I'm Still Here- What is This All About?

Call me a joker, call me a fool
Right at this moment I'm totally cool
Clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife
I feel like I'm in the prime of my life
Sometimes it feels like I'm going too fast
I don't know how long this feeling will last
Maybe it's only tonight

CHORUS
Darling I don't know why I go to extremes
Too high or too low there ain't no in-betweens
And if I stand or I fall
It's all or nothing at all
Darling I don't know why I go to extremes

“I Go to Extremes” Billy Joel


Questions: What is your life about? If you are a believer in Christ, why are you still on the planet? Why didn’t God just catapult you straight to the heavens upon conversion?

Part of the answer is that we are in an amazing and miraculous period referred to as ‘sanctification” that is- we are being molded and set apart as a vessel of service to the glory of God.

There are many Biblical passages we can look at to investigate the process by which we are putting off (actually putting to death) the Old man of sin and putting on the righteousness of Christ.

There are two passages I want to use as a foundation for information to share with you what Christ is doing in my life and an outline of what we all can do to “walk in the light as He is in the light”.

The first passage is an introductory reminder in Psalms 119:1-10
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
4 You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
8 I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments! Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!

We live in a “How to America”- How to win a million dollars, How to install surround sound. In our quest for How to we often miss the instruction book- We cannot neglect the Bible- Christian books, magazines, programs, music are all great- but don’t allow them to substitute the pure refined milk of God’s word.- The Holy Spirit will only be enabled to produce gospel fruit in your life with the tools available to Him by scripture- Holy Revelation. God’s word is fine tuned to steer us down the road of sanctification.
Michael Horton wrote a recent article called “The American Religion” I wanted to read a small section of that as food for thought.

Just imagine a first-century Christian hearing an average "testimony" in a modern church. Here's someone who has lost his job and has been imprisoned for believing that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and King. He may also be fed to lions or turned into a lamp for Nero's garden. And this first-century believer is sitting in one of our meetings listening to a well-meaning brother or sister saying something along these lines: "Since Jesus came into my heart, it's been one blessing after another. I got a new job and I've claimed prosperity and healing in all areas of my life. It fixed my marriage and made me feel good about myself for the first time in my life. So what do you have to lose? Try God! Give Jesus a chance! He'll turn your scars into stars and your sorrows into stepping stones." How do you think your first-century Christian friend would react to such a display of uniquely American religious pragmatism?

We do not find a single instance of conversion in the New Testament based on the usefulness of Christianity vs. other religions. Instead, the issue is always objective truth. Either Jesus did or did not rise from the dead. Either he was God incarnate saving sinners by his life and death, or he was a deluded imposter. So what if it "works" for you! Mormonism has worked for millions, as have other cults, sects and non-Christian religions. False religion is very good for people in this life, but the end thereof is death…this… falls short of St. Paul's assertion that "If Christ is not risen, our faith is in vain....If we have only been able to trust Christ in this life, we are of all men the most to be pitied" (1 Cor.15:18). The Apostle, for one, saw the validation for Christianity in the truth of the resurrection as a historical fact, not in the utility of Christianity for living a jollier and fuller life.


An example of the Bible’s ability to steer us in the walk of sanctification is found in Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

What a great passage- we often leave off vs. 10 But it is a great balancing verse.

The Spiritual walk with Christ is a beautifully balanced and properly paced journey that needs to be enjoyed as much as endured.

We have an impossible time living this kind of life.

Why? Well we are sinners - the reformed idea of “total depravity”. It is a concept that is losing credence in our post everything world.
Total depravity does not mean that we are as bad as we can possible be. It means we are born in sin, it is in our very DNA, and we are comfortable with sin and are immersed in our own sin and the sin of others. Any good that man is a gift of the common grace of God and the remnant of God’s image on his life. Everything we touch is tainted by sin. Do you believe this?
We are subtly tempted to not believe this. The conventional wisdom of our day is that man is good. President Clinton was described as a good man who did a bad thing. Is this true?

C.S. Lewis described our sin as having two distinct personalities- our animal self and our diabolical self. Sometimes we join a church and clean up our animal self- we have 2 beers instead of 20. But our diabolical self so twists our thinking, motives, and imaginations that we begin to believe that we are good and pleasing to God and he is lucky to have us.

Now back to this passage:
We are not saved by our works. When we speak of sanctification, we are not putting a plan together to make God happy with us. The Great Solas of the Reformation still ring true today- Christ Alone- Grace alone- Faith alone. We never say “I am covered by Christ and I an active in men’s group”. Christ + nothing is where justification and adoption are found.

Without the redeeming blood of Jesus, we are still in our sins- dabbling with life and losing our very existence. Building up a day of wrath for not acknowledging the precious blood spilled for us and our blaspheming of God’s Holy Spirit.

Now this passage is like a beautiful highway- an expressway with day to day road signs and top down exhilarating travel.

The problem is that there are two huge ditches on either side of this road. And we often steer in them. On the right side of this road is legalism- our diabolical self comes in and says- Oh you are cleaning up so well- and you start feeling really good about yourself – and you start looking around at others- and in your desire to help them you package your rules and rituals and begin to try and help others. Before long, we find ourselves as self righteous Pharisees- looking down at sinners and trying to be everyone’s Holy Spirit.

I know the Pharisee well- I play him a lot. Our culture helps me play him very well. We have become the biggest opinionated and judgmental civilization in the history of man. We have talking heads on TV espousing one view after another and call it entertainment. I love it! I am an O’Reily junkie. The problem is that I began to love my arguments over loving people.

The worst part of my Pharisee legalistic self is my gossip and criticism of others. I am not loving- I am condemning. We point out the 10% bad and refuse to see the 90% good.

So I finally get out of the legalistic path and drink grace and liberty. Ahh! Christian freedom. It is glorious! Christ’s death frees us from the ceremonial and civil law. There is a better law- the moral law, written on my heart- the Sermon on the Mount puts it into my motives and mind- it is a beautiful thing!

But just beyond Christian liberty is license. It is a ditch as derailing as legalism. Paul wrote in Romans “How can we who died to sin, still live in it?” In this state, everything goes- all truth is relative, I do what I think and I feel- there is no suspicion of my motives or actions. I do what is right in my own eyes and put it under the blood.

I walk into a situation, run to sin, eviscerate my conscience and say “I am forgiven”. Before long, I am powerless, hardened, and my God is my comfort. The irony of the ditch of license is that we love people even less than the Pharisee. I don’t care about their eternal destination. I am afraid of confrontation. If I stand for truth, it will indict me. So I walk around and tell people all is fine when I know we are growing colder and darker by the second. Loving someone means saying no - and that includes to myself.


Out of that ditch I find this beautiful path- a balanced and tense walk with my Savior as He directs me by His Spirit and through His word in a new life- in this life I learn to love and lean on Christ- I become an admirer of people- I seek my way less and edify others more- I pour myself into relationships, especially my wife and children. I laugh- I cry- I get weary- I long for heaven- God picks me up at the right time- I fall in ditches- He cleans me off and starts me straight again- 1 step forward- 2 steps back- 3 steps- 5 back and when I lose hope- He allows the dust to settle and I look back and God’s kingdom has been built- in spite of me. To His praise and glory!

I wanted to list a few things that help me avoid these ditches:
Devotion to the Word and Prayer
Unflinching commitment to consistent worship
Education
Private fasting- hobby/TV/delicacies
Prudent feasting
Small group accountability
Loving my wife well
Pushing work down my priority list
Crying out for God’s spirit- I am powerless to do it- I need to abide in the vine of Christ.

