The D-Rose Blues

I’ve got the D-Rose Blues and they don't feel good.

About 2 months ago my wife and I came home on a Friday night after dinner out with some friends.  As we entered our apartment I was excited that the Bulls were playing in Portland against the Trail Blazers, because that meant the game started around 9pm instead of 7pm so I hadn’t missed much of the game.  I sat down turned on the game to discover that the Bulls had come out blazin’ (pun intended).  D-Rose looked like he was finally hitting his groove.  It had been a rough start to the season but he had 17pts in the first half.

As the second half began I was pleasantly surprised that the Bulls were leading a game on the dreaded Circus Road Trip part of their schedule.  They usually come out of that road trip with a pretty lousy record, but if they could win this game it could help make the road trip more bearable.

Then towards the end of the 3^rd quarter the Bulls let the Trail Blazers back into the game and Rose was cutting towards the basket.  The Blazers stole the ball and Rose pivoted his knee to go back on defense but as he moved something was wrong!  I could sense it right away.  He turned a casual turn, the kind basketball players make a 100 times a game but his knee couldn’t take the turn.

The camera followed the fast break on the other side of the court but I didn’t care about that, I cared about the little guy at the far left of the screen who was now LIMPING up the court.

The next 10 minutes I was in panic.  Stacey King and Neil Funk kept calling the game like nothing was going on, but there were doctors around Rose!  I knew it was going to be bad news but King and Funk continued to not say anything about it.  Didn’t they realize this was the end of the 2013-2014 Bulls season.
I watched the rest of the game in horror.  Even watched the post game show hoping for news on Rose.  I was 'DApressed' that this could happen again.  I kept asking Why?Why? as I texted my friends and as my wife mourned with me then laughed at me and reminded me that it's basketball, but that fell on deaf ears.

Hours later the news broke that the knee injury was bad and then a couple days later it was announced that Rose was out for the whole season.

This is when I began to get stuck in the D-Rose blues.

The D-Rose blues is the realization that another full season of Bulls basketball is irrelevant.  The D-Rose blues is turning on a Bulls game and cheering for them to win but in the front of your mind you realize it would be better if they lost every game to get a lottery pick in this years hyped NBA Draft.  The D-Rose blues is cheering for your favorite team to lose but then feeling like a bad fan so changing your mind but then feeling sad when they win a game.  The D-Rose blues is hoping that your favorite coach in the world would take his foot off the gas and let the team lose this year because it’ll give them a better future.  The D-Rose blues is seeing how dysfunctional of a franchise you cheer for and reading they might trade one of the best coaches in the NBA.  The D-Rose blues is seeing Luol Deng get traded and getting excited that the Bulls got more draft picks and saved 20 Million dollars in salary, though they lost an amazing defender and one of the leaders of the team.  The D-Rose blues is loving a team that’s future seems bleak.

I love the Chicago Bulls but what will Derrick Rose look like next year?  Can he make it through a season of basketball ever again?  Will Tom Thibodeau be their coach next year?  Can the Bulls ever win the NBA Championship again?

These questions will remain unanswered for a while.  As they wait to be answered I’ll place my hope in a young man named Nikola Mirotić

And if all else fails well I’m becoming a Chicago Sky Fan and fully embracing Elena Delle Donne

12 Years a Slave

The other night I was able to venture to the theater to go see the new movie “12 Years a Slave,” directed by Steve McQueen.  This is McQueen’s third film and follows his most controversial film “Shame” which is about a man who is a sex addict.  McQueen’s films have often been described as photographs that are strung together.  This meaning, that you could take one shot from his movie, put it in a picture frame, and people would comment on how beautiful the picture is.

In his new film “12 Years a Slave” he takes on the task of showing us the journey of Solomon Northup, a free black man in the mid 1800’s who is taken captive and thrown into slavery.  McQueen co-wrote the screenplay with John Ridley who adapted it from Northup’s autobiography that was written in 1853.  He uses his technique of picture taking to convey this powerful story through dynamic pictures that show the horror of slavery.

Throughout the film we see this crushing journey of a man who lives an honest life, working various jobs here and there to provide for his family.  He is a great violinist who is asked to travel for a job to Washington D.C. which ends up being a trick, as he is drugged, and sold into the slave trade.  The movie chronicles Northup’s life as he is taken from Washington D.C. by ferry down to Louisiana and sold to slave owner William Ford.

In one of the most soul crushing scenes in the movie we see a slave trader played by Paul Giamatti, present his slaves as merchandise for the slave owners.  Giamatti shows off the muscles on the young men, and commands one young child to perform for the slave owners to show how great of a steal they could get by purchasing him.

As the movie progresses we see Solomon move from a confident free man to a man that is trapped, scared, and unsure if it is better to live or to die.  He stands out from the other slaves as he tries to excel at his work but he soon finds out that standing out to the slave owners is not a good thing and only leads to more punishment and abuse for thinking he is better than them.  Solomon has to face fierce wicked men who degrade him and tell him he is no man but a mere beast born to work for them.

Just as “12 Years a Slave” portrays a man who is tricked and delivered over to slavery we see a similar picture in the Bible.

