deep thoughts

The Real and the Unseen

Frank

Once upon a time I was a Cub Scout. I never had the patience to learn how to tie a necktie or earn many of the other badges, so I didn’t get very far. I don’t remember a whole lot other than the camping, popcorn sales, and pinewood derbies. But I do remember one time walking through town with my Pack with the assignment to look around and identify what was “created by God” versus what was “made by man”. The example I most remember was a telephone pole, made by man out of the wood created by God. We’d look at buildings and come to the same conclusion of stone and mortar forming man-made structures. And those would contrast with the grass of a lawn (planted by man, not natural habitat) or the river running through town.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

A.W. Tozer writes in Chapter 4 of The Pursuit of God that “for millions of Christians… God is no more real than He is to the non-Christian.” (pg 37) He goes on to describe how human nature defines what is “real” by what we perceive through our five senses while dismissing what can be perceived spiritually as imaginary. Yet the tree, the river, the stone were not created by man and those things can be touched and seen. One could argue that science can explain the placement of a stone, the path of a river, and the home of a tree in opposition to the notion that what is unseen is the cause.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

But science can also explain the presence of an atom, a proton, a quark, a boson which cannot be seen. So are these scientific discoveries “real” in the same sense as a tree? The scientist argues that the effects of these unseen particles can be observed and measured. But at the same time can not a Christian make the same argument about the effects and influences of God working in and around their life? Of course the difference is objective versus subjective. But once upon a time the smallest particle was considered to be a grain of sand and there was no subjective argument. Then it was impossible to consider anything smaller than an electron. We should be careful to draw a line in the quark (see what I did there?) as definitive, as the final answer with nothing left to discover. We would be foolish to limit our definition of what is real to only that which we can see.

Consider the scriptures above: God’s invisible qualities… have clearly been seen… faith is… certain of what we do not see. How easily we dismiss the spiritual all around us just because we cannot see it. And as Tozer rightly notes, this arrogance prevents us from truly knowing God. Yet to know God, all we have to do is look around!

“For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.”
(Psalm 95:3-5)

Do not close your eyes to what God has revealed through his creation. Do not close your ears to what God speaks to you through his Word. “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord!”

 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.

Tips for a Faithful College Life

Frank

This Saturday the teen I’ve been mentoring for the past few years is heading off to college. As a last blast before he left, I put together a series of studies to prepare him for the collegiate life. I based these on personal experience, having been converted in campus ministry and honestly, never wanting to leave. I figure some of you might find this useful.Consider it cramming, spiritually.

Time Management (Ephesians 5:15-16)

College is the first time many are living on their own. You don’t have anyone to hold you accountable for your time. Classes aren’t a set 8:00-3:00 schedule. One of the greatest blessings of college life is time. But like many other blessings, it can also be a curse if you do not manage it well. Success academically and spiritually on campus relies on your ability to manage time.

Homework: build your schedule, including all your classes, meals, and sleep. Don’t forget to plan out your weekends too.Compare with how time is spent now

Sleep (Proverbs 6:9-11)

Review: review your schedule from before. Did you plan for approximately 3 hours of study per hour in the classroom? Did you schedule time to eat, sleep, have a quiet time? When are you going to do your laundry? Even if you have every hour accounted for, things come up. The campus ministry wants to play volleyball on the quad Friday afternoon. There’s an all-night devotional Saturday night. Part of managing your time well is being flexible so that you’re not bit by putting things off until the last minute. I missed a community outreach/devotional one Saturday because I put off doing my homework too long and was behind in one of my classes. It happens.

All-night study crams, the exhaustion of long lectures, and just being on the go 24/7 introduces you to one of the benefits of your flexible schedule in college- the nap. It is an art that must be perfected. Because if not… well if Proverbs 6 didn’t convince you, read Proverbs 24:32-34 a point so important the Bible repeats it.

This scripture became a running joke in my campus ministry. Yes, it’s ok to rest when you need to, but don’t let it become a habit. The afternoon nap takes time away from sharing your faith, serving in the community, studying your Bible, and doing your homework.

Yet rest is critical to success. How many flame-out after the all-nighter? One time when cramming for a final, one of my friends stayed up all night by taking No-Doz (replace with 5 hour energy, Monster, or Red Bull these days). He crashed and slept through the final. When you are well-rested, you are more receptive and you stay healthy.

