So who really watched "The Decision" tonight on ESPN? Who really cared that much about where LeBron was going to end up signing? To be honest, I lost interest in all of it a long time ago. To me it was just wasn't that big of a thing. So the LeBron is leaving Cleveland via free agency and heading to the Miami Heat. Bully for him, but did we really need an hour long "special" to make that announcement? What did they do for the other 58 minutes that weren't him saying he was going to the Heat? Was there a montage of his life and career up to this point?
This was simply another way for LeBron to draw attention to himself. This was not ESPN's idea from what I understood. It was LeBron's. I really think it is the kind of thing that can backfire on him, if for no other reason than it will become to butt of jokes. Maybe LeBron will be one of the first to make the jokes but I don't know that I see that.
I think the next thing we are going to see like this will be Brett Favre convincing ESPN to give him an hour long special to announce his decision about whether he's going to retire or not. At least that special could have some real intrigue to it. Even Favre wouldn't know how it was going to turn out. And then the next week he could get a second special to reverse his decision from the first special.
In the end this was a self-absorbed and narcissistic display. As many others have written better than me, it was something that simply was not needed. Congratulations Miami, you know have a the "King". Good luck with that.
Peace, Grace and Love y'all.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Reborn
What does it mean to be "born again"? Does that mean that that you have to actually be born a second time? How is that even possible? Where does that term even come from?
This past week at the Sr. District Camp I was at there was a...discussion...about what this means and what the importance of it really may be. One of the people involved in the discussion was of the mind set that the term "born again" isn't really all that important. After all it is used only one time in the Bible in a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus . Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to see the kingdom of Heaven one has to be born again. Here is the thing on this as far as I am concerned (and one of the other counselors at camp make this point as well) Jesus is the person who said it, who coined the phrase if you will, so that is really all we need. If Jesus said it, and we are trying to live a life that exemplifies Him and his teachings, then if he says we need to be born again, then we need to be born again.
Here is my take on what happened at camp though. It has more to do with the terminology than the actual concept of being born again. I really think that the first person in all of this simply has a problem with the terminology "born again" rather than the truth behind it. Here is what I mean by that: There are certain terms in our language that simply aren't the best for conveying what is actually meant. This in some ways is one of those terms. People hear "born again Christian" and the Hollywood idea of what that means comes to mind. That image is one of a person that is a goober, a Ned Flanders type if you will. Someone who is judgmental, "holier-than-thou" and doesn't believe in "fun". In that case I can see where the problem lies with the use of that term.
When we look at the truth behind the term, we begin to see that it means so much more than what we usually have in mind. The truth of this means to be changed. It means that we are no longer the old person that we were before Jesus and the Spirit found us and changed us. This same truth is found, worded differently, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where Paul is talking about what a changed life looks like. The old us goes away and in it's place there is someone new.
We have an example of this truth in nature itself. It is what happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. The caterpillar begins as one thing and then through a series of events becomes something new and different. This is a great illustration of what the idea of being "born again" is really about.
In the end really the term means very little. Regardless of what we call it, the truth is the same: unless we have accepted the life transforming, rebirthing power of Grace through Jesus and the Spirit we are still stuck as the old caterpillar.
Peace, Grace & Love.
This past week at the Sr. District Camp I was at there was a...discussion...about what this means and what the importance of it really may be. One of the people involved in the discussion was of the mind set that the term "born again" isn't really all that important. After all it is used only one time in the Bible in a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus . Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to see the kingdom of Heaven one has to be born again. Here is the thing on this as far as I am concerned (and one of the other counselors at camp make this point as well) Jesus is the person who said it, who coined the phrase if you will, so that is really all we need. If Jesus said it, and we are trying to live a life that exemplifies Him and his teachings, then if he says we need to be born again, then we need to be born again.
Here is my take on what happened at camp though. It has more to do with the terminology than the actual concept of being born again. I really think that the first person in all of this simply has a problem with the terminology "born again" rather than the truth behind it. Here is what I mean by that: There are certain terms in our language that simply aren't the best for conveying what is actually meant. This in some ways is one of those terms. People hear "born again Christian" and the Hollywood idea of what that means comes to mind. That image is one of a person that is a goober, a Ned Flanders type if you will. Someone who is judgmental, "holier-than-thou" and doesn't believe in "fun". In that case I can see where the problem lies with the use of that term.
When we look at the truth behind the term, we begin to see that it means so much more than what we usually have in mind. The truth of this means to be changed. It means that we are no longer the old person that we were before Jesus and the Spirit found us and changed us. This same truth is found, worded differently, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where Paul is talking about what a changed life looks like. The old us goes away and in it's place there is someone new.