In Genesis 37 we meet one of the sons of Israel by the name of Joseph.  Joseph like Solomon Northup was a man that stood out from others.  He excelled at what he did and found favor in the eyes of his father.  He is elevated above his brothers as his father gives him an expensive coat of color, usually given to the first born not the baby of the family.  Then Joseph begins to tell his brothers about dreams he is having that they will one day bow down to him.  These stories eventually bring his brothers to fierce anger and they rise up and plot against him.  Throwing him in an empty pit and stripping him of his coat his brothers decide to sell him into slavery for twenty shekels of silver.

From this point on Joseph starts a journey from being a prominent member of his father’s household to the lowest position in society as he is sold in the slave market.  Joseph then is bought by Pharaoh’s chief of security, Potiphar.  From the life of Joseph we see him excel and stand out from the other slaves but being brought into a prominent position only brings to a further down fall.  His Master’s wife tries to make a move on him and as he avoids her, she puts the blame on him and he is cast into prison.

In prison Joseph is left alone and faces the darkness, hurt, and humility of being a slave in prison.

At this point in Joseph’s life he is about 28 years old and has been a slave for around 11 years.

As I watched “12 Years a Slave” I was brought to tears to see a man who was drugged, sold, and imprisoned as a slave all because of his skin color.  As the movie portrays the real darkness of man’s sin, Solomon is faced with the decision of showing how educated he is or to hide it so he isn’t punished for being smart.  Throughout the movie we see Solomon have to make hard decisions each day on how and when he can stand up for the injustice around him, which ends up only hurting him further.

We see similarities in the life of Joseph, a man who is tricked, sold, and imprisoned as a slave.  One who has to face decisions each day on if he should stand out from the other slaves or if he should just get lost in the fold.  God eventually brings him to Pharaoh’s attention and we see the rise of Joseph from a slave prisoner to Pharaoh’s right hand man.  

Solomon Northup faced years of abuse and wrongful imprisonment.  I won’t spoil his story for you but at times it is easy to think we are over our problems from the past.  It is easy to think that since slavery is abolished and black men and women are free that these problems no longer exist in our society.  But from the life of Joseph to Solomon Northup to our current time we see that the sin of jealousy, anger, and hate will never leave this present world.  This world will be filled with people who feel anger and hatred towards others, maybe because they think a certain person acts as if they are better than them, maybe because they think a certain person should not be allowed their same freedom because of their skin color.  Maybe because they think a certain person is a terrorist just because of the way they look.  Maybe because they think that a certain person is on their turf, or part of another gang.  It will happen for different reasons but we can’t live in a naïve state where we think sin doesn’t thrive.  People feel evil, wicked, hatred that causes them to act in sinful, unjustly ways.

When I watch a movie like “12 Years a Slave” or when I read Joseph’s story I weep. I weep because I yearn and hope for a time when this hatred, this sick sin, will no longer thrive.  I cry out for the return of Christ.

Hebrews 1:8-9 describes how Christ will reign saying, “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.  You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.’” (ESV)

When Christ returns the world will see his scepter of uprightness as wickedness will perish and righteousness will reign.

I can’t wait for the return of King Jesus when his reign will fill this world.  I can’t wait for evil to be punished and righteousness to reign.  I see the evil in our world and I do the one thing I know I can do, I worship Jesus, I seek His Face, and cry out to Him asking for his name to be praised and for his love to be spread across my neighborhood, my city, my country, across His world.

Introduction

Last December I graduated from Grad School.  I thought to myself that now that I don't have homework I will read all the books I want to read and I will be able to spend time writing what I want to write.  Well almost a whole year has passed and I've read some books I've wanted to read (working on that) and I've written a little.  I enjoy writing and wanted a venue to put out some of my thoughts and just want to write about things that interest me.  So here it is I've created a blog to post various thoughts or interests that I have.
Some things you should know about me.
1.  I work at New Life Community Church in West Lakeview and am constantly going to God's word and praying to see how God desires to use our church to reach our neighborhood and all of Chicago.
2.  I am married to an amazing woman, Brooke Bacon, who is currently carrying our first child.  So we are going through a change of life and as I got to see my baby move for the first time last week I felt my whole perspective on life start to change.
3.  I love Chicago Sports, particularly the Chicago Bulls.  I grew up in the time of Jordan and have been caught up with the Bulls even during the dire years of one Marcus Fizer.  If we have a girl I would be tempted to name her Rose Mary-Jane (MJ) Bacon.  Don't worry the wife won't let it happen.
4.  I thoroughly enjoy movies.  Growing up I memorized what movies we had taped off of TV and tried to watch each one from "Fried Green Tomatoes" to "Escape from New York."  If my budget was large enough I would go to the movies every weekend.
5.  I really really like Pizza.  I grew up on eating pizza at least once a week.  Rosati's, Lou's, Dondi's, Moretti's, and Gino's were common carryout names in our household.  Pizano's thin crust pizza is the best pizza in the world and there is no discussing this.
Based on these facts about my life you can get a picture of the various things I will write about.