Homework: if you’re not doing it already (and this assumes school hasn’t started yet), start imitating the same sleep schedule you plan on following at college to get your body used to going to bed and waking up at the same time.

Responsibilities (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

Chances are when you go off to college you will be living with strangers, either in dorms or in an apartment or household. Even if you pick your dorm-mate, you will still have to build new relationships with neighbors and classmates. Ideally, your future roommate is another believer, but there are no guarantees. To minimize stress in those relationships, it is important to establish responsibilities in the house, apartment, or dorm. Delegate and assign. Accept responsibilities. Learn to do laundry, wash dishes, make dinner. Share the load. Nobody likes a freeloader. Make sure “each part does its work”

If possible, contact your future roommate in advance and find out who owns what. Who has a microwave, who has a coffeemaker, who has a DVD player. Share, and expect to lose DVDs, break dishes, ruin furniture. It’s part of being young and irresponsible. But you don’t have to be completely irresponsible.

Homework: Make a list of what you’re good at around the house. What is your favorite meal to fix? Are you good at cleaning the sink, but hate cleaning the toilet? List it out, let your roommate know. That way you can work to a middle ground.

Relationships (1 Corinthians 15:33)

College is a great opportunity to meet new people, but be warned that those influences rob off. Never again will you have the same opportunity to stay up late and muse life. I remember studying the Bible with a Wiccan, trying food I’ve never heard of at the multicultural center, being introduced to new music, and so on. While you’re making new friends, keep your closest relationships with those who share your values. It is important to keep an open mind, that is how we learn new things and learn to relate to others, but you need to be on your guard against allowing relationships to define who you are.

Homework: Before you leave, be sure to get the contact information (cell, email) of your closest friends. It is unlikely you’re all going to the same place for college. but stay in touch. Facebook, smartphones, Skype, etc make it that much easier to stay in touch.

Prioritize your relationship with God (Psalm 143:8, Mark 1:35)

Make sure you plan consistent time with God.Even though I mentioned before that you will be blessed on campus with free time you never knew you had, that time fills up quickly. Homework, ministry events, just having fun will fill your days. Make sure you keep your relationship with God a priority. Wake up early. Pray. Study your Bible. (Want to know an easy campus evangelism tip? Open up your Bible and read during lunch at the food court of your Student Union. And watch people come to you!)

This also relates back to relationships. You will never be closer to a friend as you will be when you are in the battle together. There’s just something about getting together with friends to pray while watching the sun rise that bonds. Funny story, that I admit didn’t happen to me: a couple of people in my campus ministry were out early one morning and a cop stopped them because they were acting suspiciously. Seeing people out running before dawn was no big deal. But two people walking back and forth on a sidewalk praying looked funny.

And these times are the ones you’ll be able to share when you’ve grown old and crusty and have your own blog (or whatever they’ll have then)!

Make opportunities for evangelism (Luke 10:2, Acts 8:4)

This is a time in people’s lives when they are looking for meaning, for significance. They also have a lot of free time. There will be endless opportunities to share: on the way to/from class, lunch at food courts/student union, dorms, quads, intermurals, etc. Don’t turn down the opportunities for the late-night talk, the diversions on you way across campus, and so on.

Also take advantage of on-campus activities and organizations. Those are perfect opportunities to meet new people, try new things, and get more out of your college experience. Activities like student-government, intermurals, community service, and on and on, there is literally something for everybody. (spoken by someone who used to be a campus activities director)

Put Romans 12 into practice

Br transformed, but not conformed by the world. Be humble, exercise your gifts (and discover new ones). Love, rejoice, share, practice hospitality. Endure persecution. Love your enemies.

Remember, you will never have a time in your life such as this. Make every moment count. Cherish the memories you’ll make. Make new friends. Try something new. Above all, glorify God in all you do (1 Cor 10:31)

Small World, Short Life

Frank

On April 20, 1999 I was driving down to Boulder, Colorado to look for apartments for school. Once I got a few minutes out, I couldn’t get any music on my favorite radio stations. I kept flipping around trying to find music and instead only heard breaking news. I didn’t want to hear breaking news so it took a little while before I actually stopped to listen. It was the news of the Columbine shooting. In the campus ministry where I was converted, many disciples had just graduated from there, and knew the victims. My home town was also personally hit as one of the victims was there the summer before for a football camp.

