The old way wasn't working so it's on us to do what we gotta do to survive.

The president made a speech this past week about climate change.  You may have heard it, you may have missed it.  You may agree with everything he said, you may not.  That's fine.  I think it's a worthwhile topic to discuss.  It's a topic that I've never written about or even spoken much about, so I figured that this might be an appropriate time for me to weigh in.

Before I decided to write this, I wrestled with whether or not I should even write about this at all.  I had to decide whether or not there was any reason that my thoughts would be worthwhile for y'all to read..  I came to the conclusion that I have something to bring to the table here.  I have something to bring to the table because, unfortunately, climate change has become a highly partisan and even religious issue.  As someone who doesn't have partisan connections, but does have strong religious convictions, I hope to provide a worthwhile perspective.

I came to the conclusion quite a while ago that nearly anyone I've ever heard talk about climate change had a political agenda.  As a result, I figured that it'd be difficult for me to ever figure out whether or not "global warming" is something that humans have caused and whether or not it actually posed a threat.  I still generally feel the same way, although it seems like more and more scientists are convinced that it is real and it is a threat.  I don't know for sure.  This isn't the Word of God where I feel the need to educate myself to the point that I understand the issues and can know the truth without a doubt.  I'm comfortable with a certain amount of uncertainty here.  But that doesn't mean that I'm just gonna throw my hands up in the air, suck down 1/4 lb.ers in the old fashioned non-biodegradable Styrofoam containers and chuck 'em out the window when I'm done.  Given how serious some people are convinced that this problem is, it requires a little bit more thought.

As I talk to a lot of different Christians, it seems like Christians are far less concerned than the average citizen.  That's just my observation, it could be wrong, but I don't think it is.  I can understand this Christian indifference to a certain extent.  We can all agree that climate change caused by humans will not end the world or even human life on earth.  God's made it pretty clear that that's his job, not ours.  We can take that off the table right now.  But that doesn't mean that we can just ignore the issue altogether.  Ever since God said, "It was very good" on the sixth day, humankind has been doing its best to make sure that this world is not very good.  Why would we think that global warming is an entirely different animal?  If humankind can take a perfect world and make it into what we've got now, why would Christians automatically assume that it's impossible to take what we've got now and turn it into something that's barely inhabitable?  It's not impossible.  In fact, it's completely plausible, if you listen to 97% of scientists in the world today.  So, while we know that human activity won't lead to the end of human life on earth, we should still be concerned about the earth that God has made us stewards of.

I, for one, find the gap between the last two links somewhat alarming.  Apparently the president does too.  In what is probably the most memorable line during his five years of presidency, President Obama said, "We don't have time for a meeting of the flat earth society."  His point is clear: Christianity has been on the wrong side of history before on scientific issues and it is again.  Now, I generally don't    care    about the president's thoughts about what "side of history" Christians will be on.  However, he may well be right here.  In the past, Christians put up a huge fight about the earth being the center of the universe.  Some were upset about the thought of a spherical earth, because of the verses talking about hell as being "down".  Christians were largely on the wrong side of history there because they falsely assumed that new scientific discoveries undermined the truth of scripture.  Let's not let that happen now.  If it turns out that humans have contributed to climate change, that doesn't mean that any portion of Christian doctrine is false.  I'd love to see the gap between pastors and scientists close.

So, instead of insisting that global warming is an invention of the liberal media, let's make an effort to be good stewards of the earth that God has given us.  It seems outrageous that we'd have to encourage Christians to take care of the earth.  Unfortunately, that's the political world that we live in now.  But let's move beyond that.  Whether or not you believe what the vast majority of the scientific world does, let's all do what we can to "go green."  During our lifetimes, we may never know which side of this debate was correct, but why risk it?  Why are conservative Christians so eager to thump Genesis 1:28 when it comes to reproduction, but so hesitant to accept the implications of 2:15 when it comes to stewardship of the earth?

I'm not saying that we have to support legislation that dictates minimum fuel mileage or anything like that.  You can make up your own mind about the role that the government should play in all of this.  We'll all have different opinions about that, and that's ok.  However, this shouldn't be a partisan or religious issue.  I hope that we can all be on the same page that we should do our very best to take care of what God has given to us and to our children.

