The Hall of Character

Frank

This is the time of year when the Baseball Writers Association of America (BWAA) submit their ballots for baseball’s Hall of Fame. Last week columns have been written, letters of support submitted, and players debated ad nauseum on blogs and message boards.

This year poses a dilemma for many voters: it is the first year that many of the “steroid stars” are eligible for induction- Barry Bonds, Roger Clemons, and Sammy Sosa join Mark McGwire who was on for the first time last year,and others like Jeff Bagwell are guilty by association. I could take up most of this blog listing off the pros and cons of these players, comparing their performance and their public image, ranking their statistics and advanced metrics. Then I could do the same for the players already on the ballot who are desperate for enough votes to stay on the ballot another year. But I’ll spare you.

Instead I want to bring up an interesting dichotomy that jumped out at me as I read the endless articles from beat writers and columnists making the case for their favorite players- this is the first time on the ballot for Barry Bonds, arguably one of the greatest players in history and the last time on the ballot for Dale Murphy, arguably one of the greatest hitters in the 80’s.

If you list their stats side-by-side there is no comparison, Bonds blows Murphy out of the water. In fact, Murphy’s statistics fall on the “great, but not Hall-worthy” line that seems to shift every year, which has afforded him his longevity on the ballot (if you don’t get enough votes you’re dropped from the ballot and you can only be on the ballot a limited number of years)- there are just enough voters who think he belongs in the Hall that he’s been able to stay on the ballot, but not enough yet to be enshrined.

What hurts Murphy is the argument that he played too long. In other words, he didn’t retire as his skills were declining, instead spending his last few years as a journeyman getting spot-starts for the Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies (in fact I was at one of Murphy’s last games as a Rocky).

The argument I’ve seen some make for looking past Bonds’ steroid transgressions is that he was a surefire Hall-of-Famer prior to his alleged use. I remember debating, at the turn of the century when it was en vogue to argue such things, that I considered Bonds to be the best player who ever lived, better than Babe Ruth and neck-and-neck with Willie Mays. So if you discard the seasons after 1998, when Bonds says he began to use, you still have a Hall of Fame career.

But players who “play too long” (like Ron Santo who passed away never being elected by the BWAA, instead being inducted posthumously by the recently revised Veteran’s Committee) are not given the same benefit of the doubt. Never mind that until Chipper Jones, Murphy held the record for most home runs by an Atlanta Brave. Ever hear of some guy named Hank Aaron? He hit most of his in Milwaukee. Murphy hit the most home runs of any player in the 1980’s (or is barely behind Mike Schmidt, depending on if you go 80-89 or 81-90). But his career tailed off steeply after roughly 1988 and he continued to play until 1993.

I know all this because Murphy was one of my favorite baseball players as a kid growing up. I’m sure if I asked my mom, she could dig up my old powder blue faux jersey with Murphy’s #3 on the back. Like I mentioned, I was at one of his last games and I was also at the game where the Atlanta Braves honored Murphy by retiring his number.

But that’s not the only reason I bring this all up. It is hard to argue against Barry Bonds being in the Hall of Fame. But nobody likes him. He was a put-off by the media, surly towards fans, and even rubbed fellow teammates the wrong way. Meanwhile Murphy, on and off the field, was practically a saint (instant religion tie-in!). His Mormon faith was exhibited by the class he carried as a baseball player, as a father (his strongest supporters right now for the Hall are his own children, a testimony to his fatherhood), and in his off-field charity work (which is too numerous to list here, this blog is already too long).

If you want the numbers, the blog This New Geometry breaks them down well. For my own edification, I also looked up his stats on Baseball Reference, which lists him as a “probable” Hall-of-Famer based on “JWAR“. But what stands out to me is the qualifications given by the Hall of Fame itself: “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the team(s) on which the player played.” (emphasis added)

They say nice guys finish last. They say it is hard for men and women of faith to get ahead in their careers against peers who are more willing to take shortcuts or stab others in the back. We, as Christians, take comfort that our reward is in heaven. But every now and then, men of character get the recognition they deserve. Here’s hoping Murphy gets his.

