A thankless job

Today I came across the great story of Patrick Mannelly.  Although seemingly a no-name, Mannelly actually plays for the Chicago Bears and has been there since 1998.  How come you’ve never heard of him?  Because Mannelly is the long-snapper.  In the NFL, the long-snapper is the person who does nothing more than snap the ball to the kicker.  

The writer of the article, Rick Paulas, correctly states that a long snapper has “no chance for glory, only infamy.  If the long-snapper does his job, the kicker gets the glory.”  But as Mannelly is quoted to have said in this article, “As soon as you see the ball go through the uprights and the game is over, that’s the best feeling as a long snapper.”  I hope you take the time to read the story in its entirety; it’s a great article.

http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=6022652  

I read that and I thought about the Christian life.  There are some in Christian circles who desire to hoard all the applause, glory, and praise for themselves.  However, a Christian, if behaving correctly, shouldn't receive the glory.  We should be little more than a long-snapper.  Do our job, and divert all the attention and glory to God.  Like the long-snapper, we Christians can also screw up because the snap went way over the kicker’s head.  Believe me I can attest that I have had some bad snaps in my time.  But God never cuts us from the team, so to speak.  We can try again.  Every day we have another opportunity to make our kicker, as it were, look good.  What an exciting way to live!   

Kevin

(“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name goes the glory” – Psalm 115:1) 

Thoughts on life, death, and legacy

As you can plainly see, it’s been a little while since I posted a blog.  The biggest reason for this is because my 81 year old grandmother – Grandma Esther as I called her – died back on Thursday the 22nd.  I just returned from a trip out to Nebraska to attend her funeral.  It was a nice celebration of her life; her memory was honored.

I have to admit that I have lot of thoughts running through my head (so this blog might have more than one subject).  One thought is elation that Grandma was a Christian and is now with Jesus in Heaven.  Of course we still feel the void that she left and so we grieve.  But as 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, we don’t grieve as those who have no hope.  We have hope.  We have a confident hope that we will see the departed again one day in Heaven.

I also thought about the topic of a legacy.  At the cemetery where we did the graveside service, it struck me that each of the headstones in that cemetery represent a person who left a legacy in some way.  It made me consider once again what kind of legacy I will leave one day.  I desire to be known as someone who, both through word and deed, pointed people to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Why?  Because life isn’t about me; it’s about Him.

The last topic that is on my heart is how fragile life really is.  Sometimes we are so prone to look at our family trees, and think, “Well, those in my family history lived to a ripe old age, so I will too,” but this is faulty thinking.  The truth is we don’t know how long we will live on this Earth.  Every day is a gift from the hand of God.  We must never just cruise through life with the attitude that we will live for decades and decades.  Of course, we may do just that; we may live to be a hundred years old or more, but we can’t assume that we will.  We simply don’t know.  Only God knows how long we will live.

Kevin

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” - Psalm 139:16

Thoughts inspired by a bumper sticker

The other day, I saw a bumper sticker that said "imagine: no Heaven, no Hell."  While this is not really a new sentiment (John Lennon's song entitled "Imagine" mentioned this idea back in the 1970's), I have been thinking about the implications of such a thought. 

To try to be fair, I must admit that it's not really clear to me whether the creators of this bumper sticker are proposing that there's no afterlife at all, or if we Christians were supposedly wrong about the afterlife all this time.  Regardless, for me to imagine there's no Heaven isn't comforting.  Let me explain.

Pardon me for being a bit morose, but the moment we are born, a looming problem casts its presence over us like a large shadow: death.  We don't like to talk about death or think about it.  Pardon me for being a bit morose, but the fact is death is inevitable.

As God as my witness, let me declare this to you: As a Christian, I don't fear death.  Dr. Adrian Rogers once said, "Until you are ready to die, you aren't ready to live."  This doesn't mean that I relish the thought of leaving this Earth.  I love life and I want to live as long as God will allow me to live.  That said, I'm not dreading death.  Why?  Because there is a real, literal Heaven and it is awaiting every Christian who has put their faith, trust, and confidence in Jesus Christ.  Hebrews 2 says that Jesus' death "frees those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (verse 15).  You say, "OK, so Heaven is real, and it is comforting to think about.  I'm with you on that.  What about Hell?"

First of all, let me say I don't like to think about Hell; it's not a pleasant topic.  But if a guilty party went to a trial in our judicial system and went off scot-free, we would think, "where's the justice?"  That's my response to those imagining that there's no Hell: where's the justice?  You see, God is just and holy; He despises sins with a holy hatred.  Every human is a sinner and thus deserves Hell.  That's the bad news that the Bible presents us with, but that's not the end; the Bible continues.  
   
The good news is this: Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone, to pay for, the sin of every man, woman, boy, and girl who ever lived.  This doesn't mean that every human will now go to Heaven.  Rather it means the opportunity is now present to be right with God and to one day be with Him in Heaven.  Romans 10 emphatically declares "whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Saved from God's holy wrath against sin.  Saved from Hell.

Kevin

What a kick!

I wanted to extend my congratulations to Sebastian Janikowski for tying the longest field goal ever in NFL history on Monday night against the Broncos.  It was a 63-yard field goal that joins him with Tom Dempsey and Jason Elam for the record. 

I had the opportunity to see the whole contest between Denver and Oakland (Oakland won the game 23-20).  In my opinion, Janikowski's kick was the highlight of the game.  He made such a long field goal look easy.  The thin air in Denver didn't hurt his chances, but that doesn't at all diminish his achievement.  Congratulations to him on a great kick!