A final note: Be patient- God’s sanctification takes TIME. It is measured in decades, not in days.

Well as we close- we do all of this to live the greatest of all the Solas- To God alone be the Glory- may we be great beacons of light to the glorious life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ-

History is "His Story"- Problems, Pressures and Presuppositions in the Dead Sea Scrolls

1947- the arid and lifeless cliffs of the Dead Sea region lead to an incredible discovery that has culminated in a story that reads like "Indiana Jones meets Dan Brown- works through the US Congress and has information covered by the New York Times"- what you get is a mess.

The story of the Dead Sea Scrolls can be seen as a test case of one of the problems with history- it is so intertwined with human presuppositions and sneaky human hearts, that it can be more 'Pravda' than promise, more fanciful than fact.

Now to be honest, we all do this. I have found Christian reporting on the Dead Sea Scrolls to have just as much dis-information as the skeptics that we cast aspersions to.

I am up front right away- I am not a historian, I have never been to the middle east- I cannot read ancient Hebrew manuscripts, etc. I am a Christian, I do accept the Bible as a God protected and God provided revelation. I do think that this foundational presupposition actually gives me a rule of faith and practice.

Now, the Bible says that all men are image bearers of God and in one of two camps: We are either regenerated and 're-born' to the truth of Jesus Christ and adopted as his son's and daughters by turning from our sin and rebellion and trusting in the life,death, burial and resurrection of Christ as our only hope of salvation or we are spiritually blind/dead image bearers in rebellion- trusting in ourselves and either denying God's existence or believing that we are 'not that bad' or just blindly hoping we are ok to stand under the Creator's scrutiny. There is no middle ground- we are either in the Kingdom of God or 'Earth-dwellers'.

This causes conflict... a battle of information and ideas. History is influenced by this conflict in various ways, sometimes subtle- sometimes deceptive- and we do have to grow in our ability to honestly discern and evaluate.

Let me illustrate this in the Dead Seas Scroll story.

Before the discovery of the Scrolls, skeptics who attacked the Bible pointed to the limited number of Old Testament manuscripts and questioned the accuracy of the testimony therein. Those who understood the reverence for the Scriptures that the Jews had were not bothered by this at all. The believers held firm knowing that Jewish scribes protected every jot and tittle in a worshipful dedication to the Law.

Leave it to God to allow the unique discovery at just the right time to defend the authority of His Word.

The entire story of the discovery by two Bedouin teenage boys in the region is very intriguing. The political intrigue in selling, hiding, and suppressing all the artifacts is sad but predictable. The mis-information that surrounds the Scrolls even today is frustrating.

For example, it is amazing how pervasive the myth of the Essenes and their 'gnostic' life is propagated as historical fact. Survey any popular bookstore and you will see numerous books to that story.

I want to point to Stanford University's, Patrick Hunt as one who has the most recent and most supported view of how the Scrolls got to the caves in the Judean desert. He is one of many archaeologists who see the Scrolls as hidden by Jews just before the inevitable destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in AD 70. It makes a lot of sense.

Hunt also outlines all of the political decisions and back room pressures that come into play around such a controversial find. I highly recommend his chapter on the Dead Sea scrolls in his book, Ten Discoveries that Rewrote History (He is an excellent writer and fun to read).

Hunt shows no Christian connection to the Dead Sea scrolls, which is no problem to me. He dismisses almost all of the Essene myth- especially since findings around 1996. And he does an excellent job showing how materialism and presuppositional prejudices creates an atmosphere of intrigue and even conspiracy.

However, the bottom line of common accepted evidence is quite compelling for the Biblical world-view. The Jews did value the Word even over the Temple. The texts of Isaiah and other Old Testament Books were accurate in transliteration and supportive of a Jewish Cannon of God's revelation. Liberal criticism and skepticism was once again shattered by cold, hard evidence.

I am begging the reader- please consider God's honest, supernatural, and revealed will to show all of history as his story of covenant-keeping promises. The past is pointing to a future. God says 'I will be Your God and You will be My people'- cry out to Him today.

Which of the two camps are you in?

History is "His Story"

I will be using the month of April to write about how events of history were guided by God's providence to produce the real life events that set the stage for gospel proclamation. This is a view of history that is quickly being lost in our society today.

A problem with history is our desire to 'find the next new thing' in the annals of the past. I am reading a biography of Napolean right now and I am struck by how many times the writer says, "We used to believe this... but now we feel this way." Now that statement would be good if there was solid evidence to support that change and indeed we should always let the facts shape our perception.

But my experience has been- "Well this just couldn't have happened because of...."  and what they present is highly subjective and based on presuppositional opinion. Over time, these opinions - undergirded by impressive degrees- cause the conventional wisdom to be altered more under consensus than cogent truths.

 "Jayopsis" means Jay's view...and I will be honest, my pre-supposition is based in the existence of a living Creator Who has clearly shown Himself in space, time, and history. I fully accept the Bible as His revelation to man... and today I begin with History as His story:

I start my historical view based on the middle east- particularly the peculiar story of the Jewish people and all the tribes and nations around them. I take the 5 Books of Moses (1 author, not many) to be excellent history of the creation and fall of man. All human beings are decendants of the original parents- Adam and Eve and offspring of the flood survivors- Noah and his family.

The more a person begins to see the Nation of Israel as a people that God chose to reveal Himself to- call unto Himself,- and prepare the world for His message of salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ- the clearer the current condition of the world becomes. The Bible is the foundational history book:

It tells us Who God is

It tells us about the nature of man- how did things get so messed up?

It tells us about God's provision and His plan

It tells us what is our duty now

It tells us what is coming next

One exciting thing about  reading old literature (like Shakespeare for example) is that human nature is still the same. Yes, technology has changed (Amen to that!) but the basic heart desires and cycle of life- conditions of existence- are so consistent that we recognize pride, jealousy, immorality, charity, frustration, fatigue, hunger, anxiousness in all of our tales of old.

One final factor in C.S. Lewis' conversion was how enthralled he was with redemption stories. And one day, Tolkien asked him, "Jack, why do you love the stories of myth but won't give yourself to the real story of redemption that all of these others allude to?" (my paraphrase)

I say the same to you..... as you read my blog over the next few weeks- ask yourself a question. Would I be at least willing to consider the Biblical world view and the life and message of Jesus?

Again to paraphrase Lewis, we believe in Christianity like we believe in the sun. Not so much that we see IT, but the fact that by it we see everything else. God's story makes the most sense of where we are and who we are. And, if God allows, one day you will be able to exit your own miserable story and walk in His. And trust me, it is one glorious walk!

Senses and the Seder

After years of reading about and hearing testimony about, I finally attended my first Passover Meal last night. It is an amazing, rich, and symbolic ceremony that has been faithfully done for over 3500 years among the people of Israel.

The experience, as a Christian, moved me to tears as the smell and tastes put me in touch with our Covenant-keeping God and His story of redemption and salvation.

This was performed in a Christian church by a Christian who has studied and participated in this event for a long time. I want to be careful here in that my desire is not to offend any orthodox Jewish believer, but the many references to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ as the Messiah was inspirational.

Of course the context of the Passover has to be linked to the story of Moses and the Angel of Death passing over the houses of the Israelites who covered the doorposts of their homes with the blood of the lamb. But as a Christian, I see all of the Old Testament as God's interaction with real history to provide a stage for His dramatic entrance as the God/Man who dies to take away the sin of the world.

I take both testaments together. 'The New Testament is in the Old Testament contained, The Old Testament is in the New testament explained'. And God's Word is so rich and so deep.

