Jesus and Uncle Drew

This week I came upon the "Uncle Drew" videos that Kyrie Irving made with Pepsi.*  In episode 1, Irving gets made up like an old man (Uncle Drew) and shows up to a city park basketball court in New Jersey.   He looks like an elderly guy who probably isn't able to get anything serious done on the court; he seems frail, and possibly even a bit senile.  No one regards him as any sort of "force to be reckoned with" but as he begins to play with the "youngbloods" he slowly reveals his incredible skills.   Onlookers are "wowed" as he proceeds to warm up and then dazzle the court with authority.

The whole scene is intriguing.  This unlikely, seemingly fragile man steps up and conquers.  It's got some "underdog"  motif, the ordinary Uncle Drew, turns out to be an extraordinary NBA star!  He looks like some regular old guy with absolutely no game at all, but in fact he's a champion of the game!

This narrative that captivates everyone!  The people standing on the side of the court are completely enchanted, and pretty much so is anyone who dials it up on youtube!

I would say there's a certain "glory" to the whole thing.  And I suggest that the reason it's so enthralling, the reason it strikes us being so "cool" is because of the way it essentially "echoes" the gospel story.  What Uncle Drew did was pretty cool; he showed up looking like a nobody and then proceeded to inspire everybody!
Reminds me of that time Jesus left heaven and took on the form of man.  He didn't seem like anything special, but in fact he was supremely so.  He seemed an unlikely champion, but as he lived, died and rose from the grave he revealed himself as the ultimate victor.  Under-estimating him is easy to do, but it is only to our shame and detriment.

Pepsi and Kyrie came up with a cool story.  But Jesus thought of it first.

*I think these were made like 4 years ago or something.  I'm not sure, but I guess I am a bit "late to the party" on these vids.  

Is Jesus gonna Rage on YOU?

While driving across town a while back, my 5 year old son Joe, asked his brother Ty (4 yrs old); “Hey Ty, do you know if Jesus is going to throw a rage on you?  

That question originated a few days previous, when Joe and I were talking about Jesus.  He wanted me to tell him again about Easter, and since we driving a long ways I figured I’d start at the beginning of “Holy Week,” or the last week before Jesus was crucified.  In Matthew 21, we see Jesus enter Jerusalem triumphantly.  This is what we commemorated yesterday on “Palm Sunday.”    Jesus is praised as he rides into the city on a donkey. 

After that, (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19) he enters the Temple where he becomes incensed at the way that God’s holy ‘house of prayer’ has been turned into a commercial center.   The temple has been desecrated by religious Mafioso’s making money, and conducting shady business.    People come to worship God, but they end up being swindled by thieves.   There is a misplaced focus that is both distracting and profane and what’s really being stolen is more than monetary.  People are being led astray and the atmosphere is impeding worship and communion with God.  

Infuriated by the blasphemy of it all, Jesus makes a whip  and starts spankin’ some people!  (Hey Jesus....what are you making? You're a good braider!...Oh dude!  Watch out!  It's getting crazy!!!)  He comes unglued and starts running around yelling, turning the tables over, dumping money boxes, breaking stuff and absolutely trashing the place.   Wood splinters, scales clank and animals run free!  His anger is righteous as he confronts sin and idolatry with violent action.   

I really like this story, and my boy Joe was already familiar with this story of Jesus “throwing a rage.”    God is not passive, and Jesus didn’t just wander around spouting platitudes in a calm sounding voice!  He is intense, passionate and even buck wild!   But, as we talked about Jesus’ strength and active opposition to sinfulness;  Joe asked genuinely “How do we know Jesus won’t throw a rage on us some day?” 

“How do we know Jesus won’t throw a rage on us 

some day?” 

I stopped and said to him; “that is an awesome question bud!”

Joe, in his thoughtful way asked this question with awareness that we are sinful.  It’s easy for us to read the Bible and imagine that we are different than the “robbers” conducting business in the temple courts, but my son already knows that we really aren’t.  Those guys were living for themselves,  they were looking out for number one, they exalted and trusted in money, they lacked integrity.  They were caught up and consumed with worldly affairs.   At the core they were self-centered and un-concerned with the Glory of God.   And that’s how all of us are!  He figured "if they deserved a whippin, don't we also?" 

We affirm openly and often in our family the truth that everyone sins, (Rom. 3:23) that our rebellious sin nature compels all to sin and fall short of God’s glorious standard.  So, if God actively hates sin, how do we know that God won’t throw a rage on us some day?    Should we live in fear that at any moment God’s long fuse is going to come to an end and he’ll lash out with destruction towards us?   

If we are Christians, the answer to that question is NO, and here is what I reminded Joe of.  God hates sin, and as he demonstrates at various points in the Bible his wrath against it is active and effective.   And the truth is, that we actually deserve to die because of our animosity towards God.  Put  very simply, our badness is not compatible with God’s goodness.  (Romans 6:23)  But that’s why God  sent Jesus (his Son) to die on the cross.  What happened on the cross is that Jesus bore the sin of the world –Paul even says he actually “became sin” (2Corinthians 5:21) and took the punishment for us, the punishment we deserve. (John 3:16)  The nails were agonizing, certainly, but the real pain of the cross was from God the father who inflicted the son, and abandoned him. (Isaiah 53) The righteous beat-down given to the money-changers in the temple was nothing compared to what Christ endured on the cross.    Before he died, Jesus said “it is finished”.  (John 19:30)

Three days later, he rose.  And just this morning, sitting around the breakfast table, Joe reminded us that as Christians, we can be sure that God won’t throw a rage on us because Jesus already took the rage on the cross.   That’s grace!

