The Hardest Thing in Life: Saying, 'No'

I find myself week after week being presented with option after option of how I can spend my time. I'm sure you can relate. The options vary for everyone and some require more effort than others. Each option involves relationships. Usually, we are saying yes to a person more than we are a task. Which makes saying no even harder. 

If your mom asks you to come over for dinner, you're not really saying yes to your car to drive you there or even to dinner (although if you're a college student you might be), you are saying yes to mom. 


If your boss asks you to work late, you're not saying yes to work. You're saying yes to the person who has the potential to fire you. 

It gets a little bit messier when people really need our help. Anyone who cares about other people runs into this situation probably on a monthly\weekly basis. It's difficult. Now, this reminder is not for those of you who aren't serving in some capacity. This is not your easy way out. To serve is to love God. But, serving too much and neglecting your personal relationship with God or your family, that's a problem. 


I struggle with this daily. I really enjoy helping people out. That's a huge part of why I became a pastor. But, I can't lose sight of sustainability for myself and my family. God must be at the center and get first priority. Beth must be second in my thoughts and time. Everyone else after that.


Do your priorities look like that? What do you need to say NO to today? 


For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? - 1 Timothy 3:5

Nehemiah 13: PG-13 Bible pt. 1

Nehemiah 13 has to be one of the most graphic, intense and saddening chapters in all of the Bible. So much happens in 31 verses that when you're done you can't help but say, "What just happened?"


This part of Nehemiah's story begins when he leaves Jerusalem and returns to the court of King Artaxerxes I in Babylon. Scholars believe that he left in early 432 BC and returned late 433 BC. So let's say he was gone from February 432 - December 433. Not a lot of time, right? Hold that thought throughout this whole chapter. 


When Nehemiah returns there is a certain day set aside to read the Book of Moses. Also know as the Pentateuch, which consists of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. While reading the book of Deuteronomy (chapter 23 to be precise), they discover this:


“No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever, because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you. You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever.


So then this happens:(Neh. 13:3)


When this passage of the Law was read, all those of foreign descent were immediately excluded from the assembly.


WHOA! Settle down, God. Maybe You should just go settle down in the corner and take a timeout. 


That was honestly my first thought. I thought there was no way that a gracious and loving God would ever banish an entire people group because they weren't nice to a bunch of smelly and hungry slaves who were leaving the most powerful nation on earth. 


I spent hours trying to find the redemption. I tried to find the commentary that told me the Greek word for 'forever' was a metaphor for a few years. Or that the phrase, 'even to the tenth generation' was a cultural saying that would imply the eventual forgiveness of the Ammonites and Moabites. I didn't find it. 


Two quick thoughts:


1. America is the most individualistic society in the history of the world. We hear this story and we cry, FOUL, because God blames generations down the line for the sins of their fathers and mothers. We are one of the few nations who would see it that way. Civilizations throughout history have been family driven and family oriented. If father sins, mother and kids suffer. If grandpa sins, nieces and nephews suffer. Family accountability. Gives you a whole lot more reason to think before you act. 


2. I am by no means a Biblical scholar. Maybe I'm missing the point here. Maybe there is some hidden redemption. All I know, is that God means business and we have to remember and fear the truth and justice aspects of God. I'm not trying to 'scare someone out of hell', or imply that God won't bring you salvation if you're mean to others. But, remember that following God isn't all daises and roses. Because being God isn't either. We walk the journey He lays before us.


This is just the first part of Nehemiah 13. Wait til you see how Nehemiah responds for God's glory to other situations.  


Are there any chapters in the Bible that have caught you off guard? I'd love to hear why!

Finishing Well

If you attend gracespring and were in either first or second service this past Sunday, then you have already seen this video. But if you haven't, or if you would simply like to watch it 5-9 times we can make that happen!

This video is a group of high school seniors who Beth and I have worked with over the past 4 years. We were asked by the Senior Pastor and the Pastor to Students at church to ask each senior what they thought finishing high school well meant.

With that all in mind, enjoy this video and comment with your feeback.

to God be the glory,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

How Jesus Engaged Culture

When Jesus walked on this earth, he encounter the culture of his day. Just in the same way that we encounter the culture that we wake up in every morning. But, how did Jesus respond? What can His response teach us about how our response should look? I think there are a few bold moves Jesus made, that we need to make to become more like Him.

