tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post3871561561147651748..comments2024-03-10T10:40:32.319-07:00Comments on Pyromaniacs: I don't in any way follow football, but...Phil Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00649092052031518426noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-59291748089092625812009-03-11T11:28:00.000-07:002009-03-11T11:28:00.000-07:00I "appreciated" the swift kick to the seat of my p...I "appreciated" the swift kick to the seat of my pants. Thanks. I want to stay in the game... as the coach wills.Abouttimehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06518463517366590008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-84727214687748795372009-03-11T08:50:00.000-07:002009-03-11T08:50:00.000-07:00@ live as if...at least you root for the right foo...@ live as if...<BR/><BR/>at least you root for the right football team - Go Pats! <BR/><BR/>yeah, that's not the point... I'm seeing the generational impact of the undisciplined life too, how can I expect my son to exceed my level of spiritual growth & "accomplishments" if I don't take to disciplining him in the Word? If I'm lacking in discipline, won't that be terribly obvious to him? Will he take my instructions to heart if I'm not "living it"? Will he believe I love Jesus if I show him through my actions (and, alas, inaction) that everything else is more "worthy" of my time? <BR/><BR/>Woe is me... I want for my little boy to grow up free of the weights and struggles I've placed upon myself, but good intentions are not enough. He needs more, and frankly, so do I.Pop Quiz Giverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02616878978529745336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-62684153690011759642009-03-10T20:47:00.000-07:002009-03-10T20:47:00.000-07:00Those all seemed fake to me. Reminded me of young...Those all seemed fake to me. Reminded me of young Clark Kent kicking the football into orbit in the first Superman film.<BR/><BR/>But the lesson posted here with the video was excellent.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13068196575763786944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-5599120069502293622009-03-10T19:44:00.000-07:002009-03-10T19:44:00.000-07:00not that I don't agree with your point, I do. But...not that I don't agree with your point, I do. But those athletes are professional because that is their profession. I'd be as good as whatever I did if I spent 10 hours a day at it. (and I think I am...LOL). That being said, even for a amateur athlete, err theologian, I don't spend nearly enough time practicing...Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15285043747501470199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-267932672077955352009-03-10T18:33:00.000-07:002009-03-10T18:33:00.000-07:00wow. just, wow.you found me out in my laziness an...wow. just, wow.<BR/><BR/>you found me out in my laziness and undisciplined mess, making excuses for not being in the Bible and not praying much lately ... can't even throw a ball well either.Live As Ifhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14292061310319630822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-90680356856081385112009-03-10T15:42:00.000-07:002009-03-10T15:42:00.000-07:00Oh, and I just wanted to share a story from my kid...Oh, and I just wanted to share a story from my kid-hood:<BR/><BR/>In my elementary school, I was one of the fastest 50- and 100-yard dash runners simply because I was semi-fast to begin with. Further, I combined that latent natural ability with a dogged determinism not to lose to kids that I knew would mock me if I failed. (FWIW, my all-time favorite basketball player has always been Larry Bird, for exactly the reasons I used to justify running so hard.)<BR/><BR/>Fast-forward to a county-wide elementary school track and field competition. I was in a field of 8 for a 100-yard dash. I started well, but suddenly got left in the dusty, sneaker-printed wake of two kids who were faster than greased lightning. Turns out they were both younger sibling of runners and were already being GROOMED for HS varsity track stardom. They had:<BR/><BR/>Desire (saving faith)<BR/>Ability (spiritual gifts)<BR/>Coaching (pastoral accountability)<BR/><BR/>and a school (church) environment where they were encouraged to work so they COULD excel. Take any one of those factors out, and those kids (read: believers) had every likely chance to fail. I failed because I let my pride in being faster than another kid puff me up (comparing ourselves to others instead of to Christ), and I never pursued real excellence because my phys-ed (spiritual) worldview was so narrow and dim.<BR/><BR/>The result is that today, I couldn't run around my block at full speed without heaving and sweating if I tried, and I have all sorts of chronic pains and weaknesses from bad joints that were never trained properly. I went on to play competitive basketball, but was a lazy-bones in the discipline department.