STORY-TELLING

It is amazing to me that Jesus spoke to us in parables. These are stories. They are easy to understand. They sound like children's stories. It is at the level of a fable with a moral lesson or truth. I think all of our understanding of life is at the level of story, and depending on what story we believe in, this is how we live and shape our lives. The gospel is a story, but people struggle with the truth of it. The closer it approaches the level of truth, the more powerful it is, and the closer we get to God.

I dreamt of meeting a white haired man. He helped me to understand a dream. In it, I was walking around in a dark mansion. I felt a presence. I felt that it was somehow feminine. It was shy. I was seeking it out, but it would not be found easily.

The man showed me pictures of himself. He was a boy. He was a man. He was an old man. He spoke of the resurrection and the life to come. What I was seeking was that. My own resurrection, and eternal life. It was shy and difficult to pin down. But it was good, and it was always there.

I also dreamt of driving in the rain with dad. It was dark. It was a city. I was going over the curb and out of control. I was driving from the back seat. He was sitting in the front seat and obscuring the view. I was trying to make adjustments.

Dad was also talking to uncle Jimmy. Uncle Jimmy was talking about a millionaires list. Dad seemed envious. But so-and-so was a millionaire and he had just died. Do not work for food that spoils.

Seven Major Positive and Negative Emotions

Here's the Napoleon Hill list of Seven Major Positive and Negative Emotions:

Positive

1. Desire
2. Faith
3. Love
4. Sex
5. Enthusiasm
6. Romance
7. Hope

Negative

1. Fear
2. Jealousy
3. Hatred
4. Revenge
5. Greed
6. Superstition
7. Anger

59 Minute Baseball Practice

Warm-up Drills
1. Line Throw Drill - two lines of balls on ground at 3B, have players pick up and throw to 1B
2. 3rd Base Drill - coach at home, six players, two on 3B, two on 1B, two at home, coach bats to 3B, 3B throws to 1B throws to home, rotate players clockwise, each 3B gets three balls
3. Lead Drill - throw pop flies to players as they run out.

PSALM 90:4

4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.

Why hasn't Jesus returned? Clearly, Paul and the apostles were expecting his imminent return. The early Christians were expecting his return.

In God's economy, two thousands years is like two days.

Moses recognizes in Psalm 90 just how much suffering we will endure in our short and brutish lives, and yet still says God's love is "unfailing."

How much more do we need to praise God for His love? To thank Him for His mercies?

Jesus will return like a thief in the night.

Seahawks Soar!

The NFC Division Championship is tasting very sweet for the long-suffering Seahawk fans. We have waited patiently for 30 years for the Championship. Maybe now, all those Mariners, Huskies, Cougars, and Sonics fans will start shifting their attention to the Hawks?

What is especially sweet for Christian fans is that the leadership of the Seahawks in the hands of three very strong Christians: Mike Holmgren, Matt Hasselbeck, and Shaun Alexander.

After the victory, NFL MVP running back Shaun Alexander said that "Prayer works" and credited prayer with helping to sustain him and his team to overcome his head trauma that he sustained during last week's playoffs game with the Redskins.

Alexander has said, "That's just how I live my life -- chasing after Christ, finding new ways to get closer to Him. I want to do what children of God do, and that's go all out for Christ."

Coach Mike Holmgren is a Christian speaker on the athletic motivational talks circuit.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is someone I actually had the pleasure to meet with in person. He spoke free of charge at my church concerning his experiences of being a Christian player in the NFL.

At the time of Matt's speech, I was a newborn Christian, just saved. I was confused and lost. I was looking for a home church. One Saturday, I went to the church where I was saved (The Neighborhood Church), and just coincidentally, Matt Hasselbeck was there giving a speech.

Amazingly, one of the topics that he talked about was the process that he went through to find a home church after he moved to Seattle. He talked about how he and his wife just went around to as many local churchs as he could, looking for God to guide him to the place that he should be. One Sunday, he arrived at a church, and Jim Zorn, the Seahawks very first quarterback, was sitting there. At that moment, he knew he had found the right church.

And at that moment, I also knew that I found the right church because through Matt, God was speaking to me and telling me that I didn't need to look anymore, I had found my home church.

Matt talked about the challenges of being a Christian football player. The number one temptation that he said that he faced was with "cursing" and losing his temper. Given some of the temper tantrums we've seen out of him over the years, it is easy to see! He also joked that he and Mike Holmgren had the same temptation, but that Holmgren was much worse that he was!

Given what we've seen with other players (T.O.) and other teams this year (Vikings), I think that cursing falls pretty low on the list of temptations.

