What happened did I black out? Has it really been two months since I began the habit of posting three things I think I think? Can you really call it a habit if you only do it once? (Pretty sure the answer is no.) Nonetheless, here we go:
Number 1: I think you need to watch this. Matt Chandler is the pastor of The Village Church, a pretty awesome church in the Dallas area. There are lots of things about The Village that I would love to see God weave into the DNA of WordServe. For several months I’ve been listening to some of Matt’s sermons via their podcast, but I have been even more impressed in the last few days. On Thanksgiving morning, Matt had a seizure and later that day they found a tumor on his brain. He is a deep man of faith, and in the midst of probably the biggest trial of his life, he is modeling faith well. This video is him a day before his surgery. Lord, let us all have faith like that.
Number 2: I think Tim Tebow is the real deal. This article from one of the University of Alabama beat writers caught my attention. It is one thing for Tebow to put John 16:33 on his eye black (what do those patches do anyway?), but Tebow’s actions after their humiliating loss to Alabama show lots of true character. From what I can tell, he is much more than an athlete who just wants to mention God and try and look religious in the lime light. He seems to be someone who is proactively demonstrating what he believes in lots of situations.
Number 3: I think there are spiritual lessons to be learned through football. This is the one that has been running through my mind the last few days: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). I’m amazed at how belligerent people get over football games. Sure it is one thing to cheer for a team you like and to be invested in a game, but when it is over, we need to be happy for those who rejoice and sad for those who mourn. I couldn’t believe how happy some people were to see Tebow crying on the sideline (and it wasn’t just Alabama fans). No matter who wins or loses whatever games, we can be excited that there are people excited by the outcome, and we can hurt and empathize with those who are hurting through the loss.
