I may be biased, but I think the best Big 12 Tournament coverage will be coming out of KC's local paper, the Star. If you don't have access to a hard copy, you can follow via the Star's Big12KC blog and also hit up the their website for all the material from the Sports pages. Coverage started today, games begin Thursday...

I'll post my Big 12 tourney picks tomorrow--a little warm-up before the big dance. If anyone's up for it, we can have a little preliminary pick 'em action right here, for braggin' rights.

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The other day it struck me that the final judgment will be ironic in multiple ways. It is possible that I have jarring ideas of this nature more frequently than is strictly normal for a guy who always reads the Sports page first. I don't know, you tell me. Admitted, it's one reason I blog, to add some cogency to my distracted thought life.

I think there will be degrees of irony on the eschatological "Day of the Lord." This is when Jesus returns to the earth with all the regal swagger and political autocracy and militant divinity that most people wanted the first time, sporting expensive, jaw-dropping clothing like nothing anyone has seen before, and, if the biblical imagery is concrete, causing the sky to roll up like a yanked mini blind. Also, if Mark Driscoll is correct, we will see Jesus sporting a tattoo down his calf that will inspire both fear and dread. Wait and see on that one. There will be a lot to see, is what I'm getting at. But even more to feel.

What stoked this slow-moving train of thought was a verse from Matthew 19, where Jesus explains that everyone who loses wealth or power or respect or family--in short, anything--for the sake of God's kingdom, will receive, not only eternal life, but "a hundred-fold" return on their sacrifice. At the end of this affirming dialog, almost as an afterthought, Jesus adds: "But many who are first will be last, and the last first." I wonder if he said it quietly, with a regretful eeriness in his voice. Because it changes the tone of the whole scene, instantly.

It made me think what a shock it will be to see some of the big shot Christians scraping into Heaven by their teethskins while some of the mousy nobodies who didn't seem to be very impressive dudes, who preferred prayer to pontificating, and probably weren't cool enough to blog or grow interesting facial hair (cue: self-deprecating humor), are revealed as heroes.

Next I thought about the quiet, seemingly unmotivated people who always stayed in the background and who will, in fact turn out to be exactly that: unmotivated people who stayed in the background. Just when everyone was expecting them to pull a Houdini and escape from their apparent "lastness." Nope, turns out they really were distracted and spiritually stupid. They weren't just acting.

Finally, I thought about the amazing people of God whose earthly faith and dedication was the genuine article after all, the ones we'll greet with happy sighs of relief: "So you won't be 'the last' after all. You had me worried there for a minute, man."

And then I wondered which line I will be standing in. As I see it, in the topsy-turvy realignment-to-reality of Heaven, there will be a couple kinds of irony that will make you laugh out loud, and a couple that will bring the ache of regret, despite it being Heaven after all.

Christ, help me hug the role of a privileged servant, motivated by love, focused on those people who aren't me, whether I stay a little man or somehow get shoved up to sweat under the heat lamps.

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If we had the cash, we would definitely be hanging around the Sprint Center in Kansas City's new Power & Light district later this week when the Big 12 Tournament rolls into town.

The Jayhawks have the #2 seed behind Texas (identical records, but UT won the lone head-to-head game) and is looking for a rematch while chasing a #1 NCAA Tournament seed. The tournament resumes of 5 other Big 12 teams are on the line as well, so bracketology punditry (that's fun to say) will be rampant.

We live about ten minutes from the arena, so the pain of not being there is intense, almost as great as, say, being an MU basketball fan right now.

Fortunately, we do have our minor consolations. Like getting geared up. Asher is pumped. At least I think that's Asher, although he's looking a lot like a four-month-old Joe Thorn these days.

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The Indiana Jones movies played a significant role back in my early years, especially at "slumber parties" (oxymoron), to the degree that my friends and I were forced to tackle a very formidable First Order question, but completely lacked the internal resources to answer it: How can you make a fear-inspiring, eight-foot whip out of supplies commonly found in your mom's kitchen drawer?

Needless to say...we're looking forward to this movie. Aidan, Asher and I have our sleeping bags and caffeinated beverages ready, and we are expecting a lot.

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Recently I was mulling over the topic of "God's will," and came to the conclusion that in some ways I've started thinking like an empiricist: Show me the evidence. Give me an authoritative endorsement. Show me the pile of material data that makes "God's will" make sense--otherwise, it may be just a whim.

I'm not saying that external confirmation of what we perceive as divine direction is not helpful or necessary, merely that to depend on it reflexively is a reversal of priorities. In my case, it's the insidious desire for a burning bush growing up from the stump where I had supposedly lopped it off. How is that even possible? I wrote an article about not needing a burning bush, so clearly I should have mastered that by now. Ha ha...

I think I've rightly emphasized the sufficiency of God's word for guidance, but inadvertently devalued the way God often chooses to speak to us in personal, internal, undeniably subjective ways. I get tired of hearing people play the "God's will" card as a mandate to do whatever they feel inclined to do at the moment--but the reality is, abuses don't change the fact that God frequently does speak personally, internally, to the person who wants to hear from him. Discernment is required, but discernment doesn't erase genuine, biblically-aligned experience.

After all, Jesus' kingdom resides in the hearts of his followers these days. So the heart is one place that his kingdom directives will resonate. What I'm concluding is this: If you find a specific, persistent, nagging desire to serve Christ that kind of burns a hole in your chest like a hot brick of charcoal, you should follow through.

