So I Drove To Minneapolis...

So I haven't done much blogging lately...well I've been busy! Last Thursday afternoon, I took off for Minneapolis, MN. I stopped by Southern Illinois to meet my dad, and the two of us left for the land of 10,000 lakes on Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, we arrived at the Field of Dreams Movie Site (see second picture). The Field of Dreams is located in Dyersville, Iowa, and isn't really worth a trip in and of itself, but it was neat. The wind chill when we got there had to be in the upper 30s. It was freezing. On Friday night, we arrived in Albert Lea, MN. Saturday morning we went to the Mall of America (see first picture). This mall is awesome, and I hate malls. There was more Minnesota Vikings stuff in one store than I've seen in my whole life. The whole mall was filled with Twins and Vikings stuff (two of my favorite teams). Plus, it has a mini theme park inside. Pretty cool. Saturday night, we watched the best pitcher in baseball, Johan Santana, give up 4 runs in the 1st inning, and the Twins lost 4-3. On Sunday morning, my dad and I visited Bethlehem Baptist Church, the church in which John Piper preaches. We were treated to a friendly visit full of meaningful worship and edifying preaching. On Sunday, we watched the Twins lose again, and on the way home, listened to the Vikings lose on the radio (oh, I forgot to mention that we watched the Twins lose on TV Friday night). We got out of the Twin Cities around 5:30 PM and decided to drive all the way to Southern Illinois and arrived at 4:30 AM. I had to put in Sandra McCracken's hymn CD to keep me awake the last couple of hours (since I had all the songs memorized, it kept my mind engaged). Of course, after 6 hours of sleep, I drove back to Alabama. Wow, what a trip. Good times with the pops. I hadn't spent that much time with my dad in the last 10 years combined.

Yeah, so the above post wasn't very spiritual. I usually try and make most of the posts on this blog spiritual -- so someone reading can get something out of them. The following is going to be a major stretch - but it's my blog, and it's what I want to do, so deal with it!

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Can the gospel get stale to people? Especially people in America? Have you tried to talk about the things of Christ to some, and it seems that by the time you're finished, it doesn't seem like good news anymore?

Well, consider the following analogy:

There I was last Sunday afternoon, sitting in the Metrodome, the place where the Twins and Vikings have called home all my life. I'm a 26 year old man, and I've dreamed of setting foot in such a place since I was 7 years old. A large majority of the fans there with me had been there many times before, and the Twins haven't had the greatest year. But they were still my team. It wasn't stale to me. I videotaped the entire starting lineup introduction. I bought a souvenir cup (Justin Morneau version). And then it hit me about half way through...there's a good chance I'll never be here again. And if I do come back to Minneapolis, the Twins will have a new stadium in 2010. So, as I was leaving, I was amazed to see the hundreds of souvenir cups left in the seats. Not only did those cups cost 5 or 6 dollars, but they were cools cups. So I walked the dome picking up empty cups. I walked out of the Metrodome that day with 6 Justin Morneau cups, 4 Johan Santana cups, and 2 of the Twins giant souvenir cups! Why? Because I'm a weirdo? Probably. Because I'm a pathetic 26 year old man running around a dome grabbing used cups? Probably. But because the Twins weren't stale to me? Definitely! It was an exciting time. I'm sitting here typing this blog drinking from a Johan Santana cup that I didn't buy. I consider it a free gift...just like the gospel.

While the gospel may be stale to some, it might just be exciting and new and great news to others! So don't give up. Find new faces, new people, and new countries if you have to. Because for the hundreds or thousands of fans that leave their souvenir cups behind, there are a few guys who would love to take them home. And it's the same with the gospel. We just need to do what we're supposed to do and love people.

The Challies.com September Giveaway

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You only get to enter the drawing once, unless you refer others (and I'm now referring millions and millions of people with this post). I ask that you do me a favor if you do enter this drawing, and that is to put in my referral #11830. Thanks, and good luck (or should I say, thanks - and God's will be done?)

Song Spotlight - "Hold The Light"

Song Title: Hold The Light
Artist: Caedmon's Call
Album: Overdressed
Writers: Andrew Osenga, Randall Goodgame

It's been a long year
Like a long sleepless night
Jacob wrestled the angel
But I'm too tired to fight

Every Wednesday
For two years we've met
I've showed you all my anger
My doubts and bitterness

There was no judgment in your eyes
Just the silent peace of God
That felt so real in you
Will you hold the light for me?
Will you hold the light for me?

