“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”—Romans 13:14

 My guess is that many Christians are familiar with this verse. Some may be doing it. Most are probably not (just calling it how I see it). I say this because I know for a fact I usually do not. To put on Christ is by far the most difficult commandment in the entire Bible. It’s so hard in fact, that we cannot do it. It is only possible because of Christ working in us through the Holy Spirit.

This week I’ve seen the Holy Spirit working mightily in and through a couple of young men in my church. My pastor and one of the other interns have spent the entire week homeless. It was intentional and thankfully it was done for the right reasons. Here are the five reasons Pastor Tim outlined in his pre-homeless blog:

1. We want to show the homeless that we love them.
2. We want to get to know the stories of the homeless in our community.
3. We want to offer them something precious (Jesus crucified and risen).
4. We want the church to grow in her love and understanding of the homeless who live among us. 
5. We want to better understand our Savior (his incarnation).

From what I’ve seen and experienced (as I joined them a few days in), all of these goals have been accomplished or lived out. In my mind, number one and five kind of go together. As we allow ourselves to live homeless, we are acting similarly to our Savior who left Heaven to come to the filth of earth. By becoming homeless we are leaving the comforts of our homes, beds, etc. to say to the homeless we are on an even playing field. We are no better than you.

Being homeless and simply spending time with the homeless is what allows us to hear their stories. Listening is an important technique for any ministry, but even more important when working with the homeless since nobody listens to them. By simply listening we show we care about them. That being said, they generally aren’t going to open up just because they can. They need a reason. The last year and a half, Tim and many in our church have given them that reason. They can now feel free to open up since they know we really do care about them.

This week we have taken advantage of that established trust by listening to people tell us about their lives and their struggles. As we fight to become more gospel-fluent, hopefully we can meet these people where they are and show them exactly how the gospel applies to their life.

A big part of any homeless ministry is going to be providing for physical, tangible needs. It has to be, since they have so little. But if the provision ended there, then we would only be encouraging the ever-growing-in-popularity social gospel. By becoming homeless ourselves we have done a few things. We have evened the playing field in another way. For a week we cannot provide anything tangible to the homeless. And so we have taken advantage of this, and instead tried to provide them with something much more lasting, the gospel.

Each day, Tim has told The Story of God to a group of homeless outside the Library. Each day, the crowds have gotten larger. The truth is that these people (as all people do) need the gospel more than anything else they could possibly get their hands on. We are trying our hardest to ensure they are given every chance to love their creator and savior. It has been sweet to see people really get into the story and think along with it and ask questions about it, and really reflect on it. When this happens, we can be assured the Spirit really is moving amongst us and doing amazing things. Praise God!

The first couple nights, Tim has blogged about his day and posted it on our church’s website. By doing this, a large portion of our church has been able to follow along and actively participate in this week-long journey. Writing the blog is a great opportunity to help people pray for Tim in everything he is going through. Just as important though it has helped people better understand the struggles and issues that the homeless face. Another part of this that is really cool is the reception it has received not just in our community but throughout Acts 29.

My pastor had a phone meeting yesterday morning with a pastor from Missouri. When the two made contact, the Missouri pastor asked why my pastor was calling, since he was homeless. Tim asked him how he even knew that, and his response was that he’d been reading the blog. Then yesterday the San Diego Union Tribune sent out their “best reporter” and a photographer to interview and detail the excursion. In other words, many people are going to have an opportunity to learn about what it means to be homeless, and hopefully come to better understand the gospel as a result of this week.

Finally, I know my short time being homeless has led me to cherish Jesus more. I realize he was homeless for 33 years. So doing this for a couple days does not compare. But it allows me to see just how pathetic my desires for comfort and pleasure are when compared to the pain and suffering Jesus went through.

The amazing thing is he intentionally became homeless so that we (God’s people) would not have to suffer for eternity as a homeless people. Even for those who are currently living homeless, it is momentary. It will one day end, at which point they’ll be able to call God’s eternal palace Home! That is my hope and my joy. I know God will save many from the tyranny of not having a home. He has been so kind to humanity since the fall. It is all part of his plan to bring his people home to the garden.

