Tebowmania and Linsanity – It’s LinBowlievable

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You’d have to be living in a cave for the last 6 months to have not been exposed to Tebowmania or Linsanity.  Both guys jumped on the scene with dramatic results for their teams.

Tebow took his team on a fantastic ride that culminated in a playoff win against the #1 rated defense in the league (The Pittsburgh Steelers).  The Steelers were without some players, but a playoff win is a playoff win and Tebow got a playoff win.  Tebow at one time this season was thought to be the 4th string quarterback on the Broncos, now he is firmly intrenched as next year’s starter (going into training camp, thanks for the vote of confidence John Elway).

Jeremy Lin was almost cut this year and had been cut by two other NBA teams including my local Houston Rockets.  As has been much publicized he was sleeping on a teammates couch for a few weeks until all the “Linsanity” busted out with droves of points, assists, and media attention.  He plays on the biggest basketball stage in the world and didn’t just take his chance when it came, he kicked the door down on his chance when it arrived.

These two guys are great athletes. They have unbelievable attention.  They both have sparked twitter phenomena.  They are HUGE.  You can’t go a day without seeing something on SportsCenter about either one (and Tebow isn’t even playing).

More than any of that though, in fact FAR more important than their athletic prowess, accomplishments, or high level of education is that these are believers in Jesus.  These are believers who are on LARGE platforms and have enormous opportunity to represent Jesus well.  They have the pressures from many sides all pushing in on them.

These guys are constantly being looked at, scrutinized, and checked out for their authenticity.  The question is constantly being asked “do they really live what they say they believe?”  They have faith in Christ and have the platform that many Christians would wish to have.  I’m praying that they remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 5

[14] “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
(Matthew 5:14-16 ESV)

I’m praying they stand strong.  I’m praying they shine like lights.  I’m praying that they remain humble.  I’m praying that they live their faith more than they talk about it (BUT PLEASE TALK ABOUT IT).  I’m praying that they would represent Jesus well and that people near them would keep them accountable to what they believe.  I’m praying that they use their platforms powerfully and do much work for the Kingdom.

I’d say that they are off to a GREAT start.  What do you think?  Share your thoughts below in the comments section.  As for me, I’m going to go check Twitter for some new Tebowisms and then maybe surf YouTube for some Linsane Highlights.

Christ is all,
Jason

Heaven’s Party (Monday Meditations)

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[8] “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? [9] And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ [10] Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

(Luke 15:8-10 ESV)

Have you ever lost something?  Keys? Wallet? Purse? Phone? Kids?  I have.  It’s frustrating.  It’s inconvenient.  It’s worrisome and sometimes scary.

When you lose something you look everywhere.  All over creation. You look in normal places. You look in strange places. You turn things over.  You dump things out.  You call people. You panic.  You pray.  You lose your mind.

The moment when that something is found is like no other moment.  The number of emotions you feel is directly proportionate to the number of places you looked. Happiness. Relief. Peace. Gratitude. Silliness (that is, if you found your keys in the refrigerator).  Everything negative that had run through your mind has evaporated.  You are relaxed.  If it’s something important then maybe you want to call somebody and tell them.  If it’s something really important then maybe you want to tell several people.  If it’s something that is precious then it’s time to get everyone you know in the same room and celebrate!

That’s just what God does…

God searches diligently for His people.  He hunts high and low and and always finds just what He’s looking for.  I love thinking about God’s sovereignty…and about how he found me.  That isn’t what this blog is about though.  This blog is about who is rejoicing in Heaven when the finding is completed…

A quick reading of these 3 verses would lead you to believe that it is angels.  Read verse 10 again. It says:

[10] Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

“Before” is a preposition. That means its trying to tell you where something is in relationship to something else. An actor performs “before” an audience. If you wanted, you could substitute the phrase “in front of,” right?

Think about positions in Heaven. Where is God? Where are the angels? Who do the angels watch?

Do they watch each other? No…

Who then do they watch? God!

So who is rejoicing before the angels?  God!

Who is rejoicing at Heaven’s party?  God!

