I have been thinking a great deal about this concept of redemption the last few days. I think it started from watching ESPN's Youngstown Boys. It was a documentary type program about Maurice Clarett and Jim Tressel. It was SO good. If you haven't seen it please check out ESPN to see if they are replaying it.
While watching the replays of the '02-'03 season, especially the Michigan game and the National Title Game, Dave and I got goosebumps several times. We forgot just how insane that season was! There were so many close games! It was low scoring back then. A few that stood out were the Purdue game where the final score was 10-6. 10-6 people! That was the famous "holy Buckeye" game. Then you have the Penn State game (I was at that game!)...13-7. We beat Wisconsin by only five, Illinois in OT, and the 12th ranked Wolverines by five points. That was the good ole days of defense! The Michigan score was 14-9. Back then there was not a Big Ten title game so we knew that if we could clinch the win in The Game we were headed to the NTG in Tempe. When the replays of the Miami game came on Dave and I were able to reminisce about the interception in the end zone, Maurice's strip, the pass interference call on Chris Gamble, the final score by Maurice Clarett, and the goal line stand. What a year that was!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6LiLngusVM
Your welcome.
Okay, enough of reliving the good ole days. The premise of the show is a close and personal look at the life of Maurice Clarett. If your not familiar with him here is the short of it. He took the football field by storm that season. He was a true freshman and was a rock star in Columbus, Ohio. Watching the replays I was reminded just how insanely talented he was. Really the sky was the limit for him. He was living a professional football life in college and soon fell out of favor in Columbus and was eventually kicked off the team. He sued the NFL for early entry in the league, but lost the case. He tried out for the Broncos a few years later and completely bombed at the combine. The story documents his downward spiral that eventually landed him in prison sentenced to 7-1/2 years and then his rise back up. If you are from Ohio you remember the sad mug shot of a once hero. It was sad. Buckeye football went on though and Maurice was all but forgot about.
Youngstown Boys doesn't go into too great of detail about what really changed Maurice's life. I was curious so I did some searching online and on Facebook and Twitter. His posts seem to be very inspirational with references to God. I also noticed on his personal website that he was doing guest speaking at churches all over Ohio. I found a few podcasts and videos. I watched them and was soooooo amazed. This guy found Jesus Christ and his life completely changed. His testimony is absolutely incredible. Actually his whole story is absolutely incredible. My mind cannot fathom growing up in the environment he did or living the life he did. In a testimony he gave at a church he talks about the process of finding Jesus and the men in his life that mentored him. He talks about finally understanding that Jesus could make him a new creation. He tells a story about not having a home and not being able to find one because he is a convicted felon. God worked it out and one landlord was willing to give Maurice a chance at renting her apartment. The whole story is so touching. There is something completely endearing about him. He also tells some pretty sweet stories about the '03 title run!
Redemption- 1. improving of something: the act of saving something or somebody from a declined, dilapidated, or corrupted state and restoring it, him, or her to a better condition
2. redeemed state: the improved state of somebody or something saved from apparently irreversible decline
3. atonement for human sin: deliverance from the sins of humanity by the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross
The dictionary gave me the definition for redemption that is above. After reading it I thought number three should be number one. It is the foundation for true redemption, for true change. Maurice explained how he believed in God, but couldn't come to terms with his past sin. He said he finally understood that Jesus Christ was what he needed. Number three on the list simply explains what the ultimate redemption is. It is the atonement of our sins, through Jesus' death on the Cross. Maurice also goes into great detail about how a mentor taught him to apply the Scriptures to real life, especially life on the other side meaning outside of the prison walls. He mentions how he felt completely hopeless and depressed. His circumstances appeared to be irreversible as the number two definition states.
You see we can't ever be truly improved without Jesus. We can act better and contribute to society, but that bridge between our sin and God can't be closed without Jesus. One of my favorite verses is 2nd Corinthians 5:17. It reads, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here." How great is that! I can say that I have never, ever experienced anything in life like Maurice Clarett has. I have no idea about that level of misery and depravity. The truth is though, sin is sin. Big sins and little sins are just something we label. In God's eyes sin is sin. Any sin separates from God. Redemption is such a beautiful word. When it comes out of Jesus' mouth it is a life-giving word. I would venture to say Maurice would agree.
http://184.154.122.108/~mycchur/mauriceclarett.php
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Words, Words, and More Words
Hey all! I hope you all are doing well. Christmas is sneaking up on us, isn't it? It's a wonderful time of year for so many reasons. The first of course, is celebrating the birth of our Savior. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I have been missing snow. I miss the feeling of Christmas with the snow, chilly weather, and cozy nights with the fireplace on. It just doesn't feel the same with a temperature of 70 outside. Today is 43 and drizzly...pretty much like Ohio weather minus the beautiful snow days.
