Do you want to know the root and spring of humility?
One word describes it. The root of humility is right knowledge.

The person who really knows himself and his own heart,
who knows God and his infinite majesty and holiness,
who knows Christ and the price at which he was redeemed,
that person will never be a proud person.

He will count himself, like Jacob, unworthy of the least
of all God’s mercies. He will say of himself, like Job,
“I am unworthy.” He will cry, like Paul, “I am the worst
of sinners” He will consider others better than himself
(Philippians 2:3).

Ignorance–nothing but sheer ignorance, ignorance of
self, of God, and of Christ–is the real secret of pride.

From that miserable self-ignorance may we daily pray
to be delivered. The wise person knows himself and
will find nothing within to make him proud.

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Indy Star Article on Coach Vogel

“Come on, Daddy, let’s go outside,” she said, tugging on Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel’s right arm.

It’s Arianna and her older sister Alexa’s favorite time of year with their father.

Vogel is not focusing on coming up with a defensive scheme to slow Chicago’s Derrick Rose or finding a way to get Danny Granger easier shots on offense.

With the NBA lockout in full effect and no end to the labor issues in sight, Vogel’s focus is on his family.

For some of these self-proclaimed workaholics it has been a nice change of pace to be free from focusing on work.  Sabbaticals are a great blessing against the business of life.  They allow us to focus on the things that are most loved by us and most important to us.  Sadly, when we speak of the Christian Sabbath it seems to conjure up negative feelings.  I guess the idea of a lockout does too, but it will not be looked back on by Coach Vogel as negative.  Sure, he is not accomplishing things for the Indiana Pacers or his career, but he is free to focus on what he loves, his wife and family.

God created the sabbath for a similar purpose.  Mark 2 states it very clearly

    [27] And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
(Mark 2:27 ESV)

This verse does not mean that because the Sabbath is for man that he can do with it whatever he wants.  Rather it means that man needs what God graciously created and ordained for him.  He needs to stop working and have a time set aside for that which is to be most central and loved by him, spending time with God and his family in Christ.  We may not always approach it as such a gracious thing.  There are things that we need to get done.  There is work left to do.  There are tests to study for and papers that need done.  However, it is a mini-lockout ordained by God.  This is not a time to focus on those things, therefore you are free from those things.  Those things will be there for you to put your thoughts and energy into Monday through Saturday, but the Christian Sabbath allows you that time to put priorities back in order and focus on your Maker.  It gives you time to work on things that are holy that need reshaped and refocused.  God knows our needs and He meet our needs.  The Sabbath is a provision of grace for our greatest need, walking humbly with our God.

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So how do you know if sports are becoming an idol in your life? One way to tell is by examining your heart. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Am I preoccupied with sports?  Are they what I think about and talk about more than anything else?
• Are sports where my mind goes when I don’t have anything else to think about?
• Are my most passionate conversations always about sports?
• Do I have an excessive passion for a particular team?  Am I euphoric when they win, and depressed when they lose?  For example, I grew up a Redskins fan, and what happened in Sunday’s game determined the mood in our home all week.  That’s idolatry.  Disappointment is one thing; depression is another.
• Is my passion for a team, or for playing a particular sport, greater than my passion for Jesus Christ, For my family?  For my Church?

Another way to tell if sports have become an idol is to examine your time.  Have sports taken the place in your schedule that belongs to other God-given priorities, like your family and your local church?

Yet another good way to tell if sports have become an idol is to examine your involvement in your church.  When the church gathers, are you there?  Or does the sports schedule trump the church calendar?

There may be an exception, but an exception is not something that happens weekly or really even monthly, that is closer to a habit or a heart issue.  Searching our heart is more than just checking with an emotional feeling, it is  examining where our love is displayed most clearly.  Our giving of our time, our energy, our resources, our priorities are all indications of our heart.

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From the earliest pages of the bible we find God instituting patterns of activity and rest – not just any kind of rest, but rest with the intent to engage in worship and community. The concept of Sabbath weaves its way through the Old Testament and the New, occupying a prominent place among the Ten Commandments and informing our understanding of Heaven. Despite its prevalence, few Christians understand or practice Sabbath as a regular part of life, and consequently, neither do their children. Christian parents bear the responsibility of teaching our children the value of rest, through our words and through our actions. Children don’t set the calendar in our homes – if they are overscheduled or sleep-deprived, the fault lies with us.

