soccer, sno cones and sex trafficking

If you're not a soccer fan or if you live in a cave, then you might have missed one of the best soccer games ever a couple weeks ago when the US Women's team beat a very tough Brazil team. The game was the biggest emotional roller coaster ever and the US Women's team couldn't seem to catch a break.

It was as if the soccer gods were conspiring against them or as if the refs just hated the US or something. From the first bogus red card, to the penalty kick re-take, to the second goal which was a missed offsides call, to the Brazilian players faking injury, to the girl hopping off the stretcher and running to the sideline fiasco, and on and on and on.

I was so frikkin angry.

I was just sitting there with my wife and I was screaming "I WANT JUSTICE!!!"

And then we got it...Abby Wambach's magical header, in the waining moments of stoppage time, in extra time, gave us life with a 2-2 tie and I just knew it was destiny. The US then went on to win the game, in penalty kicks. Hope made an incredible save and every US kicker slotted their shot in the back of the net.

JUSTICE!!!

But before the "justice" came, I cannot tell you how worked up and angry I was. I just kept saying things like, "This isn't fair. These girls don't deserve this. These refs are out to get them." I was so upset...

About a soccer game.

And if you think that's ridiculous, then how about this one? One time in high school, I had just gotten back to the house after a long day of roughing it in the sun, getting tan, playing volleyball, and laying by the pool and I was enjoying a delicious sno cone. Well, I was goofing around or something and I ended up dropping my delicious sno cone on the ground. And right now you're saying to yourself, "No big deal", right?

Wrong

I let out a yell like a banshee and then proceeded to kick a hole in the wall.

I...kicked a hole...in the wall...because I dropped my sno cone.

Just too much injustice for me to take I guess.

Why do we care so much about things that don't really matter? Why do we get so worked up about things that really have no bearing in life? Why do we get so angry at the injustice of trivial things like sports, tv shows, and sno cones? Why do we find joy in things so fragile that it is wrecked by the spilling of a delicious icy treat?

But maybe the better questions than all of those are...

Why don't we care so much about things that really matter? Why don't we get worked up about things that have huge bearing in life? Why don't we get angry at the injustice of serious things like sex trafficking, starving kids, widows and orphans? Why don't we find joy in things more solid and consistent so that it's not wrecked by the spilling of a delicious icy treat?

So many of us spend so much of our heart, so much of our emotions and so much of our time and energy on things that have almost zero eternal significance. Seriously, ZERO.

What things do you care about, and I mean truly care about? What things get you worked up that really matter? What injustices make you angry, so angry that you're willing to step out there and do something about it? What fights are you fighting? What things of genuine value stir your heart?

We can do better.

We can be better.

Let's do this.

brownwood, texas...heaven on earth?!?

The Bible talks a lot about Heaven on Earth and things like "bringing Heaven to Earth" or "on Earth as it is in Heaven" and to be honest, for much of my life, those were empty words. They were just some fancy Biblical jargon or philosophical ideals, but not something that I could see in a realistic light.

But as I have grown, learned, studied Scripture, and simply lived life, I have seen how realistic this can actually be.

Every summer my home church goes to their Youth Camp in the summer. Growing up, it was always one of my favorite weeks of the year, period, but I never thought much about why it was one of my favorite weeks of the year. I mean, it was camp...enough said, right? Then, as I have gotten older, I have gone back to the camp to serve and even to be the Camp Pastor and it still remains one of my favorite weeks of the year. I am no longer doing all the kiddo camp stuff, yet it is still a magical place.

Why is this?

In our college group here, we've been studying the work of the Holy Spirit and lately we have been pouring through Acts 2, and in that chapter there is this lil picture of what seems to be somewhat of a picturesque community--almost like a lil Heaven on Earth. It says things like, "everyone was filled with awe..." and "they broke bread...and ate together with glad and sincere hearts" and even how they enjoyed "...the favor of all the people."

The reason why everything seems so picturesque there in Acts and the reason why Camp is always one of my favorite moments of the year, is because I believe that in those moments we are seeing a glimpse into how God designed life to be lived. 

We are praying together, we are fellowshipping and goofing off together, we are playing together, we are breaking bread together, we are taking care of each other's needs, we are laughing and singing together, we are experiencing God together, and while all this is going on, the people on the outside looking in, are digging it...or in Biblical terms, when we live life the way God intended, we will be, "enjoying the favor of all the people."

Bringing Heaven to Earth is not as unrealistic or as ginormous of a task as it might sound. Trust me, if it can happen in Brownwood, Texas, it can happen anywhere.

2320 friends...

I have 2320 "friends" on Facebook.

That is not a stat that is to sound popular, to sound insignificant or for you to compare yourself to me and think, "man, I am so much cooler than JR..." or to think just the opposite, "man, I am nowhere near as cool as JR..." I am fully aware that there are folks out there who have thousands of Facebook friends.

I know that some of them are genuine friends. I know some of them are family. I know some of them are friends from back-in-the-day that you just got reacquainted with. I know that some of them were added simply because they were wearing a bikini in their profile pic. I know that some of them are there because you are "supposed" to be friends with them. I know some of them are there because they requested to be your friend and you can't say no to folks. And I know that this list could go on and on.

The reason I point this out is because having friends and having friends are two totally different things.

I feel like my wife and I are pretty swell individuals. We have lots of friends, we have lots of close relationships with people, we are not too shabby to hangout with, we can crack a funny joke every now and then (my wife is hilarious actually), I am good to go play ball with or frisbee golf, we love having heart-to-hearts with people, and we have almost 4000 friends combined on Facebook.

But all that being said, do you know how many invites we got this weekend for 4th of July festivities? How many invites we got to go to the lake or to come over for a BBQ?

One...

One invite.

Now, let me assure you that this is not a "feel sorry for me" post. If you are hearing that then please stop. We have no problem with our lack of popularity this weekend. We had a great weekend together and she's my best friend in the world so getting to hang out with just her is no consolation prize by any stretch of the imagination. I could kick it with my boo 24/7 and love my life.

But, it did get us thinking...

If we have almost 4000 Facebook friends, if we have tons of people we feel close to, if we have plenty of friends we hangout with, if we are not "unpopular", and yet we only got ONE invite for the weekend to do anything at all, then how many people out there spent this holiday, as well as many many others, with ZERO invites from anybody, to do anything?

And how many of those didn't have their best friend of a wife to kick it with?

How many of those spent it completely alone?

And you might be asking yourself, "What's this got to do with me JR?" And to be honest, I have been asking myself that same question.

What does this have to do with me?

Is it my responsibility to befriend folks who don't have friends? Is it my duty to love on folks who don't really have many folks who love on them? Is this my problem to fix? Am I supposed to actively be a part of the solution? Am I supposed to be inviting those out there on the ZERO invite list to a BBQ at my house? What is my obligation to this?

In the Gospels, Jesus seems to touch on this very idea saying things like, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?" and then again with, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"  


There seems to be this call to reach out to those who are on the ZERO invite list. There seems to be a call to love those who don't have folks loving on them, who are awkward to love, and just maybe, are simply hard as crap to love.


By no means do I have this figured out and by no means am I anywhere close to having this thing perfected, but it is something that I am wrestling with these days. 


How many of us ever reach out to those who have nobody? How many of us befriend those on the ZERO invite list? How many of us talk to "those folks" any place aside from church? And sadly enough, how many of us don't even talk to "those people" at church?


Quit only loving those who love you.


Quit only doing good to those who do good to you.


Quit only greeting your people.


How frikkin' great would it be to get as many people off the ZERO invite list as possible??


I guess that's why it's called The Greatest Commandment, huh?