<BR/><BR/>Sorry for the long posts, but this subject of teaching people to run so as to win is SO near to my heart, especially as it relates to young people. Revival in the church will come when the people of God are taught to RUN, not to expect a moving-sidewalk to carry them to glory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-76095215859391210452009-03-10T15:27:00.000-07:002009-03-10T15:27:00.000-07:00Re: the use of the word disqualified... it's a sca...Re: the use of the word disqualified... it's a scary thing sometimes to read through Paul's words and see him issuing warnings like "lest I who have preached to others be found disqualified", or "beware, because if God spared not the natural branches but cut them off for their unbelief, he might not spare you, either". We have GOT to realize that these passages, as well as nearly 90% or better of the NT, were written to BELIEVERS... the saved. Yes, the FACT is that God DOES keep us, but He calls us as beings with transformed and renewed minds to ABIDE in Him (i.e. in Christ) and CAUSES us to be kept through the MEANS He has established. Those means include a regular washing in the water of the Word and daily, fervent, sincere and honest prayer. Those who wander from God's means are not promised anything more than anyone else who rebels and refuses to repent. I believe that while that may be a very harsh and sobering view of our standing before God, it is in fact an honest and completely Biblical one. God saves through means, He condemns through means and He keeps His own through those same means.<BR/><BR/>The one who runs MUST run so as to win, not just in some "keep your chin up" kind of esteem-boosting way, but in a "you can fail at this if you do not buffet your flesh and make it subject to Christ" way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-50449120135170897942009-03-10T10:16:00.000-07:002009-03-10T10:16:00.000-07:00...Speaking of Strong Tower's "Never give up, neve......Speaking of Strong Tower's "Never give up, never surrender" comment.Stefan Ewinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05530690016594029847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-63525244055871170372009-03-10T10:15:00.000-07:002009-03-10T10:15:00.000-07:00I was watching a documentary on the strangely para...I was watching a documentary on the strangely parallel lives of Winston Churchill and George Orwell last night. Both were iconoclasts, both with a firm grasp of a sense of English* nationhood and history, both with a keen sense of the great dangers that weighed upon the country in the mid 20th century.<BR/><BR/>Churchill could not have risen to the occasion that history demanded of him (I'm writing from a secular point of view here) if he had not first made the study of English history a years-long passion and discipline of his, out of which came his sense of England's crucial role in bringing freedom and the rule of law to the modern world.<BR/><BR/>(And even with this together with his bluster and overbearing sense of self-confidence, he was hardly the Conservative Party's first choice to lead the country when Chamberlain resigned after WWII began.)<BR/><BR/>What we study, how we study it, and (perhaps most importantly) how we apply it—even in the face of the world's disapprobation—is absolutely crucial.**<BR/><BR/>*For "English," substitute "British" or "Anglo-Welsh" or "Anglo-Welsh-Scots-Irish" or whatever is most suitable.<BR/><BR/>**Pun on "crucial" intended—look up the etymology!Stefan Ewinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05530690016594029847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-9748894480022556662009-03-09T21:35:00.000-07:002009-03-09T21:35:00.000-07:00Never give up. Never surrender.Never give up. Never surrender.Strong Towerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13834108238546908018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-29738736316465088782009-03-09T21:03:00.000-07:002009-03-09T21:03:00.000-07:00DAN,Fake or not, I'm convicted. Great analogy. I...DAN,<BR/><BR/>Fake or not, I'm convicted. Great analogy. It's a lot easier (and often more appealing) to pay attention to disciplines with visible results - from sports, to music, to keeping an orderly home. All good things. But far better to invest my energy in what is eternal.<BR/><BR/>JulieHerding Grasshoppershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15668974245505544238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-18390288287725355752009-03-09T19:32:00.000-07:002009-03-09T19:32:00.000-07:00ROFLYou, I, and two or three other sorry geeks wil...ROFL<BR/><BR/>You, I, and two or three other sorry geeks will get that.DJPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16471042180904855578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-68612624040906781662009-03-09T18:51:00.000-07:002009-03-09T18:51:00.000-07:00"He's saved us! He's saved us! Commander Taggert h..."He's saved us! He's saved us! Commander Taggert has saved us!"<BR/><BR/><I>The Squirrel</I>The Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14082708506676251152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-51371660005931435892009-03-09T18:06:00.000-07:002009-03-09T18:06:00.000-07:00LOL!No matter how many times that happens and gets...LOL!