Setting The World On Fire (What's Burning?)

I’ve come to accept how in the eyes of the world, people like me just don’t get it.  I guess I don’t.  (Get it that is)  I don’t get what’s so wrong with God’s kind of justice.  I’m not talking about killing people for moral crimes.  I think Jesus settled that one.  What would be so wrong about a world where the criminals actually pay for the damages of their actions?

“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. . . . A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft. If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double. If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in another man's field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard. If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution. . . If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies . . . he must make restitution” (Exodus 22:1, 3-6, 14).

   I believe that restitution goes far beyond thievery.  This past summer, our local Walmart was set on fire by three young men.  Who ended up paying for lost wages, product and repairs to the facility?  When a mob starts burning up the neighbourhood in either London England or London Canada, who ends up paying for the damages? 

  What was so horrible about a God who expected the culprit to pay?  Can someone explain it to me?  From my end, it seems that the wrong people end up paying the tab.  What’s worse, when someone torches a home or a storefront as part of a mob, they carry some kind of crude cult hero status for ‘fighting the power’.  

  Answer me this:  When our culture celebrates setting the world on fire, what exactly are they advocating?  Whose things are they burning; their own, or someone else’s?

 

  What do you think is being said in this video?

2012 AbellFIFA Soccer Summary

Sorry Abellsoccer fans, but the final page has turned once again on the summer soccer season.  This year we finished with our best collective showing to date, winning 15 and losing 13 games.  Rebecca’s Shades of Green finished with the best results, grabbing 3^rd place in their age group with 6 wins and 5 losses.  Next in line was Jeremy’s Scotia Bank with 5 wins and 4 losses.  The twin’s NRG finished with a respectable 4-4.

Shades of Green U15

   Accomplishment wise, Shades of Green proved to be the most rewarding.  Having a very solid team, they seemed to carry the upper hand for many of their games, suffering the most when half of their team was absent for a field trip. 

   Our lovely girl went through the season without any points, a statistic that often proves discouraging for many young people.  Spending the entire season on defence however has not diminished her love for the game.  When asked why she likes to play soccer on a team where she has little opportunity to produce good offensive numbers she replied, “Because it’s fun!”

    Even without any measureable statistics, she has consistently proven her worth to the team.  Game after game, she has held her ground against boys twice her size and speed, and more often than not, the boys are the ones who land face down on the turf.

NRG U11

  For Matthew and Nathaniel’s NRG, the story tells itself entirely differently.  Opening the season with an impressive 7-0 victory, it seemed as if the team was destined for glory.  What you might find interesting, is that those 7 goals ended up accounting for 41% of the total goals scored for the entire season.  Win or lose, every game afterward was hard fought.

  Losing the next four games straight, the season seemed to be all but lost.  Whether it was the coach’s, “I believe in you, but you just haven’t proven yourselves” speech, a new work ethic, accepting the reality that the team can’t score more than 2 goals a game, the revamped defence or because the coaching staff stopped putting players where they wanted to play, we’ll never know.  What we do know, is that they finished the season winning 3 straight, against the top teams in their division, bringing their record even for the finish.  (And if the final game had have been any more exciting, I might have wet myself)

  Matthew continued to show his competency as a net minder, producing 4 shut-out halves.  Being scoreless for the season, he has improved greatly from last year, demonstrating greater stamina and being able to stay on his feet.  Nathaniel finished the season with one goal and two assists, his strength being his speed and endurance; capable of running the entire length of the field for multiple shifts, without becoming terribly fatigued.  His work ethic and stamina proved to be an incredible midfield advantage in every match.  Without the contributions of Matthew and Nathaniel, it is highly doubtful that the team could have ended its season on a winning note.

Scotia Bank U7

   Although pulling off a winning season, the narrative behind Jeremy’s Scotia Bank is not one of soccer greatness.  The challenges of U7 soccer had very little to do with the offensive prowess of the team, their skill level or speed.  Keeping 6 players on the field at the same time proved to be a struggle on its own.  Line changes were positively nightmarish, and for some games, one might wonder if they were even playing soccer at all.  Caring little whether won or lost, each player seemed to be content to just enjoy each other’s company and to ridicule the penmanship of their coach.  One young lady exclaimed, “Oh Mr. Abell, your writing is messy.  It’s so messy, I have to show my mom!”  And show her mom she did.

  In spite of the lack of serious military style discipline, Scotia Bank finished the season with a 5-4 record.  It is probably the very absence of serious soccer mindedness that made this team the most enjoyable experience of the season.

  Jeremy has demonstrated his ability to perform well no matter where he is placed.  Scoring a hat-trick in his second last game, he has given every indication that he can produce excellent offensive numbers.  Game after game he also proved completely solid as a defenseman, and when given the opportunity in net, shown himself to be both aggressive and trustworthy in the role.   For the family as a whole Jeremy led the Abell family with 4 goals and one shut-out half.

   That’s all of this year friends.  Until next time, remember, physical fitness isn’t nearly as important as spiritual fitness!

Shellfish Bad, Incest Good

  Conversations never really get old and die.  They just find new people to participate in them.  Likewise, I find myself compelled to join in the same discussions over and over, with new faces.  The specific conversation that I have in mind has to do with why Christians seem to cling to some parts of the law, but not others.  Have you ever read through the law?  There is some odd stuff in there.  At one time, God forbade polyester cotton.  I’m serious.   Sometimes, people notice these apparent inconsistencies in our thinking.  This week I found myself back in that same old conversation. 

  There was a guy who noticed that some of us seem to be fine with eating shellfish, but hold to some other laws as found in the Old Testament.  I’m not one to argue with people, but I did pose the question, “Do you know why that is?”

  To be honest, I didn’t anticipate ever having to answer back to a response.  I don’t answer people who already have it figured out.  I’m busy enough trying to walk with people who really want to know about God, than to take on anyone who is just trying to make a point.  So I was surprised when a friend of mine asked me on Facebook.  Why do many Christians hold to some OT laws and not others?  Being convinced that it was an honest question, here are my thoughts.

  There are many approaches one might take in answering the question.  As for the shellfish, you might want to read Acts 10.  One of my other friends brought to mind Matthew 15:11, where we’re told that it isn’t what goes in our mouth that defiles us.

  If the topic interests you, I encourage you to read the story line beginning in Acts 15.  In Antioch of Syria, Gentile converts were told that in order to become believers, they would have to be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.  Acts 15:5

  It was very troubling, and why wouldn’t it be?  Have you ever read the law?  A few years ago, there was an article published in Macleans magazine where a man tried to do everything found in the law.  The conclusion he came to was exactly the same conclusion that Peter had come to.  It wasn’t possible.  Peter challenged the apostles on the issue saying as much in verse 10, “...Why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?”

   The law was an unbearable burden.  If you don’t believe me, try it on sometime.  So what do you do with the law then?  I mean, some of the laws were good right?  How about murder?  Is that fine?  Incest?  Some people are fine with incest.   How would you have answered the issue?  Would you have answered as Peter did?

“...We should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating meat of strangled animals and from consuming blood.”  Acts 15:20

   I won’t get into the blood, road kill or idolatry for the moment because I want to remain on the question at hand.  God is still very serious about sexual immorality, so when many Christians read through the law, it seems like a safe bet to assume that He is still serious about the stands He took, when speaking through Moses in the book of Leviticus.  For some of those sins, God used to punish people by having them publicly executed. 

  I say that in order to express the following;  If God wanted people to be killed for doing something, it’s pretty safe to say that He was rather serious about it.

    I hope this helps you my friend.  Keep asking honest questions.