Month: September 2007

The iPod shuffle landed on a song by The Animals that brought back memories of a childhood lived in black and white. I remembered Ed Sullivan awkwardly introducing “The Animals” on his show many years ago. Forty-two years if anyone is counting. After watching the clip again it was even more awkward than I remembered. The song is called “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and it produced a surprising time of reflection and prayer. Are you telling me that you don’t have your quiet times around songs by The Animals?

The song is an apology and explanation to a love interest. The writer wants her (in this case) to know that he means well and sometimes he is just human. He makes mistakes.

If I seem edgy I want you to know
That I never mean to take it out on you
Life has it’s problems and I get my share
And that’s one thing I never meant to do
Because I love you…

Oh, Oh baby don’t you know I’m human
Have thoughts like any other one
Sometimes I find myself long regretting
Some foolish thing some little simple thing I’ve done.

But the lyric that caught my eye and heart is the chorus.

But I’m just a soul whose intentions are good,
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.

Yes, I’m just a soul whose intentions are good,
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.

It feels a little odd to be praying a prayer based on the vocals of Eric Burdon. But those words express a desire of my heart. I want to represent Jesus well. I want others to know that my intentions are good. I want people to see the grace of the Lord Jesus. When I leave my house as a representative of Christ I do no want my words or actions to be misunderstood.

I fear that I give myself a pass because I do believe that my intentions are good. But if I am not showing the love of Jesus and displaying the Fruit of the Spirit then I run a good chance of being misunderstood. The world is suspicious of Christians. We talk about Jesus and how He has changed our lives but then we live our lives just like everyone else.

Sorry I was a little edgy BUT I was really stressed…
And my least favorite rationalization…I’m not perfect, I’m just forgiven. AHHHHHHHH!

Yes, you are forgiven. But you are also an ambassador of Christ and with that comes responsibility. Paul outlined that responsibility to the believers in Corinth.

God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,so that we could be made right with God through Christ.  (2 Corinthians 5, NLT)

I am tired of excuses. God has given us the resources to be His ambassador. It is not enough to just have good intentions. That is the paving material for the road to Hades. A life lived in unbroken connection with Christ will produce His fruit. 

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

If I meditate on those traits I suspect I will not be misunderstood when I talk about Jesus.

 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioned the official version of the Sept. 11 attacks and defended the right to cast doubt on the Holocaust in a tense appearance Monday at Columbia University. Ahmadinejad made the amazing assertation that there needs to be more research to validate the Holocaust. Maybe we should do more research on gravity. 

His comments about the Holocaust reminded me of our visit to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem on a memorable Thanksgiving Day. Here is that piece written a couple of years ago. I am pretty sure after visiting Yad Veshem that there has been enough “research” to document this horrible example of the potential evil of mankind.

I knew that this family Thanksgiving would be a bit different. We were in the midst of a whirlwind tour of Israel when Turkey Day arrived. As the day dawned in Jerusalem I remembered past Thanksgivings with family all around. Watching the Macy’s Parade while the tantalizing aromas of roasting turkey and pumpkin pie and fresh baked bread filled the house. Watching the football games, eating way too much, and  then the afternoon lapse into semi-consciousness known as the traditional Thanksgiving day nap. I knew that this year would be a little different but I had no idea how much.

When I heard our schedule I knew this would be a Thanksgiving like no other. Our final activity for this day would be a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. My first reaction was “no, no, not today”. But then I reconsidered. What better reminder of how very much I have to be thankful for than to relive this abomination of history.

We pulled up to impressive facility and began the tour. My heart was pierced within the first moments when I read a display about the deadening silence of the Christian church during much of this evil genocide. I recalled the haunting words of Elie Wiesel who said, “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”  I prayed that I would never allow my convenience and comfort to overcome the responsibility to speak out.

I wanted to look away from the pictures of smiling children innocently and unknowingly being resigned to death. I struggled to absorb the depth of evil as I looked at the hollow eyes of death camp prisoners. I saw Jews and Christians weeping side by side as testimonies of the horrors were recounted by survivors.

I was overwhelmed by the Hall of Names…a giant repository containing millions of names and testimonies. My heart ached as I walked through the Children’s Memorial dedicated to the 1.5 million children who perished. I tried to grasp the enormity of that number. Dallas has a population of about 1.2 million. What if Dallas were exterminated? Yet that would fall 300,000 short of the children who died at the hands of these monsters.

I left the Yad Veshem (Holocaust Museum) in contemplative silence.