He said that many players supported him on his walk. Shaun Alexander being one of them. He made a special mention of Trent Dilfer (Superbowl 2000 QB, Seahawks 01-04), and how his walk with Christ really encouraged him. Matt said he had been a Christian pretty much his whole life, but Dilfer was not. Dilfer had walked on the wild side, like many NFL players are wont to do. But through the tragic illness and death of Dilfer's son, he found Christ. There is a famous story about how the two potential rivals broke down and hugged each other after a prayer meeting in Hasselbeck's living room. Sometimes we can only see God from knee level.

Matt has become a stronger Christian through Dilfer's encouragement. Even to this day, although Dilfer is no longer with the Seahawks, he continues to encourage Matt and the team.

For those who think its too hard to be a Christian, consider what Shaun Alexander said, "I crack jokes with people when they say it's hard being a Christian. To me it's not hard. The hardest thing is choosing whether you're going to go all out or not."


We will keep supporting these men with our prayers, and we will leave it in God's hands for the ultimate outcome. One thing we can trust is that God's Glory and Will will be served.

P.S.
Check out Shaun Alexander's foundation dedicated to mentoring young men. Click here.


P.S.S.
No rest for Shaun Alexander, the day after victory, he launches a program to help disadvanted kids learn to play chess! Click here.


P.S.S.S.
Shaun Alexander's favorite line of scripture Psalm 37:4. Click here.


P.S.S.S.S.
I was saved through a program called the Alpha Course. Click here to find out more.


P.S.S.S.S.S.
Mike Holmgren's wife will be unable to attend the Superbowl because she is doing a mission in the Congo. Click here.

True or False Converts

I am generally not a fan of Kirk Cameron, but I was intrigued by his show last night on TBN. In it, he interviewed people outside of Larry Flynt's Hustler Club in LA, and on Time Square. He talked to three people. Each of them admitted to sinning, and each of them professed to believe in God. Two of them even professed to have given their hearts to Christ as children. But none of them go to church or read the bible, and yet all of them believe that God is forgiving, and so they'll each get into heaven.

Kirk deemed these converts to be "false converts".

It is a bit of a conundrum, isn't it? Can someone be "saved" and then subsequently lose their salvation? Many theologians have debated this. I am not a theologian, but here is how I currently look at things.

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus says

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

In Matthew 13, Jesus talks about the Parable of the Sower and the Seed. There are four grounds that the seed can fall on:

1. Hard ground
2. Rocky ground
3. Thorny ground
4. Good earth

In cases 1-3, the Gospel is heard, but no seed takes root. Temptation, sin, and the confusion of life wipe out the seed before it takes root.

So, there are indeed people who profess to believe in Christ, but do not act in accordance with his will.

God sees through all of this. He hears our promises and he knows if we are ultimately going to follow through with them.

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus tells us

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

The road to heaven is narrow, and few make it. How many people have heard of Jesus? How many people have heard bits of the Gospel? Yet, how many people do you know that are the living embodiment of Christ on earth?

Maybe you live in a world surrounded by saints, but I don't.

So, the real question that should be on all of our hearts today is, where am I going? Have I heard the words of Jesus, and yet I refuse to follow his will? Do I ask Jesus to come into my heart on a daily basis?

On the day of your death, and who knows when that will be, don't be one of those that cry out "Lord, Lord" and have Jesus not know you. Make a decision today!

Funny, Funny Riddle

As John Denver said, "Life ain't nothin' but a funny, funny riddle ... Thank God, I'm a Country Boy!"


In my life, I often get saddled with questions. When the questions become overwhelming, I feel the doubt coming on. When the doubt gets heavy, my faith starts to shake at the knees.

But then I realize that most of my questions are really just theoretical in nature. Questions about God's nature. Questions about God's motives. Why this and why that.

And then I see the world full of suffering and I stop thinking, and starting thanking!

The Lord has been so faithful to me. Yes, sometimes in my selfishness, I would like my circumstances to be different. I wish I had more money. I wish I was thinner. I wish I didn't have a sinful nature that has gotten me in trouble in the past.

But what about the many blessings he has given me? I did not grow up in a broken home, and my family all lives under one roof. We have our limbs. We have our eyesight. We don't know need wheelchairs. We are living in a safe neighborhood. Indeed, I have much to be thankful for.

When I count my blessings, I can walk easily with a smile.

The Lord promises us His love. And when we can approach Him with the hearts of little children, open and trusting, we can receive that love.

It is not just some power of positive thinking, or the effect of daily affirmations drummed into our minds like some Instant Karma. No, God is not some mix of chemicals inside our brains. He is a person, and He has the power to act in the world outside our being.

When we approach Him for a sign, He gives it to us. If we don't see it, its because we are not really not willing to see it.

Be like a child on Christmas morning. Be expectant. Be glad. Be thankful. Be joyful. For we are able to know Him, and so we are able to know what He built us for.

Thank God, I'm a Country Boy!