MEMORIAL DAY

(This was presented at part of a Memorial Day event in 2002.)

Today we stand before the flag of our Nation... Old Glory... the Stars and Stripes. We stand before the Banner of Freedom. Around the world, for the last 228 years this flag has flown on battlefield after battlefield. The staff on which it flies has pierced the blood stained dirt of places like Boston, Iwo Jima, Baghdad, France, Germany, Korea and Vietnam. It has been unfurled by sailors upon ships great and small; ships like the Constitution (I am a grandson of one of the Constitution’s Commanders: Captain Edward Preble), the Arizona, the Eisenhower, the PT 109 and the Spikefish. It has been placed atop towers marking airfields and landing strips carved by Seabees in the middle of jungles and upon the tiniest of islands in the midst of the largest of seas. And everywhere these colors fly, whether that be in boardrooms or on battlefields; whether it be in classrooms or cathedrals, its meaning cannot be hidden, stifled, or silenced. Its symbolism cannot be overlooked or ignored. And the price that has been paid to keep it flying yet today cannot be diminished and should never be forgotten. That is why we gather here today: to remember the price. To remember those who have paid with their blood the ultimate cost for freedom.

There have been and continue to be today men who would find a villain in freedom. They are willing to kill innocent unarmed men, women and children whose only crime is that they are free. Kings and dictators, tyrants and terrorists hate freedom. Why? Because they alone want to control what belongs to God: the destiny of men. They want to receive the adoration and the glory that belongs to God and God alone. So, in the face of tyranny and terror, upon both soil and sea, this flag declares that all men are created by God with certain unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

If I may, please permit me to combine statements from President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address, January 20, 1961 and George W. Bush’s address to a joint session of Congress, September 20, 2001: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear and burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.”

Let those of us gathered here today never forget the price it will take for our nation to keep these promises. The price for freedom always has been and continues to be the lives of young men and women of one generation that are willing to secure liberty for the next. Those who dare question whether freedom is worth price don’t deserve it. Those not grateful today - those that refuse to humbly bow their heads in respectful memory of those who have died to secure freedom for yet another day - they may tomorrow discover that liberty is gone and has been replaced with godless tyranny. God forbid it. And may God forgive the politician who forsakes the gray haired lady liberty for the temptations offered by the youthful siren of political correctness. May he come to recognize that freedom’s price is far too great than to be sold for a vote. Let that politician be grateful that his political cowardliness and disloyalty not be treated as it might be in other nations of the world.

Let the Muslim and the Buddhist and even the Atheist know that it was Christian men that produced the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that protects them and provides them with opportunity today. Let those who would come to the Land of the Free to obtain an education or to enjoy the profits of business know that it was from the Christian Scriptures, the Christian faith and prayer to the God of the Christian Bible that the principals of Liberty were birthed. And it is only by the same means that those principals will be preserved. Let each and everyone that enjoys freedom be willing at the very least to honor and remember those who have for freedom died and at the most be willing to do the same if it be necessary to do so. Let us join with those whose names affirm our Declaration of Independence, who wrote with quill and ink for all to read, “with a firm reliance on Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, & our sacred Honor.”

The great American Patriot, Patrick Henry stood before the congregation assembled at St. John’s Church on March 23, 1775 and declared, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! - I know not what course others may take; but as for me,” then with both arms extended toward heaven, and his whole countenance framed with conviction, he with boldness continued, “give me liberty or give me death.”

The wreath that we this day place beneath the banner of Freedom is but a fragrant symbol of our solemn recognition of the sacrifice of death that has been paid by those who have fallen on the battlefields and oceans of war and who did not come home. Their painful struggle, their death, and the tears of their families are not this day in vain. We remember them. And we are grateful.

Just as surely as Christ Jesus died for our Spiritual Freedom, so too will there come a day when war will be no more. From the Prophet Isaiah we are told, “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. - Isaiah 2:4” As Christians we long for that day. Until then, as Americans, we must be willing to secure freedom by strength and to remember those whose strength is gone.