Keep Warm and Well Fed

Frank

On Christmas Day, my family cooked our now-traditional Christmas meal of breakfast burritos. Three dozen eggs, a couple pounds of sausage, two packages of frozen hash browns, a large onion, and red and green bell peppers, two each.

Big family? No, just our ingredients for the couple dozen breakfast burritos we make and distribute to the homeless and the hungry. This is now the third year my sister-in-law joined forces with us to serve the community in this small way. (And this year we had a special treat with my mom also joining us)

This year was different however. Some bad planning on my part plus the usual busyness of the day itself pushed our usual breakfast to dinner time. This complicated things because it made it harder to  find folks out on the street as the sun was quickly setting. Plus it was expected to be a cold night, so those that could had probably already found shelter.

But while the lack of quantity may have hidden the real need, those we did meet drove home just how difficult and dire are the circumstances many find themselves in. It is one thing to hand someone breakfast and hot coffee in the morning with the sun shining. It is something else completely to whisper to someone laying on cold hard concrete, covered by practically all of their possessions, that they didn’t have to worry about breakfast in the morning.

During the day, our handouts are met with gratitude and conversation. But once the sun was down, we were met with skepticism and confusion. And the looks in the eyes of these tired, cold and hungry men and women tore at my heart.

It was only a burrito.

It was only one day.

James writes, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him,  “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?‘ (James 2:15-16)

Jesus taught, “If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you…“ (Luke 6:29b-30)

I wanted to do more. I wanted to give more. I thought about giving my coat, but they had coats. They had blankets. I was desperate to do something but I didn’t know what. Then, as I was handing a burrito to one woman, her eyes told me she didn’t understand what I was doing or why. And the only words that popped into my head to say were, “keep warm and well fed.” What kind of statement is that? But the fact that a scripture entered my mind told me something else- God loves them. And looking into those eyes something hit me.

Yes, they needed food. Yes, they need shelter. But what they need most of all is to be recognized as human. To be loved. To be remembered. God loves them. Now I do too.

The Five Spiritual Senses

Frank

In the busyness of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. Leading up to New Year’s I’ll be posting a best-of 2012. This post may not have been my favorite, but it was my favorite to write. It was from our discussion on AW Tozer’s book, The Pursuit of God. For more of the discussion, follow the links or the labels at the end of the post.

In the third chapter of The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, the author observes, “We apprehend the physical world by exercising the faculties given us for the purpose, and we possess spiritual faculties by means of which we can know God and the spiritual world if we will obey the Spirit’s urge and begin to use them.” (pg 38) Last week I wrote about how it is our habit to only consider that to be real what we can perceive with our five physical senses. Meanwhile there is a spiritual reality that we can only perceive with the spiritual senses God has given us. Yet Tozer writes, “The soul has eyes with which to see and ears with which to hear. Feeble they may be from long disuse, but by the life-giving touch of Christ alive now and capable of sharpest sight and most sensitive hearing.” (pg 42, emphasis added)

It is these reflections that got my wheels turning. What are the spiritual analogues to our physical senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling? I could find scriptures that tie each of these senses to to spiritual truths: “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory places.” “My sheep hear my voice.” “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” are four that Tozer explicitly points to for example (pg 38). But I don’t think that gets us any closer to discovering these spiritual senses for they still appeal to a physical reaction. Instead, I think we need to look at why God gave us these senses in the first place in order to discern why our spiritual senses are so critical to knowing God.

Sight

Why do dogs see in black and white? Why do the eyes of cats look like mirrors in the dark? How can an eagle soaring high in the sky spot an animal hundreds of feet below on the ground? Scientific explanation of rods and cones aside, God gave the sense of sight in order to find and hunt food. Spiritually speaking, replace food with that which nourishes the soul and we can begin to understand the scripture above requiring a pure heart in order to “see” God.

