All things new…

I watched the official opening day game last night for the first time in a while. Jon Miller and Joe Morgan (I love those two guys working together) were calling the first game of the season, which was also the first game in the brand new National’s ballpark in DC. Everything was the first this and the first that. The first hit. The first strikeout. The first home run. At first it was funny, but then I realized how wonderful the whole “new thing” was. Kinda like when you get a new car, or a new job (hopefully not that often) or a new “________”. (You fill in the blank, it’s guitars for me.) I think I’m going to make this a yearly ritual, getting immersed in the newness, over and over again.    The other thing that is so wonderful about baseball particularly though is that, ignoring for a moment our our recent steroid problems, anybody can play. Short guys, tall guys, big guys, little guys, even slow guys sometimes. Larry Bowa was short and he was a great shortstop. Cal Ripken was tall and he was a great shortstop. Some of these pitchers are in great shape, others look like they need to lay off the gravy. It’s not like football where you have to be over 300 pounds to be a lineman, or in basketball where you have to be 6′6″. If you work hard and love the game, you can play (although not necessarily at the pro level). And paradoxically, hitting a baseball is so hard that if you can do it successfully one-third of the time you come to the plate, you’re actually really good!     I wonder if baseball is a little like heaven. (Can you tell I’m a fan?) I kinda hope so…

My problem with Joshua…

I have a great book in my library called “Hard Sayings of the Bible“. It helps me understand some of the things that are “tough” in the Bible, but it is really silent on my biggest “problem” with scripture. The book of Joshua, which I’ve been reading as part of my “Life Journal” (For those of you who go to TCC, you can get one at our Resource Center). Here’s the same God in the Bible that loves us enough to send His Son to die for our sins, and he’s instructing the Israelites to go on these wanton killing sprees. I have heard the explanations, but it’s still hard to take. It makes God seem really distant to me. And maybe that’s the point. God is very distant from me. He is holy, and I’m not. He is omniscient, and I’m not. I guess what it means for me is that these stories that make me feel God is so far away balance with the story of Jesus, who isn’t content just to be near us, or even around us, but loves us so much that He wants to be in us. And sometimes, that’s almost more than I can believe, too. But in a good way. I guess what I’m saying is I’d rather have Jesus living inside and through me than answers to the tough questions… Jesus, be in my head and heart today, and let me be some of Your mercy and grace in a fallen and broken world.

Here comes Easter

Seriously, for those of us who work in the church, especially if our responsibility is the weekend service, this is an exhausting week. I’m already tired, and it’s only Thursday morning! But fortunately for me, I’m not worrying. My worship team for the weekend had an UNBELIEVABLE night of rehearsal last night, the sermon is going to be great, the media is all set, and it’s great, too. In short, God has worked with us humble sinners to craft what I think will be a life-changing service for some, and a rousing time of worship celebration of our Lord’s resurrection for all. I hope a lot of churches have the kind of joyful awesome worship celebration for Easter that we’re going to have at Tri-County.