It probably won’t shock you to learn that popular rap artist Sean Carter who goes by the name Jay Z, doesn’t believe in Hell.  If you don’t know, Jay Z is one of the most financially successful hip hop artist in America.  It was said in 2009 he was worth $500million!  You may know him better for his highly publicized marriage to R&B diva, Beyonce Knowles.

Jay was recently interviewed on an XM talk radio station and he was asked by the host if he was a devil worshiper.  Wow!  Talk about cutting to the chase.  Jay said ”no of coarse not.”  He did say however, that he does not believe in religion, but he does believe that there is only one god.  Now before you start downloading his latest album on itunes, you should know that while he believes that there is only one god, he also believes that all gods are the same. 

What I find so interesting about those who share this believe in heaven without a hell, is that most if not all would not disagree with Sir Issac Newton’s Third Law of Motion which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  I bet Jay believes in evil, so if that is the case why not believe in hell?  Because hell makes us accountable.  If there is no hell, then I am free to do whatever I want with no consequences to my actions.  

Romans 14:10 We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (v.12) Each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Luke 12:5 Jesus says “Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell.

Today is the last day of the NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) meetings in Maui.  Yes I am really suffering for Jesus, but someone has to do it!  At one point we had a role call of the room and I was astonished to find out that we had six generations of players represented.  Last year we elected a new Executive Director, Demaurice Smith, and since he has taken office he has had one consistent message and that message is One Team, One Locker Room, One Voice.  Anyone who is involved with sports knows that nothing will kill a team quicker than dissension.

Paul the Apostle knew this and so in Ephesians 4:1-6 he encourages the church to fight for unity.  Why, because there are so many things that are fighting against us trying to divide the church.  Starting in verse four Paul says, ”There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Just like the current and former players of the National Football League, all believers are called to the same team.  We must learn to stop fighting against one another and begin fighting for what unites us.  That is what we are in Maui fighting for and that is what God requires from His children.

Right now, I am sitting on United flight 37 on my way to the island of Maui.  Before jealousy and envy start to well up in your heart, let me just tell you what my wife and I have been through the last two days.  We got up at 3am Friday morning to catch a 7am flight from Tampa that was supposted to land in Phoenix in time to board our US Air connection to Maui at 11:45am.  We arrrived at the airport only to find that the flight from Tampa was delayed 2 hrs, which meant we were going to miss our connection in Phoenix.  “Not to worry, Mr. Davis,” the ticket counter agent assured me, “we have already booked you guys on the 2:45pm flight that will put you into Maui by 5:30pm.” So we landed in Phoenix and went to our next gate to wait almost three hours for our flight to Maui, only to be told that lovely US Air, had cancelled our flight to Maui and there were no other flights into Maui until Saturday morning.  Great!!!! The 11:45 am was completely sold out, so we got booked on the same flight at 2:45 that was supposed to get us into Maui by 5:30.  We received a call from a friendly lady named Jan who informed us that US Air had cancelled our flight again and since it is spring break time, there are not many available seats on other airlines.  Your kidding me right?  Well as luck would have it Mrs. Jan got us booked on a flight that left Phoenix at 11:45am going to San Francsico and then we would have to catch a United Airlines flight that gets into Maui at  5pm.  Once we landed in San Fran, we had to rush trough the airport terminal in order to just make our flight.  We finally sat down only to be told there is a mechanical issue with the plane and they are fixing the problem as we speak.  Just what you want to hear after you board a plane that is going to be flying over water for 5 hours.  So the moral of this long drama is…….. well I don’t have one really.  I am just praying that I will get to Maui sometime soon and safely.  Isn’t it funny how we try so hard to control so many things that relate to our lives?  Only to realize that we are never truly in control.  God is really the only one that has all the control.  Does that mean we are puppets?  No we have free will to choose between right and wrong.  However in a situation like the one I am in, it would seem I don’t have any choices; however, I do have a choice.  I have the choice of how I react and respond to the things that come into my life that i have no control over.  Philippians 2:14-15 Paul says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of god without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

Yesterday at 12:01 marked the start of free agency for the players of the National Football League.  This is a time that is marked with excitement for some and nervousness for others.  A time when careers will take off and others will come to an end.  This year is like no other in NFL history since this is the first year in a long time that there is no salary cap.  That means that teams are free to spend as much or as little as they want in order to build their team.

Because of the significance of this time in history there are some 200 players that thought they were going to be free agents. This means they would have the ability to sign with another club, but due to the end of the collective barganing agreement they are no longer able to become free agents.  They are restricted free agents which means a team that now wants them must give the current team that the player is on compensation in order to sign them to a contract.  A lot of verbage I know, basically 200 players should be free to sign with another team are locked into their current team.

Why am I telling you this?  Because many of us are walking around during this unprecedented time in history and we are spiritual free agents who have the ability to sign with another team, but because the world has been lying to us we are stuck with our current team.  We think that we are free, but  in reality we are under contract with the wrong team.  Unlike in the NFL where there are 32 teams in which a player could sign with, in life there are only two teams; team Jesus and the devils team.  How do I know which team I am on?

Romans 6:16 Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive His approval. (NLT)

Jesus has provided the necessary compensation to buy our freedom.  All we have to do now is choose to be on His team.  And the contract that He will give us is worth more than all that the devil could ever offer us and more.