How often do we read from the Word of God and say “I’ve never seen that before!” or as we are going through trial how God is showing us something new? We seek to do God’s will. So our spiritual eyes are only strengthened through viewing of God’s word, revealing His will, directing our eyes to the Son. “Fix [y]our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)

Sound

Our ears augment our sight to give us a full sense of our surroundings. We can look around and see images, but sound brings them to life. Wind rustling through the trees, Water bubbling down a brook. This is true when considering spiritual sight as well. Hearing the word brings to life what we see. We cannot have faith without hearing the Word. (Romans 10:17)

But spiritual hearing is more than just listening to the Word. In the physical world, our sense of hearing calls to attention what we cannot always see. A predator hiding in the bushes. An alarm coming over a speaker. So hearing also alerts us to danger. “Do not merely listen to the word… do what it says.” (James 1:22) If seeing leads us to will of God, then listening guides us away from the dangers of sin. The voice of the Shepherd leads the sheep away from harm towards safe pasture.

Taste

How often, when you take communion, do you actually think and meditate on the taste of the bread, matzo, or wafer? Probably only when it doesn’t taste good! Jesus described himself as the bread of life. (John 6:48) So what does Jesus taste like? If that sounds a little bit morbid, let me rephrase: what does Jesus’ life taste like?

The flavor of communion bread appeals to our physical senses. But again, we need to look at the purpose of our sense of taste. We can taste sweet, salt, and bitter. Jesus calls us to be salt to the world that is worthless if we do not have flavor. (Matthew 5:13) We are warned against bitter roots growing in our hearts. (Hebrews 12:15) Wisdom is sweet to the soul. (Proverbs 24:14. Also God’s decrees and God’s words). So taste indicates to us the nature of what we’re ingesting. Does it enhance flavor (salt), will it make you ill (bitter), or is it pleasurable (sweet)? But taste can also deceive; a poisonous berry may taste sweet. So we cannot rely on taste alone. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)

Smell

Our sense of smell is closely linked with taste. Plug your nose to choke down that spoonful of cough medicine. Just as hearing enhances our sight, smell adds to the flavor of which we consume. Step outside in the summer and you can tell if someone is grilling hamburgers. The shape of the wine glass is such that you can smell the wine right before taking a sip. But in the spiritual sense it is not what we consume where smell is important, but our own stench that can be perceived by God. When Noah offered a burnt offering after stepping foot on dry land, God was pleased by the smell. (Genesis 8:21) In place of a sacrificial animal, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) who may smell like death, but are actually the aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).

And also like hearing, there is a second purpose to our sense of smell. In nature animals use smell to identify not only food, but also their mates. Some animals release pheromones to attract and there are scents distinct in every animal that are related specifically to attraction. Just skim Song of Songs to see how many references there are to smell and fragrance. We cover ourselves in perfume, cologne, aftershave, or body lotions all in the name of attractiveness. In the New Testament, the Church is described as Christ’s bride. Again, our sacrifice is a fragrant offering attractive to Jesus. And applying 2 Corinthians above, our smell is not only important to please our groom, but also to attract unbelievers into the Church.

Touch

Our physical sense of feeling can give us pleasure or pain. I’ve already talked about pleasure in the sense of attraction and smell, and I think in nature the sense of pain is more important to God’s general design. Being able to sense pain is critical to life. Consider the leper, who is unable to feel in their extremities, sometimes rubbing their noses completely off or losing fingers because they cannot feel what they are touching. We know not to put our hand in the fire because we feel the pain from the heat. Pain actually protects.

Spiritually, this sense of pain is just as critical to the health of our soul. The consequences of sin hurt our hearts with regret and shame. Meanwhile the gospel of Jesus cuts the heart (Acts 2:37) . If we feel pain because our hand is in the fire, we act and pull it from the flame. The same should be true when we feel spiritual pain. However just like the leper suffers even more harm because of numbness, we risk eternal suffering if our hearts are allowed to become numb. “Having lost all sensitivity, [Gentiles] have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” (Ephesians 4:19) Feel the pain, pull yourself out of the fire before it is too late!

