The following is four days old:
I should stay away from this topic. It confronts just about every friend that I have. All I ask is that you read this post to the end. I'll tell you though what I have on my side. This world is on the brink.
Thirty minutes ago....roughly 10:30 PM as I type....on Thursday evening....while checking news on the Internet....I saw for the first time that the Steelers made it to the playoffs.
OK....you have a tough time believing that....for I live in the Pittsburgh area. Have I been hiding in a closet all week? No....I just don't watch the local news....and I don't read the local paper.
I just looked this up. As of now....the game is to be played in Orchard Park N.Y. at 1 PM on Sunday.....or as a remnant of people still call it....the Lord's Day....and....there will
be games all weekend I assume.
As the Steelers land at the airport in Buffalo...and board a bus to the stadium or the hotel....they will pass by within field goal range from where I grew up....because they dug a ditch for a highway practically in my front yard. Oh I loved my Bills....and later in life....having exchanged a Buffalo accent for a Pittsburgh accent....Oh I loved my Steelers.
R. C. Sproul was a big big Steelers fan....and mentioned them on a number of his teaching broadcasts....and probably even a sermon or two. I'm fairly certain that it was the biggest mistake he ever made in his ministry. Oh well...no one is perfect.
So...is anyone still here? I am in such a minority here. A hundred years ago and I would be in the majority....but not today. I'm not going to argue theology here. I'm only going to address this with common sense. Here it is....
Because we have this god in almost every major city....Christian men this Lord's Day....especially in Pittsburgh and Buffalo and the other cities whose team is in the playoffs....these men....well let me ask you instead....'what do you think they will be thinking of on this Lord's Day morning....and while in church....that is if they can get back in time for the kickoff?' Check it out in Pittsburgh or Buffalo and watch for the dash to the door as soon as the benediction is read.
If you are a Christian....where you have been....born again....born from above....your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life....your sins....as mine....paid for on a blood soaked cross in blood drenched dirt on a hill outside of Jerusalem....that will soon be under attack....before the King of Kings comes back to rescue His own....if this is you....how does a football game come to dominate your mind....and particularly on that day that the Lord gave to us....to give to Him? What kind of mind contortions does a theologian have to do to explain that away?
Note: Two points....John Calvin did not write Scripture....and he did not have a vision of how we would brush hog the hedge of protection of the Lord's Day....and pave it over for a tailgate party.
Update: The Bills/Steeler game was postponed until Monday because of the weather.
Father God....should it be Thy will....may Thy Holy Spirit move within our congregations as a bomb cyclone....awakening our pulpits....shaking the timbers....and driving us to our knees....if this be Thy will....and to Thy glory....I ask in the precious name of Thy Son....the King of Kings and Lord of Lords....Jesus....our Redeemer....our Savior....our Rock....our Firm Foundation....and our Fortress in the days ahead!
