Discussions

In lieu of the New Orleans Saints 1st Super Bowl appearance, I felt it necessary to share some of my fondest memories as a Saints fan.  I must admit that being a Saints fan, as insignificant as it is, has been an awesome experience.  I understand that for many, football might seem immature and insignificant, but for me it has been offered an escape from a busy world.   I am sharing this because it might make some laugh and it might bring some silly banter to an awkwardly intense world.

There have been some VERY difficult times, especially in my younger years,  friends couldn’t imagine why I would choose the Saints.  The Saints had one of the most ferocious defenses but could never overcome the 49ers of the 80’s or the Cowboys of the 90’s.  Greats like; Sam Mills, Pat Swilling and Ricky Jackson have long since been forgotten because of the more star powered teams with the Montana’s and the Aikman’s.  I grew up having to defend the Saints year in and year out.  Always having to explain why “next year” would be different.   They were the forgotten franchise and before the 80’s they were known as the “aints” as in the Saints aint winning.  In the last 10 years they have gotten things moving in the right direction but still with frustration and confusion every step of the way.   I watched the Saints trade away their entire draft for Ricky Williams, the so-called savior of the Saints.  Ricky ended up getting traded away and a few years later, he totally shined for the Dolphins.  I watched Jake Delhomme sit on the bench while an injured Aaron Brooks gave his all in a losing effort.  One season, the Saints had Aaron Brooks, Jake Delhomme and Marc Bulger on the bench.  The Saints let Delhomme and Bulger go and they both had greater success on other teams.   I remember when Kyle Turley ripped off a Jets player helmet and tossed across the stadium.  I watched the River City Relay live, and for those who don’t know, it was when the Saints scored a 80 yard touchdown with 6 seconds left on the clock only to miss the extra point and get eliminated from the playoffs.  I watched the Saints get eliminated from the playoff  contention because of a botched reverse that should have never been called in the first place.  I drove 8 hours to San Diego only to watch Aaron Brooks throw a backwards pass and the Saints get pummeled  17-43 against the Chargers.  The people in my section were so frustrated that they started cheering for beer instead of the Saints.  I once drove to New Orleans from Dallas to watch the streaking 4-4 Saints LOSE to the 0-8 Rams.  TERRIBLE.  In 2006 I moved to Dallas, TX for seminary and that was the year that the Saints made the NFC Championship.   The first year of seminary was lonely because I was in a new environment where I hardly knew anyone but the Saints were a familiar solace.  Many thought the Saints were going to leave New Orleans after hurricane Katrina but instead they came back better then ever.  I went to the reopening of the Super Dome for the  Monday Night Football game against the Falcons.  U2 and Green Day opened the game with “The Saints Are Coming”.  I’ll never forget that surreal feeling that I experienced at the stadium knowing how much it meant for the city and the people in attendance.  I am not a native of New Orleans or even close to it but I could still relate to the sense of rebirth that the people felt.  We all redemption and rebirth.

While watching football has been a great experience, it pails in comparison to the times of had with the people I’ve watched the Saints with.  I wish I had more pictures of some of my good football friends but here are just a few of my fondest memories as a Saints fan.  WHO DAT!

If you’ve ever tried to read through the Old Testament and have been terribly confused by all the different stories then your not alone. I have always had a difficult time trying to build coherence between chapters from one book to another. Even after 3 years of seminary, I still had a tough time seeing the fluidity of the Old Testament. As of late, I have been doing a personal survey of the Old Testament and so I decided to post my one sentence to keep in mind while reading the Old Testament. These sentences will more or less provide a fluid backdrop for organizing all the different stories into one theme.

Genesis: God is on the move.
Exodus: People need to get moving.
Numbers: The Pain of God and man moving together.
Leviticus: The partnership of God and man.
Deuteronomy: Trust & Obey or Perish.

All my life I’ve heard plenty of sermons about David and his sin with Bathsheba. I’ve heard about how he slept with Uriah’s wife and then had Uriah murdered. This story has been told over and over, as it should be. It reminds us of the dangers of sin and also of the relentless forgiveness that God offers David. Yes, it is good to talk about David and Bathsheba but why doesn’t anyone talk about Uriah?

