Same Difference!

I’ve had the opportunity to work with many, many churches over the last few decades.   Earlier I was thinking about this ever-growing list of churches and ministry situations that I’ve stepped into.  I departed each of these situations (some much more quickly than others!) with some indelible marks on my spirit.  Which is a testament to God and the many ways he allows us to be impacted.

Old Church, New Church, Big Church, Children’s Church, or maybe just:  The Church

Different buildings in different parts of town.  All filled with different groups of people.  With different doctrines.  Different histories.  Different priorities.  Different ways of approaching God.  Different, different, different.

A New Holy Week?

Earlier today I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs that said it’s officialy Holy Week here in America.  And I confess that it took me a second to get what he was saying.

Ah.  SuperBowl.  Gotcha.  Okay.  (or “the Big Game,” as the NFL would rather me say since I haven’t paid them.)

The post that followed that not-so-subtle ‘dig’ at American culture dealt with sport and religion.  And it had several good points.  Some went a little too far, in my opinion, but overall I found it interesting.

Now this here being MY blog and all, I thought it an interesting enough topic (sport & religion) that I’d throw a few thoughts out there, myself.

Let me begin by stating that I love sports.  I’m definitely not the biggest sports fan to ever walk the earth.  But I am, however, a HUGE baseball fan.  I ‘live and die’ with the Atlanta Braves at certain times of the year.  I can talk baseball for HOURS… and I have.  On many occasions (just ask my wife).  I really enjoy football, too.  College and Pro.  I am not, nor have I ever been, anti-sport.  And, just for the record, this blog post is not ANTI-sport.  But more on that later.

Next up… some of my firsthand SPORT & RELIGION experiences:

Our Holiday Playbook

Okay. Next step… Where does the playbook (see previous post) say we should draw the aforementioned ‘battle lines’ when engaging our world as Christians? Great question.

I’ve come up with some broad categories. And some of the “fights” we pick fall under more than one of those categories, so I had to (arbitrarily, at times) simply pick one. With that in mind, here are some of the ‘official battle lines’ from our usual tactics and methods for engaging our culture.

Straight from the playbook…

We engage with our culture on holidays.

Tactics & Methods

“A stock of usual tactics and methods.”

In case you’re wondering, that’s the definition of the word playbook.
(You’re welcome!)

AND WE HAVE TO TRASH IT.

No, no… not the word playbook and its definition (those are actually quite handy!).  We have to trash our playbook.  As in:

WE NEED TO TRASH OUR USUAL TACTICS AND METHODS.

I originally intended to make some sort of really lame joke here (Interestingly enough, ‘really lame jokes’ make up a significant portion of my own personal humor playbook…) like reduce, reuse, recycle, think green, save the whales, and maybe use the recycling bin instead.  But I decided not to say anything that might imply that we should rehash, reuse or, God forbid, recycle any of those same tactics and methods.

Everywhere a sign…

According to the internet (the “go-to” source for incredibly reliable information):

SIGNS are everywhere…

If we only knew how to recognize them!  Or interpret them!  Or would just pay attention long enough to even see the signs!

Seriously, folks.  We’d all be so much better off if we only knew and understood the signs!

You would know:

• whether you have irritable bowel syndrome
• if the stars are correctly aligned in your astrological calendar to start a new job or new relationship
• whether your child is on drugs
• if you are watching “too much television”
• whether your spouse is cheating
• if the guy (or gal) you’re dating could be THE ONE!
• if your next door neighbor is dealing drugs
• what type of “personality” your cat has
• when it’s time to quit your job
• the world will end on May 21, 2011  October 21, 2011. never mind.
• how much fun I had researching for this blog post

There was even a movie called Signs.  Yes, it was about signs like crop circles.  But it was also about more metaphysical things.

“No Fun League”

It’s an old joke… NFL means “No Fun League.” Mostly because players can’t really celebrate much when they reach the end zone. At least, not much more than a high five. But, hey, they’ve got their reasons. A lot has been written about it all and I’m not really interested in adding to the noise. But I do want to point out a recent story and draw some parallels.

Orange shoes? How dare you!

Earl Bennett of the Chicago Bears owns a pair of orange cleats. This wouldn’t be news except for the fact that he likes to wear them, as one usually tends to do when one spends money on shoes. The problem, of course, is that the NFL has a strict uniform policy. Just like Major League Baseball.  Look like an individual at your own peril.

So after wearing them twice in games and being fined to the tune of $15,000, the NFL decided to play hardball (or crazy hard pigskin ball, or whatever the football equivalent of this baseball analogy would be). Word was passed down that he would not only be fined the next time he wore a pair of shoes that he owned, he would be thrown out of the game.

Checkmate, Mr. Bennett. The League has spoken.

Pepperoni or Pineapple?

We ordered pizza tonight…

Isn’t that just awesome and exciting in every way?

PIZZA!!!

Well, it was… because it showed up at the door ready to eat just the way we like it. And we didn’t have to do a single thing to prepare it. Because I didn’t have to put down my Xbox 360 controller and stop playing Skyrim. I’m probably 20 hours in and quite hooked. It’s ridiculously good. But I digress…

I got a pepperoni and beef pizza. And my wife ordered her favorite: pineapple. No ham… just pineapple. And, just for the record, I cannot stand pineapple. So much so that my preference is that she get her own separate pizza so none of that horribleness touches any of my awesomeness. It’s a brilliant solution… although it’s maybe a tad more expensive.

Draw a circle. And then vomit.

Which one does God love the most?

Draw a circle around the one God loves the most.  And then you can puke.  Or take a shower.  Or both.

I’m not going to go into all the issues here, but the two sentences at the top are disgusting.  ”He loves some things more than others.  He gives them more gifts.”

SO FYI…

God is just someone we are all trying to get more gifts from.  Let’s all make sure we are one of the the THINGS HE LOVES THE MOST!

It’s a competition… READY… SET… GO!

—

I think I’m gonna be sick.

 

Found here.

Misplaced anger…

Forgive me, but I’ve got a bone to pick.  Evidently during the U.S. Open coverage on NBC, they edited out the “under God” portion of the pledge of allegiance.  So naturally, Twitter, Facebook and the like ‘blew up’ with all the righteous fury that normally follows such an ‘outrage.’

I’m not here to add to the noise.

One nation...

I just want to ask if God cares.

Because he doesn’t need us to defend him.  And I think God watches us get all worked up over this sort of thing and it makes him sad.  We’re missing the point.  If we, as people, knew him even half as well as he wants us to, we wouldn’t be so agitated when others want to remove prayer from schools or the Ten Commandments from a courthouse.

Why?

Because he would be SO much more evident in our society.  As we feed the hungry and help the poor.  You know, the widow and the orphan.  I think maybe we should begin to worry about getting Christ into our hearts and homes before we start screaming self-righteously over the presence (or absence) of a phrase that was added to the original pledge of allegiance that happened to be recited by some spectators before a round of golf.

Who cares?

I don’t think God does…

Do you?