Jeffrey Smith's Blog

Tebow or not Tebow? That is the question.

God does not control the outcome of football games. I know this. I am a Cowboys fan. We have not won a playoff game since 1995 and the Cowboys are obviously God’s favorite team, as He had a hole built in the roof of Texas stadium so He could have an unobstructed view of every game.

 

I am also a rabid Florida State fan.  I’m the kind of fan that not only knows more about FSU than 99% of fans, I know more about my rivals than 99% of their fans. I watched nearly every Florida Gators game that Tim Tebow played in. Why? I wanted them to lose. I was well aware of his faith. On a purely human level I thought he was a very nice guy. On a spiritual level I respected him for his faith. I even got kind of choked up during his Heisman speech, but make no mistake…I did not want him to succeed on the field while he was wearing my rivals uniform.

 

Now that he is wearing a less repugnant orange and blue uniform my thoughts on him have changed. (When a player leaves college you are allowed to like him if he’s from a rival team) It cracks me up to see so many Christians cheering for Tim Tebow. I have become one of them. Why is it happening?

 1.    He is bold and authentic about his faith.

 

I have yet to hear someone call him a hypocrite. I don’t think anyone questions his sincerity and even many who disagree with his beliefs still respect him.

 2.    He is a hybrid between Arnold Schwarzenegger, Andy Griffith, and Billy Graham

 

It’s not often that you see a 6’ 3’’, 245 lb., muscle-bound athlete with an “aww shucks” demeanor and a succinct mission in life.

 3.    People love an underdog.

 

When Tom Brady led the Patriots to their first Superbowl, the thing that stood out was how unheralded he was. In Tim Tebow’s case he is a different kind of underdog. Most underdogs don’t have these qualities:

 

1. #1 ranked 5* high school quarterback
2. 2 national titles
3. Heisman trophy winner
4. Davey O'Brien Award winner
5. Maxwell Award winner
6. Sporting News Player of the Year
7. #1 draft pick
8. $11.5 million dollar contract (With the new rookie wage scale in 2012 only 5 million or so less than Andrew luck, the probable #1 overall pick will get)

 

The nature of Tebow’s underdog status is related to his critics, mostly members of the media who do not appreciate his unorthodox delivery and playing style because it defies all conventional wisdom about what an NFL quarterback should be. There are also critics that persecute him unfairly because of his passionate faith.

 

 4.    He loves to compete

 

It’s great to watch someone who simply won’t give up. Favre made a lot of bad plays but his fierce competitive nature and love for the game is what made people love him.

 

There are probably many more reasons for the Tebow mania that is exploding.  I think it is fun.

 

The opening sentence of this blog did not say “God can not control the outcome of football games”. I have been unable to figure out the method to get Him to answer my particular football related prayers. Once I was driving down I-75 and I was praying. As a matter of fact I had tears streaming down my face as I was worshipping God, thanking Him for His faithfulness in my life. I looked in my rear view and I saw a Florida State Trooper pulling me over. Uh oh. As he wrote me my ticket for speeding I shamelessly explained that I was praying to which he replied, “well, I guess you need to pray harder”. ZING! I did not receive the ticket because God was unpleased with my worship. I received a ticket because I was speeding.

 

I played football for 10 years and I probably can’t think of a game that I did not pray before, during, and after. Thousands of athletes pray during games. Many athletes of exceptional faith have stood boldly for God while playing on losing teams. To me it is trivializing God to suggest that He is affecting the outcome of each play.

 

The Bible says is Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.” It also says in Psalm 37:23 “The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”

 

Knowing that our lives are pleasing to God is the most important thing. It is really great to see a young man like Tim Tebow acknowledging God and being used in so many great ways outside of football as well. To infer that God is causing all the good plays would also infer that He is either causing the bad ones or allowing them. There are victories and obstacles in any profession. What we ultimately celebrate is that our lives are pleasing to God and we are on His path.

 

If you are a Tebow fan enjoy watching someone with such a positive attitude who is in the limelight. If you are not, that’s ok too. One of my friends who is a Cowboys fan told me last night, “Well as a die hard Dallas Cowboys fan, I will say go Denver and Tebow mania only because a Cowboy rides a horse and the Bronco is the closest to it so, Denver all the way just for the rest of this season!”.

 

I lol’d.