Bold Move - Jesus Brought Himself

Have you ever stopped to think about what it really meant for Jesus to step out of the heavenely, glorious, infinite realm of God and come down here to the finite, broken, and diluted culture that is our world? What must that have been like?

My mind relates it to a hotel room. Seems simplistic but think about it. Imagine you live in the penthouse suite on 5th Avenue in New York and every morning someone brings you breakfast, a newspaper, and a fresh set of towels, clothes, and whatever else you need. Not only are you living here, but someone else is paying the bill! You are enjoying this earthly perfection that is luxury and relaxation.

Imagine one day the manager of the hotel walks in and says to you, “Um, I’m sorry sir. But we’re gonna have to ask you to leave. The man who was paying for your room has decided to send you someplace else. He wishes you well though!”

You are shocked, but you have no choice. You pack up and move to this new hotel. It has a very elegant Roman architectural name...Red Roof Inn. You arrive and quickly realize you have fallen hard and fast. The front desk barely acknowledges you because Dr. Oz is on, the first three keys to your room didn’t work, and you can’t quite tell if those are dead bugs or part of the carpet design, at least the TV works...well did work.

Obviously, if you try and take what went through my mind and make it theologically accurate, you won’t be able to. But, the principle stays the same. Jesus gave up a lot to come here. Yet, when He came. He never acted like it. He never acted like He was more important than anyone else. Only if you don’t believe in the message He preached about Himself would you be able to deduce that He was arrogant or egotistical. But, since faith is required to believe that message, even then you would have a hard time finding an instance where Jesus acted with elitist pride.

Perfect example happens in John 13.  

“Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.”
Jesus engaged the culture around Him in the humblest of ways.

Bold Move - Jesus Brought Truth

I mentioned this earlier, Jesus brought the truth of who He was. Jesus did not enter into culture and realize that He needed to change a few things about Himself. He realized that the message of Him being the only way to have eternal life with the Father, was exactly what that culture needed. It didn’t matter the cost.

We see time after time Jesus boldly proclaiming who He is and what He offers.

John 4

Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman (a cultural low life) and proclaims the truth of who He is.



John 2

Jesus talks to a Pharisee named Nicodemus (a cultural elite) and proclaims the truth of who He is.

It didn’t\doesn’t matter to Jesus who you are in societies eyes. All He cares about is where your soul stands.

Bold Move - Jesus Brought Love

I have been dating\married to my wife for 6 years now. We have a greater understanding of what love is because we have worked hard to LEARN how to love each other better. We have to consciously wake up every morning ready to bring love into each others life.

Jesus gave culture the greatest gift of all time. Love. A love that transcends the natural and humane. A love that borders on psychotic and mad. A love that sets an unattainable standard for us.

When the culture of Jesus day got so uncomfortable and nervous about who He was, what He was saying, and what He represented they had to get rid of Him. Their broken and sinful minds and emotions (just like ours) couldn’t stand His perfect and truth.

They put Him on trial for blasphemy and killed Him.

The whole time, He is proclaiming His love for them. His blood communicated more than His words ever could.


How could you engage culture like Jesus did this week?

3 Things David Crowder Band Taught Me about Worship

David Crowder Band (DCB) just released their 9th and final album as a band. They began releasing worship albums in the late 90s and have been among the likes of Chris Tomlin and Hillsong ever since.

I was first introduce to DCB my freshman year of high school at Youth for Christ's national youth convention, DCLA, back in 2003. They were electrifying, goofy looking, and authentically worshipping God. I was hooked. I began to buy every album the day or week it was released and would proceed to learn the entire album on my guitar and introduce many of the songs to my youth group's worship leaders for us to play.

Now that I have to come to grips with the fact that this is their final album, I have naturally thought back to what they have meant to me as a lover of music, a worship leader, and a follower of Christ.

1. As a lover of music, I have learned that Christian music and worship music does not need to lag behind the relevant music of our culture. DCB has always been on the cutting edge of music and at times have been ahead of the game (they were playing the banjo way before Gungor... I love Gungor too, though!). They never settled to simply say they were a worship band and rely on that to sell their music. From my perspective, they always strived to do their best musically and create music that appealed not only to Christians, but Christians within this American culture.

2. As a worship leader, DCB taught me the important balance between engaging the audience and letting the Holy Spirit use the medium of music to guide people before the throne of grace. When the worship leader talks enough to become the teaching pastor, it can take away from the beauty of the musical experience. Music intricately blends truth and emotion and it speaks to our souls in a way that only God could dream up.