THE ANOINTING - Part IV: Conclusion

I’m afraid that the reason we may seek the anointing instead of a baptism is because we are carnal. We are unwilling to abandon the world. I believe that we intuitively understand that if we are going to have the New Testament baptism, self has to die. And the dragon of self is mighty indeed. It is difficult to slay. You can knock it down, but it gets up time and time again. You can try to run away from it, but it will incessantly chase you down. But if we seek the anointing of the Old Covenant, the dragon of self need not die; it can live on. The Old Covenant allowed the anointing to be placed upon those in whom self not only lived, but thrived.

The Apostle Paul would have none of that which permitted self to continue on the throne of his life. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 6:14, 2:20

There is one and only one method to eradicate self. There is only one way known to man to exterminate the vile monster of self. Be assured that no organization of man can bring down the sanctuary that safeguards the trophies of self. The celebrity of self that parades itself in our mirrors everyday must be thoroughly abolished. The only way to accomplish this deed in to take it all, every last bit, to the Cross of Jesus Christ. And there, and there alone, it must be crucified. It must die. This is the Baptism into Jesus Christ - Romans 6:3.

In an effort to avoid misunderstanding, what exactly do we mean when we speak of “self”. What is this thing that must be vanquished? It is that mysterious something deep within that sets itself up as god. It is that thing that must have control at the expense of everything and everyone else. It is that desire that rises up out of us and demands to be satisfied. It is better than others. It is master. It is lord. It is the idol god of self. It is self worship.

The good news is that the one that is willing to take it to the Cross will find a victory like no other. The individual that takes the path that terminates at the Great Wooden Beam on which Jesus breathed his last will find redemption there. They will find deliverance there. They will find freedom there. And those that discover the empty tomb will find a risen Savior who can save completely all that come to God through Him. Those that struggle in the conflict against self will find Jesus to be their Captain of the Faith… the Rewarder of the those who diligently and earnestly seek Him. Once emptied of self, they will find themselves filled with the glorious presence - Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Paul writes to the Church in Rome: What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! - Romans 7:24-25.

I want no anointing that allows the old man to live. I need no external presence of God to visit my praise. What I need most is victory over the false god called self. And, that victory can only come from Jesus - a gift of grace - received by faith. Thanks be to God… I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me.

THE ANOINTING - Part III

Now, let me go on the record, I do believe that God did inhabit the praises of his people just as indicated in the Psalms. I do believe that He did… I just don’t believe that He now does. Why? Because is completely unnecessary. Why? Because He now inhabits the people of His praise. That is the difference between then and now. And that distinction makes all the difference in the world. The Apostle Paul declares, “I have been crucified with Christ and I know longer live, but Christ lives IN ME.” If Christ now inhabits us, the truth of which is at the very heart of the Gospel, then it is illogical and redundant to think that if we praise him, he then comes and inhabits those praises. He inhabits the Christian whether we are praising him or not. And He does not inhabit us any more or any less depending on our style, or quantity, or quality, or volume, or frequency of our praise, or the lack thereof. We can stand in the midst of a million praising Christians and His indwelling presence does not increase in us because of it. During the Old Covenant it was necessary for the Lord to inhabit the praises of His people for He did not inhabit them. Which leads me to my next question.

What is the difference between the person who is anointed and the person who is baptized? The answer is quite simple, and it is the very matter that is at the center of what I am trying to say. The man anointed lives on. The man baptized lives no more! The man anointed knew not the resurrection power… The man baptized knows the incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead… - Ephesians 1:19-20.

David needed an anointing for he could not know what it was to have the power available only through baptism. We need not an anointing since having been united with Jesus in His resurrection. Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. - Romans 6:3-5

THE ANOINTING - Part II

Go back to clue #1. Jesus had it done to him but never did it to anyone until after his resurrection. The Holy Spirit was present when Jesus had it done and is also present when Jesus does it to others.

Clue #2 expanded: We do it one way by grace, we may do it the second way by obedience, and the third way by asking. One way we experience it saves us, the other two cannot.

New clue: Jesus asked his disciples if they could, they said yes, and he acknowledged that they would.

Certainly by now you have guessed what it is. That’s right, it is the word baptize / baptism. The word baptize and its various forms is found 100 times in the New Testament, but not once in the Old. Let me repeat, “Not once!!!” Which leads me to ask the next question: Why in the Church today are we so overwhelmed with the concept of “the anointing” but we hear little about “baptism”? Why do we sing song after song such as “Anointing Fall on Me”, but seldom sing, “O, Lord send the power just now and baptize every one”? It is the answer to these questions that I believe we should seek to find.

