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Sticking Up for Christ by SuzanneI was sitting in the stands, watching a High School football game on a cool, autumn evening, and something was really bothering me. The mother of one of the players was sitting directly behind me, and every time our team dropped the ball, or missed a pass, she barked out, "Jee-sus, why didn't he catch that?" or "Jesus Christ, that was stupid!" Her sneers pounded into the back of my head for a couple of hours, until finally the crowd began to sift out of the stadium, and she left, still muttering something under her breath. Why was it bugging me? Was it just the fact that she was breaking one of the Ten Commandments? No, the strong resentment I felt toward her told me it was more than that. She had misused the name of my God. My Father. My friend. It was as if someone had told some awful lie about my Dad, or spread false rumors about my best friend. It hurt me. I could just imagine Jesus hearing her ranting that night, and feeling mocked, insulted, laughed at, in front of all those people with nobody sticking up for him. I told myself to forget it. I would probably never see her again, anyway. But I couldn't forget it. And I kicked myself for not turning around during that game and saying, "Would you mind not using those words, please?" But that would be embarrassing, wouldn't it? Then I happened upon these words in Luke, chapter 9: "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory . . ." The following Spring, I was waiting in line at the creemie stand, famous in our small town for its gigantic cones. When the man in front of me ordered a large, I chuckled to myself, just wait until he sees how big it is. Sure enough, when the server brought this monstrous pile of ice cream to the window, he belted out, "HOLY JESUS!" I stopped chuckling. "Excuse me, sir", I said, "He is holy. Please don't say that." The people around us got suddenly quiet. The man turned to me, surprised. "I'm sorry," he said. I just grinned. "I'll have a small chocolate, please."Suzanne is a lead singer and songwriter for Clean Slate, a Contemporary Christian band out of Panton, Vermont. You have found their web-site @ www.CleanSlateMusic.com.
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