Ok, a couple of hours later writing this and my wheels are still turning. I think there is a lot more to be said on this subject, and hopefully this gives you a starting point for further study. In the meantime, consider these senses and how we need to hone them for our spiritual health and to fully know God.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.

Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;
they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;
they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

O house of Israel, trust in the Lord—
 he is their help and shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.

The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless the house of Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
he will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.

May the Lord make you increase,
both you and your children.
May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to man.
It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who go down to silence;
it is we who extol the Lord,
both now and forevermore.

Praise the Lord
(Psalm 115)

This blog is part of a book club reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. Please join the discussion here and at our hosts, Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter. Need a copy of the book? You can get it for free on Kindle.

Makes Me Sick

Frank

In the busyness of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. Leading up to New Year’s I’ll be posting a best-of 2012. This particular post was published in January and had the most comments this year (in fact, comments are still coming in!).

The tweet read “this is perhaps the biggest scandal in the history of college football.” It was followed by, “Filing this report made me sick to my stomach.” Obviously the first tweet caught my attention. The second made this a must-click. The tweets were from Yahoo Sports report Dan Wetzel, who broke the Gary Sandusky story. A simple recap if you’re not familiar (and a simple recap does not do this story justice): Gary Sandusky was a former assistant coach at Penn State University who headed up a youth foundation out of an office there. The first break was simply a report of Grand Jury testimony describing how a then-graduate assistant observed Sandusky molesting a young boy in the Penn State football locker room. Like most things of this magnitude, this was only the tip of the iceberg. Eventually, more names surfaced, Sandusky was arrested, and famed head coach Joe Paterno was forced out of his job. Sadly, last week Joe Pa passed away with this cloud still hanging over his otherwise record-setting legacy.

It’s a shame really. Just like you cannot say Catholic priest without conjuring up images of that scandal, so it is likely to forever be with Joe Paterno. Never mind anything else he had done over the course of his career, this is too awful to leave as a footnote in his biography.

I’m glad I didn’t get around to posting last week, as I really didn’t want to pile on. This story disgusts me, and I’m not writing about it just to get more hits to my blog. But the popular public face hiding the seedy underbelly of Penn State football, where Legends and Leaders are more important than integrity and protecting those who cannot protect themselves, kept coming to mind as I was reading the fifth chapter of Kyle Idleman’s Not A Fan, “following Jesus or following the rules?” In this chapter, Kyle calls our attention to the “seven woes” in Matthew 23 where Jesus lashes out against the religious elite.

Six of the seven woes begin, “Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” While we throw around that word, hypocrite, we usually don’t think of what it actually means. I’ve read both that it means the actors in Greek plays or that it means the masks they wear. Either way, the word is synonymous with, duplicitous, two-faced, masked, or putting on an act. As more evidence of the Penn State scandal it appears that administrators at Penn State, including head coach Joe Paterno, were more concerned about the reputation of their university and football program than exposing, reporting, and prosecuting the truth. Literally, they were hypocrites. (And to be fair, it is still not clear the extent of who knew what, but the dismissals of their Athletic Director and famed head coach indicates that they knew enough to act, but chose not to. Their motives may never be known.)

But like I continue to say through these series of posts, this isn’t  a sports blog. Yet we can learn a lot from the headlines around us to cause us to pause and consider our own motives and our own religiosity. Christians are notorious for condemning vice from the soapbox while engaging in that very same vice behind closed doors; putting on our Sunday best while acting differently the rest of the week. It is the contrast between being religious and being faithful. Or in the context of this book, being a fan or a follower.

If we can learn anything from the Sandusky case, it is that not exposing the truth often leads to more hurt as bad behavior is enabled by inaction. We may be tempted to be hypocrites to protect some private sin, but that only allows the sin to grow. In the case of the Pharisees, their hypocrisy hurt not only themselves but also those whose very souls they were responsible for. The Pharisees were guilty of piling on rules upon rules that they themselves did not obey. And when we become more concerned about our spiritual image, we neglect the condition of our hearts.

