Each month, I receive a free e-magazine (The Family Room) from one of my favorite ministries, FamilyLife. Click on the link below to read an article from the current issue about caring for the environment.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Life Lessons from Football (Part 3)
Finally, football can teach one to be a team player. We do not make it through life alone. Like a football team, we are interdependent.
In order to be a team player, we need to
1. Accept responsibility. The quarterback cannot do the job of the center. The right guard cannot do the job of the wide receiver. Everyone has a different role. When we fulfill our own responsibilities, we help the team. A Heisman Trophy winner does not win a football game. A team wins a football game when each player does his part. A football team, family, business, or church will succeed when it is comprised of responsible individuals within it; it will fail when someone is irresponsible.
2. Follow the rules. When an infraction occurs, the entire team suffers the penalty. When the rules are followed, the entire team can play up to its potential. When an executive or accountant breaks the law, a company can be destroyed. Everyone suffers unemployment. When the rules are followed, it can prosper. When a Christian cheats and lies, an entire congregation can be destroyed by the ensuing fighting and bad reputation of the church. The Bible contains the rules for living a good life. Our attitudes toward it should be: "I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word" (Psalm 119:16).
3. Live with humility. Mistakes will be made. We need to learn from them and adjust our ways in order to avoid them. We need to listen to those who have more experience and wisdom. They can help us to avoid and correct our mistakes. We also need to be forgiving toward those who have made mistakes. They will need correction, but they will also need forgiveness. An unforgiving and proud team is heading for disaster. An unforgiving and proud family will be torn apart. When we see ourselves as we are and treat others properly, we will be winners on the football field and in life. Former coach Tony Dungy has said, "True respect starts with the way you treat others, and it is earned over a lifetime of acting with kindness, honor, and dignity" (Uncommon, page 178).
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Life Lessons from Football (Part 2)
The second life lesson I want to teach my son as he plays his first season of football is: Never give up on a good goal. Perseverance is essential to accomplishing anything good in life.
Difficult times will come. Boring times will occur. In either case, a man of character perseveres to accomplish his goals.
In football, you will be asked to do hard things; you will repeat the same things over and over and over in practice until you get bored. But in facing such challenges, you will learn that physical toughness is no match for mental toughness. The slower and weaker player with mental toughness will win over the faster and stronger player who gives up when he faces adversity. Perseverance will be the critical factor in victory.
In life, you will also be asked to do hard things; you will also repeat the sames things over and over and over until you are bored. But in doing so, you will keep a job, preserve a marriage, and lead your children to become more than they could imagine. Mental toughness is essential to accomplishing good things in the important areas of your life.
As the Bible teaches, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4).
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Life Lessons from Football (Part 1)
As my son Christopher enters his first year of playing football, I want him to learn a few important lessons about life. I plan on sharing some of these lessons on my blog over the next few days.
First, you must respect those who have authority over you. You must listen to your parents, teachers, coaches, employers, and others who will be in positions of authority over you. It makes life much easier. You will accomplish more of your goals by cooperating.
As Tommy Nelson wrote in The 12 Essentials of Godly Success (pages 81-82),
"In the early 1970s I was the chaplain of a high school football team. We love our high school football in Texas. We are connoisseurs of high school football. In other states they have high school football; in Texas, they live for high school football. For a whole bunch of folks it may as well be the state religion.
"So to be a great player in Texas means you are doing something. And on the team I served was a young man who was the finest high school football player I have ever seen. He was one of only three athletes in the history of Texas to be a three-time high school all-American (meaning, he was a high school all-American as a sophomore!).
"When he was ready to graduate, he had his choice of colleges. He picked a school whose previous running back was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. The question was not whether this young man would be good, but whether he was going to win the Heisman.
"After he made his decision, I said to his high school coach, 'What do you think? Will he win the Heisman someday?' His coach replied, 'He'll never carry the ball in college.'
"I was shocked. 'What do you mean?' I demanded. And he told me this young man had a character flaw that would eventually disqualify him. He knew that his college coaches would see it right away, and that would be the end of his career.
"Well, this young man ended up attending four different colleges--he quit two and was kicked out of two. He finished without a degree. The last I heard he was living in a common-law marriage and struggling every step of the way.
"What was the character flaw that the coach saw? 'He cannot submit to authority. He cannot submit to his parents. He cannot submit to an employer. He cannot submit to a teacher.' The coach told me, 'We've carried him along for the sake of the ball club. But I assure you, he will not submit to his college coaches. His football career is done.'
