This past Sunday at Hope we started a series on “Spiritual Gifts.” Instead of offering 2 classes as we usually do, we tried to get everyone at Hope involved in this particular class; we were about half-successful. Anyway, we believe that the use of our spiritual gifts is of paramount importance to the health of any church. Not to mention that the use of them is a command, not an option.

Randy used the illustration of a pond to portray the importance of both feeding yourself and feeding others. A pond that has no source of water flowing into it will dry up. You can’t feed others (serving others) without being fed (being ministered to) yourself. The reverse is also true. A pond with water coming in, and no water going out, is not a healthy pond either.

Here’s another illustration for you. What do you call a person who takes food in, but doesn’t let any food go out? Constipated. It is equally as dangerous for someone to feed all the time (fellowship, worship, teaching) but never serve others with their spiritual gifts. Look at Old Testament Israel. God is not a fan to say the least! We are being fed so that we can feed others. We are blessed so that we can bless others (Gen 12:1-3 ESV). We are served so that we can serve others.

Spiritual constipation is rampant in the church. Stuff comes in, but never goes out. The result is people who aren’t healthy. Spiritually they look like the dude in the picture above. We might think we are healthy because we know stuff. But very often we aren’t joyful. And we wonder why? Sometimes lack of joy is a result of sin, sometimes it is just a dry time spiritually which we all go through (look at most any Psalm), but other times it is because we aren’t using our gifts to serve the Church. We are uncomfortable and don’t realize that nothing has “come out of us” in a month, or a year or two.

I don’t apologize for using such a crass example of constipation. The bible is rife with imagery far more grotesque than constipation. Check out Ezekiel 23, Isaiah 64:6, Phil 3:8 if you don’t believe me. The latter references two have been “pleasantly” translated, even though in the original language they refer to things far grosser.

This is a serious issue for all churches today. The larger the church is, the number of people serving the church statistically gets smaller. But smaller churches still have large percentages of people not using their spiritual gifts. The result has a communal effect: a joyless church or at least a church which is not as joyful as it could and should be. Ultimately the call to serve the church with our gifts is a fight for joy; not just personal joy, but communal joy. On the flip side, lack of service will lead to personal and communal spiritual constipation.

Let’s tip our hats off to the Rays. To not roll over and die after blowing a 7 run lead in Game 5, and then losing game 6, then give up a 1 st inning homer, then bring in a pitcher, who just got called up to the big leagues in the middle of September, with bases loaded in Game 7. Crazy.

It takes more than just physical ability to accomplish the feat of beating the Red Sox. A team has to be mentally skilled to do what they did. During a post-game interview with Garza, he was asked if even in the back of their minds they were dwelling on their past two losses. Did you or any of you have the slightest bit of doubt about winning game 7? He answered matter-of-factly, “No, not at all.”

As a fan, I wasn’t even mentally tough enough to watch the game (though I did watch it fully when the Bucs game ended), feeling that the Rays’ relievers were going to blow it when they got the chance. And they probably would have if the rookie didn’t come out to pitch.

The Rays modeled a special grit and perseverance which the church ought to embrace. Especially when building or rebuilding a church. Regardless of “odds” or what people might say from the outside, the church can’t allow doubts to get in the way of it moving forward in discipleship and outreach. We can’t feel helpless, much like I did as a fan of a team who had just lost two games in a row. Instead of being passive, or assuming the worst, a church which confidently embraces its vision will not be distracted by losing big leads or back to back games (people and resources). That church will actually look forward to playing and winning their proverbial game 7 (church health and concomitant growth).

Last night was rough. Well just late last night. I did have a great presbytery committee meeting and a great first 6 innings of the Rays’ game. In case you didn’t see, know, or care, the Rays blew a 7-0 lead in the 7th inning to lose to our hated rivals: the Red Sox. They choked big time. Hopefully they can recover in game 6 or 7.

What was really strange to me was that this was a baseball game (baseball usually always plays second fiddle, or more apropos to the Rays-cowbell to football), and the loss really frustrated me. I’ve not been really bothered by a baseball loss since I jumped on the Pittsburgh Pirates bandwagon in the early 90’s. Forgive me, I was in Jr. High. And here I was waking up several times in the night, thinking how can one blow such a lead?

I’m totally fine with it now. It took me longer than my standard 30 minutes recovery, but I’m totally not bothered by it anymore. And I had a thought. For better or for worse.

The reason the loss bothered me was because I had emotionally connected with the team. The team’s story is amazing. Young guys, small pay roll, team-first mentality, etc….I also monetarily connected with the team by purchasing 4 tickets to Red Sox game in September (unfortunately their only home loss of the season to them!).

I used to watch a Rays game last year, see them lose, and be fine with it. But I feel I have much more personal capital invested this year. And that’s why it was so hard to see them lose last night.

