A Commentary on Evangelism from Bobby Hill

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:15-17

In many respects the church has done the same attitude as the Pharisees. Non-Christians hear from us – you are sick, we are healthy. When Non-Christians hear that from us, they turn a deaf ear, why? Because in many instances our “morality” is no better than the worlds! Look at the divorce rate. Look at the materialism and debt in the church. Look at how often we read God’s word at home compared to how often those in the church look at porn. Guess what church – We are sick too!

Bobby Hill does an excellent job illustrating this point:

Our culture will ignore us as long as we claim health and accuse them of sickness. We must recognize that salvation is a gift, given by Christ, instead of acting like we earned salvation through our faith.

It is only by the transformation of the Holy Spirit inside of us that we can change.

What are your thoughts?

Sports Bucket List

For those unfamiliar with the term, a bucket list is a list of things you want to accomplish before you die or "kick the bucket."

As a diehard sports fan, if I made a bucket list most of the adventures listed would be sports related anyway. So, I decided to write a bucket list - essentially the 10 sporting events or activities I want to participate in before I kick the bucket.

10) Attend a game a FC Dallas game at every away stadium.

FC Dallas is my favorite team in my favorite sport, soccer. Major League Soccer is growing, especially as teams are building there own stadiums. There are some teams with amazing stadiums such as New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.

9) Attend a Red Sox - Yankees game at Fenway Park.

Fenway is a great ballpark. Red Sox fans are crazy, especially when the Yankees come to town.



8) Participate in the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

This would combine two things I love - travel & sports.





7) Attend an Ohio State - Michigan game in Columbus at the Horse Shoe.

One of the biggest rivalries in College football at a classic location.

6) Watch a River Plate vs Boca Juniors game at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires.

River Plate vs. Boca is like the Yankees vs. Red Sox in the World Series. These two teams hate each other so much that several hundred police are hired to ensure a riot doesn't break out.

5) Play a round of golf at St. Andrew's in Scotland.

St. Andrews is an amazing golf course in Scotland - often the site of the British Open golf tournament.

4) Attend a Manchester United vs. Liverpool game at Old Trafford.

Another amazing rivalry that based on location and difficulty in getting there causes this to be ranked this high.

3) Watch the US Men's National Team play in a World Cup Qualifier in Mexico City.

The US owns Mexico on US soil. Mexico owns the US on Mexican soil. I predict the US will win in Mexico before Mexico wins again in the US. This game is always crazy with the best result the Americans have ever earned in Mexico city being a tie.

2) Attend the opening ceremonies at the Olympic Games.

It's the Olympic games...enough said.

1) Attend a World Cup match with the US Men's National Team playing.

The US has qualified for 6 straight World Cups. Hopefully, one day the World Cup will be in America again where I will do everything in my power to see the USMNT play.


What would you have on your sports bucket list?

Simple Gospel Compelling Faith

I had the privilege to preach at North Richland Hills Baptist Church today. Here is a video of my sermon - if you have insomnia, this should help.

http://www2.truthcasting.com/TruthCastingPlayer.html?channelID=100000325#vString=13960,100000325,469

Thursdays are for Articles (Wednesday Edition) - US soccer gains respect

This blog is not just concerned with exploring trends in church leadership and theology because that is not all that interests me.

Growing up in Colleyville, Texas, I played little league soccer. After the US hosted the World Cup in 1994 and Major League Soccer began in 1996, soccer became a passion.

Traditionally, Europeans look down their noses at US soccer, but with the US Men's National team qualifying for their sixth consecutive World Cup, the US is starting to earn respect as a soccer nation.

Check out his article from "The Guardian," a British periodical:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/oct/15/world-cup-united-states-charlie-davies

My favorite line, "This successful qualification guarantees the sixth consecutive World Cup for the USA team, dating back to Italia 90. That is not an achievement that some fairly high- profile nations can match. Not England. Not France. Not Holland."

What do you think?

The Glorious (and terrible) Day of the Lord

Jeff Johnson wrote a great worship song that celebrates Jesus' life. The chorus, which is reproduced below, exemplifies the song.

Living He loved me
Dying He saved me
Buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified
Freely forever
One day He's coming
Oh, Glorious Day
Oh, Glorious Day

The last verse is primarily concerned with the future second coming of Jesus and it gets to me every time we sing it - not because it is unbiblical or theologically incorrect, but because it seems to leave out one important fact about the coming of Christ.