In this over 2 hour ceremony I got to enter into the rich symbolism of God's story.

A couple of points:

1) The Bitterness and Bondage of Sin. The Seder is built un a foundation of purity. White linens and the purging of leaven in a huge part of this. Children are involved in finding and getting the Father to remove the leaven. We eat bitter herbs (in my case it was horseradish) to create the taste and memory of the pain of sin. We taste the salt of tears as this life is spent in the shadows of sin and shame. And we also get to mix the bitterness with sweetness as hope to hang on. The seder ceremony is clear- God must judge sin.

2) A New Appreciation for the Lord's Supper/Communion. When I saw the Passover meal and where Jesus instituted the Lord's supper, I was blown away. 'This is my body broken for you' was the afikoman (the middle of three stacked matzah- broken- hidden- found- redeemed by a coin- appears- a first fruit) the 2nd Person of the Trinity who was crucified, dead, buried, and resurrected. The Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. When Jesus offered the 3rd cup after the meal He said, 'This is the 'cup of the new covenant' was the cup of blessing as can be seen as a marriage/betrothal cup of Christ toasting His bride- the church. I belong to Him in faith, I have been bought with a price- the precious blood of Christ. It is the Cup of Redemption.

3) A New Inspiration to Prepare: Jesus did not drink the last cup of the Seder- the one after the Halel (the haleluiah). As the bridegroom, He has departed to prepare a room for me. The Father will allow Him to return, like a thief in the night. I am promised to Him and I need to stay alert and be prepared and faithful. From now on when I dring the cup of the new covenant, I will remember Whose I am- I have been paid for in full.

My encouragement for all people- Jewish or Gentile- Rich or Poor- Slave or Free- to look upon the offer of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who offers a relationship that is received as a gift through repentance (giving ourselves up to Him) and faith (trusting His acts and promises)- and call upon Him and wait for the Day of His return where will will drink the last cup in the New Jerusalem. Want you join me?

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 19: 6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our Godthe Almighty reigns.7 Let us rejoice and exultand give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come,and his Bride has made herself ready;8 it was granted her to clothe herselfwith fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

At War- Standing Firm

I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

 Remember that great scene in Lord of the Rings where Gandalf stands on the bridge and faces the Balroc?
 With a fierce energy and passionate voice he stands firm and shouts, "You cannot pass. I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."


There is a part of spiritual warfare that we often miss and that is the art of 'standing firm'. Holding to- clinging to- not wavering. It is holding against the storm, resolute and unwavering.

We see this in Scripture- Jacob clinging to the Lord, "I will not let you go until you bless me". Jesus setting His face toward the cross for the joy set before Him, Paul finishing the course, Shaddrach, Meshach, and Adendego saying the Lord will deliver us, but even if He doesn't, we will not bow before you O King.". It is a mindset that says, "Though the whole world leave and forsake the Lord, I will yet stand."

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

I think there a couple of application points to this:

Perseverance- we have to get tougher and learn to dig in and stand firm when momentum swings against us.We tend to relent way too early in the game. Think of a goal line defense. We teach the defensive linemen to get low and hunker down. Go low and grab grass and push with all you have. Is there anything more exciting than a defense holding on a 4th and 1? Pushed back all the way down the field, but holding the other team out creates great energy and momentum. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

How many more marriages would survive with this mindset?- 'I'm going to endure a little longer and see if the tide may turn- Lord, help me.'

In the Book of Revelation- 5 of the 7 churches are not getting good marks from Jesus. He says to them, 'repent'. These churches have become loveless, distracted, materialistic, and full of false teachers and immorality. Yet, nowhere in the 7 letters does the Lord say to the unbelievers.. "Leave and go find a better church."

No- He indicates to stay, repent, and strengthen the things that remain.

This is my final post of the series 'AT WAR'- but I will tell you that I have never seen Satan more visible in His assault on the faith. I have the largest prayer list in 25+ years of keeping such lists.

Financial hardships, job loss, cancer, disease, divorce, false rumors and gossip, immorality, drunkenness or substance abuse, pain, regret, quarreling, apathy, laziness, selfishness. At times, it almost feels like Satan has been set loose as found in Rev. 20:7. We have brothers and sisters in real pain and dire circumstances. We need to pray and love and serve.

But the message never changes..... STAND FIRM.
Tell the Devil.... YOU SHALL NOT PASS

And the result of that kind of faith and that kind of fight? "Your labor in the Lord is NOT IN VAIN."

And what about when we fail and fall? There is good news in the gospel. It matters not if you try and fail and try and fail again- what matters is if you try and fail... and fail to try again.

May God's grace and peace keep us steady in the storm! It's a glorious day to battle in the joy of the Lord!

At War- A Different View of Spiritual Warfare

I have been taking the month of March to write a little about spiritual warfare. If you look back, everything up to now has been fairly consistent with the idea of an armor clad believer, sword drawn, with the three enemies on the attack. There are ample verses to support this view.

But the Bible also switches metaphors about these types of things. I believe it is for us to keep a balanced perspective on the dynamics of our life and our purpose. An example of this is 2 Timothy 2 where Paul uses military examples, athletic examples, and agricultural examples to bring out this point of discipleship and passing the gospel on to others.

It is this third metaphor that I want to focus on this morning- the farmer. We have so little knowledge of this in our culture today, yet the Bible is rich with all of these analogies. Wheat, tares-vines, vine dresser, seeds sown, sower and the soils, and the last part of I Corinthians 15 and on and on.

So I want to spend a little time getting us to think of winning in the area of spiritual warfare as progress and GROWTH. Seeds shooting roots, roots digging in, shoots pushing through, and growing strong despite the storms of life and multiplying fruit over many seasons of life.

There is a multiple metaphor in the Old Testament about being a tree planted by the water. An example of this is the great dichotomy found in Psalm 1

  

1:1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2  but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

4  The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Think of the strength and use of such a tree. Consider how much a beautiful tree glorifies God. Joyce Kilmer rightly proclaimed, "Only God can make a tree."

Can we trust God, with great patience, to grow us up into towering Oaks of Righteousness? We are so vulnerable in the early stages, young and tough, and then very hard to kill. Even if we are left a stump- we will yet yield shoots and fruit.

This type of tree takes great nourishment. This type of tree takes a long time. These trees are twisted, bent, even have some knots and notches- but they raise their arms in God's glory. I will comment later on the warfare of 'standing firm' and what that means to our lives in Christ.

At War- Casualties and Courage

I'm using the month of March to write about spiritual warfare.

Because we are in a war, there are real casualties. There is real pain. War involves sacrifice and there is both a fog of war and a battle hum that often creates doubt to winning or losing.

If you read I and II Timothy along with Philippians sometime, you get a picture of Paul, after years of faithful fighting- recounting the casualties.

I Timothy 1:3- certain men  teaching false doctrine, involved in controversy
1:5 they wander from love, pure heart, and good conscience
1:19 some have shipwrecked their faith
1:20 Hymenaeus and Alexander handed over to Satan
II Timothy 1:15 'everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me' including Phygelus and Hermongenes
2:17 Hymenaeus and Philetus wander away- godless chatter spreads like gangrene
3:10- Paul's persecutions
4:10 Demas deserted Paul because he loved the world
4:14 Alexander the metalworker did Paul great harm

And yet- he never despairs.. Paul continues to be filled with hope and joy.

