Two moments on Saturday afternoon brought me great joy as a father. First, my son sat with me on the couch and watched an entire Maryland basketball game with me. I could tell it was a moment of delight for him to have this time with me and it was a tremendous joy for me. His hunger to be part of whatever I am doing constantly teaches me about my relationship to God the Father and gives me joy I never have quite known before.

The other moment came when we played the Lego Star Wars game together and Logan learned what a Wookie is for the first time. He was Chewbacca and I was Yoda in our battle against the Storm Troopers. It was awesome. He has talked about it for two days. He loves those Wookies.

There are those among us who suffer. There are those for whom life is unfair. There are those who have never had a chance to make it in this world. Then there is Tom Brady. Following last night’s heart wrenching loss to the NY Giants in the Super Bowl Tom will somehow have to find solace in his super model wife, beautiful children, fame, tens of millions of dollars, 3 Super Bowl rings, passing records and good looks. Some of us have burdens to bear in this world. Some of us are Tom Brady.

Somehow Eli Manning turned into a clutch QB with more Super Bowl rings than his record setting brother. If you had to choose between the two – Peyton being a Hall of Fame QB with a shot at most passing records and plenty of success in Indianapolis or Eli who has grown into the king of NY leading two underdog teams to the ultimate prize which would you choose? I can’t believe I am saying this, but I think I might rather be Eli. He seems to enjoy life more.

Queso and chips or Hot Wings for the best Superbowl food? This is an intense debate in my mind.

Did I find myself actually enjoying Madonna’s half time performance last night? Yes, in fact I strangely did. It might have just been the queso high I was experiencing, however.

I will ultimately remember little of this game. It was actually pretty boring. But I will remember gathering with great friends to laugh the night away and enjoy the game. What a blessing it is to have a community of friends who allow me to be myself. What an extra blessing, as a pastor, that these are people from our church.

I am looking forward to watching Peyton and Eli face off head to head twice a year when Peyton accepts a huge offer from the Redskins to be their next QB. If Peyton wants to prove he is the greatest ever he can do so by resurrecting the Redskins. Come on Peyton, you are up to the challenge!

My favorite commercial was the Audi commercial that made fun of vampires and celebrated their fancy headlights. This was a perfectly created contextual commercial. It captured our culture in this moment perfectly. Three years ago it wouldn’t have made sense and two years from now it would seem a little outdated.

I have been processing the week in Atlanta and have a lot to share. The rest of the week will probably revolve around more thoughts on discipleship and leadership development. This doesn’t have anything to do with the Superbowl, that is why these are ramblings.

Whenever a field goal kicker misses my mother in-law feels bad, not for him, but for his mom. Watching your kid carry that kind of burden is tough. Well after yesterday’s games, Lawrence Tyne’s mom is relieved and Billy Cundiff’s mom is thankful her son used his college scholarship and NFL dollars to get a college degree and an MBA.

The tale of two kickers. One made it his kick. One missed his. In a moment their actions would decide whether they would be the hero or the goat. That really is the magic of sports isn’t it? Seldom in life does your legacy come down to a clearly defined moment. The limited time frames of an athletes career and the games they play make for artificially created and yet beautiful drama.

Tom Brady is Tom Brady not because of his good looks, model wife, or incredible fortune and fame. (OK those things kind of define him ) He is Tom Brady because he has been clutch in moments that really mattered. If he wins his fourth Super Bowl in two weeks he will establish himself as the greatest QB of his generation.

Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan because his unmatched competitive drive refused to lose in the biggest moments. Michael willed his team to victory, time and time again. Kobe is the only basketball player we have seen since that has remotely the same kind of drive.

John Elway was the guy who couldn’t get it done until he helicoptered through the air on a crucial play late in the Super Bowl and became a legend.

Dan Marino, Bernie Kosar, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley, they are all fantastic legendary players who never got there. Sometimes it was a moment missed, other times it was simply having the breaks go the other way. But how people view them changed because of moments like the two we watched yesterday.

When I first became a pastor, I felt like my life was a series of game winning field goal kicks. The sermon I was preaching, the worship I was planning, the youth event I was leading, those were my moments. They would either make or break who I was. If I succeeded in those moments I would change people’s perceptions of me and if I succeeded in those moments lives would be changed. It all hung on my shoulders.