One day the trumpet will
Sound for His coming
One day the skies with His
Glories will shine
Wonderful day
My beloved was bringing
Glorious Savior this Jesus is mine

Oh, Glorious Day
Oh, Glorious Day
Oh, Glorious Day
Oh, Glorious Day

Regardless of eschatological system, Christians believe that Jesus is returning. As a believer in and follower of Christ, I have the fortune of looking forward to the day that Christ returns as a glorious day. However, if I only celebrate the return of Christ as a "glorious day" I neglect one important fact about that day - it will be terrible for those who do not believe in or follow Christ. In fact, in the Old Testament, more ink was spent in discussing how the day of the Lord is a dreadful day than on how it will be glorious. For example:

"Woe to you who long
for the day of the LORD!
Why do you long for the day of the LORD?
That day will be darkness, not light." Amos 5:18

"The day of the LORD is great;
it is dreadful." Joel 2:11

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6

Let us not forget in our eager anticipation of Christ's return what it means for those separated from God. It is especially easy for Christians who neglect to share their faith to forget that the coming day of the Lord will be a terrible day. May we eagerly anticipate the return of the Lord while not forgetting our task to make that day terrible for fewer people.

Woot - One Day One Deal

I want to let you in on a little secret. There is a great website if you like electronics at low prices, check out www.woot.com.

They offer great deals, often on new or refurbished items. They dub themselves, "One Day One Deal," but really offer 3-4 new products a week. However, I often find myself checking it everyday.

So far, I have only bought one item from Woot, but the transaction was excellent. I have other friends who have bought multiple items with no complaints.

Check it out although this little tidbit might be too late for Christmas.

Thursdays are for Articles - China stretches the imagination with world's longest sea bridge

Ever since I visited Dubai in the summer of 2005,
amazing feats of engineering fascinate me. At that time, Dubai had a majority of the world's cranes that almost completely dotted the city-state's skyline.

As a result, whenever I hear of incredible new works around the world, I want to learn more.

Apparently, China already has the world's longest sea bridge, and now want another one. They are building a bridge that will connect Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

You can read more about it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/15/worlds-longest-sea-bridge

What interests me even more is that in response to the global economic "tsunami" China is working on its infrastructure - this bridge being just one example.

As a proponent of economic conservatism I find it interesting that America is bailing out banks and providing billions in stimulus money while China is setting their economy up for future growth by working on infrastructure.

In my opinion, a government is more likely to ensure the future growth of the economy by spending money on infrastructure than in bailing out failing banks and businesses.

I am sorry but not surprised that China's government understands this principle and America's government does not.

Introspection on 1000 Tweets

On March 5, of this year, I opened a Twitter account and began "tweeting." This was just a few months after opening an account on Facebook as my first foray into online social networking. Some of my friends could correctly accuse me of not just foraying into social networking but of becoming a full-fledged aficionado.

For those unfamiliar with Twitter, allow me a brief explanation. Twitter is a social networking tool that utilizes 140 characters for users to micro-blog. This is different from regular or macro-blogging in which people can use more than 140 characters. For example, this blog is a macro-blog in which I can write as many characters as I want whereas Twitter restricts the number of characters it is possible to use including letters, words, punctuation and spaces.

On Sunday, December 13, I hit 1,000 tweets. As a result, I wanted to do a little introspection on my first 1,000 tweets to see if they reflected my priorities in life, especially if they demonstrated a person diligently trying to follow Jesus Christ as Lord.

I updated my status on Facebook on Sunday night asking 25 friends to give me a number between 1 and 1000 so that I could have an unbiased means to choose what Tweets I reproduce on the blog for my introspection. Below I listed the number and the friend who on Facebook gave me a number. More than 25 replied so more than 25 are listed.

Below each tweet is a sentence of reflection on the tweet and at the bottom I will share what the tweets made me realize about myself.


1 (Steve Cockrum): "Catching up on TiVo before going out of the country"

Before heading out on a mission trip to Argentina I had my priorities straight - not to spend time with Janet and Parker, but to catch up on TiVo - sheesh.

3.14 (Ralph Kunkel): "is not a fan of Ticketmaster."

I think most Americans could agree with this - I bought $35 tickets to a soccer game but after Ticketmaster's surcharges, the tickets cost around $50.

5 (Kim Keiser, Marietta Long) : "Instead of a hug & a kiss, I mowed the yard and washed the dog. "

Still waiting on that hug and kiss. ;-)

6 (Angel Waller): " is playing soccer tomorrow, 1:30 PM, at Smithfield Elementary. If you want to play, text me. "

Soccer is my favorite sport to play and watch because action rarely stops for each 45 minute half. Even when players get hurt, the game keeps going until the ball goes out of bounds. Unlike another sport I like - football, in which a commercial break interrupts play every couple minutes or so.

7 (Patty Williams): "might be starting to get beaten down by Lost. "

I have a love/hate relationship with the popular tv show, Lost. Love because it was so genius in the beggining. Hate because it has become so complicated that time must be invested to read blogs to understand what in the world is going on with the show.

8 (Sydni Levy): "hopes the Suns will win the rest of their games so that the Mavs will be in the lottery"

Alas, the Suns did not and the Mavs made the playoffs loosing in the second round to the Denver Thuggets...I mean Nuggets.

