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This video got me thinking…As followers of Christ, we need to play hard until the whistle blows. God holds the whistle and no one else. We play to please Him. When we stop playing before the whistle blows, we risk one of two things.

1) We risk celebrating a false win. Or…

2) We risk giving up just short of a win.

Anytime we celebrate the win before the whistle blows, we are celebrating a false win. Our spiritual enemy loves to deceive us into celebrating a false win. If he can get us to celebrate early, we let go of the ball and take our eyes off of the goal. He tries to steal our victory. When the enemy tempts you to celebrate, keep going until the whistle blows.

From a different perspective, there are times when we are tempted to quit…to give up. When everything looks bleak. While everyone else is celebrating a false win. You be the brave one. Risk looking foolish. Pick up the ball and run!  The game is not over. It’s not over until you hear the whistle blow.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:14-15

Is there a connection between our spiritual fitness and our physical fitness? Why do many Christians(including myself) often devalue physical discipline? Every major Eastern Religion connects spiritual discipline with physical discipline. This is true in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Shintoism. But, when it comes to Christianity we don’t connect the two. Christians that do value both physical and spiritual discipline usually don’t connect the two. Now, I’m not suggesting that we should come up with our own physical exercise system akin to Yoga, Aikido, or Shaolin Kung Fu. I can see it now, it would probably have some cheesy Christian name like “BibleThighzer” or “BodiCor619X” (after 1 Cor 6:19). No…please NO!

Paul said this in 1 Timothy 4:8…

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come”

Some Christians will use this verse as their excuse for devaluing physical discipline. But Paul is actually acknowleding the value of physical discipline, not devaluing it. He’s not devaluing physical discipline, but rather increasing the value of Godliness. Christianity in the West is good at compartmentalizing everything that we do. So it makes sense that there would be a disconnect between spiritual and physical discipline.

But, I wonder what would happen if we started to connect the two. What if we started to look at our physical discipline as a form of worship? What if we started to ask God to give us a spirit of discipline in all areas of life? I wonder how we would see life differently as we find the connection between the spiritual and physical.

Yesterday I posted the reasons why I hate Facebook. Today, I’ll give you the reasons why I love Facebook.

Reason #1 – It helps me to pray for people more.

I find myself praying for people as I read their status updates. When I see someone post something exciting that happened in their life, I find myself thanking God and celebrating with them in their blessing. When someone posts a something that they are struggling with, I pray that God will give them strength and reveal Himself through the difficulty. It can be a great tool used for knowing how to pray for people.

Reason #2 – It’s been a great tool to reconnect with old friends.

It’s been such a blessing to be able to reconnect with people that I might have never crossed paths with in life. I’ve been able to reconnect with college roomates, old neighbors, high school buddies. I recently reconnected with a college roommate that I haven’t seen in 20 years. We got together for dinner and a concert and had a great time! It probably would not have happened without Facebook connecting us. So, I’m thankful for this great tool!

Reason #3 – It’s been a great way to meet new friends.

I’ve been able to meet several new people that have led into face to face meetings. I’ve met several pastors through Facebook that since then have met face to face. We now keep in touch regularly.

I have met several people through Facebook that live in my community that have turned into friendships. We meet up from time to time over a cup of coffee. I wonder if I would have ever met them if it hadn’t been for Facebook?

So, my love/hate relationship with Facebook continues. For now, I’ve decided to keep my account open. The love for Facebook outweighs the hate.

What do you love about Facebook? Who have you been able to connect or re-connect with because of Facebook?

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I think Facebook can be a great tool, but can also be a dangerous tool. There are times when I’m thankful for Facebook and there are other times that I consider shutting my account down.

Today, I’ll share the reasons why I hate Facebook, and tomorrow, I’ll give you the reasons why I love Facebook.

Reason #1 – It’s stalking at it’s finest!

We live in a voyeuristic society that likes to know about people for all the wrong reasons. When we want to know because we care about people, that’s great. But when we care to just know about people, it’s not so healthy. It’s a modern day version of peeking in someone’s windows only we have opened the blinds wide open for everyone to see in.

Reason #2 – It’s a HUGE time waster.

Just a quick look at Facebook can quickly turn into 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours. Wow…where did the time go?

The World Wide Web is appropriately named. It is a web that is so easy to get tangled up in and sometimes hard to get out of.

Reason #3 – It’s become more about applications and less about connections.

It started out as a great way to connect with friends, and it’s turned into a cluttered mess of applications. It reminds me of MTV. You’re hard pressed to hear music or see music videos on MTV anymore. And Facebook is becoming more about Applications than it is about connections with people.

I don’t really care which Disney character you are most like, or what kind of lover you are, or what movie star you are most like. But, I do want to know how you are really doing. What’s going on in our life…I truly want to know. I joined Facebook for connections and relationships not applications.

What about you? What do you hate about Facebook?

I had an opportunity to see U2 a few weeks ago. As always, it was an incredible show. The stage, the lights, the showmanship…all very good. The stadium was sold out. In fact, it was the biggest crowd ever assembled at Giant’s stadium.

80,000 fans came to hear songs that they love from a band that has been together for over 30 years. But they heard more than songs. They heard a deeper message. They heard about the urgent need to put an end to poverty. They were asked to take a stand against tyranny and oppression. They didn’t come to hear this message, but they did…all 80,000 of them. They came to hear the music, but they got the message.

For Bono, music is a means to accomplish his life mission, but is not the mission itself. He’s using his leverage as a musician to fulfill a greater mission. In other words, music is what Bono “does”, but a humanitarian is who he “is.” He uses what he does to fulfill who he is.

As a follower of Jesus, you are called to leverage your influence to spread the gospel. That means whether you are a carpenter, electrician, salesman, stay at home mom, or a teacher. You are to use what you do to accomplish who you are. Don’t keep what you do and who you are in separate buckets. Use one to fulfill the other.

The better that you do whatever it is that you do, the more influence you will have to accomplish whatever it is that you were called to be.

Paul says in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus…”

U2 can leverage your influence for the sake of the gospel. Use whatever measure of influence that U have been given! They are coming for the music, but use your influence to give them the message.