The hypocrisy of the Sandusky case is stomach-turning. We need to have the same gag-reflex to spiritual hypocrisy. Our sin needs to disgust us to the point of being sick.

“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to [vomit] you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)

“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” (Proverbs 26:11)

This post continues my series blogging through the book, Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman. I encourage you to follow along by clicking on the Not A Fan label to the right. And I urge you to pick up a copy of this book for yourself.

Hulk Smash!

Frank

In the busyness of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. Leading up to New Year’s I’ll be posting a best-of 2012. This particular post was published in May and had the second most page views of the year.

Everyone has their childhood hero. Someone whom we could look to from our immaturity and relate or find hope. Often we find those heroes in works of fiction; epic poems, science fiction or fantasy masterpieces, movies, or comic books. Me, I was a comic book nerd as a child. And like any other child, I had my favorites and would argue with friends, “Spider-man could beat up Batman!” or “no way Lex Luthor could have fooled my hero like that.”

When Stan Lee and Jack Kirby started Marvel Comics back in the 1960’s, they created heroes with flaws. They wanted their heroes to be human and relatable, in contrast to heroes like Superman or Wonder Woman from DC whose alter-egos were their pedestrian identities, not the other way around. Spider-man was a teenager, with teenage problems of self-doubt and self-discipline. Thor was a prideful rebellious son. Daredevil was blind. The X-Men were surrogates for minorities. And so on.

Because of this it was always easy to be drawn in to my favorite hero’s adventures. For me, it was Daredevil. I related to his blindness (no, I’m not blind, but my eyesight is really bad) and that he had red hair (seriously, these things were important to me as a kid!). I related to his overriding desire to do what was right, even if it often meant doing it the wrong way and causing unintended harm as a result. And I related to his faith.

I went to watch “Thor” with a friend of mine. Like me, his favorite comic book hero shared his character. He related to Thor’s pride and impulsiveness. And he was excited to see that character portrayed on the big screen.

So as I sat watching “The Avengers” with my family, I was reminded of another favorite character, whom I probably relate to more than Daredevil if I was completely honest: the Hulk. Admittedly, I never really got into the TV show, I was more a fan of the Saturday morning cartoon. And I didn’t get into Greg Pak’s recent run that redefined the character. But I read religiously Peter David’s take on the character that focused on Bruce Banner’s split personality and internal struggles with his personal demons.

I didn’t bother watching either attempt to translate the character into a major motion picture, hearing that both movies stunk. But the early reviews for The Avengers all raved about how the Hulk was portrayed. And it was a single moment in the movie that caused me to almost jump out of my seat and cheer because someone actually got it. If you’ve seen the movie, I’ll only give the line and you can fill in the context. “I am always angry.”

I am always angry. That is what I relate to most with the Hulk. I have hurt people in my anger. I have broken and destroyed things. Though I have never turned green. I am always angry.

“‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Ephesians 4:26-27)

It took me a long time to accept that it is not a sin to be angry as this verse makes that distinction. I used to beat myself up over my bad temper, thinking God could never forgive me. But there is no sin beyond the grace of Jesus. Yet I need to be careful that my anger does not cause me to sin. I need to learn, as Bruce Banner did, to keep my anger in check. And only let my rage loose when threatened by an alien invasion.

(Stay tuned, true believers, another post to come on the Avengers in a couple of days!)

Protect This House!

Frank

In the busyness of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. Leading up to New Year’s I’ll be posting a best-of 2012. This particular post was published in September and had the most page views of the year.

College football is officially underway, which is great news for me because this past baseball season has completely stunk. With the length of the baseball season, or even with basketball and hockey, you can’t expect teams to win every game at home. But in football, winning every home game is what separates good teams from mediocre, and being able to win on the road separates the great from the good. So winning at home is a priority for teams. You are defending your turf, you are playing in front of your fans- there is just something inherently more at stake. So athletic apparel company Under Armour has the slogan, “Protect This House” which works great on t-shirts, posters and billboards when combined with mascots and school colors.