 

 

Injustice Beware

It is nearly impossible to try and explain the vastness of the world of sports. From physical fitness, competition, and teamwork, to leadership, merchandising, and downright national pride, sports is big business…huge business. The professional sports industry alone is twice the size of the auto industry and 7 times larger than the movie industry.

 

Sometimes an issue arises in the world of sports that transcends sports itself. The blog I am writing today will be considered by some as sports related. Although it is within the realm of the sports world, I feel it is more human related.

 

The dreadful story that has been developing at Penn State for the last week or so has been in my head for days. For those that may not be aware of the story I would suggest reading about it before reading the rest of this blog. Be warned it is graphic and sickening yet it is a story that cannot be avoided.

 

 Within this real-life horror story we find a man in a position of authority and influence that used his power to prey on innocent, at-risk children. We also see legendary leaders above him forever tarnishing their own legacies for failing to respond to the injustices in an appropriate way. Instead of talking about this story directly, I am choosing to make 3 critical observations based on these events.

 

 

1.            There will always be people in positions of authority that will abuse their power and influence to get what they want.

 

2.            There will always be people that prey on the innocent for their own benefit.

 

3.            There will always be people that know injustice exists, yet do little or nothing to prevent it.

 

I want to take these three heartbreaking statements and ask myself how I plan on responding to each of them in my own life.

 

1.            There will always be people in positions of authority that will abuse their power and influence to get what they want.

 

 

Other than Jesus my favorite Biblical personality has always been David. David had a tremendous love for God yet he was very human. David taught us how to worship yet he also showed us how far we can fall when we don’t cling to the one that we should be worshipping at all times. David used his authority as king to obtain Bathsheba, the object of his desire, he also used authority as commander-in-chief to have Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, murdered on the battlefield. David had one key element that I desire to have. He always turned to the Lord when he failed.

 

As a senior pastor I have a great deal of autonomy. Sure I have elders and a board of directors and I willingly submit myself to spiritual authority, but none of those people see my heart. It is my responsibility to make sure at the end of each day my heart is pure before God.

 

Having a pure heart before God is the only way to insure that we don’t use authority for my our benefit.

 

We can’t go back and rewrite history or change past events but we can make a decision to lead in a way that brings dignity and honor to whatever position of leadership we may hold.

 

2.            There will always be people that prey on the innocent for their own benefit.

 

My wife is one of my heroes. Not only is she an extraordinary woman of faith who inspires thousands weekly, she is a great mom, wife, and friend. Her faith is nearly unshakable. Few would assume this incredible woman grew up in an environment of sexual abuse. We have been together for 16 years and I stood beside her as she literally went through heartbreaking trials trying to overcome the devastation she endured for so many years growing up as a young child. The abuse she went through began when she was younger than my 9 year old daughter. To imagine someone taking advantage of a child is unconscionable…yet people do it daily. As a matter of fact every 2 minutes someone is sexually assaulted in America.

 

Deuteronomy 18 actually warns people not to sacrifice their own children to false Gods! That is so messed up I can’t even comment. We have to be aware of these types of people in the world. They exist!

 

Without becoming a jaded person I believe we can try our hardest to prevent abuse from occurring in the first place. Make it tough on these jokers!

 

For instance, our kids don’t spend the night with anyone. I don’t care who it is. Do other parents criticize us for that decision? Yes. Do we care? We couldn’t care less. Some of the atrocities that take place against children in particular are created when kids are put in awkward situations and they don’t know how to respond. I was sexually abused as a child myself, once with a relative and once at a friend’s house. I believe we should teach our children how to recognize inappropriate behavior and how to respond.

 

Sidenote

I am generally referring to American culture although statistics show that 75% of Aboriginal girls under the age of 18 were sexually abused. 75% of Aboriginal victims of sex crimes were females under 18 years of age. 50% were under 14 years of age. Almost 25% were younger than 7 years (Alliance of Five Research Centres on Violence, 1999).

 

We must be aware that these atrocities exist.

 

3.            There will always be people that know injustice exists, yet do little or nothing to prevent it.

 

It will be a great shock to many when they stand before the throne of God someday and they are judged equally as harshly for what they DIDN’T DO.

 

We are all very aware of sins of commission. We are taught from the time we are children that taking the Lord’s name in vain is a sin, stealing is a sin, murder is a sin. We get that. What we do not seem to get however, is that we are equally accountable for what we fail to do. We are accountable for not worshipping, for not honoring God with our finances, for not speaking up when people are talking negatively about others.