We have an example of this truth in nature itself. It is what happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. The caterpillar begins as one thing and then through a series of events becomes something new and different. This is a great illustration of what the idea of being "born again" is really about.
In the end really the term means very little. Regardless of what we call it, the truth is the same: unless we have accepted the life transforming, rebirthing power of Grace through Jesus and the Spirit we are still stuck as the old caterpillar.
Peace, Grace & Love.
Friday, May 28, 2010
I'm Sorry
Saw this today on Wes Molebash's blog, Max vs. Max and thought it should be shared here.
I'm wishing it was always that easy to be an "apologist." Hope you have a great, safe Memorial Day weekend. Peace and Love y'all.
I'm wishing it was always that easy to be an "apologist." Hope you have a great, safe Memorial Day weekend. Peace and Love y'all.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Two Sides to Everything
Well it came to pass once again this year that the Cleveland Cavaliers were knocked out of the NBA playoffs short of their stated goal, which was of course to win the NBA Finals. This is the second straight season that they have had the best regular season record for the entire league and have been the overall number one team, and have been knocked out early. It would be different if they had lost in the Finals, but the last two seasons have seen them go out in the Eastern Conference Finals last year and the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals this season. To be honest, for some teams and fans the second round isn't that bad. My Spurs went out in the second round this year. I'm not too depressed about it though because they were a #7 seed in the West. Those seeds aren't expected to win it all and make deep runs in the playoffs. But the Cavs, oh those Cavs, they are supposed to make a run to the Finals the last couple of seasons as the #1 team, it just didn't happen for them.
There has been a lot talk too about what it was that caused the collapse of the Cavs. ESPN guys talking about it, TNT guys talking about it. I'm sure many folks from Cleveland are talking about it as well. The biggest thing that I hear is that LeBron didn't play up to his potential. He played at only about 3/4 of what he is truly capable of. He wasn't the leader that all the greats who have won championships were. Basically, what they are saying is that LeBron is supposed to be something super.
This got me thinking a little bit about the contradiction that we find in the world of sports. We want a superstar on our team. These are the guys that are the biggest names and the biggest talents. They are the ones who show up in the clutch and in crunch time. These are the guys that the fortunes of our teams rise and fall with. And yet we don't seem to want them to get to be a regular athlete.
We want two things from them:
1) To shoulder the blame when our team does badly and loses- This is what so many talked about LeBron needing to do. To put it on himself as the leader and superstar of the team. No matter how he performed in the game we want him to (and the other "superstars") to be the scapegoat, to take the brunt of the blame. Did a guy off the bench miss the game winning three as time expired? Blame it on the superstar, he should have been the one taking the shot. Did the other teams center score a career high in points that was the difference in the game? Let the superstar take the blame even though he is a point guard and has no business guarding that guy. No what it is, we want and expect our teams superstar to shoulder the blame.
2) We want to guy to the most humble person on the face of the planet when out teams wins- Now should our team pull off the win, then we want to superstar to be as humble as possible. Now rather than take credit for the win, like he took the blame for the loss, he is expected to deflect all the the praise to his teammates. The guy off the bench hit the 3-pointer as time expired to win by 1? Well he made a great shot in the face of the pressure to do so. Forget that the superstar gave the ball up to him. In a win, if the superstar takes the final shot, we would think of him as arrogant or just wanting to hog the glory and/or pad his stats. In the interview room, our superstar, when asked about that last shot that so-and-so made, is supposed to deflect all the praise to that guy by saying things about what a great shooter the guy is (true or not) and how he had complete confidence in him to hit the shot.
We want a leader that is humble in both situations. Humble enough to take the blame but also humble enough to defer praise to others. It is what a leader honestly should be willing to do. The problem though for me is that I would prefer that it be a true humility, something that is a real part of their personality. Because forced humility really isn't humility at all.
Peace and Love y'all.
There has been a lot talk too about what it was that caused the collapse of the Cavs. ESPN guys talking about it, TNT guys talking about it. I'm sure many folks from Cleveland are talking about it as well. The biggest thing that I hear is that LeBron didn't play up to his potential. He played at only about 3/4 of what he is truly capable of. He wasn't the leader that all the greats who have won championships were. Basically, what they are saying is that LeBron is supposed to be something super.
This got me thinking a little bit about the contradiction that we find in the world of sports. We want a superstar on our team. These are the guys that are the biggest names and the biggest talents. They are the ones who show up in the clutch and in crunch time. These are the guys that the fortunes of our teams rise and fall with. And yet we don't seem to want them to get to be a regular athlete.