Fast forward to home. And I pick up this story from USA Today….

The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them “zealots” who claim a “monopoly on God” while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler’s. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said “religious right” leaders believe “unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person.”

I believe Mr.Yoffie comments border on hate speech at worst and ignorance at best. I am part of the evangelical “religious right”. I have NEVER said that unless you attend my church, accept my God, or study my sacred text that you cannot be a moral person. I know moral people who are agnostics and Christians and Jews and Buddhists and Muslims and you name it. No religion has the exclusive franchise on morality. I can find only a handful of extreme nutcases who would say such things out of the sixty million or so who call themselves evangelical Christians. In a later interview Mr. Yoffie said he meant to include all conservative faith activists including Jews. I have to take him at his word although in context his remarks seemed to be targeted toward the Christian right.

“We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations,” Yoffie said.

I noted sadly that another thing that Hitler did early on was to begin to euthanize the disabled and mentally challenged. Under the banner of the greater good for all and quality of life these souls were snuffed out. Tomorrow we will address a man named Peter Singer who is making the same argument from Princeton University.

But he said, overall, conservatives too narrowly define family values, making a “frozen embryo in a fertility clinic” more important than a child, and ignoring poverty and other social ills.

Who is saying that? I believe the message is that life is sacred and man is a poor arbitrator of when it can or should be ended.

You would think a Rabbi would understand better than most the slippery slope of value judgments on life that are based on prevailing cultural shifts. Perhaps a review of the Torah would be instructive.

Listen to me, you islands;
       hear this, you distant nations:
       Before I was born the LORD called me;
       from my birth he has made mention of my name.  Isaiah 49

The word of the LORD came to me, saying,  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
       before you were born I set you apart;    Jeremiah 1

God seems to indicate that life began for Isaiah or Jeremiah before they were “viable”.

After leaving the Yad Veshem I decided to never again call anyone Hitler or any group Nazis. Can we agree to disagree without invoking such polarizing and inflammatory rhetoric? There is no Hitler that I have seen in the religious right. No one in that group deserves to be called Nazis. You have every right to argue with them and dispute their views. You hurt the cause with the name calling.

And one more thing. I left the Yad Vesham feeling deeply thankful for how much God has blessed me. It was a tough way to spend Thanksgiving. But I am grateful that I did. There is an inscription on the wall at Dachau concentration camp that says simply, “Never Again”. Amen.

 

Regular readers of the humble ramblings know that I am a big fan of the group Casting Crowns. I pre-ordered their newest CD titled “The Altar and the Door”. I hoped it would be as good as their previous efforts. I was not disappointed. Today’s song in the iPod Devotional series is a song from that CD called “Slow Fade”. The lyrics struck a chord with my heart:

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It’s a slow fade, it’s a slow fade

I don’t become overweight in a day. I didn’t get out of shape in a day. And I do not become spiritually lifeless in a day. It is a slow fade. Sometimes the spiritual fade is the hardest to see. Having troubling buttoning the jeans pretty clearly reveals the dietary issues. Puffing after a flight of stairs is a good sign of conditioning lapses. But the spiritual fade can be easy to overlook. C.S.Lewis wrote in the Screwtape Letters that “the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

How can I avoid the slow fade? One way is not allowing my road to be without signposts and milestones. Those signposts and milestones are found in God’s Word and I must keep them in my sight daily. Avoiding spending time in His Word is the surest way to begin my personal slow fade. The text we studied yesterday in church was from the Gospel of John and it presented another way to monitor the slow fade.

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15, NLT)

Jesus is saying that He is the true vine and if I am joined to Him I will produce fruit. It does not say I might produce fruit. It does not say I could produce fruit if my circumstances are right. Doesn’t say I will occasionally bear fruit. Jesus says that if I remain in Him I will produce fruit. A gardener knows that a vine may not produce for a season because of disease or bad conditions. But if that vine continues to be barren it is worthless and must be removed.

How do you produce the fruit that Jesus is describing? If I was speaking Christianeze I would say that you must abide in Jesus. I would wager (with a promise to tithe on all winnings) that the majority of churchgoers could not give a cogent definition of what it means to abide. The simplest explanation I have heard is that our relationship with Christ is an unbroken connection. It is not a one-time or yearly or monthly or even weekly synchronization with Jesus. It is a daily and even moment by moment awareness of our connection to Christ. That connection to Him allows the fruit of the spirit to be a part of who I am. Paul describes what can be ours in his letter to the Galatians.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

By remaining in an unbroken connection with Christ we can begin to take on His character and produce that kind of fruit. And realizing that the only way to produce this fruit is being connected to Christ can help stop the slow fade.

