, our small golf group at the Tampa First SDA Church witnessed one of the rarest sports feats, a hole-in-one! Kevin Craig, who was baptized just last February, came for the first time to our small golf group. Besides picking up a club a time or two in England this was his first golf game. We took a couple minutes on the driving range with Richard who was making his first appearance too. Then on the second hole the unbelievable happened! Using his 6 iron, 150 yards away on a par 3 Kevin hit the ball up onto the green. We were not sure where it was exactly but we knew it was on the green. As we approached the green we were puzzled because we could not see the ball. The thought of someone getting a hole in one on the second fairway they ever played on never entered our mind. But it happened! There the ball was in the cup, a hole in one!  Amazing!

 

The rest of us were very excited but Kevin did not at first really realize what he did. He was excited but did not realize just how rare a hole in one is. It is rarer than a triple play or inside the park homerun in baseball. It is about the rarest feat in all of sports! Few people have ever had a hole in one. Many play their entire lives and never get a hole in one and today Kevin got one on the second hole he ever played on! It is also the first hole in one I have ever seen. I would love to hit my own one day, but today it was exciting just to see Kevin get his! Way to go Kevin! Click here for more pictures and stories about Kevin and our small golf group today.

 

 

 

Nightmare on the Golf Course

 

Tom and I golfing in Chattanooga. 

I so wanted everything to be perfect. That is the golf match last week between me and an ole college buddy. Last time we played together was Christmas Eve on a course in the Chattanooga Mountains. I scored a 137 in the mountains that day and we did not even have time to finish all 18 holes! But now, five months later, I have been practicing every week on my day off as well as golfing with my church’s small golf group. I have been going online and reading tips and watching instructional videos. I have paid for private lessons and those are not cheap! After five months of practice, effort and dedication I thought I was beginning to get my game under control. I was excited about meeting my friend Tom for a re-match in Chattanooga. I felt confident, as I was more experienced now, and we would be on a course this time that was not in the mountains. I was looking forward to impressing my friend on the golf course.

 

Imagine how my confidence went up a notch when Tom told me he had not played since our last meeting five months ago. I thought surely my five months of hard work would pay off. The rest of this story is a total nightmare. The first hole was a par 4 and I made it in 8. Not exactly what I had planned. Even though I get an 8 every now and then, I was sure I had gotten my “bad hole” out of the way, and I would sail through the rest of the course. Wrong! That day I scored an 8 seven times! On a par 5 I scored a 10! What I had been looking forward to on the entire 9 hour trip up was now turning ugly for me! Meanwhile my friend Tom who had not even played or practiced all year was cruising along just fine.

 

The worse I play the more frustrated I get and then I play even worse. I would get frustrated every time I had a bad hit and would yell at myself, “William!” I then realized I did not need to broadcast my name to the entire golf course while playing so badly. We decided that we could do no more than double par. So on one hole that was par 4, 8 would be the maximum number of strokes I could take to make it. I was at stroke number 8 while still in the middle of the fairway, nowhere close to the green yet! I yelled out to Tom across the fairway, “I am in the middle of the fairway and already have 8 strokes!” Once again I realized I did not need to be broadcasting my misfortune to the entire golf world.

 

On the next fairway I had a great start! I was on track to make par when I hit into a sand trap next to the green. If I could just hit out of the trap onto the green I could still make par. That never happened as my next 4 strokes never left the sand trap. I was so frustrated I did something I have never done before. I threw my golf club into the sand in disgust! I had just planned a vacation and traveled 9 hours just to make a fool out of myself! At least I was gentleman enough to sincerely congratulate Tom, who easily made par on the same hole. He even mentioned how amazingly easy all of his shots just fell perfectly into place. Hhhmmpphh!! Why me Lord? Why can’t I be like Tom? I try so hard! The whole day was not a complete disaster. Besides enjoying a beautiful day with a long time friend, I did get par on the last hole which was a par 5. In the end though, my friend who has not even been practicing beat me by 16 strokes! I practiced hard for 5 months only to get beat by 16 strokes by someone who has not practiced at all!