The Cross of the Evangelist

The Theology of The Cross by Daniel Deutschlander is hugely popular right now, at least at the monastery I've been living at for the last four weeks. The theology of the cross isn't hard to understand. Quite simply, it talks about how bad things happen to Christians because we are Christians. However, what can be a little bit harder to understand is how we are asked to bear crosses in our lives today. After all, we're not persecuted these days. Overall, people are generally accepting of people having their own beliefs. It might seem like we're not asked to bear crosses like Christians used to be.

Yet, today during Hermeneutics I realized a cross that I, and most Christians, will constantly bear for the rest of our lives. That cross comes to us as we attempt to evangelize to the people in our lives. When you share God's Word with people, you're making an investment in them. Your entire being is wrapped up in wanting them to believe the message that you share. You want this person that you love to spend eternity in heaven with you and with God. However, that will not always happen. Some times those people reject the message. And that hurts. Badly. It truly is a painful cross that we must bear, and it will not go away.

Jesus tells us to bring our crosses to him. He tells us that he will give us rest (Matthew 11:28,29). He doesn't tell us that he'll take our cross away. No, the very fact that he makes this invitation indicates that we will bear crosses throughout our earthly journey. While we will still hurt, Jesus tells us that he will give us rest for our souls. That rest that he brings did not come by the removal of a cross. Instead, it came by Jesus taking up his own cross. Suddenly our crosses seem so small. Imagine the pain of the evangelist, Jesus. He has invested far more into every soul than any of us ever will into one. He suffered death and hell, just to have billions reject that sacrifice. How painful that must be. Yet, despite the pain he knew he would encounter, he took up his cross and paid the price. Let us make that same choice and willingly take up the cross of an evangelist. We know that it will bring us pain, but let us also bear in mind that the benefit will still be worth the price that we pay. Many may reject us, but if even just one comes to faith, that is a cause for celebration (Matthew 18:12,13).

So, let's forget the cost and take up the cross of the evangelist.

"Let no false doctrine me beguile;
Let Satan not my soul defile.
Give strength and patience unto me
To bear my crosses willingly.
Lord Jesus Christ, My God and Lord,
Forsake me not! I trust your Word." (CW 434 v.2)
Amen.

The Good, The Bad, and the Bretty B

Yesterday when I got done teaching BIC there were about a dozen text messages on my phone saying, "Did you hear about Bielema?!"  My first thought was that he got busted with some kind of scandal or something. I thought maybe he had a heart attack or something (not that I'm one to comment on someone's weight, but I'm not sure it's a good idea for him to go to the one place that might be more fattening than Wisconsin...)  Turns out the dude took a job at Arkansas.  I was pretty surprised.

Like often happens with a surprise, my emotions were all over the board.  At first I was a little bit miffed.  I could understand leaving for an Alabama, LSU, USC, Georgia or Notre Dame, but why Arkansas?  It's not like they've got a substantially better football program than Wisconsin does, and he won't have Alvarez watching over him there. So, my first tweet was, "Don't let the door hit you.  Good riddance, brah."  Then, as I ruminated a little bit more, I got excited.  It's tough to win a conference three years in a row and be on the hot seat, but he was as close as possible.

So, here are my initial thoughts on Bielema's tenure in Madison:

The Good:
You've all heard the "player development" mantra about the Wisconsin program.  It's true.  Wisconsin never had recruiting classes that the talking heads got excited about; however, these recruiting classes were constantly filled with the types of guys who would work hard and become top players.  Think of the development of players like J.J. Watt, Montee Ball, Scott Tolzien and Jared Abbrederis, just to name a few. Now, their development is certainly due to a number of factors, but some credit has to be given to the coach for getting them into the program and keeping them on track.  The players that Bielema recruited became some of the best in the country, even if they weren't when they came out of high-school.
Not only did his players work hard, but his teams did too.  Badgers teams over the past few years have been so well prepared for their games that there was rarely a close one (I can hear your objections already.  Don't worry, the bad is coming.)
Bielema also made our program more nationally prominent than Barry did, arguably with less success on the field.  I know, we got a Heisman trophy winner under Barry, and there were some whispers about a national title before the NCAA overreacted about a couple discounted shoes (I know...the NCAA overreacting is the only reason we're in the Rose Bowl.  I've gotta take the good with the bad, just like I did with Bretty B.) I mean, the talking heads on ESPN called Barry's top 10, 1 loss 1999 Rose Bowl team, "The worst team to ever play in a Rose Bowl."  While there are still some haters on eSECpn, I have definitely heard more, "best 5 loss team ever!" than "worst Rose Bowl team ever."  The credit for that has to go to Bretty B.  He's got some swagger that says, "Hey, I belong with the big boys."  And he does.  And so do we.  For that thrust into the spotlight, we should thank him.

