A Chilean Super Bowl!

Part of my goal of "leaving it on the field" by the time the Lord calls me home is to take every opportunity possible to do something difficult but beneficial.

All kinds of things can fall in this category.  Recently, when my good friend Manuel mentioned his plans to go to his homeland of Chile, I knew I had to pray about and pursue the possibility of going with him.  Why is this difficult?  Allow me to name just four things that come to mind:

1. Being away from my family for 16 days.
2. Missing our church's annual Winter Get-A-Way Retreat.
3. Being somewhere where I stick out (from my lack of Spanish to the color of my skin to my height to . . . you name it).
4. Preaching and teaching to a different culture through an interpreter.

Yet, why is it so beneficial?  Allow me to name just six things that come to mind:

1. God has some work to do on me, and this will be a great place for Him to turn up the heat.
2. I get to witness faith in Christ in a whole different context.
3. I get to fellowship through language barriers with brothers and sisters in the Lord.
4. God has opened up opportunities to teach and preach about things I am passionate about.
5. My family and my church will get to be stretched as well through my experience.
6. Our network of disciple-making churches gets to expand.

I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 
                     Galatians 2:20.

Super Bowl XLVIII is this weekend and my favorite team is playing (Go Broncos!).  It is a big deal and it comes to my mind often.  Yet, as I consider what will be happening once I leave for Chile Wednesday, February 5 (see itinerary below), I not only think about it often but there is also an undefined emotion that comes over me.  It is part nervousness, part curiosity, part anticipation, and part pure JOY, with a little trepidation mixed in.

As an athlete has a sense of being blessed for having the chance to play in a Super Bowl, each of us needs to aim for and pursue as many Super Bowls as we can get to.  We need to pray for opportunities to be stretched, to be counted on for something bigger and more significant than ourselves, and to grow as a person and as a follower of Jesus Christ.  For it is no longer I who live so I may as well leave it all on the field for Christ's sake.

Chile Itinerary:

Wednesday 5-Thursday 6 . . . . . . .Fly from Minneapolis to Santiago, Chile

Friday 7………………………… Travel from Santiago to Talcahuano

Saturday 8 …………………….GATEWAY (The whole day)

Sunday 9………………………..GATEWAY (morning only), service in Talcahuano (evening) CARLYN PREACHES

Monday 10……………………. Travel to Curarrehue

Tuesday 11……………………..Service in Curarrehue PAUL PREACHES

Wednesday 12………………..Return to Quillón

Thursday 13…………………….Barbecue with Pastors’ Network in Quillón

EVENING  SERVICE Alex PREACHES

Friday 14…………………………Free day in Quillón/BOOTCAMP  (It will start at 6:00 pm)

Saturday 15…………………….Church Planting Bootcamp

Sunday 16……………….………Service in Quillón (morning) (Carlyn Preaches, service in Talcahuano (Alex Preaches)

Monday 17………………………nothing schedule

Tuesday 18………………………YOUTH EVENT PAUL PREACHES

Wednesday 19…………………Nothing scheduled currently

Thursday 20- Friday 21……… Return flight to Minneapolis

When Actual Sin Meets Real Love

Why do we expect others to have the same exact ideas of morality as we do? 

Why are we surprised when a person who believes something different than us makes decisions that we don’t agree with? 

If we believe that what we stand for is the best way to go through life, what are we doing to try to convince others of this? 

• Get angry when their actions are different? 
• Make broad statements about their actions without addressing their belief system? 
• Sit in our cozy holy huddle and thank God we are not like them?
• Love them with the love of Jesus, never compromising truth, knowing that God, not us, is the one what changes hearts and minds?