Uriah “the Hittite” was an amazing man. I don’t know many Uriah’s but here is a guy who is loyal to his own death. Loyalty is something that our culture doesn’t talk about very much but it is one of the most beautiful virtues in my humble opinion. Uriah was a soldier who was fighting for his country. David was the King who should have been leading the country into war but instead decided to relax in his temple. David liked how Bathsheba (Uriah’s wife) looked and so he slept with her. The Bible is silent as to whether or not she had a choice in sleeping with him, but the bottom line is that he ended up getting her pregnant. Bathsheba sent David a note, letting him know that she was pregnant. David came up with a masterful plan to bring Uriah home and have him sleep with her so that he would think that the child was his. Jerry Springer status. Uriah gets called home from war by David. David thinks that he can cover up his sex scandal with Bathsheba but he runs into a problem. Here is the account found in

2 Samuel 11: Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house……” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. 10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

In my opinion, Uriah was a mans man. He could not eat and drink and enjoy his wife while his fellow soldiers were out fighting a war. One of my favorite rock band singers says “Today we eat and drink while tomorrow they die” and this is true of our society. So many of our fellow human beings suffer through intense pain on a daily basis and yet I feel a strong sense of nonchalant attitudes among my peers. I’m amazed at how hard it is to find ways of helping the disenfranchised other then giving money.

In a word you could say that I am frustrated over the lack of loyalty. I wish I was more like Uriah and that I lived less for pleasure and more for peace.

The story goes that King David sent Uriah back to war and had him murdered on the front lines.  Uriah carried the note which commanded his own death.  Uriah didn’t open the personal note to the commander out of respect for the King yet the King had no respect for him.  He was an honorable man.

“Do you hear what I hear? A child shivering in the cold.”

What’s so Merry about it Anyway?
Good morning and Merry Christmas. We flutter between the Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas wars. We notice a lot more people in stores and definitely hear different music playing on the radio. People smile and say “Merry Christmas,” and this is supposed to be a positive greeting, but it somehow doesn’t go beyond the smile. For the first time this year, I heard someone use the term “giftmass,” and while new, it was all too familiar because a lot of people, and especially children, think of gifts during Christmas –getting or giving gifts. Christmas is spoken of in many ways but what is Christmas really all about? What is the rational behind Christmas? I wonder how we would respond if we had to answer honestly. The average Joe might mutter something about Jesus being born, but even that doesn’t register anything unique. What is so “merry” about it? Jesus was born….so what? Furthermore, how can we celebrate what we don’t see any significance in?

Process Should Produce the Product
The incarnation of Christ, the birth of Jesus, the invasion, whatever you may call it, can be appreciated from many different perspectives. The one perspective I’d like to highlight in this post is with respect to what the birth of Jesus says about our common humanity. Most people associate Christianity with a ticket to escape the current human situation and eject into a heavenly bliss. The hope of many Christians today is that after they die they will be joined with God in a spiritual enterprise of peacefulness on clouds while playing harps. This view is stated by good intentioned people but it doesn’t jive with the birth of Jesus. There is a direct disconnect between escaping to an eternal bliss in spiritual bodies and the birth of Jesus. What I mean is that the product doesn’t naturally flow from the process. We know from Scriptures and church history that Jesus was fully human(Jn. 1:1-5, 1 Jn 1:1). Therefore, if the end goal is to NOT be human and instead to become a spiritual creature, then why was Jesus born a human? Why didn’t God simply send a spirit, or a ghost of some sort? If God’s goal, as some claim, is to take his Christians to a spiritual state of bliss, then why would He Himself become a human? Apple trees beget apples and orange trees beget oranges. The human Jesus saves human people for a human state. The process produces the product. We cannot dream of a product (heavenly bliss) that is not produced by the process (fully human Jesus). Now some may argue that Jesus had to become human so that he could pay the penalty for our sins and that was only possible through a human agent. And I think to myself, doesn’t that limit God? After all, couldn’t God have saved humanity through any means he desired? If he is the one who thought it up in the first place, then why did he ordain it THIS way? Therefore, we must remain consistent in our argument from top to bottom –the product must be consistent with the process. That is, we must acknowledge that Jesus being a human does not jive with our hopes of NOT being human. A bird uses bird resources to eat bird food. It doesn’t use bird resources to eat kangaroo food.