The lyrics of the song Slow Fade contain another valuable truth. We are always closer to the slow fade than we realize and we are not as strong as we imagine.

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you’re thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

I have experienced the slow fade more times than I would like to admit. I did not crumble in a day. If (or when) it happens again it will not be in a day. And Jesus has provided a way that I do not need to suffer the slow fade. My role is to stay connected.

The title of today’s iPod Devotional could have been a cover of a Peter, Paul and Mary song. I would have had to modify the lyrics a bit. Based on my travel experience today it would now be titled “I May or May Not Be Leavin’ on a Jet Plane But They Promised to Let Me Know In Fifteen, Make That Thirty Minutes”. An easy two hour flight home became a twelve hour ordeal of cancelations and begging for a morsel of information. Ahhh, the joy of traveling. So I have to dig in the archives and ask Willie Nelson to do an encore of an earlier iPod post.

Today’s spin of the shuffle wheel pulled up a little tune from Willie Nelson. The song is titled “Funny How Time Slips Away” and it is one of his signature songs. I realize that Willie is, for some, an acquired taste. I do not endorse Willie’s recreational choices but I do like his ability to make lyrics real. In this song he laments the loss of a love.

Well hello there my it’s been a long long time
How am I doin’ oh I guess that I’m doin’ fine
It’s been so long now but it seems now it was only yesterday
Gee ain’t it funny how time slips away

It is not really funny how time slips away. It is scary. I am now past the halfway mark toward becoming a centenarian. It seems like yesterday that I was playing sandlot baseball as a kid. Moments ago I was in high school being attention deficit before ADD was cool. Just yesterday I met the stunning Joni Banks and somehow conned her into dating me. Couldn’t have been too long ago that I donned the hideous baby blue tux to wed my beloved. Wasn’t it just weeks ago that three adorable baby boys came into our lives? How is it possible that I am now directing the baseball exploits of athletes that were not even born when I started this gig?

Time does slip away. The best line on parenting I have heard is that the days are long but the years are short. Amen. I now am the father of an almost 29 year old, a 26 year old, and a 21 year old. When did that happen? Married 31 years. Are you kidding me?

I have had, if I may borrow the franchise of Frank Capra, a wonderful life. Not devoid of tragedy and trouble to be sure. I have lost a very dear nephew to leukemia, a daughter to terminal birth defects, my father and mother, and many other family members and friends. My bride finished eighteen months of treatments in her breast cancer battle just this spring. But we are blessed beyond comprehension. And I believe that is because we have found our reason for being here. Rick Warren summed it up nicely in a recent interview.

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond, In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body – but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillion of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act, the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life: The goal is to grow in character, In Christ-likeness.

If this is the warm-up act for my eternity gig then all of this is merely preparation. Football players hate the two-a-day practices in the brutal heat. But they love the exhilaration of victory that the difficult preparation allows for later in the season. Sometimes the two-a-days of life seem cruel and without purpose. But my understanding of the God who made me and His purpose for me allows me to believe there is purpose and design. I don’t always see it. I love being happy and carefree. But if my purpose is preparation for my real gig then I had better be a little more interested in being holy. Paul wrote this in the book of Colossians.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. (Col 3, NLT)

The song continues…

I gotta go now I guess I’ll see you around
Don’t know when though never know when I’ll be back in town
But remember what I tell you in time you’re gonna pay
And it’s surprising how time slips away

In time you’re gonna pay. But perhaps not in the sense that the lyric implies. And not just in the often heavy handed way that too many Christians threaten eternal damnation to those who oppose them. I do believe that you will pay the price in eternal separation from God if you choose to reject His grace. We are created to be in fellowship with our Creator and you will pay a price if you ignore that truth. You will pay a price of not having eternal significance in this life. Following Jesus is preparation for eternity. But walking with Christ is also a walk of joy, peace and significance. Time is slipping away for all of us. Set your sights on eternity and enjoy the journey of preparation.  

Today’s iPod shuffle landed on a song by the Beatles. The song takes me back to 1964 when I was an overweight nerd struggling to find my place in the world. What a difference forty-three years makes. Now I am not overweight.