We, too, need to protect our house:

“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”(Luke 11:24-26)

It is not enough to just clean up or rearrange the furniture, we need to actively protect our house. When you made the decision to follow Jesus, there were some things that were obvious that needed to be thrown out of the house. Things in your heart you knew you needed to rid yourself of. But did you replace those things with anything else?

I remember a friend of mine not buying into the addiction ministry I’m a part of. “Even if you quit drinking or smoking, you’re just going to replace it with something else,” he would say. Of course he’s right. So what is the “something else”?

Switching gears slightly to your literal house, do you ever feel like an evil spirit has completely moved in? You know what I’m talking about, when everything seems to turn into a fight with your spouse, the kids are unusually wild and crazy, and bills are past due; when you can’t seem to catch a break. So you pray and you step away and you hope that things will be better tomorrow. The problem is, if you kicked that evil spirit out of your home he is only going to come back later with some of his friends.

So what are we to fill our house with in the meantime?

Do we fill our house with things? Is that what we are teaching our kids, that they can have any toy they want, watch any movie they want whenever they want, ask for anything they see advertised on TV? More things, more movies, more toys, more games, more gadgets, more electronics. Bigger, faster, better, newer. Our children notice when we complain that our iPhone 3 is no longer good enough even though we just got it a year ago.

Do we fill our house with food? As a kid we knew which house we wanted to go play at after school because they had all the good snacks. Chips, cookies, junk food. Are we teaching our children that happiness comes from sweets? Do they see us snacking between meals when we tell them that they can’t?

Do we fill our house with the World? Do we always get wrapped up in politics, news, celebrity gossip, or sports? I was convicted thinking that sports elicit a more emotional response from me than anything my family may accomplish. Do I get up and cheer their achievements as loudly as I cheer a touchdown? Are we filling our house with TV? Do you realize how much television and the Internet influence our values? Even shows that are described as “family friendly” like Dancing With the Stars, Survivor, or even American Idol teach us that modesty isn’t important, that it’s ok to back-stab if it helps us to get ahead, and that it’s ok to mock those who are willing to step out and aspire to greatness (really the first few weeks of American Idol are appalling). Do we fill our house with pornography? Pornea in Greek means “stimulating” or “pleasure”, so this is more than straight-up porn and includes things such as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Maxim Magazine and the Victoria’s Secret catalogue, even much of what passes for celebrity gossip as who is dating who, who has the best beach body, et cetera. So what are you watching on TV late at night? Where are you surfing the Internet?

Do we fill our house with negativity, criticalness, or gossip? Are the conversations around the dinner table about what so-and-so did today at work, or how much you don’t want to go to church tonight after dinner? Your attitudes rub off, especially on your children. Or instead are your conversations filled with encouragement or edification?  Your attitudes rub off on your children. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29)

When the evil spirit comes back, he will bring all his friends. So you will need to protect your house. So fill it with something!

Fill it with the Holy Spirit and with the Word of God. That doesn’t mean you hang Bible verses around the house, or buy religious trinkets at your local Family Christian, or even literally to “write them on the doorframes of your house” (Deuteronomy 6:9). Deuteronomy 6 reads earlier, with respect to God’s Laws, to “impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (v 7) How much do you talk about God with your family? Do you share what you are studying in the Bible? (Are you studying the Bible?)

Fill your house with prayer. When someone enters your house do they know that they are entering a place of worship? I don’t mean to change out all your windows for stained glass, but Jesus promises that when two or more come together in His Name, there he will be. (Matthew 18:20) Are you gathering together as a family in Jesus’ name? Your home is a place of worship. Or it should be. Do you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to one another? (Ephesians 5:19) Do you pray together as a family?

The truth is, that evil spirit will come for an uninvited visit. He may overstay his welcome. You may be successful in driving him out. But he always comes back. Always. And sometimes he doesn’t come back alone. You need to protect your house.

The End

Frank

No time to write a new post. I have to get ready for the end of the world tomorrow.