On the other hand, the word anoint and it variations is found 128 times in the Old Testament, yet only 13 times in the New. The majority of times in the New Testament, it is directly referring to Jesus’ anointing as the Christ. It is true that the Scripture does say that those that are saved have received an anointing, but of the few times it is used in reference to believers, its purpose seems to be twofold: it “teaches us” and “is a sign of our belonging to God”. That’s it. Nowhere in the New Testament do we read about “anointed preaching or singing”. Nowhere do we read about any of the Apostles having an anointing beyond that which is common to everyone who is saved; that which marks us as Christians. There is no indication of a “special” anointing upon any individual person, other than Jesus. Nothing even close to its perceived importance in the modern Church is even suggested by the Scripture… that is without returning to the Old Covenant. And therein lies the problem… the error, if you will.

THE ANOINTING - Part I

God inhabits the praises of his people…. Psalm 22:3

You’ve heard it preached… Amen! Let’s praise the Lord; for the Lord inhabits the praises of His people… Everyone shout. Everyone sing. Hallelujah!

I am here today to proclaim to you that I completely, categorically, and without reservation, do not believe this to be true. That’s correct. I do not believe that God inhabits the praise of his people. And it is my sincere hope, that before I am finished (if you will not stop reading, but will continue to my conclusion) you will agree with me. As a matter of fact, not only do I not believe this to be true, but I do not want it to be true. I would run as fast and as far as I possibly could away from any religious experience in which this were the case.

Secondly, (and if you don’t already think I have lost my mind, the following will probably convince you) I do not want the anointing! No sir. I don’t want it. I am not seeking it. And if I find it, I will avoid it. If the anointing to which I refer is what I believe many Christians perceive it to be, then it is my sincere hope that no one ever thinks me to be anointed. If they believe that I am, then I have given the wrong impression and I will do whatever I can to correct this perception. I have obviously misled them.

What word is found 100 times in the New Testament but not once in the Old? Let me give you a few clues.

Clue #1: Jesus experienced it. #2: There are three different ways we may experience it. #3: David didn’t experience it. #4: We are told to do it all over the world. #5: Paul was glad that he didn’t do it very much.

Do you have the answer? Not yet?

To be continued............

THE GIFTER

Have you ever heard a parent say, “My child is in a program at school for gifted children”? Or perhaps, “Our school offers courses of study for gifted and talented students.”

I’m sure we are all familiar with the “gifted” child idea. Somewhere a few decades ago someone coined the phrase “gifted” child, and in a culture where everyone is looking for a way to increase the value of self, the word “gifted” really sounds good. What parent wouldn’t like for little Sally to be “gifted”? What grandparent wouldn’t like to be able to brag (something all grandparents love to do!) that their little Johnny is recognized by his teachers as being “gifted”? What school couldn’t score lots of points with the parents by providing parents with bumper stickers announcing: “My child is in the Gifted and Talented class at XYZ Middle School”?

As I reflected upon this “gifted” idea recently, it occurred to me strange that this idea exists within the muddle of a secular, humanistic society that has done everything possible to remove God from its midst. The same school that recognizes students as gifted refuses to recognize the Giver. Don’t you see? The word gift implies a giver. How can one have a gift if there is no giver? What a mixed up child we produce when we remove God, the Giver, the Gifter of all things good, from the corridors and classrooms of our schools, but then tell little Johnny that he has a gift. Little Johnny doesn’t have to be very gifted at all to ask the question, “If I have a gift, then where did it come from? Who gave it to me?”

If we conclude that some are the benefactors of a gift, and that necessitates the existence of a Gifter, then likewise we must conclude that the gifted moniker imply that others are un-gifted? If there is a Gifter, as the term gifted demands, then the Gifter apparently skips over some when passing out gifts. Trust me... I've met some people who were absent when the gifts were being passed out. And if the Gifter skips over me, but endows others, then I am not responsible for my failures. It's the Gifter's fault; he neglected me. Can the pot complain about the potter? No. He exists at the pleasure of the potter. Likewise, can the potter complain about the way the pot turned out? Again, no. The potter cannot judge the pot; he can only judge himself.

