Some random sports reflections...
*I'm not really a big golf guy (that and tennis are probably the two sports that I enjoy the least watching) but this year has been interesting to say the least. So far in the two major tournaments (the Masters & the US Open) that have been played, the two winners (Bubba Watson & Webb Simpson) are strong & vocal followers of Jesus. Simpson's twitter profile describes himself as this: " *sinner* loved by a Savior". I really am encouraged that more and more athletes are vocal about their faith in Christ, and that they are using the platform that God is giving them to point back to Him. Very cool indeed.
*After my last post about Manny Ramirez, he recently asked for his release from the A's. It didn't seem like they were going to promote him from AAA and so he wanted to see if he can get back into the big leagues another way. I don't know if he will find another team but I do wish him the best.
*The NBA finals are going on and for the first time in my life I've not watched one game of the Finals, even though I am able to (I wasn't able to watch any back in '09 because I was in Poland and it's like a 7 hour time difference). The reason? Simply put Oklahoma City is in the finals. Anyone that knows me, knows that I lived in Seattle and did ministry work there for 3 years. I was there the final years that the Sonics were in town before they moved. So I know better than a lot of people how people in Seattle feel right now about the Thunder, because I saw a lot of what went down firsthand. I can't bring myself to root for the Thunder let alone watch the games. Because I remember what the ownership did. To me, they brought to light the ugly side of sports. As much as I didn't like LeBron James and how he handed "The Decision", that wasn't as bad as what the Thunder ownership group and David Stern did to the city of Seattle. Growing up I was a huge NBA fan. But now, the NBA is like 4th or 5th (behind NFL, MLB, NHL & soccer). I hope that someday Seattle gets a franchise back. But the consequences of what happened with the Thunder still continue to leave a bad taste in my mouth.
*Speaking of soccer, right now in Europe there's a major tournament going on called Euro 2012. The top 16 European countries are competing in a tournament to decide the top team in all of Europe. The tourney is held every four years and this year it's being held in Poland & the Ukraine. I'm happy that Poland is getting to co-host the tourney (sad that they got knocked out of the tourney a few days ago). I loved going over there a few years ago and spending the summer as an intern doing ministry work. I continue to pray for the people of Poland (specifically those in the city of Krakow) and major international tournaments like this are a great reminder to pray for countries.
Showing posts with label Jesus Follower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Follower. Show all posts
Monday, June 18, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
New Manny Being New Manny? Manny Ramirez and New Focus
I saw a tweet yesterday from Tim Ellsworth, author & news director at my alma mater, Union University. It said the following: "Manny Ramirez becomes a Christian? Hope this is genuine." I was like "Huh?"
To give a little background for those who many not know. Manny Ramirez is a baseball player. In his time, a really good baseball player. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox & Tampa Bay Rays. He had most of his success in Cleveland & Boston, including helping the Red Sox win 2 World Series in 2004 & 2007 with a little in L.A. He was also known as a kinda eccentric player. There was a phrase that followed him. That phrase was "Manny being Manny". When there was an off the wall news story, most sportscasters would say "Well it's Manny being Manny." In time, that phrase seemed to overshadow his talent.
Something else that seemed to overshadow his talent was being busted by MLB for violating the drug policy. The first time happened in 2009 and he lost 50 games. After jumping around to the White Sox & the Rays in consecutive seasons with bad performances, Ramirez was busted again by MLB for violating the drug policy in 2011 just 5 games into the season for the Rays. He faced a 100 game suspension if and when he returned to the big leagues. Instead, Ramirez abruptly retired. At that point, it seemed like a sad ending to a career of a player who had a lot of talent but his antics seemed to get in the way.
However, last fall, Ramirez went to MLB officials and wanted to be reinstated. This reinstatement would come with the provision that he would serve a reduced suspension of 50 games (instead of 100) with whatever team signed him. The Oakland A's ended up being that team. He became eligible to join the A's yesterday. Right now, he's at their AAA affiliate the Sacramento River Cats.
So I knew that he was in AAA & that at some point he could be called up if the A's felt like it. But when I saw that tweet I had to find out about that story. So I googled to see and came across a couple of articles. One that was really interesting was one from the A's website, (there's a link to the article here). Initially the article talks about Manny and his minor league stint. But further down in the article, it talks about how he's changed as a person. He cites his wife and his newfound faith in Christ as huge parts of that.
Several quotes that Ramirez said that stood out included:
"It's hard to be a Christian, because when God comes inside your heart, you don't do things that you used to. Nobody can walk the perfect path, because nobody's perfect."
"I know a lot of people talk about the Hall of Fame, blah, blah, blah. But you know something? The Bible says that it's better to be in the Book of Life. And that's where I want to be. If it [getting in the Baseball Hall of Fame] happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it's not a big deal.
"I'm going to give 100 percent. If it [getting in the Baseball Hall of Fame] doesn't happen, I've got God, and I've got my family. That's all I want."
Personally, I have liked Manny Ramirez, especially when he was in Boston. And I do hope that he's a follower of Jesus now. Sometimes, people can be skeptical of people that say they've changed. But the cool thing is that God can definitely do the changing. Maybe now on Manny being Manny can instead be Manny being more like Jesus.
