Early Game Halftime Update

So, I really should be working on some things around the house right now, and of course, what am I doing?  Checking in on the early NFL games as they approach halftime.  Not doing too bad so far

I had Winslow going last Thursday - 21 points on a big night from the Browns TE.  I sat Lewis, who ended with 14 points on the night, so hopefully that won't hurt me at the end of the day.

Speaking of which, Thomas Jones has 2 TD's and 100+ yards rushing at the half.  With a 37-0 lead right now, I imagine that the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets Jets, will be running the ball for most of the second half.  Look for those yards and point to pile up.  Correction, make that a 40-0 lead at halftime - Feely kicked a 55 yarder at the end of the half.  Hopefully, DeAngelo Williams will have an equally productive afternoon against another porous run defense in Oakland.

Longwell has kicked a 54 yard FG so far to go with an extra point.  What's the deal with 2 safeties for the Vikings' D?  Apparently a big Orlovsky day, I saw earlier that the Ravens had a safety as well.  You don't see safeties very often in the NFL.

Tennessee's DEF is doing all right so far.  Nothing spectacular - 1 INT and 7 points.  Not bad, not great.

That's all for now...

Laying a Solid Foundation

The following is the sermon that was preached at Veedersburg and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, November 9, 2008.  The text for this week's message was Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 and is included in the the below text.

Last week we looked at the story of the Israelites crossing into the Promised Land, and how it recalled the story of the Exodus from Egypt.  This story in Israelite history both affirms where they have been and reassures them that God is with them and will continue to be with them as long as they continue in faith.  This is a reminder to us that God has been with us and that God will continue to be with us as long as we continue in faith.  After crossing the Jordan, the Israelites begin to drive out those who were in the land before them.  After conquering cities in the south and the north, the Israelites divided the land among the tribes.  Before they head off to their respective areas, Joshua wants to meet with one more time, which bring us to today’s Scripture, which is found in Joshua 24.

¹Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God. ²And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. ³Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many.

 ^{14"Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD,choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."}

 ¹⁶Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods, ¹⁷for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. ¹⁸And the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."

 ¹⁹But Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ²⁰If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good." ²¹And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD." ²²Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses." ²³He said, "Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel."²⁴And the people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey." ²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem.

Okay, so we’ve affirmed our past, we look eagerly towards the future, but the question now becomes, what do we do in the present?  How do we start in such a way that we have something to build upon?  I want to reflect for just a minute on something that many of us have probably seen at some point in our lives, and then I want to take those same principles and see how they match up with what is going on as the Israelites start to build their nation.  How many of you have seen a house, or any other type of building, being built?  There a number of steps that have to take place before the finished product stands before you.

The one of the first steps in building a house is knowing the building codes.  Building codes are set for a reason.  It’s not so that  there can be one more area that someone else can control in our lives.  Building codes are there to protect us.  They are put in place to ensure that the minimum standards of safety are met whenever a building is put up.  If the electrical wiring is not to code, then it is a possibility that the building will catch on fire.  If there is not a load bearing wall where there needs to be one, then it is likely that the ceiling will collapse. 

The Israelites were given their building codes before, at Mount Sinai.  The Torah, or the Law, is the building code.  When we get ambitious at the beginning of the year and decide to read the Bible from cover to cover, where do we often get caught? – about half way through Exodus, then in Leviticus, and Numbers and Deuteronomy.  It doesn’t make sense to us.  It just seems like a long list of “Do’s and Don’t’s.”  We don’t realize that these books are there to teach us how to live with one another. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but that he came to fulfill them, and throughout the message, he says, “You have heard that it was said, but I tell you…”  The Law was the minimum requirements of what it meant to live in relationship with one another and with a holy God, but Jesus comes to push us past the minimum requirements and entire into a relationship that goes beyond the minimum.  Jesus calls us to an abundant life, one in which we can live beyond the minimum requirements of a relationship with the Father.  It is a relationship that was intended from the very beginning when we could walk alongside the Creator.