In 2007, a teenager opened fire at a mall in Omaha, Nebraska, killing 9. I was there the day before.

One week later a man opened fire at a Youth With a Mission office in Arvada, Colorado, just a mile or so south from the church where I spent many Sundays early in my spiritual walk. He would later go down to Colorado Springs and open fire during a service at New Life Church. Between both locations, 4 were killed and 5 were injured.

And of course, early Friday morning a gunman opened fire at a theater in Aurora, killing a dozen and wounding almost 60 more. One brother in the campus ministry tweeted that he was going to go to the movie, at that theater, at that time, but changed his mind last minute. One of the victims was from my community and whose mom works with a sister in my church.

It’s a small world.

While we search for answers, we need to accept the reality that it could happen here. It could happen to you. It could happen to me. I don’t want to be a downer, but the reality is Jesus could return any moment, or God could call you home any time in any way. We are not promised tomorrow.

In Luke 12, Jesus taught this parable:
“The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”(v 16-21)

James 4 reads, “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”(v 3-4)

Finally, in Hebrews 3, we read: “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” (v 13-15)

For whatever purpose, a sovereign God has put you exactly where he wants you to be today. Do not harden your hearts to seek his will, for today may be your last opportunity to do so.

Remember the Alamo!

Frank

Traveling to San Antonio a week ago I knew I had to write some kind of post about the Alamo. I was thinking something along the lines of demolishing strongholds or the Lord being our fortress. The problem is that battle was lost, everybody died, and the Alamo was not held.

(As an aside, isn’t interesting how this is remembered by history? A monumental strategic gaffe which led to the death of hundreds is revered in history and William Travis is hailed as a hero while the Battle of Little Big Horn was a similar loss (though larger in scale) and George Armstrong Custer is remembered as a bumbling fool. It is a fine line between foolishness and bravery, I suppose- sounds like a future post to me, but I digress.)

I guess I could write from the perspective of Santa Anna, but as I am frequently reminded I better not “mess with Texas.” So visiting the site and scouring through the history I was stumped with how to present a spiritual lesson from this historic battle. Then I found this little nugget at the end of one of Travis’ many letters requesting reinforcements:

“P.S. The Lord is on our side. when the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of beeves.”

Less than two weeks later every single man fighting alongside Travis would be killed, and ironically Travis was one of the first to fall. But here he is proclaiming confidently, “the Lord is on our side.”

The skeptic could look at that and respond, “see, there is no God!” The fundamentalist might respond, “there must’ve been unrepentant sin in their camp.” Liberal Christians may point a finger at the Texians as oppressors that the Lord was ensuring would get their due, and The Christian Conservative is left speechless while clinging tightly to the flag.

There’s a danger in confusing God’s blessing with God’s favor. Were they blessed to find extra food? Certainly. But by the outcome of the battle it would be hard to argue that they enjoyed any special favor from God. But we don’t learn from history (or the Bible for that matter). Every small victory, every seeming blessing is touted as “God is on our side!” From sports, to international affairs, to even the mundane occurrences of our daily routine we look for any little blessing (or kiss on the forehead as my wife likes to call them) to comfort us that God is with us.

Tony Campolo recounts in his book Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God, how he was speaking for a prison ministry to a group of hardened lifers and a young woman leading worship shared that on her way there a rock nicked her windshield. This made her very upset, so she stopped, got out of the car and prayed that God would remove the nick from her windshield. And God answered her prayer. Now just imagine being incarcerated for something like murder and hearing this story. Would this encourage you or patronize you? Why would God act in such a trivial matter while you were suffering in prison begging for forgiveness? Would you want to be redeemed by a savior who fixes windshields while children are starving around the world?

How often do we hear in sports that God was with the victors? Does that inherently mean that he wasn’t with the losers? Does God love one team, one quarterback, one player more than all the others? And does one team defeating another advance the Kingdom so much that it is worth God intervening to ensure victory?

