1 Samuel 11 - God's Deliverance

In this passage, we see the deliverance of a sinful city by Saul. From this passage, we can learn about our own lives and how Jesus has delivered us.

THE DELIVERED

The city of Jabesh was under attack by the Ammonites, and they tried to cut a deal with them, offering themselves as subjects to the Ammonites in return for peace. The Israelites were fine with being under the rule of pagans, as long as they didn't have to suffer too much. They were fine with being help captive by a rival kingdom, when God had just gave the them a new king to oppose all other kingdoms. However, Nahash the Ammonite wanted more than the taxes and the servitude of the people; he wanted to humiliate the Israelites. The elders at Jabesh didn't cry out to God for deliverance. They didn't even call out to their new king (the one they asked for, remember?!) because they didn't believe in Saul's power to do anything about the situation. Instead, they sent out a general cry for help, a cry for a deliverer.

Like the Israelites throughout the Old Testament, we tolerate being help captive by sin way too much. As long as the sin doesn't seem to get in the way of our everyday lives, we allow ourselves to be enslaved by it. However, when our own sin gets us in trouble, we don't even turn to God, but turn to other things, feeling hopeless without recognizing the hope that God gives us.

“Instead of humbling themselves before God and confessing the sins that had brought them into trouble, they put God altogether aside, and basely offered to become the servants of the Ammonites . . . We see here the sad effect of sin and careless living in lowering men’s spirits, sapping courage, and discouraging noble effort. Oh, it is pitiable to see men tamely submitting to a vile master! Yet how often is the sight repeated! How often to men virtually say to the devil, ‘Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee’!” (Balike)

THE DELIVERER

The good news is that a deliverer has come! Although in most of his reign Saul was a bad king, in this passage, Saul foreshadows how Jesus will deliver his people.

Humility and Obedience
It's unclear how much time passed between the anointing of Saul and this first mission of his, but either way, Saul went back to working his field after he was anointed! He didn't exercise his right as the king of Israel until God gave him the circumstances and the authority to do so. Saul didn't start making new laws, taxing citizens, or deporting illegal immigrants once he was in power. In fact, the people of Israel didn't even really recognize him as king yet because he needed to be reaffirmed as king after the battle! Instead, Saul waited until his calling as king became more clear (Israel never had a king before so he probably didn't know what he was supposed to do anyway).

Similarly, Jesus, though all-powerful and totally capable, did not start his ministry on earth as a child. He didn't start it as a teenager or even a young adult. Jesus waited for his time to come. Jesus lived as a regular guy, a common man, although he knew that he was the creator of all things, the king of all creation. In all things, Jesus was humble and only acted when the Father called him, doing nothing out of pride or arrogance.

Passion and Love for His People
When Saul heard about what Nahash threatened to do to his people, he went berserk, consumed by a righteous anger against those oppressing and humiliating God's people, the people the God had given him to protect. In his Super-Saiyan rage, Saul straight up butchered two oxen, gave it to his messengers, and told them to go to throughout Israel to "make 'em an offer they can't refuse." (An aside: How scary must it have been to be around Saul when he was going crazy?! Imagine a tall, handsome, usually reserved and humble individual going crazy and slaughtering two animals and tearing them up to shreds. Can you imagine if Jeffrey (for my NJers) or Bryan (for my UMers) was filled with righteous anger and took out a knife and started slicing up live oxen? Freakin scary.)

Jesus too cared about his people, and his love far surpasses that of Saul's. Instead of tearing apart the body of an ox, Jesus himself, the sacrificial lamb, had his body torn apart for us, the ultimate act of love. Jesus' anger was directed at sin and death itself, while towards people, even those who opposed and eventually crucified him, he showed compassion and forgiveness.

THE OUTCOME

Unification
Israel had previously been divided, with each tribe and city basically watching out for itself. God unites the country both militarily and in spirit through the adversity that they face. The passage says that the people "turned out as one man", which is a contrast to the description of the defeated Ammonites, who were "scattered, so that no two of them were left together." It is through unity that the church can battle the dark side, the Nahashes that attack the church.

Life, and life to the full
After the battle, Saul announced, "No one shall be put to death today, for this day the LORD rescued Israel." Saul's victory over the Ammonites and the grace he showed towards his opposition saved the lives of countless of God's people. However, Jesus not only delivers us from death and gives us life, he goes beyond it - "I have come so that they have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10)." The life that Jesus gives isn't just the lack of death, but it is an abundance of joy, love, and peace, and sugar, spice and everything nice. Saul delivered Israel from humiliation and captivity to freedom and life. Jesus did all that and more - he delivered us from death so we can enjoy everlasting life, and that life to the full.

1 Samuel  1    2     3    4   5 , 6   7   8   9 , 10

My First MLS Match

Jonny, Iris, and I went to the new Red Bulls Arena for the Thierry Henry debut against Tottenham. Even though the Red Bulls lost, they played better and had more and better chances against Tottenham and lost the game 2-1 on stupid defensive mistakes. Even though Thierry Henry is on the downside of his career, his control of the ball and extremely fast mental pace created an electric atmosphere whenever he touched the ball. It became clear that most of his Red Bulls teammates could not keep up with his game. He was awesome. The impressive crowd of 20,000 was engaged and loud for most of the game, which added to the experience. Here are some thoughts on the match:

1) Singing Rocks

There's something about hearing a melody rather than a chant or cheer that is freaking awesome. I realize that constantly singing songs isn't really possible at football games, where the flow of the game is much more choppy, but singing really is much more pleasant to the years than shouting. Singing also displays greater unison than shouting cheers, as cheers are often only a few words while songs are much lengthier, so the unision heard is much more apparent and much more powerful.