Jesus already took God's rage on the cross. 

Of course, if you choose not to follow Jesus and to reject him as savior then you don’t have that peace.  Let the temple story remind you that God’s hate for sin is real, and his rage is effective.  

See also Romans Chapter 5

Joe's Viking Birthday

Look at these Viking warriors!  What are they waiting for?  

A dragon?  A huge flaming boulder covered in tar flying thru the air?  

No......that would be unsafe......especially at a 5 year old birthday party.   But we did use a trebuchet to launch soccer balls and water balloons at our kids!  And that was a good time!  

Our little man Josiah turned 5 yesterday, and we celebrated his birthday with some of his friends last Sunday.  We went with a Viking/How to Train your Dragon theme.  The kids love that movie, and actually I think I love it even more.

Stephanie made some viking helmets out of 1 gallon milk jugs and I put together some swords using large paint stirrers and some pipe insulation.  We built the catapult out of some scrap wood.  Steph also made a dragon cake to go with the theme.

Josiah enjoyed his friends and the time together.  It's hard to believe that 5 years ago we were in Kearney, Nebraska.  Today Joe is attending pre-school at Trinity Lutheran, and also beginning to homeschool with Steph and Jack.

And, our daughter Ruby is very cute.  

Gorges in the Sun

Hey friends,

It's time for us to get back in the schedule of updating this blog.  As i've emphasized before,  our goal is to update this thing about every 4 days.  The fall semester has started and things are going really well on campus so far.  I'll write some news on that later.

For now though, i just wanted to share some pictures.  As I write this now, the rain is pouring down and has been for hours and days!  But last Monday the Sun was out and it was a perfect day for a Staff Picnic.  We gathered with the Simpson's, Brenner's, Wright's, and our intern Charlene and went out to Taughannock Falls park up the road and hung out and enjoyed the outdoors together.  Nic and Christy took some great pictures!

We were hanging out in the shallow's under a little waterfall. Jack and Joe loved standing beneath it!

Hudson Simpson is getting big and joining in the fun!  He'll be one year old on Oct. 18

I just love the different facial expressions!

Sin Costs More Than Parking

I was dropping Titus and Joe off at preschool this morning and I started talking with my friend Jon. We were talking about snow blowers, 4 wheel drives and eventually the high cost of parking at Cornell. Like us, most people don’t invest in parking permits because they cost around $800! Talking about the exorbitant price of parking on campus triggered a thought in my little man Josiah’s brain and he looked at me and said:

“Dad. Remember that kid who paid for his own sin?”

I said, “Yes Joe, I do remember him. And we are praying for him that he would love Jesus and accept his payment for our sin.”

Recently we’ve been praying for a guy I met in Boston a couple of weeks ago. He was raised a Jainist, and with solid conceptions of personal responsibility and Karma factoring into his worldview he can not believe that Jesus would take the punishment that we deserve. In his religion, every person gets exactly what they deserve, and there is no such thing as amazing grace. When you sin, you suffer your own consequences, and to be “liberated” you would need to live a perfect life in order to earn your own way to heaven –which he would call simply ‘enlightenment’. You are your own savior.

My boys and I were praying for him, because we don’t want him to pay for his own sin! That is an option…. And in fact it is the option that we all deserve! Paul says very clearly in his letter to the Romans that we have all sinned and that “the wages of sin is death.” That had already been made clear in the Old Testament starting in the beginning of Genesis. The price that must be paid for sin, the wage for sin is death. If you sin, you deserve to be paid with death. Because God is Holy, our sin earns one thing; separation from him for eternity. And it is more than just our physical death, it is spiritual death. It is Spiritual exile, spiritual annihilation that goes on forever in Hell. If you want to pay for your own sin, you can. But the price is very high and very painful. Jesus knows exactly how high, because he paid the price, becoming sin and dying on the cross. He paid that death penalty, and when we put our faith in him, his payment is credited to us. He died the death we deserved.

This was the stumbling block for our friend in Boston. And so, presently, he is rejecting Christ as savior, and choosing to try and save himself. To him, it makes more sense to pay for his own sin. It’s a terrible option, and so we pray that The Holy Spirit will open his eyes to glory of the Gospel. We pray that what he presently finds disturbing about God’s grace would turn to amazement and gratitude. Because Jesus died for us, we don’t have to pay our own way.

Cereal Party

We've decided that the thing Joe says most in life is "I'm still hungry." He's always been our best eater to be honest! But every night, the thing Joe wants to do before bed is have a "cereal party". If he had his way, we'd all sit down and munch some flaky goodness, but even if he ends up sitting alone -to him it's a cereal party!