This week we’ve really been focusing on putting on Christ and taking off the flesh. My prayer is that we are becoming more like our Savior. If we are not, it would be reasonable to say that this week has been a waste. But for the above reasons I trust that is not the case. Again praise God!

Recently a dear friend whom I’ve known for a few years moved away to Knoxville, Tennessee (Go Vols!). He is a fun guy who hosted a Bible Study at his house. I attended for the past couple years and truly grew as a result of it.

About a year ago I realized I am a Calvinist. And not just someone who says they’re a Calvinist but is actually struggling mentally with one or two points. No, I am a full-blown five-point Calvinist, or as John Piper likes to joke (I think but you never know with him), a seven-point Calvinist. In the past year I have only grown in this conviction.

Well my friend is not a Calvinist. In fact, he’s a pretty hardcore Arminian, who also believes in Baptismal Regeneration. This is not a post to bag on my friend, since I know he loves the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Instead I bring this up to point out the tremendously different views he and I share.

Well in addition to being kind of an accountability partner (not so much in the traditional sense, but since we both coached high school football, in making sure the other was maintaining focus on our real job there), he and I began discussing and going back and forth on doctrine. But that ended in roughly March or April. He moved in June, so it had been awhile since he and I had discussed such intriguing topics…until I received a Facebook message about a week ago.

He wanted me to peruse and thus give my opinion on the two passages in 1 Timothy noted above—1 Timothy 4:1-5 and 5:9-16. I know he wanted to discuss these since he believes they point to a person being able to lose their salvation.

Below is my defense as to why I believe these verses instead point us to a far different truth. I believe ultimately these two passages point us to a sweet example of what to look out for in our churches, which is an incredible grace of God through his spirit, to us. You will notice a break in between a part of my response. That notes the second e-mail after he posed a couple questions to my first response. As I would always encourage, if you are reading this, Calvinist or not, please feel free to respond to me with questions, comments, and/or concerns. I do not want to be the one-stop shop for biblical knowledge.

With both passages you asked me to look at, it is important to note the context. As you know it is Paul writing to Timothy, who is a young church planter and disciple. Paul is basically instructing him (and consequently all to follow) how to run a church, and all the different things to look after.
Among these are people who appeared to be in the faith departing for deceitful spirits & teaching of demons. Some will forbid marriage & require abstinence from certain foods. He’s saying in the end times, these are the things we must look out for. Of course, just as we do not know when that is, neither did Paul. He believed them to be coming quickly.
In the same light, 5:9-16 is reminding him what true saving faith looks like. Paul was very weary of idolatry, including marriage as a possible avenue to pursue idolatry. He’s saying have younger widows marry b/c they are at least contributing to creation and God’s plan. This eliminates the effort of Satan to bring them down, b/c they are better off married than to pursue something they cannot have. Those widows who were not married ran b/c they were seeking after things of the flesh and ran from the faith b/c of it.
I would argue then that to truly understand this passage we must understand as Paul did that even these widows who seemed to be these amazingly kind people had hearts of stone that were capable of running from the truth at any moment. Therefore as a minister of grace it is our job to help them in every way possible to remain in the faith, since we cannot know who is among the elect. [Note: You will see my understanding of the older widows does change slightly in the next section, although I would still say it’s true that their hearts are wicked.]

