Crazy Love

Our homegroup for the past few weeks has been reading through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Nic & I listened to the audiobook on our way to the OBX last year and really enjoyed/learned a lot from the book. It's been pretty cool reading back through it with our homegroup. Today in my reading I came across this description of "lukewarm" believers and I'm simply going to end with this quote. After you read it you'll understand why, enough said.

"Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves. Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with. There is little love left over for those who can not love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, whose kids are better athletes than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkward or uncomfortable. Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached."
- from Chapter 4, Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Last 6:33 of the Year

Tonight was our last 6:33 of the year at BCM, which is our weekly Tuesday-night worship service. 6:33 usually consists of music by our praise band, student testimonies, teaching, plus some time for prayer and announcements. It's one of the most well known things that BCM does, our big event each week. When I was a student, it felt like the center of our ministry, the thing that the most people came to. Things have changed around now - we have more students that come to our small group Bible studies on Wednesday and Thursday nights than come to 6:33.

Tonight we took a little bit of a different approach - it was a silent worship night. April works with our creativity team, and they were in charge of creating some different ways for our students to spend some time in silent worship. We had stations for prayer, reading of the Psalms, painting responses to God, and meditation. They did a great job creating the space for this all to happen in a creative way - it was a great way to end the year!

Selfishness

Yesterday during my quiet time I came across this verse in 2 Corinthians, "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Corinth 5:15 to be exact). As soon as I read it I did a double take. The same kind of double take Mabel does when she sees a squirrel on one of our walks and only seconds later remembers that she has on her headcollar as she feels her head jerk forward.

Jesus died for ME so that I might not live any longer as if it's all about ME but instead for Him and his purposes. Wowsers that hit me hard. The first thing I wrote in my journal after reading this was "Is this really possible God? Can I really give up thinking about myself." Through this verse God has really been showing me just how selfish I really am and how I think about numero uno in every decision I make.

The Bengals' Draft

I'm certainly no expert, and would be the last person to run something like an NFL franchise, but I think it's fair to say that my hometown team, the Bengals, have made some pretty poor decisions over the past two decades. They've made the playoffs two times in that stretch, losing their first game both of those times. One of those was in 2005 when the Steelers destroyed Carson Palmer's knee, and the other was this year when we lost to the Jets.

I feel like this year I'm more excited about the results of the draft than I have been in the last few years. I don't remember the last time the Bengals had a decent TE, so it's a little exciting that we drafted the best TE in the draft, Jermaine Gresham from Oklahoma, in the 1st round. Although this pick is kind of an admission that we've missed on trying to get a good TE the last two years when we signed Ben Utecht and drafted Chase Coffman. Neither of these guys ever did much for the team.

The pick I'm probably most excited about is WR Jordan Shipley from Texas in the 3rd round. He's a white guy that can play in the slot - maybe he could be the next Wes Welker? That might be too high of an expectation, but we could really lose a guy like him to help get Ochocinco and Antonio Bryant open downfield. Our passing game was pretty lame by the end of last year - even Carson looked pretty bad in our last two games and the playoffs. Let's hope that these two picks can help open up our offense back to what it was a few years ago. With the tough defense we've built, it could be a good year for the Bengals.

Wishing for more Sunshine

Today is the kind of day when you just want to lay on your sofa and watch movies all day. That's because it's grey and dreary outside with rain looking like it's on the horizon ALL day. I've done a little bit of movie watching this afternoon (The Proposal- a definite favorite, some cheesy Lifetime video-"The Cinderella Pact"-i think) and I've also been cleaning the house. There were lots of tumbleweeds (aka clumps of dog hair) piling up in corners around the house and it was time for them to go! So in the meantime I'm waiting for Nic to get back home from Charlotte and dreading the fact that the weather forecast everyday from today to Thursday includes rain. Here's to warm thoughts and sunshine!

Through it All, You are Faithful

"I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations."
- Psalm 89:1

I was reading this Psalm this morning, and was reminded of God's faithfulness to me. Though I have been so unfaithful to God throughout my life, his faithfulness to me has never wavered. He has not repaid me as my sins deserve, but has been continually merciful and led me to places of healing and wholeness. He has continued to work good things in my life even though I don't recognize them and even call them a curse instead of the blessing they are. He has continued to give me opportunities to grow and minister to others. He hasn't given up on me because of my laziness, cowardice, selfishness, or stupidity. His faithfulness to me doesn't have to do with any of those things, but with his perfect holiness and steadfast love.

A song that I've been singing all morning and has meant a lot to me lately is Matt Redman's "Through it All." The chorus says, "Through it all, you are faithful, through it all you are strong. Though we walk through the shadows, still you shine on." Regardless of whether we are able to perceive God's good work in our lives, he continues to be faithful to his word. As the song continues, "You never turn or change, you never break the faith. Yesterday, today, and always." Here's a video of Matt Redman talking about the song and a little bit of the chorus.

Psalm 89:1 was meaningful to me too because I think it echoes what part of my desire is in working with college students: to proclaim God's faithfulness to the next generation so that they can go out and do the same. I find that I can do this with more depth and honesty as God shows me his faithfulness as I walk through difficult things in my life.

NFL and God?

I really don't understand the NFL draft. It seems silly to me to spend that much time picking a new player, especially when there is so much "hype" the day before about who will go first and what pick each person will be. I mean really, don't most teams already know who they're going to choose? So why do they drag out their pick over the 15 minutes they're given? And why do the commentators have to speculate on each and every player after they've been selected? No one knows how well they're going to perform, for heavens sake they've never played in the NFL before!

It makes me think about how I often treat God this way. I sense him telling me something and I drag out the follow through for as long as possible. And when I finally do what he's telling me to, I follow it up with questions like, Really God? Is this really going to work? Do I have the potential to do this, I've never done this before, are you sure? Funny how a little NFL makes me reflect on my relationship with God. It makes me think of 1 Corinthians 10:31, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. What 'unusual situations' have you found God in lately?