And look around this political season. We have been spoiled for so long in America with wealth and prosperity, that it was a given for most that we are a “Christian nation” or that the United States holds some special favor with God. Yet now we are reaping what we’ve sown by living in excess as we look for someone to blame. Where is God’s favor now? The same place it has always been.

Jesus says in his Sermon on the Mount that “[God] causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45) In context, Jesus is talking about loving your enemies, but he had just spoken about blessings and sin.

“The Lord is with us.” Sure, but he is also with your enemy, your coworker, your neighbor. He may be actively blessing one with good fortune while refining another’s faith through trial. God may be sparing a friend from cancer while a family member is suffering and about to die.

I’ve learned to be careful trying to read too much into things to find God’s motives. What is important is not whose side God is on, but whether I am on God’s side surrendering to his sovereignty. In hindsight it is sometimes easy to see blessings that are not obvious now. And what may look like blessings now may not be after all. God will do as he chooses. And the rain will fall on all of us.

Remember the Alamo.

Jesus vs the BCS

Frank
What if the BCS existed in the days of Jesus? His bio would read something like this:
Jesus made his first splash on the Division 1 scene with an early season upset of eternal heavyweight Satan. In a slow-paced game that felt like it lasted forty days and forty nights, Jesus scored three key touchdowns to ensure the win. Jesus took advantage of the momentum from that game into the rest of his season as the mid-major to beat, taking that torch from John the Baptist who lost his head in a key matchup against Herod. Would Jesus be the first mid-major to bust into one of the key Passover week bowl games? Critics debated Jesus’ résumé, noting that some of Jesus’ wins were gimmicky, especially his overtime win in Cana. Long-time powerhouse conferences the Pharisees and Sadducees argued that the BCS bowls were earned by those who have paid their dues over hundreds of years and were able to sell-out the Temple. Jesus, by contrast, was a newcomer to Division 1 and at most played in front of 5000 men. In fact, after a big win against the Loaves and Fishes his attendance actually went down when the two faced off again. Jesus’ strength of schedule was also debated as he mostly faced off against rural teams like the Demons and Lepers. (Mid-major fans would argue that the BCS formula is stacked against them looking at a team like Legion, whom few power-conference schools would dare schedule. “We can only beat the teams we schedule,” they would say as they argued for a playoff. Meanwhile the Romans would point at their conference schedule saying they played teams like Legion “week in and week out.”) Yet Jesus continued to pile up wins and each year preseason polls would rank him a little higher. Then, in his third year Jesus began the season ranked in the top-10. Conference realignment rumors surfaced as the Pharisees were looking to expand and split into two divisions: David and Abraham, aka Leaders and Legends. But Jesus wasn’t distracted by the rumors and continued his winning ways with his biggest win coming against Death, avenging a blowout of his close friend Lazarus. Fans were sure this would be the year he would make a Passover bowl. Finally speaking out against the system, Jesus claimed that he would destroy the BCS and rebuild it in three days. That statement would prove to be his undoing as poll voters never rated him high enough to have enough points in the complicated computer ranking system used for bowl selection. Mid-major Peter, who had a vote in the coaches poll, when pressed by reporters answered three times, “Jesus, who?” Fans were hoping for Jesus to square off against Herod in the postseason, but instead he would end up facing Barabbas in the Golgotha Bowl- a small bowl held outside of Jerusalem, as Pilate and Caiaphas would play for the championship in a rematch of game played earlier that season. Jesus would go on and lose his bowl game, getting nailed at the end, but for some reason three days later bowl officials would crown Jesus with the win. And just as Jesus predicted, fan outrage forced the BCS to change to a four team playoff. Yet, as if he were sent from heaven to force change upon a broken system bound too tightly to tradition, Jesus was never seen again.

More than Mom

Frank

Before all the flowers and cards last Sunday, there was a mom who loved you first. A mother who loved you before you could even open your eyes. Who rocked you to sleep. Who wiped away your early tears. A loving mom who sealed every Band-Aid with a kiss and the comforting words that everything was going to be all right. Who stayed up late waiting for you to come home. Who did countless loads of your filthy laundry, even after you moved away. A mom who loves you so much, you could never call enough.

Believe it or not, God loves you more than that.

