Sunday, February 22, 2009

the myth of 'wild-oat-sowing'

The origins of our colloquialisms intrigue me... perhaps the most interesting of our 'figures of speech' is the 'sowing wild oats'...

so I looked it up... and here is what I found:

The saying is referring to a European grass species with the formal name Avena fatua, which has for centuries in English been called wild oats. Farmers have since ancient times hated it because it’s a weed that’s useless as a cereal crop, but its seeds have always been difficult to separate from those of useful cereals and so tended to survive and multiply from year to year. The only way to remove it was to tramp the fields and hand-weed it.

So sowing wild oats was the archetypal useless occupation, indeed worse than useless. It’s not surprising that the phrase sowing wild oats was applied figuratively to young men who frittered away their time in stupid or idle pastimes. But there’s a strong sexual association here, too, because the phrase was often applied, in a more or less indulgent way, and always to young men, to what was politely referred to as youthful dissipation. The associations between male sexual activity and sowing seed are obvious enough.

In 1869, Louisa May Alcott wrote (in the classic work 'Little Women'): “Boys will be boys, young men must sow their wild oats, and women must not expect miracles”.

While I want to believe Ms Alcott was not necessarily referring to the nefarious and sinful activities that come to my mind when I think of wild oats, I am certain that our society has adopted her fatalistic attitude toward our young people and their sinful activity.

Over the past half century, the phrase has become more and more an excuse for youthful indiscretion... a sort of 'explanation' for a broad variety of activities which we adults expect will not be long-lasting nor harmful to the participants (usually our own kids)...

Somehow we rationalize that our 15- to 25-year-0lds somehow need to drink or smoke or have sex or (fill in the blank with whatever 'experience' you wish) to 'grow into' the mature people we hope they will become...

I am convicted that our lax attitude toward this idea is an insideous tool of Satan himself!

Whether we couch it as 'part of the growing up process', or pass it off as a 'rite of passage' or convince ourselves that kids need to 'get it out of their system'... we parents had better wake up to the consequences of our attitude.

Why would any of us allow our children to engage in harmful activity? I am certain that any sinful activity we engage in leaves a mark on our soul. I know God forgives and forgets, but I also know there are real life consequences to actions....

(oh and, by the way, saying 'it's no worse than what I did when I was their age' is not a valid reason for allowing/encouraging these sinful activities... it's lazy and unloving and irresponsible!)
I would just encourage us all to prayerfully consider how we encourage/allow/guide our teens during these spirit-forming years...

Our children's future will be affected by how we treat this myth...


God Bless!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

sportsmanship

I am a competitor. I love to win and I hate to lose... I am (or once was) an average athlete and I am a below average amateur coach of Tball, Soccer, Softball and Basketball for my daughters.

Sometimes, even in these peewee games, I feel the old competitive feelings start to surface... and I have to fight against them so I don't make a fool of myself. I am not always successful... sometimes I make an ass of myself in spite of myself!

But I heard this story yesterday on Mike and Mike in the morning, and I simply had to pass it on... it is the most wonderful story of sportsmanship I have ever heard:

Johntell Franklin is a 18 year old senior at Milwaukee's Madison High School, a captain on the Basketball team....and very sadly his 39-year old mother passed away from cancer on February 7. It was somewhat unexpected as she had been in remission for 5 years...

His team had a game scheduled for that night. His coach originally intended to cancel the game, but Johntell said "no, I want my team to play... tell them to do their best."

The game was in the 2nd quarter, when Johntell walked into the gym... the coach recalled: "A few seconds after I spotted Johntell, all the people in the stands did, too. They surrounded him. The players, his friends in the stands, the cheerleaders..."

Then came another surprise: Franklin didn't just want to watch. He wanted to play. "I'm a competitor. I can't just sit there and watch," he said.

Womack sent Franklin, a 6-foot-2 forward, into the locker room to suit up. He returned to the cheers of the crowd - including the coaches and players from DeKalb, whose amazing display of fellowship and sportsmanship had just begun.

But Franklin's desire to play created another problem: The referees were required to call a technical foul against Womack for failing to list Franklin into the official scorebook.


but to their everlasting credit, the coach and players on the other team argued that they didn't want the 'T'


"We argued, but the referees said those were the rules, even if there were extenuating circumstances," DeKalb's Coach Rohlman said.

After a 7-minute discussion, 5'11" senior point guard Darius McNeil from DeKalb took matters into his own hands. He took the ball and went to the free throw line to shoot the technical free throws.

