Passion – The Resurrected Life
Those who are close to me know I am a diehard NFL fan. Monday Night Football is almost a non-negotiable in our home. Last night we watched Brett Favre play his old team the Green Bay Packers and beat them convincingly. I’ve always liked Favre. I will admit that I’ve questioned some of his decisions over the last couple years but I noticed one thing as I watched the 39 year old veteran play last night.
Brett Favre is passionate about the game of football!
Obviously he knows the game well, he’s been playing it his entire life. Yet last night, whether he was throwing 30 yard passes or he was making mistakes, it was apparent through every action that he is in love with game of football.
It got me thinking…
I’ve been reading NT Wright’s book Surprised By Hope and have been stirred by the thought of the resurrected life. It’s Gods desire to make our communities new. I’m beginning to see his renewing work at hand more and more in our city, yet at the same time I’m left with some questions.
Where is the passion for this resurrected life? The church is the visible work of God on the planet, yet I wonder at times if it is really apparent that we are resurrected people or people who have been made new.
The more I run into Christians I wonder if the Gospel really excites us. If it did I think our churches would look different both when we’re together and when we’re not. A lot of the time I feel like I almost have to apologize for being passionate about God’s plan and mission on earth.
Can evidence of this resurrected life be tangible and apparent on the outside?
As a church community at Royal View we are in a little season of CHANGE. We are dissolving our Sunday night gathering and launching a new Saturday night gathering. We’re excited about this journey and our church has responded tremendously.
It was funny to talk to a girl a couple weeks ago who doesn’t go to our church. She was raving to me about how we would love not going to church on Sunday nights. I have to be honest. I wanted to send a flying elbow into the conversation. I think she thought we were not gathering Sunday nights anymore because we didn’t want to. Which is weird, because I love gathering together with our church, no matter when it is.
I got this feeling from her that at all costs we are supposed to do as little as possible as community together. She was satisfied with getting in and getting out.
When you read the book of Acts you see that it was the resurrection that often got the early apostles in trouble. In Acts 4 it says ”The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.”
Peter and John got in trouble not because they saw a dude healed but because they spoke of a resurrection from the dead.
I wonder if the resurrection of Christ has moved from our heads to our hearts. If it does it would change the way we live, the way we look and the way we lead.
Football is great, but I wonder what it would take to be passionate about this resurrected life… Maybe we would look different!
Thoughts On Generosity
I’m back in the office. It feels good. The last 3 and a half weeks have been fantastic but it is good to be home and have some consistency!
Tonight I’m sharing at a church in the Toronto area and they’ve asked me to talk about generosity.
I thought this story from the weekend seems fitting. You can read the whole story HERE.
Patrick Kane, who is one of the premier young players in the NHL, beat up a cab driver in Buffalo New York early Sunday morning. Kane was arrested along with his cousin.
Now let me put a precursor out there… Kane is pleading not guilty… People make mistakes.. and he may well have been drunk… I say those things to say I’m not pointing my big fat finger at him. I like him… He played junior here in London and is a great player.
But… why he allegedly beat up the cap drive blows my mind.
The cab driver is suggesting that Kane and his cousin did this because the cab driver was short 20 cents in change.
Now take a deep breath… Ready?
20 CENTS!! 20 CENTS!! 20 CENTS!!
Now I don’t normally yell while writing.. This may be a first…
Patrick Kane is 20 years old. This year he made just under a million dollars. He only makes a million dollars a year because he is young and under a certain contract in the NHL that caps his salary until he is 21. He will soon make anywhere from 5 million dollars a year. He will make more in one year than most of us will make in a lifetime.
The point… 20 CENTS!
I don’t know how this happens. Beating up a cap driver is bad enough… But to beat up a cap driver over 20 Cents when you make a million dollars a year is unbelievably foolish!
Tonight we will be talking from 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. Paul is talking in these chapters to the church in Corinth about a group in Macedonia who have so little but are big-time givers.
Let’s face it… God wants us to be generous. He wants us, in community, to share and be generous with our lives.
Though this story of Patrick Kane from the weekend is sad, I wonder if it is more true in our culture than most of us will ever know.
Be generous!
Golf At The Office
*** Disclaimer
1) We work hard… more than the hours we are required to work every week. But we do because we love it.
2) This was at the end of the day
3) This took 10 minutes
4) We love our jobs!
The Madness
I live, eat and breathe College Basketball at this time of year. Last night was Selection Sunday. Michigan made the tourney! What?! Anyway… Here are my pics.
Midwest Bracket
West Bracket
East Bracket
South Bracket
I have Michigan St. and Syracuse in the final with Michigan St. winning in the final!