We want two things from them:
1) To shoulder the blame when our team does badly and loses- This is what so many talked about LeBron needing to do. To put it on himself as the leader and superstar of the team. No matter how he performed in the game we want him to (and the other "superstars") to be the scapegoat, to take the brunt of the blame. Did a guy off the bench miss the game winning three as time expired? Blame it on the superstar, he should have been the one taking the shot. Did the other teams center score a career high in points that was the difference in the game? Let the superstar take the blame even though he is a point guard and has no business guarding that guy. No what it is, we want and expect our teams superstar to shoulder the blame.
2) We want to guy to the most humble person on the face of the planet when out teams wins- Now should our team pull off the win, then we want to superstar to be as humble as possible. Now rather than take credit for the win, like he took the blame for the loss, he is expected to deflect all the the praise to his teammates. The guy off the bench hit the 3-pointer as time expired to win by 1? Well he made a great shot in the face of the pressure to do so. Forget that the superstar gave the ball up to him. In a win, if the superstar takes the final shot, we would think of him as arrogant or just wanting to hog the glory and/or pad his stats. In the interview room, our superstar, when asked about that last shot that so-and-so made, is supposed to deflect all the praise to that guy by saying things about what a great shooter the guy is (true or not) and how he had complete confidence in him to hit the shot.
We want a leader that is humble in both situations. Humble enough to take the blame but also humble enough to defer praise to others. It is what a leader honestly should be willing to do. The problem though for me is that I would prefer that it be a true humility, something that is a real part of their personality. Because forced humility really isn't humility at all.
Peace and Love y'all.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Longest Journey
Living in Texas, and growing up in West Texas in particular, I'm no stranger to long trips. We routinely played football games in high school where we were driving 2+ hours to get there. On vacations with the family, we drove everywhere. It was too expensive to fly and Dad refused to do so anyway. So every time we went somewhere it was always by car: the Grand Canyon, Branson, Ohio. It didn't matter, we were driving there. And as you know in Texas it feels like at least half of the trip is actually spent in Texas. So long trips are nothing new for me.
There is a journey however that I have made or, more accurately, am making that has taken me pretty much all of my life, and to be honest there is no known end in sight. It is a journey that for so long I didn't even think about being on. It is that trip from Legalism, Literalism, Fundamentalism and Judgmentalism, to Grace and Love (Grace and Love sounds like it should be an actual town somewhere like Truth or Consequences, NM is). This is the longest, hardest journey that I have ever taken in my life, but I know that in the end it is well worth the time and expense of it all.
Each of the places along the road are difficult to be in, but oh they are so often even harder to leave. I get used to being in those places. It's as if I am a vagabond or nomad who needs to be on the move toward that final destination, but I have found work and stability in these other locales along the way.
I can look back now and see that I wasn't really meant to do more in each place other than set up camp for a bit and then move on, one step closer to my final destination. I am not meant to settle down in any of these places other than my final destination of Grace and Love. Yet sometimes I feel like I have been in some of the places long enough to have taken a census there and be counted as a part of the town's population. Part of the problem as well seems to be my willingness to do good enough in each place that I choose to build a nice summer home or perfect get-away. You know just in case I decide to move back to one of these places after I have retired.
Legalism is that place that tells me I have to be sure to keep all the rules that are ever put on me. It's really not enough though for me to try and do that alone. No, when it comes to legalism, I'm either the mayor, on his staff or at the least employed by the city. Therefore, it is my job to make sure that everyone else is following the rules as well. And when they aren't? Well I guess they are looking forward to getting that home with the really big fireplace (that's my hell reference by the way). When I've been here, it doesn't matter if I'm actually keeping the rules, but rather if everyone else is keeping them. It is such an easy place to get bogged down, because it sure seems to be in all black and white. And it doesn't take long for me to find my way back once I finally get a chance to leave...I don't even have to stop and ask for directions.
Literalism is the suburb where I live at times too. Of all of the four, this is the one that has actually been the easiest to get away from. I still like to go there, maybe to shoot a round of golf, maybe even more at times, but for the most part I understand that it is a place that is set up so people can understand better what God did, to help us wrap our minds around it. It's OK for me to keep this as more of a little bungalow than a full on home. I drop by at times but for the most part I am able to only go there when I need to.
Fundamentalism is that place that lures me in and that I at times have the hardest time shaking off. I guess I should think of it in this way: it's like your home town and how you just get so ready to get out of it, to get away from it because you've seen what it has to offer and you've done just about all of it. You want to get out, yet t here is something that seems to just keep you there. This is where I grew up-I was right and so many others were just wrong-but finally decided that it was time to move away and try something new.
Judgmentalism is the last place where I have spent time. Never am I able o be just passing through. I always have to stop and partake of the festivities in all these places. Judgmetalism is like the college town that lets me feel better about myself while also letting me look down on others for the things they have done that I consider to be really bad.