...so what he did was roll the ball


- on the floor -


across the end line ...to make it an official shot...



twice



He purposely missed both free throws... didn't even shoot them, just sort of rolled the ball across the end line...


and turned around to find the entire place - including all the Madison players and coaches - standing and applauding the gesture of sportsmanship.

DeKalb won the game 62-47...

and Johntell Franklin matched his season average with 10 points...

Darius McNeil said later "I did it for the guy who lost his mom, it was the right thing to do."

Coach Rohlman said later "I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?' and Darius put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head. Darius set up for a regular free throw, but he only shot it two or three feet in front of him," Rohlman continues. "It bounced once or twice and just rolled past the basket."

"Just being in the game was a good feeling," Franklin said. "I knew my Mom would have wanted me to play. She was always proud of me playing basketball."



what a wonderful reminder of what is really important.

Blessings!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A new 'must read' book!

Well, my friend and idol Stanley Johnson is now officially a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!!!

"There was no Linkin' to What I was Thinkin" is available at the following link:
http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000117000

"Linkin-Thinkin" is a collection of hilarious and reflective stories from Stan's life and times.... those of you who know Stan, know he has always had a unique way of telling a story.

You gotta read this! so order your copy today... You will be really glad you did.

Blessings...

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bipolar Christianity

Peaks and Valleys.

Life is full of them... mountaintop experiences are, many times, followed by dark days. Most of us live from peak to peak and try to endure the valleys.

Is your spiritual life hot and cold? Do you sometimes find yourself 'on fire' while at other times cold as ice?

I do.

Less, frankly, than I used to... because God has placed so many wonderful Christians in my path to minimize my 'down' times and keep me 'up' and hold me accountable...

but still there are hills and hollers in my walk.

It seems that many of us suffer from a sort of 'manic-depressive' Christianity... one day we are world-beaters, planning and doing and helping and 'in tune' with His will... and the next day we are far from the center of His will, barely able to string together two conscious God-thoughts in a whole day!

So what is the cure for this 'Spiritual Bipolarism'? ...or at least what is the treatment?

I don't know what it is for everyone else.

but for me, it is prayer and study and serving and praising... and, most importantly, being around people who share a love for prayer and study and serving and praising.

sounds simple, right?

I have a couple really close friends who are bipolar. While I am certainly no expert, I have watched them do really well when they are taking their meds.... then they sometimes get to feeling so well they forget why! and stop taking the medications... and plunge into the 'yoyo effect' that is the disease... bouncing from the highest euphoric high to the lowest depths of depression...

I am told that this 'cycle' is part of the disease...

so is it a stretch to observe that, like the person who suffers from bipolar disorder, we sometimes get to feeling so 'well' spiritually, that we forget why? and stop 'taking our meds'...

well, for me.... it's a daily struggle... but it is made much easier by being married to the very best wife on the planet. She is the very best part of me... and she daily reminds me in hundreds of ways how blessed I am...

whatever it is for you... just remember it, and 'take the medication'... do whatever it takes to remember God's gift.

...how can we forget?


Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Blessings!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

using your giftedness

God made each of us unique...

each with his own strengths and weaknesses and propensities and idiosyncrasies.... beneath the DNA level, God made you YOU.

He gave every person gifts. And I believe that He gave those gifts to be used for His purpose...

When you combine those gifts with life experience, you have a ministry...

so, if it were a mathematical formula (I know, very rich indeed coming from such a math mind :-) ! hehehe), it might look like this:

GIFT + LIFE EXPERIENCE = MINISTRY

As an example, if God gifted you with a special measure of compassion and a soft heart... AND you have suffered through the horrible pain of losing someone close to you, your ministry can be comforting those who suffer through loss...

Whatever your gifts, always wake up remembering that they were given by a merciful God... and always remember to use them to show His Son to others!

You will be blessed!

tm

Friday, February 6, 2009

The Music Boat

Well, it's official...First Day is going on the Music Boat Cruise with Mercy Me, Toby Mac, Barlow Girl, Newsong, Matthew West, Pillar and a bunch more Christian Artist!

We feel very blessed and honored to be invited...



come along!
Blessings!




Monday, February 2, 2009

Cardboard Testimonies

I feel like most folks have seen 'Cardboard Testimonies'...

It is by far the most moving portrayal of the gospel I have seen in my life. Many congregations have had their own version of cardboard testimonies... We did last night as a part of our 'Super Soul Sunday' at Riverside...

it was awesome!

Check out the original:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8616c1559ab4221b3910

God Bless!