3. As a follower of Christ, DCB has allowed me to enter with awe into Christ's presence. Whether it is at a convention, a concert, or in my car listening to a CD their music and the authenticity of their worship allows me to embrace the majesty and glory of Christ. For this, I am forever grateful.

So, thank you, DCB. God has allowed you to help cultivate in me a passion for music, a love of leading worship, and a deeper relationship with Christ.

Simple Reading Idea for the Married, Dating, or Just Friends!

In year six of knowing each other, we have had more fun and grown closer than ever!

The first year of marriage for Beth and I wasn't bad relationally at all. In fact, it was great! We were very well prepared for the challenges of living with someone else and were extensively prepped on how to handle and resolve conflict that may arise by those who mentored and counseled us leading up to our wedding. We didn't have the, “pure hell” experience that some of our friends did.

But we did struggle to connect on a spiritual level daily. We have been involved at our church and the youth group at Gracespring Bible Church, where I work, since we started dating. But, we have never been great at connecting daily on a spiritual level. It's so easy to get caught up in the business and hurry of life that you barely get time to connect with God on your own, much less with your significant other!

So, after four years of dating and one and a half years of marriage, we have been purposeful about fixing that! We have decided that the best thing for us is to read a chapter of a book of the Bible a day and then talk about it throughout the week. We don't schedule a time or spend more than 10-15 minutes discussing it. But, it has been a huge encouragement to Beth and I. We are connecting in a way that we never have been before.

Again, this is just an idea and different things work better for different people. But for Beth and I, we really enjoy the practical and sustainable. We believe this is both.

Right now we are reading through the book of Nehemiah and we are on chapter 10. After that, we are reading Ezra together.

What kinds of things do you do with your significant other to stay connected spiritually?

Newton's Law of...Dominoes?

Tweet: "I am very excited to be teaching in Ignite tomorrow. Our Domino Effect and an 8 year old king!"

Have you ever played dominoes? Or, as I recently learned, Mexican Train?

If you haven't, you're not alone -- I haven't either. The only thing I've done with dominoes is stack them in a row and then pushed them over to create a sick train reaction that is awesome for about 23 seconds at the most.

But I never did anything like this...

Sir Isaac Newton developed three laws of motion in 1686.

1. First law: The velocity of a body remains constant unless the body is acted upon by an external force.
2. Second law: The acceleration  of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net force F and inversely proportional to the mass m, i.e., F = ma.

Basically, what happens is something stands still unless it’s bumped, shoved, run into, jolted, smashed, etc. Also, the amount of force put onto an object determines the impact it has the on the other object.

So what does this have to do with an eight-year-old king? Stay with me, I promise it'll all make sense!

2 Kings 22 records the surprising story of Josiah. At eight years old, he becomes king of Judah. I can't imagine an eight-year-old running a Wal-Mart much less a kingdom! 18 years into Josiah's reign we see him making some amazingly wise decisions. He humbles himself before the Lord and does what is right. He has all the power in the world, he can control people with a few words from his mouth, and he decides to honor God with his actions. Not bad for being eight.

Josiah's story reminds me of the domino effect because throughout his story, Josiah makes decisions that effect others immediately, later on, and after his lifetime. One of these decisions is when he finds out that, 'The Book of the Law' has been discovered. This was most likely the book of Deuteronomy. As soon as Josiah learns this, he orders the entire book to be read to the entire nation! He knows how important the Word of the Lord is and he wants his people to know the same.

This brings us to Newton's third law.

     3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Further into the story we learn that God is going to bestow disaster upon the nation of Judah because of their disobedience to God before Josiah's reign. But (I love that word in this story), because of Josiah's humility and obedient response to God, God promises to spare Judah the judgement while Josiah is still alive. Judgement has to be brought upon Judah for its action of disobedience, yet God spares Josiah because of his reactions to Him.

Our domino effect is this:

We live in an incredible individualistic society here in America. We believe in individual rights, beliefs, responsibility, ability, etc. We are so focused on ourselves that we don't realize the effects our actions can have on others sometime. When we interact with people, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. But, if the force of our actions overwhelms them, then they can end up like a bug on a windshield. Broken.