For 4:1-5, I would compare that to 2 Tim 3:1-5. Pay close attention to verse 5. This is important because it’s the same author writing to the same subject. We have two options: a. he’s contradicting himself, which of course calls in to question all of scripture; or b. he’s clarifying himself in what he means when he says that some will depart from the faith.
Additionally, we must look at the whole Bible and see that it is very clear about salvation or a word I like even more (because salvation in our age has become an often thrown around shallow term), sanctification, as a process that lasts one’s whole life, but it is a result of them already being justified (1 Cor 1:2, Acts 20:32, 26:18, & Rom 6:1-4). These verses show us that our sanctification is guaranteed b/c we have been justified and if we’re justified Jesus will ensure that we remain w/ him (John 6:39), so much so that he will come before the elect could be swayed by the enemy, if that were even possible (Mat 24:22-25).
As for 5:9-16, I believe both are true. Age is important b/c we must remember that in that day and age (no pun intended), 60 was OLD! 60 meant that woman was about to die. No man would want to marry her (most likely). Therefore if she’s older, she is likely not apt to the same spiritual attacks that a younger widow is.
As for v.15, it just seems strange b/c Paul is actually talking about whether some of the women are even true widows. And in verse 9-10 he talks about how we’ll know their faith [the older widows]. So I think Paul is painting a picture of what a truly believing widow looks like and contrasting that by saying that the younger woman who has not shown such fruit cannot be trusted in the body, unless she gets married. See the overall context here is not about salvation, but about the building up of the body. Paul is talking about building a healthy gospel-centered church. And just as we see in many of, if not all, the other epistles is Paul talking about being aware of and crushing any attacks or possible weak points of the church that the enemy might use to break it up. Just b/c our salvation is eternal and guaranteed doesn’t mean that we don’t have to fight for it. We fight for the souls of all those we come into contact with, again b/c we cannot know who is among the elect and who is not, and b/c there will be those not among the elect that appear as if they are, and many others who will try to trip the elect up. And so God preordained that the way we walk in his will (among others) is to fight for what we believe and to fight for others souls to believe that same amazing truth that salvation is by grace thru faith alone, and that faith should lead us toward treasuring Christ above all things, and that we cannot wait to be in his eternal weight of glory! Amen!

My job requires me to travel a lot.  As cool as that sounds, it’s not always so great.  You see, I’ve got a great church back home and amazing Christians friends that I miss when I’m away.  The lack of Christian accountability and fellowship can be hard to handle.  In fact, my travels are sometimes a detriment to my walk with God.  Just being honest….

My job recently had me in the beautiful city of Seattle, Washington.  Seattle was amazing… especially the weather!  In my spare time, I loved walking around the city.  I visited Pike’s Market and went to the top of the Space Needle.  I went to the Science Fiction Museum and even took one of those “Ride the Duck” city tours!  Yeah, I was having a blast.

But despite all of the fun that I was having, I was still a little discouraged.  Things that I’d seen in the city and situations going on at work really made me thirst for some Christian fellowship.  So, I got on Google and did a search for churches in the Seattle area.  My search led me to the website of Mars Hill Church.  The website made me think that this was a church that I might enjoy…plus, there was a location within walking distance of the hotel.  So, on Sunday, I went.

Mars Hill Church Downtown Campus

After a short bus ride and quick walk, I arrived at the Downtown Campus of Mars Hill Church.  It was a nice looking building but not extremely big.  You see, Mars Hill Church has a large membership…around 10,000 I think.  But instead of one enormous building, there are “campuses” in Seattle and the surrounding cities (plus one in New Mexico).  As I walked in, I was greeted and handed a Weekly Schedule.  To the right was an area that served water, tea, and coffee…which you could drink in the sanctuary during church (because of it’s concrete floors) or on the couch in the social area.  With coffee in hand, I was greeted by Trevor, one of the church leaders.  We talked for a while about how I found out about Mars Hill and where I was from…really nice guy.  I took my seat and the service began.

A band by the name of Ghost Ship leads Praise and Worship.  I REALLY enjoyed Ghost Ship.  Cam, the lead singer, and the band have a great, contemporary sound.  You can listen to Ghost Ship and other bands on the Mars Hill website.  After worship, a huge screen falls from the ceiling and the sermon begins.  Todays message is by Pastor Mark Dricoll, one of the pastors of Mars Hill Church.  Because Mars Hill is split up into campuses, each campus has a Campus Pastor and campus Deacons.  Sometimes the Campus Pastor does the sermon and sometimes Pastor Mark does via satellite/video.  The sermon was fantastic (I’ve got the notes to prove it).