So... either a Gifter exists and he bestows gifts upon some and not others according to his independent sovereign pleasure... or there is no Gifter. If there is no Gifter, then there are no gifts. If there are no gifts, then there is no blessing. If there is no blessing, there is no Blesser. We are pots without a Potter. There is no Sovereign. We are each self-sovereign. It is each man for himself: the survival of the fittest. We are brute beasts, creatures of instinct, meant to be snared. Death and destruction await us all! Therein lies the heart of the dilemma that faces everyone who would deny God. It is the conundrum of the Atheist. It is the downfall of the Humanist. It is the end of the Agnostic.

Could there be a third option? What if each and every one of us is gifted? What if the value of each gift is measured by a standard with which we are all unaware? What if left is right? What if up is down? What if that which seems impaired is healthy and stong? What if the person whom this world evaluates as un-gifted in reality is the most gifted of all? What if the first is last and the last first? I don't know about you, but I don't like playing games in which I do not know the rules. I find no pleasure or satisfaction in blindly striving to reach goals that may or may not be correct. It's going to really upset me to find out that I thought the goal was left and I was shooting right. How could the designer of the game fault me for missing the goal, when he doesn't clearly tell me what the goal really is?

There must be some other option.

THE BUCKET LIST

There was a movie a few years ago entitled "The Bucket List". I had seen the preview and thought it would be entertaining, so when it was released, Joni and I went to see it. The plot was simple: two men who knew they were dying, made a list of things they wanted to do before the "kicked the bucket". After the initial set-up of the plot, the two unlikely friends - one very wealthy, one very blue collar, one a family man, the other not, one knowledgeable about many things, the other knowledgeable about only one - set out to complete their list. Following were a series of humorous, sometimes emotional scenes.

Knowing my penchant for craziness, my friends who likewise saw the movie began to tease me about my "Bucket List" and what it might contain. And I played along, joking about activities that would be on my personal list: stuff like water skiing behind a four-wheel drive pick-up truck on a flooded country road.

About the same time, a country song became popular: "Live Like You Are Dying". The song tells a similar story of a man who got a terminal diagnosis from his Doctor, and then began advising all to go sky diving and bull riding. The logical conclusion to be drawn from the story is simple. You don't know how much time you have left, and life is short, so take a risk and life everyday to the fullest.

Never, never put off 'till next year that family vacation that you all have talked about at each and every holiday gathering for the last 10 years. We didn't, and I am forever grateful. For years... at each and every family holiday gathering... and several times between the holidays, Bob, my father-in-law, suggested that we "all" take a cruise together. For weeks following the Thanksgiving / Christmas gatherings, we would research cruise itineraries and costs. We would discuss which cruise line was best. We would talk about our plans... But that is all we did: talk. I will admit that I almost began to not look forward to the holidays because I knew the subject would come up. And, I knew that we wouldn't act on those plans, and I would always somehow end up feeling guilty.

But a few years ago, over a period of just a few days in March '07, it happened. As the result of a simple suggestion on the part of my daughter Angie, and the immediate full-time efforts of my father-in-law, all of us - all 15 of us - parents, kids, grand kids and great-grand kids, even unborn Emma (the 15th member of the family and the only one Carnival did not charge) - booked a Christmas cruise. I will never regret not one penny of the cost. I will never complain about one minute of inconvenience I may have experienced.

On Christmas day of '07, Joni and I were laying together in the Caribbean surf... on the beach... on St. Martin. However, it is not the lobster dinner, or the evening dancing, or the beautiful beaches that made it perhaps the most wonderful week of my life. It was that I was my family. I was with the one thing that means more to me than anything else in the world. I was with my genetic family. I have cruised with friends, and make no mistake about it; it was wonderful, it was great, but it was not the same as this... not even close. This was different in ways that I still struggle to understand, let alone articulate.

We arrived in Miami the day before our cruise was to begin. As the day progressed, more and more family arrived and began to get checked in and the Holiday Inn. Hugs... kisses... helping one another with luggage... phone calls... keeping up on where everyone was. All of this and more would be the activity that filled our day. Of special note was the fabulous-beyond-words dinner Joni and I shared together at a romantic little Cuban restaurant. This day would be a perfect beginning to a perfect week.

Our week was filled with so many Kodak moments and memories: miniature golf with the grand kids, dining with family, watching sunrises, sunsets, and rainbows. The beach, the surf, the shopping. The dancing... the list goes on and on.