But the Rays, just like people, will let you down. They will frustrate you. They will break your heart and blow proverbial 7 run leads. And people, like the Rays-if they don’t get the necessary fan base or new stadium-could potentially leave town someday.

So if you don’t invest in relationships, you will be safe from frustration. But while you will be safe from rejection, frustration, feeling of loss when people leave, you will have far less joy. You are sacrificing your joy at the altar of protection. But unless you are investing in people in some way, (family, friends, church, and/or outreach), you are truly wasting your life.

It’s been a blast following the Rays this year. They could totally choke the next two games. But it has been totally worth it. It’s been fun to see 9th inning comebacks or 14th inning game winning sacrifice flies. Yet they’re not my Savior, and neither are my relationships. I don’t expect them to be-at least I try not to, though often fail at that.

People are worth investing in, despite the fact they will let you down and may only be in your life for a season. But if you’re honest, you’ll certainly return the favor in one or both of the aforementioned ways.

I just finished reading Tony Dungy’s book Quiet Strength. I totally recommend it. Much of the book chronicles his experience with the Bucs, which I found especially entertaining. I could remember-whether that’s good or bad-every game he spoke of. In detail. I can even remember watching several games in person.

But one thing that really hit home was his retelling of the infamous OT Bucs-Colts game in 2003. Tony Dungy had been fired 1 and 1/2 years prior to that season and immediately became head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. He came back to Tampa on his birthday. And the Bucs sure did give him a present. Up 35-14 with 4 minutes to go, Tampa Bay gave up 21 points, and lost in OT. On a really bad personal foul call which allowed his kicker to re-kick after missing, which he fails to mention in the book!

I can remember that evening. Oh what a night. That fateful Monday night. I’m not sure that I got a whole lot of sleep that night. I couldn’t believe they had blown such a lead. And that call…As I was reading this section in the book, I began to realize how stupid it was/is to care that much about sports. In the book, the game ended, and Dungy went on to describe the next game. And the next game. And the next season. And the next, until he closed with his Super Bowl victory.

And who cares that the Bucs lost that game? Who cares that they were 7-9 that season? And when they actually did win the Super Bowl, did it stop me from being depressed?

Reading this book has given me a better picture of how to view sports. Enjoy sports and glorify God through them by using them as a connecting time or point with family, friends, church folk, co-workers, neighbors. But understand that after the season is over, that win or that loss means very little in the big picture. Even very little in the big picture of sports history!

Just don’t remind me of this truth IMMEDIATELY after the Bucs lose a play-off game. God’s really worked in this area of my life. But it still takes about 30 minutes or so to come back to reality.

Now of course with the Rays and Red Sox, it is more of a good versus evil thing that transcends sports. OK, maybe that’s a stretch. But a small one….

In response to my recent article on Nostalgia (which you ought to read, in my opinion!), I do need to state that there is a place for a backward glance. One such glance is called thanksgiving. I’m reading in Exodus now that God wants the Israelites to remember how HE delivered them from Egypt. One such way to remember was the Passover feast. In addition, they were supposed to eat unleavened bread to remind them that they left Egypt in a hurry. Some folks were even instructed to lay forth a pile of stones to remind future generations how God had delivered them.

But the purpose of thanksgiving was to praise God in the present, and to help the people trust Him in the future. Instead of looking for a repetition of the event (another Exodus, Red Sea Crossing, etc….) or a recreation of the experience of the event (nostalgia), the backward glance was to help them move forward into the Promised Land. Ultimately it was to point them to the cross, which is the ultimate Exodus. Now it is our turn to look to the cross. Only we look back, to guide us in the present and trust Him in the future. After all, He who did not spare his own son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not, along with Jesus, graciously give us all things (Rom 8:32)?

A few posts ago I mentioned something Calvinists call Total Depravity. Again, it means that we believe people are so sinful and spiritually dead, that will not choose to trust in Jesus on their own. It is only through the work of the Spirit that we are “born again.” (John 3)

But to say that humans are totally depraved does not mean that humans are “utterly” depraved: unable to do anything culturally good. Obviously both Christians and non-Christians do nice things like help old ladies cross the street and partake in hurricane relief. Non-Christians can at times be more generous, nicer, and just plain more like-able. This is due to the fact that all humans are made in the image of God (reflect something true of our creator). So humans are not as bad as we could be. Fortunately.

Let me give you an example from someone I would not normally want to praise: Bill Belichick, the coach of the New England Patriots. Several years ago the NFL ran a seedy intro to a Monday night football game. One of the Desperate Housewives (I can’t remember which one) showed up at the locker room soliciting Terrell Owen’s time and intimacy during the game. He chooses the girl over the game in the segment.

