Tuesday Morning Quarterback

Why, when the score is 16-7 (and your team is "7") do you call for an onside kick to start the second half?

Why, when 8 defensive players are lined up in the box do you call a run up the middle or a pitch to the outside?

Why, on 4th and 4 do you call a quarterback sneak for your quarterback who has missed the past three games following knee surgery?

Kudos to a great defensive scheme by Coach LeBeau (after the first touchdown play, the Steelers defense clamped down allowing something like 81 yards the next 6 drives).

As for the big dog -- Coach Cowher ... why ... why ... why?

Great play #43 and the rest of the "D" (even though Ike Taylor was on my badside at the beginning of the game).

Win Sunday and control your destiny. Lose, and you are at the mercy of others.

Gracias Mi Amigo

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die (well, maybe not tomorrow, but it is coming. No one gets out alive, unless your name is Elijah, Enoch or Jesus).

Practice the art of giving thanks and revel in the mystery of divine discontent. Share more than a meal with family and friends. Participate in true fellowship (koinonia). Watch some football. Enjoy the moment. Take a nap (while watching football -- hey, it's just the Cowboys).

Seriously, I spent this afternoon attending a funeral and then celebrating with a family over the birth of their first child. The assistant who went with me remarked how we "covered the spectrum." Since she is older and wiser than me who am I to add to her insightful comment.

Life is often peculiar, downright frustrating at times, but always purposeful. From birth to the grave, we walk on this road, but never without purpose and never alone. This is part of the divine discontent. We are content with what God provides, but we are discontented until we finally reach "home."

Tell God "thank-you." IM Him or send Him an email (it's called praying).

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Choose Life

Growing up, I always played sports.

Football? Check.

Baseball? Check.

Basketball? Check.

Track? Check.

Tried a bunch of different ones, but finally settled on basketball as my favorite. Football was a close second, but in hindsight probably should have been the one I focused on.

Football and basketball came pretty easy to me. Never had a problem playing either one. Succeeded at both, but only injured in one. During my years of football, I never sustained even the slightest injury. Sprained ankle? No. Concussion? No. Broken bones? Not even one.

On the other hand, my injury list in basketball is quite lengthy. Sprained ankle? Three times for the left, once for the right. Broken bones? Well, just a broken nose. Concussion? Yes, hitting your head on the backboard hurts. And the big one: anterior cruciate ligament tear, complemented by an mcl tear and some torn cartliage.

This last injury happened the summer before my senior year of high school. Unable to get a medical "redshirt" (skip the season and graduate a year later), I went through rehab in an attempt to play my senior season without an ACL. Big mistake. It was a painful season. I made it till January, then stopped to prevent more injury. The surgery that followed was successful, but my outlook had changed.

Beginning my junior year, I began receiving recruitment letters from colleges. Recruiters would even come visit me in the cafeteria at lunch (this impressed the girls). Following the injury, many of the letters stopped coming. There were a few colleges that still expressed an interest and I chose one in West Virginia.

The college athletic experience was not a good one. I accepted a basketball scholarship to a "Christian" college. The coach was a Christian and even preached at local congregations on the weekends. Yet, his language in the locker room at halftime was different than what I had ever heard from a preacher. The assistant coach offered players his house, if they ever needed a place to take their girlfriends. Cheating in classes was rampant. Stealing was also common among the players.

My coach in high school never claimed to be a Christian, but he was a much more moral man than the coaches I met in college.

The worst was yet to come. Major scandal broke out at the college when four basketball players were caught in a hotel room with two cheerleaders and a few other women students in what can only be described as a "drunken orgy."

My outlook on sports forever changed. Are sports good? Yes. Are sports the most important thing in life? Absolutely not.

My son and daughter both play sports and enjoy it. I don't think they quite understand when I tell them, "if it ever stops being fun, then stop playing."

I grew up in the spotlight and under pressure (not from my parents). As a former college athlete, I can say that playing basketball was a passion. It was fun. But it could not compare with what God was doing in my life.

The college experience led me to give up my scholarship and walk away. I always pondered my next step in sports. When I was in 8th grade, my coach told me, "Ben, I believe you can go as far in basketball as you want to go." The local pharmacist once told my Dad, "I love watching Ben play." I even made the coveted "Elite Eight" list in the paper (best players in western PA). Hey, I even received a nickname growing up, "Bird Jr." (but I could jump higher than him).