How could I fail to mention the flights home? Every one's flight got messed up. We ended up somewhere in the Carolinas watching unborn Emma Leigh bump and kick Angie as we all lounged in the airports waiting for our flights.

But my purpose here is not to present a travelogue of our family cruise. Rather, it is to point out that you should never (and I repeat, "NEVER!!!") put off 'till next year.... Little did any of us know as we dined on steak and lobster while at sea what would follow in just a few short months. Little did we know that Bob's heart was, at the time of our vacation, nearing the end of its duty. None of us knew it, but we were rapidly running out of time. We had certainly been through some close calls previously. Bob was an acute diabetic and we had nearly lost him just the year before. But, the fact was, none of us knew how precious and how little time we had remaining to share our lives together.

It was late on a Wednesday afternoon in June of '08 that we got an urgent call from back home. Bob was being rushed to a hospital in Indianapolis. The problem: his heart. Again, my purpose here is not to take you through the personal and private details of that night and the next day. Those hours would be the epilogue of Bob's life here. However, the full story of Bob's life would be lived by all of us in the months and years that would follow. Included in this final account would be the "forever" memories of a family vacation for which we all most likely could afford neither the time nor the money to take.

The point that I desperately want to make is this: live! Live! Life is too precious to waste with worry and despair. Our time together is too dear to squander over petty grievances. How many people do you know that harbor hard feelings toward a family member, sometimes for so long that the reason is long forgotten or no longer important?

Yet, relationships suffer. Days are lost. Months pass by. And before we know it, life is gone. Opportunities pass. Moments that can never be replaced escape. The Bible says that Jesus came that we might have life to the fullest. I, without question believe that perhaps the most accurate measure of just how full a life can be lived is measured by the time we spend with our families.

A wise man once said, "Visiting family is like dead fish; after about three days, it begins to stink." In the same way, it has been noted that the reason the first Thanksgiving was such a spectacular celebration was because every one's families were back in Europe. It may be true that one needs to carefully manage time spent with those we love, so as to not wear out our favor. However, the converse is even more critical. We need even more so to manage our time NOT with family, lest we wake up one day overwhelmed with regrets over the dances not danced... the sunset unseen... the meal uneaten... the hug unfelt.

You can't unring a bell. Neither can you capture events that didn't happen. There are no do-overs. There is no comfort in joys not celebrated. There is no solace in memories unmade. Live. I urge you to live; if not like you are dying, then at least like life is precious. Perhaps it's time to get out your Bucket List and freshen it up. Maybe add a few things... Take a risk... Maybe visit your local travel agent and then call your family. Stop talking about your plans. Put them into gear... You get the idea. Live!

STEROIDS

How many of you believe steroid use should be banned from sports? Good for you... let's keep the sacred, hallowed ground of the ball field free from such contamination. I, on the other hand, do not believe that steroids should be banned. It's not that I condone the use of drugs for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance; I just believe that if we are to be consistent, then we should clear the way for steroid use among athletes. "What!?", you say.

Oh, stop it..... Professionals from every walk of business use synthetic methods to improve their success. Wherever there has been a dollar, or peso, or euro to be made, men and women have been padding their efforts by every means available for centuries. There is no difference between steroids and silicone. There is no difference between a model becoming a blond bombshell, and an average baseball hitter becoming a home run legend. It's all chemicals; administered to enhance the performer and gain better results.

There is furthermore no difference between putting make-up on little girls or botox into older women. It's all fake. We have become so accustomed to fake that we don't even recognize it for what it is. We sell it. We buy it. We play with it. We celebrate it. Let's be honest; there is no distinction between steroids and a two martini lunch. We can't seal the deal on our own merits. Let's use drugs. Let's reach out and get help to overcome our own shortcomings. It's how the game is played. Moreover, it's how the game is won. So why do we get so sanctimonious about steroid use? Let's just admit it: there is no difference between steroids and prayer.

Prayer!!!! Did I just say, "Prayer!!"? Yep. I think I did. I'll say it again, "Prayer." Prayer gives athletes that utilize it, an unfair advantage.

