F.Y.E.: The Weekend in Sports

15 October 2009 | Michael Kelley

In my opinion, October is the epicenter of the sports calendar. With the onset of fall, you’ve got all kinds of greatness. You have Major League Baseball Postseason. There’s the real meat of the college football schedule. And the NFL is kicking into high gear. Though my petition with the NCAA to have March Madness moved to October to ensure its total dominance over any other month is currently under consideration, I nevertheless am giddy with excitement because every week brings plenty of fodder for anyone who has even a casual interest in sports. To that end, I’d like to briefly highlight this weekend of sports.

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God Likes Weddings

11 September 2008 | Michael Kelley

Throughout the Old Testament, God referred to His people as His wife. The prophets are full of references about Israel’s marriage to God (although many times it was one of infidelity). Jesus’ first miracle was performed at a wedding. And then we come to this week’s passage in Matthew 22 where Jesus uses a wedding to teach some great spiritual truths. One of the conclusions I draw from all this is pretty simple: God likes weddings.

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Pinning Down Depth

26 August 2008 | Michael Kelley

I had a really productive time at the Threads Connect Conference last week in Austin. The second of these conferences is in Nashville this week. For both of these conferences, I’m leading a breakout session that is trying to find the practical implications of one of the 4 key markers of Threads. My session? Depth.

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I Like Magic

24 July 2008 | Michael Kelley

There, I said it. It’s out in the open, much as my wife would like for it to be concealed. I’m a magic junkie. If there’s a magician on TV, I’m watching it. And if there’s a magic show in town, I’m going to bend over backwards to see it. Once I bought a magic kit for $40 and I practiced. A lot. I carried around for a number of years some very thin twine in my wallet because you never know when you’re going to need to make a dollar bill float in the air.

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Meet Us On Oovoo

08 July 2008 | Michael Kelley

We have the great privilege here at Threads of working with some incredible authors. These men and women are part of our team, and part of our lives. Through working on their studies, we’ve gotten to know them well—and maybe you want that chance, too.

That’s why next week there’s a chance for you to talk with Threads authors through a cool video chat tool called Oovoo. This virtual coffee break is an opportunity for you to have a real conversation with folks like Mark Batterson, Jen Hatmaker, Todd Phillips, or myself. You can ask questions or just spend some time getting to know us.

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Looking for Wisdom

27 May 2008 | Michael Kelley

Maybe you’ve been there—sitting alone, asking God to speak to you, because you’ve got a decision to make. This decision would be easy if one of the options clearly violated the commands of God. Say for example, the decision in question was whether or not you should go to your small group or rob the convenience store down the street. Answer’s pretty obvious. But not this situation. In this instance, you’ve got to choose between two good things—this major or that one, this job or that one, this city or that one. And so you come to God, looking for wisdom.

Wisdom is a difficult concept for me to grasp. The truth is that when I pray for wisdom, I’m really asking for a burning bush, a message in my Alphabits cereal, or a song on the radio with the perfect lyrics. I don’t want wisdom, per sey, I want answers. But if you’ve sat in that position, wanting answers from God, you know it doesn’t work like that most of the time.

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We Like Things Tough

02 May 2008 | Michael Kelley

We like things tough. At least we seem to, and maybe that’s a mark of our generation. We want to live deeply, think deeply, experience deeply. And while that might mean a little something different to everybody, as a whole, it seems to mean that we want to engage the Bible and God at a level that moves well past the surface. That’s the underlying reason behind these Bible studies, The Tough Sayings of Jesus I and II. I firmly believe it is by asking questions that we get a bigger and more intimate glimpse of Christ. It’s great to see how well The Tough Sayings have been received across the country. My hope and prayer continues to be that these Bible studies challenge the way we think and walk with Christ. Things seem to be moving that direction.

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Show Me the Money

04 March 2008 | Michael Kelley

“I should be making more money than this.” I just finished my tax return and had the same thought I have every year—I think my salary should be higher (sorry Threads). This is not a plea for a raise, especially with the dose of reality I had this morning. Sometimes, we just don’t get how richly we are blessed.

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Wisdom from The Office

19 February 2008 | Michael Kelley

The question came to Michael Scott, district manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton and sage of The Office: “Would you rather be feared or loved?” After reflection, Michael answered: “Both. I want you to be afraid of how much you love me.” So true, Michael. But that launches me into a reflection of the same question to God—Do You want to be feared or loved? I think God does want both, but biblical fear seems to me to be more of a respect, a recognition of just who it is we’re dealing with.

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Willow Creek Was Wrong

19 October 2007 | Michael Kelley

What would make perhaps the most influential American church of the last 25 years come out publicly and say they were wrong? This is an incredibly interesting and provocative post about Willow Creek. In a culture where everyone is quick to criticize everyone else, it’s refreshing to see an entity admit they haven’t got it all figured out. I really respect what Bill Hybels has done here. I encourage you to take a deeper look at this article, too—especially as we continue the conversation about the nature of the church.