The Campus Pastor of Mars Hill Downtown is Tim Gaydos.  Pastor Tim is an incredible guy with a heart for ministry.  It was a privilege to be taught by him on the last two Sundays that I attended.

After that first Sunday at Mars Hill Downtown, I was hooked!  I loved the teaching, the atmosphere, and the fellowship….and I did a LOT more  fellowshipping in the following days!  On that Wednesday, I walked back up to the church for a Q&A service.  Pastor Mark and Pastor Tim answered questions from the congregation submitted via text message.  The next Sunday after church, I was invited to watch the 4th of July fireworks show over the lake (which is a huge deal in Seattle).  I hitched a ride with my two new friends, Blake and Tojo, and ended up in the backyard of a beautiful house overlooking the lake.  The fireworks were spectacular…but the great conversations and new friends that I’d made are what I remember the most.  I spent time talking with Luis and Marie, a great couple that I’d met at church and probably the nicest people on the planet.  I met Rachel and Seba (short for Sebastian) there, a young married couple that I really enjoyed spending time with.

Later that week, I went with Mars Hill Downtown to see the Mariners play (my first major league baseball game)!  The game was a lot of fun and I met more great people.  Luis and Marie were there along with my new friends, Tinamarie and Jennifer.  I also met Rick and Cheri, who lead the community group that Luis and Marie attend.

Community Groups

Community is important.  As followers of Christ, we are not called into isolation, but into community with Jesus and with other believers.  At Mars Hill Church, people are encouraged to join ”community groups.”  These groups (10 – 20 people) meet weekly in houses, apartments, coffee shops, etc.  They discuss the sermon from that Sunday, share what’s going on in their personal lives, pray for one another, and basically just live life together.  I believe that the bulk of the life-changing minstry that takes place at Mars Hill Church happens in these community groups.

I was able to attend a community group before leaving Seattle.  This particular group met at the apartment of  Luis and Marie and was lead by Rick and Cheri.  It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Mars Hill Church

Mars Hill Church is all about Jesus.  And God is doing some incredible things in the city of Seattle through this church.  Hundreds of new Christians are being baptized there every year.  Through the Acts 29 Network, they have planted almost 300 churches in the US and in other countries.  Mars Hill Church has an extensive media library available on their website where you can access free sermon series and music.  They even have an Iphone app that allows you to enjoy their media on your phone.  Mars Hill also has an online social network called “The City.”  This network is used to keep members connected and informed.

I was at Mars Hill Church for three weeks.  In that short time (through the Word that was preached, the friends that  I made, and the community that I was a part of) my walk with Christ was strengthen and refreshed.  I am thankful for the time that God gave me to fellowship there.  If you are in the Seattle area and are looking for a local church, you should definitely check out Mars Hill!

Is sexual sin really the issue, or does it go deeper?  “How should Christian men and women go about breaking free from the bondage of sexual sin?” is the fifth question posed to Pastor Mark Driscoll, as he continues preaching in Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions.

In between my seventh and eighth grade school years, as part of a program called People to People, I traveled to the United Kingdom with approximately 3o other junior high students as a ”Student Ambassador”. Since this trip took place almost ten years ago, I remember little about the trip.

I remember some of the historic venues and artifacts that we got to see in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh, among the list. I remember one day in Ireland we went to some kind of outdoor sports park. It was supposed to be a fun time of games and the like, but all I remember is wearing only a t-shirt and basically freezing to death. I also generally remember the two host families I stayed with, one in Ireland, one in England.

I look back on this for two reasons. First, as the Chinese Exchange students finish their adventure in San Diego I realized something I remember from my trip with People to People. These Chinese students are apathetic, at best, to their surroundings. Being in a new country and new world (for all intents and purposes) does not seem to excite them. All they care about is their iTouch games.

