A Reminder, Hypocrisy, and Genesis

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So much to get into, so I’m just going to jump in.

A Good Reminder

Toby Luther passed this on to me last week. A friend of his has sent it his way. It was a great reminder and encouragement. Parents, this is a good word for you. It was for me.

“Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids/grandkids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be. God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident. Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God. Train them up in the authority of His Word. Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control. Empower them to know they can change the world. Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.

Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan.

He knew Daniel could handle the lions den.
He knew David could handle Goliath.
He knew Esther could handle Haman.
He knew Peter could handle persecution.
He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it!

Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose YOU to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime. Rise up to the challenge. Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers and Peters!

God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world. He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth. Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this.” Alex Cravens

The Unforgiving World

There are several areas of hypocrisy in the world’s philosophies and ways of doing life. When they become apparent, we must point them out. I see them often in the world of sports and entertainment. Here’s one that caught my attention last week.

The United States Men’s Soccer coach is Gregg Berhalter. Last week, a report came out that in 1991, Berhalter kicked his soon-to-be wife in an argument. That lady, Rosalind, is now his wife of 25 years. They share four children. When this report came out, Berhalter shared his thoughts and regrets in a social media post. One part of that post reads, The lessons learned from that night over three decades ago became the foundation for a loving, caring, and supportive relationship, which we honored and celebrated with our 25th wedding anniversary this past weekend.” You can read his statement here: https://twitter.com/GreggBerhalter_/status/1610358071737389057/photo/2, if you’re interested.

The USMNT put Berhalter on leave, and a media storm ensued. It was later revealed that one player’s mom from the USMNT had shared the information with officials from the USMNT but stated that she didn’t want this to become an issue. It just so happens that she was Rosalind’s best friend in 1991 and had first-hand knowledge of the incident.

I’m writing about this because I want you to notice a few things:

First and foremost, I am not condoning what Berhalter did in 1991. However, his actions as a young man were wrong. No one, male or female, should kick others (unless in self-defense).
Second, it’s evident from their 25-year marriage that the incident in 1991 didn’t deter Rosalind from giving her life and love to Gregg. To be married for 25 years is remarkable in the world of upper-level athletic coaching. I remember a comment from former University of Oregon Head Coach Mike Belotti after his divorce became front-page news in Eugene. He said, “Marriage and Division 1 football just don’t go together very well.” So to see that Rosalind and Gregg have had a 25-year marriage, had 4 children, and are actively involved in their family, should say something.
This leads me to the point of this post: the world is unforgiving, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. What a person did as a teenager is now hung over their heads in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. And there is no reprieve. The world does not know how to forgive. They don’t know how to restore. They don’t know how to handle mistakes made in immaturity, learned from, and aggressive violations of human rights, with no repentance. You see this every election season when someone’s past posts when they were a 13-year old thrown in their face. There should be common sense and forgiveness, but our world doesn’t know how to operate that way.

This is why Christians must lead the way. We know the greatest forgiveness of all in Christ. We have experienced the most significant restoration in the history of the Universe. And we should extend that same grace to others and show the world around us how it’s done.

“Don’t bother me with your prayers”

A few years ago, after a mass shooting, several responses were like this: “thoughts and prayers for the victims’ families” and “thoughts and prayers for the community.” Several politicians and many in the media responded with comments like this: “stop praying and start enacting more gun laws” and “we don’t want your prayers, we want your action.” I realize there’s a political bent to all that, but I want to give you another side of this story.

During the last game on Monday Night Football between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin had to be resuscitated on the field after making a routine tackle on Bengals’ wide receiver Tee Higgins. It was an absolute shock. I was watching the game with my sons, and we were stunned. We couldn’t get our eyes off the TV. After several minutes (I’m not sure how many), the ambulance took off, and the game was canceled. My sons and I prayed for Damar. The TV announcers called on everyone to pray for Damar.

The following day, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky prayed on a national ESPN show, NFL Live. Here’s his prayer if you want to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Vs59RDITc. Now, I understand that Dan’s prayer wasn’t distinctly Christ-centric, but that’s not the point. The point is that he prayed. He knew the only thing he could do was pray. Almost every media outlet was encouraging the same thing…pray for Damar. So they were right to do so.

On Saturday night, as my son Caleb and I sat to watch the Titans-Jaguars game, we prayed before the game for the players’ safety. Then we watched as the players gathered at mid-field and prayed together. That happened in every NFL game this past weekend.

Now, I say all that because here’s what you didn’t hear: “I don’t need your prayers.” There wasn’t one atheist journalist or reporter stating that prayers weren’t needed. Here’s why: there wasn’t a political agenda. In the mass shooting I mentioned above, life was hanging in the balance. But the calls for prayers were not as prevalent because of the hypocrisy of politics being involved. Benjamin Watson, one of my favorite former players to listen to, read and hear from, said it best in a post he tweeted Sunday night along with a video of the Titans Jaguars praying together: “If you want to call praying thinking that’s cool. But that’s not what these men are doing. Thinking is what happens in corporate suites. Praying is what happens when you stare death in the face.” Here’s his tweet: https://twitter.com/BenjaminSWatson/status/1611929216735653888.

Again, my point is the hypocrisy of the world around us. The world will tell us not to bother them with prayers…until it’s all that’s left to do.

Genesis

One point of clarity that I want to bring up from Sunday is that I believe there should be a time to discuss things like “old-earth,” “young-earth,” science challenges to the Bible, and so forth. I just don’t think that it has a place in the pulpit for a Sunday morning gathering. I think the point of that moment is to preach the author’s intent and draw conclusions for the congregation from the author’s intent.

My point of view on Genesis 1 is that it’s literal. I lean towards a literal 24-hour day period because the Hebrew word for ‘day’ means a 24-hour day. But I believe the earth was created with some age built into it.

I know some of you, if not a lot of you, will disagree. That’s ok. I agree with Wayne Grudem at this point (even though he disagrees with me as well) when he wrote, “And we must say very clearly that the age of the earth is a matter that is not directly taught in Scripture, but is something we can think about only by drawing more or less probable inferences from Scripture. Given this situation, it would seem best (1) to admit that God may not allow us to find a clear solution to this question before Christ returns and (2) to encourage evangelical scientists and theologians who fall in both the young earth and old earth camps to begin to work together with much less arrogance, much more humility, and a much greater sense of cooperation in a common purpose.” Systematic Theology (pp. 307-308)

From the Cheap Seats

The Detroit Lions…your 2023 NFC North Champions. They had nothing to play for, but they still beat the Packers to keep them out of the playoffs. I loved it. Their head coach, Dan Campbell, was asked before the game, “your team has nothing to play for, so what’s your motivation in this game?” His reply: “Easy, we don’t want them to go!” I loved it. The “bite some kneecaps off” Dan Campbell has done a remarkable job with that team.
And yes, the Dallas Cowboys are ready for another early playoff exit. I thought you’d ask. Unreal. But I’m prepared. I’ve got my expectations set low, and I’m ready. So ask me Tuesday of next week.
I hope TCU wins the game, but it’s hard to see how they’ll do it. Georgia is better. But the Frogs have heart and passion, and they’re tough. My best friend’s lovely wife is a TCU grad, and I’m excited for them as they celebrate tonight’s game.

To watch or listen to the sermon described in this post, please click here.