God is continually showing off His glory in front of the angels, but when he finds a repentant sinner, they get to see him celebrate! That means each time:

  • Someone comes to trust His Son, Jesus
  • A believer recognizes sin in his or her life and repents

God is not a cosmic killjoy.  God rejoices.  God parties.  God is joyful over us!

He wants us trusting His Son, walking humbly, quick to repent and make things right with Him.  God is the life of the party, let’s give Him something to party about!

Questions to Consider:

  • Do you know Jesus?  Is He your Lord and Savior?
  • If He is then are you walking in some sin?  What is it?  Confess it, Show Contrition, and Change.

Christ is all,
Jason

Spiritual Alzheimer’s Disease (Monday Meditations)

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Mental illness hurts people to the core of their being.  It affects them in deep ways.  It also affects their loved ones.  The pain of watching someone you love and care for deteriorate can sometimes be too much to bear.  The most painful disease that I can imagine, though, in this realm is Alzheimer’s Disease.  Alzheimer’s breaks down the brain and causes the victim to forget those whom they love and who love them.

God understands this and undergoes the same hurt…

[2] Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. [3] The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” [4] Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. [5] Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. [6] From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.
(Isaiah 1:2-6 ESV)

Look at those verses again.  Go back and read them again.

Breaking It Down

Now, ask yourself a simple question: Do you have Spiritual Alzheimer’s Disease?

Maybe you trusted Christ and followed after Him, but now you find yourself rebelling against Him.  You wandered and did your own thing.  Maybe this is blatant and obvious like the youngest son in the Prodigal story.  Or, maybe it’s quiet…silent…internal.  Either way, in the process, you forgot His voice.  These verses say that you forsook* God. You walked away from Him.  They also say something else: that if you are His child and you’ve forgotten Him then you will be struck down.  Translation: you will be disciplined.  God will do things in order to cause you to repent, and this is for your good.  He will do things so that you remember who He is.  This isn’t mean-spirited.  This is loving.

The cure for Spiritual Alzheimer’s is much easier to find than its mental counterpart.  All you must do is repent.  All you have to do is confess your sin, have true heartfelt contrition, and then change (i.e. don’t go back to the same manner of life as before).

  • Our Father wants His children to remember Him.
  • Our Father wants His children to trust Him.
  • Our Father wants His children to return to Him.
  • Our Father wants His family back.

Christ is all,
Jason

*Yes, “forsook” is a word. It is the simple past-tense of “forsake.” Allie, my wife and editor, made me put this in here.

Money, Stuff, and God (Monday is for Meditation)

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[5] Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(Hebrews 13:5 ESV)

Three Words From Hebrews 13.5

Money – Money isn’t bad, loving money is bad.  Earning money isn’t wrong, loving the money that you earn is wrong.  Receiving cash isn’t sin, loving the cash you receive is sin.  God’s desire for people is that our life not be about the Benjamins.  Our lives are not supposed to be focused on the allure of cash and stuff or houses or cars. Instead we are supposed to be…

Content – Is there anything harder to be in this world than content?  Personally, I don’t think so. American’s struggle with this in overt ways.  We see something and we want it, so we go into debt to get it because we love stuff and what it represents.  But then the stuff doesn’t satisfy or worse it doesn’t satisfy AND you can’t afford it.  Then the stuff gets old or worn out (or what we call worn out) and we have to go buy something new to replace it.  The human spirit is unquenchable like this.  We want what we can’t have.  We don’t want what we do have.  We always want more.  More of what?  More of whatever our appetite is for at the time: money, sex, houses, position, power, etc.  God’s word is clear here though, “be content with what you have”.  How does that happen?

God – The key to being content is to understand what it is that you actually have.  ”and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  What do we as believers in Jesus actually have?  What lasts?  Definitely not cash.  Definitely not stuff.  What do believers have that lasts?  All we really have is the object of our belief: GOD (in the face of Jesus).  Don’t believe me?  Think back 4 years to 2008 when the market lost $1.2 trillion in ONE DAY.  Where’d that money go?  It’s a very real representation of the temporal nature of money.  Here today, gone tomorrow.  What endures isn’t the money or the the stuff that you buy with the money, but the God who is a TRULY priceless treasure (Matthew 13.44-46).