Re-read Philippians and remember, this is Paul IN CHAINS
vs 3 I Thank God
vs 4 I pray with joy
vs 6- confident of victory
vs 12 what has happened to me has advanced the gospel
He says over and over I rejoice......
He says 'cheered', 'confident', 'eager'
Read chapter 3- wow - One thing I do- forget the past and strain toward what is ahead...I PRESS ON
Read chapter 4- rejoice- rejoice- rejoice- do not be anxious- pray with thanksgiving- peace will guard your heart and your mind- rejoice- I can do all things through Christ- I am amply supplied- your gifts are a fragrant aroma......

We gathered our small group last night and shared the battle... there is pain and worry and persecution. We prayed. I looked over my list this morning... it is long. I have never had a time in my life where there are so many spiritual and material needs. We have some real pleas for breakthrough.

But God is good. He is always faithful and he is the King and Victor! Let's keep pressing on!
The harder the struggle, the more glorious the victory.

At War- Triads, Tactics, and Schemes

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Eph 6:10

Scripture says we have three enemies: the world's system, our flesh, and the devil. In Revelation we see an unholy trinity of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet.

The world is against believers in that the system in place works against the righteous. It is a system built on fortune, fame, power, and pleasure. In Revelation we are asked to come out of Babylon, that is the corrupt city of man- filled with injustice, a city red with the blood of tooth and claw, and a land that lures the unsuspecting to their slavery and doom.

We are in the world, but not of it. An interesting concept. The obvious ways to miss this is to be in and of the world.... or to be totally out of the world, so removed that we do no good as salt and light. In this culture, you will feel like you are always swimming upstream if you profess allegiance to the Kingdom of Christ.

G.K. Beale is quoted as saying: "It has been said that worldliness is what any culture does to make sin seem normal and righteousness seem strange"

ROMANS 12:1-2 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We also have a problem with our flesh. The Apostle Paul struggled with this in Romans 7 when he writes that he cannot do what he wants, but does the very thing he hates. He finds that sin is in him, the one wishing to do good. Our battle versus the flesh is another life long battle, a part of the sanctifying process where we are to starve the old nature and feed the new. We are saved by grace, and we are sustained by grace, but we need to strive by all the means that God has appointed to grow in grace. We have power in the Spirit to succeed- and it is a noble task because God's ways are good and prosperous choices.

Think about how good we feel when we are eating right and exercising- well spiritual disciplines work the same way. We are urged to train in godliness.

ROMANS 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

GALATIANS 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

I TIMOTHY 4:7-8 Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Our final enemy is Satan himself and the 1/3 of the angelic host who now serve him as demons. Yes, He is real and present and active.

It is his whisper campaign that begins the process:

"Indeed... did God say?....."

I have found that Satan's greatest attack in in my mind. He wants me to doubt and fear, he wants me to hide in the shadows of secrets and shame. The word 'occult' means 'hidden'. Satan is a stealth stalker, a master of disguise, a sinister killer. He is the greatest one on one killer of all time- his only defeat was against our Lord in the wilderness. And Christ won it by wielding the Sword of God's Word. Are we prepared for such an encounter?

He loves to divide and conquer. Unity, love, prayer, honesty, and encouragement creates problems for his tactics. He wants us to be divided and suspicious. He wants us to be posers. He is relentless.

Does this battle make you weary? Are we extra tired because we don't know how to take a Sabbath rest? Are we discouraged because we are isolated? Are we being held back by habitual sin? Are we powerless because we are prayerless?

I don't want to stop here.... because hope and good news awaits. My next writing will be on the joy of fighting as a son of the most high.... our greatest identity! Press on!

At War- Wicked Weapons and Valient Victory

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.      2 Corinthians 10

I wanted to spend the month of March writing a little about the Christian at war. We wage a daily battle versus the world, the flesh, and the devil. The older I get, the more aware I seem to grow at the intensity of the battle and the devious and devastating attack of the enemy.

I sometimes avoid this topic because we tend to get a little squirrely  when it come to spiritual warfare- but in the last 6 years I have felt and experienced the attack in intense and very tangible experiences.

I also think that we tend to get a little too self focused in this subject. I sometimes adopt a 'woe is me when the wicked weapons take flight in my direction'.

Contrast this to Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when He basically says, "Congratulations when you a persecuted for righteousness sake."

I want to start with good news: if you are being attacked, it is a sign that you are effective and dangerous. When George Whitfield visited the early days of Princeton, he made an interesting prediction in 1739:

“The devil will certainly rage against them; but the work is of God and will not come to nought”

A quick story: I used to teach literature at a Christian school in Birmingham. We had a teacher leave mid-semester and I was asked to teach his Bible class to finish the year. It was an interesting scenario because I had the same students for literature and then a few periods later for Bible. The difference in the two classes was amazing. There is something about teaching Bible that brought out attacks and attitude. It made me realize that if you plan to be a Bible teacher, you better have prayer support and take it very, very seriously.

Fortunately, that prepared me for my last six years as a Bible teacher- but I will tell you that it is still a battle in many ways. I have had to get much better at making every minute count and providing very little idle time.

I have some good friends who have taught or are teaching Bible and I will tell you that they all have stories that describe struggles in confidence, pain in marriage, accusations and lies, and the whisper of the enemy..... 'you're just a fraud' or 'you just need to give up'.

Another point is that we need to be aware of the tactics of the battle when it comes to the insurgency versus institutions. Part of the attack is to corrupt and deceive. This is done in so many complex and insidious ways.

The attack on concepts: think how our enemy has taken on important things like "marriage"- "fatherhood"- "Bible"- "Jesus"- think how good things have been corrupted and even how humor is more of a mocking of good things.

The attack on leaders: Satan's whisper campaigns flow as an undercurrent to erode confidence in the motives and integrity of godly men and women. We tend to pass along negative rumor and innuendo, usually without any factual support.

The attack on knowledge.. especially reading: This one really frightens me. As our reading scores fall in our culture, we lose the ability to read and use the Word- our only offensive weapon. Remember that Jesus responded to Satan with Scripture, but very few Christians today can handle Scripture in ways to respond to his deceptive questions and half truths.

As you read the verse at the top of the page- remember that we are fighting on the winning team- we are guided and protected by the winning captain. So we should walk in confidence and victory. Wage the war well!

I hope to write more later in the month.

An Insomniac's Prayer Life and the Theory of Competition

Yes, it is 4:32 AM on a Saturday- yuck


Every now and then, the Lord decides I need an insomniac's prayer session- ever have those?


It goes something like this...
I am wiped out tired. Had a wonderful dinner with my wife at Macaroni grill. We walked around the mall. My oldest daughter is on a date. My youngest daughter is spending the night away. My middle daughter and a friend are walking around the mall also- but it is just Lisa and me. And it is fun.

Get home, lay in bed 5,4,3,2.... out like a light and I can sleep in in the morn! YEA!

Then at 2:30- the Lord says 'get up'- and I say "yes, sir"


And then we spend 2 hours going over all the prayers- all the deep things. I have friends who are dealing with death, economic hardships, diagnosis of cancer, disease, marriage hardships, job stress, etc....


Then family issues: broken bones and stresses of life. Bills and chores. My oldest is getting ready to be a senior.
Then I jump around in my brain- Sunday school lesson this week- school stuff- world issues- church stuff-memories- ideas, plans, schemes. What sounds so good at 3AM will seem so silly in the morn.

Then we go a little bit deeper. What am I just angry about right now? What am I afraid of? What am I ashamed of? Where am I scared to let God have control? Where am I fighting Him?

And then then final little poke. He says to me in my mind.

Why have you shrunk back from the fight? Why do you back down? Just because it looks like Satan has won a few skirmishes? Yeah, things are tough for a lot of people, but why the loser's lean? Do you doubt that I AM is in control?