I vote for the last one and my guess would be that Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty would to.  Mr. Robertson was recently fired by the A&E Network for stating his view that homosexuality is sin.  Though his choice of words could have been better, his words, when taken in context of the whole article, make two things very clear about his beliefs:

1.     ALL sin is wrong, whether it’s homosexuality, bestiality, or adultery.

2.     All people deserve to be loved and cared for and spoken to with honesty.

Here’s where a little biblical clarification needs to happen.  God does not equate sin with someone who has homosexual leanings – temptation is not the same as sin.  Rather, just like any desire that I might have to lie on my taxes or watch pornography, the desire to be with someone of the same sex is not a sin until you act on it.  Allow the Bible to explain this (from James 1:13-15):

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

When desire turns to action, whether mental action or physical action, we have crossed that line, said, “NO!” to God, and chosen to go our own way, which leads to death.  If you don’t care how the Bible defines sin that is your right.  At the same time, your belief doesn’t change what God thinks of sin, plus your belief communicates who your authority really is.

A&E had a perfectly legitimate case for doing what they’re doing.  If their authority is public opinion and money, then they should act accordingly.  Similarly, who or what our authority is will drive what we do.  What we do DOES affect others, no matter how we’ve chosen to spin it.  How we’ve chosen to spin it reveals where our loyalty lies.

Where is your loyalty?  Where do you get your right and wrong from?  What is sin and is it a big deal?  We need to each land somewhere.  Phil Robertson has landed somewhere, even if he hasn’t communicated it the way he could have.  The trick is using the whole of Scripture to guide our opinions on issues as well as drive our compassion for people.  This is why I’ll always stand for Jesus, because He did this perfectly.

How to Prepare a Turkey

Preparation is probably the most underappreciated yet invaluable part of a great Thanksgiving celebration.  If you’ve ever been a part of a home anticipating a crowd, especially a crowd expecting a feast, football, and a place to fall asleep, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

What I have observed lately, though, is a couple of instances of how to prepare a "turkey" of another sort – that is, a failure or a person that is inept.

Example #1 – My favorite football team, the Denver Broncos, are preparing some of their key players to live in fear.  Rather than trust players like Montee Ball and Trindon Holliday to bounce back, hold on to the ball, and do what they’ve been trained and gifted to do, the coaches decide to go another route.  Rather, because they had fumbled earlier in the game (and, admittedly, have had issues in the past) they put in people with less experience (CJ Anderson) or different roles (Wes Welker).  The result is two-fold – you get less reward on the front end because those aren’t the best at their position AND you put fear as the main motivation for Ball and Holliday.  I believe last night’s game was lost because of an inexperienced Welker NOT calling his teammates off in time.  He wasn’t as much a part of punting practice, he has other roles that he’s concerned about, and he has his former home crowd to deal with as well.  Now, Ball and Holliday are prepared to play in fear of the “one more fumble” that could cost them their job, rather than playing out of a love for the game and a confidence that they are capable of doing their job and doing it well.

Example #2 – One didn’t need to watch the American Music Awards to know that sex would be a theme and outlandishness would be the norm.  When the news programs the next morning use words like “gyrating” and “cybercat” you know the kind of feast our current generation is feeding on.  Current trends of living together, friends with benefits, and the acceptance of “soft porn” into the mainstream is exactly what we have been preparing for the last 40 years or so.  The results are obvious . . . the question is relevant – when will we stop feeding on impulse and start speaking to the heart?  According to history, we won’t, until the results get beyond our control.  Now, we are living in a world where we don’t know how to listen to things that matter or pursue things that are true because we’ve been fed falsities for far too long.

Yesterday, in our little town of 3500, a group of us pastors gathered the community for a Thanksgiving Prayer and Praise Service.  All but one of the churches was involved and an Evangelical pastor (me) was able to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ in a Catholic church building.  About 100 people gathered from the different congregations as we tried to prepare them for a Thanksgiving with purpose.  Outside of the reality that Jesus is the only way for us to get to God (see I Timothy 2:5-6), Thanksgiving becomes a time where we just end up eating lots, thanking each other (or no one in particular), and never acknowledging the YOU that we are supposed to be saying THANK YOU to.

Today, we are each preparing for what's next by what we choose to focus on:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:2

Have a GREAT Grateful Thanksgiving!

What Incites You?

