WHAT IF....

I try not to rant in this blog....but I am going to rant.... I am not sorry for what I am about to say.

In the past two weeks, we have watched the media and society in general take what was the death of a pop music superstar turn into a circus. I have heard that MJ's ( not the basketball player) memorial will be unlike any the WORLD has ever seen. Now alot of that is hype. There is no doubt. It is about ratings and it is about $.

Representative Peter King of New York is being smashed by the same media because he said that the media coverage of Michael Jackson's death and memorial is an "orgy of glorification." He has called for America ( and especially the media ) to honor our American troops who are sacrificing thier lives for our freedom. That is not a 4th of July message... that is everyday! King will be villified by most media outlets as insensitive, cruel and abusive in his portrayal of Jackson.

Well, that is one situation. The other is almost as disturbing. Somehwere in the south, there is a woman and 4 kids who are grieving the death of their NFL Superstar husband and dad. I said HUSBAND AND DAD and apparently BOYFRIEND to a girl 16 years his younger, whom police say was laying at his feet, with one gun shot in her head. No disputes thier death. And apparently, no one disputes their relationship.

So, read the media outlets.... Steve McNair was a pillar of the community, known for his charity work in Nashville. He was considered a mentor for NFL athletes. He has been called in the last couple days, " One of the classiest guys in Nashville." There is some concession that there was a different side to McNair that none of us knew...but that should not skew our view of what a classy guy this was and how this "episode" should not taint his legacy whatsover.

GIVE ME A BREAK!!! WOW!!!

Well, I got to tell you.... WE LIVE IN AN UPSIDE DOWN WORLD. That is not my idea. There are songs written about how messed up our world is... There are books about it. And there is one book that tells us that from the beginning of time, man ( and woman) did not get it right. It is a book that tells a story of how messeed we all are, and yet how there is a GOD OF TRUTH who LOVES people and wants to guide them into RIGHT SIDE UP living.

But before that can happen, we all have to be able to confront the TRUTH about ourselves, our athletes, musicians, politicians. The fact is that the TRUTH will come out here, or at judgment.

I am in the middle of a series on Moses from Exodus and Numbers. Great guy, certainly not perfect. ( In the Bible, we learn that outside of Jesus, we all have a bumpy past.) He blew it several times. But somehow, after 120 years, the Bible says, "His eyesight was clear and he was as strong as ever." His legacy was strong at the end. Numbers 11 tells us that "Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth."

It occurs to me as millions line up for a glimpse at the Staples center in LA tomorrow , and as people gather in a football stadium in Nashville, that maybe just a few minutes everyday, looking at the life of a guy like Moses might give us a better clue as to how to live in an upside down world.

He will never get the attention that Michael Jackson got ( in life and death), or that Steve McNair go ( in Life or Death), but this week in my heart, and in person, I will honor the life of a good man named Don Klahr. Don loved his church. He loved the Lord. He loved His wife of 30 years, Dickey. He loved his children. He loved me. He fought health problems for the last year, but when I saw him, he told me that he was ready...and he knew it was in God's hands. He was just a good guy who had his prorities in order and who lived and died the way God would want for us. He's the kind of guy that churches are built on... faith, strength, honor, and love.

For me, I will honor Don Klahr... and others that come to mind who did not need to be on Enterntainment tonight, or be the lead story on Sportscenter. All Don and many others that I know did was "Love God with all his heart, mind , soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. ( Mt. 22).

Give me 1000 Don Klahrs... I won't waste my time with Pop Superstars and NFL stars. They get enough applause and accolades at their concerts and ballgames...

Let's spread it around alittle bit. Do you know someone who is a Don Klahr kind of guy? Go tell him.... let him know that hes the real hero ...a hero in the right way. He probably will dismiss or deny it, but the truth is that guys like Don... they deserve a little slap on the back. Don would tell you , "God deserves the slap on the back. He changed me."

End of Rant... The Gospel group TRUTH had a song 20 plus years ago that was quite popular. It is entitled "Living life upside down." It tells a story of exactly where we are today.

John has a new way of looking at life
He’s tired of his job, his kids and his wife
He says the secret to his successWas in leaving and finding himself
Now he’s someone to somebody else.
And you say we’ve risen to a new age of truthY
ou’re calling it a spiritual Godly pursuit
But I say, I say,

(chorus)What if we’ve fallen to the bottom of a well
Thinking we’ve risen to the top of a mountain
What if we’re knocking at the gates of hell
Thinking we’re heaven bound
What if we spend our lives thinking of ourselves
When we should have been thinking of each other
What if we reach up and touch the ground
To find we’re living life upside down.

We’ve got a program for saving the earth
While unborn children are denied their right to birth
One baby’s blessed, another cursed
Have we made this world better or worse
Now that the life of a tree comes first.

You say we’ve risen to a new age of light
You’re telling me what used to be wrong is now right

But I say, I say,
What if we’re living,
what if we’re living,
What if we’re living life upside down.

WHAT IF....