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No Atheists in Foxholes

10 October 2007 | Michael Kelley

So the saying goes. I think the meaning is clear - when the chips are down and life is at stake, there are very few people stubborn enough to face that moment alone. But I would add something to the old saying. There are also no atheists in waiting rooms. Having spent considerable time in waiting rooms of hospitals over the past year, you can’t help but notice how the complex faith of the super-spiritual becomes simple, how the simple faith of the barely believing comes to the forefront, and how the non-existent faith of the faithless suddenly rears its head. People believe in waiting rooms because it is in there that you find yourself in a position of helplessness. You don’t know the difference between a fracture and a break, between Amoxicillin and Penicillin, or between a short beep and a long one from an IV machine. You just know that you don’t know. And you want to believe that there is someone who does.

But I think it goes beyond that, too. I would say that in waiting rooms, not only are there no atheists, there are also no white people. There are no black people. There are no rich, no poor, no smart, and no stupid. There are just people. That leads me to this… perhaps the one thing that unites the human experience more than anything else is our shared pain. Everybody has it, and everybody has been wounded from it. That’s how we are all alike.

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Modernizing the Mercenaries

08 October 2007 | Michael Kelley

“In 1972 a crack-commando unit was sent to military prison for a crime the didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem… If no one else can help… And if you can find them, maybe you can hire… THE A-TEAM.”

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church and Church

27 September 2007 | Michael Kelley

John Calvin wrote that the Church is anywhere the Word is rightly preached and the sacraments are rightly administered. There are some loaded words in that sentence, but I think it leads to a question that many people are asking right now: “What is church?” Good question. But is it a different question than “What is THE CHURCH?” I think so, because I think there is a difference in the church and the Church. The Church is the body of believers that extends past time, place and culture. That’s what every single Christ-follower is a member of: the Bride of Christ. That’s the Church. There’s lots of churches that belong to the Church, but only one Church. So I think what we are all really asking is about the church, or maybe another way to say it, what is the right way for these little churches who are all a part of the big Church to be done? What are the essential elements of the church?

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Thought-Provoking Question

20 August 2007 | Michael Kelley

Have you ever noticed how many questions you run across that don’t have clearcut answers? Here is just one of the many; I have spent the weekend thinking about it myself, and frankly, came up empty. There are so many variables to consider, I simply don’t know how to respond. But even if the answer is too elusive to be had, I think the conversation is still important.

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I Don’t Like American Idol

23 May 2007 | Michael Kelley

I don’t like American idol. There, I said it. I feel a little like I’m at an AA meeting: “Hello, my name is Michael, and I don’t like American Idol.” I wish there was a good reason behind it, something spiritual maybe, but there’s not. I just don’t like it that much.

But I think it goes a little beyond American Idol. I’ve been down the reality TV road and have come back. I have had brief stints of infatuation with Survivor, Top Chef, Design Star, the Apprentice, The Amazing Race, and—gulp—America’s Next Top Model. For some reason I’m just not into it any more. Any of it. And it seems like I’m the only one.

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Roger Clemens… and Liturgy

07 May 2007 | Michael Kelley

This week, the New York Yankees announced in grand fashion that Roger Clemens, the 45-year-old fireballer from Texas was moving back to the Bronx. Starting in June, he will once again don the pen stripes for the Yanks. The kicker—Steinbrenner is going to pay Clemens a pro-rated contract for the 4 months left of the baseball season. The end result is a payday that will amount to almost a million dollars… a week. A WEEK! Not bad work if you can get it, right?

I love baseball, and I really like Roger Clemens. I certainly can’t fault him for his decision to go back to New York (even though I take great pleasure in the misfortune of the Yankees) from the Houston Astros. A million a week is a lot of money. So I don’t blame him for his decision. This move does, however, make me a little nostalgic because it reminds me of what I love about baseball.

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Shalom

10 April 2007 | Michael Kelley

My understanding of Jewish culture is, sadly, limited - but hopefully growing. I love that there seems to be significance in every action of this culture, from eating to sleeping to greeting someone in the street. I can’t imagine anything different from the fast food culture in which I reside, where everything is done on the run and nothing is savored. Everything is quick, and therefore nothing is really significant. For example, it’s very telling I think that the traditional greeting between Jewish folks is “Shalom.”

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Anyone Else LOST?

05 April 2007 | Michael Kelley

The others. Jack and Kate. Jack and Sawyer. Sawyer and Kate. The wheelchair. The Dharma Initiative. Anyone else getting LOST? I am—I think of myself as a reasonably intelligent person, but I need a search engine, a glossary, and a set of Cliff’s Notes to keep this stuff straight.

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Why I Love Rocky Balboa

08 January 2007 | Michael Kelley

I swore off of the character and the franchise after the debacle that was Rocky 5. In fact, I have worked hard at removing “Tommy Gunn” and Rocky sweeping the leg in the middle of a Philly street from my memory. I was quite content to have the enduring image of maybe the best known American film icon, Rocky Balboa, be the Italian Stallion wrapped in the American flag in the middle of a Russian boxing ring after beating the unbeatable Siberian Express, Ivan Drago. I felt personally betrayed when the fifth movie ruined everything about the franchise for me, so you can understand why I was skeptical when I heard that Rocky was climbing back into the ring one more time. I fought it and I fought it because I was afraid that once again my feelings would be trampled under the weight of a truly bad movie, but finally the siren call of Sylvester Stallone was too much for me, and I went to see “Rocky Balboa.”

Loved it. Not just liked, friends, but loved it. I think the reason I loved it is because this Rocky, like the very first one in 1976, was alot more about the man than about the fight.

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