Who can fathom the immeasurable extent of God’s love? It is so far above what our thoughts can grasp that it feels like every slip-up and every stumble should diminish our value in His eyes. Yet that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

God’s love is more than we can imagine and we have so much more value than we ever feel. The closest we can come to relating to that level of love, that degree of sacrifice, is that of a parent. So I think of my mom and how much she sacrificed for my sake. I think of how much she has had to forgive me. And I think of how there is nothing I can do that would separate me from her love. And God loves me more than mom.

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by my friend Peter Pollock. Stop over at his place for more blogs posts on “more”.

Homeless Jesus

Frank
“Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Matthew 8:20

A headline over the weekend caught my attention. It was a story about how off-duty LAPD officers were helping a cat rescue organization to save dozens of stray cats on Skid Row. The irony of this heart-warming story is that living among these cats are hundreds of homeless people. And while these volunteers are trying to find caring and loving homes for the kittens they save, I wonder if they have the same care and concern in their hearts for the people living there on the street. Interestingly, the news left out the part about the church who had been taking care of the cats as a secondary concern while ministering to the homeless. That church can’t afford its rent and will have to move, leaving the cats. Sure there are other churches, other ministries, and other volunteer organizations in and around Skid Row to take up the slack meeting the needs of the people there, but it seemed like a glaring omission in the media coverage.

That news got my wheels turning and reminded me how just a weekend before I bought a new mattress for our master bed. It was past time to replace our second-hand mattress that my wife and I have been sleeping on ever since we were married, so we took advantage of a deal at Costco. As I was loading the mattress to the top of my SUV many commented on how I was going to have a great night’s sleep that night. Feeling pretty good about myself, I pulled out of the parking lot and got stuck at a red light. There, at the intersection, was a homeless man asking for change. I felt embarrassed giving him a relative pittance while we talked about the quality of sleep and the comfort of my new bed. He wasn’t critical at all, in fact he could have been any one of the other shoppers at Costco wishing me well, but the circumstances from where he was relating hit me to my very core. Here I was, taking home a new mattress, talking about quality of sleep to a guy who that night would be sleeping under a bush.

And the wheels in my head kept turning, reminding me of a date I had with my wife down in downtown LA a few months ago. After a delicious dinner, the group we were with walked down to a trendy pastry bakery/restaurant. The place was packed and the line for dessert went out the door. The restaurant side of the house was bustling with Gen-X-ers dressed to be seen. But just outside the door were two men, a father and a son, who were wearing the same clothes they’ve been wearing for weeks, if not months. They weren’t pushy or overbearing to ask for change. In fact they just sat right outside the door quietly, carrying on a conversation with whomever would listen. After our expensive dinner and debaucherous dessert, it was literally the least we could do to buy these guys some coffee. While our friends waited, we handed the cups over and engaged in a brief conversation. After retuning to our group, one of our friends told us, “oh, you guys are so sweet.” Sad, my heart responded that sweet had nothing to do with it as I had to fight back the criticism that my wife and I appeared to be the only two who cared.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my best friends who leads a church in Bakersfield, inspired by “freegans“, shared how they have partnered with a local Trader Joes to provide food to one of the local food banks. Trader Joes has a bad reputation for throwing out food that is perfectly good, but not “pretty enough” to put on their shelves or that hit the sell-by date. So he and his wife started “dumpster diving” and then approached Trader Joes to start working together to provide that perfectly good food to the homeless. Twice a week they fill several shopping carts with food and either take it to the bank or distribute it first-hand in the community.

Another irony hit me as my church started to get more involved with our local shelter. As we surveyed their needs, they told us they more than enough volunteers to help with their soup kitchen but they still had a huge need there. They said they had no volunteers to help on Wednesdays and Sundays. Why? Because most, if not all, of their volunteers were from churches. Something about religion that God accepts comes to mind…

Do you know what else is ironic? Jesus was homeless. The Son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father, walked this earth with nothing. Consider the scripture above as you read the account of the Samaritan woman in John 4. From her point of view, Jesus was no different than a homeless beggar asking for change at an intersection. Think of that the next time you’re stuck at a red light.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by my good friend, Peter Pollock. Visit his site for more entries on the topic of “much“.