Does anything incite you?
Does nothing incite you?
Something incites you!

After reading some comments and articles on the Los Angeles Dodgers' division-winning celebration in the pool at the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, I found myself becoming very opinionated and a little peeved.  As with many sports-related issues that I love to read about, write about, and talk with others about, this one can be permanently filed away in the "It doesn't really matter in the long run" file.  We know this, but we still get emotional about many such matters, whether it's sports, politics, morality, or religion.

Since this is my first post since LAST football season, I'll be brief.

Before getting into what truly incites me, allow me to list three rock-solid truths that we must remember:
1.  Life will not go the way you plan.  We can't even predict what will happen in the next hour, let alone planning the rest of our lives.  Is planning good?  Of course . . . count the cost . . . plan ahead . . . live with purpose.  Yet, this truth will help each of us deal with surprises with much less surprise.
2.  Sin is a problem of epidemic proportions.  Not only will things not go as planned, but BAD things will happen through you, to you, and without your help.  Until Jesus returns and rescues those who are His own, we must all be prepared for the worst.
3.  Nobody is better than anybody else.  Ultimately, we are all in the same boat.  We all need rescuing.  Nobody has a right to say, "I deserve eternal life."

Second, let me share what incites me, most of all.  No, not what gets me excited each Sunday afternoon or when I read political articles.  This is something that, ANYTIME I start thinking about it, I feel overwhelmed and want to simply snap my fingers hoping it'll all change.  What incites me most of all is our continued belief and practice that God can be ignored and that we're OK on our own.

"Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you."  James 4:10

• God's plan will win out.
• Our sin is paid for by God's only son, Jesus Christ.
• Each of us need Jesus in order to be saved and live a full life.

Not just for eternity, but in the here and now, learning about, loving, and following Jesus is the only way to deal with whatever incites you.  He will give you perspective and, more importantly, He will give you life that is truly life.

Using what you've got

As I ponder what happened to my beloved Denver Broncos (fan since the mid '70's), the name of my blog came to mind:

The Broncos, at least 3 times, left something on the field.  

At the end of each half they left timeouts and more than 30 seconds on the clock.  This was more than enough time for the Atlanta Falcons, the next day, to drive 41 yards (in 11 seconds, by the way) for their game-winning field goal.  Now, work with me here, we've got Peyton Manning (better than Matt Ryan), trying to set up Matt Prater (longer kicker than Matt Bryant) in mile-high altitude with at least two timeouts left.  Then, with a 7 point lead late in the 4th quarter, we had 3rd down and 7 yards to go, we left the 18 million dollar man that can throw 7 yard strikes with his eyes closed to hand off to Jacob Hester "just to be safe."  Yes, Dan Dierdorf, there was somebody else out their scratching his head (and throwing his hat and making a scene).

When it comes to "Leaving it on the field," you've got to use what you've got.  At the end of each game, at the end of each day, and at the end of THE Day, I must be able to say that I've put to use what God has given me for the purposes He's given me.

I get in a funk when I start complaining about all the things I DON'T have - a certain kind of talent or personality, enough time, enough money . . . you get the idea.  Even legitimate complaints (which very few of them are) should not be entertained because it's in God's very capable hands.

The fact remains that God has given each of us a task to do that is much bigger than ourselves.  In order to grab ahold of this task, get the tools to do it, and have a purpose each day of your life, you must trust God's only way to having a relationship with Him - Jesus Christ.  Check out, from Ephesians 1:3,4, what happens to those who trust Him and Him alone:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him.

Now, work with me here, are you (and I) willing to leave all of this great stuff from the Creator of the universe "on the field"?  First, accept Him right now by trusting Jesus as your Lord and Savior (see Ephesians 1:7-10 for more info on that).  Then, you can start discovering how to use your God-given talents, personality, even material possessions for Him so that you leave nothing on the field.

