God Issues Today: "Badminton Ferocity"

Author, educator and commentator Dr. James Denison has been pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas since June, 1998. Prior to that, he was pastor at churches in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as Midland (at First Baptist) and Mansfield, Texas.

Whatever you do today, don't make a badminton player mad. According to this morning's Wall Street Journal, San Francisco officials have learned that lesson the hard way. Until January, you could play the game at the city's recreation centers for free. Then the city, seeking to close an $11.4 million Parks Department budget deficit, decided to begin charging $4 for 45 minutes of court time. But the city didn't impose the same fee for basketball and volleyball, even though they are played on the same gym floors.

Officials were not prepared for what came next. The number of city badminton courts reserved from January through March fell 50% from the October through December period. Asian-Americans, who make up 90% of the badminton-playing public in the Bay Area, saw the new fee as discriminatory. An 87-year-old retiree named Ed Leong collected 200 signatures opposing the charge, presented the petition to the mayor, staged a rally in front of City Hall, and called local politicians to complain. Now the city has decided to drop the badminton charge and come back in April with a lower fee - $1 for 45 minutes-for badminton, volleyball, and basketball.

Apparently you can fight City Hall, if you're determined and play badminton. All through history, it's been the persistent individuals who changed history. In his work to produce an electric light, Thomas Edison filled 200 notebooks containing more than 40,000 pages with notes on gas illumination. Alexander Graham Bell worked for four years on his "liquid transmitter" before he spoke the words which launched the telephone industry, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you."

It is the same across biblical history. It took Noah 100 years to build the Ark; what if he had quit a month before it rained? Joseph endured slavery and prison on his way to Pharaoh's palace. Moses had to spend 40 years in the wilderness before he could lead the children of Israel to the edge of their Promised Land. Paul answered the Macedonian call and was beaten and imprisoned in Philippi for his trouble. John continued to worship his Lord even when faith cost him Patmos and exile. Persistence is the key to significance.

Og Mandino resolved, "I will be liken to the raindrop which washes away the mountain; the ant who devours a tiger; the star which brightens the earth . . . I will build my castle one brick at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking. I will persist until I succeed."

Why is persistence God's invitation to you today?