The Bad:
Poor in-game coaching.  So much ink has been spilled on this topic that I don't think I can add anything more.
His teams have under-performed.  I know, I'm on both sides of the fence with this one, because I gave him a lot of credit for developing players.  However, our teams have significantly under-performed based on the individual talent on the field during a given year.  Think about last year.  Statistically, we had the best quarterback and running back in NCAA history.  How could that team possibly lose 3 games?  Bretty B.  That's how.
Can't win close games.  His teams do generally prepare so well that this isn't an issue, but when it is, watch out.  This team was a 23(ish) yard field goal away from six losses this year.  Why anyone is offering him a job after this season is beyond me.

The Bretty B:
I mentioned earlier that his swagger has thrust our program into greater national prominence.  That's great. But that doesn't change the fact that he's got that frat boy feel to him.  I think that people had a lot of respect for Wisconsin teams under Alvarez.  While people still respected players like Ball and Wilson, they hated Bielema.  I'm glad he's not the face of our program anymore.  He'll fit in much better in the SEC.

So, I'm a little bit ambivalent about the move, but I ultimately think it's an opportunity to keep Wisconsin moving forward (and I mean for real forward, not like, "1.6 trillion dollars in tax hikes over the next ten years is going to make up for the 8 trillion in debt I've racked up over my first term" kind of moving forward that Wisconsin was in favor of a month ago, but I digress.)  If we can bring in a good coach, we should be able to keep recruiting at a high level, and our promising coordinators should be able to continue improving.  This'll be an exciting time for our program.
In Barry we trust.

The Badgers' Regular Season Struggles

The Badgers just finished a 7-5 regular season. It's their worst season in four years (that's honestly a bit of a surprise to me, that we went through another season this miserable so recently.) Here are my thoughts on the regular season:
We should've expected some struggles this season.

• The Badgers lost their starting quarterback after he had the best season in NCAA history.  As much promise as Danny O'Brien had, we should have expected some drop off. And if you don't think that Russell Wilson's success had anything to do with Montee Ball's record tying season, you're crazy.
• We lost six players to the NFL draft, including two offensive linemen. We should've expected some drop off when it came to this year's offensive line.
• We lost six coaches in the offseason. We all should've expected them to take some time to work together well. And, I think, we did...just not an entire season.

You should all still be incredibly angry.

• Bret Bielema botched the off-season hires.
• The talking heads on ESPN praised Bielema for his decisive move on the firing of Markuson. "He made a decisive move" they said. Well, why didn't he decisively decide to hire someone whose offensive philosophy matched up with the Wisconsin way?!
• And everyone should Blame Canada. I understand about our struggles at quarterback, but Canada is to blame for the losses against Nebraska, MSU, OSU, PSU, and (probably) Oregon St. (I say probably because I didn't watch the game, but when a dude blows it in 4 losses, he's probably responsible for the fifth too.) I got upset with Paul Chryst for trying too hard to confuse defenses, but at least he didn't run an offense that has 10 guys in the box for most offensive plays. It's really easy to stop an offense when you know exactly what they're going to do on every play. I'll admit, he's had flashes of brilliance throughout the year, but it's a huge drop off from Paul Chryst. I'll give him another year, but not much more. Bielema is in the same boat.
• Bielema has won four close games in the past three years. One of my non-Badgers friends commented last year, before this atrocity started, "Wisconsin either blows out their opponents or loses." Sure, you could hang your hat on our win against Utah St. this year, where it was as much lost by a kicker on the opposing team as it was won by the Badgers. Or you could hang you hat on the Badgers' win in last year's conference championship game, which was won by luck and the officials every bit as much as the first MSU game was lost by those same factors. Oh, did I forget about Jay Valai's blocked PAT against Arizona St? It's only that athletic play of one player that put this team into the Granddaddy of them all, as opposed to another forgettable Capitol One Bowl. Now, let's all say a prayer of thanks that we're still in a position to go to a third straight Rose Bowl. However, if we lose on Saturday, I'm giving Bielema one more year before I'm calling for a new head coach. Let's hope we find a way to actually "overcome adversity" on Saturday and win a game against a good team.

Change and Decay In All Around I See

What does autumn make you think of? Americana is full of fall traditions that many of us hold closer to our hearts. Plenty of people enjoy these experiences so much that they list autumn as their favorite season of the year. They love the changing colors, the pumpkins, the football and the hot apple cider. While I certainly enjoy a picturesque fall day and a good football game, I would never list autumn as one of my favorite seasons. To be honest, it would rank towards the bottom in my book.