To give a little background for those who many not know. Manny Ramirez is a baseball player. In his time, a really good baseball player. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox & Tampa Bay Rays. He had most of his success in Cleveland & Boston, including helping the Red Sox win 2 World Series in 2004 & 2007 with a little in L.A. He was also known as a kinda eccentric player. There was a phrase that followed him. That phrase was "Manny being Manny". When there was an off the wall news story, most sportscasters would say "Well it's Manny being Manny." In time, that phrase seemed to overshadow his talent.
Something else that seemed to overshadow his talent was being busted by MLB for violating the drug policy. The first time happened in 2009 and he lost 50 games. After jumping around to the White Sox & the Rays in consecutive seasons with bad performances, Ramirez was busted again by MLB for violating the drug policy in 2011 just 5 games into the season for the Rays. He faced a 100 game suspension if and when he returned to the big leagues. Instead, Ramirez abruptly retired. At that point, it seemed like a sad ending to a career of a player who had a lot of talent but his antics seemed to get in the way.
However, last fall, Ramirez went to MLB officials and wanted to be reinstated. This reinstatement would come with the provision that he would serve a reduced suspension of 50 games (instead of 100) with whatever team signed him. The Oakland A's ended up being that team. He became eligible to join the A's yesterday. Right now, he's at their AAA affiliate the Sacramento River Cats.
So I knew that he was in AAA & that at some point he could be called up if the A's felt like it. But when I saw that tweet I had to find out about that story. So I googled to see and came across a couple of articles. One that was really interesting was one from the A's website, (there's a link to the article here). Initially the article talks about Manny and his minor league stint. But further down in the article, it talks about how he's changed as a person. He cites his wife and his newfound faith in Christ as huge parts of that.
Several quotes that Ramirez said that stood out included:
"It's hard to be a Christian, because when God comes inside your heart, you don't do things that you used to. Nobody can walk the perfect path, because nobody's perfect."
"I know a lot of people talk about the Hall of Fame, blah, blah, blah. But you know something? The Bible says that it's better to be in the Book of Life. And that's where I want to be. If it [getting in the Baseball Hall of Fame] happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it's not a big deal.
"I'm going to give 100 percent. If it [getting in the Baseball Hall of Fame] doesn't happen, I've got God, and I've got my family. That's all I want."
Personally, I have liked Manny Ramirez, especially when he was in Boston. And I do hope that he's a follower of Jesus now. Sometimes, people can be skeptical of people that say they've changed. But the cool thing is that God can definitely do the changing. Maybe now on Manny being Manny can instead be Manny being more like Jesus.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Reflections on Brandan Davis
Last night, there was a big area wide event here in Spartanburg. BCM along with Cru (Campus Crusade) and FCA had their monthly worship event at USC Upstate. Last night they had a special guest speaker. Because of this, it was promoted on all the local college campuses. The guest speaker was former University of South Carolina Gamecock football player Brandan Davis.
Brandan has written a book "The Faithful Walk-on" that has just recently been released and is going around talking about the book and sharing his testimony and this was the first stop on his tour. When he opened, he talked about how he has a motto to start off the day. It is a way of reminding himself of all that God has done for him and is motivation to start off the day right.
He shared briefly about his background, growing up being a star athlete in high school and caring pretty much only about girls and football. He talked about during a preseason fall camp one year he got really sick, cramping and throwing up. He shared that he nearly died from that experience. It ended up being a catalyst for eventually accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Because his grades weren't so good, he ended up going to college at Carson Newman and played football there. He shared briefly about his time there and some of the growth that took place in his life. He shared about how when he truly began following Christ, he changed spiritually, mentally and in knowledge of Scripture and wanting a desire to read more. He shared several scriptures including 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Proverbs 3:5-6.
He then talked about sensing God's call to transfer to USC and the story behind initially being rejected (to the business school) and finally getting accepted to school there and being a religious studies major. He walked on to the football team and later earned a scholarship.
He then shared about two models that he lives by. The first is focus because there will be times of stress and it's important to keep focus on what's important. The second is CHANCE which stands for come hard and never come easy.
One big thing that stood out was he shared about smiling. He said that when we smile, we can let the light of Jesus shine through. He talked about a story in the Clemson game in 2010 where a Clemson player was taking some cheap shots and such. So after one play he took his mouthpiece out of his mouth and smiled a great big smile and said a kind word to the Clemson player. Later, the player came up to Brandan and apologized saying that he had gotten caught up in the rivalry. Brandan said "Yeah, we still won though," and the audience here laughed.
It was really cool to hear Brandan's story and I look forward to reading his book. You can buy it from Amazon. Here is the link. It is such a blessing to hear stories like his and how God is continue to use him. He is looking at seminairies and will be looking at starting seminary in the fall. It was a great time last night and I hope that the students there were encouraged by Brandan's story. I know I was.