Gladiators

Frank

“You will never give your approval to those foolish racing and throwing feats, and yet more foolish leapings. You will never find pleasure in injurious or useless exhibitions of strength. Certainly you will not regard with approval the strivings after an artificial body that aim at surpassing the Creator’s work.” -Tertullain (c. 197)

“In the chariot games, who does not shudder at the madness of the people brawling among themselves?” -Mark Minucius Felix (c. 200)

“Yet they call these “sports” in which human blood is shed!” -Lactantius (c. 304-313)

*Quotes from A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, David Bercot, ed. More thoughtful insight from our Church Fathers can be found at this blog post from the Vatopaidi Greek Orthodox Monastery.

“Are you entertained?” -Maximus (Gladiator, 2000)

As I write, I’m watching Sportscenter on ESPN as they discuss the upcoming NFL draft. Ironically right after debating the characters and checkered pasts of prospective draftees and whether that will affect their draft positions and potential career they continue the story of the “bounties” that the New Orleans Saints paid out to their players based on how vicious the hit and/or the star status of their victim. The NFL came down strong on the Saints, suspending just about everyone in the front office and coaching staff and the question now is not if, but how hard, the NFL will penalize the players involved. Meanwhile we cheer on convicted felons (Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, et al) and alleged felons (Cam Newton) so long as they help our fantasy football team.

Two days ago in the NHL playoffs, Phoenix Coyote winger Raffi Torres laid out the Chicago Blackhawks Marian Hossa, who had to be taken off the ice in a stretcher. Torres is suspended indefinitely (his third suspension of the year). Media outlets like USA Today question if the on-ice violence has skated out of control. (Since the start of the playoffs, the NHL has suspended 8 players and fined two more, not including the pending judgment on Torres.) The Governor General of Canada (Canadian proxy to Queen Elizabeth II, yes I had to look that up), David Johnston, calls the violence this season anti-Canadian and undermines Canadian culture. Serious words considering that hockey flows through Canadian blood.

As aghast as we make ourselves out to be over these trends, our eyes are glued to ESPN’s “Top Plays” which highlight the hardest cross-check in hockey or tackle in football. We were just as complicit in baseball’s steroid scandal, as we drooled over highlights of “back-to-back jacks!” “walk-offs” and “bombs” made more frequent by the use of performing enhancing substances. And our money lines the pockets of basketball millionaires who complain about playing for certain coaches (Dwight Howard, who has his own post coming), having to feed their family (Latrell Sprewell and many others), or not getting paid to play in the Olympics (Dwyane Wade) as we wear their jerseys, buy their shoes, and pay tickets to watch.

At what point are we going to pay to watch “athletes” try to kill each other in the arena as was the case in ancient Rome? Oh wait, the popularity of boxing, “the gentleman’s sport” or the “sport of kings”, is being usurped by Mixed Martial Arts. (interestingly it is argued that the popularity of professional boxing began to wane when in nationally telivised bouts a year apart two fighters died. Benny Paret went into a coma after sustaining 29 straight hits, with 18 blows coming in six seconds, from Emile Griffith before the referee called the fight in 1962. A year later when Davey Moore lost to Sugar Ramos by knockout, he hit his neck on the bottom rope as he fell damaging his brain stem.)

And it’s not even isolated to sports. Cross “The Running Man” with “Battle Royale” and you get this year’s biggest box-office hit, “The Hunger Games“.

So where’s the line? How violent do sports need to become to turn us away? How much more can we tolerate overbearing parents fighting at Little League games before we’re disgusted to the point of not participating? How much more corruption do we need to see in amateur athletics (I’m looking at you college football) before we say enough is enough and turn of the major networks who pay out billions to broadcast athletes that don’t get paid.

I can’t cast stones as I’m as guilty as anyone. But the recent headlines have caused me to pause and reflect on what I value and why I’m such a sports addict. Truth be told, I haven’t had cable or satellite in nearly ten years. I always say if I were to subscribe, it would be for sports. As I’ve noticed my interest wane just by not watching as frequently, I wonder if it wasn’t for the internet if I’d even care at all. But I still want my fix. Last year I swore off college football over the absurdity of conference realignment. But I couldn’t stay away. I’ve lost interest in the NFL as I no longer spend all day Sunday watching games. Yet I participated in a fantasy football league last year. When is enough going to be enough? I’m not asking you, I am asking myself. Am I entertained?