So I closed my eyes last night, a little weary from life- a little battle weary in the fray. He woke me up to pray and I became a little overwhelmed in the dark. And now I am here with fire in my eyes to keep swinging the SWORD.

Part of this was helped by my friend and co-laborer Drew Maddux as he shared a you tube video today. I pasted the text below. It is based on a VERSUS commercial, but this one is about Tim Tebow.

THE THEORY OF COMPETITION

here is the thing that makes life so interesting
the theory of evolution claims only the strong shall survive
maybe so, maybe so
but the theory of competition says
just because they are the strong doesn't mean they can't get their butt's kicked
that's right
see what every long shot come from behind underdog will tell you is this
the other guy may in fact be the favorite
the odds may be stacked against you, fair enough
but what the odds don't know is this isn't a math test
this is a completely different kind of test
one where passion has a funny way of trumping logic
so before you step up to the starting line
before the whistle blows and the clock starts ticking
just remember out here
the results don't always add up
no matter what the stats may say
and the experts may think
and the commentators may have predicted
when the race is on all bets are off
don't be surprised if somebody decides to flip the script take a pass on yelling uncle
and then suddenly, as the old saying goes we got ourselves a game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9vVSU9CXGQ

So it is now 4:50 AM and all I can think is...... we got ourselves a game........

I am going to be really tired later on today.

Einstein, Iran, An Impossible Dilemma, and HOPE

Iranian President Ahmadinejad announced that the Islamic Republic had produced its first batch of 20 per cent enriched uranium. This comes on the heels of the promise by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Iran will deliver a ‘punch’ that will stun the West to mark today's celebrations.

As I was reading Einstein's bio, I was most interested in the events and circumstances in developing and using the atomic bomb. The irony was that the momentum to develop the greatest weapon of mass destruction came from a staunch passivist as Einstein worked so hard to implement.

Then something strange happened to Einstein's 'theory of passivity'........ and that is, it ran into this thing called 'reality'.

When Hitler came to power, Einstein immediately knew that he had been wrong on so many fronts and even wrote a series of letters apologizing for his error. Indeed there are regrettable times when evil must be confronted, constrained, and destroyed.

Einstein was so disappointed that his famous meeting with Freud offered no answers to removing the threat and reality of war. Freud made it very clear... as long as there are humans with wants- there will be war.

Then Einstein did his darkest thought experiment ever- indeed he had been tipped off on two previous encounters- nuclear fission was not only possible, but horribly accessible.

He wrote a now famous letter to Roosevelt where he expressed concerns about the German's access to the technology and the uranium. In actuality, Hitler had kicked out all the scientists who were capable of achieving this because they were all Jewish.

'Oppenheimer's deadly toy' was dropped by Truman, the cold war erupted, and here we stand as a tinderbox still...... more fragmented and destructive as ever.

Now the world has an unsolvable dilemma. I find it dastardly ingenious what Iran did today. They announced they had the uranium enrichment capability, but denied wanting to make a weapon. "Would you like some ketchup with that load of crap?"

But adding that caveat, buys more time for the doves to fight the hawks. And Obama is in an impossible situation.

What do we do?

Well, at the risk of unleashing the 'rancor of the theologians' I want to propose that ultimately we can do very little. That doesn't mean we don't try. We should work like everything depends on us and pray like everything depends on God. And sometimes that means tough, tough calls. But appeasement does not work..... our softness will not turn away their wrath.

Now, some strange 'good news'- this is in the Book. It would take too long here to lay out my whole view of Revelation, prophecy, and eschatology. But I believe Rev 16 points to a time in the future. It did have a type or shadow of fulfillment in the past, but God's final BOWL (remember that it built up seals, trumpets, thunders which were cut short, and finally bowls of God's wrath) appears to me to be nuclear.

Read below:

Revelation 16:16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Ok- the emails and negative comments will begin to pile up.

What do we make of this?        Peace, courage, and confidence.

God is in control. If we have bent our knee to Him and embraced His Son of Salvation, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

If you can read this and your heart is beating- your day of mercy is still open- but one day..... it will close. Either your appointed end day or the world's appointed end day.

Don't be discouraged and don't grow weary. All of us should love life, love others, live confident that Jesus is with us. This day may still be a long way off. We need to pray for a recapitulation, we need to humble ourselves and ask for revival. The gospel is sweeping the globe and our history, the story of our life on the earth, can still go in two directions.

Pray for our leaders- without the wisdom and blessing from God.... they are in trouble.

"The heart of the King is in the hand of the Lord". I praise my God no matter my circumstance. AMEN.

Einstein and Jesus- The Biggest God Shaped Gap

This month I am recording some thoughts on the biography by Walter Issacson on Albert Einstein.

Einstein knew something was there. He was amazed at the beauty of the universe and the design of the universe. He was also surprised that the mysteries of complexity were so available to mere mortals. Accessible mathematical calculations!

After Dr. Hubble discovered the universe was moving Einstein and his wife, Elsa visited the Mount Wilson observatory.

Dr Hubble was showing off the very expensive telescopes and monitoring equipment.

"We use all of this, Mrs Einstein, to figure out the shape and size of the universe." He exclaimed.

"That's nothing", she said, "my husband can do that on the back of an envelope."

So what prevented Einstein from discovering the 'last perfect truth'- so simple and so complex..... too wonderful to miss..... what he really longed for?

He was so close.

Read the quotes below:

"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene."

He was asked in an interview:

You accept the historical existence of Jesus?“

He responded:

"Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."

Please! Do not let the simple things of the world shame the wise. Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior while the door of mercy is open.

You will find that he fills the God-shaped gaps!

What the Super Bowl Tells Us About America

I feel a little bit of post-football blues. It's over (except year round on NFL network) until late summer.

The Super Bowl runs 1 year behind my age which, now that I am in my 40's, each year it helps me remember whether I am 44, 45, or 46.

What did last night tell me about us?

1) We love underdog- comeback stories. The 'Aints' are Kings of the World. Not even Katrina could keep them down. I admire that. Those are good ones. I predicted a Colts blowout and the Saints proved the biggest "WHO DAT" yet.

2) We tend to enjoy the silver spoon, to good to be true, established man to go down. As good and right as it is to cheer the underdog, I grieve a little at the venom at Peyton Manning. I don't cry for him, even though I believe he is misunderstood and mis-characterized. He really hurt this morning, he hurt really deep. all of his work came up short. But I bet he will find the will to go one more time.

3) The humor in our country is warped and old. It seems like every commercial used shock, sex, or slap stick. When the little horse and little steer Budweiser commercial came on, my daughter said, "Finally, a decent commercial".

4) I like that we are including God Bless America along with the National Anthem. It is a great song and I love the support we show our troops.

5) I love football- last night was a good game. We have a good product on the field now- it is fast and fun- offenses and defenses are amazing AND with wide screen formats, we are seeing more of the LB/ secondary play.

6) My friend, Ernie Conwell who won a Superbowl with the Rams (sorry Titans fans), tells about the players in the locker room after the win. The celebration was going on and he noticed that the players who did not know the Lord almost looked shocked.... "This is it?" "Why is it so unfulfilling?" People who know the Lord know why..... Only the Creator can fill up those longings and even then, it will not be until the New Heaven and Earth is put in place.

On to Basketball!

Einstein: Even Geniuses Mess Up

This month my blog is a response to Einstein's biography.

Einstein had a miracle year where he wrote 5 papers that changed Physics forever.

It is interesting how one hits a sweet spot of energy and risk- a youthful exuberance that allows the freedom to fail and the possibility of world changing significance.