This could also be a result of football stadiums being much larger than soccer stadiums (Manchester United's stadium only seats 75,000), and the size of football stadiums make it very difficult to sing because of the time it takes for sound to travel. Even if everyone in the stadium is singing in unison, people on one end will hear the singing of the people on the other end around a second later, which screws with the head and makes it really hard to sing. Even at the Big House, it's rare that everyone is in sync when we sing the Victors. It's just very difficult with that size of a stadium. That's just my theory.

The insane fan section:


2) Red Bulls Arena is SWEET

This is the first season Red Bulls Arena is open, and for an MLS stadium, it's really, really nice. I don't what it's called, but I am always amazed at the electronic tickertape thing that goes around the stadium. The capacity of the stadium is a little over 25,000, which sounds shabby compared to the Big House, but is still big enough to look pretty awesome. My favorite thing about the stadium was probably the roof, which extended over the seats but was transparent so we can experience natural lighting. The sky was also absolutely beautiful the night we went, which only added to the magnificence of the stadium.



3) No Diving Allowed

One thing that I really like about the MLS is that there isn't really diving involved. Here in the United States, we like our men strong and manly, not wimpy like in the World Cup. During the course of the game, there must have been less than 10 fouls called. Sure, it was an international friendly, but it was refreshing watching a game where the players tried to stay and plays on their feet. From the MLS games that I have watched, diving isn't really an issue, so don't let the bad aftertaste of the World Cup keep you from watching the MLS!

4) Sitting down is nice.

At work earlier in the day, we had our company picnic, where I played two and a half hours of volleyball. My legs were exhausted. It was a relief to find out that it wasn't like on TV where everyone is standing and dancing around playing vuvuzelas, but that I could sit and enjoy the game. I love the college football atmosphere, and I like the passion of standing during games, but it's also nice to be able to relax and actually be able to see everything that's happening on the field. Even though our seats were kind of high up, I enjoyed being able to sit and really watch the game, jumping out of my seat whenever anything exciting happened (which was actually quite often).




A not-very-exciting video of when Thierry Henry was announced:



My First MLB Game

1 Samuel 9, 10 - Sovereignty and Grace

God's sovereignty and God's grace are two themes that are often pointed to in the Old Testament. In 1 Samuel 9 and 10, God's grace is revealed through his sovereignty, as he works in the lives of Samuel and Saul and coming of Jesus is foreshadowed.

1) God's sovereignty and grace in present circumstances

God's sovereignty in this passage is first most obviously seen in his leading of Saul to Samuel, leading Saul on a three-day donkey chase. God was always in complete control of the situation and Samuel knew this, trusting God so much that he didn't even travel to the land of Benjamin, knowing that God would bring the person promised to him.

God's grace is demonstrated in how he lead Saul to Samuel. While God spoke directly to Samuel and told him of Saul's coming, he chose not to reach out to Saul the same way, using a more roundabout method of leading Saul using everyday circumstances. Saul's relationship with God probably was not as great as Samuel's relationship with God, and he probably wasn't in the habit of regularly talking to and hearing from God. Despite this, could God have spoken audibly to Saul to tell him to go meet Samuel? Sure, he could. But God chooses to meet us where we are and to use our imperfections and weaknesses rather than avoid them.

So when life seems frustrating and when it seems like God is sending you on wild goose chases, be encouraged. God is and will always be in control. Even though you don't know where your life is going or where God is leading you, know that he is always there and is always working for your good (Romans 8:28). The three days you spend frustrated searching for your donkeys will be totally worth it after you end up meeting Jesus and are crowned along with him.

Also, God can use you even if you're an ass. [Sorry, I had to. =P]

2) God's sovereignty and grace in his ultimate plan for redemption

Saul seemed like the king the Israelites had been asking for, the perfect king. Socially, he came from a well-known, well-respected family. Morally, he was respectful, humble almost to a fault, and radically obedient to his father (if my dad sent me on a 3-day hide-and-go-seek game with donkeys, I would probably run away from home). Physically, he was tall and handsome. According to Jewish tradition, Saul was also the ultimate lady's man:

He was marvelously handsome; and the maidens who told him concerning Samuel (comp. I Sam. ix. 11-13) talked so long with him that they might observe his beauty the more (Ber. 48b). [src]

Despite these physical and character traits, Saul would be later be consumed with pride and jealousy and rejected by God.

Saul being a crappy king didn't catch God off guard. God knew Saul's heart, and he knew from the beginning that all human kings would be sinful and imperfect. Luckily for his people, God is always in control and has in store for us a king greater than Saul, whom he has prepared for us before the beginning of time.

Like what Pastor Heald said yesterday, when the Israelites were begging for a king, they were actually crying out, "Show me Jesus", as Jesus is the only truly perfect king. There's no indication in the Bible of Jesus being tall or handsome, and it seemed like the only women he drew to himself were prostitutes and "sinners". Unlike Saul, Jesus came from a humble family, one that had been disowned by the community because of pre-marital pregnancy. While Jesus was not the king that the Jews expected, he is the king that all people desire. Unlike Saul, Jesus remains obedient to his heavenly Father. While Jesus didn't bring military victories like Saul did, Jesus conquered the unconquerable, death. While Saul was the fallen first king of Israel, Jesus is the ultimate, eternal king that can never be dethroned.