Hunger Games

Frank

Every wandering eye, every unfaithful thought starts from the same place. Hunger. Emotional and physical needs aren’t being met. “Love cups” or “love tanks” aren’t filled and a person is left feeling empty and in need.

An affair never starts with the intent of being unfaithful. It starts when someone else, a stranger, a coworker, meets a need that isn’t being met at home. Maybe it’s listening and relating. Maybe it’s paying a long-needed compliment. Maybe it’s the physical attraction that goes along with a little flirt. However minor that first step towards cheating may seem, it still ends in the same place.

And it all starts from being hungry.

Throughout the Bible, God relates the unfaithfulness of His people to adultery, giving the image of His relationship to the Israelites as equivalent to that of a man and wife. The New Testament goes further and calls the Church Jesus’ bride. And so the temptations above, made strong by hunger are the same.

We hunger because we think our Lord and Savior cannot satisfy. We don’t believe His promises. We don’t count on Him when times are bad. And so we stop believing that He completely satisfies and we fool ourselves into being hungry for something else.

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things
(Psalm 107:8-9)

And we can be unfaithful to our churches for the same reason. Sometimes we hunger because we are not being fed. How long have you been nursing on milk, when you should be eating solid food by now? (Hebrews 5:11-13) And so churches around us are wasting away, starving to death, because no one is being fed.

It is then, in these times, when the pangs of hunger are so overwhelming that any little morsel resembling truth suckers us into consuming whole meals of false teaching. Paul instructs the church in Ephesus how to grow and mature through solid teaching, so that “we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14)

It’s all hunger games. We allow ourselves to wither and starve when we don’t feed on God’s Word, when we are not trusting in Him.

[H]is delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
(Psalm 1:2-3)
[B]lessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
(Jeremiah 17:7-8)

You don’t have to starve when you have nourishment right at your fingertips, when you have a loving God who longs for you to be satisfied. Don’t go hungry and fall into the temptation of another. Another lover, another church, or another God.

The Devil Made Me Do it

Frank

A few days ago my son told me how he made a decision at school not based on simple right or wrong but whether or not I would get mad at him. Even more, he said he thought Satan would have made me mad at him.

First I wanted to encourage him not to be afraid of me getting mad at him and had a deeper talk about right and wrong. But I wanted to dig deeper on what he meant by saying Satan would make me mad at him. Amazingly he recalled a conversation we had months ago when he asked me if Satan was real. I think this was around Halloween and he was afraid to go to bed. So I described how Satan wasn’t some monster that would come to us in the night to harm us, but instead he gets in our hearts to trick us into making bad decisions. He dropped it then and peacefully went to sleep, so I was surprised to hear this come up now.

Satan is a tricky subject to tackle, especially for a seven year old. Even believing adults struggle with the notion of a fallen angel running around causing us to do bad. On one extreme some will blame everything on Satan, from catching a cold or a series of red lights that makes one late for work to serious sin and addiction. The other extreme considers Satan “an idea” that represents all that is evil. Of course the truth is somewhere in between. But to someone not as devout in their faith, either notion makes Satan sound more like the boogeyman than the real spiritual force he is.

It is with this latter attitude that the media has approached Presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s  comments from 2008 where he stated that Satan had his “sights on” America. To the infamous Main Stream Media, someone who believes in Satan is as foolish and naive as someone who believes in the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

But according to this MSNBC news piece, a 2007 Gallup poll and a Harris poll in 2009 show that most Americans (7 in 10 and 60%, respectively) believe the devil is real. Yet a 2009 Barna survey of self-identified Christians (versus the broad swath of Americans in the other studies) shows that 59% either agree or somewhat agree with the description of Satan as an idea or symbol of evil versus an actual living being.

While on the surface, it looks like these polls are contradictory, the devil is in the details. In the first two, people we asked simply if they “believed in the Devil” where Barna gets more specific. In that context, Barna found that 92% of those polled believe in some notion of the Devil.

Of course none of this data is relevant in choosing whether Santorum should be the president. Yet it highlights the diversity in the nuances of our faith. There is no broad-brush “Christian” in America that can be painted into a single corner politically no matter how much the media may try.

But I digress. I’m interested in you; what do you believe about Satan? Is he real or symbolic?