I guess ultimately this is a faith issue. Our Father really does care about us enough to put ideas in our heads, desires in our hearts, and then affirm them. He doesn't want us to be flying blind. That foundational level of trust--the belief that God doesn't want us to choose our life path by throwing darts at a map--frees us up to sense what God is doing in our spirits, believe that this "soul work" is legit, and put it in front of other people.

Even without that empirical data, that burning bush.

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Michael Spencer addresses some of the confusing issues that continue to surround the (mis)understanding of what "contextualization" actually means when it comes to Christians interacting with their cultures. Spencer uses some perplexing comments by John MacArthur to get the discussion started.

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"In the last several days, the Big 12 has moved ahead of the ACC to take the nation's number one RPI ranking."

Nice work. This will definitely help the Big 12's NCAA Send Six campaign. I had a mini-celebration right there on the couch.

To those of you who are as interested in college basketball as recreational feng shui, I apologize. Every year when March rolls around I start spouting stats, predictions, and players names and I just can't seem to help myself. I promise the obsession will wind down within a month.

But for the rest of you, the ones who have successfully identified God's favorite sport, there's a bracket contest coming up...

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45 minutes into our 10 minute drive, we were becoming convinced that the forces of darkness did not want us to see Derek Webb playing live at Shoal Creek Community Church. Either that or Yahoo maps. Regardless of who exactly was responsible, we decided to screw 'em and go anyway. So after an hour of mistaken routes, single lane highways, non-existent exits, road construction, two-mile-U-turns, and some very childish venting, we arrived at the concert 25 minutes late and nonchalantly sauntered in.

We did the right thing. We are happy that we went to the concert instead of going somewhere to morosely drink coffee. Derek is very good in person.

Despite having been a fairly staunch fan of Derek ever since his debut with Caedmon's Call, this was the first time I'd heard him live, and he confirmed my impression that he's an immensely talented musician, even when playing acoustic guitar by himself. (I think the songwriting chops are evident to anyone who's heard his lyrics.) After the concert, I was explaining to a friend that Derek Webb's stock had gone up in my book after seeing him in person.

Throughout the relaxed set, Derek chatted at length about his songs--the rationale behind them, how they got written, the gist of their messages. I liked the fact that he played stuff as far back as "Faith My Eyes" and "Table for Two" (I used to play that one a lot) from 40 Acres by Caedmon's Call--and talked about them. Lindsay thought he should have shut up and played a few more, but for the most part, I was grateful for the chance to get a better idea of what Derek's about.

Derek Webb's first two solo albums (She Must and Shall Go Free and I See Things Upside Down) are my favorites because I think they're more unique stylistically (folk/bluegrass and experimental rock, respectively) and more varied lyrically. His last couple albums, Mockingbird and The Ringing Bell, have had more overtly political agendas, and although Derek has always been something of an activist, he's come off as increasingly preachy in my opinion--which gets kind of old.

Listening to Webb in person, I discovered that, yes, he does get kind of preachy at times, especially when talking about a holistic gospel that is physical/spiritual, doesn't overvalue "individual salvation," and doesn't hold its breath at election times. However, that stridency is offset by Derek's humility, affability, and off-the-cuff humor. Seeing him in person helped me get past his prophetic outcast persona, which he does kind of play up, and appreciate the fact that he's a passionate guy who has a lot of the same concerns I do.

Derek served up several good sound-bytes, but my favorites involved the church's relationship to culture, where he made some great points. Highlights:

• How come "Christian" art only deals with the loftiest, most "spiritual" 2% of life? What about the rest of life, the hard, the dirty, the ugly? Artists who are Christians should feel freedom to write or depict any aspect of life that falls under God's dominion. Hint: That's everything.
  
• There's a completely false idea that culture with a "Christian" label on it is innately good and pure. If anything, "Christian" culture is guaranteed to be secular, because it's being made by people who have problems, know they have problems, are seeking help with their problems, and may very well reveal those problems in their art.
• A lot of young people are being trained in their churches to react to their cultures out of fear (Don't do this, Don't watch that, Don't go there) rather than entering with discernment to know and serve their outsider friends. This is a manipulative way to form young people, it short-circuits gospel work, and ultimately there will be fallout as children grow older and react to their wrong formation--perhaps overreact.

Lindsay and I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to hear Derek play live. He's a guy with an agenda that sometimes gets gratingly political, but he's also transparent, and I appreciate his heart for the church. As far as one-dude-with-a-guitar shows go, you won't do much better.

If you want to hear Derek Webb's newest stuff, you can listen to streaming audio from Ampersand, the EP he just released with wife Sandra McCracken (not exactly typical DW, circa 21st century, but still very good).

Person Derek Webb

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Aidan and Asher work like a pick-pocket team from Oliver Twist. Asher handles the delay and distract action while Aidan moves in for the quick slurp. Our friend Scott was totally unprepared for the onslaught.

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[UPDATE:] Here are my 2008 NCAA Tournament Picks.

Who's in and who's out varies from day to day, depending on who you ask, as conference seasons are winding down. In his latest assessment of the NCAA tournament field, Jeff Goodman has Texas A&M in, Oklahoma in, and Baylor on the line. He also thinks that Kentucky has secured a spot with their win at South Carolina--good news for Billy Gillespie, since a lot of people had written Kentucky off this year.

I'm going to stick to my guns and say that Baylor makes the cut, along with A&M, Oklahoma, K-State, Texas, and KU.

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