Tip of the Hat to Tebow

 

Tebow Ad Celebrates Life and Family

 

By Kim Trobee, editor

Humorous Super Bowl commercial shines light on pro-abortion groups that objected to its airing.

The much-anticipated and maligned Focus on the Family ad featuring Tim and Pam Tebow aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday.

For weeks, pro-abortion groups had made the media circuit complaining about the “anti-abortion” ad and calling on CBS to pull it from its Super Bowl lineup. This, in spite of the fact that none had seen the ad.

When the commercial finally made its debut, Gary Schneeberger, vice president of ministry communications for Focus on the Family, said the critics were nearly silenced.

“The buzz since the ad aired has been nothing but, ‘What was all the controversy about?,’” he said.  “This wasn’t political. This wasn’t advocacy. This wasn’t controversial.  It’s an inspirational story about a mother and son who love each other.”

Jehmu Greene, president of The Women’s Media Center, admitted the commercial was “benign,” but expressed surprise at the humorous addition of Tebow tackling his mother. 

“Some groups like the National Organization for Women have actually decried the ad for promoting violence against women,” Schneeberger said.  “We don’t know how to respond to that, except to say that right before our ad aired Snickers had an ad in which 88-year-old Betty White got fake-tackled in a pool of mud, and there’s no news release condemning that. 

I was at the filming of the Focus ad, and I can assure everyone that no mothers of Heisman-winning quarterbacks were harmed in the making of our commercial.”

There was no shortage of questionable advertising during the big game.  GoDaddy, the Web hosting company, aired its usual over-sexualized fare, with no objection from women’s groups.

“Those kinds of portrayals,” said Schneeberger, “really can lead to violence against women.”

Dan Gainor, vice president for business and culture at the Culture and Media Institute, said the Tebow ad was one of the more amusing offerings.

“The content wasn’t the least bit offensive,” he said.  “(Tebow’s) mother didn’t even utter the word ‘abortion.’  She celebrated life.  Yet supposed ‘women’s’ groups were up in arms about the ads.  The fact that those same groups essentially ignored the sexist Go Daddy ads shows their hypocrisy.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION
You can watch the Tebow’s story at focusonthefamily.com

Influential Web site redstate.com has a commentary on the ad, and all the controversy surrounding it.

Assuming the Position

I heard the Lord whisper “Assume the position; kneel humbly before the cross”.

 

Whatever we have need of has been purchased for us through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. There, believers can come to this “throne” and receive grace and mercy, power and wisdom, forgiveness and salvation, and hope and faith for themselves and others.

 

The cross is the place where relationships are restored; where we can forgive others, pouring out our anger, pain, hatred, murderous thoughts, jealousies, fears, and shame, knowing that we are heard and joyfully forgiven as we forgive others. It is there that debts are paid and restitution has been provided even for pain and suffering.

 

It is the place where we can intercede on behalf of others, knowing that Jesus is the doorway into the kingdom of God and eternal life.  

 

Oh let us come to the throne of Jesus in perpetual worship and petition, convinced that the River of Life flows forth with healing for ourselves and the nations. Let us be being filled with His Spirit that His living waters would flow through us to those thirsting for His presence.

 

Becoming God-like

     It seems like humankinds greatest aspiration, if we can achieve it, is to become like god(s). We have familiar examples of this in Greek mythology but every culture, it seems, has some form of god-man story. Christianity is the Story of God becoming like mankind in order that mankind could become like God.

     The Biblical Old Testament narrates mankinds fall from the pinnacle of Gods creation and His determined effort to restore us to our God-given position of ruling over the earth while remaining in intimate fellowship with Him (see Genesis chapters 1-3). The means were described in various prophetic scriptures which pointed to a coming Jewish Messiah who would establish His Heavenly Kingdom here on earth (see Isaiah, chapters 9-12, for example) . 

     The Biblical New Testament contains the testimony of such a Jewish man, named Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of God sent, as its Messiah, to save the world from sin. The Easter story chronicles His torturous journey to the cross where, as the God-man Jesus, He atoned for the sins of all humanity. Yet His victory over death and hell and sin were joyfully accounted for in the record of His resurrection from the grave which held Him for a mere three days (see Luke 22-24).

     We then read of the coming of the promised third person of the Eternal God-Head, the Holy Spirit, who came to establish the residency of God within mankind to those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord (see John 14-16).   

     It is as Christians fellowhip with and follow the Holy Spirit, submitting to one another as the church of God, that we grow up into the full measure of God as seen in Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 4) – for it is as we live like and for Him that we become like Him.

     Rejoice! Immanuel, God is with us and we, as we follow Him by the Spirit, are becoming  like God here on the earth.

Helping Feels So Good

Here is an exerpt of an article from an Op-ed column in the NY Times, 1/17/10, titled “Our Basic Human Pleasures…” (http://www.nytimes.org).  It basically says that we are wired (created?) to feel pleasure when we help others. Maybe the servers at Chik-filet are being sincere when they say ”My pleasure” when they serve us.