I promise to get to my point, but have to give you the lead up to it so you can understand my thought process. Something AWFUL happened this weekend. It started at approximately 8 p.m. on Saturday night. If you are from Ohio you will totally get what I'm saying. Ohio State lost. I know, I know if your not an tOSU fan you probably 1. don't care, or 2. are glad we lost. Here is the deal though. I have no animosity to Sparty. Actually, I kind of like Sparty. _ichigan folk are torn between TTUP (That Team Up North, i.e. _ichigan) and _ichigan State. 'Little brother' ruined all our hopes and dreams of playing in the Title Game and to some extent, thinking we would never, ever lose as long as Urban Meyer was our coach. Quite frankly, I dreaded getting to the Big Dance and being embarrassed yet again. I could go on and on about how our defense stinks and Carlos Hyde should have been given the ball to get that 4th and 2 with about five minutes to go in the game.
I love ESPN and couldn't resist checking it out after our game. If your a Buckeye you are used to getting zero love on ESPN. I read a few articles about our game and I couldn't help but scroll down to the comments. I do this pretty often because the comments are usually pretty entertaining when the sarcasm isn't directed at my team. All the comments I read were not written by Ohio State fans. Some people were funny with their comments, but others were just down right sarcastic and mean. One person said they hated Urban Meyer and was glad tOSU lost. Another person speculated that Meyer would probably call 911 after the game because he thought he was having another heart attack. One poster said that Urban Cryer would probably fake another heart problem and quit because he knew his team sucked all in guise that he needed a break and time with his family. According to one person he knew his Gator team was terrible so he quit because he was "sick." Oh and he left the SEC because he was afraid of Nick Saban and he knew he could win in the B1G.
Before you think I'm too serious let me propose this. Maybe our words have power. Maybe they really matter. Some people claim to be "brutally honest" when in reality they are just being jerks. Contrary to popular belief we are not entitled to sharing our opinion. I 100% believe in freedom of speech by all means. What God has been showing me over the last few years is that our words are powerful. We are not entitled to spew out everything that comes into our heads. I have found this a huge challenge as my personal health trial has gone on and on. I get in crappy moods and just want to "vent." Usually my dear husband is the recipient of this venting. Poor guy. He wants me to share my heart with him, but he does hold me accountable for my words and the heart behind them.
Proverbs 18:21) The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
James 1:19) Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger...
Romans 14:11) It is written: "As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God."
The above Bible verses show us how important words are. The old saying "sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you" is so untrue. A hurtful word to a child can impact them for life. Jumping to assumptions about a person rather than really listening to their side of the story can break up a friendship. One day our tongues will acknowledge the Lord. Our words mean something. This morning I was listening to Joyce Meyer on my walk. She's such a hoot and is such an amazing teacher. The series was titled, "Your Mouth and God's Power." The premise of the teaching was that our words impact others around us and ourselves. She teaches that we need to get into agreement with what God says and not what we feel, think, see, or what others say about us. We may feel unlovable and worthless because something told us we were, but God says I am the apple of His eye (Deut. 7:6) and I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). There are some symptoms that I'm still dealing with that are very difficult. I can't even fathom not living with them. It seems impossible that they could be relieved eventually. Matthew 19:26 says, "Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” So my time is better spent speaking what God says and not what I feel.
Joyce even described how I can actually block God's power and anointing in my life with my negative speech. She described a time when she was critical of a fellow preacher. She felt their preaching wasn't direct enough and they were not good at holding the sermon together to teach a main point. She voiced this to her husband. After that she started having a very hard time preaching. She just dreaded having to teach and couldn't wait until it was over. She had never felt this way before. Weeks went past and she couldn't shake the feeling. She prayed and prayed and God seemed silent. Finally her husband said he thought it had something to do with her critical attitude. She prayed and fasted the following day and God revealed the same thing to her. I thought that story was fascinating!
It was interesting to hear these sermons after reading all the hateful comments about Urban Meyer. Reading them really got me thinking about the issue. Hearing Joyce cemented what God was trying to teach me and still is. When I'm frustrated, discouraged, angry, whatever I must speak words of trust in God, faith, hope, and peace. I want my words to impact the people around me in a positive way. I want them to feel hope and peace. I want them to feel better about themselves and be encouraged. I have a loooooong way to go, but with God I can get there and so can you.