 

I hid my frustration well, (besides throwing my golf club into the sand) but was very disappointed that I had nothing to show for all my hard work. Then I remembered reading something in the Spirit of Prophecy years ago. It was to the effect that while some people may have a lot of flaws in their characters, some of them are trying harder to live a Christian life than some of the so called polished Christians. I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me; “William you are frustrated that Tom saw no evidence of your hard work and effort on the golf course. Meanwhile you are studying and associating with people all around you who are really trying hard to be better Christians, even though it may not look like it to you. Some of the people you get discouraged with are actually putting more effort into their Christian walk than you are putting into yours.” Then I remembered how easily Tom’s par came to him on the same fairway that I failed on, even though I was trying very hard. I realized what I had experienced on the golf course, many struggling Christians are experiencing in real life. Just like I would try my best to do everything right and make the perfect shot, I was missing the mark by a mile. Likewise, just because people miss the mark in the Christian life does not mean God does not know they are trying, maybe even trying harder than the polished Christians.

 

I got the message. I decided instead of being discouraged over my nightmare on the golf course, that I would use this experience as a reminder to be patient with others who are making all kinds of mistakes in the game of life. Just like I wished my golf buddy could have looked past my three digit score, and seen into my heart, and known what I was actually trying to accomplish, I will assume that those around me are trying harder to be a Christian than it may appear to me.

 

When I got home I looked for and found the quote I was thinking about earlier. Here it is from Testimonies Volume 2 page 74 in the chapter called, “Love for the erring.” I recomend reading the entire chapter! “While some are continually harassed, afflicted, and in trouble because of their unhappy traits of character, having to war with internal foes and the corruption of their nature, others have not half so much to battle against. They pass along almost free from the difficulties which their brethren and sisters who are not so favorably organized are laboring under. In very many cases they do not labor half so hard to overcome and live the life of a Christian as do some of those unfortunate ones I have mentioned.”

For more studies and pictures please visit my personal website.

Play It Where It Lies

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:7 

I have a confession to make. Often when I play golf I don’t play by the rules, if my opponent will allow me not to. For example, if I hit into the woods or a bunker, I will find my golf ball and throw it out onto the fairway instead of having to hit my way out. After all, all fairways are different and if I had been on another fairway I probably would not have hit into the woods or bunker anyway, so it’s just not fair. Why should I have to deal with something that could have been avoided by just playing on a different course? It’s not fair for other people to compare my score to theirs if they have not played on the same course.  

At least that’s how I used to play but not anymore. In a Bible study I was giving tonight somebody said something that totally changed how I look at my golf game as well as life. We were talking about the trials God sees us through and talking about how those trials make us stronger. We mentioned the Andre Crouch song called “Through It All.” In that song Andre asks the question, “If I didn’t have any problems how could I know my God could solve them?” 

 That is when it hit me. Back in early February I was watching the AT&T Pebble Beach PGA classic on TV. I remembered when Steve Lowry who later won the classic, was hitting out of a sand trap in the middle of the fairway. I marveled when he hit out of the sand trap and onto the green some 150 or 200 yards away just a few feet from the hole! What a beautiful shot! I am lucky if I can just get out of the trap. No way could I ever get up onto the green from a trap that far away. Tonight it hit me that I never will be able to do that if I keep throwing my ball into a more favorable position instead of just playing it where it lies, like Steve Lowry did. God will never be able to show me and the world what He can do for and through me unless I learn in golf and life to just play the ball wherever it lies. I can make excuses that I am just on a tough fairway and should be excused from the trial. I can just pick up my ball and drop it in a more favorable spot and just hit from there. Or I can just call upon the really great God that I have to help me right where I am. I can go play on an easier course or I can let God develop the skills I need to win right where I am.

From now on, I will play my way out of the woods and out of the sand traps and bunkers, so I can develop myself into the type player who, will one day hit out of a difficult place right onto the green next to the hole. I won’t be just dropping the ball out of the woods and traps to a more favorable spot. I will be facing my trials head on. I won’t be blaming my problems on the particular fairway I am on. I will accept my lot in life and just play the ball where it lies. I will allow God to use these trials to make me a better person not just on the golf course but in life. 