According to Einstein, it is a short season- I put two quotes together that expresses this idea:

Anything truly novel is invented only during one’s youth- later he becomes more experienced, more famous, more block headed... Soon I will reach the age of stagnation and sterility when one laments the revolutionary spirit of the young- to punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.

So Einstein hit that sweet spot and changed the world. He still contributed a ton in the aftermath- but he had the right starting point, the right questions, the right imagination, and stayed true to his convictions

Then he made an error- what he called his 'greatest blunder'.

As he was making his calculations and doing more 'thought experiments'- his instinct caused the idea to jump out that the universe was moving.

"That can't be" - was his thought. Every idea at that time was a static model of the universe. It was accepted as a universal truth.

So he did something that is used at times in theoretical physics... he added a cosmological constant in his equations to freeze the universe in place. He fudged the numbers.... He fixed the problem with a variable. You have to do that when you are at the edge of the unknown and transcendent.

Then in the 1920's Edwin Hubble discovered something..... the universe was expanding and slowing.... it was not static.

Had Einstein been willing to follow his sweet spot hunches- we would most likely call  'The Big Bang"- "Einstein's Big Bang".

Now don't misunderstand 'blunder'. The blunder was not adding the constant, in fact his variable is quite useful in the theory of cosmology.

The blunder was hiding from the truth. Letting his incorrect pre-suppositions prevent him from following the path of truth. See, it would have shaken the rafters if he put this idea out... the world was not ready.

I love how he laughed it off and shrugged it off. Oh that we all would be so willing to say... I goofed and just go on.

By the way- Christians do not need to be afraid of the 'Big Bang' because a moving universe suggests a cause and behind the cause ultimately has to be An Uncaused Cause. This is not Christianity or even theism yet- but it actually supports the Bible's account of a beginning.

A couple of closing points:
How do we handle our mistakes?
How do we handle the mistakes of others?

This is a big deal because even geniuses screw it up every now and then.

Einstein: Infinite Appetite for Distraction

This blog continues my analysis of Walter Isaacson's Biography on Einstein:
My starting point with Einstein is where all men start, magnificent beings, the crown jewel of God's creation (Psalm 8) but born with a deadly problem- sin. Not just doing bad things- it is essentially a rebellion. We are born with a rebellious soul and it is encouraged by our environment that is tainted and stained by it in every corner that we touch.

The easiest reformed theological concept to prove is moral inability or, as Calvin says, human depravity. Not that we are as bad as we could be- but a recognition that the default mode of natural men is a refusal to acknowledge the creator and the worship of created things (Romans 1).

As we all go through life, we get more ingrained to our particular sin paths. It may be an addictive nature or a cynical nature. It may be active rebellion or passive indifference. It may be affliction of shame or cowering in fear. It may be moral oppression or lawless expression. I have it- you have it- Einstein had it.

Even though Issacson lauds Einstein as a moral man (he indeed followed strong convictions and was kind and surprisingly humble)- the fruit of Einstein's journey is littered with violations of the creator's boundaries.

• Inappropriate relationship which parents did not approve
• Child out of wedlock that was put away
• Failed marriage
• Rough divorce
• Illicit affairs- lived with first cousin- later admitted adultery and married her

The fruit of our waywardness is consequential. God's precepts are good because they ultimately shield us from the terrible results of sin.

Now let's talk about how this impacted Einstein the most. His life was in some ways mirrors what we all do- run and hide or medicate the pain of living. We do this in a number of creative and complex ways. It often fuels our pursuits and creates flashes of passion.

Einstein admits this in the following quote:

“One of the strongest motives that leads men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness. Such men make this cosmos and its construction the pivot of their emotional life, in order to find the peace and security which they cannot find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience.”

A route out of this cycle of sin and shame is to acknowledge and bow before the personal, Triune God of the universe. But Einstein's dread of such a Being- the sheer horror of such an encounter- caused him to start with a pre-supposition of a detached god. One with complexity- but not personality.

So this is our first God-shaped gap. We need to be brought into the presence of a Holy deity who relates to us as a person. A reunion with The Father through The Son.

This is what separates the Christian gospel from all other faiths.

Without this relationship, we are merely amusing ourselves with an infinite appetite for distraction.


Do you see the God-shaped gaps?

Einstein: Beauty, Unity, and the God Shaped Gaps

I just finished the 551 page biography, Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. It was an incredible account of an amazing human being.

I will be writing this month a response and application of this man's story- one so connected to life, science, and faith.

I wanted to start with the last two sentences of the book:

"He was a loner with an intimate bond to humanity, a rebel who was suffused with reverence. And thus it was an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe (551)."

It is always interesting to me to see how great men of human history end up being loners and rebels. It was Emerson who coined the quote: 'To be great is to be misunderstood'.

It actually encourages me (and believe me, I am no Einstein) to know that it is OK to spend time in thought and wonder. I don't think we do it enough. My most annoying habit is that I get lost in the wonder of God and the mystery of the universe- ask my wife.

The last few days, we have been snowed in, and I have found myself rather withdrawn and contemplative. It is a loner existence, but I never feel alone. I am comforted more and more by the presence of Jesus in my life.

Now the struggle is to step out and share the presence with others I love. Namely, my wife and children and the students and teachers I rub shoulders with. But I have to be honest, I feel the draw that hooked Albert his whole life- he called them Thought Experiments- and he played them over and over in his mind. He spent countless hours contemplating buckets filled with water and what it would be like to ride a sunbeam. He did the thinking and later applied the math. It was his free thinking and keen ability to start with the right pre-suppositions that allowed him to unlock the truths of the cosmos.

This book has helped me see a little about how my brain operates. It sounds crazy, but much of my life is running football plays over and over in my mind, then I switch and run Bible verses over and over, then I think about family...friends, and then I think about football. For the last few years, I have been afraid to do this much- I even feel like I am weird. I get lost in a book that describes the grandeur of God's glory and I feel His pleasure. I put together a game plan and I feel His pleasure.

But Einstein encourages me to be willing to be me- if that cuts against what people may desire out of me, so be it. I hope that one day- there will come from me new thoughts in both areas for the benefit of others. I want the gospel to be more real and I want the spread offense to be more deadly.

I seem aloof at times- but I do know that I really care!

So forgive the arrogance of just posting Einstein and me... it is what a blog is for. More will come later- but I hope to bring together a unity and will propose a thought experiment... do you see the God-shaped gaps?

Last Chapter- Fading Alabama JV Football Memories

One more snow day and one more football post. I'm actually going to be writing about Albert Einstein in Feb (I'm sorry- but hey it is my blog).

The Alabama JV road show continued in the fall of 1982 and most likely, the program was killed by Livingston University (now West Alabama).

Where the other schools were so happy to be playing us, all I could feel at Livingston was scorn. These were the players who were turned down and not good enough for the Tide. And all through the pre-game, I could smell the venom in the air.

It started when we all noticed Johnny Shepherd, Livingston's little All-American SENIOR Tb, was dressed out. He was a good looking running back.

These guys were big, I don't know if it were all varsity guys or not, but they had their mad on.

One little side note was that I had been offered a scholarship by Livingston. Coach Delasandra (asst who recruited me) was not happy the day I turned them down to walk-on at Alabama. He told me that I was just 'going to be a blocking dummy at Alabama' and that it was just a 'stupid decision'.

But I had not liked anything about Livingston. I didn't hunt, and it was the main pastime at Livingston. On my recruiting trip there, I saw a deer hanging from a tree at city hall! Coach Dee said it was a poacher's deer. (Now I am all for hunting.. but city hall?)

We made 3 laps around the campus in Coach Dee's car and all he bragged about was their Crispy Chick restaurant. He mentioned it three times!

