ZERO.

As a right of passage in my house as a young lad, each Saturday between September and late November was spent cheering on the Crimson Tide. It never was an issue that we lived about seven or eight miles from the actual campus but it was just such a part of our childhood. You were just used to stories about AL football being on the news every night... even in April. Seeing players out about town wasn't all that unusual. Heck, even our mall was named University Mall. The University of Alabama is a big piece of my "heritage". Now don't get me wrong, my allegiance to a state, univerisity, former coaching legend (God rest his soul), or football team will remain in its place and will never interfere with real priorities. But... tonight I must make this proclamation to all those tormented, miserable, begging for the bleeding to stop, hateful, obnoxious, pain in the tail, you make me want to puke, disillusioned, how you like me now, Auburn fans.

4 and 4 stinks. That means that as good as you can possibly be... you are equally that bad. There are a few certain Auburn fans that have irritated me for the last few years and all I have to say is Mike Shula is available as an offensive coordinator, coach, mentor, or even player (he has one year of eligibility left). I truly hope in the most inward places of my soul that Alabama destroys Auburn this year (I will be there) but if they don't I can take pure joy in the fact that this week Auburn is 4-4 and in essence... they are 0.

The Struggle...

I think way too much at times and far too little at other times. But this weekend I had one of those still, quiet, moments of thinking and one of the greatest struggles made sense for a brief moment. I get frustrated at myself and for so many others who just seem to struggle. Some with self, some with sin, some with those around them, some with everything. There are days that I wish I could wake up and go about my business and it would just be easy. I have dreams about what a day would look like free of conflict and struggle. I know the scriptures about how we are not supposed to be at great peace because we are "foreigners" on this earth and I get that but where's the reality of all of that?

Then it hit me. That is the reality. The struggle for me is simply this... My faith and my skin occupy the same space.

Until that one day changes, the struggle will remain. How about 2 Corinthians 4 where it says "So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever."

Sunday Perspective...

After a long week of ups, downs, surprises, disappointments, frustrations and the like... nothing does the mind and soul any better than a dose of Jesus" to launch into the new week. I feel that many may recharge or redirect their short term perspective on Sunday's as they enter the house of worship of their choice. Here's what I mean... it doesn't take an individual long at all to become self seeking and become completely consumed by selfish desires. In fact, our world tells us daily that we deserve lots of things. It's our choice. Do something for yourself today. You know, that distorted message we get bombarded with constantly. Well, if you hear it enough you may just buy into it. And then Sunday rolls around and we come back to our senses that the Word says, that if we want to gain the world we have to lose our self. We remember that real life is not all about ME. Sunday perspective. It's sort of like an attitude adjustment.

Well, as I drove to work this week I was listening to U2 and Sunday Bloody Sunday came on and I recharged my global perspective. How quickly can my little piece of the world become the only piece of the world? Really... for the most part many of us see things from just from our own view. We think that our brand of Christianity is the real version. Or our deep south Jesus is the most authentic. Our sports are the best. That means that we really believe that no other conference is as tough as the SEC. But what about Ireland? What about Africa? What about China? What about South America? Do they miss it? I'm not saying that I want to move or anything because my perspective tells me that America is definitely the greatest place on the globe. But don't you think that there may be someone in another country that feels the same way about their nation?

Most importantly... what about God? Ever wonder how He sees it all? I wonder if He holds us accountable ultimately based on the undeniable Truth but also with a splash of our culture. Don't misread this that Truth is culturally relevant but I mean about how we worship, how we pray, how we treat our neighbors, how we treat the piece of land beneath our feet. Are there variables built in to this whole thing? Truth is Truth and is not up for debate but I really wonder if He is much more flexible than we (I) often think? Sunday Bloody Sunday just reminds me that my perspective is not the only, the best, the most sanctified, or the most important.

His is.

I was born in a small town...

