paul and the patriots

have you ever played that fun game in the car where you try and connect two actors? example: brad pitt to john cusack. john cusack was in high fidelity with tim robbins, who was in shawshank redemption with morgan freeman, who was in that very gory movie i never should have watched called se7en with brad pitt. it's such a fun game, i used to play it in class when i was sleepy too. i was stirred towards this game when i was able to connect the apostle paul and the 2010-11 new england patriots. haha we'll see if it's valid while they weren't in any movies together.

as i watched espn this week, i saw something unusual. the new england patriots are playing the new york jets in 2nd round of the nfl playoffs on sunday and the coaches and players are being interviewed about the game. the jets players and coaches are consistently slandering the patriots and they aren't getting any kind of a response. across the board, the patriots are responding in a very cordial manner with a quiet confidence about the upcoming contest.

the character quality i see here is that this football team is so confidently established in their identity, that regardless of the accusations or opinions of others, they have a strong assurance about their self image.

flash back 2000ish years ago, and hear about a guy named paul. something i've been studying about him is how he had a "thorn in his flesh" in one of his letters, 2 corinthians. we don't necessarily know what this thorn is but it appears to be some sort of physical ailment. while paul pleads that it could be taken from him 3x, he comes to terms with it in verse 9 when he's told by God that His "grace is made perfect in your weakness."

does that sound weird to you? it's not natural that weakness and imperfection would be good for anything. except maybe humility. but the beauty of being a Christian is that my identity isn't in me, it's placed in the cleansing work of Jesus and my weaknesses as a sinful person point me to the need of a Savior and it draws my heart to him.

"When you were dead in your sins... God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

colossians 2: 13-15

the patriots are secure in their identity as a prepared, tested champion of professional football, while i'm more leaning towards paul's side where i stand confident in my identity as a sinful yet completely loved and forgiven christian.

ps here it is: the new england patriots play the new york jets this sunday, who appear to be a thorn in their flesh in a very similiar manner to paul's ailment.

haha i hope your new year is starting off very well friends!

-mandy candy