12 (Chris McDonald): "hates Microsoft Word."

Don't we all - again another love/hate relationship.

13 (Brandon Fickle): "Is at Lions Club...the guest speaker is a magician."

Yes, I am 29. Yes, I am a member of the Lions Club. Yes, I am the youngest member by far.

23 (Shannon Miksek, Louise Keeton): "Is getting ready to go to work"

Still getting ready.

29 (Tony Spohn): "rockin Financial Peace University."

My church, North Richland Hills Baptist Church, encouraged each family in the church to attend Financial Peace University (FPU) this spring. FPU is a 15 week seminar by Dave Ramsey on how to become and live debt-free. It was fantastic and life changing for many in the church including my family.

35 (Mary Carr): "just got the "no I'm not talking to you, I'm (blue) toothing." Not a fan of the blue tooth. "

While the cell phone is one of the greatest inventions in the last 20 years, the blue tooth is just the opposite as it seemingly is employed to show that the user is more important than those around him or her.

44 (Sarah Case): "is fixin to have breakfast with one of his heros, Sonny Wynne."

When I was growing up, Sonny Wynne was the associate pastor then the lead pastor at my childhood church, Harwood Terrace Baptist Church. He has a lot of wisdom and kookiness to share.

52 (Anthony Kapp): "Go FC Dallas!"

My favorite soccer team in my favorite sport.

76 (Aaron Arledge): "Nevernudes win again"

Arrested Development is one of my all-time favorite tv shows who's life was all too short lived. One of the main characters had a disorder in which he could never be completely naked, hence he was a "nevernude." In honor of this condition, I named my 3 on 3 basketball team the Nevernudes. Genius, I know.

79 (Misty Lynch): "has been upgraded. Awesome"

American Airlines is good to me...and seemingly to no one else.

88 (Tammy Brown): "The day I worry about Swine Flu is the day Pigs Fly"

The Swine flu or H1N1 panic was absolutely rediculous.

218 (Tim Harsch): "@mattmillsap My only problem was...if it was so perfect in forming passionate disciples, why wasn't the passion passed on?"

A SWBTS professor tweeted that churches in the 50s were excellent in making disciples. My point was that if they were so good at making disciples why did so many of their children and grandchildren leave the church. Matt Millsap is a phd student at SWBTS and a friend with whom I engaged in dialouge about this issue.

When you see "@" before a user name such as "mattmillsap" it means that the tweeter is sending a message to another user.

287 (Susan Holland): "learned to his son's detriment and his wife's chagrin that Parker is too mobile to leave on the coach unsupervised. "

Parker fell off the couch, which I misspelled as coach. I am a terrible speller.

313 (Alejandro Galaviz): "Parker is officially a Spence."

Easily one of my favorite tweets as Parker is our adopted son and in mid-July legally became a Spence.

409 (Rene Floyd): "@wvhooligan who's doing the talk about MLS buying the USL?"

MLS stands for Major League Soccer and is the top flight soccer league in America. The USL or United Soccer Leagues is basically a minor league but is not directly affiliated with MLS.

412 (Angela Roberts): "RT @FCDallasWeb: Breaking FCD News: Marvin Chavez signed. http://twurl.nl/yde8bx"

Solid signing for FC Dallas - a Honduran winger, Marvin Chavez. Clearly, I like soccer and FC Dallas.

429 (Eric McCarson): "@bentune are we still on for lunch tomorrow? 12:45 @ Jason's Deli, right?"

I had a sandwich...it was good with one of my friends and Sunday School teachers, Ben Tune.

444 (MacMo): "#SBC resolves to not allow SBC employees to read/listen to Mark Driscoll. I am now podcasting him. Resolutions against evangelicals = fail"

Mark Driscoll is a controversial evangelical pastor in Seattle at Mars Hill Church. This tweet was wrong as at the Southern Baptist Convention (or SBC) a resolution was introduced but did not pass that would not allow SBC employees to listen to Driscoll's sermons or read his books. That a resolution was introduced and taken seriously belies some of the superficial problems in the SBC.

501 (Kristan Tucker): "@iAlejandro SNL without Tina Fey is SNL without the jajajajajaja"

Jajajajaja is the Spanish version of hahaha or lol. Tina Fey is brillian, her loss on Saturday Night Live or SNL leaves a gaping whole of funnyness.

687 (Wendy Adams): "U2 putting on a great concert. The visuals are amazing"

U2 is one of my favorite bands and they put on a little concert in Arlington. Wendy Adams was there and can verify.

777 (Dean Pickard, Ben Tune): "is enjoying @MattChandler74 's new podcast. He doesn't mince words when it comes to the truth from God's word."

Matt Chandler is a pastor at the Village church in Dallas. He is a great preacher who I try to listen to on a regular basis.