We have also been given our building codes – the standards by which we are to live, and they can be found in Scripture.  We must be aware of what Scripture says, and in doing so, apply it to our lives.  When we live our lives by the standards that are laid before us in Scripture, the example that is set by Jesus, then we are going well beyond the minimum, and entering into a life of abundance.

Another step that is necessary to build a strong house is the need to prepare the land.  You can’t just buy a lot and start building on it.  You need to make sure the land is level.  Some of it may very well need to be ripped up and replaced.  This is what the Israelites had to do in order to really be able to live in the land.  They had to drive out those that were in it already.  If the land was not cleared out, the Israelites would have had an incredibly difficult time building in the Promised Land.  As it was, they cleared out a lot of those that were in the land, but not everybody, which is why we will see down the road, they did struggle with enemies that were in the land.  If the land is not prepared, then the house will not be very sturdy.  Parts of it will settle unevenly, and eventually there will be cracks all throughout the house; some of those cracks may be so severe as to render the house unlivable.

In the same way, we must make sure that our land is level.  We have to be willing to clear aware all of the debris that will get in the way and put cracks in our house of faith.  We have to be willing to get rid of all the junk in our lives so that we can have a clean area in our life in which Christ can build.  There are so many things that get in the way of our house, that can cause severe cracks, that if we don’t get rid of them, all the work in the world won’t matter because, eventually, we’ll settle down once again into an area that should have been cleared away, and the cracks will start to appear.

The third necessary step is laying a solid foundation.  Once the ground is leveled out and packed down it is time to pour the concrete that will form the foundation of the house.  Without this foundation, whatever is built is in risk of sinking or falling apart altogether.  The foundation is the most important part of the house, because if it is messed up, the entire house is in serious danger of falling apart.

Joshua uses this time as an opportunity to challenge the people to decide who they will really serve.  Will they serve the God who brought them out of Egypt and gave them the land that now lies before them, or will they serve the false gods of their ancestors – the gods of Mesopotamia, or even the gods of those in whose land they now dwell.  What is most interesting about this scene is its location. 

It takes place in Shechem.  According to the archaeological record, Shechem was once an important center for pagan worship.  It is very likely that Joshua’s interaction with the Israelite leaders in this passage was taking place in the ruins of a pagan temple.  So, Joshua gives the people a look at where following these other gods will lead, and it’s not pretty.  The mere location seems to tell them that they are destined for destruction if they chose to follow these false gods, just as those who once followed in that location are now ruined.  Against the physical backdrop of pagan ruins and the historical backdrop of what the Lord has done for the Israelites, Joshua calls Israel to do two things: fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness.

The Hebrew word for “fear” that is used here is yare (YAW-RAY).  It doesn’t mean to fear in a sense that there is need to be frightened or terrified, but to hold in high reverence.  Joshua is not telling them about a God who is bent on punishing those who make mistakes, but about a God who deserves our respect, and in whom we stand in awe.  This is a God who has done the miraculous, the God who has brought them out of the land in which they were oppressed, the God who parted the waters of the sea and stopped up an overflowing river.  This is a God who is truly awe-inspiring, and this is a God that is worthy of our respect and adoration.

Joshua’s challenge to the Israelite people is not just a challenge that stood before these people thousands of years ago.  It is a challenge that stands before us today – right here, in the midst of our comfy pews in Veedersburg/Hillsboro.  We also must decide who we will serve.  Will we serve the God who created the universe and everything in it?  Will we serve the God who brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and who brings us out of our own slavery to sin and death?  Will we serve the God who sent his one and only son into the world that we may be reconciled with Him?  Or will we serve a different god, who is no god at all?

Our society is not devoid of idols.  We may not name them, we may not pray to them or make sacrifices to them, but our society is not terribly different than those who were ruined before the Israelite people on that day so long ago.  Our idols are more subtle – movie and television stars, celebrities, money, power, position, pride, societal status – these are all idols in our society.  We don’t always recognize them, but they are things that draw our worship away from the Almighty God because they draw our hearts away from the Almighty God.

