What's your favorite Super Bowl commercial?

Try to find your all-time favorite on YouTube and post a link to it below. I'm going to go with the cat herding commercial, because I actually worked for EDS when this one ran. What's your favorite?

Getting out of school

For those keeping score at home, so far in 2009 the kids have been out of school because (1) it was just too cold and (2) there was snow coming, but not here yet. When I was in school, I can remember (3) a time we got out of school because it was too hot and the A/C was broke and (4) a time that it rained a lot and "the creek was risin'" and some kids were going to have swim home if we stayed all day. But hey - that's life in Cheatham County. So what about you? What's the craziest reason you ever got out of school?

Unproductive arguments

Have you ever known someone that just wanted to argue & debate? Today I went to a fast-food place to just study. Believe it or not, McDonald's during the breakfast rush is usually more peaceful than a house with 3 energetic & well-rested boys. So I went there to do some studying.
A guy sitting near me kept asking me questions like it was a job interview. I've seen him there before. He is a pastor and is always arguing with people about the Bible. He's pretty obnoxious about it. I generally try to avoid him. When he finally asked what I do and I said that I was a preacher boy, he got really excited. I could tell he'd been wanting to argue with another pastor for a long time.
So he started peppering me with questions to identify all of the things that we disagreed about so that we could debate them. And believe me, we disagree about a lot. But when he asked me if I memorize Scripture, I just said, "Yes. I really like Titus 3:9 - Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. That's why I'm not going to argue with you. I just came here to read & study, but thanks anyway."
There was a time in my life when I used to like to pick fights, too. I am hoping that I've matured beyond that. I want to be right in the center of God's will, and His Word says that these kinds of arguments are unprofitable and worthless. And I've seen that to be true. I've never known anybody who became a Christian because they were arguing with a Christian, the Christian won the argument, and so the loser decided to become a Christian. Instead, the loser of the argument usually just gets mad and moves even farther away from God. Here's a thought: how about we take Jesus seriously and love our neighbor as ourselves? Or to be ever more radical: what if we were to be intentional about loving them as much as possible even if they have different religious or political views than us? Okay - that's the end of the rant.
My next step is to figure out how I can rock this guy's world by showing him God's love in an extravagant way. Seriously. Any suggestions?

If I were being inaugurated

There's been a lot of news about Bible verses lately. Did you hear about what happened as a result of Tim Tebow having "John 3:16" on his eye-black during the championship game? Google Trends reported that "John 3:16" then became the #1 most searched for phrase that day. That surprised me since people have been displaying that verse at sports events for years.
I've also been hearing a lot of discussion on TV about which passage President-elect Obama would open the Bible to when he places his hand on it for the oath of office. Off the top of my head, I think that my first choice would probably be 2 Chronicles 7:14 - "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." What about you? What passage would you use if you were being inaugurated? Or what would you put on your eye-black?

Who are you cheering for?

I'm completely confused. Now that the Titans went one-and-done in the playoffs, who are we supposed to cheer for? On the one hand, we could cheer for the Ravens to win it all so that we could say "Well, the team that beat us is the team that beat everybody." Then it's kind of like the Titans came in second place (but not really!). OR we could be Raven-haters and cheer for them to lose since they beat the Titans and we don't like them. Of course, you and I both know that the Ravens didn't win so much as the Titans found a way to lose. But don't get me started.
So what do you think? Who are you cheering for now?

Bad investments

As I've been studying about finances this week, I've been thinking about investments. Since I tend to invest for the long haul, so far I've never lost money on an investment. But I did get suckered one time at a county fair where the ring toss guy kept talking me into going "double or nothing" and I was trying to impress a girl with my mad ring toss skills. By the time I was down $30 the carnival guy backed off, I think because he didn't want to make me look any more like I a loser than I already did. So what about you? What's the worst financial investment you ever made?

The best gift I could give my son

I am so excited! Our oldest son is 8 - although he would correct me and say 8 & 3/4! Ever since before he could read we've been sitting down in his room at bedtime and reading a story from a children's Bible. In fact, we used the Early Reader's Bible to teach him to read. It's really great and I highly recommend it. We don't do it every night because sometimes we get home late and stuff like that, but me and the boys read a story together more often than not. Anyway, now that he's in third grade and his little brother is the one learning to read, he's not so interested in a story Bible designed for kindergarteners. So last week I had an idea. I told Elijah about it and I think he's as excited about it as I am.

Starting tonight he and I are going to read one chapter of the New Testament together every night. That's all - just one chapter a night and then spend a few minutes talking about what we've read. Most of the chapters are 2 pages or less. We're going to use the NiRV Bible that I bought him a few years ago. It's a complete translation of the Bible that is written so that it's easy to read and understand. There are 260 chapters in the New Testament. So if we can do this at least 5 nights a week, then we will read and discuss the entire New Testament in 52 weeks. I told him that when we finish, he will have accomplished something at age 9 that most adults haven't done in a lifetime.