Why do I not love fall like so many others do? Fall reminds me of decay and death. Nothing in this world reminds me of the transient nature of everything around us like the progression of fall. The beautiful shades of red and orange give way into brown, which is followed by the months of barren trees and fields that we know as winter. While fall has plenty of terrific traditions, I can't quite shake an uncomfortable, ominous feeling as I watch the life all around me slowly enter dormancy.

The great hymn Abide With Me comes to mind as we consider this phenomenon of fall. Verse 2 says “Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around I see; O thou who changest not, abide me with me!” This verse points us to a truth found in Hebrews 13:8, which says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” While everything around us is in a constant state of change and decay, God does not change. While the applications of God's changelessness are endless, perhaps the most important is that his love for you never changes. Jesus loved you so much that he died so that you could be with him. The Holy Spirit loved you enough to miraculously change your sinful heart into a heart of faith. God will continue to watch over you with this love throughout this life and eternity. Our changeless God does abide with us throughout all the changes around us.

Yes, everything in this world is transient. Fall reminds me of that in a powerful way, but I guess that's alright. Because, when it comes down to it, our lives here are transient too. When you see the decay around you this fall, thank God for providing you with a Savior who will never decay or change. Thanks be to God that he will abide with us through all the changes of this life until we enter paradise where there will be no more decay.

To Whom Shall We Go?

I have a tendency to ruminate on conversations.  I can trace this back to at least 7th grade.  Whenever I have a conversation that I see as meaningful, I spend a lot of time thinking of what I could have said better or what I would say if I got another chance.  It's a tendency that I can't shake.

One conversation that I've ruminated on a lot happened just over six years ago.  It was with a friend that had been straying from her WELS church after she had graduated from high-school.  When I asked her why, she said, "Well, I think that the WELS is right when it comes to doctrine.  But, I don't think that they focus on evangelism and sanctified living as well as they could.  So, to me, it seems like those things might be even more important than completely pure doctrine, so sometimes I'll go and do things with the other church."  This conversation was six years ago.  I tried to replicate it as accurately as I could.  If I turned it into somewhat of a straw-man, that was not my intention.

There's one verse from the Bible that I've wished had come out of my mouth at this point.  It's John 6:68.  It's probably my personal favorite confession of Peter, when he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  What could possibly more important than pure doctrine?  That's not to excuse the failures of churches.  However, how could we go to other churches, just because they have this minutiae correct while they fail on some of the primary doctrines of the Christian church?

At the end of John 6, Jesus asks us, along with his disciples, to commit to all of his teachings...even the difficult ones.  The lectionary worked well this past weekend.  It chose Joshua 24 as the Old Testament lesson.  "Choose for yourselves whom you will serve."  If you're not going to stick with Jesus, who has the words of eternal life, choose whom you will serve.  Will you serve people with the gospel, or will you settle for the social-gospel...or even less?  Do you embrace all the teachings of God, even Ephesians 5 (this weekend's second lesson), or do you shy away from those that will raise eyebrows in other circles?  It might be easy to turn to other churches that make these issues simpler, but why?  Jesus has the words of eternal life.  Since he has those, I'm going to stick to his teachings.  All of 'em.

My name is Tyler and I'm ready to...

I spent a summer running a ropes course. During that summer I challenged literally hundreds of kids, teens and adults to step out of their comfort zones. Here's what I learned:

It's not easy. Not at all. You hear the kid say, "I wanna come down. Let me down." You naturally want to let the kid down and answer that perceived need of his. And if you're persistent and you don't let him down, he gets upset with you. Sometimes he'll even still hate you after you return him to the ground safely. All for what? So he could reach his goal of walking across a wire? I really didn't enjoy that job, and chose not to apply for it for a second summer.

However, I'm seeing some parallels between that job and the pastoral ministry. Pastors can never be content with the status quo of their members, but have to constantly challenge them to step out of their comfort zones. People may not like that. They may get upset. Still, as the pastor gently nudges his members towards personal growth, we keep in mind that the reward is far greater than a child being able to look back and be proud of accomplishing his or her goal. The result of this difficult job is that the saints are equipped to step out of their comfort zones and reach people who otherwise may not be reached. While this won't be easy, the high stakes and great rewards make this work the most exciting work that I can imagine.

Can't wait.