And I stay up late
Because I cannot sleep
I don't want to face the quiet
Where it's just God and me

I'm waiting for the gavel
Handing me the sentence down
Because I don't believe in forgiveness
Or even repentance now

There was no judgment in your eyes
Just the silent peace of God
That felt so real in you
Will you hold the light for me?
Will you hold the light for me?

I want to feel redemption
Flowing through my veins
I want to see with clear eyes
Beyond lust and hate

I want the war to be over
And know the good guys won
And I want love to hold me
To know I'm not alone

Standing around a willow weeping
We were praying in the backyard
In the chill of the night
The friendship light reminded me who we are

Why this song: The newest CD from Caedmon's Call came out last week. I was pretty excited to get the pre-ordered edition in the mail (for it included a bonus CD and each had two bonus tracks on them). I was even more excited when I actually listened to it and immediately considered it great. So, one reason for picking this song was to get out the word that the newest Caedmon's Call CD is fabulous, and this song I'm spotlighting today might be the best song on the CD. Anyway, it's also Labor Day today. A couple of the lines in the song reminded me of that fact too. Most of the holidays we celebrate have nothing to do with the people who actually get off of work for them. Many celebrate some war or someone's birthday, but Labor Day is a holiday for the common working man!

Why I like it: Let me start by saying how much more difficult it is to do a song spotlight rather than a hymn spotlight. The hymns are easy to talk about, usually a theological concept or some Scripture here and there -- but not songs -- they're often hard to figure out unless you talk to the man who wrote it, but I can do my best to describe what I think it's talking about and why I like it. If I'm off the mark, I'm off the mark..so be it. When I first heard this song, my first though was to think of my accountability group, "Every Wednesday, for two years we've met, I've showed you all my anger, my doubts and bitterness." The tough interpretation for me was what to do with the 'hold the light' part. As Christians, Jesus commands us in the sermon on the mount to let our light shine before men so that they will praise our father in heaven. I know that in many situations in life, we are dependent upon someone holding a light for us - be it a guide, a helper, or whatever. So perhaps there's a double meaning here...I would guess some accountability or small group or discipleship group is in mind here - and the writer is asking his brothers to hold the light for him (both as guidance and perhaps as Jesus meant it). It sounds like the writer is having a tough year and is struggling with a lot of things. I know I can relate. Again, typical of Caedmon's Call style, they don't hold anything back. Really, how many contemporary Christian bands will put lines like "Because I don't believe in forgiveness or even repentance now" in their songs? Very few. But I know that many of us from time to time struggle with these thoughts when we're dealing with other struggles. You and I need people in our life to hold the light for us. And when we're walking with God well, we need to be holding the light for others that may be looking to us for the last string of hope. So..I dedicate this song to the guys in my accountability group. We've been meeting on Wednesday for a couple of years now, and I must say there have been many days that I look to you guys to hold the light for me. Thanks.

Related Scripture: Matthew 5:15-17, Exodus 13:21

Favorite Line: "Jacob wrestled the angel, but I'm too tired to fight." This is the line that made me want to write about it on Labor Day. Lately, I haven't been blogging much, and a lot of it has to do with how tired I am. It saddens me to look back at the days that I'm too tired to fight the good fight. I don't want to be like that. I want to be a fighter, every day. I want to fight the various temptations that attack me in a variety of ways. I want to be a light for those around me, but I can't do that if I'm walking in darkness myself. As football season kicks off, let's be like the guys in the bottom of a pile wrestling for a fumble. In all the mess of life, I pray that I can be the guy who not only dives to the bottom of the pile but comes out holding the ball.

Introducing NotARepeat.com

Yeah...I bet most of you have never heard of NotARepeat.com, probably because it's brand new and very localized. Starting next Sunday, my church is finally opening up and having two services again (one of them is going to be slightly less formal), and as a way to get the message out about our church, the two services, and the gospel of Christ, NotARepeat.com was created. We also were handed everything from yard signs and T-shirts to stickers to promote the event. Well, I'm not the yard sign kind of guy, so I decided to put a link on my blog (after all, I do have millions of readers). My friend Clint warned me this morning that if were to put it on my blog, then Southwood might have to go to three services. That's fine with me. Let the people come. The "spoof" video on the website is actually quite entertaining. I bet you will chuckle. Anyway, if you want to check it out, CLICK HERE.