Thank God I recognize how wrong I was. Life in the kingdom of God isn’t like life as a field goal kicker. Our pursuit of God and our work for his glory is all about a life well lived in continual, sacrificial, redemptive service of the world. It is never one moment, as a success or failure that defines us. We are defined by the love of God that redeems us. And the measures of our success are measured over the long term. We will fail. We will have moments of success. But our goal in the kingdom is to spend our life continually experiencing moments of obedience that change us and impact the world.

The artificial drama of sports is intoxicating. It changes the outlook of fans, for the good and bad. But it is not the way life works in the kingdom of God. And for that I am deeply thankful. (Especially since as a fan of the Wizards, Redskins, Capitals, Orioles and Terps my outlook is mostly jaded, pained, and frustrated. There has to be a beattitude that applies to me. Blessed are you when you root for perennial losers whose owners make torturing their dedicated fan base a way of life for in the kingdom of heaven your team owner is Jesus!)

I am sure there will be a slew of new ones that say, “If God’s not a Broncos fan then why does Colorado run on Tebow Time?”

The hoopla around Tim Tebow, his polarizing play at quarterback and his faith is truly amazing. As soon as the Broncos stunning victory over the Steelers was complete yesterday I took to the social media world to watch the explosion of Tebow related commentary. There hasn’t really been a phenomenon in sports quite like this before, partially because of the explosion of social media.

I haven’t written about Tim Tebow much, but here are my thoughts.

On Tebow as a Professional Quarterback

He isn’t a very good quarterback, but he is a good football player. He is the type of guy you would want to play with and he is certainly a guy I root for, regardless of his faith. He is unorthodox, unpolished, and unrelenting. That is a combination I actually enjoy. He is a quarterback that struggles to make routine plays, but in the right circumstances seems to will himself to make the big plays at the biggest moments. In basketball people like Bill Simmons talk about the irrationally confident shooter. He is a player who doesn’t realize his limitations or how good he really is. He thinks he is way better than he is. And yet with the game on this line this guy will take the biggest shot of the season, instead of passing to his much better teammates, and he often makes it.

That is what Tebow reminds me of. He is the irrational confidence quarterback. He overthrows the running back on a screen pass seemingly half the time. He can’t roll right and throw the ball. He throws the ball four feet short of his receivers regularly. And yet with the game on the line he makes plays that he has no business in making. I like that about him.

On Tebow as an Evangelist

All of those thoughts about Tim as an athlete aside, I think of him as a very public Christian in very different ways. Much has been made of Tebow’s outspoken faith, which is regularly on display as he kneels down to pray after big plays or big wins. In fact Tebowing – dropping down to one knee in random public places is a silly fad these days. So what to make of Tim in regards to how he handles his faith publicly?

I have great appreciation for the way Tebow tries to work his faith into his whole life. He is not a part time Christian. He doesn’t compartmentalize his faith. He is a Christian at all times, in all places, no matter what he is doing. That is something that really should be celebrated by us as a church. There are a lot of public figures that are Christians of some ilk and yet no one knows because their faith is compartmentalized and hidden from view. No one can accuse Tim of being ashamed of his faith.

His expression of his faith, however, leaves me something to be desired. Tim Tebow’s public statements about his faith and his displays of faith in sports are very similar to how I thought about evangelism when I was 17-18 years old. I used to write Bible verses on my wrists when I taped them up before wrestling matches and I used Philippians 4:13 as my theme verse. I would chant it to myself almost as a mantra before I went out to wrestle. I felt this need to remind all people at all times that I was different than them because I was a Christan.

The NFL is full of Christian men. It is full of men who run ministries, go on mission trips, support their churches and have strong faiths. There are certainly other Christians out there that will talk about their faith and do so when given opportunity. Growing up with God’s coach, Joe Gibbs, I saw a great example of how a great coach could live out his faith in transformational ways without being renowned for it. His quiet faithfulness, integrity, and ethos have changed many lives. I head Mark Schlereth, former Redskins and Broncos All-Pro lineman tell my youth group about how Gibbs led him to faith his rookie season in the NFL. Gibbs is renowned in the NFL for the quality of who he is and his coaching acumen. But he never put his faith on display in quite the same way as Tim Tebow.