This proves, if nothing else does, just how much people from every nation and tongue are similar. American kids couldn’t even get excited about visiting a place in which their relatives and friends likely had strong ties. It should come as no surprise then that Chinese students wouldn’t be too excited about visiting a place that is so tremendously different. 

The heart likes the familiar. It likes to feel at home.

When we realize this is the nature of our hearts, we notice quite a dichotomy. The heart searches for home, which most Christians will say is to be in the presence of God and that this is what everyone is ultimately looking for.

Yet everyone looks towards one idol or the other to be that home. In these kids’ case it seems to be these iPod Touch gadgets. For others it’s video games. Others still end up migrating toward and hanging onto drugs or alcohol.

And that leads me to my larger point. On that trip to the United Kingdom ten years ago, there is one more event that I don’t even really remember, but I maintain a piece of evidence to remind me of the entire trip. I have an orange coffee cup with the name William on it. But it doesn’t only say my name. It includes the origin of the name and definition of the name. It says this:

William- an Old German name brought to Britain by the Normans- its meaning is ‘Determined Protector’- so your goods are safe with me!!

It makes me chuckle when it says “your goods are safe with me”, but that is not what stands out to me. What stands out is ‘Determined Protector’. Kind of like Emanuel means “God with us”, William is the identity of yours truly and ‘”Determined Protector” is what that means.

The importance of this is seen when we view Jesus. His name meant “God with us”. So he came to earth to be “God with us”. And God with us died and rose so that others could walk in the path God had set out for each individual person.

Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” In other words, God has a plan for each person. For Jeremiah it was to be a prophet. For me it is to be a determined protector.

But what does it mean to be a determined protector?

I think for me it means to watch out and protect God’s people. It means to shephard them and look out for their souls. It means to protect God’s people from the evil of this world. I must speak truth to God’s people to ensure they avoid the temptations of this world and treasure the one who is their Savior.

And it means calling God’s elect out of darkness into light so that they too may walk in the path God set before them prior to their entering the womb. It means to protect people from apathy. I have almost decided on my own that if I ever have children, they will not watch t.v., unless it is sports or another show I approve, movies (the same), or even read books unless I know what they are reading and can trust the given author.

When we allow our children and friends to be exposed to the paganism of this world, we are not protecting them, we are instead giving the Devil free reign to work in them. Therefore we must expose them to the gospel at the earliest age possible, and show them the gospel, and tell them the gospel, and show them the gospel, and…you get the point. And we must do this with the spiritual babies that God saves in our realm. We must protect them from the attacks of Satan, since God only knows if that person is among the elect.

With the name William, God has called me to live a life determined to protect and encourage God’s people. Who knew I would have to go to the United Kingdom to find out this would be my path?

Note:  Unlike the previous two posts, this is NOT from my eventual book “What Does The Gospel Say About Sports?”

This week I’ve been teaching a group of 30 Chinese exchange students a contextualized English language. Basically, what I mean is that I’ve been trying to teach them English in a way they can actually use it. So instead of giving them a textbook on English, we’ve tried talking the language. We’ve discussed some American history. We’ve practiced how to greet people and carry on a conversation, as well as ask questions. These are all things a native English speaker takes for granted.

Doing this has been loads of fun, while utterly unpredictable. Yesterday I spent five hours teaching, whereas I was originally scheduled for two. I wouldn’t even be bringing this up if not for the effect it had on the rest of my day. I originally had a discipleship meeting scheduled for 12:30 in the afternoon with two poor/homeless guys. Thankfully, a friend was able to relay the message to them that I would eventually arrive–about three hours late.

When I finally arrived at the park to pick them up, they were waiting patiently sitting in the shade enjoying their day. Yet they were so happy to see me, and couldn’t wait to get some Chinese food (how fitting for me). After taking one of the men to turn in some recycling  we headed over to the bank and then to Subway since there was no Chinese place near the bank. We ordered footlongs and the two of them ordered sodas, which they could pay for with the money they earned from recycling. When we sat down to eat we prayed and thanked God for the food and for providing the time and place to meet together.