Why not turn our individualism into a strength of ours? We need to individually make the choice to try and be a positive reaction to others. When people encounter us, their reaction should be a feeling of love and encouragement. Because you never know what effect your action in that moment is going to have on someone (or a nation) down the road or down the Mexican Train. :)

I'm a Hypocrite.

patheos.com

Without fail, I frequently seem to hear a story about how a Christian chewed someone out for either not believing in creation, not believing in God, or a myriad of other reasons. This breaks my heart. This flies in the face of how Jesus approached others when He physically walked the earth.

I think it’s time for Christian’s everywhere to realize something about themselves, we’re hypocrites. With our words we claim to follow Christ, but our actions don’t always represent that. We don’t have it all figured out. We aren’t perfect and we never will be.

The apostle Paul understood this when he claimed to be the sinner of all sinners. Yes, he did live a life before Christ where he persecuted those who claimed to believe in Jesus as the Messiah, but then he met God and went on to become the most famous missionary of Christianity. Yet, he makes that claim about his sins. He’s right. He is the chief sinner among sinners, and so are you and I. In the eyes of a perfect God, we are out-of-control children throwing a temper tantrum in the mud. If we lose sight of that, we are in danger of forgetting how to talk about our faith with others.

If we are dirty sinners and the only way to be cleansed is to humbly offer ourselves to God as his slave, how should we talk to someone else about this God? How should we talk to someone else about ourselves? How should we talk to someone else about them?

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” - Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Phillippi.

I’m a horrible sinner.

But, I’m saved by the grace of God.

It’s NOTHING I did.

Sometimes I forget that.

Because, I’m a hypocrite.

Holy?

I recently heard about someone who was struggling with the concept of holiness. For them, 1 Peter 1:13-16 is a paralyzing passage because it brings about an impossible standard.

1 Peter 1:13-16 reads, “Therefore, get your minds ready for action 29  by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1:14 Like obedient children, do not comply with 32  the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance,  1:15 but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, 1:16 for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, because I am holy.’” (netbible.org)

What's your first reaction to this verse?

No, seriously, what do you think it means?

I'll give you some time to think about it....

My first thoughts were that this was more of a suggestion than a mandate. God is full of love and grace, right? He knows that I can't be holy like He is holy. So why does he ask/expect it? I feel like this is an impossible standard. I'm honestly not sure that I have a great explanation for this passage yet. I will continue to research it and keep you posted.

But, what came to my mind next was: how many of us are striving for holiness?

Are you striving to improve yourself? Are you trying to be a better wife, husband, father, mother, friend, employee, boss, etc.? Do you wish you could improve your three greatest weaknesses? I hope you answered yes to some part of all three of those questions. But, we must all ask ourselves this question: am I longing for holiness?

Am I living in such a way that others would see it has holy? Am I trying to act like Jesus would. I know it's cliche, but are we? My goal usually is to not sin, my focus should be on becoming holier like Christ.  

I know this means we don't have to be perfect, but, do we use that as an excuse? I know I have been.

What are your thoughts?

Prepared Out of Their Nakedness

If you missed my last blog, I talked briefly about how Beth and I have been reading through Nehemiah together a chapter at a time. Last week we read chapter four and were once again blown away by Nehemiah and his leadership.

Real quick side note: Nehemiah is based on the personal memoirs of Nehemiah and was probably edited and put together by Ezra. Beth and I have both commented on how much we love the writing style of this book. It’s a very fluid and personal book. You really feel like you get a glimpse into the mind of Nehemiah.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Chapter four begins with Nehemiah’s enemies coming against him. Specifically this guy named Sanballat, from Moab. He starts joking around with his buddies about how pathetic the Israelites are. His buddy even says,“Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, ‘If even a fox were to climb upon what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!’”

Obviously the Ammonite and Moabite cultures weren't the funniest in the world, but they did have armies (4:8 “All of them conspired together to move with armed forces”)!

Naturally Nehemiah takes this threat very seriously and does three actions.

1. Prays “So we prayed to our God...”

Whether you are leading a nation, a company, a classroom, or a family, prayer must be first. Like a typical guy, first response to a crisis is usually not to just stop. But, that’s the wrong view of prayer. Praying doesn’t mean that we’re not acting. Prayer is the action. Acting without praying is acting without involving the Guy who knows how the crisis/story ends.

2. Prepares “...stationed a guard to protect against them both day and night.”

After they prayed, they began to prepare for an attack. Nehemiah takes the threats seriously and uses his God-given knowledge to station guards at the most vulnerable spots in the wall. The enemies of Israel hear that Nehemiah has prepared the people for a fight and they back down from their threats (for now).

