C.S. Lewis Does it Again

I just finished reading C.S. Lewis’ books The Great Divorce and it was really eye opening. I’ll try not to ruin it but the basic premise is that Lewis is dead and he is traveling (with many others) on a bus from Hell to Heaven, he and the others appear as ghosts in Heaven while those who reside there appear as full bodied people, or Spirits as they are called. Basically each ghost meets up with a Spirit where the Spirit tries to persuade them to stay in Heaven. One sad thing that stood out to me is that all the ghosts resisted, each one finds some excuse, a faulty reason for leaving and thus miss out on Heaven. The main reason for leaving is that each of the ghosts is holding something back, whether it be fame, anger, or self pity, there is some selfish indulgence the ghosts have that they refuse to give up. It made me think about life here on earth, what I holding on to? Is there anything that acts as a weight as I race towards my Savior, Jesus Christ? Is it work, baseball, the Red Sox, friends, exercise…? The list can go on and on. C.S. Lewis claims at the beginning of his book that this is not supposed to be a factual or entirely truthful account of what happens after we die, but it does bring to light what leaves us in the dark, in other words what separates us from God. The truth is, we go through the same process as the ghosts every day, when I choose to watch Breakfast with the Sox or MLBN Quick Pitch instead of devotions, or pocket my whole paycheck instead of tithing, I’m holding back, I’m saying no to God when He calls me to leave the world behind. It’s never going to be easy, to give up the world and all it has to offer to pursue a life with God, but in the end it’s worth it. That’s why it’s the “Great Divorce” isn’t it, because a marriage between God and the world will never work out, as Jesus said we can’t serve two masters we need to make a choice.

Always have an Answer

I was flipping through the movie channels yesterday while I waited for the Sox game to start (I never really watch the pregame show all that much), and came across the movie “Religulous”. I heard about it mainly that it was bad, and I found out that, that was entirely true, it was a bad move. The basic premise is that Bill Maher (a not so funny comedian) sets out to ridicule religion, but ends up mainly ridiculing Christians. At first I was angry, I was angry that someone would blatantly make fun of an entire group of people in an inappropriate (and foul mouthed) way. Then I had a second feeling, I felt bad for Maher, I felt sorry for him and everyone like him who don’t understand faith. I though why I believed, that last year at this time I didn’t have faith or hope, and as a result was lost. I was like Maher; I wanted hard facts, something tangible; something to wrap my mind around. God didn’t give me that, but He did give me hope through a series of unexplainable coincidences, and through the support of people around me. As people of faith we need to know why we believe, why we have such faith and must have that answer because there is always a time and place where we are put on the spotlight and asked why we believe. Maher shoots himself in the foot by seeking out poorly qualified people to ask his questions, he sets up multiple interviews with people who really don’t know a whole lot and he presents false information that they never discredit (the biggest lie Maher tells to a group of people is that there is no evidence that Jesus was real – tell that to the Roman census and any historian). Peter writes to his readers “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience…” 1 Peter 3:15-16. Peter is right on this, but the key thing is what he adds at the end about gentleness and respect, Bill Maher and those like him may not understand faith, but if we with faith continue to give a good and honest answer about why we believe and do it with kindness, it could change one person’s mind and in the long run that is what really matters.

I'm Sick and Tired of Hearing how Good a Team the Rays Have...

To start off, if you don't get the title you missed a very funny beginning to Opening Night, google search josh sacco miracle speech at fenway. On a more serious note, I know there must be a lot of these circulating on the web now, but here’s another round of “Let’s complain about the Red Sox. Tay Tay come on down.” So I watched the game today and all I can say (with extreme sadness) is that yesterday I thought the Red Sox couldn’t play any worse and today they proved me wrong. I’m not going to lie watching them was downright painful; Hermida and especially Bill Hall looked like they never played a game in outfield, Lackey was slapped around, and the offense was just plain ugly. While on the subject of offense it’s been non-existent for the past few games now, it’s like once a guy gets on base the players forget that they are trying to get a hit. What I don’t get is why they aren’t bunting, today in the first inning there was a guy on first and second, one out, Bill Hall is up and he pops up to the second baseman – why not bunt the runners over and get two guys in scoring position? When watching “The Family Man” becomes more appealing than watching a Sox-Rays game you know something is amiss. All I’ll say is that if the Sox don’t shape up, then they better ship out the bad players (Ortiz, Hall) and cash in on some good ones (Gonzalez). Currently here’s my projected finish in the AL East Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, if the Sox keep playing like they are now then they’ll be watching not playing in October.

Message of the Cross

Easter was two weeks ago and there is a post I thought of writing but never did, it took a while for me to find some time to reflect, but here it is. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the disciples, mainly Peter. One thing that stood out to me is this, Peter while claiming to never leave Jesus did, and not only that cursed himself and those around him for even suggesting he knew Jesus. Peter had highs and lows in his journey with Jesus and this was plain rock bottom for him. One thing that stood out to me was this, Peter basically becomes the “exhibit A” for the Gospel. Peter had his up and down moments, but on the night of the Last Supper where he deserted Jesus he basically hit rock bottom. But then the amazing thing happens, though he denied Jesus, Jesus refused to deny him, in the most perfect image of forgiveness Jesus reinstates Peter. While it was painful for Peter at first to see his error before him (Jesus asks him if he loves Him three times, an echo of Peter’s denials) Jesus is essentially giving Peter a second chance, a chance to say three times “Yes! I love Jesus” instead of “Who!? Get away from me I don’t know the man!” Thus Jesus erases Peter’s wrongs and transforms him from a follower into a leader. That’s what I love about the Gospel, that no matter who are or what you’ve done God will never let you go. Peter did a pretty bad thing, but Jesus gave him a do-over and forgave Him, how much more He can do in our own lives. On the same note I can’t help but think about Judas; after seeing Jesus arrested Judas hung himself, in agony over what he did. The thing is that Judas understood the world, he understood money, payment, debt, but he didn’t get grace. He saw grace but it never sunk through, and sadly when he could have had it he refused. While rabbits and egg hunts are fun and all, let’s not forget the reason for Easter, the cross and resurrection. It is the risen Jesus, the Jesus that conquered death and sin that we worship, it is because of His sacrifice for us that we don’t need to live in sin, that we, like Peter, can be reinstated and prepared for an amazing life for Him.

Sports Center on Tay Tay

I know that with Easter and the start of the Red Sox season last weekend and this week was like a blogger’s dream and I missed out on it, I had a very busy week and no time to write so I’ll get to my thoughts on Easter later and for now the Sox. It’s been a fast week and the Sox have a 1-3 record so that doesn’t look good. After winning an exciting rally 9-7 on opening day they quickly lost three in a row. What’s going on? First off I am not going to panic and say “Oh no! The Sox are ruined!” But I will say that they are playing as I expected they would at a worst case scenario. Last year in the playoffs the weaknesses were the offense and bullpen, the past few games the Sox have been hitting quite well, but the bullpen has faltered every game, and three out of four times has resulted in a loss. Wakefield pitched tremendously, he had the longest outing at 7 innings and recovered after two quick back to back homeruns, Ortiz hit well going the other way and Drew had a big homeruns. I don’t know about you but that should have won a ballgame. I know its early in the season but if the Red Sox want to be a competitive team then they need to hold on to a lead and close a game, they can’t let the other team blow the game open once the starting pitcher leaves, that’s how they got swept out of the playoffs last year. Added to that, until the bullpen steps it up and can be counted on they won’t win many games, the offense will not be a huge factor this year so any lead needs to be kept the whole game.