The Birth of Jesus As an Affirmation
So how does Christmas affirm our humanity? For starters, Jesus was born (I can’t say that enough). He became a human. He had to go through the womb just like the rest of us. His birth was bloody, smelly, and real. He probably had to be slapped in the back so that he could breathe his first breath. I’m sure there were germs all around, and his mom screamed because of the pain. He was born in a dangerous world where the ‘powers that be’ were running over the weak. He was born during economic crisis and warring governments. He was born when one of the most violent and manipulative dictators ruled with an iron fist.  God did not shy away from the real human situation. He didn’t try to get around what it means to be a human. He wasn’t far off in a heavenly bliss but right in the thick of the blood and dirt. He wasn’t born in a palace or a germ-free zone. He didn’t get special treatment. He was born a commoner’s birth.
Bethlehem was no more significant then any other small town in the grips of a megapower (Turlock, Ceres). And with that in mind, we can confidently say that if being human wasn’t something that God looked down upon then neither should we! And that is why Christmas is so important. Christmas reminds us that we have infinite worth simply because we are. Christmas reminds us that our problem isn’t that we’re human, rather it’s that we’re not human enough. Jesus was fully human and that is what we should seek to be. Jesus did not sin; that is, he did not act less than human. When we sin we shouldn’t say things like, “well I’m only human.” No, rather, we should say, “wow I just acted less than human.” Christmas reminds us that it’s okay to be human and that we should strive to be fully human as Jesus was. And so all of us in some way, shape, or form feel ashamed to be human because we notice that we don’t live up to the full humanity which Christ lived. BUT, we have hope. We know that we can be redeemed; we can be fully human because God saw the less than human activity and believed it could be different. He knew we could be different, and so he became one of us and showed us. If God had hope for this mixed up humanity then surely we should have hope no matter our position? Christmas is about a new beginning. Christmas is the birth pains of hope. Now we have seen the glory of the 2nd Adam the fully human man Jesus. We need more of THAT. The one thing that I’d like to highlight with respect to Christmas is that being human can be a a very beautiful thing. It is not to be frowned upon. Instead, it is to be celebrated. It is embraced by God, and it should be embraced by us.

On the other end of the spectrum is the ugliness of humanity on a wooden cross. Two fixed beams which depict the lowest of the low. A wooden cross which captures a broken humanity. But we don’t have to stay there, do we? The grave is empty, and the resurrection, just like the incarnation, is an affirmation of a new humanity in Jesus. Jesus was resurrected with the same body he was born with (flesh and blood) –another stamp of approval on the human condition. We look to the past and remember Christmas, the invasion, but we also look to the future for resurrection, of which Jesus is the first fruits. Once again, in the resurrection we see life in the midst of death. (Can’t wait for Easter blog! and part 2 next year)
Any thoughts?

I came across a concept in a book I was recently reading and it riddled me. The author was explaining a core belief and the belief was posed in the form of a question. The question was “What if Jesus is on his knees praying for us to do something about the starving?” All the sudden I had an image in my head of a powerless God. A God who cannot save His people but instead is hoping that they somehow save themselves. On the other end of that image was an image of an all-powerful God who does the dirty work for his people who cannot do it themselves. Isn’t something wrong with both of these images?

Where is the middle ground? Where do we meet the God who prods us to live as if He was living through us while running with the wind to our backs? Running while knowing that He is the ultimate victor?

These are trying times and times of tough ethical dilemmas. Grey areas abound while the tectonic plates of modernity and post-modernity quake beneath our pathways.

The mystery of Christian theology is that we ought to be the ones helping the starving precisely because God has empowered us to do so. This is a radical shift for the lesser man who believe that He has been helped by God to the chagrin of the oppressed. He is not favored more or less by God but simply bears a greater responsibility to help mankind.

On a side note:
If you truly do care about the helpless and need a place to serve them I advise you check out your local church first. From there I would then look at investing some resources with reputable companies like www.kiva.org or www.onedayswages.org. When was the last time you saw someone passionate about James 1:27? We love to speculate about the oppressed and needy. We love to talk about how God loves even them but hardly ever do we lift a finger to get in the trenches with them. In fact, the social structures we live and work under don’t make room for them. Hardly ever do I see a homeless person at church. Why is that?

Thoughts? Objections?

Moses must have been pretty frustrated. He was living it up in the desert with his wife Zipporah SP?, and then God appears to him in the form of a burning bush and commands him to go rescue the Hebrews from their evil oppressors the Egyptians. So he did what any good person would do, he obeyed God. Yet he did it very sheepishly by constantly pointing out why he shouldn’t be the one to do it. God reassured him over and over and even had his cousin Aaron help him out. So then Moses went along with God’s plan and what happened?

“Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” Ex. 5:22-23

Imagine that? You do what God wants you to do and instead of things getting better they get worse! Oh brother.

That wasn’t the gospel I was taught. I was taught that God had a wonderful plan for my life as long as I obeyed him and prayed a little prayer. To quote another famous poet, “Nobody told me there would be days like these.”

Perhaps my human impulse should have understood that following God would NOT be easy BUT perhaps I shouldn’t have been hoodwinked either? Why not be honest about what the gospel means and where it leads. Sure it is nice to have close friends and communities of people who gather in the name of Jesus but eventually they have to learn to let go for the name of Jesus and most of us aren’t very accustomed to that. Are we?

Anyway, just a random musing from some reading I was doing today. If I could talk to Moses at that point in time I would say “yeah”.

Thoughts?

1st century Judaism had an expectation of the coming Christ. 1st century Judaism was really frustrated with the one from Bethlehem who claimed to be the Christ. (Actually, He tried to keep it a secret for a while.) 1st century Judaism rejected Jesus the Christ for many reasons but one major reason was His perceived impotence as a military commander.  He wasn’t the military commander they had hoped for. He didn’t obliterate the Romans and set up shop as a bigger version of Rome.

I had an interesting thought today. In the same way that 1st century Judaism was frustrated with Jesus, are we frustrated with him for not dictating our circumstances the way we’d like? He didn’t wipe out the Romans then and he hasn’t obliterated our enemies now. We all have enemies, be it within or without. We have things inside us which wage war against the members of our body and we have people or businesses outside which make our lives difficult. Do you ever find yourself frustrated with the Messiah because He isn’t ruling the way you’d like?  He didn’t set up shop the way you thought He would?  Sure He has helped in some battles here and there and a lot of the major ones but there are still those enemies that get us and He hasn’t stepped in?  There is still a lot of distortion which needs to be tuned.

I must admit that this is a constant battle for me. Sometimes I want a Savior who does what I want and sees things the way I do but forever and ever He doesn’t. He sees things the way that He does. In His most beautiful and loving ways. In ways that no one could fathom.  It is hard for me to surrender to His love and His good will.  I am still a little blood thirsty myself.  I am torn between the good He has and temptations to settle.  Lately He has been teaching me that His ultimate plan for me is to know His love and to surrender to that love.  My desired circumstances don’t seem to sway His will and this bugs me.  Surely He would do what I desire.  Surely He would see how much I want the things that I want and give them to me?  Surely He would be the Savior who saves me by giving me what I want!!! NOPE.  He knows what I want and He knows what is good for me.  Praise be to Jesus who doesn’t give me what I want but gives me what I need.  Although it is incredibly frustrating I must admit.    He is beautiful and He can woo us but  we gotta let him take us out. We got to check Him out from afar and then check him out when He is near.  Easy does it.

Talk to the Military Commander and ask Him how the war is going. Perhaps you can ask Him if you’re fighting the right war. Perhaps he’s interested in something MORE. Perhaps your interests are too small?  I once accomplished what God wanted me to accomplish only to find out that I was the one who wanted to accomplish it.  But He still worked with my accomplishments.

Some people will have a tough time with this post because they will appeal toward the texts in the Bible where Jesus is portrayed as a commander who will come back one day and stomp all His enemies.  I think He will come back, He will set up shop, but I think even then it won’t look like what we expected.  The book of Revelation has the most vivid images of COMEBACK but even they are depicting the cosmic battle of good and evil and not necessarily a blood thirsty general.  But again each passage must be looked at in its own context.

Comments, anyone comments?

My favorite football team, the New Orleans Saints have started out the season strong and now have the best record in football at 7-0. They beat all the best teams and are THE team to beat in the NFC. There is this impulse in me to brag about them and hold it over peoples heads that my football team is better then theirs.

What people don’t realize is that I grew up during a time in which the Saints were the cellar dwellars of the NFL. Well actually it is worse then that because while they weren’t the absolute worst team, they were in a division with the absolute best team. The Saints of the 1990’s once went 12-4 and made the playoffs only by the wild-card. The wild-card! That was because the 14-2 49ers won the division. This was the plight of many Saints fans for a long long time. As good as we did we could never overcome the evil 49ers or Dallas Cowboys. I grew up in the heart of the Central Valley and so all through out grade school, jr. high, and high school I heard a lot of trash talking from 49er fans. Year after year they would just pour it on about how good their team was and how bad my team stunk.  (For a boy in his teens this can be quite damaging.)