Why did they back down simply from a few guards at the wall? Remember that whole praying thing? It says God frustrated the intentions of their enemies. God sees Nehemiah’s devotion to him and his action to prepare for whatever may happen. Once again, God blesses Nehemiah while he is striving to accomplish something for God’s glory. Now, this doesn’t mean that God couldn’t have used an attack on the city to bring Him glory, but in this instance, God chooses to keep the enemies of Israel away.

3. Stays Committed

At this point comes one of my new favorite parts of the Bible. It says that they were so prepared and dedicated to the cause that they never changed out of their clothes while they thought there was a threat of danger to the city. They carried their spears day and night. They were even armed while eating and drinking.

It’s so easy to start something out strong. This has always been the case for me with exercising. I start out strong for the first few weeks, last year I made it two months into the year! But then, I get lazy. I get distracted by video games, TV, people, great tasting fatty food, and many other things that distract my focus.

Such an incredible story.

Pray
Prepare
Stay Committed

What area of your life do you need to immediately apply these three actions?

20 Seconds Of Insane Courage

Last night my awesome mother-in-law Betty took me, Beth(my wife), and my brother-in-law Tim out to dinner at Chin Chin's in Mattawan, MI. If you haven't been to Chin Chin's, go tonight. Incredible Asian cuisine. 

White fish on blackened coconut rice.

Awesome looking steak covered in an awesome looking steak sauce.

And...

The vegetarian mixed vegetables! 

After dinner we went and saw, We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon. Great family movie with a few cheesy lines mixed in. In the movie Matt Damon's character courageously and adventurously buys a nearly deserted zoo and several times throughout the movie talks about how sometimes in life all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. This reminded me of the story of Nehemiah.

Beth and I have been reading the book of Nehemiah together over the past week or so and we have been fascinated by this story. 


Nehemiah is a Jew who has been taken captive by Persian king, Artaxerxes I. Nehemiah must have found some favor with the king because he appointed as his cupbearer. 


While Nehemiah was serving as cupbearer, some of the Jews had been released from their captivity in Babylonia and allowed to return to Jerusalem. Nehemiah hears of this news and  that they have rebuilt the temple, but he also hears that the walls of Jerusalem are in ruins causing Jerusalem to be virtually defenseless against any neighboring enemy. If you've read even five chapters of any Old Testament book, you probably know that the Israelites are attacked quite frequently and having walls around their city would greatly help(although if they would remain faithful to God, He was willing to fight most of their battles for them, but that's a struggle for most of us as well).


Nehemiah is overwhelmed with sadness when he hears this news. So much so that the king notices Nehemiah's mood swing(the king may have thought it was 'that time of the month'). The king asks Nehemiah whats wrong. Ok, hold up, why does the king care about this random cupbearer guy? I mean come on, this isn't a time in history nor a society where everyone had equal rights, the king held Nehemiah's physical life in his hands. Yet, something about Nehemiah's character set him apart. It appears to me that God honors Nehemiah for his faithfulness and loyalty to the king in the midst of captivity. 


Nehemiah proceeds to tell the king what's troubling him (the lack of walls) and what he believed needed to be done. The king then grants Nehemiah permission to go and rebuild the walls! If that isn't crazy enough for you, Nehemiah then proceeds to boldly and courageously ask the king for a ton of the resources he would need. 20 seconds of insane courage. Well, it pays off. The king grants ALL of Nehemiah's requests! When we purposely line our goals up with the goals of God's kingdom, God provides the resources we need to accomplish those goals. 


So Nehemiah heads back to Jerusalem in 444 B.C. to rebuild the walls...then the story starts to really get good. 


Next Blog Post: Prepared Out of Their Nakedness.


What's your 20 seconds of insane courage story?

My run in with the law in Richland and Pennsylvania

Tweet: In New Jersey for the week. Family, Settlers, rest, and studying the book of Esther. #myperfectvacation

I was pulled over by the Richland cop the other day for my passenger side brake light being out and it reminded me of Beth and I's trip home from New Jersey this past Christmas. 

Let me back up a little bit, my wife Beth (BWE) is from New Jersey originally and every year around Christmas we take a week and head out to the land of The Mob, loud gum chewing, and Snookie. This year was no different, except for the way home.