That isn’t so much a criticism of Tebow as an observation. I just think there are more effective ways of demonstrating our faith to the world than dropping to one knee after a big play. Now, if Tim began to give God credit and glory after bad plays as well as good ones, losses as well as wins, failures as well as successes, then I would be a much bigger supporter of his displays. We need not confuse the world at any time about God’s involvement in this world. God doesn’t care whether or not the Broncos win a football game. God’s kingdom is breaking into this world to redeem all of creation. I don’t question whether or not Tim Tebow is working towards that redeeming work, he just doesn’t do it on Sundays when he throws a football.

A 2012 Focus

Every year I come up with a theme for the year. This past year my theme was wholeness. It was a good theme and despite my best efforts sometimes, I experienced more of God’s wholeness in 2011 than any other year of my life. I learned to listen to God better. I learned to respond to God better. I learned to love my wife, family and church better. God’s presence alone did that.

I am really excited for the start of 2012. This is going to be a big year, I can just feel it. With the excitement and potential of 2012 I am setting my focus this year on God as Lord over all. This year I want to understand the reality of God’s power and sovereignty in new ways. I want to experience the transforming presence of God in new ways. I want to be bold. I want to take risks. I want to be overwhelmed by what I see God doing around me this year. I want to see the Kingdom of God where I have been blind to its work before. Eyes wide open, I am plunging myself into the power of God this year. I have no idea what that is going to mean for my life, but I feel so compelled to seek this out that I just can’t live this year any other way.

To go with this theme is my song for the year. It is Take Heart by Hillsong. It is awesome.

Thinking back on 2011

Looking back on 2011 I have to say that it was a good year, especially since it was such a dud of a year. Worldwide this wasn’t a great year. For many Americans the most hopeful moments of the year were the death of Osama Bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. If these are moments we are celebrating, you know it wasn’t a banner year for humanity. Good things did take place in 2011, the Kingdom of God is still advancing, but in all 2011 won’t go down as a year we all look back on fondly.

Personally, however, 2011 was a big step forward. I have more clarity about my role as a pastor than I have ever had before. I am better at communicating with my wife than ever before. I feel that God has pushed my preaching, prayer life, and care for my people to a place I have never known. The difficulties of our world are probably a big reason for the growth I experienced this year. The burdens of our people who are out of work, struggling to make ends meet, dealing with broken families, and grieving the loss of loved ones has pushed me to rely on God more and more. When I speak about trusting in God to people who aren’t sure if they can pay their medical bills or mortgage, I better mean it. The ugly realities of a broken world have seemed more real to me this year and inversely the beauty of God has been more apparent.

So thanks be to God for 2011 a wonderfully ugly year in many ways.

Best Posts of 2011

I never got to post a look back at the top blogs of 2011, so here are the ten best posts I feel that emerged from this blog last year.

In no particular order.

Tuesdays are for Wonderfully Garish Football Uniforms

The End of Evangelicalism Part 3

Thoughts on Osama Bin Laden and Justice

Christians and the Death Penalty

Holy Sex Life, Batman!

I can’t not post about the Virgin Diaries

The Theology of Harry Potter

What Kurt Cobain Taught Me About Preaching

Sandwich Showdown – JJ’s vs. Subway vs. Quiznos

Mondays are for Same Sex Marriage Ramblings

Arthur Christmas Rocks, of course – We took the kids out on Saturday to see Arthur Christmas. (How could we not when they name a movie after us.) It was instantly added to the Christmas movies we watch every year collection. It was really well done, funny, and had some interesting commentary that would go well in a sermon. As a matter of fact I am announcing right now that next Christmas I am using clips from this movie in my sermon.

Debating whether or not I care how unBiblical our idea of Christmas night is – The image we have of Mary and Joseph rushing to Bethlehem, finding nowhere to stay, ending up in a stable, barely getting there in time for Jesus to be born, shepherds and Wise Men crowding around to get a glimpse, is just not a terribly Biblical image. But I can’t decide whether or not I care. They were probably in a room of a house where animals also stayed. That would have been typical. The text doesn’t say that they go there and had the baby the same night. The Magi probably didn’t show up for several years. There is a part of me that wants to teach a more realistic picture of the Nativity scene, but the other part of me thinks that the image we have serves its purpose. We get the idea and that is probably enough. Thoughts?

