God often uses His gentle hands to violently dismantle the hideous construct our sin has built. Then He uses His strong hands to gently rebuild our lives in His glorious image.

Humility is the art of painting yourself out of the picture.

Living with humility is dying to your own agenda which allows the birth of God's plan in your life.

SUPER BO(W)LD

As the western hemisphere (well, at least the U.S.) gets ready for the biggest event on the advertising calendar--the Super Bowl--I am yearly amazed by its massive popularity. For prime time advertising during the Super Bowl, advertisers are paying up to $2.8 million dollars...for 30 seconds! This unbelievable amount of money for air space shows the audience density to watch this game--100 million viewers held captive for 3 hours. Advertisers are bold for their product, often pushing the boundaries of good taste and decency to get their product remembered.

The funny thing is that for most people who do not watch, or care, about football during the season, this game is special only because of the importance it has to those people in their life who really love the game. So for all the wives and girlfriends and others who would never watch 5 seconds of a game usually, they will watch this game because their acquaintances are so excited about it...and they like the funny commercials.

This got me to thinking about the things that people get excited about. I love football and played football most of my life and get excited to see a great game. But I know the game will only last a couple of hours and if it is a lame game then I will lose interest faster than that. I will invite people to my house to watch a game or spend $70 a month to have cable TV so I can get the games or put on special jerseys or buy special food for the game or cancel other obligations if the game is important enough.

All this for a game that will last about 2.5 hours. All this for a game that has no real bearing on my everyday life. All this for players and broadcasters and advertisers who don't care about me or my family or if I will drop dead tomorrow. All this excitement and focus for very little payoff. All this time and money for a piece of fleeting entertainment.

Am I bold with my 'Product'? Do I tell others about the Greatness of what I know? Do I get this excited about the things of God? Do I get this overwhelmed with looking forward to being at church hearing God's word and being with God's people? Do I arrange my schedule so nothing interferes with my time with Him and other believers? Do I spend my money on things that glorify Him and am I generous to the church so they can facilitate ministry? Do I really care about things that last more than 2.5 hours a year? Do I really focus on things that will go on into eternity or just some temporary entertainment that may or may not be exciting at all?

God is the ultimate excitement. Get excited for God. You are the advertising. The sacrifice Jesus paid for you was greater than $2.7 million...and His life lasts longer than 30 seconds.