As I was on the phone with him all I could think about was it seemed better to be a blocking dummy at Alabama than eating every meal at the Crispy Chik in Livingston.

Almost 1 year later, I looked over at Coach Dee and thought that I was about to be prime rib for a University Scorned.
Now I need some help here, but we dressed a GOOD tight end for this game- and I think it was Preston Gothard- but my memory says that that is impossible. It wasn't Jay Grogan- but all those guys kind of look the same.. who was it?

Anyway, we put in a play action pass during pre-game and worked it. I would run the option, take a few steps down the line, step off the line, and hit the big boy on a corner route.

Here's the problem... we ran it over and over during pre-game. The Livingston coaches were all lined up and watching us do it. I had the same experience years later as a coach, when a team in Montgomery worked on a play like that. We coached it up before the game in the locker room, they ran it the first play of the game, and we intercepted it and ran for a TD. Yes, those things do happen in football.

So we start the game.

Johnny Shepherd returned the opening kick-off for a TD. I don't know if they have records from that game- but I know that he set numerous records on this afternoon. No one saw it though, because I forgot to mention that they had a bout 3 fans in the stands.

We get the ball. 1st down dive. No gain. 2nd down option. No gain. 3rd down play action pass.

I stepped off the line and out big TE had the corner under him and the safety over him. There was no place to throw the ball. So I gave a little pump fake, and ran for the chains.

I got just past the first down and was crushed out of bounds. The official walked up and spotted the ball two yards shorter that that.

I looked at him, "You've got to be kidding me!"

He spat back with a profanity laced rebuttal to go to my sideline and be quiet. I had never been cursed at by an official.  I know this sounds insane, I am thinking about Will Ferrel's movie Elf when he said "You're not the real Santa Clause". That fateful day.... were those real officials? Who would know?

I jog over to the sideline and Coach Amos was there. He is now the special teams coach for the Green Bay Packers. Now, Coach Amos had been very nice to me for 2 games and a few practices. He would tap me on the head and say encouraging things which I translated, Bless your heart- you can't help it, look at what we have, and how we never practice yada yada yada.

But Coach Amos finally snapped and blasted me. I don't think he cussed, but it may be due to my adjusting to the official's vocabulary, but no mistake about it HE WAS MAD.

"Throw the ball to your Tight End!"

"He was covered" I mumbled back.

"He's 6'5, 250 lbs! They cannot handle him, we are going to call that play again and I want you to THROW THE BALL!"

"yes sir".

It wouldn't take long to get the opportunity. Johnny Shepherd ran a TD in one play.

Next series. 1st down dive. No gain. 2nd down option. No gain. 3rd down play action pass.

This time I stepped back and threw it.

Side story 2. I am about as even keel guy as you will ever meet. But when I do get mad it is a scary thing. All the years I played Qb, I got almost homicidal if someone intercepted me. In my head, I have a highlight tape of hits I have made on DB's who picked me off in high school. I even had a good one against Marion that year.

So when I threw it, I just took off after the ball already looking to kill whoever caught it.

It was the safety. And I attacked him in unrighteous fury.

On the way, I saw this blur and the warning signal went off in my head. It was a linebacker who was stalking me, I was about to get snot rocked.
And then I did something that I had never, ever, done on a football field in my life. I stopped, turned, and swung my fist at him with everything I had.
I missed his head (which is good because all fighting does in football is break your hand), but the top of my forearm happened to catch the corner of the buckle of his helmet. As my arm grazed by, his buckle sliced me like a scalpel about 6 inches of my forearm.

I got up, squeezed the wound together, and ran over to the sidelines. Coach Amos was roasting me good and stopped in mid-sentence. My arm was bleeding pretty good. "Trainer!"

We did have 2 docs and a training staff with us. I'm alsmost sure it was Dr Deshazzo who examined me. It was a pretty deep slice.

"Do you want to play?" He asked me.
"Yeah, I do."
"You guys bring the needle and thread over here." He said.
"On second thought, Doc, I will just wait." And that was it.

He wrapped it up. I watched Johnny Shepherd rush for 400 yds. The game climbed into the 40's to zip.
Coach Dee acted like he was concerned about my injury. And Dr Deshazzo stitched me up back in Tuscaloosa.

I did play on special teams our last JV game at home. Perry Cuda played QB and exacted revenge over Marion.

I moved to Strong Safety the next year under Coach Perkins and had a fantastic time with Lee Clements, the Lombardo brothers, Sammy Hood, Ricky Colbert, Scott Conell, Thom Whitely, and a host of others.

I could write a book about 'the daily target'- 'my hit on Craig TD Turner that almost killed me'- 'off season with Al Miller'- 'Scout team hiding in the bushes before practice wearing Tennessee colors'- and many many others.

I thank God for all the great memories- they are real treasures. God bless and Roll Tide!

Comeback at Ft Benning- Fading Alabama JV Football Memories

Update- I found the article from the game in the Ft Benning Bayonet- so this article is updated.

I will do one or two more of these since we have a snow day. The following story is as true as my pride and memory have preserved it.

I'm writing these assuming that the Fall of 1982 was the last official season of a JV schedule, even though I know they played individual games at times after that.

After the Marion Military game, we traveled next to Ft Benning, GA. home of American heroes- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gen. Omar Bradley, Senator Robert Dole, Gen. George Marshall, General George Patton and Gen. Colin Powell. While at Fort Benning, Gen. Eisenhower coached the Fort Benning Doughboy football team to an all-Army championship. He later retired as a five-star General.

A couple of vivid memories was how neat it was to go on the base and how impressive their stadium was. It was made like a small bowl and it was a perfect evening for football.

To add to the atmosphere were the packed crowd of cadets- it was a sellout- Alabama was in town.

Not only that, each army fatigued fan had a bunch of red tickets that they were taking to the concession stand. Those tickets were exchanged for cases of beer.

I'm going through pre-game warm-ups and staring at this spectacle. A long line at the concession stand, and soldiers carrying cases of beer under each arm up into the stands. Within 30 minutes, the bowl was standing room only- everyone dressed up like GI Joe- and chanting army cheers- 'AAYEAAAYYEO', 'AAYEAAAYYEO'- we got pumped up pretty good and then the doughboys came out to a loud cheer.

They were huge! And it appeared to me that not many of those boys were college age- they were men! Their QB was tall and good. We were in trouble.

Now. I need to take a little side ramp. Our center (and I am blank to his name, it feel it almost at the front of my deteriorating frontal lobe) was a great guy. But he was was not a great center- He tried- but I think he weighed 185 lbs and snapped the ball real slow. It was like catching a pass... under center!

I had been using him for weeks during scout team and even though Mike Rodriquez was the scariest looking human on the Alabama defense- I was convinced he was a kind-hearted person because my center could still walk after each practice. (And Tommy Wilcox was nice enough to let me live many times during practice).

Ok- Back to Benning. The coaches decided to help our offense this game by bringing center Mike White along. Mike was a real lineman- muscles and tough- (he also had a cool trick where he could put a twist tie in one nostril and pull it out the other nostril- but that is another story).

Now the problem... I had never taken a snap from Mike White... ever. My first worry was when I line-up under him for the first time and said the cadence. We were using a totally different cadence than the real Alabama offense. So we got that straight and then I said "HUT". A heat seeking missile called the football about broke my thumb and the ball ricocheted 10 yds away. HOUSTON WE HAVE A BIG PROBLEM.

