All About Anger Series

I know many of you have seen the images on the news about what happened at Virginia Tech this past week. As I was watching, I thought, this really puts what we talk about last week to the test. Last week we started our series on the book of James and we looked at how we react to trials, suffering, pain and temptations.

It came home for me even more when I found out that one of my cousins who goes to college in Baltimore, that she went to high school with one of the girls who was shot. It kind of makes you stop and as I thought about it this week, for me it confirmed what we read last week at the beginning of James 1. For many people, the question comes up of whether something like shakes your faith. How can this happen? For me, it confirms even more my need for faith and for God to be a part of my world. Because as we go through these moments, it is difficult to get through them, they hurt, but we are able to see a purpose behind the pain, like we talked about last week. I would encourage you, whether you were here last week or not to go back and listen to our podcast, but to also spend some time in James 1 this week and ask God, how does this apply to what has happened this past week.

Before we move on, why don’t we pray for those at Virginia Tech, their families, and for the rest of our morning.

PRAY

Have you ever had someone who knew how to push your buttons? Sometimes it feels like everyday, you were getting mad at them? Maybe it is a friend, a spouse, a child, a co-worker, a boss.

Have you ever been late for a meeting, not known where your keys were and you flipped out? Have you ever been running behind and you are driving like a maniac? Swerving in and out, tailgating (or drafting if you are nascar fan).

This past week, I wasn’t using our laptop and Katie came in and asked if she could use it. Our battery was running low, and when she moved it, the plug came out and the computer turned off. I flipped out, I was so mad. Do you know how much time it takes a computer to turn on?

Maybe you were driving here today and someone in front of you was taking forever. The nerve, don’t they know that you are going to church?

Maybe you have a family member that was taking forever to get ready this morning. The nerve. And you flipped out. I remember when I was in high school I would stay out late on Saturday night and I did not want to get up and go to church in the morning. My mom would sit out in the car honking the horn waiting for me.

Have you ever had a boss that always seemed to wait til the last minute to give you an assignment? What about a boss or a co-worker who took credit for your work? How does that make you feel?

I got this e-mail this past week, you may have received it from someone that has you on their “forward everything to” list. That is something that makes me mad. Now everyone is going to put me on their list.

This is what it said: An honest man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took her to the police station where she was

searched, finger printed, photographed and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up

behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, **and cussing at him. "I noticed the Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ’What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ’Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."