We left New Jersey around nine in the morning on Dec. 23rd, so we could make it home in time to spend Christmas Eve with my family. We stopped to grab coffee from Dunkin Donuts and make sure we were stocked up on Arnold Palmer Monster energy drinks (yes they make them, yes they are delicious, and they have less than 3g of sugar and only 20 calories...life changer).

After that we set out on I-80 West and headed home. I usually set the cruise control around 75 MPH and only pass other cars when I have to. I have learned that rushing home gets you no where. Well, I soon was very grateful for the fact that I wasn't rushing home. Once we crossed over into Pennsylvania you would have thought Osama wasn't really dead and that he was driving a car through the state. There were cops everywhere! I kid you not, every ten miles through almost the entire state, there was either a cop waiting to pull someone over or one that had already pulled someone over. I soon realized that because of this, I was in the same pack of cars for nearly 60 miles. Here's why.

Beautiful Pennsylvania on a cloudy day in December.

Every time someone in the front of the pack would slam on their brakes we would all slow down to pass the cop and then proceed to go slow for about another mile and then begin to slowly speed back up to 75-78 MPH. The same thing would happen over and over and over again. Cop - Brakes - Slow - Speed Up. It was comical, yet quickly saddening.

I realized that this wasn't just a rare glimpse into the transportation minds of every-second-counts Americans, this was an accurate reflection of our natural tendencies. We push the envelope just enough to feel safe, then as soon as we feel like we're going to get caught or be held accountable we slam on the brakes, change course, or begin our rehearsed personality to cover up our true intentions. Time goes by, sometimes it only take minutes, for us to revert straight back into the secretly rebellious life we are leading. The best way I have ever heard character defined is that it's "who you are when no when else is around." 

Jesus calls us to walk in the light because one day everything done in secret will be brought back into the light. What are you struggling with that you wouldn't want posted on Facebook for all your friends to see? What area of your life do you not want others to ask you about? There's freedom in confession and in Him there's forgiveness and grace, but we have to walk towards the light, and I'm not talking about the red and blue flashing ones. :)

I'm more passionate about...

Tweet: “Anyone else frustrated with the refs today?”

I just finished watching the Detroit Lions lose to the Green Bay Packers for the 21st straight year at Lambeau Field. This game was incredible. For the first time in NFL history, both quarterbacks threw for over 400 yards and had 5+ touchdowns. The two teams scored a combined 86 points. Incredible. It was back and forth all game long. The Lions scored a touchdown with 2:39 left in the game and I cheered so loud I woke my wife Beth up from her nap. Thankfully, my wife understands my passion for football and she is beginning to develop her own passion for the game. BWE! (Best wife ever)

Soon after the Lions scored, the Packers easily drove down the field and scored to take the lead and eventually get the win. I was heartbroken. My heart was racing so fast during the game and it took everything in me to keep from getting really upset and letting it ruin my day. Sad, right? No it’s not! This is Lions football! We’ve been bad for so long and now we finally have a team that can score and (use to be able to) stop high powered offenses. There were a lot of bad calls and the Lions showed incredible poise and focus overcoming those bad calls. They deserved to win that game. At least, that’s what my thoughts were at the time.

Well as the day continues on and massive amounts of snow fall here in Kalamazoo, MI, my mind has settled down (I’m still bummed we lost) and gained some perspective. I asked myself this question, “When was the last time I got this passionate coming to the defense of Christ?” When was the last time I walked out of a movie after someone took the Lord’s name in vain? When was the last time I spoke up in class when someone bashed Christians for believing a myth?

Jesus Himself showed how passionate we should be when it comes to defending our heavenly Father. In the book of Mark the story is recorded this way. 

15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. 17 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” (www.biblegateway.com)

I feel like there’s so much behind this quick summary of the story from Mark. I mean think about this, Jesus has done so many humble and meek acts like hanging out with criminals, heal the sick, and he has just entered Jerusalem on a donkey. He then walks into the temple and launches into a passionate defense of His Father’s house. He turns starts flipping tables, money and animal cages are flying everywhere! Men and women are running and screaming, babies are crying, sheep and doves are scurrying away, and yet in my head I see this one wise old man sitting in a rocking chair muttering to himself, “I tried to tell them.”

Jesus then ‘declares’ scripture to them. I feel like this is Hebrew for, talking in a very stern tone. Jesus passionately defends His Father’s house. My prayer is that my actions will reflect the same.

How have you displayed passion lately?