Kevin

"God is our refuge"

Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  What comforting words!  How wonderful it is to know that whatever trouble befalls us, God is the one that we can rely on, run to, and depend on.

One of the most inventive and creative video game levels I’ve ever seen was in a video game called “Donkey Kong Country Returns.” In a stage called “Tidal Terror” massive tidal waves crash in on Donkey Kong every few seconds.  If he doesn’t take shelter behind a large rock that appears intermittently throughout the level, then he drowns.  You already know where I’m going with this: the storms of life will come at us sooner or later - Jesus said in this world we will have trouble (John 16:33).  We have to run and take refuge somewhere.  The Psalmist declares to us that we need to take refuge in God.

What does it even mean to take refuge in God?  I think it simply means that He is the one that we run to for help and comfort.  For instance, when faced with trials some people want to run to things like sex, food, alcohol, or drugs.  These things are not legitimate places of safety and refuge; they will eventually disappoint us.  God is the one we should run to in the storms of life.  He will not let us down.  He is, after all, “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Kevin

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my father’s birthday.

As you might recall, back in June, I briefly described my dad.  I wrote that he is devoted to his wife, a great encourager, and selfless (check out that installment, it’s entitled “Father’s Day, 2011”).  This is only a thumb nail sketch of my father's admirable qualities.

I hope it’s a special day for you, Dad; you deserve it.

Kevin

A decade later

It was ten years ago today when the United States endured the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.  I must confess that it has been an emotional week for me as I've pondered all of the people who lost a son, a daughter, a spouse, or a best friend a decade ago.  My heart aches for these people and I pray that God will grant them inexplicable peace as they mentally re-live that horrendous day.
 
Obviously plenty of evil, vile things occurred that tragic day, but I want to focus on something admirable that happened a decade ago.  As you’ll recall, a fourth plane, Flight 93 was hijacked and was on its way to inflict more damage and heartbreak in an unspecified location (presumably the White House or Washington’s State Capital).  However, the brave passengers and crew ascertained what was going on, overpowered the terrorist pilots and heroically landed the plane in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  They sacrificed themselves, but they also saved many lives since the terrorists never made it to their intended target.

As we force ourselves to remember the terrible events of 9/11/01, I submit that we should not forget the heroic act of the passengers and crew of Flight 93.  We should also strive to copy their example.  Of course, this is not to suggest that we need to die a similar death, but we can choose to live a sacrificial life where we put others before ourselves.

Kevin 

"What can wash away my sin?"

The other day, I watched an episode of “According to Jim” that really grabbed my attention.  In this particular show, Jim, the main character, dies.  He goes to the outskirts of Heaven, but is not granted immediate entrance.  The whole episode is deciding in a courtroom scene whether or not Jim had lived a life that was good enough to merit access to Heaven.  By the way, Jim was ultimately resuscitated and continued his life on Earth.

While the episode was interesting, the Bible presents us with an entirely different way of entering Heaven’s gates: by faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone.  I could quote dozens of verses from the Bible, but I’ll limit it to just one.  Titus 3:4 says, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (NIV).  No one is ever going to earn their way into Heaven because he/she lived a morally upright, pure, and upstanding life on Earth.  Why?  Because every human being has the problem of sin.

Former NFL commentator John Madden used to say “winning is the best deodorant.”  What he meant was this: when the football team wins, their inherent problems are masked and ignored even though they still exist.  It struck me that far too many people attempt to earn Heaven by trying to deodorize their sin with good works, if you will.  But, as far as God is concerned, the stench of our sin cannot be cleansed by living a life of good works. 

John Stott in his classic book “Basic Christianity” writes, “No religious observances or good deeds of ours could ever earn our forgiveness…He [Christ] died to atone for our sins for the simple reason that we cannot atone for them ourselves.”  The old hymn has it right: "what can wash away my sin?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

This does not mean that works are not important.  If you’ve read this blog enough you know that I love superheroes like Batman and Superman.  One reason I do is because they embody lives of doing good works and this is admirable.  Good works are vitally important; we just can’t get skewed on the sequence.  Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works” (NKJV).  I think it was Adrian Rogers who said, “We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works.” 

I am aware – painfully aware – that I can delve only so far into this issue because it’s really not feasible for me to present you with more than a few paragraphs in this blog (this is already longer than most of my blogs).  However, in conclusion, I do strongly encourage you to carefully read this article from Got questions.org.

http://www.gotquestions.org/faith-work.html 

Kevin

It's good to work

Work is good.  In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam a job: to work and take care of the Garden (Genesis 2:15 - incidentally notice that this was before sin entered the picture in Genesis 3).  In verse 19, we see that God gave Adam the job of naming all the animals.  Way back since the Garden of Eden, God set the precedent of mankind working.  I’ll say it again: work is good. 

I know as I say this some of you are feeling nervous and guilty because you do not have a job.  You know the value of work, but you can’t work right now because no one is hiring you.  Understand that I’m not attempting to heap guilt on you.  I’m sorry you are having trouble.  You should continue to put yourself out there: send out resumes, pray for God to open a door of new employment and so on, but don’t let my words discourage you.  Keep at it!

Let me also say that it is certainly true that God wants us to rest from our labor on one day a week as He tells us in the Ten Commandments.  It's wrong to work nonstop and never rest and relax, but I think it’s important that we remember that work in and of itself is a good thing.  My dear mother often says that resting in the evening is the reward of working hard throughout the day; I think she’s right.    

Kevin