Pondering my next move led me to ask a question, "Then what?" Play college ball? Then what? Go to the pros? Then what? When all is said and done, then what?

Basketball created many opportunities for me, but it could never fill the role of Savior. My "then what" became a motivation for me to sell out to serving God. Friends thought my decision was a little strange. Sports nuts were confused. But, in the end, the decision was easy.

When my (future) wife and I transferred to another school, the basketball coach approached me and asked if I would consider playing again. He was (and still is) a good man. I grew up going to his basketball camps. I have a great respect for him, but my answer was "no." Maybe the wounds were too recent. Or maybe, I finally realized that basketball, and all sports, are games -- not life. What I had chosen was life, or rather, the Essence of Life.

Every now and then, I still relive the "glory days." I sometimes miss the crowd chanting my name or the announcer screaming, "starting at forward, #34, Ben Breeeeeewster!" Some days I'll flip through the newspaper articles, watch the TV interview, and think about the recruiting visits. How far could I have gone? That question is up for debate. However, I know that God has taken me farther than basketball ever could. I used to think that those who walked away from sports did so because they were just not good enough. Now, I know that is not always the reason. Some of them chose a higher calling.

Hannah and Drew, have fun playing sports. Play with passion. Always give everything you have. And when the day comes to move on, don't look back. No regrets. At that moment, you will continue on a journey led by God (that you have already started), and He will take you to places far beyond where sports can take you. Choose life. Choose God.

Fear This

The propensity of people to do evil is staggering. The battle for the souls of humans is raging. The welfare of a morally-relative culture is in the balance. And the clarion call for renewal, restoration, and rebirth is largely drowned out in the clamor of a selfish and easily distracted populace.

As the editor-in-chief of my college newspaper, I often received free passes to screen new movies. During these "sneak previews" the theaters and/or the movie studio would pass out free stuff to those in attendance.

When I took my wife to the advance screening of "Gettysburg," theater representatives gave out free stuff during intermission (yes, the movie was that long). They threw plastic footballs which I watched people dive over seats to catch. People shoved one another, verbally snapped at each other, and displayed an acclivity for selfishness.

Someone once told me that when push comes to shove virtually every person becomes selfish. Recently, following the hurricanes in Louisiana, there were a few days of gas shortages. I watched as people horded gas out of the fear that it was going to run out. The result of the hording is that gas stations could not keep up with the demand. What made people fill up so often? The answer is fear.

Fear not only shapes our behavior, it can also influence our theology. When congregations consider changes in methods, the voice of fear echoes off the walls of the church building. "Where will this lead?" "How far is this going to go?" "What will people think?"

Somewhere we replaced good questions like: "What is the right thing to do?" "How can we best glorify God?" "What things can we do to provide a worshipful environment for a collection of people that come from a multitude of races, economic backgrounds, and countries?"

Not too long ago, following a sermon I gave about worship, a woman approached me and said that she and her husband were "out of here" if we started using instruments in the Sunday morning worship assembly. I was puzzled by her comment, but after thinking about it I realized that she was making decisions based on fear.

If the propensity of people to do evil is staggering, then we need to go to great lengths to minister to all people in the name of the Savior who has already shattered the most powerful strongholds of evil.

If Jesus can stare down the forces of hell, descend into the depths of Hades and return with the keys, then His church has the power to stand against crippling fear and sound out a clear call to renewal and restoration.

Tunes to Treasure

Working through another week like the rest of you, I have experienced my share of ups and downs. But, hey, that is all a part of life!

Thankfully, God has given us the gift of music, which can inspire us, probe us to deeper thinking, and sometimes just bring a big smile to our faces.

Along these lines (and no I am not going to write about "church" music), there are several albums (read: cd) that have found a fond place in my my heart. Throughout the years, I have come to treasure a few albums. Three of my favorite ones are:

1) Disciplined Breakdown by Collective Soul. From start to finish, a solid recording without any weaknesses. The lyrics are thought-provoking, and the music is strong. The song, "In Between" is definitely the highlight of the album. IMO, this is the best Collective Soul recording.

2) Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty. Another example of solid writing. This collection of songs moves from the catchy to the expressive to the silly. Petty is a master craftsman whose songs, while musically simple, take on great meaning to his listeners. Consider the track "Free Fallin'". The song is basically one chord played many different ways, yet the song's story reverberates in the hearts of all who listen. Petty plays in the same vein as Bob Dylan and keeps the storytelling tradition in music alive.

3) Bringing Down the Horse by the Wallflowers. Jakob Dylan in many ways follows in his father's footsteps, but is creative in his own right. Each song on this recording is strong. Like the two mentioned above, this is an album you can leave in your cd player and listen to over and over again without getting tired of the songs. My personal favorite tracks are "The Difference" and "Josephine." The latter one is a favorite of mine because Josephine was the name of one of my grandmothers. The song is melodic and moving.

I have more on my list, but am curious to hear from the devoted readers of this blog. What are some of your favorite albums or songs? Let me know and tell me why.

Music is so powerful. I would gladly hand over my TV before prying my hands from my stereo. Don't take the music!

Sidenote: how all this plays out for a guy who is part of an acappella congregation leads to some pretty interesting conversation. Maybe that could be a future blog entry?

Good Enough

Just returned from a weekend trip to Dallas that concluded my week-long vacation.

Had the opportunity to visit the Richland Hills Church of Christ and hear Rick Atchley speak. His sermons are always a blessing to me.

During my days off this past week, I reflected a lot on my life and how I am using it. There are many aspects of ministry that I love. There are others that I detest. Recently, I seem to have been the object of scorn for a particular family. Of course, in my position, this opens the door to much criticism. The cheap shots follow: "he doesn't live what he preaches;" "his sermons are not deep;" "he acts unChristian;" etc.

These are not new to me. As a "Preacher's Kid," I have heard them all before. They come from hurting people who are choosing to act and speak from their pain, rather than from their place of value. Hurting people must battle against the "Scapegoat mentality." This means to not succumb to blaming others for everything that goes wrong. As easy as this sounds, it cannot be accomplished until people deal honestly with their pain.

Rick Atchley indirectly addresses this very subject in his sermon this morning. I do not think it was mere coincidence. I think the Spirit works these things out.

So, I begin this new week filled with hope. Will there be bumps in the road? Yes. Will I hear criticisms? Probably. Will any of these change how God feels about me? No. Will any of these change His plans for me? Not at all.

The challenge is how I respond. I know where God stands. And that is good enough.

House of Pain or Place of Value?

Motivating factors in life include love, fear and pain.

Coaches incorporate tactics of fear or love in order to motivate their players. Some athletes fear losing or disappointing their coach, so they play from a sense of dread, a fear of failure. Other athletes are willing to "run through brick walls" because they love their coach and their coach loves them. They do not fear losing. And they are confident that their best efforts will not disappoint their coaches. The mutual love present eliminates fear and elevates the "best" in all those involved.

People have plenty to fear in life. Instead of promoting fear as an attempt to "control" others, the healthier action is to reaffirm the value of people.

Often, when people verbally berate other people or spread rumors about them, they are operating out of their fear and pain, rather than from their value. It goes like this: someone gets angry at another person and goes to talk to that person (after talking to a dozen other people beforehand). The meeting does not lead to resolution and there is a distinct disagreement. Because the angry person did not get her way, her next response is an attempt to damage the reputation of the person with whom she is upset. This is done by conversing with other people (often people not involved in the situation) in order to form and control popular perception. The motive here is not the welfare of anyone or the resolution of the situation. Instead, the person operates out of fear and pain. Somewhere in her past, she has been hurt and has never dealt with that pain. It continues to simmer and instead of dealing with her pain, she inflicts pain on others. She operates not from her value as a person, but from her fear.

Fear seeks to control and manipulate. Love seeks to free and value others.

What I have found in my profession is that most people function out of fear. Pain is multiplied, the number of people hurt grows, and the person with the hurt never heals.

This attitude is seen in the controlling parent (or in-law), the disgruntled church member, and the manipulative boss or co-worker.

However, this attitude is not present in Christ. Why some of his followers hold on to such an attitude is not out of love, but out of fear.

Michael Stipe was right when he sang, "Everybody hurts sometime."

Fear or love? Pain or healing? Hurt or value?

Life is about responses.