Archive - January, 2009

St-Pierre vs. Penn **UPDATE**

January 31, 2009 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

For those who don’t know, I’m a huge UFC fan.

Big shock, right?

Tonight is the night.
The biggest rematch in UFC history.
Three years ago, Georges St-Pierre defeated BJ Penn in a controversial split decision. It was that win that made St-Pierre the number one contender for the UFC Welterweight Championship, which he has since won twice.

But there are those who thought Penn won that fight. Of course, to quote what UFC President Dana White says in nearly episode of The Ultimate Fighter, “Never let the fight go to the judges”.

So, who am I pulling for?

I love both fighters. I wish both could win, but that won’t happen.

St-Pierre has shown that as long as his head is where it needs to be, he is unstoppable. His only two losses in the UFC have come when he was admittedly unprepared. In his first loss, his only to Matt Hughes, St-Pierre was thrown into a main event position after only two UFC fights. I can’t imagine the emotions he was feeling: it’s only you’re third UFC fight, you’re in the main event (and fighting for a title) and you are fighting someone you’ve respected and admired for years. His second loss was to underdog Matt Serra, who had won the title shot by being the winner of The Ultimate Fighter. Supposedly, St-Pierre was having family/relationship problems at that time; others think he underestimated Serra. Either way, their rematch a year later was proof that when he is focused on his job, St-Pierre is unstoppable.

Whereas St-Pierre’s achilles heel is psychological, BJ Penn’s downfall has been his conditioning. In his losses to Jens Pulver (UFC 35) and Matt Hughes (UFC 63), Penn was sucking wind by the end of the second round. Will this be a factor in tonight’s fight? For the last two years Penn has been fighting as a lightweight; putting on an extra fifteen pounds could be Penn’s downfall. St-Pierre is accustomed to fighting at 170 lbs.; Penn may have grown comfortable at 155.

Who will win?

I think St-Pierre has the edge, but I’ll be happy either way.

**UPDATE**
GSP won by TKO at the end of the fourth round. BJ Penn fought great in the first round; it was practically dead even. But beginning in the second round GSP dominated the fight. Great fight though.

Another Quickie

January 25, 2009 in Church, Jesus with 0 Comments

Every weekend, millions of people across the United States pay cover charges to get into clubs.

Some are looking for a good time.

Some are trying to escape the pain in their life.

There is no cover charge to get into church.

Yet, very few churches are full.

Most can’t even fill half their auditorium.

What is the church doing wrong?

Are You Too Busy?

January 24, 2009 in Jesus with 0 Comments

Luke 16:19-31

19 There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. 27 And he said, Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house– 28 for I have five brothers–so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 But Abraham said, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. 31 He said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

If you’ve spent any amount of time in church you’ve probably heard or read this parable. And if you’re old enough, you might even remember the song Whitecross wrote about it (No Second Chances, 1991)

For most of my life I was taught the rich man represented the world: full of riches and pleasure, but also sinful, and that it was His “multitude of sins” that sent him to Hell.

But that analogy is not entirely accurate. We don’t know the rich man’s sins, only that he did not go to Heaven when he died. As far as we know his only sin was not following God.

So what was the real reason behind the parable?

The rich man had everything he could ever want, yet he never took notice of Lazarus sitting outside his house. Even the most miserly of people, if confronted with someone in the same condition as Lazarus, would have some compassion and at least give some food. Yet the rich man was so busy, he never once noticed Lazarus.

You’re probably thinking, “But Jonathan, I’m not rich.”.

If you’re reading this, you obviously have internet access, which puts you ahead of most of the world in terms of wealth.

Have I gotten so caught up in my daily routine that I ignore the needs of those whom God has placed in my life?

I ask God everyday to allow people to see, hear and feel Him through me, but when he puts someone in my way who actually needs to feel His love am I too consumed with my life to even notice them?

Sadly, at least lately, the answer is yes.

Last week, I got home from work one night and saw a van parked on the side of my street. There was a man getting some tools from the back and I didn’t recognize him or the vehicle, so I didn’t think anything of it. The next morning when leaving for work I noticed the van was still there. Upon closer inspection, I saw one of the tires was blown out. Apparently the man had been trying to change the tire and it had gotten dark, so he had someone pick him up and planned to come back in the morning to finish.