Long live the King.

Pop the turtle!

1 Samuel  1    2     3    4   5 , 6   7   8

1 Samuel 8: Rejecting the King

Israelites:  God, all the other kids on the block have a king. We want one too. Pleasseeeee?
God:         I am your king. Do you not want me as your king anymore?
Israelites:  No. Can we please, please, please, please have a king?
God:         A human king will only bring you strife and bad things like snakes on a plane. Are you sure you want    
                a king?
Israelites:  We want a king!
God:         A king will take your action figures without asking and break them. (v. 11)
Israelites:  We still want a king!
God:         He'll ask for your crayons and he'll draw pictures with some and stick the others up his nose. (v. 12)
Israelites:  We still want a king!
God:         He will take your Barbie dolls and draw on their faces, dress them up as ugly as possible, and throw  
                them down the toilet(v. 13). He will steal your lunch every day and share them with his friends (v. 14). 
                Then, he will steal your lunch money every day. and share it with his friends (v. 15). He will steal your 
                dog and her puppies (v. 16). He will make you do whatever he wants, and he will hit you if you don't  
                listen (v.17). Still want a king?
Israelites:  Yes! We still want a king!
God:         Okay, but don't come running back to me if the king is mean to you (which he will be)!

The sin of the Israelites in this passage isn't in asking for a king alone, but in rejecting the one that God had already provided, Himself. Despite God providing the perfect king, the Israelites are discontent and demand to have things their own way (Burger King!). It's like the Israelites are insisting on taking a medicine for a disease that they don't have that have the side affects of headaches, memory loss, loss of hair, obesity, and herpes. Totally not worth it, but they have convinced themselves that it is.

Though, as usual, the Israelites sound extremely stupid and brain-damaged, but we resemble them in our lives. Like the Israelites, we beg God for a lot of things, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but our mindsets are often wrong and we begin worshiping what we are praying for rather than who we are praying to. We often believe that the only we we can be happy is if we have a relationship, lots of money, a good career, etc. You can fill in the blank yourself. We tell God that who he is and what He's given us isn't enough to satisfy our heart's desires and that we need much more than what he's given us already. We tell him that what he's given us just isn't good enough and to keep us happy, he needs to start giving us more of what we want. In a sense, in our relationship with God, we are gold diggers.

The scary thing is that sometimes, God lets us have our human, fallen desires. Like the prodigal father, he grants us our heart's desire, even though our discontent is a slap to his face, and our plans are doomed to fail. God gives us boyfriends or girlfriends that never should have been, dating relationships that never should have happened. He gives us jobs that we begged for but that he didn't call us to, which result in disappointment. And he gave the Israelites a king. He gave them many kings. Most of them were evil, and none of them were faultless.

Be encouraged if you are obeying God but your life doesn't seem to be going where you want it to be going. If you are faithfully following God, your life is probably going where God wants it to be going, and he won't let your petty desires get in the way of using you and prospering you. God has a lot in store for us, and God hears our prayers and knows our hearts, so when he withholds certain things from us, we just need to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride he's taking us on.

On the flip side, if you've dug yourself a hole, the good news is that despite our waywardness, God can use our crappy decisions and circumstances to bring himself glory. Although God desired to be the sole king of Israel, he used human kings, like David and Solomon, to point to the ultimate king to come, Jesus Christ. Although Jonah fled when God commanded him to preach to the Ninivites, God used his disobedience to save those on-board Jonah's ship. Even if you've said "my will, not yours" and veered off track from God's original calling for you, he can still use your current situation to bring him glory, if you let him.

1 Samuel  1    2     3    4   5 , 6   7

My 21st Birthday Wish List

As you all should know, my 21st birthday is coming up in a month, and as customary, you will all be bringing gifts to present at my feet on my birthday. For all of my Michigan friends and all those not in town, feel free to mail me checks. Credit cards will also be accepted.

This year, instead of asking for and collecting cash for myself as I normally do, keep your twenty dollar bills. Here are some of the modest things that I want for my birthday, in no particular order. I will be creating a registry soon for my birthday so that no two people give me the same gift. What a tragedy that would be.

1) A Vuvuzela

I used to be really annoying, and I feel like I've lost some of that recently. My obnoxiousness and stupid jokes are now accepted and even considered funny sometimes. I need to be annoying again, and a vuvuzela is will be that first step toward being able to again make people's ears bleed just by opening my mouth. Those were the days.



2) A black friend

I used to take pride in being friends with a lot of black people. I wasn't super-tight with them all the time but yeah, I did have a ghetto phase (like most other Asian dudes). Running track also helped me to get to know a lot of the other black kids in high school, who surprisingly weren't very fast (but mostly because they just didn't try very hard). I recently realized that I don't really have any black friends at Michigan, partially because I'm in an Asian fellowship, and partially because there aren't that many black kids that major in Computer Science. I need to reconnect with the hood.

3) A closer relationship with my future father-in-law's daughter.

I've been constantly thinking and praying for my friend, my future father-in-law, and I really hope that he gets along with his daughter well. I think that maybe getting to know her better will also help me understand my future father-in-law better as a person so I can relate to him better. This really isn't about her and its certainly not about me, but a great relationship with his daughter should help solidify my relationship with my future father-in-law, the most important relationship to me right now. Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, it would be a plus if his daughter was pretty.

4) More blog readers

As many of you know, I have been shamelessly advertising my blog, and I will continue to do so. I would really appreciate it if you made "fobbymaster.blogspot.com" bumper stickers or maybe buy a billboard and advertise it. I would actually really appreciate if someone tattooed it down their arm or maybe vertically down the chest through their happy trail (or happy forest, in Michael's case). I know all of you follow my blog and twitter religiously (especially Shawn), so why not just share the wisdom and humor and general awesomeness of fobbymaster.blogspot.com to the world?
P.S. If you are sick and tired of hearing me talk about my blog, I am deeply and genuinely embarrassed and sorry. I am not being a narcissist, just trying to get some sense of worth because I write my posts with the intent of bringing something to the readers.

5) A personal masseuse, bodyguard, and lifeguard.

This is a request not for three different people, but for one stunning individual, preferably female, that can perform all the above duties. Sarah Walker from Chuck would be perfect for me (even though I'm not sure if she gives great massages, but whatever. I'm not that picky). Too bad she's fictional. [Random thought: I wonder if Sarah Walker and Luke Walker are related. Sure hope not. Luke is such a loser.]

6) A Michigan football bowl bid

No explanation needed.

I miss this:

7) Lots of rubbing alcohol

I expect that we will be doing a lot of risky, exciting things for my 21st birthday with a lot of potential of getting injured like going to a missions seminar at church and a fantasy football draft. Even though I am not old enough to buy my own rubbing alcohol, it would be really nice if you guys could go out and buy me some in case I get cuts and stuff. Also, no girly rubbing alcohols like Smirnoff Ice Peroxide.

8) An iPad

I've never had an iPhone or an iPod touch before, and at the ancient age of 21, my eyesight will start to deteriorate. Thanks to Steve Jobs, my poor eyesight will not interfere with getting the iPhone/iPod touch experience because of the newly-released iPad! Not only is the iPad bigger and better than any other tablet or e-book reader out there, it is also much, much cheaper! Thanks, Apple! You've saved the day again! 



9) Rosetta Stone for the Female Language.

I would really like to learn the female language. I know there are a lot of good resources out there already, but I need some sort of a comprehensive lesson to immerse me in the female language to help me understand them better. This Rosetta Stone will be passed on from me to all of my male friends, so we can all learn and speak the language together. I can't wait until we get to the advanced levels of the language and we will be able to lie to each other through our teeth via flattering and gossip.



I know most of you are on tight budgets, especially after spending a fortune on Iris' birthday party, so I really hope these little things I suggested will be helpful for you to select me a cheap but meaningful birthday present!

1 Samuel 7: Idols

So let's set the scene: The ark is returned after seven months in Philistine territory, where God wreaked havoc on every city the ark was in. After the Philistines decided they had enough, they returned the ark to the Israelites, with some gold for good measure. The Israelites were over-excited, and tried to look inside of the ark, to which God responded by killing 50,070 people Israelites.

The Israelites responded, and for twenty years, "all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD." But it turns out, that after God had severely punished the Philistines for serving idols and the Israelites for disrespecting Him and twenty years to think about it, Israel had not yet gotten rid of their idols and were still serving foreign gods! Twenty years may sound like a short amount of time in a historical account such as 1 Samuel, but take a second and think about how long twenty years actually is for any individual. Twenty long years have passed, and the Israelites still haven't gotten rid of their idols! It wasn't until Samuel finally commanded them to rid themselves of idols (which I also bet he had done multiple times before) that Israel completely turned their sights on God.

Jonah 2:8

Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

"Those who cling to worthless idols"

A lot of times when we come to God, we come holding onto our idols that we refuse to get rid of. We come in front of the all-knowing God trying to hide them, like a child foolishly trying to hide things behind his back. We come to God hoping that he doesn't mind us cheating on him with the other gods in our heart, asking him to allow us to hold on to our idols. And sometimes he lets us. He let the Israelites hold onto theirs for twenty years, but it isn't until we genuinely burn those idols that we can come to God in full obedience with a clear conscience to accept the grace that he wants to give us. Keeping idols in our lives, we are often also too ashamed and guilty to want to confront God because engaging in relationship with God only brings out the filth inside of us, even though we know God knows the dirt we sweep under the rug anyway.

Getting rid of idols is hard. It sucks. We often need to destroy things that we have spent a long time making and have taken pride in. We need to adjust our priorities and the way we live our lives. Getting rid of idols isn't the one-time event of chopping down some Ashtoreth pole or burning Baal statues because our idols keep popping up, and we have to keep burning them down. Just ask the Israelites, even though they burn them down, for some reason those idols always reappear (Kings, Judges). I'm not great at burning idols, but luckily God's a pyromaniac that's always willing to lend a hand.

"forfeit the grace that could be theirs."

We are again presented with God's amazing grace that is so often overlooked in the Old Testament. The people were given twenty years to get rid of their idols by the holy and wrathful God, as we have just seen in chapter 6. Twenty years! Our human inadequacies are always overwhelmed by God's love and patience. Always. Not only did he rescue his people from the Philistines once, he delivered them for a lifetime.

"Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines. The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to her, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites."

Think about it. The Israelites had decades of disobedience, stop, burn their idols, don't eat for a little bit to pray, sacrifice one lamb as a nation, and God rewards them with a lifetime of peace and prosperity. At CMC 2004, they emphasized that you can never out-give God. How true. We give God a tiny little bit, and he rewards us a hundred-fold.

God has so much that he wants to do for us and give us, but we are too stubborn to cling on to worthless idols that we miss out on all that he has in store for us. We all have idols, and we need to think how those idols have been holding us back.

On the chapter heading:

On a somewhat unrelated note, in the NIV Bible, the header for this section is "Samuel Subdues the Philistines at Mizpah", which couldn't be more misleading. Despite the obvious fact that all battles won were because of help from God, this header makes it seem like Samuel himself used his walking stick (that all prophets seemed to have) and went Yoda on the Philistines, using kung fu and somersaults to physically "subdue the Philistines." I usually like the NIV headers because they make passages easier to find, but this one is just straight up misleading.

1 Samuel 5, 6 - Don't mess with God
1 Samuel 4 - Continued Disobedience and Using God 
1 Samuel 3 - Midnight Encounter with God 
1 Samuel 2 - For those stumbling 
1 Samuel 1 - "Because I asked the Lord for him" 

Lebron James - Self-destruction

In attempting to build his brand through a hyped up free agency, Lebron has turned the public against him and has completely destroyed it. His hour-long special has been blasted by fans, and his egomaniac-ism (yes, I made up this word) and selfishness has been made extremely apparent. The public also sees through his little charity stunt to his sense of entitlement of attention, especially when he's compared to the classiness of Dwayne Wade and the humility of Kevin Durant. It has been made clear that every decision he makes, even basketball decisions, is about money, and he is intent on being a billionaire, and fans will be more hesitant than ever to throw money that will only boost his ego. Lebron has quickly become the most hated man in America, as he steals an hour from millions as he beats around the bush before actually announcing his decision. In attempting to build his brand, Lebron has completely destroyed it.

On my Google Reader, I'm subscribed to Bleacher Report , which is a sports blog hosting site where anyone can start a sports blog (I might create one some time). Surprise, surprise there has been the most Lebron bashing I've ever seen in my life. Even on Facebook, many statuses are lampooning Lebron and his little hour-long Free-Agency Idol results show. Lebron is now known across the country as a self-absorbed, selfish, greedy player that still hasn't won a ring. Lebron is the new Brett Favre - you hear about him every day but like him less and less every day. The more you hear about him the more you want him to disappear and never come back. This free agency has destroyed Lebron's image throughout the country.

In anticipation of Lebron joining Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh tonight at Miami, here are three reasons why signing with the Heat is a bad decision:

1) Miami is DWade's city, and the Heat are DWade's team.
Dwayne Wade is the unquestioned leader of the Miami Heat, and the addition of Chris Bosh doesn't change that at all. Despite the recent down years in Miami, Wade is mentally tough and committed to both the city of Miami and to winning. Wade has demonstrated loyalty and classiness, which so many superstars seem to lack nowadays. While Lebron will without a doubt be the best player on the team, will he be the mental, emotional leader? Will Dwayne Wade let him take the reigns of the team?

I saw this quote on a Bleacher Report article: "Lebron James is Alex Rodriguez to Dwayne Wade's Derek Jeter." I couldn't have said it better. 

2) Miami isn't the best place to win a championship
After signing Lebron James, the Heat will need to settle with mediocre role and bench players to push them through the season. Sure, having Lebron and Wade and Bosh will create most of the offense needed, but unless they play every minute of the game, someone will need to replace them. Comparisons to the Big Three of Boston can be made, but the new "Super Three" of Miami won't have the support of Glen Davis, Eddie House, Leon Powe, or James Posey on the bench or Perkins and Rondo role playing (wow that sounds dirtier than intended). A crappy bench and crappy role players mean more minutes for the Super Three, and more minutes means more fatigue and effect on the body. Even if the Super Three win one championship, the physical toll that season will have on their body will make it extremely difficult to repeat.

The importance of a good bench is often underrated, but look at these statistics from the 2010 NBA Finals:
Game 1: 102-89 LAL. Bench 16-15 CEL.
Game 2: 103-94 CEL. Bench 24-15 CEL.
Game 3: 91-84 LAL. Bench 24-22 CEL.
Game 4: 96-89 CEL. Bench 36-18 CEL.
Game 5: 92-86 CEL. Bench 14-13 CEL.
Game 6: 89-67 LAL. Bench 23-13 LAL.
Game 7: 83-79 LAL. Bench 9-6 LAL.

Five out of seven times, the team with the better bench won the game. And if you notice, the two times where the better bench did not win the game, it was only by a margin of two and one points. You cannot win a championship if your bench and role players cannot score.

3) Miami isn't the best place for Lebron to build his brand.
Let me first make one thing clear: for Lebron to build his brand into a billion-dollar market, he must win championships. Without championships, he cannot hope to be anywhere near Michael Jordan.

Let's just assume that the Heat win a championship two years from now (after the Lakers three-peat next year). The market will undoubtedly be split between Dwayne Wade and Lebron, and if Lebron takes more credit than he deserves and pushes his brand too hard, it will backfire and he'll lose the respect of fans. However, if they win, James really might not be getting the majority of the credit. It won't be a "Lebron and friends" kind of deal, but more of a "Miami has a great team" split in credit. Lebron will never be able to be the one that everyone can easily point to as the MVP of the team. What if Dwayne Wade wins it? Lebron's brand will never explode as he wants it to.

If Lebron really wants to boost his brand into the billion-dollar empire he desires, he needs to win championships by playing out of his mind and being the most well-liked player in the NBA. Of these two factors, I don't think he has the capacity for the latter.

Kobe vs. Lebron 

1 Samuel 5, 6: Don't mess with God.

This passage is quite familiar to me and the images of drawings of this passage from the Picture Bible are still vivid in my head. I can still see the image of this giant mermaid idol Dagan flat on the ground, broken into pieces in front of the ark of God. I love this story because we often like to treat God like a giant fluffy teddy bear (someone like a pre-fall Lotso from Toy Story 3) that will accept us despite our brokenness (which he will), and we forget just how awesome (in the awe-some sense of the word) and powerful God is. If it's not too sacrilegious to say, God is totally BA in this passage. In this passage, I can imagine God saying to himself something like this:

"Philistines don't want to respect me and make me share a temple with this poser Dagan, whom they call  "Lord of the gods"? Man, don't the Philistines know that I totally trademarked that name centuries ago? These fools don't know who they're messin with. Imma tip this little fella over and see what happens...They picked him up again?! I'll just push him a little harder this time...oops..broke his head, arms, and fishy tail by accident...Aww they don't want me here next to their pwecious little Dagan anymore and are moving me to another city. Why don't they just treat me like the powerful God that I am instead of pretending I'm just some mere symbol? I know...I'm going to make them an offer they cannot refuse: Return the ark to my people, or TUMORS AND RATS. Your move, Philistines."

God demands respect. God demands obedience. God's holiness and power should cause us to fall down and worship him, like Dagan did. Our God is not a God to mess with, as the Egyptians, Philistines, Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Romans, Nazis, and Islamic extremists have painfully discovered. It's kind of funny thinking about it because the Egyptians, Jordanians (Canaanites, Edomites), and Syrians (Assyrians) never learned their lesson and got their butts kicked again by God's Chosen People in the Six-day War in 1967. They never learn.

God's Justice

The thing that struck me this time around that I haven't seen before is the justice of God demonstrated in the punishment of the Israelites. Sometimes when we read the Old Testament, it really seems like God is always in favor of the Israel, because those seem to be all the stories that we remember. When we think about God and the Israelites, we like to remember all the warm, fuzzy stories like Moses and the Exodus, Joshua and Jericho, and David and Goliath but we immediately don't think about the punishments the Israelites suffer for their sin, like "the earth opened up its mouth and swallowed them, with their housholds and all Korah's men and all their possessions (Numbers 16:32)", Joshua's stoning of Achan and burning of his family for the Ai fiasco, and the death of David's firstborn for murdering a soldier and quid pro quo-ing his wife.

God does not show favoritism. Contrary to popular belief (and practice), Christianity and the Christian God is not about racism or putting one ethnicity or peoples above another. God's justice is painfully demonstrated in the passage, with an extremely severe punishment of all who disrespected His ark. God is less tolerant with the sin of the Israelites because they really should know better than to try and look inside the holy ark of God. This passage is a confirmation of the first part of Romans 2:9-10, that God's chosen people are held to a higher standard. This is God's justice. 

The moral of the story is that as Christians, we should never just assume that we can treat God however we want. He has demonstrated grace beyond grace, but we serve a God that also demands fear and obedience. God is unpredictable, in both his grace and his discipline - as said in Narnia, God is not a tame lion.

It all really makes me think: DAM, GOD. YOU SCARY (in the best possible way ever).

The extent of my holy fear (and humility) never ceases to amaze me.......just kidding.

1 Samuel 4 - Continued Disobedience and Using God 
1 Samuel 3 - Midnight Encounter with God 
1 Samuel 2 - For those stumbling 
1 Samuel 1 - "Because I asked the Lord for him" 

Technology and Officiating: Case Studies

The following are some case studies where the ideas that I posted in my Myths and Realities post can be applied. 


Armando Galarraga's Non-Perfect Game

The Situation

Armando Galarraga was one out away from a perfect game. Jason Donald hit a ground ball to first-baseman Cabrera, so Galarraga went to go cover first base. Cabrera threw the ball to Galarraga, but first base umpire called Donald safe, when later replay clearly showed that Donald clearly had not beaten the throw.

The Problem
Calling base-runners safe or out is very difficult and almost an inexact science. It cannot be understated how much credit MLB umpires should get for calling these bang-bang correctly most of the time, but they do make mistakes once in a while, and those mistakes can be very costly and can alter the outcome of a game.

The Fix
On base-running calls - Adding an umpire in front of a screen to watch replays and if an umpire is not sure, they can request help on the call. This will be similar to what the umpire behind the plate does on check swings, as he points to either the first or third base umpire for their call on whether or not a batter held his swing. Although umpires now may always think they are certain of all the calls they make, these calls can easily be confirmed by someone watching replays. These replays should really only take a few seconds, as the replay umpire should be viewing plays even if requests have not been made. If the replay assistant isn't sure about a call after first glance (around five seconds),

On coach's challenges - I agree that replays where all the umpires gather around take too much time and need to be minimized. Some say a manager's challenge once a game is too much, and that it should be once a week. I think that it should be once a series for the regular season and two per series in the playoffs. I think having one per week is too arbitrary and that we should take advantage of the organization of the baseball season. Maybe in addition to the one replay per series there can also be two or three free replays for the entire season, just in case a big game is being played and a challenge has already been used in the series. The issue in the end isn't about the replay itself, but about the amount of time it adds in games. I still think that it is unnecessary for all the umpires to walk to some spot off the field to watch a replay and that there is many more efficient methods that can be employed.

These plans are not perfect, and may not even have changed this Armando Galarraga case. While I'm sure if the system was in place, Jim Joyce would have requested a second opinion from the replay umpire, Jim Joyce seemed to be pretty certain that his call was correct. If he truly did not have any doubts about the call on the field, there's nothing that can be done to change the situation. The mindset of umpires would need to change and a little more humility and accountability will need to be accepted by umpires, who have always made calls and stuck with them, no matter if there are players or managers yelling in their faces. They have always been invincible, and choosing to defer the decision to another umpire watching replays takes away from that invincibility, but I'm sure that it's still all for the better of the game. Also, as many have said before, there's no guarantee that Jim Leland would have a coach's challenge remaining for the last pitch of the game.

While I feel terrible for Galarraga, the reality is that it did not and was not going to affect the win-loss outcome of the game, which is the most important element to get right.


Kaka's Red Card, Torres' Flop

The Situation
Kaka got his second yellow card against Ivory Coast, forcing him to miss the next game. Brazil was deep enough to replace him and win the next game, but most teams would really feel the loss of their star player. Torres also flopped, causing the unlucky Chilean player to get a red card and giving Spain a free kick right outside the box. [Some people think Torres' heel got clipped, but even if it was, it was a little accidental contact with a whole lot of embellishment.] The fine pieces of acting are below:

The Problem
Soccer players are not held accountable for diving. I don't agree with the notion that there should be another referee to watch the replay and keep Kaka in the game because I still feel that it is the sole responsibility of on-field officials to call fouls. The referee made a mistake, and that is the "human element" of the game that we always talk about. However, players are rarely punished for diving, with their only punishment being non-calls (as we saw with Cristiano Ronaldo in the Spain game).



The Fix
Blatant diving should be considered unsportsmanlike conduct and treated that way. While, it may not be obvious during actual play, replays often clear things up. I'm not sure if other soccer leagues do this already, but FIFA should consider punishing blatant diving and repeat offenders of ridiculous embellishment with yellow cards (because I don't think FIFA can fine players). Because there's often a fine line between diving and mere embellishment, there needs to be significant evidence of diving (or significant evidence that there was no contact). Repeat offenders should also be punished significantly more severely.

The NFL and the NBA have cracked down on in-game unsportsmanlike behavior like head-stomping, face-punching, and face-spitting. Sure, diving isn't as bad as any of these, but action against this unsportsmanlike conduct should be taken nonetheless.

USA's onsides goal and Argentina's offsides goal

The Situations
The USA beat the odds and had tied the game against Slovakia 2-2 after being down 2-0, but the goal that would have put them ahead was taken back on a whistle that was either a foul or an offsides call, but we don't really know which. Mexico was trying to battle back from a 1-0 deficit against favorite Argentina when Argentina scored again. The scorer was very obviously offsides, but a call was never given. Argentina was then up 2-0, a mountain that humble Mexico had no chance of climbing.

These two are opposite situations: Mexico didn't get a call when it was appropriate but USA had a goal reversed for a ghost call.

The Problem
Offsides are often difficult to call.

The Fix
All FIFA officials are already equipped with headsets so they can communicate with each other. Why not stick one more guy in front of a replay booth and have him communicate to the on-field officials when an offsides has been committed or if a called offsides that had resulted in a goal needs to be overturned? Of course, the details and rules need to be figured out, but if you've been watching the World Cup, you've seen that nifty grey-ing visual, and you know that most calls are so obvious that it only takes one replay, between 3 and 5 seconds, to get the call right if it wasn't correct in the first place. If there isn't immediate indisputable evidence to overturn the call on the field in the first 5 minutes, the replay official should allow whatever call was made on the field to stand.

This system should be pretty easy to implement and very fast, where replay overturns will occur rarely. Even though overturns may be rare, offsides calls, whether made and missed, are often extremely crucial and, as we have witnessed, can completely change the complexion and outcome of a match.

That said, I don't know if the USA goal would have been called a goal either way, but I do think that under this system Argentina's goal would be correctly discounted.

"Freedom is not free"

Iris and I went to visit Jonny, Johnny, and Diana around a month ago at Washington D.C, where we haven't visited for years. We arrived near midnight, and we headed off towards the monuments, which were absolutely beautiful at night.





Johnny, ever the tour guide, showed us the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the World War II Memorial (which, tragically, the lights were turned off for). What really stuck with me was the quote "Freedom is not free" etched on the wall of the Korean War Memorial.

I can't help but remember Jesus who set us free not only from the evil tyranny of funny-dressed Brits, but from the slavery and bondage of sin, that we should never be enslaved to it again. Many times, we take our freedom from sin for granted, not thinking twice about the significant of liberation from sin and assuming eternal life as a right that we all deserve to have. We forget that our relationship with God and our freedom from sin did not come freely, and that God paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

The freedom - 
Romans 6:22,23

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 8:36

If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. 

The price - 
1 Peter 2:23,24

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

So on the day that we remember the men and women that gave their lives for our country and everything that she represents, let's remember the One who died to right humanity with God, the only one who can truly set us free and give us real freedom from all the evil of the world. 

Also, I love America! USA! USA!

How I celebrated July 4th: 
For all those interested, after we chilled at Tim's house, we went to Pier Village for the Oceanfest fireworks. Traffic sucked, but it was pretty worth it in the end because of all the fun people in the car and the fireworks were so close we could smell the smoke! The fireworks were actually being shot only maybe one hundred feet from us. Every time the "weeping willow" fireworks were shot, I got scared that the ashes would burn some poor people sitting too close to the shore. Aside from hanging out, the one thing that I loved the most of the night was hearing the awe of the kids all around me. As we grow up, we often get desensitized to the amazing things in the world, and it was nice to hear kids who are still genuinely captivated by the wonder of beautiful exploding flames in the sky.

Android Tip #1681 - Don't take videos sideways because you will never be able to rotate them back, especially if the files are too big to transfer to your computer via email. Taking 50MB of video sideways is never a good idea.



Playing with firecrackers outside of Tim's house. Audio required.


Yes, I screamed. The firecracker hit me! Don't judge me.

1 Samuel 4: Continued Disobedience and Using God

2 John 1:6

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

John 15:9,10

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 

Continued disobedience to God results in a broken relationship with Him and makes us lose sight of who He is.

After Samuel's message from God to Eli, decades pass, but it doesn't seem like Eli or his sons have changed. Eli's sons are still wild, being two of the people who basically stole the ark from the temple. Though Eli's role in this is all unknown, he has failed both as a father of two wayward sons and a leader of a rebellious nation. After Samuel's prophecy about Eli and his family, Eli seems unmotivated to change his ways and his sons' behavior. We've seen God's mercy in the Old Testament, where God condemns cities or individuals but after sincere repentence of the condemend sparing their lives. Eli didn't bother to ask God for forgiveness or beg Him to change his mind. Eli seemed resigned, saying merely, "He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes", which to me almost seems like Eli is saying, "Whatever...do whatever you want."

The Israelites forgot who God was. They forgot that He is all-powerful and strong enough to help them defeat the Philistines, they forgot that He is loving and willing to help his chosen people, but above all, they forgot that He is holy, and that all sinners who come in contact with His holy presence embodied by the ark of the covenant will die. To them, God was confined inside the walls of the ark, not an all-powerful ever-present God who would strike down all who disrespected his holy ark.

When we lose sight of who God is, we try to use God for our own selfish desires.

When we lose sight of who God is, we lose sight of who we really are. Instead of recognizing our continual dependence on Him, we rely on ourselves and demand His intervention whenever we run into a little bit of trouble. Although it is easy to condemn the Israelites for attempting to use God's power and presence for their own salvation without desiring relationship, we often do the same in our own lives. We slack in our personal lives, falling into continual obedience, and act like spoiled children and demand God's blessing when life gets tough.

What makes using God and relying on God different? Here are some thoughts:

Using God stems from pride.
There might be a fine line sometimes between relying on God and using God in any one situation, but looking at our life as a whole, it's easy to see where our heart really is. Relying on God comes from a posture of humility because we can't do anything on our own. We rely on God for the big things and the little things. On the other hand, when we use God, we treat him as a car repairman, giving him our life only so he can make it better and wanting it back again. We often communicate "Hey God. I know you're out there and all-powerful. You love me. I know you do. I have this thing in my life that I really don't know what to do or how to deal with it. Can you fix it for me? After you do fix it though, I want it back. Thanks." This all stems for a belief that we can take care of most of life by ourselves. God isn't needed in life most of the time, and we only need Him once in a while, so that's why we only pray every once in a while.

Using God implies selfish prayers.
When we use God, our prayers are for ourselves. Like the Israelites, they had only themselves in mind. Our heart isn't in line with God's heart, and we are too focused on the trials and troubles that we are currently going through and we miss the bigger picture of God's heart for the whole world. In 1 Samuel 4, there is no real indication of why the Israelites were fighting the Philistines. Maybe they were being attacked, maybe they were attacking. We don't really know. However, I can say with certainty that if God had commanded his people to go out and fight, they would not have lost and would not have needed to go steal the ark. The Israelites were living life by themselves and for themselves, and their demand of God to give them a victory in battle stems from selfishness.

Using God lacks praise.
When we use God, we feel entitled to whatever we are asking of Him. God is gracious and often gives us what we desire, no matter how foolish our desires may be. When we use God, we fail to worship him with our lives. Sure, we may praise him in the moment, but we don't praise him with our lives. This of course is very general, and I know of situations where God used a selfish ambition to reveal His power and love and bring their hearts back to Him. However, many times when we come to God with our vending machine prayers ("Hi God. I would like A6, good grades please. Oh and B7, that girl"), when He gives us what we asked for, our pride blinds us to his work and we claim it for our own ("I'm a good-looking genius. Good grades and girls are my own accomplishment.")

I know that a lot of stuff written here is pretty harsh and uncomfortable to identify with, but the reality is that everyone struggles with it. I struggle with continued disobedience and I struggle with selfish prayers. We all do. If we can learn anything from the Israelites in 1 Samuel 4, we should know that if Jesus hadn't died for our sins, we would end up like them: sinful and dead.

Also, don't be like Eli. He was weaksauce and stubborn. Here's a lesson: continued disobedience makes you old, blind, fat, and clumsy enough to die by falling out of a chair.