I've had a lot of Bible-reading partners over the past few years, but I've never been as excited as I am about this one. If I continue to invest in my son like this, then by the time he is 18 we will have read and discussed the entire New Testament 10 times. Wow - I can't wait! I believe that really is the best gift that I could give my son.

How seeds of kindness multiply

I was reading an article about a charitable organization providing water pumps to rural villages in Africa: "In Africa, Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good." Why did that quote jump off the page at me? Because it was written by a confirmed atheist.

You can read the article for yourself, but this man is realizing that he sees a tangible difference between the impact of Christians in the area compared to the work done by secular organizations. He says that he used to believe that if faith was needed to motivate the missionaries to help, then fine: but that what counted was the help, not the faith. But he now says this view simply doesn't fit the facts. He explains that even though he's been refusing to see it his entire life, the reality is that faith matters. Instead of them being close-minded and ruled by fear, he recognized that the converts he encountered in Malawi were actually the most liberated and relaxed people in that culture.

That's so cool that seeds of kindness planted in Africa are even having a direct impact on people from other countries. When was the last time you showed God's love to someone with no strings attached? Did you use an AlreadyPaid4.com card? I'd love to hear your story!

Growing in two directions

When I edit pictures on my computer, sometimes I "stretch" them to make it easier to see the main thing in the picture. But I have to be careful where I click. If I take a picture of myself and pull the top bar vertically, the image distorts and gets long and skinny - and yes - it makes me feel better about myself! Or if I pull the side bar horizontally, then I look like Wile E. Coyote after he gets in the head with an anvil. But if I do it right, then the image grows proportionately and looks great - or at least as good as a picture of me can look (which isn't saying much).

Church is all about growing in our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationships with each other. In fact, Jesus said that those were the two most important things: loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself. It concerns me when people are regularly connecting with God on Sunday mornings and growing vertically, but aren't connected with any sort of community group to grow horizontally. After a while, the image of God in their life gets distorted - often because they keep wanting to learn more when they haven't even put into practice the stuff they already learned. It seems like most of us are already educated far beyond our level of obedience. We need to keep growing in both directions.

I have received so much encouragement and seen so many positive life examples in the groups I've been a part of, that it's hard for me to imagine how different my life would be if I'd never connected with any of those groups. So what about you? How has a small group impacted your life and helped you to "grow in both directions"?

Got shoes?

Yesterday I met a guy named Terry at McDonald’s. As you may know, I was there because I’ve organized a one-man boycott of Hardee’s until they get hash browns back on the menu. The campaign isn’t going too well, but I guess I’m a man of principle. :) Anyway, Terry asked me if I had some extra shoes that I could give him because it was cold & rainy. I looked down and could see his right pinky toe through a hole in his shoe. I told him that I’d be back in a few minutes with some shoes. As I drove home it occurred to me that he didn’t even mention what size he wore. I guess when your shoes have holes, it doesn’t really matter. Any size without holes that keep your feet dry and warm is an improvement. I took him a pair of sneakers and some other stuff that I realized he needed. I was glad that God used me to show His love in a small way.

Now for the ugly part: if Terry hadn’t walked right up to me and asked me for help, then I would not have even noticed him. Know why? Because I was too busy doing “church work” on my laptop. How’s that for irony?

It reminded me that there are people all around us whose lives have holes. Perhaps God has put them in our path so that we can help - if we'd just notice them. Let’s not be too busy doing good stuff that we miss the God stuff. And would you do me a favor? Say a prayer for Terry that he’s experiencing God’s love wherever he is today.

And by the way, if you have extra shoes in your closet, Soles4Souls is a great organization to help you get those to people who need them. Thanks for what you're doing there, Wayne!

A new money problem

OK - I was asked a question this morning that caught me totally off guard. So I'm hoping people can help me out. A friend of mine said that she's been inviting a friend to church, but she thinks that her friend's own preconceived ideas about money & church might be keeping her from coming (to a new teaching series about money, strangely enough!). Could it be that unchurched people view church attendance as another new financial obligation that they just can't take on right now? Even though I ask our 1st-time guests to NOT GIVE every week, could it be that it still feels awkward to pass the offering bag along without dropping something in? This could be an issue, but I confess that it has absolutely never been on my radar. So what do you think - is this an obstacle keeping some people from coming to church? Did you worry about this before you came? And what can we do about it?

Resolutions

Happy New Year! As I've been thinking about my own New Year's resolutions, I've realized how much I tend to do what's urgent instead of what's important. The beginning of a new year seems like a great time to think about what's really most important and take steps to make sure that the "important" stuff doesn't get crowded out by the "urgent (but ultimately unimportant)" stuff. So without getting legalistic about it, I'm planning to be more intentional about the things that are most important - like time with God and my family. What's your resolution this year? And have you broken it yet? :)