“Happiness is tied to volunteering and to giving blood, and people with religious faith tend to be happier than those without. A solid marriage is linked to happiness, as is participation in social networks. And one study found that people who focus on achieving wealth and career advancement are less happy than those who focus on good works, religion or spirituality, or friends and family….

Happiness is, of course, a complex concept and difficult to measure, and John Stuart Mill had a point when he suggested: “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”

But in any case, nobility can lead to happiness. Professor Haidt notes that one thing that can make a lasting difference to your contentment is to work with others on a cause larger than yourself.

I see that all the time. I interview people who were busy but reluctantly undertook some good cause because (sigh!) it was the right thing to do. Then they found that this “sacrifice” became a huge source of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Brain scans by neuroscientists confirm that altruism carries its own rewards. A team including Dr. Jorge Moll of the National Institutes of Health found that when a research subject was encouraged to think of giving money to a charity, parts of the brain lit up that are normally associated with selfish pleasures like eating or sex.

The implication is that we are hard-wired to be altruistic. To put it another way, it’s difficult for humans to be truly selfless, for generosity feels so good.

“The most selfish thing you can do is to help other people,” says Brian Mullaney….”

Jesus Christ “Avatar?”

            I recently read a newspaper article that reported that some viewers of the movie Avatar were struggling with mild forms of depression because our present world doesn’t match the beautiful planet Pandora in color, beauty, and harmony. They also longed for life within new bodies like those found in the avatars.

 Jesus Avatar

            According to my Random House dictionary an avatar is the “incarnation of a god”. The Bible states Jesus, being God and spirit, was incarnated in a human body and thus fits the definition of an “avatar”. Yet He wasn’t just an avatar, He is the one and only true God avatar (see Matthew 1:20-23, 1 John 4:2)

         And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14, NASU).

 Restoration of Creation: Our Earthly Pandora

             And why did He become an “avatar”? To save the world from its sin by restoring the earth and its inhabitants to its original utopian state, something that will far surpass the beauty of Avatar’s Pandora.

            18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now (Romans 8:18-22, NASU).

 Our Avatar Bodies

         God also offers us the chance to become new creatures with our own eternal “avatar” bodies through faith in Christ as His only begotten “avatar” to us (see John 3:16).

            17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASU).

         23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body (Romans 8:22, NASU).

 Spiritual Warfare

            Just as life on the planet Pandora was intertwined with and symbolized by a tree, so Jesus makes new life possible for this earth and all humanity through His death on a tree known as the Cross.

            It was there that Jesus provided reconciliation between the Perfect Creator and fallen creation by paying for our sinful human failures which brought death and destruction here in the first place.

            It was not through science or by weapons of warfare like those used in the movie, but through this spiritual act of warfare against the kingdom of darkness and our sin that the invading army was set to flight (Romans 5:12, 18; Galatians 3:13-14, Ephesians 6:10-18).

Resurrection into our “Avatar” Bodies

             He also has given us the opportunity to join with Him in restoring this earth to its utopian state but we too, like the main character in the movie, must undergo a death to the old man and a resurrection into our new “avatar” state when His Spirit comes to live in us (2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Titus 3:5, Colossians 2:20-3:11, Rev. 20:3-5).

             And, even if we do suffer a physical death here on earth we have been promised that we shall receive new bodies through the same power of the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead into His eternal spiritual “avatar” body (Romans 8:10-11).

 The Ultimate Pandora: Heaven on Earth

             Besides a restored earth, we also have the promise of the coming city of God that is beautiful beyond description. It will be full of the light and life of Jesus with no darkness, sickness, pain, death, or sorrow, in which those who have received their new “avatar” life in Christ shall live for all eternity. The utopian life and beautiful scenery of the 3-D life on Pandora will pale in the light of Jesus’ glory and grace revealed in all of creation at that time (see 2 Peter 3:13 Revelation 21).

             Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever (Rev 22:1-5, NASU)

 I wouldn’t miss it for anything in this world; how about you?

18,000 Mercies

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning”.

I have lived approximately 18,000 days since my birth into this world and so I figure that I have needed and experienced His mercies and compassions 18,000 times.

How about you? 

A Good Offense Beats a Good Defense

I want to apply the sports maxim that a “good offense beats a good defense” to spiritual warfare.

Now, I know that the best teams and best athletes do both well but for now I want to make a case for offense. You see, Satan, our arch-enemy, and His kingdom, have been attempting to dispute God’s word to us that He exists and rewards those that diligently seek Him. That the spiritual, social, emotional, and physical tribulation we experience in doing so are so not worth it and surely is not necessarily the straight and narrow way into the realm of God’s kingdom.

That there must be many ways to God and that it is foolishness to believe that Christ had to take up His cross to please the Father of spirits and foolishness for us to do likewise.

 That there won’t be the resurrection life of Christ coming alive in us when we do use our defensive weapons of warfare to say no to the lust of the  flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is of this world.

That saying no to our flesh in order that it and/or the kingdom of darkness not be our master isn’t necessary. That it is better to eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die so why consider the temporal in light of the eternal.