 Who knows? Maybe one day my most beautiful shot in golf or life may come while I am in the woods or a sand trap.

Tampa First SDA Evangelism Newsletter for February

2008 is turning into an exciting year here at the Tampa First SDA Church! We are looking forward to ASI being here this year! We will be having several ASI Bible Workers doing evangelism in the community as well as meetings with speakers like Mark Finley and Shawn Boonstra. You can learn more about ASI here.

 

Our Discover Bible School is continuing to grow as we will be sending 10,000 Discover cards soon, offering free Bible studies through the mail.

Last week I recorded my latest video Bible Study on death. This video study mainly addresses the fact that the spirit that returns to God is simply our breath and goes on to explain what happens when we die. I also have six more studies on video you can check out. Since I am finding out that the golf instruction videos that help me the most are short and simple, I am trying to make my videos more short and simple as I go along too. I hope this makes them more helpful and effective.

 

Wednesday March 5 from 6-9pm we will be having a CPR class open to the community as well as church members. Call 813-933-7505 for more info. Later in March, don’t know the exact dates yet, Dr. Moses Dass will be presenting a “Five Day Stop Smoking Plan.”  Sunday, March 2 our “Sabbath Keepers Golf Association” will be having a tournament at the Lutz Executive Golf Center at 8:30am. We will have a devotional and prayer time before our match. Sunday, March 9 at 8:30am we will be meeting at the Mt. Calvary SDA Church to feed and minister to the homeless.

 

Our evangelism this year at Tampa First centers on the New Testament model for church and evangelism. We are studying the New Testament church, and copying the way they held church and also evangelized their communities. We have several small group Bible studies going on just like they had. We believe in the priesthood of all believers and are equipping and empowering all of our church family to be pastors and evangelists. Our youth are heavily involved in this too as we believe our youth are not just the church of tomorrow but also the church of today!

 

Since everyone is a pastor at Tampa First SDA, we have generic church business cards for all our members to share with those they come in contact with. The cards contain the church address, phone and website as well as some other Adventist related websites.

 

Speaking of our golf ministry earlier, we are getting more and more interests both in the church and even more importantly in the community. If you are interested in golfing with us please let me know at LayPastor@TampaAdventist.net. I am still working on my golf game but sometimes you could never tell. For example last Thursday I went at 7am to the Babe Zaharias golf course to walk 9 holes before going to work at 9am. I guess it was too early for me to be golfing because at the first tee I must have tried to tee off ten times, each time hitting it only 7 yards or so! I could not believe it. I wanted to start off with a decent hit so I kept trying over and over until I was afraid a worker for the golf course was going to come over and tell me this was not a driving range and for me to move on! I finally grabbed my 3 iron for the first time ever and hit the ball strait down the middle of the fairway about 130 yards. Not a great hit but much better than the 7 yards I had been getting with my driver! I stuck with my 3 iron for the 9 holes and while I did not get any great drives with it I did consistently fair which is better than what I got with my driver. After 9 holes I ended up with 53 strokes on a par 36. I share this so you will know you don’t have to be a pro to go golfing with me!

Golfing With The Alligators

Ron and I went golfing today, but my game was not going well so I decided to go back to my other hobby which is photography. So I took some pics of an alligator we met on the 11th tee. Actually we did not even notice the alligator behind us until we had already teed off. So I had Ron take a pic of me as I posed how I was when I teed off not knowing I was being watched.

Here are some golf quotes I found in a book by Golf Magazine called “The Wacky and Wonderful World of Golf.”

“It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.” -Mark Twain

“I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone’s game. It’s called an eraser.” – Arnold Palmer

“Ninety percent of the putts that fall short don’t go in.” -Yogi Berra

Folklore has it that after Jimmy Durante completed his first round ever- he scored well into the 200s- he asked his companions, “What should I give the caddie?” The answer: “Your clubs.”

By the way check out my small study golf group at my church!