My prayer for myself is that I find my contentment not in position or bank statement; not in big house or apartment; not in a new car or an old Schwinn.  My prayer is that I find my contentment in God whom I know through Jesus.  He’s the only one who can quench the unquenchable…

It’s also my prayer for whoever reads this…

Christ is all,
Jason

 

Monday Is For Meditation

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[18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
(James 2:18-23 ESV)

A Story That Explains

A few weeks ago my oldest son Drew (4 years old) brought home a ping pong ball from church.  He’d picked it up and put it in his pocket.  This wasn’t stealing, I believe someone gave it to him.  Anyway, he had it out and was playing with it.  He left it out and my youngest son Blaise (10 months old today) was crawling around and found it.  Blaise looked at it, picked it up, and then tried to put it in his mouth.

I started talking about why it wasn’t a good idea that he do that.  I prayed deeply about why it wouldn’t be good for a 10 month old to put a ping pong ball in his mouth.  I shared the reasons with Blaise as to why.  I posted on Facebook and Twitter that infants shouldn’t put things in their mouths like ping pong balls.  I memorized reasons why it wasn’t a good idea and then I wrote about it in my journal…

I didn’t do any of that…

When I saw him putting it to his mouth I acted on my belief that this wasn’t a good idea and took it from him, much to his great protest.  I believed that Blaise putting that ball in his mouth was a bad thing.  I believed something could happen and I acted. That means that my belief was active along with my action and my belief was completed by my action.

Putting It Together

We believe a lot of things about God…so do demons (they shudder, remember?).  The difference is that believers in Jesus are supposed to take what they hear and ACT.  Faith is much more than what you “believe”…it is also what you do with what you believe.

Reflect

  • What do you believe about God that you aren’t acting on presently?
  • How can you start acting on what you believe?
  • DO IT!

Christ is all,
Jason

Goals Update – January 27th, 2012

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I posted my goals for the new year on January 4th, 2012.  You can see them here.  I shared them and my one resolution.  I thought that periodically I share my progress with these goals as a way for personal accountability to them (I’ll do better if they are out there). Additionally, I’ve discovered something.  If I set benchmarks, daily and weekly benchmarks (and in some cases every 5 minutes during a workout) I do a lot better and am much more motivated and get through a lot more.

  • Lose 35 lbs.  I’m down 12 pounds after my weigh in today.  I’ve worked primarily on a consistent workout schedule and it’s moving along pretty well.  Tons of cardio (about an hour a day) and a couple days a week of weights has really helped.  I feel better.  This is where I’ve set the benchmarks for every 5 minutes or so.  I challenge myself to be better then next 5 minutes then I was the last and it has had positive effects, not to mention it makes me forget that I’m on the machine for an hour at a time.
  • Publish a book.  Allie and I are reviewing certain ideas in terms of publishing and editing accordingly.
  • Read 15 Books.  I’ve finished 2 and 1/3 of the way through the third one.  I’ve read:
  • Contribute 15% to my retirement account…(Not yet)
  • Start my doctorate.  Not Yet
  • Study the book of Isaiah.  Through Chapter 2.
  • Increase my blog readership.  I’m working on regular series for instance:
    • Monday is for meditation.  I will take some Scripture and have some simple ways to meditate on it throughout the day.
    • One day will be a current events day and relating that to Scripture.
    • I’m looking for other ideas so if you have them shoot them this way.
  • Develop an iPhone App.  We had our first meeting about this last week and we’ve narrowed the scope and are working on different ends.  This will take some time to develop, create, test, etc.  This isn’t going to be a fast goal, but it is going to be a good App so be not he lookout.

 

Monday Is For Meditation

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[12] Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
[13] Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD,
or what man shows him his counsel?
[14] Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
(Isaiah 40:12-14 ESV)

Answer: No one.

He is great and worthy of praise.

He is amazing and in complete control.

Everything is His and in His hand.

Frequently, I find myself needing reminders like this.  Maybe you do too.

Christ is all,
Jason