 

King Ahab did nothing to prevent the murder of a man that refused to sell him his property. His wife did most of the dirty work in arranging this man’s death but ultimately what we fail to prevent or intervene on behalf of, we become responsible for.

 

It’s not that people don’t realize that something is wrong. People don’t want to be inconvenienced. We all have been faced with awkward dilemmas where a child was being spanked a little too hard in public and we try to decide whether to say something or not or maybe someone is demeaning another person publically and we want to say something. We are not called to be Batman. We are called to be messengers of hope. People that are being hurt deserve to know about God’s love and hope. If that means intervening at times, so be it. Sometimes that is picking up the phone and calling the police.

 

I was in a theater in 1995 when a dad was cursing and slapping his son in the face before the film in front of everyone. A very large African-American gentlemen approached him and kindly said, “sir if you slap that boy again in front of me I’m gonna slap you in front of him”. The arrogant father told the man to mind his own business, proceeded to slap his son again and then got his jaws nearly slapped off for 5 minutes straight.

 

There is a difference between vigilante justice and vigilant justice. One seeks to punish the criminal personally, the other is committed to not only awareness of injustice but actively pursuing justice through legal means.

 

This year City of Life had an awesome opportunity to partner with Love146.org, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to ending child slavery and exploitation. A song I wrote was featured on their fundraising CD. One of our friends, Leigh Ramsey spearheads an incredible outreach called She Rescue Home. I am so thankful that there truly are committed people that dedicate their existence to the eradication of injustice.

 

I believe each person should try and find something to be a part of that makes a difference.

 

 

Here are my personal responses to the original statements I made.

 

1.             I always want to leverage my own authority for the benefit of the one’s I am leading.

 

2.            I want to value those that cannot help themselves and make life tough for those that would abuse them.

 

3.             I want to be a part of not just proclaiming what is good and right, but defending it as well.

 

 

We shouldn’t allow events like this to make us bitter in life. It doesn’t mean all leaders are bad. It doesn’t mean charity organizations can’t be trusted. It doesn’t mean you can’t trust anybody. It means we must reflect on our own lives and how we can make the greatest difference for God that we can in this short time we have on earth.

 

As much as our own hearts break for injustice, God’s breaks infinitely more.

 

Psalm 33:5
 says, “The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”

 

Christ was sent that through Him ultimate justice could be eternally established.

 

I want to end my blog with the lyrics of “You Stand”.

 

For the brokenhearted

For the ones who are alone

For the weary stranger

For the ones without a home

You stand, You stand

 

For the ones who’ve been oppressed

For the ones without a voice

For the hurt and the abused

For the ones without a choice

You stand, You stand

 

Your arms are open wide

Your love is abounding

You are our hiding place

With the enemy surrounding

You stand

 

My sisters, my brothers

All nations, all colors

Lord, for every soul
You stand

The hungry, abandoned

Will someday see You standing Lord

You Stand, You stand…

 

 

How Should We Feel?

I am a Christian. I am a husband, father, son, and friend. I am a pastor. I am an American. Sometimes it can be difficult to determine the source of my feelings on a particular issue because I am complex. We all are. Because I am a Christian, I strive every day to make sure that I have a Biblical worldview, that is to say, a view of life that is entirely seen through the lens of God's Word. This is not always an easy task. Why? Well, because as I mentioned I am a husband, a father, a son...etc... there are so many things that make up who I am. Plus, I am just straight opinionated. 

Last night it was announced that one of the most evil men of recent history was killed. Is there an appropriate way to feel when you find out an evil man has been killed? The reason for my question is pretty straightforward. The responses to the news on Twitter and Facebook seemed mixed within Christian circles. Granted I would say that nearly 80 per cent of the reactions were some level of relief or joy, there were some that were uncomfortable or offended that people were rejoicing over this man's death. 

Back to the whole Biblical worldview thing. I make a decision every day to let the old me die and to allow the one to live who has been redeemed by Christ. It is not easy but it is necessary. One thing that deeply bothers me is when something happens and people respond by throwing out random scriptures to build an argument. For instance I've been seeing a lot of this:

Proverbs 24:17

¹⁷ Do not gloat when your enemy falls; 
   when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, 

BOOM! (as someone wrote on Facebook last night) Argument over. Not so fast my friend. Notice there is a comma there. I realize that punctuation is not inspired but common sense tells you there is something that follows.