Tony Dungy objected to the add on a number of levels, one being race. He was blasted by most folks. Enter Bill Belichik. He stood up and backed Dungy, agreeing with Tony that if the NFL needed adds like that, he would take a pay-cut!

So, yes, as much as it pains me to say, way to go Bill. He is not “utterly” depraved, but instead created in the Image of God. And that incident reminds me of this truth.

The Bradenton Herald is nice enough to print my articles once every other month. With that being said, sometimes their editing can leave a little to be desired. Sometimes a lot. This month’s article is one example. Unfortunately the editor included a partial thought, that happened to stop in mid-sentence. And the concluding sentence comes out of nowhere. I guess I’ll just have to shorten up my articles from here on out. For some reason I couldn’t find the article online. Again, that’s probably not a bad thing. You can click here to download and read the unedited, uncut, unrated version of “The Danger of Nostalgia.” I’m quite happy with that version.

As I left the gym yesterday from another exciting elliptical machine experience (I hate it and can’t wait for my stinkin’ wrist to heal so I can get back to the weights!), I caught the tail end of the Davin Joseph radio show. He is an offensive lineman (Right Guard) for the Bucs, who has recently come back from a foot fracture.

When asked about his return to game action, he commented how other members of the line played a part in his decision on when to come back. He said his fellow lineman “know” him, meaning that they know his competitive nature and desire to get back in the games. He also said, “They know me, and they know me.” His 2nd reference to “know” was referring to the fact that they know his competitive nature often clouds his judgment. If left to his own, he would return early from injury and thus do further damage to his body.

So they knew his strength (competitive nature) and they knew his weakness (tendency to come back early from injury). As a result of being in community with these guys, Davin decided to come back in Week 5. His teammates commended him for his desire, but graciously encouraged him not to come back too early. Fortunately for them, and for me the fan, he listened. He seems fine now.

This once again shows us the importance of living in community, not in isolation from others who can affirm our strengths and help us in our weaknesses.

Recently on one of the 48 Hours mystery shows, or maybe it was a Dateline, they interviewed former kidnapped victim Sean Hornbeck. He was gone for 4 1/2 years until finally rescued. The strangest and perhaps saddest part of the whole ordeal was that he never ran away. Even when stopped by police for something else, he never turned his captor in. It took someone outside of himself to enter into the situation and come rescue him.

You see, his captor told him that if he ever left, he would find and kill him and his family. So the then 11 year old was paralyzed by fear. He knew exactly what needed to be done: run away. But he couldn’t. He was in a state of perpetual slavery. More so than that, he had no hope of coming out of that slavery.

That’s a picture of what Calvinist’s call Total Depravity. Some also refer to it as Total Inability. Just like the aforementioned child Sean, we may intellectually know we need rescue from slavery to sin. However, if left to our own devices, we will do the same thing as Sean: stay! We’re unable to leave. It takes the Spirit of God entering into our hearts in order to choose freedom. At that moment, one experiences what the great Hymn writer Charles Wesley writes in And Can it Be, “My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose went forth and followed thee.”

Yesterday I went to get on the Elliptical machine at the gym and felt my hamstrings tighten. I hadn’t been on the thing in days. What could it have been? Then I realized I had done a little bit of inadvertent exercise on the kayak Monday morning. Only the exercise had not been exactly “on” the kayak. I was running to the kayak in waist deep water.

When I fish, I usually wade and tie a rope attached to the kayak around my waist. Then I proceed to go wherever my little ADD mind will take me. The only problem was that I was wading without my kayak. I had forgotten to tie the rope. After about 10 minutes I realized there was no resistance, so I turned around looked behind me. And there was my kayak. Floating the opposite direction. At least a 100 yards away. With the wind blowing from the East (in the bible the East wind is a wind of judgment….), pushing my kayak across Sarasota Bay.

Unfortunately it was blowing quickly and moving the kayak to deeper water. So I raced across the grass flat hoping to get there in time. I can’t describe to you the helpless feeling of watching your only ride home just drift away. I didn’t know if I’d get there before it hit deep water. So I casted my lure to try and catch it. Once. Twice. No dice. So I put the cell phone and wallet in my ziploc bag and went deep. I was up to shoulders when I finally reached the rope. I was out of breath but thankful it hadn’t drifted to the other side of the bay.

Eventually I did notice that the normal weight of a kayak dragged against the wind was missing. I eventually realized it on my own, feeling led by the prodding of God’s Spirit. But I sure wish I would have had someone point it out to me earlier. It would have saved heartache and hamstring ache. There are some things which God will (if we are not quenching the Spirit-which is always a possibility) eventually convict us in time. But why wait until that point? Wouldn’t it be better to have someone we love tell us that we are walking forward, yet leaving our proverbial kayak behind us? Just some thoughts I had Monday after I got in from fishing.