....and at least we beat _ichigan. :-)
I promise to get to my point, but have to give you the lead up to it so you can understand my thought process. Something AWFUL happened this weekend. It started at approximately 8 p.m. on Saturday night. If you are from Ohio you will totally get what I'm saying. Ohio State lost. I know, I know if your not an tOSU fan you probably 1. don't care, or 2. are glad we lost. Here is the deal though. I have no animosity to Sparty. Actually, I kind of like Sparty. _ichigan folk are torn between TTUP (That Team Up North, i.e. _ichigan) and _ichigan State. 'Little brother' ruined all our hopes and dreams of playing in the Title Game and to some extent, thinking we would never, ever lose as long as Urban Meyer was our coach. Quite frankly, I dreaded getting to the Big Dance and being embarrassed yet again. I could go on and on about how our defense stinks and Carlos Hyde should have been given the ball to get that 4th and 2 with about five minutes to go in the game.
I love ESPN and couldn't resist checking it out after our game. If your a Buckeye you are used to getting zero love on ESPN. I read a few articles about our game and I couldn't help but scroll down to the comments. I do this pretty often because the comments are usually pretty entertaining when the sarcasm isn't directed at my team. All the comments I read were not written by Ohio State fans. Some people were funny with their comments, but others were just down right sarcastic and mean. One person said they hated Urban Meyer and was glad tOSU lost. Another person speculated that Meyer would probably call 911 after the game because he thought he was having another heart attack. One poster said that Urban Cryer would probably fake another heart problem and quit because he knew his team sucked all in guise that he needed a break and time with his family. According to one person he knew his Gator team was terrible so he quit because he was "sick." Oh and he left the SEC because he was afraid of Nick Saban and he knew he could win in the B1G.
Before you think I'm too serious let me propose this. Maybe our words have power. Maybe they really matter. Some people claim to be "brutally honest" when in reality they are just being jerks. Contrary to popular belief we are not entitled to sharing our opinion. I 100% believe in freedom of speech by all means. What God has been showing me over the last few years is that our words are powerful. We are not entitled to spew out everything that comes into our heads. I have found this a huge challenge as my personal health trial has gone on and on. I get in crappy moods and just want to "vent." Usually my dear husband is the recipient of this venting. Poor guy. He wants me to share my heart with him, but he does hold me accountable for my words and the heart behind them.
Proverbs 18:21) The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
James 1:19) Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger...
Romans 14:11) It is written: "As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God."
The above Bible verses show us how important words are. The old saying "sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you" is so untrue. A hurtful word to a child can impact them for life. Jumping to assumptions about a person rather than really listening to their side of the story can break up a friendship. One day our tongues will acknowledge the Lord. Our words mean something. This morning I was listening to Joyce Meyer on my walk. She's such a hoot and is such an amazing teacher. The series was titled, "Your Mouth and God's Power." The premise of the teaching was that our words impact others around us and ourselves. She teaches that we need to get into agreement with what God says and not what we feel, think, see, or what others say about us. We may feel unlovable and worthless because something told us we were, but God says I am the apple of His eye (Deut. 7:6) and I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). There are some symptoms that I'm still dealing with that are very difficult. I can't even fathom not living with them. It seems impossible that they could be relieved eventually. Matthew 19:26 says, "Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” So my time is better spent speaking what God says and not what I feel.
Joyce even described how I can actually block God's power and anointing in my life with my negative speech. She described a time when she was critical of a fellow preacher. She felt their preaching wasn't direct enough and they were not good at holding the sermon together to teach a main point. She voiced this to her husband. After that she started having a very hard time preaching. She just dreaded having to teach and couldn't wait until it was over. She had never felt this way before. Weeks went past and she couldn't shake the feeling. She prayed and prayed and God seemed silent. Finally her husband said he thought it had something to do with her critical attitude. She prayed and fasted the following day and God revealed the same thing to her. I thought that story was fascinating!
It was interesting to hear these sermons after reading all the hateful comments about Urban Meyer. Reading them really got me thinking about the issue. Hearing Joyce cemented what God was trying to teach me and still is. When I'm frustrated, discouraged, angry, whatever I must speak words of trust in God, faith, hope, and peace. I want my words to impact the people around me in a positive way. I want them to feel hope and peace. I want them to feel better about themselves and be encouraged. I have a loooooong way to go, but with God I can get there and so can you.
....and at least we beat _ichigan. :-)
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