Things I Think…
1. Thanks for all the prayers for my surgery…it seems to have went well and I can move on to fixing my other health issues…getting old is not for cowards…
2. Pete Rose died yesterday…a great hero in baseball and an unrepentant loser at life outside the diamond…banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame for gambling on baseball…in reality, he was banned because he believed his gifts so prodigious that the rules didn’t apply to him…like a lot of religious leaders we have named…
3. Speaking of people who don’t think the rules apply to them…Tullian Tchividjian and another adulterous asshat are now doing a podcast together demanding that their sins be forgiven and forgotten…making a mockery of the Christian sexual ethic and their victims…if only Pete Rose were still alive for a guest shot…
4. If you think that podcast is a good idea and those two men are qualified to be pastors…i don’t want to hear a damn word out of your mouth condemning LGBTQ folk…you don’t get to pick and choose which part of the Christian sexual ethic you enforce…
5. The Pete Rose situation brings to mind how we deal with Steve Lawson and other preachers and theologians that fail. When news of Lawsons affair began circulating, his works disappeared from all the places that platformed him. This is foolishness…if a man was used by God let his works remain…not only for edification,but for a warning against those who believe they stand…
6. This was too good not to share…I’ve heard them all over the last two decades…
7. Kris Kristofferson died as well…he gave us many gifts…
8. I found this helpful…”We must try to feel about the enemy the same way we feel about ourselves-to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. That is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him, nor saying he is nice when he is not.” C.S. Lewis
9. Another truth gleaned from Facebook…
10. If you post something on social media that is provably false, you have a Christian obligation to remove such and publicly repent for posting it in the first place…if your defense is ‘they do it too”…you are only admitting that your faith makes no discernable difference in your behavior…
Pete Rose was one of my biggest heroes when I was a youngster. When the gambling scandal broke, I wanted to believe him that he was innocent. As time went on and I grew more knowledgeable and mature, I came to see that not only was he guilty of all the gambling charges against him, but that he was a pretty lousy human being as a whole.
It felt like crap coming to this realization over time, but if I was to be honest with truth and reality, it was a necessary admission. I can still admire and appreciate what he did on the ball field, but I could no longer hold him in any esteem as a person.
When we see pastors and Christian leaders that we admire fall from grace or even get exposed for long term corruption, abuse, etc., it’s a pretty crappy feeling. There are still plenty of people who defend Rose and hold him in high esteem, but the consequences of that are relatively mild. However, when Christians continue to defend and prop up fallen and corrupt Christian leaders, there are all kinds of continued terrible consequences.
All the more important that the church would be able to come to grips with the consequences of sin in the church, especially among leaders.
Amen to # 10. Yet sadly, I don’t think I have ever seen this done, despite the multitude of opportunities to do so.
I’ve been a devoted fan of many a scoundrel…but I always separated their work from their character…celebrating one and grieving the other.
in the world that works…but in the church we have to be honest about failures that may cast a bad light on the faith…
Nailed it Michael…esp love #4 and #6!.
Thank you, Dan!
#6 is so sad..but they are all true. I’ve heard the same things in school (without the religious overtones) when teachers and administrators have gone astray.
My step-dad was a baseball fanatic and I don’t think he ever forgave Pete Rose to what he did to baseball. He could have stepped in from central casting for “Field of Dreams.” I didn’t understand until I realized that Rose had actually bet on his own team.
Michael, I hope you feel better soon!
Thank you, Linn…a lot better today.
My “small incision” turned out to be about 8 inches…it’ll take a while. 🙂
I love baseball. The four things that I miss the most since losing absolutely everything is my wife, my son, having cats, and watching baseball. I had all the TV stations before, paid for the baseball stuff. Pete Rose was an undeniable force of nature in his time. I also know he was a piece of *blank* as a human.
Todd Helton is my favorite baseball player ever. He probably will always be my favorite. I watched hundreds and hundreds of his games, sometimes right behind his home at first base. He has DUIs and a serious drinking problem. I don’t have the DUIs but I know all about the serious drinking problem. So I have grace.
I dig the CS Lewis quote.
All good “Things,” Michael. Especially #1. But an 8-inch incision…Wow!!
Asking for prayer for my mom, and myself.
For my mom, who’s in the hospital for something that, although non life threatening, is serious and to me came out of left field. She’s older, and has a lot of ailments that she wants to be healed of. I’d prefer it to be in this lifetime….
For me, intense nerve pain that’s kept me out of work for five days. I see my pain doctor tomorrow. I’m already thinking about the next job, but I’d like to leave this one on as good a note as possible, and preferably pain-free so I can go to the next one without feeling agony whenever I get up or stand for very long….
On Tullian’s site, there’s a link to a conference that has Steve Brown as one of its speakers.
When I saw it, I told myself that these people live in their own circles, and that Brown’s appearance doesn’t negate any of the good work that God has done in my life and in others through his ministry. I also realized that God might be using Brown as part of the process of restoring Tullian to Himself.
I also realize that I might be intentionally naive.
I believe there’s a need for venues and outlets that talk plainly about the Christian life without the religiosity that permeates anything that Christians do in public. These guys probably aren’t the ones to do it, but there’s a need for it. I daresay that if someone who was reasonably blameless and talented enough to be compelling as a speaker, an interviewer, a host — a Christian Joe Rogan — he or she would not only be attacked by Christians, but by satan.
John Rich, the country musician and businessman, recently was interviewed by Jordan Peterson. Rich pointedly asked Peterson if he had accepted Christ: ‘with your platform you could’….Rich went down the same path many evangelicals have gone for 50 years: close the sale.
Someone who does a podcast or youTube/Rumble show and wants to talk about issues from a Christian perspective, might need to just give a reason for the hope that lies within him and leave the sales pitch to the Christian professionals. And, be reasonably blameless, and not come across as an unrepentant bastard.
BrianD,
Praying for you and your mom…chronic pain is so very difficult to cope with.
Steve Brown has been completely snowed by TT and it grieves my soul…
BrianD, I get the chronic pain thing. I’ve lost track of how many procedures I’ve had in the last few years, some helpful, some not so much. Praying for both you and your mom.
I used to listen to Tullian, and had a devotional by him that I thought was mostly good. But what a piece of crap he’s turned out to be. I love Steve Brown, but their connection baffles me.
#6–do you have to fill the entire card before anything is done or only one row? 😉
fil 😂