Not only was it faster, but the real Alabama offense used a different snap that allowed for the reach and ride of the wishbone. I had done it a few times, but our scout team took the old style snap because that is how Mr ED snapped it (please, my old center, accept my apology now).

updated note- in the boxscore it confirms this- we had 8 fumbles and lost 6 of them.

The smell of beer in the air, the raucous chants, and an evening in Ft Benning- it was going to get wild.

We received the opening kick-off and we have 3 possessions, 3 one play drives, all turnovers from missed exchanges. It was pure misery. Mike White's face was beat red- he was so mad I thought he was going to throttle me to death. I was sure that 3 or four of my fingers were broken from the practice we were doing in between series. We were working so hard on the QB exchange that I was pouring sweat.

My only saving grace was that they tried the back-up Qb, Mark Jeansonne. And he screamed bloody murder as were heard his hand crack after Mike White's bicep fired.

updated note- Mark did throw a crucial 9 yd TD pass with 10 seconds left in the 1st half to close the score to 16-10

The coaches had to make a battlefield correction- Mr Ed was back in the lineup and Mike White was spared as a JV player.

Now the game. Our early turnovers spotted the doughboys an early lead. I think it was 10 or 13 to zip. But again, we had a great defense and good kicking game.

We actually moved the ball a little in the 2nd quarter. I ran an option play for 15 yds. And pitched on the next one for a 20 yds gain. I think I also remember our full back doing well. Thom Whitley had been added to that position and he just willed himself for 5 yds on the dive play.

Again... fading memory.... but it seems like Paul Trodd kicked a long FG right before the end of the half.

updated note- Mark did throw a crucial 9 yd TD pass with 10 seconds left in the 1st half to close the score to 16-10

Halftime- Coach Rutledge gave a great speech- made us all laugh and then reminded us that Alabama football was all about the 4th quarter.

We intercepted a pass coming out in the 3rd quarter and started the drive deep in the doughboys territory. We lined up and got them to jump offsides. They called timeout.

While we were in the huddle, I heard my offensive linemen talking. "Did you smell what I smelled?"

It seems like the doughboys traded in some red tickets at halftime. I had never been a part of players who had been drinking DURING the game.

As good and crisp as Ft Benning was in the first half- they just wilted in the 2nd. We put in a blitz scheme at halftime and we got some big time hits on their Qb.

The most amazing part of the game was that when we started the 4th quarter, the Cadet crowd changed their chants to a very familiar cheer. They were screaming "Rolllllllll Tide Roll"!

With 2 or 3 minutes to go, we blocked the Ft Benning punt and returned it for a TD and we went crazy... we won the game! It was a major miracle.

The next day at practice, Coach Bryant blew his whistle, and brought everyone up. He had all the JV guys stand up and bragged about our 4th quarter comeback. "That, men, is what Alabama football is all about." Everybody applauded.

My only thought was "If he only knew".

Mike White sneered at me. Coach Bryant blew his whistle, and I ran off to go through the gauntlet. I had the pleasure that day to get hit by Emmanuel King, Dante Bramblett, and Eddie Lowe. Eddie hit me so hard everyday that my whole body got a concussion.

Ahh the memories!

Final stats- We had 17 1st downs- 192 yds rushing- 32 yds passing- and won 24-22.

The Shark - Fading Memories of Alabama JV Football

My little brother Lee and me after AL/Marion Military

This is per a request and I will not bore anyone with a lot of these stories- this is a 27 year memory so make allowances for human pride and error.

In the fall of 1982, the University of Alabama played a limited JV schedule. Becuase of the redshirt rule, most of the talented freshmen were not available and created a team made up mostly of walk-ons with a sprinkling of scholarship guys.

There was almost no practice for these games. I do remember us running a team period where we ran a few wishbone plays, but there was no installation or technique teaching for the offense.

Our first game was at Marion Military Institute.

Now, you have to understand that these teams were playing ALABAMA- and they were jacked to the max.

We had spent the week running Georgia Techs Pro I offense. Our beloved 'Head Coach' was Jack Rutledge- possibly the most loved man in that program. The offensive coordinator was 'Famous Amos' Jones and it seems like I remember Rich Wingo and Murray Legg coached the defense.

First, the defense was solid. Wingo was really stoked that Lee Clements was 'just knocking the hell out of people' and we played great defense in every game.

Now to our poor offense. As a coach now, I appreciate how woefully unprepared we were for a game situation. It was not anyone's fault.  Our first possession, we broke the huddle and I immediately called timeout because we only had 10 men on the field. The problem was that I had talked Coach Amos to run a Pro-I bootleg on 1st down because it was one of the few scout team plays that actually worked that week. So we had 1 less back and no wide receiver.

As we stayed in the huddle on the field waiting for the chaos to be sorted out, I realized it was going to be a long night. My center looked at me and asked, "who do I block?".

See, we always practiced against Alabama, who ran a 50 defense (3-4 today) so there was always a noseguard. Marion ran a split 40 that had two 'three techniques' and no noseguard.

This was not going to be fun at all.

We ran the boot on the first play and I was sacked for about a 10 yd loss. In fact I was sacked enough times that game to end up with -77 yards rushing for the game.

The low light of the game was where I got mad and kept spinning out of tackles. I spun , stepped, got hit, spun stepped, got hit- and if my memory recalls it right- I broke about 7 tackles and still lost 5 or 6 yards. After the play, the official marking the ball said , "WOW".

A positive and a lasting memory. Joe Smith, a scholarship wide receiver actually dressed out and we found a play that worked. I would get the snap, take a 1 step drop, and throw it to Joe before every Marion player hit me. And Joe actually caught it.

Hoss Johnson was waiting on me as we came back to Bryant Hall after the game. 'I was listening to y'all on the radio- oh my goodness, you got killed.'

They also posted my Official NCAA stats on the board in the dining hall. I had 75 yds passing and -77 yds rushing for a total of -2 yds total offense. It was highlighted in yellow with the note 'WAY TO GO'! Coach Mal Moore just laughed out loud when he saw me.

Now to the shark. We had a walk-on player that he and everybody called 'The Shark'- someone help me with his name. All I can remember is that he was a receiver and one of the most unusual characters I have ever met.

He was from Florida or Oklahoma (but I think it was Florida). I asked him what brought him to Alabama, and he pointed at the tower without saying a word.

He took white athletic tape and doctored up his practice stuff including making an 'S' on his jersey. He did push-ups throughout the whole practice. He must have done over a 1,000 push-ups everyday.

And I never saw him, EVER, catch a pass. I would throw him the ball during warm-ups and he could not catch. He actually was a tall, decent looking receiver. He could run, ran pretty routes, but the ball hit the turf every pass.

So in this game vs Marion, because the defense was playing great- we had the ball and a chance to win in the 4th quarter. I think we returned a punt to our side of the field. On 3rd down we called our last timeout.

I went to the sideline and was talking to Coach Amos. 'The Shark' stepped in our huddle.

He said, "Shark Deep Sure Six"- kind of like a hollywood moment.

Coach Jones looked at him and asked, 'What did you say?"

Shark spoke with firm confidence and enthusiasm, "Shark Deep Sure Six, Sir"

Coach Jones grabbed him and screamed 'SIT DOWN SHARK'.

And that was the last I ever remember seeing the shark. We lost. My white uniform had blood on the jersey and pants ( Nowadays I would have been ejected for the blood rule).

An interesting side note. My wife, Lisa, was at that game watching her high school boyfriend who played LB for Marion. I would meet her 6 months later.

All she can remember was the Marion crowd talking about how that Alabama Qb was being beat to death.

But I have loved writing this because it is such a fun memory! OK guys, chime in- where is my memory only legend or gaps I have forgotten.