"That coach could have just as easily quoted to me a verse from Proverbs: 'The eye that mocks a father and scorns a mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out' (Prov. 30:17, New American Standard Bible)."
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Stupid Arguments
"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:22-26).
One mark of maturity is the ability to avoid stupid arguments. I have seen (and been involved in) my share of stupid arguments, but lately I have seen the need to avoid them. They do not help me or those with whom I am tempted to argue.
I do not need to make enemies simply because I think the tax rate should be lower or higher than someone else does. I do not need to look down on others who prefer another valid translation of the Scriptures. I do not even need to have an opinion on many issues. I certainly do not need to spend my time arguing about the trivial.
When I argue, I need to make sure that it is an argument worthy of my time and energy.
Neither Jesus nor the apostles were against making arguments that were worthwhile. They launched stinging attacks against legalism. They were willing to stand strong in contending for the faith against theological and ethical liberalism. However, they did not look for petty quarrels. When arguments occurred, they kept their perspective and sought to honor God in their responses to their opponents.
I want to do the same. I want to avoid stupid arguments. I want to choose my battles wisely and engage in them in a Christ-honoring manner.
One mark of maturity is the ability to avoid stupid arguments. I have seen (and been involved in) my share of stupid arguments, but lately I have seen the need to avoid them. They do not help me or those with whom I am tempted to argue.
I do not need to make enemies simply because I think the tax rate should be lower or higher than someone else does. I do not need to look down on others who prefer another valid translation of the Scriptures. I do not even need to have an opinion on many issues. I certainly do not need to spend my time arguing about the trivial.
When I argue, I need to make sure that it is an argument worthy of my time and energy.
Neither Jesus nor the apostles were against making arguments that were worthwhile. They launched stinging attacks against legalism. They were willing to stand strong in contending for the faith against theological and ethical liberalism. However, they did not look for petty quarrels. When arguments occurred, they kept their perspective and sought to honor God in their responses to their opponents.
I want to do the same. I want to avoid stupid arguments. I want to choose my battles wisely and engage in them in a Christ-honoring manner.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
The German Church Under Nazism
After my last post concerning the movie Valkyrie, I looked for some information about Christianity under Adolph Hitler's rule. Here is a quote from Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity (pages 576-578):
"Conservative churchmen felt that if Nazism were treated with understanding, it would grow out of its faults (such as racialism) and bring about national regeneration. Many Protestants welcomed Hitler's overthrow of democracy in 1933 as a first step toward replacing the 'Marxist' republic with 'Christian' rulers. Although some of the Catholic hierarchy were uneasy about National Socialism, most of them shared the same outlook as the Protestants...
"A movement swept the Protestant church in 1933 calling for the unification and 'nationalization' of the twenty-eight provincial churches (Landeskirchen) with a single 'Reich-bishop' at its head. This seemed in line with Hitler's policy of bringing all groups under the control of the Fuhrer and the state. The 'German Christians' secured the election of Ludwig Muller, a fervent Nazi. They also restructured the church along Nazi lines, by introducing the Fuhrer principle into church government and adopting the 'Aryan paragraph' which provided for dismissal of all people of Jewish origin from church staffs...
"The increasing encroachment of the Nazi state on religious matters alarmed many Protestants and Catholics...In September 1933 Dr. Martin Niemoller formed a Pastor's Emergency League to combat 'German Christian' ideas...Its theological basis was spelled out in the Barmen Declaration of May 1934. Largely written by Karl Barth, the Declaration called the German church back to the central truths of Christianity and rejected the totalitarian claims of the state in religious and political matters.
"The Barmen Declaration was not intended as a political protest and the Confessing Church did not plan to spearhead resistance to Nazism. It was mainly directed against the heretical distortions of the 'German Christians,' and in fact the leaders repeatedly affirmed their loyalty to the state and congratulated Hitler on his political moves. Because Lutherans traditionally supported the ruling power, the Confessing Church decided not to set itself up as a rival free church, but simply as a body to defend the orthodox Christian faith against innovations.
"Harassed by the Gestapo and repudiated by most Protestant leaders, the Confessing Church led a perilous existence. Its very presence was an embarrassment to the Nazis and its witness to Christ's Lordship over the world implicitly challenged Hitler's totalitarianism. A few of its members, such as Bonhoeffer, were conscious of their political responsibility and reluctantly became involved in the anti-Hitler resistance. But the conservatism and nationalism of most people deterred them from standing up publicly for democracy and individual rights.
