What Does This Mean?

I thought this one was strange. I read a post on Yahoo! News about Arizona Cardinals brass taking it upon themselves to do something I’ve never heard of before - and hope never to hear of again.

Apparently, they would like more Cardinals fans to show for their Cardinals vs. Cowboys match this season, and to do so, they are requiring Cowboys fans to purchase, not only that single bout game, but the next exhibition game ticket. In other words - if you’re a ‘Boys fan, and you want to see that game, you’ll need to buy TWO tickets!

What is wrong with this line of reasoning? You can’t get the home crowd to support their team, so you’ll punish the visiting team’s fans by ‘double-dipping’ them? How absurd!

I suggest that ‘Boys fan boycott the game entirely - then see if those who sit ‘on high’ will appreciate having to turn on the lights for the waterboy to watch the Arizona Cardinals get crushed by the ‘Boys! Here’s a thought, Arizona brass - if you want your home town to show up for the game, try producing a “W” now and again.

Here’s the link to the article, if you’re interested:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/rumors/post/New-ticket-plan-aims-to-keep-Dallas-fans-out-of-?urn=nfl,94980

You’ve heard “The Hanukkah Song” by Adam Sandler…Now get ready for “The Lutherans Song”!!

from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod

I’m always amazed at the things some parents say about raising their children. Things like, “I don’t want to push religion off on my kids. I’ll let them decide that stuff when they get older.” I find that very interesting, because from what I’ve seen, parents manage every other aspect of their children’s lives because they love them and want the best for them.

When I wanted to play baseball as a kid, I started off at the tee-ball level. My parents encouraged me and supported me. And when I got discouraged and wanted to quit, they wouldn’t let me. They made me attend practice and work on my swing and it made me a better ball player. And in the end, I was a better person for it. I moved on to High School and VFW leagues and that sport taught me a lot about perseverance and sticking it out. My parents’ encouragement in that one area helped to lay a foundation that furthered my education and even my career. But all of that will only do me good in this life.

My parents cared even more about my eternal life. They took me to church from infancy. They taught me night prayers. They lived out their faith and participated in the life of the Church, not just dropping me off and picking me up for “church stuff”. They warned me of the evils of this world and the Presence of a Loving God who sent His Son to die for me. They laid a foundation of faith that I have passed on to my children. There’s nothing on this earth that could compare with that.

You could give every material comfort there is to your children and still not give them what they really need. They need a Savior. And they need you to tell them about Him.

Here’s one mother who has done just that - laying a foundation in her daughter’s life that will last…

from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod

I just read something unbelievable today. A-Rod, who plays for the Yankees (BOO!) is pulling down $28 Million for his salary. Here’s the kicker. The entire Florida Marlins ROSTER is pulling down $21.8 Million! That means A-Rod could pay the Marlins’ salaries and still be sitting on a little over $6 Million.

And you know what the sports writers are moaning about? How cheap the Florida Marlins owner is.

Say What!?! Let’s look at this logically:

- The average MLB player pulls down $3.15 Million a season. The greatest earner for the Marlins is $2.5 Million. The complaint from “on high” is that the Marlin roster is “underpaid”.

- The Yankees are spending more than any other team (again) this year - $209 Million.

- Yet, ironically, the owner of the Marlins (with MUCH less funds) scored a 2003 World Series ring. The Yankees’ last one was in 2000 (with MUCH more funds).

Remember the days when players played baseball for the love of the game - not the amenities and the endorsements?

If anything should be lamented, it’s not the “short changing” of the Florida roster, but the overblown salaries of A-Rod and the Yankees squad.

In fact, we should be lamenting the overblown salaries of every player in the MLB. If any Florida player is unhappy with their $2.5 Million salary, I know of many who would be happy to relieve them of it. In the mean time, I see no reason to laugh at the backwards reasoning behind the salary whining.

Except for A-Rod, who’s laughing all the way to the bank.

I love Holy Week. It’s an incredible time to reflect on the cost of sin. I find it interesting that our world LOVES Easter…bunnies, colored eggs, a new “Sunday-go-to-meetin’” dress or suit, your “Easter Bonnet”…but the world HATES Good Friday!

Why? Because, while you can “sugar coat” Easter, and turn it in to thoughts of Spring and Bunnies, there’s no getting around what Good Friday is all about: sin. Adam and Eve’s. All mankind’s. Yours and Mine. And the incredible cost of the forgiveness of sins: the Son of God’s very life.

The world doesn’t like to look at Good Friday, because Good Friday means “Accountability”! It means the world must reconcile itself to God and hates the idea of it. And folks in the world, by nature, hate the thought of it. James 4:4 “…don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. “

Thank GOD that He didn’t leave us as His enemies! He acted - sending His Son to atone for the sins of the world. This is why there is beauty on that ‘wondrous cross’…on a Friday that was and is ‘truly Good’. It reminds us of the incredible cost of sin and the immeasurable love of an incredible God!

1 Timothy 3:16 “Beyond all question, the mystery of Godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” Amen.

Folks keep telling me that this is a true Minnesota winter…snow storm after snow storm…cloudy gray days…-35 wind chill. No wonder some folks get depressed around this time of year!

However, I’ve learned how to make “lemonade out of lemons”:

- Tired of shoveling? Get a snowblower! I finally got one for Christmas, after begging relatives to give nothing but cash for Christmas. Two years of saving, and I’ve got a beautiful 5.5 horse Toro. She’s a thing of beauty and it makes me smile to watch her destroy those drifts with extreme prejudice!

- Sledding with the kids is fun, walking up the hill to do it again - not so much.

- Tubing rocks! Went with the youth group at Camp Omega to do that. It was even fun going up the hill with the rope pulley system!