I have a nephew-in-law that is a former Indiana High School State wrestling champion. Larry is a deeply committed Christian. He once told me that he never prayed for God to help him in a wrestling match. He explained that he was so convinced that the Lord would honor his prayer, thus enabling him to win, that it would be a supremely unfair advantage. This of course, to any athlete with an ounce of integrity, would be unacceptable. No, Larry wanted to win on his own merits and skill; the results of hard work, dedication, and training. So, he never prayed for God's help. I have always thought highly of Larry for this.

Perhaps you would suggest that the reason that steroid use is wrong is because it is illegal... Don't be silly. Prayer is banned in the public schools. Prayer is against the rules. There have been very notable cases where students have been disciplined for praying at the lunch table. So, is it wrong for the Christian student to pray for his success in a ball game since it is a violation of the rules of the School? If you would argue that it is O.K. for a student to violate School rules concerning prayer, then how can you argue that it is wrong for a student to use steroids because it is illegal? A violation of the rules is a violation of the rules; yes? Does it really matter whose rules we are breaking?

If you would argue that steroid use is wrong because it is a foreign substance... that it is unnatural, what, I would ask, is more unnatural than to beseech Deity for assistance? Furthermore, men and women use foreign substances daily to change and enhance their performance. Hint: coffee / Red Bull. Oh, I know; we don't consider caffeine to be an unnatural enhancement. Well then, how about adding rosin to the hands of the gymnast? Is that not an alteration of the natural oils and moisture commonly found on the skin. The list could go on and on forever of how athletes are permitted to change the natural to the unnatural.

During the most recent Olympics there was a controversy over the use of Speedo's LZR Racer swimsuit. This $500 swimsuit has been clearly proven to give a slight advantage to those who wear it. Should the unfair advantage gained by wearing a particular swimsuit lead to a decision that all swimmers swim in identical swimsuits? NASCAR racing offers the IROC race, in which all the vehicles are identical; so as to remove any unfair mechanical advantage.

Oh, I know... steroids are injected. That's why they are bad. I would ask, what is the difference from the model that gets botox injections and the Major League baseball player? The model gets paid to not have wrinkles. The batter gets paid to hit home runs. Both choose to inject something into their bodies that will help them achieve their goal: more money.

You might argue that steroid use is wrong because it is dangerous and can do permanent harm to the body. Please.... you can do better than that. So is driving in a NASCAR race, but that doesn't stop millions of people from paying millions of dollars to watch men and women do very dangerous things that may very well lead to permanent injury or even death. Lots of things are dangerous. We gladly and willing pay to watch myriad performers cheat death. How then can we defend our opposition to steroid use because it's unsafe?

Have you ever watched the TV show, Deadliest Catch? If we really cared about safety, we would boycott the crab industry. We don't care about those who catch our crab or our baseballs. It really doesn't matter. Go ahead and enjoy your king crab dinner, provided at the life and death risk of the fishermen, while you enjoy the ball game, played by athletes who risk life and death to play the game.

In any game, logic and the sensibilities of fair play demand that each participant compete without an advantage that is not equally available to each player. Sure... now we're to it, aren't we? That's why it's O.K. to pray; prayer is equally available to all. Right? As I have previously pointed out, it may not be that simple. We must consider the person whose moral character would guide them not to pray because praying would be a breach of the governing policies of the sanctioning body. If you go ahead and pray, in defiance of the School rules, then you now have illegally improved your chances of winning. Yes? Prayer might not be morally available to each participant.

What if both team captains are Christians, and they both pray? Only one can win and I have never seen any athlete lift their hands and eyes heavenward after a loss and give public praise to God for their defeat. Never.... Not one time. Oh, it may have happened sometime, somewhere... However, I have never witnessed it. A game is a zero sum event. For every winner, there is a loser. Business is the same. For every dollar gained, one dollar is lost. So, if God is responsible for the win, is he likewise culpable for the loss?

Surely, by now you have recognized the unpleasant logic of my argument. I would like to return to the notion that God really would answer game day prayers of athletes and spectators alike. For all who thought this was about the subject of steroids (I know. That is the title of this post.), or unfair advantages, or any of the many other issues mentioned above, it is not. I couldn't care a whit if adult athletes blow their blood vessels to smithereens with steroids. They can do whatever they want. Caring is a complete waste of time; my caring won't change a thing. Obviously, our lives and the games we play are all ruled by a bunch of contradictory, confusing, conflicting and hypocritical rules created, applied and enforced by fallible men. So, why do we expect and demand that athletes follow certain rules of behavior, when we ourselves break both the letter and the spirit of the rules?