Of course, this isn’t the first time to tackle the subject on this blog. In May 2011, we braced ourselves to be raptured according to Harold Camping’s predictions. Just a few months earlier, the Large Hadron Collider came on-line and some speculated it would create a black hole that would swallow the earth.

Two tries (three, if you count Camping’s second try that October) and I’m still here. I figure I’ll survive this one too. But just in case, I better get this post up early…

As a side note, an asteroid flew by the Earth last weekend and missed by only 5 million or so miles. I reasoned with my engineer coworkers that the Mayans did some pretty impressive math. 5 days and 5 million miles isn’t too bad if you propagate small errors five thousand years.

What are you doing tomorrow to celebrate the end of the world? Me, I’m taking my kids to Legoland!

Fit to Give the King

Frank

In the busyness of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. I’m focusing on Christmas this week and will post a best-of 2012 next week after Christmas. This particular post was published back in 2010.

While we’re on the subject of Christmas gifts, what do you give someone who has everything?

Little Drummer Boy is my favorite Christmas song. It has always held a special place in my heart. Watching the music video of David Bowie and Bing Crosby is a vivid memory from my youth. On my tree now are two drummer boy ornaments, one from when I was two years old and the other from when I was four. That adds to the sentimentality, but when I actually stopped to listen to the words, from the perspective of a disciple of Jesus, the song took on its intended meaning. Consider it a musical version of the Parable of the Talents (or “bags of gold” in the new NIV).

While I could show you Bowie and Bing, all they’re doing is standing around a piano. Plus the medley takes something away from the meaning of the song, in my opinion. So here’s an original version, and a great video from The Almost:

What gift do you bring, no matter how humble, that is fit to give the King?

Play your drum.

What Matters Most

Frank

In the busyness of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. I’m focusing on Christmas this week and will post a best-of 2012 next week after Christmas. This particular post was published last year following my kids’ Christmas program at school.

I admit I’ve been too busy this Christmas season. I’m busy at work. I’m busy at home. I’m busy everywhere in between. I put up Christmas lights a couple weekends ago, but most of the time I forget to turn them on. We finally got a tree Sunday and I appreciate my kids starting to decorate, but I haven’t touched it since. And as far as all the Christmas shopping goes… I’ve purchased a single present. One. Out of a long list.

Sigh.

But last night reminded me to take the time to enjoy this season. Last night my kids performed in their elementary school holiday recital. There’s just something about little kids dressed as reindeer and others in cowboy hats singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer out of time and out of tune that makes all the hustle and bustle an afterthought.

Sunday we dress it up a little more as my son gets to play one of the three Wise Men as they act out the birth of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. He’s so excited he forgets he’s also singing with his choir (which is a good thing). My daughter meanwhile, will be singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas with other 2-4 year-olds.

So last night I remembered to turn my lights on. I slowed down a took a deep breath. And I remembered that I’m actually supposed to be enjoying this time of year.

All because of a bunch of silly kids. I bet Jesus was a silly kid. And if he could’ve dressed up as a Reindeer, I bet he would’ve volunteered to be Rudolph. I wish I could hear him sing.

Frank 2:8

Frank

In the busyness of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. I’m focusing on Christmas this week and will post a best-of 2012 next week after Christmas. This particular post was first published in December 2009 (and I’m very grateful the videos are still up, otherwise this post would make no sense!).

You’ve no doubt seen them since Thanksgiving, ringing their bells. With the Christmas spirit of giving, you may have also been accosted by a number of other “causes”. Maybe accosted isn’t the right word, but I’m much more willing to give to someone in front of Target than I am someone who approaches my car in the parking lot.

Personally, this relates to whether the cause is a hand-up or a hand-out. And the Salvation Army offers more than just help to the needy. In fact, the Salvation Army has stepped up their marketing campaign to emphasize that they’re more than just kettles at Christmas. I was surprised this year to hear the very Evangelical-like “when I was saved” in one of their spots.

What Christmas is really about: