Die is Gain?

So I have been preparing for my sermon on Sunday, this week we are looking at Philippians 1:18-30, and a big theme is death. Also life and how we live it, but with life, comes the ultimate reality that we do not live forever.

Paul says, that for him to live is Christ. The big thing here is that it is all about Christ. Is our reason to live for Christ? Are we not afraid to die because we know that we will then spend eternity with Christ. Many people do fear death, and many people also do not live for Christ, and even those who claim to be Christians do not always live in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ (Phil. 1:27).

The big question I have is what are you not willing to leave behind. If you are afraid of death what is the reason? I got thinking about this as lately I have had some pains in my groin area, and my father in law recently went through testicular cancer stuff and it got me thinking a little bit more about my own death.

I love my wife and kids, and this is the only reason sometimes why I want to be here. However, I cannot allow them to become my idols, I am here to live for Christ, and although that means that I still lovingly and graciously lead my family, my primary responsibility first is to Christ. I need to trust that Christ will look after my wife and my family if I were to die before them. I need to keep in a clear perspective that for me to live is all about Christ. to worship Him, proclaim him, which includes encouraging and leading my family to do the same. However, in the end for me to die is gain.

When I die I get to spend eternity in the presence of the Lord Jesus, whom I long to be with face to face. Often we ask the question, Do you want to go to heaven? I don't think this is the right question. Would you want to go to heaven still if Jesus was not there? This is the difference, the only reason why heaven is amazing is because Jesus is there. Nothing else should matter. We don't live our lives to get to heaven, we live our lives to bring glory to God, and in the end spend eternity with him. This is why to live is Christ, and to die is to be with Christ (gain).

Jesus + Hockey

So I am an avid hockey fan, many people knew that, but this advertisement that the Catholic Church put in TheStar news is a little sketchy at best. You can check out the article here. Well now that you have come back from it I want to take a little bit of time to touch on this ad and article.

I just want to highlight this section of the article, if you dont read the whole thing this part sums it up well. and I quote,

"But the treatment the Habs receive from some fans, bordering on the sacred, is unmistakable. Linking the two is “logical,” Bauer said.

The team, and its jersey, are called “La sainte flanelle” (the holy flannel). Patrick Roy was called “Saint Patrick.”

“The religion of the Canadiens in Montreal takes the form of Catholicism,” he explained. He cited the example of one fan he knows who has literally created a Habs “temple” in his house, with the appearance of a Catholic church, complete with altar, the centre of which sits a replica Stanley Cup

I dont know about you but I have a problem with this. Jesus should not be linked to anything, not hockey, not a political agenda, nothing, especially not the Montreal Canadiens, sorry Oilers fan here. Yes it is true people do worship sport, and I am sure people worship the Canadiens like they are there God, but you cannot link the real God who saves with another religion or false god.

In John 4:6 Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me. You can't link Jesus with anything else. Jesus + anything = Nothing. Jesus can only be worshipped alone. Exodus 20:3, you shall have no other God's before me. we are to worship God alone, so I am not sure how this bishop finds it ok that a man has a shrine, or temple to the Canadiens. So he not only has a false god, but has erected a temple for it as well.

Linking the two, God and the Canadiens is the least logical thing I can think of. I would say this is a misguided attempt at best by the Catholic Church to be relevant, but in the end they make Jesus irrelevant, you cannot link Jesus to anything, it just cheapens who Jesus is and what he has done.

I agree we need to pray, but somehow I dont think God is concerned with whether the Canadiens make the playoffs or not. Yes I do get the fact that this was sort of a joke, but behind every joke lies truth, and I think this joke maybe missed the mark.

OMG

So the other night I was watching the dragons den and they had a new candy called OMG's. It got me thinking about this new phenomenon of using this slogan in advertising. I also saw it on a poster at KFC for a chicken sandwhich. It's posted all over facebook and other social media forms, and some by Christians who understand its meaning and yet for some reason have no issue as long as it is in abbreviation form.

I think it is sad that this is what we have come to. That the respect and adoration of the name of God has been reduced to being used as a slogan for something that is surprising or good. Now God maybe both surprising and gopd, but not in this sense that these people are using it. In Exodus 20:7, we are instructed to not take the Lord's name in vain, and in each of these scenarios that is exactly what has happened.

Maybe some people believe that over fatty chicken that will make your heart stop is there god, and then I guess they are saying something that is true for them in the fact that food, is there god. Or maybe people love chocolate that much that it is there god. For the most part I think we have moved way to far away from giving God the honour and reverance that his name deserves and it has become a cliche, over used phrase, that is now just a marketing ploy to the younger generations and a wow slogan for pics and events on facebook.

Essentially the only time we should be saying omg is when we are speaking with our Lord Jesus Christ, in this sense we bring honor to his name and are claiming that we belong to him. Or like Thomas in John 20:28 where he says my Lord and my God, essentially one of the first Oh my God's, but in the most proper sense, as he is recognizing Jesus as his God. We need to be careful that this phrase hasn't lost meaning, and that we become ok with it used in any circumstance.

I have been away for awhile but decided to resurrect this blog to talk about cultural things like this post and blog about thoughts that I have on scripture passages as I work through them.