God Is Big Enough

If you have a problem at work that you need help solving, you don’t go to the lowest employee on the org chart. You go to the person who has the most power and authority you can get on your side. And, when you have that person firmly on your side, the size and scope of the problem aren’t nearly as intimidating as they were before you secured their support. When we look at the world around us, it’s hard not to be completely overwhelmed by the problems we see. Sometimes it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the problems just in our own lives. There’s a solution for this. When Habakkuk was feeling overwhelmed by the problems he was facing, he prayed and came away with a new perspective that was up to the task. Let’s talk about what he learned and what we can learn from him in this third part of our teaching series, Asking God Hard Questions.

God Is Big Enough

So, I was watching the Chiefs play the other night, and Mahomes was running from a defender who looked to be about three times his size and absolutely intent on sacking him. Now, Mahomes has been there a lot over his career, and has a remarkable knack for getting out of those kinds of situations unscathed. Mahomes ran out of the pocket and back about 10 yards toward the sideline. Then, just when it looked like he was going to get caught and brought down hard for a rather devastating sack…he was. Rather than throwing the ball away like he should have so we didn’t get hit with a huge loss on the play, he just held onto it and got tackled while he was all by himself. There wasn’t another Chief’s player within 10 yards of him. That meant there were lots of available guys in whose direction he could have thrown the ball just to throw it away and avoid the loss. But he didn’t. He just let himself get sacked. Meanwhile, I’m busy hollering at the screen, “Throw the ball!” 

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Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 13:6

“Righteousness guards people of integrity, but wickedness undermines the sinner.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Graduation season is always an interesting time. The primary reason for this is that it gives us the chance to reflect on the parting words given to graduates by a whole variety of speakers. Every one of these invited guests is there to tell his or her audience the things they presumably need to know in order to experience success in life as they move on to their next chapter. Sometimes the advice is good and wise; sometimes less so. Sometimes the advice is fairly generic and bland, while other times it can generate reactions in the broader culture that are a bit…livelier. The graduation speech given by Harrison Butker, the superstar kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs seems to have fallen into this latter category. Let’s explore what he actually had to say, some of the ways the culture has reacted to it, and see what we can do with it.

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Now What?

Last week, we took a look at the incredible story of Elijah facing off against the prophets of Baal on the top of Mount Carmel from 1 Kings 18. That is one of my favorite stories in the entire Old Testament. What we came away with was a reminder that God sometimes acts in powerful ways, along with the exhortation to keep an eye out for His activity in our lives and the lives of the people around us. This week, we are taking a step forward to finish the story by looking at what happened next. The outcome of that incredible mountaintop experience isn’t what we might have expected it to be. Dive in with me, and let’s see what any of this has to do with our lives.

Now What?

If you’ll indulge me just a bit, as we are coming up quickly on the one year anniversary of a truly historical event, I thought we might reminisce on it for a few moments. Forty-eight weeks ago (this being the 49th), a competition was held. This was not your every day, average competition, though. This was a true clash of the titans. Two teams met in pursuit of the same goal and only one of them would walk away a step closer to it than they had been before. The other would go home in frustration and anguish and perhaps even shame depending on how the competition unfolded. If you’ve done your math and are aware of my sporting loyalties, you have perhaps already deduced that this epic competition was none other than last year’s AFC Divisional Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and my Kansas City Chiefs. Within minutes of the game’s dramatic finish, it was already being heralded as one of the single greatest football games of all time. 

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 6:24

“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are 32 teams in the National Football League. That means on any given week, 32 individuals are at the helm of one of the 32 most elite American football teams in the world. In the most recent census, the population of the United States was about 330 million people. If I have my math right, that means on a given weekend, about one out of every 10.5 million people is playing at the quarterback position in the NFL. While any one person’s odds of being an NFL quarterback are fantastically higher than winning something like the Powerball jackpot (which should tell you something about how silly it is to play the lottery), they’re still not great. That means the only quarterbacking most folks are ever going to do is the armchair variety. It’s super easy to sit in the comfort of your recliner and know what someone should have done in a situation you could have in no ways handled if you were actually in their shoes. It’s not really a good look. So, naturally, this morning, I’m going to do a bit of armchair quarterbacking. What’s going on with Tom Brady?

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Morning Musing: Proverbs 17:28

“Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent – discerning, when he seals his lips.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Most mornings when I sit down to write, I have a pretty good idea of what I will be writing about. I make it a point to be in the Scriptures every day, and as I read and study, when something catches my eye, I write a little blurb that gives me enough to go on later. Those blurbs get saved in the notes section of my Bible app (the YouVersion Bible App whose website is here) and become the kernels of ideas that get fleshed out into blogs later. Sometimes what you are seeing on here is an idea I first had two or three weeks prior. Fridays, though, have become days to reflect more intentionally on where the Scriptures intersect with culture, usually in the form of a review of a recent TV series or movie I’ve watched. This morning I’m going to shake things up. While I am still planning on writing up a review of the latest Spider-Man movie, and had initially planned on that being today, this morning, I’m hopefully excited about NFL Playoff Football this weekend. Here are a few fun thoughts I’ve had this week with all of that in mind.

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