- Snow icecream. Mom’s recipe made for good times.

- Free “cold storage”. Need to chill something but don’t have the freezer space? Old man winter’s got it covered.

Reminds me of a Miller Lite ad I once saw…

Hang in there…Spring’s Comin’!

I’ve learned something new this Winter - temperatures in the 40’s are great - until a new phenomenon pops up: DIRTY SNOW!!

It has turned in to a mucky nightmare with the last three days of warm temperatures. I’m ready for some new snow to hide the nasty, filthy piles of dirty snow. It looks like we have nuclear fallout on the sidewalks and my car looks like it sat in a dust storm from the grime that keeps thawing and freezing to my paint job. I think the color is “sickly maroon”.

I NEVER thought I’d say this, but - I could sure use some new snow on the ground!

Why did God become a baby? Ever thought about it? He could have bypassed the whole thing, you know. Shown up as an adult. Skip the “growing up” part.

Why did God become a baby? Because we have a God who can relate. He knows what living as a human - every aspect of it - is like. He knows what it’s like to be little and helpless. To have colds, burp and have body odor. To wallow in the filth of human existence.

Think God doesn’t understand you? That there’s no way He could know what you’re going through? God knows firsthand what it’s like to hurt. To go through the day-to-day struggles of living. To grow up and have people reject you, even beat you - even kill you. Look at the manger this Christmas and know that He does understand - more than you or I could ever imagine. We have a God who can relate. More importantly, we have a God who understands.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Why did God become a baby? To save us BODY and SOUL. To go through everything we go through - and more. To remove the punishment of sin, so we would NEVER have to go through it.

Here’s some words of wisdom from a little 12 year old boy, about how God understands…

from www.ksbj.org posted with vodpod

Last Sunday, Leslie and I had the opportunity to attend a Christian concert with the primary act being MercyMe. They are a band that got a lot of press for their song, “I Can Only Imagine”, but they have much more to offer than just this song. Personally, my favorites are “Blink of An Eye” and “Here Am I”, that both speak of sharing the Gospel with others.

Now, if you know me, you know I’m VERY picky about my contemporary Christian music, because I’ve found that the majority of the songs played are what my best buddy calls, “Pronoun worship” - ‘I do this for you, God.’, ‘I do X, Y, Z’, ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’… Not much is spoken about what God has done for us. You’ll find words that talk like that in the more traditional liturgy of the Church.

MercyMe, I’ve found, is more in line with talking about what GOD has done. In fact, hearing their lead singer talk, I was impressed. Before they played, he made it very clear that the only reason they were there that night was to sing about what God has done and to do other wise negated the reason they were there.

He also discussed his son’s diagnosis with juvenile diabetes and the tragedies his band has endured - but he didn’t talk about them as if they were a ‘badge of honor’. He brought them up to talk about how God had done amazing things with the trials and struggles in their lives. I won’t go in to great detail about all the things that were said, but to sum up - these men are theologians of the cross, who don’t try to explain away the terrible things that happen on this earth, or try to ‘get God off the hook’. Instead, they discussed how we need to change our perspective and pray about how God could use these situations to glorify Him and strengthen our faith.

Having experienced tragedy and struggles firsthand, I know that we can’t make sense of any of it until we recognize we’re in a sinful world and that the cross of Jesus Christ is the answer to that sinful world. How nice it was to hear a band talk that way, too!

I just finished reading a book (actually listening to the audio book) called, “90 Minutes In Heaven” (written and narrated) by Pastor Don Piper. A few parishioners recommended it to me.

Now, I usually shy away from books covering the subject of heaven, because the 1st Person perspectives usually run the gamut of “I saw a bright light” to “Jesus gave me a special message” to “I talked to Adam and Eve!”. Whatever they talk about, the bottom line message usually is, “I received a special experience that wasn’t covered in the Bible!”, when the reality is that everything God wanted us to know about heaven this side of eternity is found in God’s Word. And we trust, through the cross, that God’s ultimate plan for us is salvation - we butt out and leave the rest to God alone: “namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2b-3)

Imagine my surprise with this book hardly mentions Piper’s experience of heaven after chapter 2! Piper’s goal (at least I think) was not to reveal the hidden aspects of heaven, but to show that Christians have hope in Christ - His promises are true! The next (and I think, largest) aspect of the book talks about Piper’s grueling recovery, why he was returned to his broken body after a horrendous car accident, and how God used his brokenness to serve His purposes. I would recommend that you read this book.

I do wish, however, that Piper had discussed the resurrection more. Granted, this wasn’t his purpose and in Piper’s defense, he does talk about it, but if you’re not careful, you can miss that stuff and walk away from this book thinking that heaven is a Christian’s “final” destination. Not true. Our Nicene Creed that we say almost every Sunday even states that we Christians, “look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

Folks, heaven is not a Christians’ final destination - it is a pit-stop. Remember that those who die in Christ will receive “glorified bodies” on the Last Day - creation itself will be restored, there will be a “new heavens AND new earth” - and we will live with the Lord forever.

Yes, heaven is a wonderful place - but it’s not the FINAL destination. We look for bodies that are healed and restored, creation like it was before the Fall, Christ dwelling with His creation forever, who was the “first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20)

Imagine - as Christians we get to experience not one beautiful place - but TWO! Heaven - incomprehensible, amazing, living with our loved ones in Christ and with Christ Himself. THEN, the greatest encore of all time - the Last Day - Christ coming to earth and making IT incomprehensible, amazing, with our loved ones in Christ dwelling there and Christ Himself with us, too!

Remember - if heaven is the silver medal - just IMAGINE what the gold medal will be like for those who have received the gift of Christ and His Salvation!

“Amen - Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20)