BibleSponge

What have we come to? Or maybe a better question, how did we get here? I’m talking about prioritizing secular events over church time. What? Who does that? Take a look around and I’m sure you’ll see a church here and there manipulating their worship schedule to accommodate the NFL-masses. Whether it is a concern about the numbers coming through the door or the tithe offering for the evening, it is clearly questionable when briefly lined up against scripture (let alone its shortfall of authenticity if one spent hours trying to validate it in the Word.)

I have hesitated to write about this, as grace is not one of my fortes in life. And by Eph. 4:15, I must speak “truth in love.” Now I’m sure there will be several to accuse me of playing “Holy Ghost, Jr.” or passing judgment, however, as you will see, it doesn’t take many references in Scripture to see just how far of a cry this is from anything Biblical.

First, let’s look at the definition of the “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” penalty, as defined by the sacred NFL that we are seemingly bowing to…

UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT - Any act contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship.

Now that we’ve heard from the world, let’s hear from the Word. We can start with 1 John 2:15…

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” – 1 John 2:15, NASB

To those churches opening this Pandora’s Box, I have a question. What would we think of a parent who rescheduled a child’s life-saving surgery to because the series premiere of “Law & Order: SVU” was slated for the same time? We would say, “Absurd!” Yet this is no different than moving our time with God (our healer, our life source, our redeemer) around a game of 22 men moving a piece of dead pig around a field. Just as that child may not make it without the surgery when scheduled due to a window of time, could the same be said of a person’s soul who may miss a regularly scheduled service?

My point is how much love would you have to have of something to even chance the aforementioned possibility? Or a better question, how much more love would you have to have of something of the world to do that? Or even a better question, how dare we set this precedence in front of those following. We have just declared “Open Season” on ourselves to the critics of the church.

If that isn’t enough, let me go even further and question this decision considering its implications on the body of Christ. By going down this path, we have established a secular event (often filled with breast-baring, washed up music stars and other degenerate halftime acts only interrupted by beer commercials) has as much, if not more importance that our worship time with God. So much, in fact that we will make our worship of Him convenient so we can let our families enjoy all the above mentioned slutty-Super Sunday festivities.

Let’s alter this penalty just a moment, and see if we can speak to the football-over-worship minded churches and make some sense…

UNCHRISTIANLIKE CONDUCT - Any act contrary to the generally understood principles of worship.

I wonder how close our hearts are to God, as we honor Him with our lips (Matthew 15:8), but our minds are already at the pre-game, waiting for kickoff?

In reality, the penalty may be much worse than 15 yards, it is that we are being conformed (Romans 12:2). God help us!

Well, we are on the eve of completing our 21-day Daniel Fast at church.  It has been an exciting journey and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for our ministry for 2009.  The reason for the fast was for purification in the church.  It’s been my prayer that God will allow our youth ministry to move more towards a biblical model, and away from the current one that resembles the broken youth ministries all across the world.  (Look for more on this soon.)

That said, I thought I’d share a recipe for a dish that was eaten constantly over the fast.  It is a dish that I was raised on, as part of my heritage is Lebanese.  It’s none other than Tabbouleh.

The dish has several variations of the recipe, but I believe this one to be the best.  I recently recovered it from an old cookbook.  It is from my late Aunt Mille, who just passed away last night.  I thought it would be a nice cyber-tribute to share her recipe for the best Tabbouleh ever!!!  Enjoy.

Tabbouleh

• 1 cup of finely chopped parsley
• 1 1/2 cup of green onions
• 1 cup of fine bulgur wheat
• 2 tomatoes (chopped)
• 1 1/2 cup of finely chopped mint (optional)

Rinse bulgur wheat several times with cold water.  Soak the bulgur wheat in 1 cup of water for about 1 1/2 hrs.  In bowl, mix parsley, green onions, tomatoes.  After soaking bulgur wheat, remove any excess water and add to mixture.  Set aside in refrigerator to chill and prepare dressing.

Dressing

• 6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp of salt (or to taste)

Mix dressing well.  Add dressing to mixture and toss thoroughly.  May be served on spread of Romaine lettuce, as a side dish, as a dip for pita chips, or even to top Triscuits.

The following video is a perfect example of how a well-intentioned person can unknowingly assist, and on the surface, validate a non-believer’s thoughts.  Now, I’m not implying that you need to be a theological scholar to respond to challenges of defending your faith.  However, what I am suggesting  is that if you take a lackadaisical approach to answering the call of the non-believers, then you are setting yourself and the representation of all Christians (at that moment) up for a sure fall.

The solution is to use the God-given gift that sits between your ears and feed on the Word of God. Lebron James didn’t achieve his basketball prowess by chucking a basketball in gym class three times a week.  Lance Armstrong didn’t win all those Tour De France races by taking a few laps around his neighborhood on his bicycle.  You can’t  be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;” (1 Peter 3:15 - ESV) if you are not reading the Word regularly.  Remember, you don’t have to defend the Bible, it stands on its own.  Charles Spurgeon said it best:

“Scripture is like a lion. Who ever heard of defending a lion? Just turn it loose; it will defend itself."  -- Charles Surgeon

Trying to contend for your faith without reading and studying the Word is a mistake that will prove fatal at times when you need to do it most.  And the stakes are never higher than when you are dealing with an atheist, or worse yet, an atheist in the radio/TV spotlight.

Remember that when you are dealing with an atheist, David tells us that, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 - ESV).  You are trying to reach a person who has made Satan their god and in return he, “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4 – ESV).  Be prepared!

Finally, I've taken the time to set up a blog account. Hopefully, this will prove for a fruitful area for personal notes, rants and opinions on everything from life to ministry as it is defined in the Bible, specifically youth ministry. Hang on, it looks to be a fun ride.