So here we are about 15 years later and MY MY how the tables have turned. My team looks to be the dominator while the 49ers are the new cellar dwellars.
So a few days ago a friend of mine tells me to remain humble during these times. For some reason that statement really hit home. It reminded me of a line in Victor Frankl’s book about “Man in Search of Meaning”. I wish I had the book in front of me but it is in storage somewhere so please forgive me for misquotes. But the book is about his experiences in Jewish concentration camps and the Psychology he developed from his experiences. It is a fabulous book but the one story that I always remember is when he talked about a man who had been freed from the camp.  This man then happened to cross paths with one of the guards who once held him captive.  The former prisoner then beat the guard and began to treat him as he used to be treated.   What was surprising to me was that you would think that this former prisoner would have learned the cruelty in treating people that way but he hadn’t. As soon as he was released from the camp he then went on to treat others badly as some sort of revenge. There is something in the human impulse that aches for revenge. But revenge doesn’t feel good. Revenge doesn’t satisfy, especially if you are the one heaping on the revenge. Romans 12:19 says “Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” says the Lord.

So the moral of this blog is that staying humble is really important. Now that the Saints are on this hot streak I should simply enjoy it not because it gives me bragging rights but because they are a fun team to watch. Sure there is room to brag perhaps after they win the Super Bowl. Then I can celebrate and be proud of my team for all their hard work. But if I celebrate now there will be no celebration left for the big day! Let’s hope there is a big day. The Saints have been known to surprise you. Nobody saw them winning this much and now nobody sees them losing in the future but if they remain humble and don’t get ahead of themselves then anything is possible.

Blessed are the depressed. Blessed are the ones who watch the seconds tick by while waiting for something or someone yet get zilch.  Blessed are the down and out and distraught. Blessed are the uncomfortable.  Blessed are the hopeless and desperate.   Blessed are those who are not wise. Blessed are those who create work to do when there really is none to be done.  Blessed are the stupid.  Blessed are the discontented single, blessed are the discontented married.  Blessed are those who care about football too much. 

Blessed are those who have lost a loved one.  Blessed are those who are grieving.  Blessed are those who have a sad face.  Blessed are the sorrowful and anguished.

Blessed are those who say yes when they mean no.  Blessed are those who don’t finish the last of the milk.  Blessed are those who let others go first to their own hurt.  Blessed are those that missed out.  Blessed are those who have no confidence.  Blessed are those who have way too much confidence.  Blessed are those who came up short.  Blessed are those who wanted soda but got none.  Blessed are those who didn’t get the raise even though they worked harder.  Blessed are the submissive, docile and well behaved.  Blessed are the mild, modest and compliant.

Blessed are those who beat themselves up over sin.  Blessed are those caught in an addiction which drags them down day after day.  Blessed are those who can’t get that mistake off their mind.  Blessed are those who see others run the red light and wonder where the cops are.  Blessed are those who wish others didn’t cheat.  Blessed are those who wish others were faithful.  Blessed are those who wish commercials weren’t as bad as they are.  Blessed are those who wish parents loved their children better.

Blessed are those who forgive over and over.  Blessed are those who forgive even when they didn’t do anything wrong.  Blessed are those who get walked all over and forgotten.  Blessed are those who never hear the words “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”  Blessed are the dirt bags that never say I’m sorry.  Blessed are the Assyrians.  Blessed are the non-Assyrians.

Blessed are those who have OCD.  Blessed are those who wash their hands ten times a day.  Blessed are those who don’t drink off the mouths of others.  Blessed are the perfectionists who just can’t let it go even though it haunts them.  Blessed are those who don’t realize the atrocities they cause.  Blessed are the ones who don’t care how much harm they’ve done.  Blessed are those who wish they never made a mistake.  Blessed are those who are precise and to the point.  Blessed are the over-zealous religious guys who can’t get a girlfriend and the non-religious who can’t live without one.

Blessed are those who try to bring two together.  Blessed are those who are stuck in the middle.  Blessed are those who both parties didn’t invite.  Blessed is the middle man.  Blessed are the children of divorced parents.  Blessed are those who tried to reconcile only to get stepped on.  Blessed are those who try to break up a fight and get punched in the face for doing it.  Blessed are those who try to resolve conflict between two racists.

Blessed are those who get looked over because they’re a goody to-shoes.  Blessed are you my friends even you.