Joshua sets the example for the Israelites, by telling them that he and his house will serve the Lord, then challenges the people to follow his lead, and the people accept his challenge – they will also serve the Lord.  That’s when Joshua gives them a warning; a warning that I would be remiss if I didn’t give you today as well.  We cannot serve the Lord on our own.  If we try to do it by our own strength, and by our own determination of will, then we will fail.  The more we try to take control of our spiritual life, the more it will begin to slip away from us.  It is only when we give it to God that we can truly start to grow in our relationship with Him.  The more we try to control and manipulate our relationship with God, the further and further away we push Him.

So this morning, I leave you with a challenge – let go of all control.  Allow God to take the reigns of your spiritual life, because it is then – and only then – that you will truly begin growing in your relationship with Him.  Now, there are some things that we need to do to help facilitate this relationship.  It is our responsibility, our priviledge, to turn to Him in prayer and to study the Word.  And in doing so, we open up the lines of communication, but that is the extent of what we can do.  It is only when we relinquish our control that God will work in our lives.  So, where are you going to build your foundation?  Will it be on the sinking sand of today’s society or your own desire for control?  Or will it be on the Lord?  Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Tired of Hearing About It...

As you well know, tomorrow, Tuesday is election day, and I have only one thing to say - It's about dang time!  I'm so sick of hearing all the rhetoric, all the pundits, all the commercials and all the crap that goes along with an election.  Honestly, I'm tired of the Facebook groups, the email forwards, the news headlines - just about everything.

I think both candidates would do a fine job.  I think both candidates will also do a terrible job.  I guess that really depends on who you listen to during your morning drive.  This election year has been so overhyped that I just can't stand it.  And talk about mixed messages:

- Obama is a celebrity politician; McCain is GW's clone.

- Obama says that every economic decision the Bush administration has made has been wrong; then says, no less than 3 minutes later he's going to structure small business loans in the same way that they were structured after 9/11... when Bush was President.

- McCain is too old.  Reagan was McCain's age when he was elected into office, and served for two terms.  He won that election in a unbelievable landslide (525 electoral votes to Mondale's 13)

- Palin is too inexperienced.  So is Obama.

- We don't want a totally Democratic controlled government.  There was a totally Republican controlled government not too long ago.

I can't wait until Thursday.  Tuesday is election day; Wednesday is when the results will be all over the place, but Thursday... Thursday is a political Sabbath.

Remembering our Past, Looking to Our Future

The following is a sermon that was preached at Veedersburg UMC and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, November 2, 2008.  The text for this sermon can be found in Joshua 3:7-17.

God is amazing.  Did you know that?  I’ve seen God do incredible things in the lives of others.  I’ve seen God do incredible things in my own life, but all too often, I forget that God is simply amazing.  Today’s text really hammers home that point.  It is a way of remembering what God has done in the life of the Israelites, but it is also a way of giving assurance that He is not done yet.  It’s almost like one of those television infomercials - “But, wait!  There’s more!”  Let’s start off with a little bit of background to see how the Israelites got to this point, and then let’s look closer at today’s text.

Okay, so buckle in, because this is the 3 minute, Reader’s Digest version of nearly 500 years of Israelite history.  The Israelites moved to Egypt during a period of famine in Canaan.  Joseph, one of twelve brothers, moves his family to Goshen, which is located in the Nile Delta of Egypt.  They were shepherds and needed an area that would be suitable for their livestock.  Goshen would make sense.  So they are allowed to settle there by the Pharaoh.  At this time, there were only about 70 people.  But over the years, the family grew, and as Joseph was forgotten by the leaders in Egypt, the people of Israel were forced to be slaves of the Egyptians.  For 400 years, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt.  At this point, many are more familiar with the story - Moses is born and raised as the son of the Pharaoh’s daughter; he kills an Egyptian and flees to the desert wilderness of Midian; he talks to God through a burning bush, and returns to Egypt to free the people.  Through a series of miraculous events, the Pharaoh is eventually persuaded to let the Israelites go, and then quickly changes his mind and sends his army after them. 