¹⁸ or the LORD will see and disapprove 

   and turn his wrath away from them.

If you gloat over your enemies you are doing God's job for Him. He is about ready to execute judgement. Don't get in his way by having some premature celebration when they stumble. It is the same principle as bragging about fasting and other spiritual disciplines that are best kept secret. Whatever reward or praise from men you receive you should enjoy because God certainly is not going to give you any more. This is also referring to enemies that are ALIVE. Let's keep reading.

¹⁹ Do not fret because of evildoers  or be envious of the wicked, 

²⁰ for the evildoer has no future hope, 
   and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. This is the ultimate end for all evil. To be snuffed out. People who only want to talk about God's love fail to realize that God's justice is what makes His love real in the first place. There can be no true love without justice. I wonder if people were happy when they found out Hitler was dead. If people actually rejoiced was that unchristian? I mean, he only killed about 6 million people. I believe it is important to credit God for all of our victories. This insures He will keep fighting our battles for us as He did for Jehoshaphat. Let God fight for you, then rejoice in Him.

As a husband I mourn for the 10's of thousands of widows who lost their spouse because of this man's wickedness. As a father I mourn for the 10's of thousands of parents who lost children because of this man's wickedness. As a son I mourn for the 10's of thousands of children who lost parents because of this man's wickedness. As a friend I mourn for the 10's of thousands of friends who lost friends because of this man's wickedness. As a pastor I mourn for the 10's of thousands of souls who are lost forever because they didn't know Jesus, including Osama bin Laden. As an American, I mourn for the victims of 9/11 and their families. Surely this brings up old pain that has been tucked away. I not only mourn though, I celebrate this symbol of victory over one of the most painful moments in US history. As an American I am proud of our armed forces and their dedication to finish the job. 

I believe this could potentially be a polarizing moment for Christians but I hope it is not. I hope everyone has a little grace for others that just simply don't see it the same. 

 

 

 

Be Careful Little Eyes...

Proverbs 4:23

23             Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

    Having a family with 2 small kids (soon to be 3) it is very important to me that the content of what media we consume is not only age appropriate for my children but also edifying as well. There are plenty of shows that have an age appropriate rating that seems to be satisfactory but do not have the kind of message or spirit that we want our family to take in.

    I'd like to offer a few websites that we use to help evaluate movies. I'm recommending kids-in-mind.com and movieguide.org. They are great resources to evaluate the content of films before u see them. 

    Kids In Mind does not review the quality of the film simply the content.Here is the kids-in-mind rating explanation. It has a 3 number rating. The first number is for sex and nudity, the second is violence and gore, the third is profanity. For instance the recent Justin Beiber movie received a 2.1.1. As you can see pretty safe.

    Movieguide has similar ratings but also reviews the quality from a filmmaking AND Christian worldview (separate ratings) standpoint. Movieguide gives up to 4 stars for the quality of the film regardless of the content. There is also a content rating from -4 (the lowest rating for morality and negative content) to +4. Dr. Ted Baehr is behind Movieguide. He has been in the movie industry for over 40 years as a bold Christian, championing morality in Hollywood. Similar to Kids in Mind, Movieguide also rates the specific content of the film on a scale of 1 to 4.

    One of the things I like about Movieguide is that they typically review all films and try to fairly assess the quality of the film regardless of the content. This actually legitimizes the site more in my opinion that many Christian sites I've seen that review a movie terribly if it does not have Christian values. Movieguide isolates the various ratings to give as much information as possible.

    I love movies, I have since 1978 when my uncle took me to see Grease and I walked down the center aisle toward Olivia Newton John during "You're The One That I want" at age 6. Even though there are brilliant films that I might thoroughly enjoy, I understand the value of protecting my heart from injurious material that could damage what the Lord is trying to do in my life. I don't want to be a prude but I certainly don't want to settle for raunchy either.

    Take your time when making decisions on what you will watch or what you will allow your family to watch. Do the research. Its ok not to see a movie that everyone has seen. Hey, I've never seen The Sound of Music and I'm still ok ;) Your spirit is so much more sensitive than you realize. Let's honor the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives by guarding our hearts more than ever.