It’s the middle of the craziest month of the year! And today March Madness kicks off with vengeance. You may want to slip off to BW3 during the work day to catch your favorite team. As for me, my team plays tonight. Hopefully they will not be one and done. I have to admit, I did not go all in this year with the old Mountaineers. I hope they comes back to destroy my bracket!
There’s probably a great object lesson in there somewhere waiting to be explored. But alas, ’tis the ides of March, which conjures up memories of warnings of Roman revolt and Shakespearean prose. And there unto, a verse from the 1611 KJV.
13Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 King James Version (KJV)
March Madness is continuing along with an edict on the calendar this Friday! Today is March FOuRTH. I day that in its very name encourages us to get up and go! It encourages us to leave our fears behind and to do it! And remember the Lord and Creator is right there with you!
w00t w00t, there are Free Pancakes at IHOP today, as it the IHOP Pancake Day! Which is odd because its a week early this year, but anyway, lets get March Madness off to a great start with “free” pancakes from IHOP ALL DAY.
What does that have to do with anything? Well giving and receiving of course. They are giving away a free short stack to each customer, hoping in return that you donate to their charity. Hm, a few sayings come to mind like ‘What goes around comes around’, ‘treat others how you want to be treated” and then this one from Luke:
Yep, it’s a idea that is found is short order these days. The idea that if you give it will be given back to you. It’s definitely something I lose track of a whole lot. We are so apt to take, that we forget the true meaning. And then the best part – for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. hm.. I think a need a need measure.
As you interact with people today give free pancakes – and see what you get in return.
Wow, what a weekend. I am not sure what caused more anxiety for folks – watching some of these last minute bracket busting March Madness games or watching the house work until late at night passing this Health Insurance Reform Bill. I had some other things in mind today, but on my morning run, I decided I should probably touch on this rather historic bill, especially since after checking Facebook, it seems to be on everyone’s mind.
No matter how you look at this, America as a country will never be the same. I have really not spent much time reading the details of the bill, and really who knows since it was passed in such an seemingly unconventional way last night. I really don’t know whats in or out, and so its hard for me to judge the impact at this point. I am sure some will be helped, and other will be harmed with the passing of this bill. Time will tell us the real impact to America. Some will offer praise today, some will ask for guidance and express concern. Personally, I am not overly excited about the deal.
If you are expressing joy today for this change in America – do so with a kind spirit. If this bill was not to your liking, educate yourself, protest peacefully and lovingly and work for change. But either way, the thing we can point to today, is something that is bigger than this bill. Something that I hope will keep you striving today to impact the world immediately around you and to make a impact in peoples lives.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 (New International Version)
17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17 (New International Version))
Whether your team lost this weekend, or you think the country is going down the tubes, keep striving to impact your neighbor, and keeping doing the will of God – which is to love your neighbor!
For the last several years, I have filled out a March Madness bracket, I usually go with my “mind picks” and not my “heart picks”. I usually try to spend a little time thinking about who really has a chance and how things might work out. Last year, I was second, if I remember right, in my bracket – maybe third. Not so this year. This year, I am casting caution to the wind and am going with my heart and soul!
As you know I am a huge West Virginia Mountaineer Fan, so this year I am going in all the way and picking them:
click on this pic to see my entire bracket
That’s right. All in – I am going all in. I am stepping out on faith in my Mountaineers, and placing my hope in them that they will not disappoint. The bracket has several heart picks, even though I was torn on a few teams and picked then to win a game against my better judgment ( PITT). However, I figured it made the conference look better if your opponents win a few as well.
Buts that’s been my theme for 2010 – being obsessed, going all in, and I felt this was a good way to demonstrate that in a tangible way, a way to express and consider this idea of not being ‘lukewarm‘. But really if the Mountaineers win, I will be extra excited, but I still have my life to live, my own job, my own responsibilities that will not really be impacted. Same way if they actually lose a game in this tournament. I will be disappointed, but I will still be a fan, and my life will go on(after a night of mourning!). I am not actually casting my entire hope in them. However, I do want to cast my entire hope in Christ, I want to be obsessed and go past just being a fan. I am stepping out on faith in my Christ, and placing my hope in Him. And this is a place where it actually can make a difference. You see, I may get made fun of (especially by my SEC loving friends) for my Mountaineer pick, and I may be pitied, but really not to much extent. But if I am wrong about putting my hope in Christ, 1 Corinthians 15 says I am “to be pitied more than all men.”
But, I know that He will not disappoint. Later in the same chapter it says this:
57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
So, lets not be cold nor hot, lets not sit on the fence. Get in! All the way in.