“Can’t Buy Me Love” reached the top of the charts for the group. When asked about the deeper meaning of the song Paul McCartney gave this reply. “The idea behind it was that all these material possessions are all very well, but they won’t buy me what I really want.” Sing along with me aching Boomers…

I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright
I’ll get you anything my friend if it makes you feel alright
‘Cause I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love

I’ll give you all I got to give if you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give but what I got I’ll give to you
I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love

A couple of years later McCartney wondered if the lyrics were untrue.  “It should have been “Can Buy Me Love” when reflecting on the perks that money and fame had brought him. I wonder how Paul McCartney feels today with forty more years of life mileage on the odometer. I suspect he now feels the original idea was correct. Money really can’t buy you love.

It is a deception of the world that money can buy you love or happiness or peace. I will be honest and report that I would prefer to have money over the the alternative. But I have learned that money is in no way a predictor of happiness. Some of the most miserable people I know could buy and sell me with their pocket change. It is human nature to believe that more money, some possession gained or a title achieved will finally make us happy. Too often that is just not true.

I have been on both sides of the money thing. And I can tell you without reservation that money is unrelated to happiness. Happiness is seeing my wife at the end of a long day. Enjoying dinner with my wonderful sons (and daughter-in-laws). Laughing with friends. Being greeted by a Labrador Retriever that thinks I am the greatest human being. Ever.

Happiness is watching a baby toddle. A child smile. An elderly couple look at one another with that look that only decades can develop. Happiness is seeing the sun rise and hearing the birds welcome that sight. Happiness is connecting with the One who made me. That is what I was created for and my happiness is found in the simplest things of life. There is joy all around us. I choose to look for those things. Yet life happens and sometimes joy is a bit harder to choose.

In his letter to the church at Corinth Paul made the amazing statement that “I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles.” (2 Cor 7:4, MSG)

Where does that attitude come from? I can guarantee it doesn’t come from money. Because we can “rent” what appears to be happiness for a season our culture continually confuses money with real happiness.

I choose to embrace life. I accept suffering because I am in relationship with a God who understands suffering and offers comfort that is inexplicable. Joni and I have stared down heartache and tragedy and found peace. Jesus had a thought or two on joy and it’s source.

“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature.  This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love.”  (John 15, MSG)

I am nowhere close to saying that my joy is wholly mature. But I have hope as I write this. Hope that transcends sports cars, money, and even the difficulties of life. I have hope because I have found the source of joy. Paul wrote a joyful letter to the church at Philippi.

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.   Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.  (Phil 4, MSG)

The Beatles were right. Money can’t buy you love. Placing Christ at the center of your life allows you to find joy. But you can’t buy that either. It is a gift of grace. The gift is available to anyone. We just have to receive it.

 

 

There is no safer sport in politically correct (for the most part) America than Christian bashing. Comedian Kathy Griffin went for shock value, sure publicity and safe offensiveness with her recent comments about Jesus at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards show.

Griffin made the remarks over the weekend upon receiving the award for Outstanding Reality Program for her show “My Life on the D-List.”

“I guess hell froze over,” said Griffin, whose show overtook ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. “A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.” Holding up her statuette, Griffin topped off her off-script speech by saying, “Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now.”

That offends me. I made a mental note to avoid all things Griffin (TV shows, CD’s, comedy shows, etc) in the future. But that was the end of my reaction. What Kathy Griffin thinks about Jesus doesn’t register a blip on my radar. Note to my fellow believers. This is in the brochure.

And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. (Matthew 10, NLT)

What an odd marketing campaign Jesus launched to sell this new faith. The world will hate you. You will have lots of trouble on this earth. Not exactly a Madison Avenue approach. Picture this advertisement for a new product.

“Buy our product and you will be hated and persecuted! No interest financing available now!”

So when a spare comedian takes a cheap shot at Jesus I am not at all surprised. I ache for her. I would never make such a mean spirited comment about anything or anyone dear to her for publicity or a cheap laugh. Her comments reveal all you need to know about her heart.

The response from some of the Christian community was predictable.

Griffin’s remarks immediately drew harsh criticism Monday from Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who called on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to denounce what he called “vulgar in-your-face brand of hate speech.”

Donohue called for censoring of her remarks and an apology. I think Bill Donohue is a good man doing what he believes is right. As for me, I do not want either. Let her remarks be heard. And what good would an apology do?

All of this leads to today’s iPod Devotional song. Nichole Nordeman is one of my favorites. She is a thoughtful writer. Nichole is honest about her faith and her struggles. The song today is called “What If” and it deals with the doubt she feels when others challenge her belief in Jesus.

What if you’re right?
And he was just another nice guy
What if you’re right?
What if it’s true?
They say the cross will only make a fool of you
And what if it’s true?