About 15 minutes later, we had finished our sandwiches, and one of the men named Juan asked me if I could read from the book. I of course was delighted to do so. But before I did that, he asked me a question using a pen and a napkin. Earlier in the day he had been speaking with a man in the park who claimed there are three heavens; first the moon, then the sun, and finally the heaven where God is. According to this man, we fly to the moon and past, but nobody makes it to heaven because they are burned by the light of the sun. I proceeded to clarify that there is one heaven (Genesis 1:8) but that the Bible does speak of the heavens (Genesis 1:1) which is speaking of the stars, sky, moon, sun, etc.

At this point I’m thinking to myself, “wow we are so off topic, I wanted to talk about Saturday’s sermon, and now I’m using a napkin and pen to show there is only one true heaven. What in the world kind of discipleship meeting is this?”

But the Holy Spirit was very much alive in that tiny little Subway restaurant. We got to talking about hell and how there is also only one hell. And then we cleared up that there is no in-between; a person either goes to heaven or hell. And then Juan told a story of how he had a friend who didn’t believe in Jesus until one day before he died.

This was the opportunity I had been hoping for the whole time. I was able to explain that God controls death and he controls who gets into heaven. I went on to say that God was so amazing that he placed faith in Juan’s friend the day before he died because that man was among the elect and had to come to faith before he died.

We continued on this subject and explored Luke 23:32-43 which is when Jesus is hanging on the cross next to two criminals. Right before their conversations with Jesus are recorded we see Jesus pray to his father to forgive them for they know not what they do. It seems to me as I read this no coincidence that this precedes the conversations with the criminals (of course Jesus’ prayer is also for the soldiers, guards, and crowd that observed the crucifixion).

The first criminal mocks Jesus by shouting “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” It is clear just from the man’s tone that he does not believe. We can tell however that the man on the opposite side had come to believe as he rebuked the other man, admits that he deserved death while Jesus didn’t, and then begged Jesus to save him. It at this point that Jesus utters the famous words, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise (v 43).”

Both of the men I was speaking with asked the question, “Why did one believe while the other did not?” At this point I knew we were getting somewhere. It’s a question we all must ask. Why does one person believe when another does not, despite having the same evidence?

1. At least in this story we can rule out the case of evidence. Clearly both men could see the exact same man beside them dying on that cross.

2. We can rule out that one of the men was more apt to believe or was naturally a better person. The story says both were criminals.

3. It seems pretty clear to me that the option of choice is not presented in this story. The two men beside Jesus were complete equals in every way. There was no difference between them, and yet one believed while the other did not.  I suppose it’s possible the one who believed chose to do so, but what do we do then with the one who did not?

The fact these men were equals means if one chose, the other should have chosen the same or made the same decision. But the text is very clear that he did not.

Additionally, the one who believed in Jesus already started acting as a Christian prior to his asking Jesus to save him, when he rebuked the other.

This is crazy because we assume in our evangelical culture that you are not a Christian until you’ve asked Jesus to save you. But this passage looks that ideal straight in the eye and calls it a liar. This passage says you are a Christian when God starts making you act like one. Part of acting like one is asking Jesus to save you.

That is why belief is a continual call to repentance. Repentance is not something we do once and get saved. Rather, repentance is a repeated and practiced attribute of a true believer.

This discipleship meeting started with food, then with some writing on a napkin, continued with me drawing stick figures to show them the doctrine of sovereign grace, or how God decides randomly to choose one person out of a larger group who are all headed for hell. And somehow I did this by drawing stick figures and crossing out those who did not believe and drawing arrows for those who did on a napkin and a receipt. And it made sense to them and we praised Jesus together on the way back to the park.

Now that’s grace!

The temptation when writing on a subject such as sports is to take just the verses that apply directly and interpret them literally and expand from them. The main verses come from Paul when in First Corinthians 9:25 he says “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable reward.” And Second Timothy 2:5, “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”

Truthfully, I could probably write a pretty decent article or two just on these two verses. I could even expand to talking about war, since that is the closest thing we see in ancient culture to what modern sports today have become. And there’s no doubt, I will speak on these.