If you watched the Denver/Baltimore game on January 12, 2013 the play that will get played over and over again is Denver safety, Rahim Moore, misjudging the flight of the ball and being out of position for the game-tying touchdown near the end of regulation.  Even though he clearly could have done a better job, at least he jumped his highest and seemingly gave it all - more than can be said for whoever decides when and how they should use two timeouts and their greatest tool - Peyton Manning.

What is honest sexuality?

Ever since Madonna some 25 years ago, there seems to be a pervading mentality amongst Americans that if your honest about your sexual feelings then you're going down the right road.  This road, as it's communicated to us, is the best road because we're no longer hiding and we can really be ourselves.

This mindset has contributed to us glorifying the "American Pie" movies as successful movie-making.  It has made celebrities out of people who simply choose to flaunt their sexuality on what we've chosen to call "reality TV."  It has forced young, talented singers like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, and maybe even Justin Bieber to "turn up the heat" on their lyrics and stage presence in order to keep selling records.  Recently, it has made a villain out of new-Christian Angus T. Jones because he spoke out against the content of the show he's on, "Two and a Half Men," calling it "filth."

Yes, we have come to a place where a person can feel convicted by something he's been doing, want to become a better person, and be publicly lambasted for it.  Yet, at the same time, Fiat, Direct TV, and a European beer company use Charlie Sheen (the former star of the same show) and his bad boy image to sell their products.

Truly honest sexuality is when a person comes to grips with who invented sex (God), who is trying to reinvent sex (Satan - God's enemy), and how the original cannot be reinvented.  A person does not have to do very much research to see the devastating effects of living life based on the lie of Satan that sex can and should be had when we want and how we want it.  It produces all kinds of abuse, unwanted pregnancies, dehumanizing of females through pornography, and the defining of a person based on their sexual preference.

Each of every person on the face of this earth is a creation of God Almighty (Colossians 1:16).  Not only that, but each and every person is created in God's image (Genesis 1:26), which means that He put His heart and soul into who we are and why we're here (see Psalm 139:14).  As a result, we have no choice but to search with our whole hearts WHO our Creator is, WHY He created us, and WHAT we are to do about it.  I guarantee you that if you seek Him and His Word based on this premise, you will find TRUE sexuality, placed in its right context, and end up with life that is truly life.  This world cannot offer such a guarantee with its shallow, lust-based, selfish version of the original.

"God bless America"?

Early Wednesday morning (late night of Election 2012), both candidates ended their speeches with the phrase "God bless America."

I shuddered.

After the long road of declaring your knowledge of everything and your opponent's stupidity in all things . . .
After pointing out that you are RIGHT and that the other person is wrong. . .
After making the motivation of your campaign, in essence, what people want to hear. . .
After lying to yourself and others about what you will do. . .

. . . do we really expect God to bless what goes on from here on out?

If there's an acknowledgement of God at the end of a campaign, what kind of acknowledgment was there during the campaign?  I don't mean blanket statements or addressing praying breakfasts and religious activist groups.  No, I mean acknowledging with humility and bent knee that God is who He reveals Himself to be and that we, in start contrast to Him, are under His sovereignty and lack ability to do anything on our own.

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  Ecclesiastes 12:13

We want the blessings of an all-powerful, loving, merciful God, right?  Yet we, many times, refuse to come to any sort of conclusion that He is in charge and, therefore, has every right to withhold blessing and even pronounce curse.  What?  Curse?  No, not the God I believe in.  He would never do anything to allow anybody to get hurt . . . right?

Without getting too much into how God's control of matters interacts with our free will, the key subject at hand hear is our willingness (and ability) to PLACE OURSELVES UNDER God's ultimate authority.  Think about it:  if He allowed is own Son (Jesus Christ) to suffer at the hands of sinful, mortal man for our sake, why wouldn't He allow suffering for the sake of our eventual benefit and His glory?

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.   2 Corinthians 5:21


If we truly want to be blessed by the Almighty Creator of the universe, then we better humble ourselves under His mighty right hand.  Then, AND ONLY THEN, will we know Him and understand what it truly means to be right(eous)!