That surely man doesn’t die just once and after that there is the judgement, so why look for anything more than what excites and satisfies our senses. That there isn’t a better and more pleasurable place to run to in God than the youthful lusts that we are fleeing from.   

So why say no to the pleasures of the world if there isn’t a better alternative? But oh, there is! Let us pursue Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength for in doing so we ascend to a place that the enemy once lived but had to vacate because he too doubted that God was worth it. Rather than continue in his once offensive-minded worship of God he became offended at God because of his jealous pride, thinking he was as good as God.

Let us be as the wise virgins who filled their lamps with the oil of gladness in anticipation of seeing Him, throwing off our nagging doubts and illusions, and daily seek Him for our daily bread and wine in the pleasure of His company- for it is in the offensive-minded pursuit that we become like Him, our greatest reward.

The Beginning of a Fruitful Life

In John 15, we see Jesus with His disciples in a vineyard shortly before his arrest and subsequent crucifixion. Remarkably, His thoughts are on them and the trials of faith that they are about to endure as they all fail Him in His time of trial and need.

He illustrated the loving and intimate intent and nature of His Father God to cleanse us and make us fruitful by lifting up a barren branch that had been trampled in the mud and said that even if they were as this branch, and according to Romans 3:23, they and we all at one time were, His Father, as the caretaker of the vineyard, would lift them up and cleanse them so that they could be fruitful in Him*.

He does this in us by the Word of His Son Jesus and by the Holy Spirit, not by our ability to fulfill religious law and follow church dogma (Philippians 3:7-11, 1 John 5:1-11). Once believed, this truth opens up our hearts to Him knowing that He can and does take our failures, our sins against Him and others, and turns them into opportunities for His grace.

This is an ongoing work of God’s grace that is greatly facilitated by the Holy Spirit as we read and meditate on the reading of His word, the Bible, through whispers of the Holy Spirit, and prayer.

Let us be fruitful and multiply in Him and one another as we fellowship together by His Spirit! 

*See Bruce Wilkinson’s, Secrets of the Vine, pg 32-36.

The Free, Full, Forever Love of God

In Christ Jesus we see that God has given us His love freely, fully, and forever.

Freely

31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32, NASU).

 The Son of God became man and freely laid Himself down on the Cross to pay off the debt of sin we owed and could never pay. Through His sacrificial act we have been given the Spirit of adoption who bears witness of our becoming full and legal heirs with Christ, inheriting His every spiritual blessing (Romans 8:16-17, Ephesians 1:3).

Having freely received such blessings, we have now been commissioned to freely give them wherever and however He may lead (Matthew 10:8).

Fully

33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,

 ”FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us (Romans 8:31-37, NASU).

 His victory over every earthly and spiritual enemy of His love for us and His creation is full and complete – His love never fails!

 Forever

 His victory of love on our behalf and for the glory of the Father is both now and forevermore:

 38 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, NASU).

 Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Whatcha Eatin?

The Contest

I learned something about spiritual food last night while playing pickup basketball. I got  mad at how the other team was, in my opinion, winning through fouling, so I began to attempt to even the playing field by doing some fouling of my own. I did, but it didn’t work, we lost anyway. I don’t know whether to attribute our losing to my starting to foul too late (there is only so much one player can do) or to their superior field goal percentage. Either way, I ceased and desisted from utilizing that strategy after realizing that I was angrily attempting to use evil to cast out evil instead of good.

Which Fruit Tree?

Afterwards, I began reflecting on my behavior and felt shame and self-anger at my less than Christlike behavior, a familiar life-script that usually follows any behavior of mine that I judge as spiritually falling short.

But then a strange occurance took place within the inner gymnasium of my heart, a love for self began to manifest in the midst of my condemnation, shame, and anger. I was enabled to see that one set of thoughts and resulting emotions was of the flesh, and had its origins in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The other was of the Spirit and had its origins in the Tree of Life (see Genesis 1:9, 3:1-7, & Galatians 5:16-26). Furthermore, I was given discernment to know that whichever tree I ate from it’s fruit would be my food for the rest of the evening, with some being stored up for the next time I played.

In otherwise, I was trying to use anger to deal with my anger which would have only produced more anger. But God was now offering me love to deal with my spiritual failure and anger so that the next time I was in this situation I would have love and not the anger manifest. 

I was given the perception that a spiritual contest was taking place in me similar to the same one that takes place in every follower of Christ on a daily basis, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, month by month, year by year, throughout our lives here on earth. That is, the spiritual voice we listen to and eat from will be the spiritual, emotional and physical sustenance that we will live on for the present and future moments to come (see 2 Corinthians 10:3-5) .

What Fruit Are We Serving?

Whichever tree we choose to eat from will not only feed our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but will also be the fruit that is reproduced in our lives for others to eat (see Galatians 6:7-8 & Romans 7:24-8:4).

Being Thankful

I am thankful that God has provided me with the opportunity, knowledge, and wisdom to choose the Tree of Life instead of death in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I want to live and play knowing that I am sustained by His loving Spirit and not my flesh. After all, my sweat is smelly enough without it stinking like the devil and hell.

Which tree would you rather choose for me, yourself and others to eat from?