Category Archives: Following

Football Post #2: Da Bears

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I admit it.

I’m a bandwagon jumper when it comes to the Chicago Bears.

But who can blame me if you watch them play?!  They play football like their lives depend upon it.

You do almost anything with THAT kind of intensity, and people will take notice.  Not coincidentally, the Bears are a healthy 7-0 this season.

Part of their success is being attributed to a coach named Lovie Smith.  Yes, I said “Lovie”.  And there can be no doubting the toughness of a man who can climb to the top of professional football with that name on his birth certificate.  That’s the toughness he brings to the team as well.

You see, Lovie has a system.  It’s all about “loafs”.  Not “loaf” like “loaf of bread”; but “loaf” like “quit loafing around”.  Lovie demands that his defenders be controlled and refined and driven to the point that every ounce of their energy and action is about defending.  To that end, he watches (with his players) every play after the game.  Meticulous count is kept of each player’s “loafs”.

Any time you get knocked down and don’t immediately pop back up, that’s a loaf.

Any time you don’t all-out sprint to where a pass is coming down, that’s a loaf.

Any time you don’t hustle to help with a tackle even remotely near you, that’s a loaf.

Any time you don’t fully respond to what is obviously developing, that’s a loaf.

Did I mention the intensity that these guys play with?

I’ve been wondering if Jesus might not be more Lovie-like than we’d like to think.

I think of myself as kind of mellow.  “Laid back” is a compliment, in my mind.  But I’m wondering if I haven’t at times crossed a line.  “Laid back” to “loaf” is hardly a big jump.  But it’s a very dangerous one for a fellow who preaches week to week that God’s desire for the world is redemption and that His expectation upon His people is for their full participation alongside Him.

Care to watch some video with Lord Lovie?!

So I’m saluting a man named Lovie.  Not only does he coach awesome football to watch.  He’s called my life into question in a way that’s good.  He’s reminded me of a Lover that demands all-out commitment.  He’s drawn me back to a Lord who calls us to die.  He’s led me back to a Leader who doesn’t know the meaning of “loaf” and who came to give life to the full… and that’s a far cry from the life of a loaf.

The One

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I’m supposed to be working, but my mind is wandering. And while it is, I’m here to write down something from yesterday.

I grabbed my Bible and journal, and headed for an empty room. Before reading, I tried to get quiet (outside and in). It worked more than usual. The time was prayerful, and in it I found myself amazed at two things:

  1. God’s timelessness. I can’t imagine that concept; without beginning and end, before and beyond all else. Then it dawned on me that I was communing at that moment, in that room, with the God of Adam. My prayers were being received by no less than the One who shaped the dust and shared the Breath. And I was blown away! Pun NOT intended.
  2. God’s knowledge of us. As I sat there attempting to open myself up to Him, I recognized that God didn’t need me to open my doors to Him. He already knew all that was inside. The act of revealing was more for my sake. However, I found a real comfort yesterday in the thought of how deeply known I am. And it passed through my mind that Shannon is that deeply known too. And so is each of my family members; yes, even my in-laws. And the entire Glen Elm church as well. And so are you. And yes, this is the same God who created Adam way back when… and He knew His every in and out as well.  And I was blown away again.

Then…

Upon entering the Word, I found the message of Jeremiah 17:9-10:

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
not as they pretend to be.”

We as creatures in God’s image are wonderfully complex, though sometimes the “wonder” is not entirely wonderful. It can also be very dark and twisted. But God enters as we allow Him to be the Searcher, Examiner, and Figurer of all that is within and around us. That thought felt mighty good yesterday.

It feels good again today.

Living Forgiven

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Well, I’m a day late.  My saving grace is that our topic is… well, you kind of HAVE to let it slide now, don’t you?

This IS a great topic.  I’m tipping my hat to you, Chelsey.  Really, I am.  Right now.

As I sit to type, I think I’ve only got one thought to share…

Forgiveness is like a fantasy coming true.  It’s every person’s dream becoming real.  For who hasn’t wished to be in the “Butterfly Effect” at one time or another?  Who hasn’t felt the need to go back and right a wrong?  To change a course?