What if he takes his place in history
With all the prophets and the kings
Who taught us love and came in peace
But then the story ends
What then?

People who never have a single doubt scare me. I love Nordeman’s honest and aching questions. I have wrestled with all of those. I have read the arguments of Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. I do not live this life of faith blindly. But I have come to a different conclusion than Harris, Hitchens and Ms Griffin.

Nichole Nordeman’s song echoes my questions to those who mock my faith.

But what if you’re wrong?
What if there’s more?
What if there’s hope you never dreamed of hoping for?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He’s more than enough?
What if it’s love?

It is pointless to debate your faith with those who refuse to acknowledge even the remotest possibility of God or faith. I know they feel the same way about me. Comments like Ms.Griffin’s are designed to evoke an emotional response. Praying God’s wrath on them does not follow the example that Jesus set. Luke relates a story that applies to this debate.

But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them.  So they went on to another village. 

James and John are just like you and me. We want to get’em!

“So you are going to disrespect my Lord? Well we’ll show you! Can we burn them up? Can we Lord? Can we?”

And I picture Jesus looking at them with a mixture of patience, love and sadness. They still didn’t get it. And neither do we. Jesus knew that the Father calls men to faith. Some respond. Some don’t. Jesus simply said to move to the next village. Judgment and justice will happen in God’s timing and not mine or yours.

I am unshaken by attacks on Jesus. I feel sorry for Kathy Griffin. I hope that she will someday ponder the questions that Nichole Nordeman poses.

What if you’re wrong? What if it’s love? What if He’s more than enough? What if?

 

(My schedule is insane today. I have updated an earlier iPod devotional. Hoping for a fresh batch starting tomorrow)

Welcome to the experiment known as the iPod devotional series. Here is how it works. On the old iPod is a “shuffle songs” feature. You hit the button and the iPod randomly picks a song.  I am writing a blog about whatever song the device selects on that day from the 1,000 plus songs on my iPod. My music list will further confirm my status as a Christian who makes others feel superior. My music goes from Al Green to the Youngbloods. Beatles to U2. Old hymns to modern praise music. Toby Keith to Frank Sinatra. Oldies to the soundtrack from Monty Python’s Spamalot. This could be interesting.

Regular readers of this site know that I am a huge fan of the group Casting Crowns. So it is no surprise that a song from the Atlanta based group would come up in this series. The song is called If We Are The Body and the lyrics are convicting.

It’s crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls’ teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

But if we are the Body
Why aren’t His arms reaching
Why aren’t His hands healing
Why aren’t His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren’t His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

We are the Body of Christ. So why aren’t His arms reaching? Why aren’t His hands healing? I am afraid the answer is a hard truth. We don’t care enough for the lost. We don’t ache for the hurting. We don’t sacrifice enough for the poor. If that offends you then I will make it more personal.

This week I have been absorbed with the Ohio State University’s football game. I grew up about 45 minutes from the Horseshoe (football stadium) at the Ohio State University. I love the Buckeyes. I am not proud to admit that until recently a Buckeye’s loss wrecked my mood for a couple of days.

This week I have read internet newspaper reports from Columbus, Ohio. I have thought about the game and how it might turn out. This weekend I had a disturbing revelation. As I walked down the streets of San Francisco and saw dozens of homeless and hopeless people it occured to me that I care far more about the game this Saturday than I do about these lonely people. Yeah, I know it sometimes feels overwhelming when you see the vast needs and incredible suffering. But I can do something. Helen Keller once said,  “I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do.”

I am not trying to shovel guilt on you or myself. There is a place for sports and entertainment. But the fact that I have spent more time (by far) reading the sports page than I have reading God’s Word is revealing. I will still watch the game this week with a lot of passion. But I am determined to remember it is only a game. And I hope that I remember that I need to pray for at least a portion of that passion to be reserved for the poor and hurting and spiritually seeking.

I don’t intend to quit being an Ohio State fan. That is not a sin (except in Michigan). I do believe I need to seek a balance in my life. I do desire to be a more passionate and willing participant in the Body of Christ. Because if I am not then His arms aren’t reaching as far as they could.

Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

I know by the grace of God that there is a way. His love is the way. What if His people really cared? What if I really cared? Wouldn’t it make a difference? There is one way to find out. That way is for us to take seriously that we are the Body of Christ. And then act accordingly. Straight talking James writes in the Book of James that “to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

 I cannot argue that I do not know the right thing to do. I do. My response will reveal my heart.