Faith and Football

Despite my distaste for soccer (or football, as it’s apparently known to the world outside the U.S.), I’m well aware that the World Cup has opened some wonderful opportunities for the Church to reach out with the Good News of God’s love. One ministry that’s doing so is the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. They have a great website, worldsoccerjourneys.com, that’s full of stories of what God is doing around South Africa during this historic time. Click here to learn more.

Lukewarm Fan

Five random thoughts about the World Cup:

1) Sorry to see the U.S. eliminated after a hard-fought game against Ghana last night. I think my mild case of World Cup Fever is subsiding.

2) Still, I gotta root for Ghana now – for the only remaining African team to win would be a colossal upset and a fitting conclusion to the first World Cup on the continent.

3) The vuvuzelas you hear buzzing in the background during the game broadcasts – they’re even more obnoxious in person.

4) Amazed, and amused, at how soccer players can be so fit and yet so delicate that they seemingly whine and cry foul every time they get bumped by an opponent.

5) After watching more soccer in the past two weeks than I’ve ever watched in my life, I remain convinced: This is the most boring game in sport.

Deep Thoughts

The more I work with children and teenagers, the more I see the depths of sin in the human heart – my own included. Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall when teaching the teens of Red Hill. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” I’ll say. “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Even as those words leave my mouth, one boy is hitting another, or calling names, or completely ignoring me.

Yet as I teach these lessons, I see God pointing out the same errors in my own life. Last week one of our lessons was on patience. I was trying to communicate the concept of being patient with each another, to “bear with one another in love,” as Ephesians 4:2 says. Just then one boy began to chat to his neighbor, after I had already asked him several times to keep quiet. I lost my cool and shouted at him, right there in front of the whole group. Oops.

I teach the kids to treat each other with kindness, to put others first, to speak words of love rather than words of anger and contempt. Then I catch myself feeling irritated and thinking critical and hostile thoughts about people. What’s the difference? I’m just as guilty, because Jesus said that even anger within one’s own heart is akin to murder.

I thank God for His mercy and I ask Him to help me obey the words of Matthew 7:5 – “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Holiday Happenings

Two weeks down, two to go – we’re halfway through our Winter Holiday Clubs, which coincide with the soccer World Cup, as children are out of school during this period. Following are a few images of the children, teenagers and even the ever-present dogs who have taken part in the festivities at Red Hill.

Vote for Living Hope!

The following message is from John Thomas, Chairman of Living Hope:

Please vote for this and pass it onto all your friends. It is absolutely legitimate. Chase Bank is giving away $5m via FB. No it is NOT a scam but is allocated on Facebook votes. The good news is that the top 195 charities get $20,000, 4 charities can get $100,000 and 1 charity get $250,000. All it takes is people voting. Living Hope has registered with Chase Bank for this - all it takes is your vote and then the ticking option to put it on your FB. You are welcome to copy/paste this message into your FB.

Here is the address for the "Get started to vote" page:

http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/201248641-living-hope-community-center-inc?src=charity-details-wall-post-self

Fun among Friends

Living Hope is partnering with an Australian ministry called Fusion, which stages street festivals in impoverished communities. This afternoon the party came to Red Hill, where about 150 children and adults gathered for fun and games. We’ll be hosting the festival again in Red Hill tomorrow and Saturday, with the goal of continuing to build relationships and foster a stronger sense of community among the residents. Below is a sampling of images from today’s event.

Quote of the Day

At our Holiday Teens Club this morning, as I was waiting on one of my colleagues to gather some craft materials, I stalled for time by asking the kids what they thought of South Africa’s World Cup match last night. (The RSA, better known as “Bafana Bafana,” lost 3-0 to Uruguay.) We chatted about this for a few minutes, then one of the kids loudly proclaimed: “Al, we didn’t come here to talk about Bafana Bafana.” And he was right. We were there to discuss something far more lasting. I appreciated the insight.