<BR/><BR/>No matter how many times that happens and gets corrected...Mike Riccardihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06748453197783538367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-77150333081640926772009-03-09T18:05:00.000-07:002009-03-09T18:05:00.000-07:00Yeah. Phil's great, isn't he?Yeah. Phil's great, isn't he?DJPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16471042180904855578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-72271252789075418042009-03-09T17:52:00.000-07:002009-03-09T17:52:00.000-07:00Fake or not, I want to make sure that I'M not the ...Fake or not, I want to make sure that I'M not the one being fake - thanks for the great reminder of just how pitiful my discipline is. It's painful, but I wanna take my medicine and move on to higher plains. There's already too much that isn't painful, being preached each week, and if I remember correctly, Jesus knew how to deal it out, for the good of His hearers. <BR/>Thanks Phil.Lorrainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09665135517742271045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-42959406427200720472009-03-09T16:14:00.000-07:002009-03-09T16:14:00.000-07:00Dan,Thanks for a great post. It is just one more i...Dan,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for a great post. <BR/><BR/>It is just one more in a series of messages, some from the Shepherds Conference, some from Church and some from these pages that are convicting me not to drift when it comes to being disciplined for the purpose of righteousness...<BR/><BR/>Thanks for turning up the heat!Leberwursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00009160566385299355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-37648963273673429732009-03-09T15:57:00.000-07:002009-03-09T15:57:00.000-07:00@wizzardSounds good. I was just commenting on the...@wizzard<BR/><BR/>Sounds good. I was just commenting on the statement "I recently began answering any question our youth group could throw at meus." I think boiling every question down to an answer is impossible and I know the greatest things I've learned, I learned by tackling the question head on and searching Scripture myself.<BR/><BR/>It's always helpful to have a guide, but too often we feed our egos with having the answers or we're afraid to leave a question unanswered (I'm speaking from personal experience). <BR/><BR/>This has little to do with football... <BR/><BR/>Sorry DJPChristiant2.0https://www.blogger.com/profile/12266441582242638135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-92094407520682934432009-03-09T15:42:00.000-07:002009-03-09T15:42:00.000-07:00If, as two of you say, they're all fake: then just...If, as two of you say, they're all fake: then just transfer my point from the athletes to the wizards who made the effects / crafted the stunts that are dazzling us.DJPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16471042180904855578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-81475812311015824202009-03-09T15:25:00.000-07:002009-03-09T15:25:00.000-07:00They're all fake. Those are commercials for NFL's ...They're all fake. Those are commercials for NFL's fantasy football leagues. A handful of them have been made the past couple of years.<BR/><BR/>Sorry for commenting on what was not the big point.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03606485402187426272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-8735302531989151922009-03-09T14:00:00.000-07:002009-03-09T14:00:00.000-07:00@2.0-I make the most use of scripture, and all the...@2.0-<BR/><BR/>I make the most use of scripture, and all the questions are taken from a biblical perspective. In the circumstances where the bible doesn't have a clear stance, I explain why. Fortunately I have the ability to thoroughly research the answers to the question in deep exegesis, then simplify to make it digestible to youngsters as much as possible before I give my answer. I don't have to shoot from the hip.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020545216146221963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-55439635633247419932009-03-09T13:03:00.000-07:002009-03-09T13:03:00.000-07:00Fake all the way.Good lesson though.The thing is w...Fake all the way.<BR/><BR/>Good lesson though.<BR/><BR/>The thing is when we do strive to be disciplined, and do grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus, it's all because of His grace and Spirit. And so He gets all the honor and glory. And yet He shall commend us as well, when He judges the secret motivations of our hearts on that Day.donsandshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03665794015011057098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-5308163500760797472009-03-09T11:56:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:56:00.000-07:00@MR WIZARDBe careful in answering questions. I th...@MR WIZARD<BR/><BR/>Be careful in answering questions. I think it might be more fruitful for the inquirer to be pointed to Scripture on the topic than receiving an answer. Also, try not to make the mistake some Christians make: Not every question has a simple answer. Embrace uncertainty when necessary, don't be afraid of it.Christiant2.0https://www.blogger.com/profile/12266441582242638135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-21237103794487219672009-03-09T11:54:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:54:00.000-07:00Great post. It's one of my favorite applications ...Great post. It's one of my favorite applications from the NT.Christiant2.0https://www.blogger.com/profile/12266441582242638135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-897025877751955992009-03-09T11:46:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:46:00.000-07:00Good post Dan.My dad recently stressed the point o...Good post Dan.<BR/>My dad recently stressed the point of removing distractions that get in the way between you and God. <BR/><BR/>Great minds think alike eh?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com