This is about prayer... and, whether or not God would respond to the "sports" prayer. You see, I must apologize; for, I misled you from the beginning to believe that God would in fact respond to the "sports" prayer. I wrote as though praying for success in a game would automatically bring about blessing from above. I gave no room for the notion that God doesn't care about your silly game, and isn't going to waste heavenly time on such an earthly event. And therein lies the point.

How could you possibly expect me to believe that God is fixing games while the lives of faithful men, women, and children continue to be filled with pain, disease and suffering? If I for one moment believed that God cared about the outcome of a ball game, then I would have to conclude that God cared about the pleasures of this world. If He cares about the pleasures of this world, then He must also care about the displeasures of this world. So if given a choice between the Super Bowl and the patients of a Children's Hospital, God chooses to fix the game instead of fixing sick kids... I cannot allow myself to reach that conclusion... It is unthinkable.

The only acceptable conclusion is that God cares nothing for the affairs of this world and is completely and exclusively focused upon the world yet to come. While vast numbers of Christians around the world are starving and dying, we pray for success in games and in business. As many of our brothers and sisters in the Lord suffer and live in the depths of poverty the likes of which we have no comprehension, you expect me to believe that is is appropriate to shout, "Thank you, Jesus", while we lift our game trophies to the sky. If it is illegal for players, coaches, and referees to fix games, how can you possibly expect me to believe that it is appropriate for God to do so?

The simple fact is: He doesn't! God does not care about our frivolous games. I dare say, I'm not even sure He cares about our careers. He cares about souls. The Father did not send a coach. He did not send an employer. He did not send an entrepreneur. He sent a Savior. The Bible does NOT say that God sent his only son that whosoever believes would win the ball game.,. rather, that they would have eternal life. Any prayer that would try to implicate God in the games of this life is misdirected. Every prayer that seeks to bring glory to God in the next is right on target.

Jesus came to fix broken lives. He came to fix sin. If you had the opportunity to meet the President of the United States, would you disrespect the office of the President so much as to ask the President to help you win a ball game? Recently, I saw a picture on Yahoo of a woman changing her baby's diaper on a bench in a public hallway of the White House. Included in the picture was a uniformed White House usher, who was seen to be explaining that there might be a more appropriate place to do such a task. Nothing could better illustrate how our culture has become so completely insensitive to the dignity and honor that should be afforded to certain times, places, and persons.

At the heart of this matter is nothing less that our individual perception of the character and personage of God. What we think of God will determine what we think of prayer. If God is our buddy that we wouldn't mind hangin' out with and knocking back of few longnecks with, then that perception will dictate our demeanor in prayer. If, on the other hand, God is high, exalted, honorable, and to be revered... If He is majestic, magnificent and holy... If we see God as Isaiah saw him, we then fall on our faces before him in prayer.

The pendulum has swung. I grew up watching a generation of Christians that so very much revered God, that they approached Him mostly in silent solemnity. God was almost untouchable, and if we dared to do so, we made ourselves ready both inwardly and outwardly. Approaching God was a risk, and the one who would attempt to do so should have a darn good reason. Former generations were so dependent upon God's blessing, they could scarcely afford to offend Him. Never would they have courted God with capricious frivolity.

Today, I worship alongside a generation that awards and promotes gaudy, noisy camaraderie with God. God is our best pal. He is our chum. We can include him in our horseplay and our nonsense. We even invite him to set in the bleachers and do the "shazam" thing if our team needs a helping hand. Having a good quarterback is a good thing; having a Christian quarterback is better - all the more so for the prayers prayed and blessing bestowed. Can't you just hear the prayers? "God bless our son, the quarterback. There may be a college scout in the bleachers today, and we could really use a full-ride scholarship to a great University." Now that I think about it, our Divine friend can watch over the weather and make sure that we have sunshine and blue skies as well.

Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in the middle. We have friends in high places. He has called us his friends, but He remains on the throne. Jesus is both our brother and our King. Indeed, we have access that we may boldly and freely come before Him, but we should not forget Uzzah. The question might be: If we are going to ere, do we want to ere on the side of reverence or camaraderie?