Everyday carries dozens of instances of “I’d do THAT another away if I could”.

But we can’t.

A simple example:  I’ve often visited with someone who felt like he/she couldn’t effectively voice their thoughts.  My suggestion: “You just fire away.  See how I respond, and if you didn’t nail it, we’ll push ‘delete’ and go at it again.”

Wouldn’t you love it if forgiveness could work that cleanly–just take you back before the blunder?  But that’s what it DOES, isn’t it?  Isn’t that the point–to get a ‘do-over’?

No.  Not really.

The beauty of forgiveness is that it does MORE than that.

It doesn’t merely take us back to life before our fall, back to that un-screwed-up state.  Forgiveness is so powerful that it actually takes us to a NEW realm, one beyond what we had before we blew it.  By travelling through the failure and hurt, by being forced into humble and open confession of the wrong, by seeking restoration, and having another place their forgiveness upon us, we actually come out somewhere we’d have never arrived at otherwise.

This isn’t an attempt to confuse things, to get a little “let’s go on sinning so that forgiveness may abound” thing going. This truth simply highlights the power of forgiveness for both seekers and offerers.

Forgiveness opens new doors and ignites new flames; it is proof that the Kingdom is real and among us–that purity is more powerful than sin, that death cannot defeat life, that condemnation truly is not the law of the land, and that even the blackest darkness cannot withstand even the simplest source of light.

And that IS good stuff!

Passion

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I read this over a year ago.  But I’ve been thinking it ever since, and I ran across it again today.

According to Donald Miller:

“If you believe something, passionately, people will follow you.  People hardly care what you believe, as long as you believe something.  If you are passionate about something, people will follow you because they think you know something they don’t, some clue to the meaning of the universe.  Passion is tricky, though, because it can point to nothing as easily as it points to something.”

Does that force anyone else to do some stock-taking?

  • How passionately do I live?
  • All the stuff I claim to believe… do I believe it deeply enough that it shows itself passionately to those who are touched by my life?
  • When others DO observe my passion showing itself, what does it point them towards?

Thanks Donald… for sticking your nose into the lives of many.

Prayer

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On Sunday morning, I spoke about prayer as a part of the process of “preparing the way for the Lord”. Any sermon that allows you to impersonate Bob Barker while proclaiming the Word of God… that’s good fun!

At the end of service, we knelt together in the dark and prayed this prayer in unison. It had been requested by someone afterwards, so I figured I’d post it here as well.

The words below are a mix: Some are pure Scripture–prayers taken from Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, and Daniel. Other parts are my paraphrases of such passages or thoughts that were reached as a result of praying through those prayers last week.

For what it’s worth…

O Lord, there is no God like you in all of heaven or earth.

You keep your promises
and show unfailing love
to all who obey you
and are eager to do your will.

You have promised that we will be Your temple,
that You will live among us and within us.

But how, Lord?

Even the highest heavens cannot contain You;
how much less our divided hearts.

Yet Lord, You are our Father.

We are the clay,
and You are the potter.
We are all formed by Your hand.

So don’t remember our sins forever.

For we are the creatures of Your hands,
born to bear Your image,
and called to carry Your glory
to the ends of the earth.

Father, hear our humble and earnest requests.
We are a needy people:
Needy of Your forgiveness
and needy of Your nearness.

Display for us Your might in powerful ways.

Oh, that You would burst from the heavens and come down!

How the earth would quake in Your presence!

As fire burns wood and boils water,
Your coming would shake the world.

When You came down long ago,
You did awesome things beyond our dreams.

And oh, how things shook!

For since the world began,
no ear has heard, and
no eye has seen a God like You:

You work for those who wait on You,
and You welcome those who lovingly follow Your ways.

We kneel before You this morning, Lord.

We offer ourselves;
we surrender ourselves.

Your will is our command,
and we will spend our lives upon serving You.

Search our hearts this morning,
and burn away anything in us that is untrue or impure.

For we desire to serve You alone.

Our Father in heaven, great is Your name.
May Your kingdom come
and Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Do not lead us into temptation
and deliver us from the evil One,

for the kingdom is Yours,
and the power is Yours,
and the glory is Yours,
forever and ever,
amen.