"After the war, in October 1945, Niemoller and the surviving leaders of the Confessing Church poignantly declared their guilt for failing to speak out against the Nazi regime, especially in its early stages."
"Conservative churchmen felt that if Nazism were treated with understanding, it would grow out of its faults (such as racialism) and bring about national regeneration. Many Protestants welcomed Hitler's overthrow of democracy in 1933 as a first step toward replacing the 'Marxist' republic with 'Christian' rulers. Although some of the Catholic hierarchy were uneasy about National Socialism, most of them shared the same outlook as the Protestants...
"A movement swept the Protestant church in 1933 calling for the unification and 'nationalization' of the twenty-eight provincial churches (Landeskirchen) with a single 'Reich-bishop' at its head. This seemed in line with Hitler's policy of bringing all groups under the control of the Fuhrer and the state. The 'German Christians' secured the election of Ludwig Muller, a fervent Nazi. They also restructured the church along Nazi lines, by introducing the Fuhrer principle into church government and adopting the 'Aryan paragraph' which provided for dismissal of all people of Jewish origin from church staffs...
"The increasing encroachment of the Nazi state on religious matters alarmed many Protestants and Catholics...In September 1933 Dr. Martin Niemoller formed a Pastor's Emergency League to combat 'German Christian' ideas...Its theological basis was spelled out in the Barmen Declaration of May 1934. Largely written by Karl Barth, the Declaration called the German church back to the central truths of Christianity and rejected the totalitarian claims of the state in religious and political matters.
"The Barmen Declaration was not intended as a political protest and the Confessing Church did not plan to spearhead resistance to Nazism. It was mainly directed against the heretical distortions of the 'German Christians,' and in fact the leaders repeatedly affirmed their loyalty to the state and congratulated Hitler on his political moves. Because Lutherans traditionally supported the ruling power, the Confessing Church decided not to set itself up as a rival free church, but simply as a body to defend the orthodox Christian faith against innovations.
"Harassed by the Gestapo and repudiated by most Protestant leaders, the Confessing Church led a perilous existence. Its very presence was an embarrassment to the Nazis and its witness to Christ's Lordship over the world implicitly challenged Hitler's totalitarianism. A few of its members, such as Bonhoeffer, were conscious of their political responsibility and reluctantly became involved in the anti-Hitler resistance. But the conservatism and nationalism of most people deterred them from standing up publicly for democracy and individual rights.
"After the war, in October 1945, Niemoller and the surviving leaders of the Confessing Church poignantly declared their guilt for failing to speak out against the Nazi regime, especially in its early stages."
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Valkyrie
Often I have wondered how an entire society could become as corrupt as Nazi Germany. Were the citizens so financially desperate that they would overlook the murder of millions of Jewish people in order to maintain a government that promised prosperity? Had the church become impotent because its leaders had rejected the inerrancy of the Bible and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Had racial hatred blinded the people to the magnitude of the sins they were tolerating? What part did cowardice play? Did so few people speak out against the Nazis because of peer pressure? Did they want to fit in with everyone else so badly that they were willing to be silent about horrible injustices being committed before their eyes?
Such questions came to my mind last weekend when Janet and I rented the DVD Valkyrie. The movie tells the story of German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of an attempted coup and failed assassination of Adolph Hitler in the summer of 1944.
Amazingly, the coup nearly succeeded. At key points in the attempted coup, several important governmental and military leaders needed to make a choice: Would they join the coup and save the lives of millions of innocent people, or would they remain loyal to Hitler and save their positions in the government? Most of them struggled with the decision-making process. Some came to the conclusion that saving their jobs was the "right" decision. Some chose to try to save the lives of other people. However, even many of the people who chose to oppose Hitler hesitated at important junctures when quick decisions were needed. As a result of wrong decisions and hesitation when the time came for decisive action, the coup eventually failed. The war would last for several more months with hundreds of thousands of innocent people continuing to be slaughtered.
Based on a true story, Valkyrie unveils the life of a German hero who knew what was right and acted without hesitation when the time came to make a decision to save people's lives. If only more people had possessed his moral clarity and courage at the beginning of Hitler's rise to power, the Holocaust and World War II could have been avoided.
"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love" (1 Corinthians 16:13-14).
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