Foolish Things

I love this verse in 1 Corinthians chapter one where Paul writes, "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are."

It's pretty amazing when you stop and begin to digest this passage. When you investigate the claim made here by Paul you begin to realize that he's really not stretching that much at all. Paul's own life is the perfect example of this truth. He was the number one persecutor of Christ followers in his day. It just happened that God got a hold of him one day and knocked him off his... uh... donkey. After Paul's (then called Saul) encounter with Jesus his life was forever changed. He went from persecutor to preacher seemingly overnight.

For my money, I think I'd make Paul wait and prove himself to be not a persecutor for at least a week or something... I mean seriously, a day before his encounter with Christ he is on a mission to turn in more followers of, "The Way." Maybe God got it wrong, maybe Paul/Saul slipped through His screening process, maybe one of the angels made a mistake when passing along resumes to the almighty...

Or.

Maybe God's just gracious like that.

Maybe God's willing to take us and use us in our current condition. He's willing to accept us for who we are and see potential in us that we didn't see in ourselves. He did that with Paul and He's shown a propensity to use the unqualified for amazing miracles.

Abraham
Liar, Elderly & Sterile...
...Father of Nations
Jacob
Thief, Liar & Deceiver...
...Father of the 12 Tribes of Israel
Moses
Murderer & Stutterer...
...Led the God's people out of slavery
Rahab
Prostitute...
...Helped Israelite spies escape Jericho
Sampson
Covenant breaker...
...Hero God used to save Israel
Gideon
Coward, least in his family...
...Hero who once again saves Israel
David
Scrawny musician, youngest brother...
...Became Israel's King
David (Part 2)
Adulterer, Assassin & Conspirator...
...A man after God's own heart?
Solomon
Love child (conceived in affair)...
...Built God's Temple
Israel's Kings
Each one virtually worse than the previous...
...Placed in authority by God
Prophets
Cooked food using dung for fuel, married prostitute, lying around naked...
...Chosen to Speak for God
Mary
Unwed Teen Pregnancy...
...Gave birth to the Savior of all mankind
John the Baptist
Locust eater w/ no fashion sense...
...Prepared the way for Jesus & baptized Him
Jesus
Plain looking, unassuming homeless man...
...Savior and Lord of All
Disciples
uneducated fishermen, crooked tax collectors, anarchist, dishonest, stiff necked & unbelieving...
...Chosen by Jesus to change the world
Peter - Quick tempered, potty-mouthed, Christ denying no good...
...Cornerstone for the NT church
Paul
Working to arrest all Christ followers in his path...
...Author of most of the NT, Evangelist, Church Planter

And the list could go on.

God's will always gets accomplished. The question is, "Are you in? Do you want to be used by God to bring about His purposes?"

I do.

I'm really happy to know that I'm qualified to start now, just as I am.

Who Do You Look Like?

Do you ever notice how people that have been married a long time kinda look like one another? Or how about people and their pets? Isn't that a little disturbing. Well, chances are you look and sound like the people your closest to. You have inside jokes that you share, you can give a slight head nod and the other person knows exactly what it is you're not saying. This is natural and part of being human. Further more, it's fun having those kinds of relationships.

Recently on two separate occasions people have told me I am doing something (a mannerism) or sound like my Senior Pastor, Brian Dolleman. The first time someone called me on it I thought, "Oh come on, I've always done that." As they persisted I resisted and said, "Hey, I'm my own man all right?"

The second time someone called me on it I thought, "Fine, so what's the big deal?" The truth is it's not a big deal. I work with him and am around him often. I also happen to be learning a lot from him when it comes to ministry and life in general so yeah, over time I've unknowingly picked up on some of his sayings and mannerisms.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg. I often catch myself when talking with our two girls saying things my parents said to me. I didn't even know I had remembered those things but they flow right out of my mouth without even thinking about it.

I suppose my question is, who do you sound like? Who do you look like? Who are you acting like?

Do you sound like your favorite talk radio host? Do you spew sports knowledge while struggling to memorize scripture? Can you quote every line from the latest episode of The Office and then when someone is asking you for advice you draw a complete blank?

I'm not trying to make you mad or feel guilty. I'm just asking the questions that I have been asking myself lately. When people push my buttons, cut me off in traffic, and say negative things to me what do I sound like in return? I am embarrassed at times of the things that come to mind. At other times I'm mortified with what actually comes out.

Shouldn't we do our best to look, sound, and act like Jesus. If we claim to be "Christians" than we should be doing our best impression of Him. The longer we have been following and the closer we are to Him the more we should look, sound, and act like Him. After all as the saying goes, "Imitation is the highest form of flattery."

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

So... who do you look, sound, and act like?

Results Blog... Almost

At the beginning of the Major League Baseball season I had the band at Fairwood pick the finish of the AL West and give me their pick for the World Series. Let's see how we did...

Chris: 1. A's 2. Mariners 3. Angels 4. Rangers WS: Dodgers over White Sox

Adam: 1. Mariners 2. A's 3. Angels 4. Rangers WS: Rays over Dodgers

Jesse: 1. Angels 2. A's 3. Rangers 4. Mariners WS: Yankees over Dodgers

Cameron: 1. Angels 2. A's 3. Mariners 4. Rangers WS: Orioles over Cubs

Shaun: 1. Angels 2. A's 3. Mariners 4. Rangers WS: Yankees over Phillies

Andy: 1. Angels 2. Mariners 3. Rangers 4. A's WS: Cubs over Yankees

ACTUAL AL WEST FINISH: 1. Angels 2. Rangers 3. Mariners 4. A's

As you can see, none of us will be applying for a job with ESPN anytime soon. Jesse and Shaun are still alive with both of their World Series teams still alive.

Let's have some fun together, leave a comment for me with your pick for the World Series and the number of games you see it going.

The American League Teams remaining are the Yankees, Angels, Red Sox , & Twins (the first two are ahead 2-0 in a best of 5 series.

The National League Teams remaining are the Dodgers, Rockies, Phillies, & Cardinals (down 2-0 to the Dodgers).

Picks due by Sunday night. Prize is a deep sense much like the one Jesse and Shaun must feel.

So take your pick... Here's mine: Yankees over Dodgers in 7 (I love the drama)