This coming Sunday, I'm preaching from 1 Timothy 6 and four words jumped off the page at me when I first read it earlier this week. Those four words are from verse 17 where there is a warning that we do not set our "hopes on the uncertainty of riches." Those four words: the uncertainty of riches.
Think it through for a second. It seems like every journalist has to place the words "in a bad economy" in every single story. It seems like that thought of the uncertainty of riches couldn't be more relevant "in a bad economy." I mean, we just spent over a decade in arguably some of the most prosperous economic times in our North American history. And, in the course of six months, all that 'certainty' and 'sure thing' collapsed.
There are things we can count on and there are things we cannot. There are things and people that will let us down but we have one certainty that will not let us down. Because the six words after "the uncertainty of riches" are "...but on God, who richly provides."
I'd write more, but I won't (after all, I still need to preach it!)
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
On and Off the Field
Have you heard all the hooplah over the 100-0 thrashing in Texas High School Girls Basketball? It's bad enough when this happens but in this case, it's extra-bad considering that this is a Christian school. The coach, of course, denied running up the score (they ended their full-court press and three-point shooting once they reached triple digits), likely because they could have easily scored at least 20 or so more points (after all, 120-0 would be humiliating the other team!). Thankfully, the school administration didn't see things the same way and promptly canned the coach.
To my mind, this story isn't about a cruel coach or mean girls playing basketball. It has much more to do with the question of what it means to model Christ-likeness in every area of life. See, I make it no secret that I play and love hockey. And, well, let's be frank: hockey isn't known as a sport where Jesus' values of healing, forgiveness, turning the other cheek and love are widely expressed! So, if I call myself a Christian, do I simply hang up my faith in the change room, right beside my jacket? Admittedly, I don't have this thing figured out. And, from what I've seen, very few do.
This morning I read the annual pre-SuperBowl headline about the mix between faith and football. And, after the game, there will be at least one person who thanks God for helping them win the game (which leads to all sorts of questions as to why God chose to only help one team and not the other...). For all the right reasons, athletes want to incorporate their faith into their athletics (after all, if you believe something to your core, it should affect every area, right?).
The truth of the matter is, it's not just about sports, it's in every arena (no pun intended). And there's no real pat answer that works in all areas. I guess, what I'm coming to realize is that it's more about asking the question: what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus in any situation. It probably looks a lot less like the aforementioned basketball coach and more like the football coach down in Texas who conscripted fans to cheer for the opposing team.
As in many things, living life the way Jesus would probably has more to do with constantly asking the question than having the answer.
To my mind, this story isn't about a cruel coach or mean girls playing basketball. It has much more to do with the question of what it means to model Christ-likeness in every area of life. See, I make it no secret that I play and love hockey. And, well, let's be frank: hockey isn't known as a sport where Jesus' values of healing, forgiveness, turning the other cheek and love are widely expressed! So, if I call myself a Christian, do I simply hang up my faith in the change room, right beside my jacket? Admittedly, I don't have this thing figured out. And, from what I've seen, very few do.
This morning I read the annual pre-SuperBowl headline about the mix between faith and football. And, after the game, there will be at least one person who thanks God for helping them win the game (which leads to all sorts of questions as to why God chose to only help one team and not the other...). For all the right reasons, athletes want to incorporate their faith into their athletics (after all, if you believe something to your core, it should affect every area, right?).
The truth of the matter is, it's not just about sports, it's in every arena (no pun intended). And there's no real pat answer that works in all areas. I guess, what I'm coming to realize is that it's more about asking the question: what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus in any situation. It probably looks a lot less like the aforementioned basketball coach and more like the football coach down in Texas who conscripted fans to cheer for the opposing team.
As in many things, living life the way Jesus would probably has more to do with constantly asking the question than having the answer.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Books by Dead Guys
I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. Several people asked me last week why I've been slacking so I figured I'm (over)due. If you've been checking back regularly looking for a new post, well...Sorry, Mom.
What do you say when it's the end of January and your last post was "Merry Christmas"? It's too late for "...and Happy New Year" (since the year's already 5% over). The temptation is to fill in some blanks and try to explain my mysterious absence from the blogosphere. But I will not.
In a couple of weeks, we're heading out as a family on vacation, so I figured I should stock up on some reading for the week. I went into the book store with one criteria: the author had to be dead. When the store owner asked if he could help me find something, I told him my criteria and he seemed a bit surprised. In fact, he began pointing me to recently published title that was part of a series on ancient spiritual practices. I pointed out that dead guys generally don't have recently published titles.
And he kept showing me 'good books' by people who could still fog up glass. Finally, I said, "Look, I'm serious. If the author isn't toes up, I don't want to buy the book."
See, I've read many good books. I've just felt lately that, if a book was published decades ago by an author who won't be invited to a conference to talk about it, and if that book is still in print then it must be worth the read. So much of what is written today is written to fulfill contractual obligations on book deals. And, to be fair, there is generally at least some good stuff in any book. However, much of that is also very time-sensitive. It is written in a way that reflects our culture today.
However, I've felt the sense lately that I will grow more as I grab hold of timeless truths. Truths that don't depend on my understanding of a particular time and place. Of course, as a follower of Jesus, I happen to subscribe to the philosophy that the Bible is the ultimate litmus test of truth and even books written decades or centuries ago still fall under that. But I'm banking on the fact that there will be a greater proportion of timelessness in a book that has stood the test of time. I'll let you know after my vacation how the dead authors fared.
What do you say when it's the end of January and your last post was "Merry Christmas"? It's too late for "...and Happy New Year" (since the year's already 5% over). The temptation is to fill in some blanks and try to explain my mysterious absence from the blogosphere. But I will not.
In a couple of weeks, we're heading out as a family on vacation, so I figured I should stock up on some reading for the week. I went into the book store with one criteria: the author had to be dead. When the store owner asked if he could help me find something, I told him my criteria and he seemed a bit surprised. In fact, he began pointing me to recently published title that was part of a series on ancient spiritual practices. I pointed out that dead guys generally don't have recently published titles.
And he kept showing me 'good books' by people who could still fog up glass. Finally, I said, "Look, I'm serious. If the author isn't toes up, I don't want to buy the book."
See, I've read many good books. I've just felt lately that, if a book was published decades ago by an author who won't be invited to a conference to talk about it, and if that book is still in print then it must be worth the read. So much of what is written today is written to fulfill contractual obligations on book deals. And, to be fair, there is generally at least some good stuff in any book. However, much of that is also very time-sensitive. It is written in a way that reflects our culture today.
However, I've felt the sense lately that I will grow more as I grab hold of timeless truths. Truths that don't depend on my understanding of a particular time and place. Of course, as a follower of Jesus, I happen to subscribe to the philosophy that the Bible is the ultimate litmus test of truth and even books written decades or centuries ago still fall under that. But I'm banking on the fact that there will be a greater proportion of timelessness in a book that has stood the test of time. I'll let you know after my vacation how the dead authors fared.
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