Finally there is Grace and Love. There are so many times that it still feels so very far away, like the road will never end. Thankfully there are always Grace and Love pit stops along the way where I can stop and be refreshed and reminded where I'm actually headed.With out those who knows how long it really take to get there. It's so far that at times it almost makes you want to stop and turn around and go back to where you came from, Legalism, Literalism,Fundamentalism and Judgmentalism. But there is hope, that just over the next hill you will catch a glimpse of Grace and Love and you will be able to get there and at that point end the journey, finally in that place that I want to be most of all. That place where I can relax and not worry about people doing "bad" things and people having to keep so many rules. In Grace and Love we are no longer tied to Literalism and we can do things in a way that works best for us, and not about what others are up to.
It is a long journey. In the end though, it will be well worth the time and effort and the uprooting and moving to be in that place that allows me to be who I am with out worrying. One of these days, I'm going to buy me a house there and retire. I can't wait for that day to get here.
Peace and Love y'all.
There is a journey however that I have made or, more accurately, am making that has taken me pretty much all of my life, and to be honest there is no known end in sight. It is a journey that for so long I didn't even think about being on. It is that trip from Legalism, Literalism, Fundamentalism and Judgmentalism, to Grace and Love (Grace and Love sounds like it should be an actual town somewhere like Truth or Consequences, NM is). This is the longest, hardest journey that I have ever taken in my life, but I know that in the end it is well worth the time and expense of it all.
Each of the places along the road are difficult to be in, but oh they are so often even harder to leave. I get used to being in those places. It's as if I am a vagabond or nomad who needs to be on the move toward that final destination, but I have found work and stability in these other locales along the way.
I can look back now and see that I wasn't really meant to do more in each place other than set up camp for a bit and then move on, one step closer to my final destination. I am not meant to settle down in any of these places other than my final destination of Grace and Love. Yet sometimes I feel like I have been in some of the places long enough to have taken a census there and be counted as a part of the town's population. Part of the problem as well seems to be my willingness to do good enough in each place that I choose to build a nice summer home or perfect get-away. You know just in case I decide to move back to one of these places after I have retired.
Legalism is that place that tells me I have to be sure to keep all the rules that are ever put on me. It's really not enough though for me to try and do that alone. No, when it comes to legalism, I'm either the mayor, on his staff or at the least employed by the city. Therefore, it is my job to make sure that everyone else is following the rules as well. And when they aren't? Well I guess they are looking forward to getting that home with the really big fireplace (that's my hell reference by the way). When I've been here, it doesn't matter if I'm actually keeping the rules, but rather if everyone else is keeping them. It is such an easy place to get bogged down, because it sure seems to be in all black and white. And it doesn't take long for me to find my way back once I finally get a chance to leave...I don't even have to stop and ask for directions.
Literalism is the suburb where I live at times too. Of all of the four, this is the one that has actually been the easiest to get away from. I still like to go there, maybe to shoot a round of golf, maybe even more at times, but for the most part I understand that it is a place that is set up so people can understand better what God did, to help us wrap our minds around it. It's OK for me to keep this as more of a little bungalow than a full on home. I drop by at times but for the most part I am able to only go there when I need to.
Fundamentalism is that place that lures me in and that I at times have the hardest time shaking off. I guess I should think of it in this way: it's like your home town and how you just get so ready to get out of it, to get away from it because you've seen what it has to offer and you've done just about all of it. You want to get out, yet t here is something that seems to just keep you there. This is where I grew up-I was right and so many others were just wrong-but finally decided that it was time to move away and try something new.
Judgmentalism is the last place where I have spent time. Never am I able o be just passing through. I always have to stop and partake of the festivities in all these places. Judgmetalism is like the college town that lets me feel better about myself while also letting me look down on others for the things they have done that I consider to be really bad.
Finally there is Grace and Love. There are so many times that it still feels so very far away, like the road will never end. Thankfully there are always Grace and Love pit stops along the way where I can stop and be refreshed and reminded where I'm actually headed.With out those who knows how long it really take to get there. It's so far that at times it almost makes you want to stop and turn around and go back to where you came from, Legalism, Literalism,Fundamentalism and Judgmentalism. But there is hope, that just over the next hill you will catch a glimpse of Grace and Love and you will be able to get there and at that point end the journey, finally in that place that I want to be most of all. That place where I can relax and not worry about people doing "bad" things and people having to keep so many rules. In Grace and Love we are no longer tied to Literalism and we can do things in a way that works best for us, and not about what others are up to.
It is a long journey. In the end though, it will be well worth the time and effort and the uprooting and moving to be in that place that allows me to be who I am with out worrying. One of these days, I'm going to buy me a house there and retire. I can't wait for that day to get here.
Peace and Love y'all.
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