But there’s a larger issue. Taking verses out of their context only creates a legalistic, semi-biblical perspective. Instead, we need to understand the Gospel in a deeper way to truly understand what role sports should play in the life of a Christian. And with that, let’s not forget about the role it plays in the church, the unbeliever, and the world as a whole. These are all issues I find myself curious about. I hope you will travel with me through the Gospel to find out what God has purposed sports for in His world.

I feel that even in a Reformed context (where people generally are more lenient and not as legalistic) that the enjoyment of sports is looked down upon. If someone is a sports addict, others immediately think “how could you be addicted to that? That’s dumb! It’s just a bunch of immature men throwing or hitting a ball or crushing each other for no reason.” Perhaps that’s you.

Perhaps you came to this book hoping to confirm your previous bias that sports are bad, evil, and a creation of the Devil. Or maybe you came as a woman hoping to provide biblical truth to your husband/boyfriend/fiancé as to why he should stop focusing so much on sports.

I’m not going to deny that it’s possible to become addicted to sports. And I won’t say sports addiction isn’t wrong. But I’m also not going to bash the sports addict, in part because that’s me, but also because sports are not the problem. The heart is the problem. We ALL have hearts that long and desire for things other than our Savior Jesus Christ.

There’s so much to write on the subject of sports. But organizing it is very difficult. At least with a topic like sex, there’s a whole book in the Bible pretty much concentrated on the subject. The Song of Solomon is a kind of checks and balances for anyone writing about sex. An expositor can look over the Song of Solomon and ask himself, “is this what the Bible really says about sex?” There is no such book that acts as a checks and balances for the topic of sports.

Where must we start when we talk about such an issue as sports? Well, just like any other issue we must start in the Word of God. But we aren’t going to start with the verses that mention directly athletes. Doing so would put us in a position where we go to the text for what we want it to say. Instead we must start with a basic understanding of the Gospel.

In Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, John Piper outlines the basic reason why sex is a gift from God to be enjoyed by his people. He uses a number of verses, primarily coming from Paul’s epistles, which speak of “all things”. Note he doesn’t start with verses that talk directly about sex. He starts talking about sex as being among “all things”. I wrote a paper on the subject of sexual pleasure in a class I had my final semester at San Diego State University. I used Piper’s argument to argue for sexual pleasure being okay in a Christian context. My primary argument was that sex is among “all things” and that all things are to be done for the glory of God.

Perhaps my favorite line in that entire paper is the following: “The church is not a group of old curmudgeons hoping to eliminate all pleasure and joy.” When we try to eliminate pleasure in sex, or pleasure from watching and/or participating in sports, we are acting as a bunch of old curmudgeons trying to eliminate all pleasure and joy. And when we do that, we are playing God. It is not our job to eliminate any person’s joy, whether they love Jesus or not. It is our job to point them to the true joy that exists when we see the cross of Christ as our lone hope.

My greater point is that just like in sex, where “all things” means we are to enjoy sex as a glorious gift from God, sports too is among all things. Sports is a gift from God. I think that’s clear since he gives young men and women tremendous athletic abilities. Just think about Kevin Durant and LeBron James, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, Stephen Strasburg and Albert Pujols, just to name a few. While all of those guys are ultimately great because they work very hard, they are all supremely talented. You might make the case that those guys are the most talented men to ever play their respective games or positions.

And in women’s sports today, you are seeing many women who are super talented, maybe even more talented than some men in previous generations. I don’t believe any of this is an accident. Nothing that happens on this earth is an accident. It is true that everything happens for a reason (which you of course hear a lot from famous athletes when they get hurt or traded, etc.). I mention that because God is sovereign. He is totally 100% in control of all things. He gave these men and women these amazing talents for a reason. I believe it was not to simply bring themselves joy or to make them famous, or worst of all, make them think they are something special. It was undeniably meant to show off His glory. It was meant to say, look at the talent developer that I AM!