The Israelites hit a major roadblock in the form of a large body of water.  God, however, is amazing and works another miracle, and the Israelites cross on dry land.  They Egyptians, however, are not so lucky, as the Egyptian army drowns in the sea.  The journey stops at Mount Sinai in the Midian wilderness where the Israelites receive the Law, which we commonly call Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  Some spies are sent to see the Promised Land and a majority of them come back with a less than favorable report, which causes the Israelites to not want to enter the Promised Land.  So instead, they end up spending the next 40 years wandering around in the desert.  Moses eventually passes away, and the leadership torch is passed on to Joshua, which brings us to today’s text.

For the second time in their history, the Israelites are faced with an opportunity to enter into the Promised Land, but this time they are not afraid.  For the second time in their history, a large body of water blocks their path to something greater.  At this time of the year, the snows on the mountains to the north would be melting, which would cause the Jordan River to be overflowing.  The Jordan River is a pretty good size during the dry season – about 50-60 yards across, but during this time of the year, the time of the harvest, the river would easily be twice that distance.  It would be a rather daunting task to try to have all these people cross without seriously risking some their lives.  You would think that after 40 years of living in the desert, they could wait until the end of the season when the river is down again before crossing it.  However, remember what I said at the beginning?  God is amazing. 

God’s timing is incredible because it is at the point when the river would be at its most impassable that God leads them across.  And, because God is amazing, He doesn’t just let them hike up their robes, ford the river, and safely make it across; He leads them across on dry land.  Now think about this for a minute, these Israelites grew up listening to their parents tell the story of the Passover, and how they crossed the Red Sea on dry land with the Egyptian army bearing down on them, and now, just one generation later, they are walking across to the land that has been promised for centuries on dry land.  In a way, they are closing one chapter in their history, while, literally, walking right into the next.  That’s the thing about a book, you don’t finish a chapter unless you are working towards the next one.  That is true in life as well.  We don’t close chapters of our lives without walking towards a new one at the same time.

God comes to Joshua, and says, “It’s time.”  It is on this day that Israel will know that God is with them, just as He was with them when they were fleeing Egypt and an overwhelming obstacle stood in their way.  When Joshua goes to the people, do you notice what his first words are?  “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.”  Joshua wants to make it clear that these are not his directions, but that they are the directions of their true leader Yahweh, the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In verse 10, Joshua gives the Israelites a sign.  He says, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you…” and he goes into a list of difficult to pronounce names.  But did you notice that they aren’t given a sign ahead of time?  The sign is that the waters will stop when they step into the river.  Sometimes we need to take that first step in faith to really see what God is doing.  I know that God has been working in some amazing ways through this congregation.  I know that I have seen God at work in my life, but it’s only when we take those first steps together, when we really get our feet wet, that we are going to be really amazed by what God can do.

The Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of the presence of God in the midst of the Israelites, passes before the people to remind them of who their leader really is.  It’s not Joshua.  While he may be the one in charge right now, and the one that they are listening to, it is the Lord who is really going before them.  And when the priests who were carrying the ark step foot into the river; the Jordan River, whose banks are overflowing at the time; when they step foot into the river, it stops flowing.  Now some have suggested that this is not a miracle at all, but that there was an earthquake in the mountains that cause the waters to stop.  But the timing, God’s timing, cannot be ignored.  Even if God decided to use an earthquake in the mountains to stop the water, the point is that the water stopped when the priests stepped into the river, and, like their forefathers at the Red Sea, the people of Israel crossed on dry ground.

In the story of the Israelites, the crossing of the Jordan affirms their past and, at the same time, points them towards their future.  We find ourselves today at a similar point in our story.  Did you know that, according to the church calendar, today is All Saints Sunday?  This is the day that we remember those who have gone before us.  We look back at, what Hebrews calls, “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1).  We don’t just remember those who are lifted up as examples of the faith in Scripture, but we look at, as Paul Harvey would say, the “rest of the story.”  Because, you see, the story of the Israelites is not just the story of a few people thousands of years ago.  It is the story of our brothers and sisters in faith who have gone before us.  This isn’t just history, it’s our story.  And our story, the story of the Christian faith, doesn’t end at Revelation 22:21.  It continues through the centuries.  It includes the martyrs of Roman Empire, the ecumenical councils from the 4^th century on, the Reformation in the 16^th century, the Wesleyan movement in the 18^th century, your great aunt Sally from the 20^th century.  The story of Christians today is a story that builds on those who have gone before us, no matter how long ago or how recently they preceded us, and it is a story that will continue to build on what we do – here and now, as well as over the course of the next several years.

