"We've got to go 'all-in' on Jesus"

In case the previous post didn't sufficiently leave you shaking your head, here's a little more gagitude I just found, accompanying the photo above (from http://blog.keepbelieving.com/?p=898):

Last year when I preached on doubt, I used the illustration of poker players going “all in” in order to win the game. That’s what we have to do with our faith. At some point we’ve got to go “all in” on Jesus. A few months later Pastor Greg Kuehn decided to use that phrase as a call for commitment after a sermon on Romans 12:1-2. A man in the church who does embossing offered to make these “All In for Jesus” poker chips. At the end of the service, hundreds of people came forward to receive their chip. Church members carry the chips around to remind themselves of their commitment.

Right. And I carry around a little Jesus figurine to remind me to play poker.

Addendum, November 30, 2007

See the comment below from "Short-Stacked Shamus" (and read his always insightful and well-written blog at http://hardboiledpoker.blogspot.com/). The last minute that he refers to is somebody (I can't tell who) singing a stupid song about "I'm all-in with Jesus." I was curious whether this was a real song that I could locate, so did a Google search. I didn't find anything about the song, but in the process, I came across this bit of drivel, eerily similar to the paragraph quoted above, from http://www.kofc971.org/bulletin/2004/2004-09September.pdf:

Chaplain’s Message

Perhaps you have seen recently on television the World
Series of Poker. I was at my brother’s house watching it one night and I noticed that whenever a player felt that he had a particularly strong hand, he would attempt to weaken the other players or player, or even get them out of the game outright, by, and this is the phrase they used, “going all in.” It was a risk, because if the other player had a better hand then the one going all in would be severely weakened himself or even out of the game.

Reflecting on this in light of the Gospel, I am reminded that we are asked to “go all in” with Jesus. He does not ask for half of our heart or part of our life. He wants it all! He even goes so far as to say that if we do not put him ahead of our own families, then we cannot enter the kingdom of God. Either we “go all in” with Jesus or nothing. After all, God has “gone all in” for us in Jesus; if we do not respond in kind, then God cannot respond in us....

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go throw up.