on excitement, despair, and what arouses them

So, in the wake of the Superbowl - I thought it fitting to write about the topic of excitement. I have been toying around with this subject in my mind all day, debating whether or not I should write anything on it at all - evidently, I chose to. Keep in mind, this comes from one of the most apathetic persons in the world about the outcome of any sporting event. I like to see a good game, but in the end...I honestly don't care. (This is a blessing, and for it I am thankful.)

So I was thinking today about how the Packers had won the Superbowl last night. It was a great game, fun to watch at least. But what really got me thinking was the flood of posts that I saw on my Facebook news feed thingy. They would go one way or the other, off the wall excitement or conveying sadness that their team had lost - either way, lots of people chimed in. What really caught me off guard while reading all of this (keep in mind, I am apathetic, so it's sometimes enjoyable for me to see the extremes that people experience after sporting events) was that in reading all of this I saw one persons "status update" was an update on the mission field, stating that there are 6,000 people groups (if not more) that did not have the opportunity to worship Christ yesterday morning because they had never even heard of him. 6,000 PEOPLE GROUPS (that's millions, if not a billion or more people)! All day today that racked my brain as I occasionally checked back on this news feed just to see how people were still making updates about the Superbowl. Really people? The outcome of a single game throws us into a whirlwind of emotions, yet there are people that have never heard the truth of the Gospel proclaimed among them - and they seem to go unnoticed.

I am not saying this to say that it's wrong for a person to get excited about sports, so please don't take that  away from all of this. What I AM saying is that if we get more excited about sports than we do the fact that Christ is risen, then there is a problem with that - it's called idolatry. If I am more saddened that something didn't go my way than I am by the millions that are still in the dark about the Gospel - that's also sin, it's idolizing myself! We ought to be more concerned for those around/among us, than whats on the TV set (or whatever it is that excites us more than Christ).

I said that it was a blessing that I have never really been that invested into sports - I really do believe that. But I do not say all of these things with a "down my nose mentality", and I hope it will not be read as such. There are things in my life that I get so excited about that it can be idolatrous as well - I need these wake up calls EVERY SINGLE DAY. It doesn't have to be sports, it can be sleep, food, movies, books, music, etc.... Anything that distracts us from Christ must be put away. Lets pursue him, because he is worth so much more! He is the "image of the invisible God", and knowing and loving him is far more joyous than anything that this world can give to us. Let's press on to love him more!

thoughts of encouragement from an Eminem song

So today on my long drive home from work,  I popped in one of my buddy's cd's that he and I had made back in high school and has somehow landed itself in my cd book. Before I write about what I had originally planned to write about, I would like to tell you of the sheer brilliance of the mix of music on this compact disc. To start things off, it is neon green in color and the title that is ever so boldly written on the face of this disc is nothing but "Punk, Rock, and Country." The cd starts out with two songs that are not complete...it only plays about 30 seconds of each and then thats it (this is not caused by skipping, they are just incomplete). There are some really legit songs on here, and then some that I ask myself why I know the lyrics to. To briefly describe just how random the artist list was, I'll give just a few names that will bring fear to the hearts of all: Switchfoot (still great), All American Rejects (never have been great), Guns N Roses (SLASH - NUFF SAID),  Randy Travis (the man's a legend), Kenny Chesney (have always hated this guy's music...), and yes, Eminem (we added this song {edited} because we could play it on guitar, I find his voice to be annoying).

Now that you've caught your breath from reading that awe inspiring list of music mix madness, you must be asking yourself - "how can you get encouragement from an Eminem song?". This is a valid question. It's a short and simple answer - I will do my best. The song was "Lose Yourself", if you look up the lyrics for this one be prepared to see some foul language, I had the edited version. But this is how I was encouraged by this song. I was listening to a little bit of it and I said, out loud, "this song is really depressing." He talks about having to nail this one opportunity as to avoid going back to this life of disappointment and poverty. He conveys how he is so sick and tired of the life of discontentment that he is living and the only way to get out of it is to nail this one opportunity. I started thinking during this song about how depressing that life must be, to have to talk oneself up to be able to nail one opportunity to "seize everything you ever wanted".  I took this away from all of it though - Praise God that Christ has GIVEN me all that I've ever wanted!  He seized that opportunity for me and by grace through faith, I have been justified in him. Man - I heard this hopelessness and was encouraged by the truth of the Gospel because of the LACK of hopelessness that I face. I have hope because of my Savior. This is truly  good news. So I guess that it was really NOT the song that was encouraging, but the fact that I hear the story of this mans plight and am moved with gratitude towards my Savior.

Praise Him, for HE IS GOOD!