On this All Saints Sunday, we remember those who have gone before us in the faith.  We look back at the saints who lived among us, who lived as an example of what it means to be Christ to those around us.  At the same time, we look forward.  Like the Israelites standing on the banks of the Jordan River, we remember the key points of our past, but we also eagerly look towards the Promised Land, knowing that if we step out in faith, God will dry up the obstacles that stand in our way.  So, today, we remember our past, but we also look towards our future, knowing that God is amazing.  We go forward with an eager expectation that God is going to do wonderful things – not because there’s a new pastor in town, but because you are willing to listen for Him, and because I am willing to listen for Him and because whenever two or more are gathered in His name He is present, and with God, nothing is impossible.  God is truly amazing.

Fantasy Football Update, Weeks 8 & 9

I realized this morning that I hadn't posted an update for last week.  I can't imagine why; it's not like I've been busy or anything...

Week 8

I moved to 5-3 this week with a 73-58 win.  That's what happens when you put all the right people in the right places.  This was one that needed to wait until MNF to get the outcome.  I had Peyton, Marvin and the TEN defense going.  I was down about 5-10 points going into the game, so I wasn't terribly worried.  My opponent did have Anthony Gonzalez going as well.  Lucky for me, Peyton decided to wait a week to throw to him in the endzone (he scored 2 TD's in last night's game).

Week 9

Another matchup already won before MNF.  This week's victory was an 88-69 outcome.  The only bench player that scored more than a starter was my kicker, and even then, it was only 3 points.  That will push me to 6-3 on the season and I'm on a 5 game win streak.  Next week's matchup will be a big one.  The guy I'm facing will most likely be 4-4-1 on the season.  I'm currently 3rd overall and 4th in total points.  Doing pretty well so far, given the 1-3 start to the season.

And We're Back...

Well, the boxes are cluttering up the hallway, most of them are unpacked, we've already been to the Apple Tree Family Dining for dinner, and we've made a Wal-Mart run to both Danville, IL and Crawfordsville, IN.  We are officially living in Veedersburg.  I spoke with a tech guy at ATT and got the internet hooked up, and after catching up on nearly 200 unread blogs in my Google Reader, I think I'm going to get something to eat.

Today was my first Sunday preaching at Veedersburg UMC and Hillsboro UMC.  I feel like both services went really well.  I think I'm going to post my sermon manuscripts here just so y'all know that I really am preaching each week.  Don't look for anything too fancy, such as audio or video recordings of the services though, there's nothing quite that fancy at these churches, and I think I'm all right with that.  Life is pretty crazy right now, but things are going well.

Making the Move

Yes, you probably know that my wife and I are moving next week to a two-point charge in the Terre Haute district.  We're both getting excited, anxious, stressed, nervous, and excited (is it sad that I could think of two synonymns to describe "stressed" but nothing apart from "excited" to convey our... excitement... about the move?  Moving is tough mentally, so back off...)  Seriously though, we believe that God is really orchestrating this move, and we're really excited about it.  Moving is just a very difficult thing to do mentally, emotionally and physically... HOWEVER!!!!  This is not the move that I am referring to in my post title.

I'm talking about my slow move into the internet dominance that is Google.  Katie set me up with Google Reader yesterday, which is working so much better than Bloglines has.  So, I decided to set myself up with iGoogle this morning.  I now have a homepage that shows me a window into my Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google News, and my Google Flamethrower.... oh wait, I've had Spaceballs on the brain lately...  Seriously though, I've also added Sports Scores, a To Do List, Quote of the Day, Free Downloads from iTunes (now if I can only get it to work...), and I just added a daily Bible verse from the English Standard Version, and the one year Bible reading plan from the ESV.  It's a one stop catch-all for the things that are important to my daily internet journey.

I am a total dork....