Why I hate Soccerxxxxcy

I don't hate the game itself (although I doubt I will ever pay to watch it played), but I do hate its impact on families in church. For some reason most club soccer teams play on Sundays. I have been told by parents that if you want your child to play soccer when they get to high school that they have to play club soccer. I have also been told that playing sports in high school is a really big deal, as a child needs extracurricular activities on a resume.

My reply to all of this is- “So what?”

Sundays is the day when most churches meet (there are exceptions). It is the day when families worship together, when there are the most opportunities for service. Nevertheless, when push comes to shove, when faced with a choice of church or youth sports, youth sports usually wins.

What lesson do we teach our children when temporal things are so important? When God is what we do when there is nothing else that demands our attention?

The story of King David and Araunah from 2 Samuel 24 contains a timeless lesson. David was instructed by God to build an altar at the place where Aruanah had a threshing floor. When David arrived, Araunah declared that he would gladly donate what he had for the king's sacrifice, “Everything O king, Araunah gives to the king!” were his words.

David's reply- “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” Pretty much says it all. A true commitment to faith will be inconvenient and costly at times. If our faith doesn't cost us anything, then what is it worth? 

This begs the question, "What are we unwilling to give up for God?"

Ask and You Shall Receive

My friend Jeff asked for Bible references that showed how God feels about cheating. There are many- here are a few:

Lev 19:35-36 Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. 36 Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.

Prov 11:1  The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.

Prov 20:23 The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.

Lev 19:15 Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, b

Isa 61:8  For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity.

Prov 22:1- A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

There is more where these came from!

Cutting Corners to Get Ahead? God's Not Impressed

If you read through the Bible you will see many passages concerning fairness. Not the "everybody should get the same as everybody else" kind of fairness, but the "nobody should take unfair advantage of anybody else" kind of fairness. While this seems like it should be a basic value it seems to have been lost in our culture. It seems that many people look for any opportunity to get ahead, to get a discount or an edge.

Need evidence? Go to Disneyland. The lesson can be found at the front gate.

As you approach the turnstiles to show your admission ticket you will be greeted by a cast member with a digital device. Your ticket will be scanned and your photo taken. It slows down the whole process entering the park, but the policy is necessary. So many people were buying multiple day passes on the black market that something had to be done to make sure more than one person doesn't fraudulently use the same pass. I have heard from park employees that Disney was losing millions of dollars each year to these fraudulent tickets. People like to cheat.

If we look closely we can see cheating all around us. People lie to get senior citizen discounts, lie to get disability or worker's compensation benefits, cheat on their taxes, do work under the table, anything to make or save a buck.

This is common, but God hates it.

Do we?

The Greatest and Most Important Mother's Day Gift

Lots of cards, presents and phone calls will be made on Mother's Day. I cannot cite any scientific data, but I would bet that when it comes to the most sentimentally mushy day of the year Mother's Day may even surpass Valentine's Day.  (Not everyone has a Valentine, but EVERYBODY has a mom!) What do you do for Mother's Day?

Logging into Facebook on Mother's Day I was greeted by post after post of friends praising their mothers. I naturally thought of my mother and how she struggled with even the most basic aspects of mothering. For my mother, mental illness and alcoholism made mothering difficult. She did her best, but her best was not very good in the end. I then thought of others who have moms and about their relationships. My thoughts turned to two long standing patients for whom Mother's Day brings different struggles. I will call them L and S.

L's mom is a woman who loves to laugh and sing, a devoted wife and mother. She is still alive, but much of who she is has been lost. She lives in a facility separate from her husband, sharing a room with a stranger. Basic bodily functions are becoming hard to control and continence is an issue. She can no longer care for herself. She recognizes family members, but quickly forgets all recent events. L remains devoted. She visits her mom regularly and patiently and consistently advocates for her, making sure all of her needs are met even though her mom will not likely remember the part L played in meeting them.

S's mom still lives at home with her. Her mom is one of the funniest ladies I have met. She always brings smiles with her into the office. She remains positive in spite of severe back pain from a narrowed spinal column that compresses her spine. She has a hard time communicating the specific nature of her pain, so she has suffered for a long time.

In addition to her back pain, she has severe anxiety disorder. She gets extremely frightened at night and can only be calmed by the presence of S by her side. What can S do? She stays with her mom every night, sharing a bed with her, sacrificing some of her sleep to comfort her mom.

While the two moms do not know one another, they have much in common. They both suffer from Alzheimer's Disease. They did nothing to bring on the disease and there is nothing they can do to stop it. It is slowly taking them away from their loved ones, making every day a struggle. They are also blessed with devoted daughters who truly understand how to say “Thank You” to a mom. The greatest gift anyone can give to their mother is their love and their time.

L and S understand the preciousness of every moment they share with their mothers. More than anyone they know how quickly those we love can be lost. They also live the truth that mothers need to be thanked and loved every day of their lives, for we can never know how many days remain.

This Mother's Day, let's make a pledge to give as much love and time to our moms as we can. There is no greater gift.

Great Advice- from Wheel of Fortune.

Life lessons appear in unexpected places. I went on Wheel of Fortune in 1984 hoping to win prizes (which I did!) I did not expect to gain lasting wisdom, but that was exactly what happened during rehearsals.

When I was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, the producer said something I will never forget. As we were preparing for the taping he greeted us with a smile as he bellowed out a question, "Who is here to win money?"

The contestants let out a collective whoop of affirmation.

His face got serious. "You think you are here to win money, but you are wrong. Don't believe me? Wait until you are on the show, when it is almost over and you have no money. Your prayer will not be- 'God let me win'. Your prayer will be- 'God, please don't let me look stupid in front of millions of people!"

He then reminded us of the smart way to play the game.

In his brief advice he identified one of the driving forces of human nature, the desire to not look stupid in front of other people. No one wants to be embarrassed.

This fact makes the words of the Apostle Paul in the first of his letters to the church at Corinth disturbing. He writes that the Christian message is foolishness to those outside of the Christian faith. He describes Gentiles (non Jewish non-believers) as people who seek after knowledge, people who pursue a full understanding and explanation of the world around them. People such as these, according to Paul, think the Christian message makes no sense at all.

Apparently, if we don't want to feel stupid, if we don't want other people to think us foolish, we shouldn't be Christians! Paul makes it clear that the "smart" people of the world cannot understand what we believe at all.

In some ways this is discouraging but in others it is not. It is a reminder that we should look to God alone for hope and encouragement. We need to live as people more concerned with the opinion of Eternal God than the opinions of mortal men.