Were there flurries in Hell yesterday? – The mighty Packers lost a game. The inept Colts won one. The Redskins played a pretty good game and won in NY. There was definitely something in the air yesterday. If Tim had Tebowed Tom Brady I might have thought that some sort of signs and wonders were being done in our midst. Regardless it was good to see the Skins do something worth watching. And it is always good to see the Giants stink. Now it is time to start scouting College QBs not named Andrew Luck and find one to replace Sexy Rexy next year.

Jesus visits Tebow – If you missed the SNL skit with Jesus visiting Tim Tebow after a Broncos game, you can catch it here or on Hulu. It is pretty funny. Some good commentary here. I could use this in a sermon.

I am totally digging Christmas on Sunday – When I realized that Christmas was on Sunday this year a part of me was bummed at first because I knew that I would then need to work on part of Christmas day. But then I thought more about it and the rhythm a worship service would add to our Christmas and I have gotten really excited about it. In the middle of opening presents and celebrating Christmas we will go to church as a family, sing carols, hear the word of God and go to the Lord’s Table together. That sounds like a perfect Christmas to me.

Those are my ramblings for today. Stay tuned this week for part three of a Holy Sex Life and my look back at 2010 2011..

I was disturbed by the dancing Rabbi because of how much I wanted one. Good to know that commercialization of religious holidays has extended outside of Christianity to Judaism as well.

The WWJD movie just made me sad. It was appropriately priced in he $5 bin at Walmart, but a WWJD movie starring John Schneider, he of the Dukes of Hazzard fame? This can’t be good.

The profound mystery of union with Christ

Connected for eternity, separated by life

People from every nook and cranny of the earth

Bound together by the love of God

Gone but here, absent and present

Women and men, girls and boys all the Son of God

All of us so different and yet the same because now we are one

We are one body, one church, one with the firstborn over all creation

And now we have Dad’s power

Power over death itself

The ground may claim us, but God is going to claim us back

No grave, no time, no distance can ever separate us from one another

We have won, we are one

So, for all the saints who from their labor rest

We rejoice because you have the first taste of victory

You taste each moment, our Father’s power over death

You no longer suffer

You no longer weep

You no no more faith

For what we hope for you know in certain

You know in fullness what we see in part

So on this day of remembering we celebrate

We rejoice in an every day reality

The dead in Christ are forever alive

Those who seem lost to us are never truly lost

For we are one

One body, one church, one baptism, one people

We rejoice in you, our brothers and sisters who have gone before us

So soon shall we be together in forever, so soon, so soon

From the blog where it was reported:

I was flabbergasted. First, I could not believe that a church would try and copyright the name of their church. I suppose if you wanted to make some money on the side, you could lease the name out to others. (My friend Ken thought it would be smart to copyright the name “First Baptist” and stick franchise stickers on the name and concept…I applaud his entrepreneurial spirit). But to outright disallow others from using a name that is found in the Bible because you want a monicker and label that only recognizes YOU seems the very epitome of pride and arrogance.

Second, that a church would take legal action to require other churches to comply violates both the letter and the spirit of the Word of God. The Bible is explicit when we are told not to take other believers to court when the issues regard spiritual matters. The naming of a church is certainly a spiritual matter and it is hard to see how someone could theologically skirt around this.

This issue should have been placed before the Body of Christ. Since it wasn’t, I decided to do that here. I am hoping word of this spreads quickly across the country. Why should we allow Mars Hill Seattle to do this without the rest of us voicing our opinion? If you are as outraged by this as I am, then I ask you to let friends on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus know about it. Reprint this openly on your blogs. Call Mars Hill Seattle and let them know how you feel about this. Perhaps if we try this case in the court of public opinion we can prevent this from making evangelicals a further laughing stock in the media.