Hi everybody,

I’m new to this site. In fact, this is my first true blog. I’ve written for some websites before, but it was more informational. I wrote for a site called Bleacher Report for awhile, but that as the name probably implies, was about sports. This is my first time writing about Christ on a public forum such as this one (not that I’ve never included Christ in my writing, just not as the main emphasis).

Anyhow, the point of my blog I hope is to really speak gospel truth. I am starting a book tentatively called, “What Does The Gospel Say About Sports?” I am extremely excited about that right now. This week I have written five pages for it. At the same time, I’m teaching some Chinese foreign exchange students how to speak English.

Right now despite some difficult circumstances I am resting in the blood of Christ, and finding my joy in Him each and everyday. My hope is you will too. To follow are the opening paragraphs of this book that I plan to publish someday. I am more than happy to post sections online for free since I am not writing for the money but to see lives turn to Jesus. I hope my writing can bless you and others. Here is the opening excerpt from my book:

Growing up all I wanted to do was play sports. I was 100% convinced my career would entail something in sports. For awhile I thought it would be as a sports journalist or broadcaster. For a brief time, I then fooled myself into thinking I was good enough to become a major league pitcher.

When I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I took most of the necessary steps to become a professional football coach. I went to coaching seminars, networked, and even coached at the high school level for the necessary experience, as I finished college. I even took a one thousand dollar class to improve my overall knowledge of football as well to learn to scout and understand the business of football.

Let’s just say I put all my cards in pursuing a career coaching football. Even today, I have moments where I want to coach or scout. Heck, at this moment I still scout college players for fun. But I honestly believe that now I scout for fun instead of it being because I’m holding onto it as a career option. Then again, I even have moments where I desire to give pitching one last try.

But why? Why do I still desire to sacrifice all that I am just to throw a ball in front of thousands of people? Why do, or why did I ever, desire to work 100+ hours per week preparing a bunch of young adults to play a game? And is that desire bad?

The primary purpose of this book is to answer these kinds of questions and more. Is there room for athletics in the life of a Christian? What about the fans? Are we as Christians selling out or forgetting the Gospel when we pledge allegiance to a favorite sports team? Is the primary purpose of sports to serve as an analogy to the rest of life? In short, how are we to view sports as a people radically changed by the Gospel?

This is a photo that I took in Seattle, WA working on a research vessel in the Puget Sound lake.  Amazing, isn’t it?  Look at how many different colors stream across the sky.  Off to the left, you can see the silhouette of the mountains.  Gorgeous!

Why do we admire scenes like this?  What is it about the beauty of nature that causes men, women, and even babies to stand in amazement?  Well, theologians call it “General Revelation.”  That is, God the Creator, has revealed aspects of His character and nature to all of mankind through His creation.  When we look at this sunset, we realize that God is BEAUTIFUL and the source of all beauty!

Psalms 19:1-3 says:

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

³ There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

All the beauty of creation shows off the glory of God the Creator!  Creation proclaims His glory and power every day and every night.  And, according to verse 3, there is no language where creation’s speech about God is not heard.  Every race and ethnicity on the planet has seen an amazing sunset or a majestic waterfall.  Americans, Africans, Hispanics, Russians, Chinese, Koreans, Australians, and the like have gazed upward at the night sky and admired the countless stars the God created and knows by name (Isaiah 40:25-26)!!

And because of this general revelation, you and I have NO EXCUSE not to know and worship God!

Romans 1:19-20, 25 says:

¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

We can clearly see God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, through what He has made so we have no excuse (Verse 20).  Unfortunately, many people suppress this truth and believe lies…worshiping the creation over the Creator.  Pantheism, Wicca, Astrology, Witchcraft, and the like praise created things (nature, animals, stars, etc.) but not the Creator whose beauty they proclaim.  It’s tragic really.

Yep, I saw a really beautiful sunset.  As I admire it’s vivid colors, I’m reminded of my Heavenly Father…and fall in love all over again.