A Brush with Greatness

My sophomore year of college, I had just barely earned my way onto the travel squad on our Grace College basketball team which allowed me the special opportunity to go to Los Angeles in late December 2000. We did some cool sightseeing, lost our two games, and had three interactions with sports legends.

One was a mere accident. We were hitting up the famous In-N-Out Burger when Rickey Henderson pulled in the driveway in a limousine. He rolled down his window and dapped us up. It was close to noon but he and his friends were dressed like they were going to the Oscars or some other prestigious party. Our guess, based on our quick observations, was that these folks were actually still partying from the night before.

The second interaction was a planned dinner with UCLA legendary coach, John Wooden. It felt like a visit to see a basketball pope - minding your P's and Q's, straining within the group setting to listen to every word he said, even going back to his apartment and trying not to trip over all of his "Coach of the Century" awards that littered his living room.

The third interaction was during a visit to a defending NBA Champion LA Lakers practice. Laker forward Rick Fox had been more or less "discovered" by our college coach and we'd used that connection to sit in some bleachers and watch these world class athletes play and compete...and goof around. Shaq had kicked a giant medicine ball during the practice after one of our party had snapped a picture with the flash on while he was shooting free throws. (He seemed playful about it because he'd missed, and the whole team had to run...make that jog down and back). Fox chatted with us for a good amount after practice, showing us around the facility once everyone had cleared out.

But at some point during our time there, as practice had ended, we'd noticed Kobe come out and conduct an sit-down interview across the gym with a reporter. To me, it seemed like a long interview, because we were waiting around for a good while before Fox came out.  Eventually, Bryant did end his interview and headed our direction. It was clear we were some sort of team or group. Being the burgeoning superstar that he was, he was more than willing to take some pictures with us.

That's me in the gray shirt and blue jeans..

I was and will always be a Boston Celtics fan - the historic arch-rival of the Lakers. But even this staunch supporter of the Shamrocks couldn't deny Bryant respect for his greatness. He was young then, close to the age of some of our upperclassmen in fact. His life and career still had so many ups and downs ahead of it. Yet he was a star and we all knew even more greatness lay ahead.

He did earn his place among the all-time great players. In terms of personal and team accomplishments, his resume stands up with anyone's. And tragically, his life ended yesterday in a helicopter accident that killed his daughter and 7 other people. We have all been confronted again with the fact that death is no respecter of persons. Famous or not, all those lives that were lost is a devastating reality. It comes for all of us. Yet Scripture over and over again encourages us that God has done something about the enemies that are sin and death - Hebrews 9:27-28 is one passage that comes to mind.

I cannot speak to Kobe's spiritual life. Others more qualified than I can speak to his basketball genius. It was a pretty neat experience to get to brush with greatness 19 years ago. But it was only 10 minutes.

So I share all of this not only to share my memorable experience, but also to remind myself and you that life is preciously short. Make the most of each day. Embrace Christ as the hope of eternity and live each day for God's glory. Love the people around you and make sure they feel it. Thank God for the mundane and special moments - whether you are grinding along or brushing up against greatness.

Music Mondays

A lot has taken place since my last post. Most significantly, we added a fourth member to our family - Elijah Harlow Compson, born on 12/31/20, 8 lbs 9 oz, 21.75" long. His two year old big brother has adjusted very well and so are mommy and daddy for the most part. We are blessed.

Our emotions are quite the opposite than one of the heroes of my youth. TobyMac, formerly of dc Talk and still a giant artist and producer in the CCM world, had his oldest son pass away suddenly this past fall. 

Now I am a father, that kind of experience hits home in a very real way. It is excruciating even to think about. The McKeehan's have expressed grace and faith in the few public statements they've given. And just recently, Toby came out with a powerful tribute to his son and this situation with a song that expresses grief, but also grace and faith. 

Music Mondays

As the pinnacle of the great sign miracles of Jesus, John records for us the Lord's raising of Lazarus from the dead. It is the glorious capstone of Jesus' works and it fully reveals who He is unlike any of the other signs He did.

For critics, John 11 is an easy target to aim at in their goal of reducing Jesus to a mere religious figure. They search for alternative explanations, they cast doubt on it's authenticity, and they deny it's reality. 

For believers, John 11 is an overwhelming wave of hope that washes over us and leaves us forever changed. 

John 11 is the story of Jesus confronting death and proving it is no match for his divine identity. There are beautiful details showing him calling his followers to faith and emotionally responding to the fallenness of this world. 
But the truly impactful part of this story is the dramatic demonstration of Jesus calling Lazarus back to life. It is a showcase of His infinite power and a foreshadowing of what is to come in His own person.

That is why this song resonates so much with me:

You have no rival
You have no equal
Now and forevermore You reign

What a beautiful, wonderful, and powerful name it is - the name of Jesus. 

Personal and Pastoral Thoughts on Father's Day

Father's Day is an interesting celebration for me. As a pastor, it takes on one sort of significance. Personally, it takes on a whole different sort of significance.

The pastoral side of me absolutely loves this holiday. God's Word has some great principles for fathers. It calls upon fathers to lovingly teach and lead their children in the things of God (Deut. 6). It models for them how to impart wisdom and what specifically to share with them (the whole book of Proverbs). It encourages otherwise harsh and removed fathers to be gracious (Ephesians 6:4). And when we consider the entirety of Scripture, the God that is progressively revealed as perfectly loving, just, holy, powerful, and good is regarded as our Father (Psalm 68:5, John 14:1-10, Romans 8:15, 1 Peter 1:17-21, et al).

The personal side of me has conflicted thoughts because of my own father. He died when I was 11. So on Father's Day, I have no one to take out to hug, take out to dinner, and share my appreciation. My father also had his own complicated struggles that affected our family even before he passed. He was imperfect like all human fathers of course, but I was just old enough to begin to understand that his flaws were more than run-of-the-mill. Yet I also knew he loved me very much and he loved the Lord despite his struggles.

So on a day like today, I'm excited and reserved all at the same time. I passionately want to call sons of God to become the mighty fathers God desires them to be. And yet I empathize with those who had negative experiences with their earthly fathers and those who had no experience at all.

I've come to the conclusion that it's ok to view Father's Day with these mixed emotions. It's the reality of the human experience that God is redeeming.

Sermon Snippets

They say the "two certainties in life are death and taxes".  I assume whoever 'they' are came up with that phrase to emphasize the omnipresence of taxes. But of course we all know that death affects us all.

Approximately seven times in Genesis 5, the author dresses up an otherwise monotonous genealogy with the cold hard truth, "and he died".

Death is an overriding theme and ever-present reality even with Seth and his descendants, who are supposed to be the 'good' side of history's first family (vs. Cain - 4:17-24).

Most of us don't like to dwell on it too much, but we are all mortal. We aren't guaranteed a certain amount of time in this life.

But as is common, the author of Genesis places some hopeful details within an otherwise dark story:

• Enoch (vs. 21-24) doesn't actually die. Why? He "walked with God". He had a close relationship with his Creator and pleased God by his life. 
• Noah (vs.28-31, 6:8) also stands as a symbol of comfort and relief from the curse of the ground mankind has to deal with because of the Fall.

It becomes a consistent theme as the rest of Scripture's meta-narrative unfolds - those who walk with God have hope, even when the world is crumbling and death threatens us.

Death is a certainty in life. But it's not the end and it's not a certainty that saps all hope and meaning from this life.