That blogger said it well. (Sorry I looked at your site to see your name but couldn’t find it.) The singular ridiculousness of suing another church about their name is just indefensible Biblically and theologically. This is such a failure in the name of Christ that is offensive. Wow. I don’t know that I have anything else particularly interesting to add to this travesty. Any thoughts….

Steve Jobs was a titan of the tech industry. His company, which once fired him and once needed a bailout from Microsoft just to keep going, is now the most profitable company in the world. His well designed, fun, stylish and high functioning products have changed how millions of us live our lives. Steve was a gifted innovator and he had a remarkable ability to tap into the mysterious market of what people want that they don’t even know they want. He created need for his products that is extraordinary.

By the accounts of those who worked with him, Steve Jobs was also a highly complex individual who could be ruthless, controlling to the point of paranoia and very difficult to work for. His personal life and family are a very mixed bag of success and failure. He is also not particularly well known for philanthropy or generosity. (That doesn’t mean that those things didn’t happen behind closed doors, but the generosity of one’s spirit is typically not a hidden trait) Not surprisingly, some of these negative traits have directly contributed to his great entrepreneurial success. Apple is perhaps the most annoyingly proprietary tech company in the world. They are absurdly protective about their products. They are also masters at creating a need to get the latest products they produce even when the old ones are still functioning. What does the creation of devices for which the replacement of a battery is so complex and costly that it is easier to buy a new one (The iPhone is the worst for this) tell us about the company culture that Steve created?

So the question remains, “Why are so many people so affected by the death of Steve Jobs?” I keep asking myself this question and I don’t really have a clear answer. There probably isn’t one. But here are some of my thoughts.

- Steve Jobs uniquely represents a transformation of connectivity that has changed our world. We appreciate our ability to stay connected with so many people and so much information at all time. This life changing reality (for good and bad) has distinctive emotional significance for us.

- In a culture of consumerism Steve Jobs is a god. He created the best stuff. He innovated and transformed the way we consume. He brought style and beauty into our lives via his products. He was the creative force that is feeding much of our consuming passion.

- The former counter-cultural feel of Apple created a fiercely loyal techy sub group that worshiped at the feet of Apple. (Read this article) Who can forget the iconic Apple commercial with the hammer smashing the video screen? In a world where we are all searching for identity Apple continues to serve as an identity for people.

- Insert cynical answer here….. I am trying not to be flippant about all the attention his passing has brought (which I understand I am somewhat ironically adding to now, but I am doing so on a PC) but I just still don’t get why people care so much. If you have insight please add it here.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Apple in a future without Steve. How will their company culture change? Will their philosophies change? Will their products continue with the same level of awesomeness? Some interesting questions to ponder on a beautiful Monday in October.

First things first, here is a video of Mike and I performing Soul Man by the Blues Brothers to close out our worship service yesterday. We were focusing on the idea we were created with a mission and purpose from God and well that naturally leads to the Jake and Elwood and their mission from God. Needless to say it was well received, a lot of fun, and actually very effective in reinforcing the big idea yesterday. It is rare when things come together that well.

If you homeschool your children or are interested in some of the debates around it this conversation over at Jesus Creed is really interesting. I read the full article that Scot references here and it is certainly interesting.

Skye Jethani over at Out of Ur is trying to answer a really simple not so simple question: What type of church would you want to be part of? His article is well worth a read.

A shout out to Kyle Chandler for his Emmy win last night for playing Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights. This is one of the best shows on TV in the last several years. In many ways Coach Taylor and his wife were as much a pastoral team as a coaching team. I think that Tami Taylor is the best pastor’s spouse on TV in years even though she married to a football coach. I love this show. I should do a whole post series on the Theology of Friday Night Lights. So many interesting themes there.

Speaking of football, the Redskins pulled out a victory yesterday that they wouldn’t have the last couple of years. They dominated a bad Cardinals team in every category except the score board and yet emerged with big W. I like this year’s team. They are young, hungry, and play hard. They might only win 7 games, but they will earn every one of them.

Yesterday saw the emergence of Roy Helu from Nebraska in the Redskins backfield. That guy has burst. It was singing Helullujah as I saw him consistently plant his foot and go. That is a man destined to run in a Mike Shanahan offense.

Those are the ramblings for today, feel free to talk amongst yourselves…