Unmet Goals

I am not necessarily succeeding in fulfilling my two goals for the rest of 2009. The first is caring less about sports. The second is caring less about politics. The sports one is proving to be the most difficult. It is so easy to waste my time on the Internet reading a bunch of nonsense. And since the Tebow has been hurt, I have been all over reading everything I can about his injury. The politics one has been slightly easier but I do catch myself ranting sometimes. For example, I was ranting the other night how Michael Moore is what is wrong with health care. I also may have compared him to the alien in human skin from Men In Black. Either way, I am not necessarily dominating my goal like the Gator offense dominated UK in the first quarter...there I go again on one of those tangents.

This is all connected to a sermon that Steve Lammers gave at my church this weekend on Psalm 32:

A Maskil of David.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Selah

I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,"
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Selah

Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
Selah

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.

Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

David puts a huge emphasis on the confession of sins. In fact, David's bones wasted away inside of him when he kept silent about his sin. So I am confessing my sin because I am broken and worthless apart from the grace of God. I can do nothing to atone for my own sins. I can do nothing to achieve my salvation.
What a wonderful God we serve that hears our prayers and sanctifies us!

Health Care Speech

7 minutes into watching the healthcare speech, I realized Obama had said about 3 sentences. Stop clapping, for goodness sake!

In related news, I have a second goal for the semester: Stop caring as much about politics.  In reality, there is little I can do to change anything.  It also gets my blood-a-boiling because I think I am right.  I think that I have a moral responsibility to support issues I feel strongly about (ex. pro-life, anti-torture). With most issues though, I feel dissension is unnecessary. Here's a quote I have run across in my readings: 

For Christians, our hope is not in politics but in the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Politics does not change men fundamentally, though we do have a name for political systems that believe they can change men: totalitarianisms. Marxist regimes believed they could inculcate virtue, creating "the new man." The aims of Christian democracies founded on Christian truths are more modest, chiefly protecting life, liberty, and property (in the view of the United States' Founders). Because our ultimate hope is not in politics, we should lower our political expectations and heighten our cultural expectations. We should work for cultural change by means of preaching the Gospel and applying God's truth in all areas of life; a Christianized political order will come incrementally, over time.
-Andrew Sandlin

I think people can get their hope (no Obama joke intended) sucked into the wrong sources.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope... 1 Timothy 1:1

Losing Steam

Why is it that I always lose steam? I'll working along at a good pace but, as the days turn into weeks, I start fading. It doesn't matter what the subject is. It could be school, reading a book, or staying on top of your Christian game. I think that is why the Apostle TBA wrote this:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  (Hebrews 12)

The Holy Scriptures breathe life into weary lungs.  What an incredible blessing we have from God!  The piece of this scripture that resonates with me is the end.  I have never resisted sin to the point of shedding blood.  But Christ, for the joy set before him, endured such pain.  For the JOY set before him.  What an amazing God we serve that sees the cross as joy for our sake. Even though we do not deserve His grace, He joyfully has secured it. 

Next Stop: Camelot

At an event for work yesterday, a colleague informed me that someone said I looked like a young Ted Kennedy. You be the judge.