829 (Jim Adams): "FYI - the parenting conference tonight at NRHBC will be in the Fellowship Hall not the Worship Center."

My Twitter and Facebook account is often utilized for church announcements.

843 (Zach Curry): "Check out my blog, http://ahumblecertainty.blogspot.com/ for this week's post: Go Where God Is Not 'at Work.'"

Check out this blog as often as possible. :-) Additionally, I thought that blog post was one of my better ones.

865 (Luis Bueno): "has a great but hard job- sharing the gospel around the world. Who has a harder job? Janet, stay-at-home Moms have a wonderful but hard job."

My wife, Janet, is a stay-at-home mom who has a very hard job keeping up with two kids under an year old and only 8 months apart.

888 (Lisa Rodriguez): "@geoffreypayne yup...which updates my Facebook status."

My Twitter account updates my Facebook status. Why Geoff Payne needed to know this I have no idea.

945 (Josh White): "@L_W_B Yeah - I was exaggerating saying they will loose by 50...I just don't want to see a Big 12 team blown-out and then hear about it..."

If texas university plays like they did against Nebraska they will get blown out in the National Championship game. If they play like they did against Texas A&M, they should win. (As an Aggie and a rival, I just can't root for them.)


Just to be transparent, I fall short of demonstrating that Jesus is the Lord and highest priority in my life. Far too often I find spend time watching, listening or thinking about sports, which is funny because apart from the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA, none of my favorite teams have fared well in the last 10 years or so.

Sports are great entertainment, but more often they provide disappointment and frustration.

My relationship with Christ provides joy, peace and love - almost the direct opposite of what the Cowboys, Aggies, and FC Dallas provides. If "where your tweets are then your heart will be also", I need to transform my Twitter account to speak to the deeper joy provided by Christ.

Thursdays are for Articles - "the Leveraging of the Texas Rangers "

The problem - "the Hicks Sports Group has defaulted on a bunch of loans, which is what has led to the current situation where MLB is having to front the Rangers money and Tom Hicks (or, technically, HSG) is having to sell the team."

The article:

http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/12/1/1180700/tom-hicks-debt-to-value-and-the

A quote: "The 2009 Forbes data supports the notion that the Rangers are a highly leveraged franchise...the team's debt to value ratio is 66%, the third highest in baseball, with only the Yankees and Mets (both of whom took on a bunch of new stadium debt the previous offseason) with higher ratios...What is particularly interesting to me, though, is that this huge debt level for the Rangers was only recently incurred."

What are your thoughts?

Count Your Blessings

In the 1954 movie White Christmas Bing Crosby sings a song that I enjoy. The song I’m thinking of is “Count Your Blessings.” I was reminded of this song when I recently heard an Amy Grant cover of it. In the song, Crosby sings “when I’m worried and I can’t sleep I count my blessings instead of sheep, and I fall asleep counting my blessings.”

This sentiment is especially poignant to me in a time where so many of us tend to focus on the hard times and worries that face us today. I confess that I am not immune. With all the news around us, with the hopes, desires, and dreams that we all have—some of which go often seem to go unfulfilled—it’s easy to get into a funk.

I think of David, who authored many of the Psalms in the Bible. There are times when he pours out his heart to God and we read about his fears, his anxieties, disappointments, and laments. When times are tough, it’s good for us to remember that we are not alone, and that we can take our cares to God. On the flip side, however, it seems like some of us have a tendency to pour out our disappointments to God, while forgetting what He has done for us. Maybe you’ve at some point found yourself saying something like, “nobody understands me,” or “life is really really bad right now,” but neglecting to recognize the things God has done for you. You see, so often we forget what God has done for us. Just think about it for a moment: God is the giver of all good things (James 1:17). What has God given to you?

I know He has given us His Love—He proved it by giving Jesus, His only Son for us. He created a world of beauty for us to enjoy. If you’re reading this, you have the ability to see (not to mention the education to read). You have a computer or other internet-capable digital device. What other blessings do you have? Count them! Sing songs about God’s blessings, think of how He shows His love and favor to you.

Times do get bad. They get bad for all of us, but we do have much for which we ought to be thankful to God. Thanksgiving was not so long ago, did you stop to give thanks to God? He has not changed; His love for you will never change. Next time you feel down, remember to count your blessings.

A Great Evil: The Prosperity Gospel

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

Luke 17:1-2 "Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin."

Woe to anyone who uses the gospel for their own enrichment - this is a terrible evil that God will judge harshly against.


What do you think? Share your comments below.

Thursdays are for Articles - the future of the global economy

Check out this article written by Richard Florida, author of "Rise of the Creative Class."

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200903/meltdown-geography

His thesis argues that America is not going through a recession, but a "re-setting." The global economy, especially the American economy, is shifting from physical-resource based economies to a human-resource based economy.

What do you think?