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Courting disqualification

19 Apr
Atlanta Olympic Rings.

Atlanta Olympic Rings. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This summer is the Games of the XXX Olympiad, and Jessica and I have already cleared our schedules so we can watch Michael Phelps, Brian Clay, and our other favorite athletes make Olympic history. They’ve worked, trained, and agonized for their moments of Olympic glory, and I can’t wait to cheer them on.

I just hope they don’t disqualify themselves between now and then.

We all know that the Olympic games are about far more than a race or an event—they’re about a lifetime of preparation for that event. Phelps and Clay won’t win repeat gold in England this summer unless they’re careful with how they live today.

The Apostle Paul understood this, and he used explicitly Olympic language in        1 Corinthians 9:24-27 when he said, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

My heart resonates with Paul’s desire to avoid disqualification (I’m sure yours does too). And I keep thinking about the fact that there are multiple forms of disqualification. A false start from the starting blocks can disqualify a sprinter from their big event, but so can a positive drug test in the weeks leading up to the event. And so can a failure to diligently pay the price every single day in practice.

Sometimes we can court disqualification through inattention and inactivity just as much as through more overt areas of compromise. Let’s do a little pre-Olympic soul-searching to make sure we aren’t guilty of courting disqualification in any significant area of our lives.

Mid-season trades

13 Mar

Well, it’s that time of year again—the time when the NBA shuffles its talent pool through some mid-season trades. Even though it’s a little weird to watch players get traded away to other franchises like human poker cards, the trades usually don’t bother me unless they involve one of my favorite players (I still don’t think the Lakers will move Pau Gasol). They’re usually just fodder for endless sports gossip and speculation.

However, as this year’s trade deadline approaches a persistent thought keeps running through my head, and I find myself wondering if I need to make any trades in my own life. I wonder if I’m still on target to hit the goals of my life and calling, or if I’ve gotten too comfortable in the status quo. If championship teams are willing to make tough trades to stay competitive in something as temporal as basketball, shouldn’t you and I be willing to trade or sacrifice in our pursuit of Jesus Christ?

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Are we in competitive shape–ready to run God’s race for us–or do we need to make some tough, intentional trades? Are we carrying any baggage that will bog us down, or are we on track to say, “I have done the will of Him who sent me”?

Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers (Photo credit: RMTip21)

Wood-eating ants

14 Dec

As 2011 winds down I have a New Year’s question to pose to you. If someone were to use your life for a preaching platform, would you be able to hold up his or her weight, or would you collapse like the stump I recently tried to stand on?

Before the opening session of our recent men’s retreat, I went for a walk in the woods to pray, and I spied what looked like the perfect platform to stand on. It was a huge stump of a massive tree that had been cut down close to the ground, and I thought it would be fun to use it as a mini-stage to think and pray from.

Description: This image shows a Carpenter ant ...

Image via Wikipedia

Unfortunately as I leapt on top of it, my feet sank several inches in to a mushy, ant-infested mess. The massive tree trunk had been devoured from the inside, and despite its impressive appearance it was a hollow shell that folded under the slightest pressure.

My little stint on the stump got me thinking.

  1. Am I living a hollow life, or is there enough substance in me to support the work that God is trying to do in and through me?
  2. Do I have any hidden areas that still need to be confessed to a safe, appropriate person?
  3. Are there any wrongs in my past that I have yet to make right?
  4. Are there any wood-eating ants chomping on my character from the inside out?

I think these are good questions, and I think the end of the year is the perfect time to ask them. As we move together in to the blank page of a New Year, let’s do what it takes to build lives that are solid all the way to our core.

The First Goal

16 Nov

There’s something about the first goal that changes everything. It increases swagger, and makes you feel official.

This season I’ve had two girls score their first ever goals in a soccer match, and it has caused both their confidence and their love for the game to skyrocket. Human beings love to win, and I think that our first win in a particular area is always special.

Can you remember the last time you scored a first goal? Perhaps you made a work presentation that you had never done before, or wrote your first song, or shared your faith for the first time. Firsts are always challenging because we’re rookies when we attempt them, but once we overcome them they introduce us to a whole new world of opportunity.

Although God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, it doesn’t mean that He is an unchanging status quo. He is interesting and exciting and He loves creativity and firsts.

If your life has been stuck on cruise control for too long, then I think God might want to introduce you to a new “first.” Maybe you’ll go on your first mission trip, or preach your first sermon, or write your first book.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 9 that we’re in this race to win. We can’t win until we score our first goal, and we can’t score that first goal until we get in the right game and play our little hearts out—just like my little U10 girls in AYSO.

The 5th Gospel

22 Sep
StJohnsAshfield StainedGlass JohnTheBaptist Paul

Image via Wikipedia

British Evangelist Gypsy Smith said, “There are five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian, and some people will never read the first four.”

The Apostle Paul expressed that sentiment this way, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.” (2 Corinthians 3:2)

What letter are people reading when they study your life? How much of the love and nature of Jesus Christ has been incarnated (embodied) in YOU? When I’m really honest with myself I have to admit that I probably incarnate a lot less of God’s heart than I think I do. People might think I’m a nice guy. They might think I’m a decent Christian, and they might even admire some of my family dynamics, but I wonder if my presence in their life stirs any hunger to touch Christ.

Only a divine touch on our lives can inspire in others a hunger for the divine. Does that make sense? Me being a really great guy will not draw anyone to Jesus. People won’t convert to Christianity just because Christians are the nicest people (and by the way, we SHOULD be the nicest people because we’re living for others not ourselves). People will convert when they sense and see the reality of Christ lived out in His people.

You and I are the 5th Gospel. Let’s spend so much time with the hero of the other four Gospels that when people read our lives they will be infatuated and drawn to Him.

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