God forbid we value the discipline of a sport more than the discipline of Christian living. Both require great application of time and effort, but one is worth far more than the other. Because time is our most limited resource, how we allocate it reveals much about our hearts

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“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

This verse is not a matter of “if you want to get rich, then give and you will get”, but rather, if we don’t understand that everything we have is a result of God’s sovereignty then our priorities, particularly in the area of finance, will be completely backwards.  “The LORD giveth and the LORD taketh away, blessed be the name of the LORD.”  On the other hand, when our priority is seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and not the kingdom of self, then He never fails to bless.  And don’t forget, God always keeps His promises.

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Heritage Church in Owensboro is offering videos of a Sunday School Class called “Parenting by the Book” for free online.  I have listened to part of it and have been blessed so far.  I have always appreciated Tim Hoak for his humility and practical teaching.  I also know both of his sons and can see the fruit of the application of what he is teaching.  It is planned to be 16 weeks.  I would encourage you to at least listen to the first session, which deals with the sufficiency of God’s Word in parenting.

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I am thankfully reminded that God is not like this.  He does not grow weary.  He never stops carrying about the details that do not seem to matter but do.  He cares right down the the slugs on the bottom of the ocean floor.  (ht:tc)

What creativity and beauty in something that seems to be so insignificant.  God did not grow weary or fail to care about the details of a bottom feeder that we would fail to see without all this high powered equipment.  I believe this demonstrates many things but let me list two.  God cares infinitely about details, including the details of our lives.  If he cares about fields and birds and slugs, how much more does he care about us?  God cares infinitely about his glory.  All created things are to reflect the glory of God.  Look at the wonder and beauty of the slug.  We too are to join in reflecting the beauty and majesty of the glory of our God in our existence.

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I received this email today and thought it was a good reminder that God’s still works to prove our faith genuine.

Special Message From Joni

You have always been so faithful to pray for Ken and me – especially for my health. But today I bring before you a new concern. I have breast cancer. Ken and I have been assured by our doctors that there are many new treatments for breast cancer, and we are very hopeful for a successful surgery and a full recovery.

You have heard me often say that our afflictions come from the hand of our all-wise and sovereign God, and although cancer is something new, I am content to receive from God whatever He deems fit for me – even if it is from His left hand (better from His left hand, than no hand at all, right?!). Yes, it’s alarming, but rest assured that Ken and I are utterly convinced that God is going to use this to stretch our faith, brighten our hope, and strengthen our witness to others…

Especially at Joni and Friends. We’ve always prized the ministry God has given Joni and Friends to people facing a variety of disabilities; everything from autism to Alzheimer’s, from spina bifida to spinal cord injury. For years I have hoped that my quadriplegia might encourage people struggling with cancer… now I have a chance to truly empathize and journey alongside, affirming that God’s grace is always sufficient for whatever the disease or disability.

I will be undergoing tests the rest of this week, after which, I will have surgery on the afternoon of Monday, June 28th. Please pray that the upcoming tests, surgery and subsequent treatment will be successful (thankfully, my quadriplegia has no bearing on either the surgery or the treatment; I’m like any other woman with breast cancer — I simply want to focus my energies on getting better).

Of course, I believe that God can and does heal and I covet your prayers to that end. Most of all, please pray that God will pour out grace-upon-grace on Ken and me. We’ll be posting regular updates on “Joni’s Corner” here on our website – also posted here you will find an article called “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” by John Piper and David Powlison, both of whom are cancer survivors. I can’t begin to describe how encouraged I’ve been just reading their insights – I’m sure you’ll say the same after you read it. We join you in resting in the assurance of Psalm 62:5-6, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”

Yours in His sovereign care,

Joni Eareckson Tada

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Thursday was Tyler’s last practice before opening day.  The whole team was excited but some of the kids were really energetic and a bit out of control.  At the end of practice the coach had to call them in and tell them they had been too out of control.   He then began to tell them about their first game on Saturday.  Tyler raised his hand and waited for the coach to call him out.  Tyler began, “Coach, I am excited.”  I think it was half confessional for why he thought the coach had to address the team and half that he just could not contain the thought any longer.  A few seconds later, he raised his hand again, as if he had not finished the first time.  “Coach, I just love baseball.”

Well, here we go, opening day is here.

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