Preface: The World Cup begins in Qatar in less than 48 hours....just about the time that men will be entering their pulpits here in our Eastern Time Zone. Most of these men live in fear of finding out that they really do not know what is going on in the world. They have not adequately fed the sheep....not in the glories of Jesus Christ....nor man's need to be born again....nor with any warning to prepare for what is ahead of us. Here in Pittsburgh they probably know more of what the Pittsburgh Steelers need than what their own soul needs. This will change....in God's time.....for He is merciful....and many of these men will awaken when they can deny no longer that these are not normal times....but that still leaves us with today. May God begin to have mercy upon us this Lord's Day! May His Holy Spirit begin to awaken pastors and restore in us....the great blessing of the fear of the Lord! May He move in our hearts towards repentance and humility! May He move in my heart....and forgive my many vain and pitiful attempts to warn of that which I also need warned of....and may His judgment....which has already started and continuously increases in severity....come also with mercy and compassion....knowing the weakness of our frame! The following was first posted on July 4.
The World Cup......And Our Mid-Term Elections
It's much bigger than our Super Bowl and World Series and Stanley Cup and NBA championship combined....and it is more passionate on the world's stage than the Olympics. Most of the world calls it....'football'....but we call it....'soccer.' I never developed an interest in the sport....for it was hardly known here when I was a youngster....and our regular sports dominated my life....until I found myself through God's grace to be a believer in Jesus Christ.....this in my early 30s....and since then sports has become just a passing interest. I did not even know that the Penguins.....probably my favorite of the sports.....I didn't know that they were out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs until about a week after they were ousted.....and still do not know the particulars.
Apparently soccer is big today in American high school sports. There is a scene in my favorite film of all time....Chariots Of Fire.....where Eric Liddell....(who played rugby.....similar to our football....with almost the passion in which he ran)....where he was leaving a church service on a Lord's Day morning....and a young boy ran up to him to retrieve an errantly kicked 'soccer' ball. Liddel....as I recall....smiled and told the boy in his Scottish brogue....'It's not a day for football on the Lord's Day is it?" He then invited the boy and his friends to come to him on another day to play a little football. My concern for soccer with our youth is that because of the other sports.....it was becoming a Lord's Day sport. I don't know how this is today....for our son is an adult.....but our grandson likes playing on his Satruday morning soccer team....and I enjoying watching it when I can.The quadrennial FIFA World Cup.....the biggest tournament of all sports....will be played.....(should the Lord will it of course).....this November and December. All of the thirty-two teams have now been chosen.....and the host nation is Qatar.
On a more national level here in America....this November will be our mid-term elections. About half of the viewers to these posts are from outside the United States. This coming election....Lord willing once again....will have even more passion around it than they will experience in the World Cup. Evangelicals today are more involved in this....and politics in general....than in their own faith. Legislation has become more important to us than exaltation of Jesus Christ.
China's team did not make the World Cup....nor North Korea's....and Russia has been banned, They won't have the distraction. As for us....we do not know where this world is headed in the next five months....other than continuing its downward spiral. We in the church continue to place our hopes in politics. We do not want to be bothered with the possibility that a genuine biblical false prophet....an antichrist....as the Apostle John labelled them in his letters....has become our chief hope for getting the Congress back....and no sooner than the results of this election are known....Lord willing.....we will be every bit if not more consumed with the next election....for president.
Woe are us! We have done more damage than just choosing a mess of pottage over the glorious guidance from God's Word....we disfigured our image as pilgrims and followers of Jesus Christ....and we placed our hope elsewhere....and rallied in another fortress....one of might and power and money....a fortress built on sand....that will not sustain itself when the deluge comes.
Addendum: May I once again recommend to you a sermon from a....preacher from the past....or a man who preaches like preachers from the past....this time John Piper....his sermon of the day on his ministry website....desiringgod.org....of which you can either go there or just Google....John Piper...Sustained By Sovereign Grace-Forever.
Also.....this morning....November 18....John Piper has a wonderful sermon up that you can easily Google at....John Piper, Thankful For The Love Of God.