From the lyrics of John Cougar Mellencamp, Johnny Cougar or John Mellencamp... whichever flavor you prefer... he wrote a song a while back with the words, "I was born in a small town" and today I was reminded of just how special living in a small town really is. Not that I actually live in a small town but I work in a small town. Bessemer Alabama. Home of great food and the Purple Tigers of Jess Lanier High School.

As I sat in my office today I heard the drums of what sounded like a high school marching band. I lept from my desk to open me shutters and lo and behold... it was a dang parade! Sure nuff. I haven't seen a high school Homecoming parade in years. In fact I thought the Springville Tigers (home of Karie, Olivia, and Ella Andrews)were the only one's who still had Homecoming parades. Anyway, I may be just out of the 'high school homecoming day parade loop'.

All of that to say this... I walked outside and sat for about 15 minutes and watched new cars from the local car lot serve as a carriage for the queen and her court only to be followed by band after band after band. I actually watched people sitting through the sunroof of finely displayed automobiles as they threw candy to all of the kids lined up and down the street. Imagine this... a 98 Oldsmobile with chrome trim and 22's. Who knew the Olds was making a comeback?
Anyway, I sat and thought about the state of our market/economy/401K's/housing market and for just about 15 minutes none of that even mattered. As I sat there I remembered that I work in a great small town, I live in a great city and state, and even better I am a citizen of the greatest nation on the planet. Who's going to win the election you ask? Who cares, it's America. Where will we get the 700 billion dollars for the bailout? Who cares, this is the Home of the Free. OK, maybe those last two things are a little overboard but hopefully you feel me here.

When you take a minute to slow down, pause the hustle of your life, and for a moment let YOU be SIMPLE... see if you hear the band coming down the street. It's Homecoming.

How 'bout them Sox?

Well, in the midst of euphoria in the Bammer-Nation... once again the seasonal exit of Major League Baseball is upon us. I barely know how to contain myself during the next few weeks simply because I have gone from 0-2 to 3-2 in my fantasy football team, my Tide is 6-0, and my favorite MLB team is poised for another World Series. I make no bones about it. I'm a bandwagon Boston Red Sox fan. My only credibility is that I have been this way for the past seven seasons. Karie laughed at me this past post season because when I thought she had gone to bed, she entered the living room late one October 07 night to find me sifting through old baseball cards, wearing my Red Sox hat, and watching the World Series.

At my house, this is the ultimate sporting time of the year. The weather is changing, my teams are winning, and I have a satellite that keeps me connected. For all the naysayers... "How Bout Them Sox?"

We Are...

This past Sunday at church, we finished a series called "At The Movies" which took popular movies and intertwined them into matters of faith. This final message revolved around the movie "We Are Marshall". In a nutshell, the premise was how a college football team faced disaster head on. When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach (McConaughey) and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive. The plot reaches a pivotal point when the new coach takes a road trip on the morning of game day. The team travels to the cemetery where six of the former players have been laid to rest. In an emotional moment he addresses his players and informs them that "the funerals end today." His reference was to the fact that in order to move forward we have to forget the past.

Sitting next to my beautiful wife I was overwhelmed at the number of people sitting around us that were sniffling and wiping tears as we witnessed this real life example of what happens to so many of us.

We get crippled by the mistakes, the errors, the sins of our past. We walk around with this feeling of guilt, regret, and sometimes hopelessness about certain areas of our life. Areas like a marriage that did not last. Areas like a dream that failed to come true. Areas like a failure in a relationship, at work, at school, or personally. Maybe we become spiritually handicapped by a decision in our past. Here's a big one... what about our immediate past. Like yesterday. How can I experience the freedom that comes from the loving God when just in the past 24 hours I have blown it?

Well, according to God's Word... He removes our sins and separates them from us as far as the east is from the west. He casts them into the sea of forget fullness. Our repentant soul is washed clean.

So where does that leave me today? Well, I am under the impression that when it comes to the wreck of my past... the funerals end today. I will no longer mourn and grieve over what has been covered by the blood of Jesus. I will move on. I can move on. I will move on hand in hand with my Redeemer and Savior.

Let your funerals end today...