Was I really so busy that I couldn’t check on him as soon as I got home? Had I just walked over I would have seen the blowout and could have helped him and he wouldn’t have had to worry about leaving his van in an unfamiliar place. But I was so consumed with my own life…… I wanted to eat dinner, I wanted to watch a movie, I, I, I.

All I cared about was myself.

Which is why I have two friends who I can look to as examples of what it means to truly be Christlike. I’ve known them since I was ten and they’ve shown me through their lives how to truly love people as Christ loves them. One of them has shown me what being a “real man” is all about. Watching how he interacts with his wife and son has shown me what a husband and father are supposed to be. If I ever get married and have kids I already know I will be asking him a lot of questions.

I could fill a book with stories of how this couple has impacted my life and the lives of many others. And not just friends, but people they run into at Walmart, at the movies, at gas stations, etc.

Yet, there is not really anything extraordinary about them. They both work normal jobs, serve their local church and serve the community. What makes them special is if they know of someone in need, they do whatever they can to help. No matter how tough their day has been, no matter what is going on in their lives, they still find to help others.

Why Is Being Gay A Sin?

January 21, 2009 in Church, Jesus with 0 Comments

I saw this on Anne Jackson’s blog today and love it. I have several gay friends, and have been asked this question.

There is nothing I can improve upon, so instead of copying and pasting the post from Anne, visit her site and read it for yourself.

Why Is Being Gay A Sin?

This Has Been Nagging At Me

January 20, 2009 in Church, Jesus with 0 Comments

I grew up in church; a pentecostal church, to be specific.

And I was in a family where, if the church was open, we were there.

Needless to say, I’ve been a part of many revival services. Which got me thinking, why do churches still hold revivals?

Before anyone accuses me of saying anything bad about any evangelists, I am not. While I, at this point in my life, believe that community outreach and improvement is a better form of evangelism, I also believe there are many “professional evangelists” in the world who are doing exactly what God has called them to.

I also understand there are many churches that are spiritually dead and in need of a specialist (i.e. professional evangelist) who doesn’t have to answer to anyone in the church for what he says or does.

Which brings me back to my question: Why do churches have revivals?

Yes, communities need revival.

Cities need revival.

This country needs revival.

But why would a church need revival?

Here is why I ask: in all the revivals I’ve been a part of, the host pastor prefaces them weeks in advance with something along these lines:

“We need to pray for this revival (insert duration) every day.”

“We need to fast (number of meals) every day/week.”

“We need to invite as many people as possible to the revival.”

Has anyone ever considered the idea that, if we invested the same amount of prayer, fasting, invitation and preparation into weekly services as we invest in revival services, maybe churches wouldn’t need revival?

And if churches were consistently on fire and didn’t need revival, maybe a byproduct would be revival in our communities.

Arts In the Church

January 20, 2009 in Church with 0 Comments

Saw this on Barton Damer’s blog. This video is not about the church having an obligation to the arts; it is more about the impact that the arts has on our culture and how the church has not done well with that in the past few decades.

Courtesy of Collide Magazine

New Year's Resolution

January 3, 2009 in Church, Jesus with 1 Comment

Philippians 1:15-18a

    15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

 

Sounds simple enough, right?

It isn’t.

I’ve probably read that passage a hundred times and never had a second thought. Yet, over the past few years I’ve also said and written many things about both Church and church (BIG C and little c); some private and some public. However, over the past few months I’ve really been tested when it comes to the method in which the gospel is presented. I still have my likes and dislikes when it comes to church, but methodology is not as important as I once made it to be. It doesn’t matter if you have an eighty voice choir or a five piece rock band if your theology is incorrect. 

Does this mean I will be any less opinionated?

No.

But instead of speaking my mind every time I see a method or system I disagree with, I am going to be working very hard to keep my mouth shut.

Of course, if you are directly involved with that system and ask for my opinion, I’ll share. But to bash a person or group with someone who is not directly involved is nothing more than divisive, and that is something I don’t want to be.

Now, when it comes to theology, I WILL NOT hold back.

If I hear a pastor or church leader say something completely erroneous, I will not be ashamed to voice my dissent.

 

Thoughts?