Brandan has written a book "The Faithful Walk-on" that has just recently been released and is going around talking about the book and sharing his testimony and this was the first stop on his tour. When he opened, he talked about how he has a motto to start off the day. It is a way of reminding himself of all that God has done for him and is motivation to start off the day right.
He shared briefly about his background, growing up being a star athlete in high school and caring pretty much only about girls and football. He talked about during a preseason fall camp one year he got really sick, cramping and throwing up. He shared that he nearly died from that experience. It ended up being a catalyst for eventually accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Because his grades weren't so good, he ended up going to college at Carson Newman and played football there. He shared briefly about his time there and some of the growth that took place in his life. He shared about how when he truly began following Christ, he changed spiritually, mentally and in knowledge of Scripture and wanting a desire to read more. He shared several scriptures including 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Proverbs 3:5-6.
He then talked about sensing God's call to transfer to USC and the story behind initially being rejected (to the business school) and finally getting accepted to school there and being a religious studies major. He walked on to the football team and later earned a scholarship.
He then shared about two models that he lives by. The first is focus because there will be times of stress and it's important to keep focus on what's important. The second is CHANCE which stands for come hard and never come easy.
One big thing that stood out was he shared about smiling. He said that when we smile, we can let the light of Jesus shine through. He talked about a story in the Clemson game in 2010 where a Clemson player was taking some cheap shots and such. So after one play he took his mouthpiece out of his mouth and smiled a great big smile and said a kind word to the Clemson player. Later, the player came up to Brandan and apologized saying that he had gotten caught up in the rivalry. Brandan said "Yeah, we still won though," and the audience here laughed.
It was really cool to hear Brandan's story and I look forward to reading his book. You can buy it from Amazon. Here is the link. It is such a blessing to hear stories like his and how God is continue to use him. He is looking at seminairies and will be looking at starting seminary in the fall. It was a great time last night and I hope that the students there were encouraged by Brandan's story. I know I was.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Random Sports Reflections on Leap Day
Today is Leap Day, otherwise known as my birthday. Hope all of you celebrate Leap Day accordingly and responsibly.
*I'm getting excited for March Madness. Even though the first part of the college baskeball season I really didn't keep up with things, I have in the last month or so. Living in a city with pretty decent mid-major schools (USC Upstate, Wofford), I've got to watch some pretty good basketball. I'm hoping both teams win their conference tourneys and make the Big Dance. They have the ability to if things fall the right way. Emphasis on the "fall the right way".
*Baseball season is about to get going as well. It's weird not living in an MLB city for the first time since 2004 (Although Atlanta is only a few hours away). I'm excited to see how the Royals will do. They might actually do something this year hopefully.
*It's cool that in pro sports there are guys at the highest level that are living out their faith for Jesus and it's protrayed (mostly) in a positive manner in the media. From Tim Tebow, to Jeremy Lin, to Clayton Kershaw, there are lots of examples. I hope that trend will continue. It's good to hear positive stories about athletes than negative ones.
*I'm getting excited for March Madness. Even though the first part of the college baskeball season I really didn't keep up with things, I have in the last month or so. Living in a city with pretty decent mid-major schools (USC Upstate, Wofford), I've got to watch some pretty good basketball. I'm hoping both teams win their conference tourneys and make the Big Dance. They have the ability to if things fall the right way. Emphasis on the "fall the right way".
*Baseball season is about to get going as well. It's weird not living in an MLB city for the first time since 2004 (Although Atlanta is only a few hours away). I'm excited to see how the Royals will do. They might actually do something this year hopefully.
*It's cool that in pro sports there are guys at the highest level that are living out their faith for Jesus and it's protrayed (mostly) in a positive manner in the media. From Tim Tebow, to Jeremy Lin, to Clayton Kershaw, there are lots of examples. I hope that trend will continue. It's good to hear positive stories about athletes than negative ones.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Jumping on the Jeremy Lin Bandwagon
Let me preface this by saying two things. One, I'm not as big of an NBA fan since the debacle that was David Stern & Clay Bennett allowing the Sonics to leave Seattle in such a horrible way. Two, since moving to SC I have seen zero NBA games because I have no cable & internet access is minimal.
However, when there are good stories I tend to pay attention and this would be one of those stories. I always enjoy hearing a good underdog story. I also enjoy hearing athletes who are believers who share their faith both in action and in words. So when you have a story that involves both? As a friend would say "even gooder".
Jeremy Lin, the "it" player right now, is both those things. He is an underdog story in that he graduated from Harvard and went undrafted in 2010. He spent his rookie season mainly on the bench of the Golden State Warriors. He then was cut by them to start the year, then signed & cut by the Houston Rockets, then signed by the New York Knicks, rode the bench & even spent time in the D-League. But due to some injuries, he was brought back up and given the chance to play. And from that, the "Linsanity" began. He has had some Sportcenter worthy performances and has been on a tremendous roll.
He also is very honest and vocal about his faith in Jesus Christ. I love this quote that I came across a few years ago in an interview with InterVarsity:
"I think one of the most rewarding experiences in life is to see people come to Christ and make lifestyle changes. When that happens, you definitely see God behind it. . . . I'm really thankful that God is changing somebody, or sometimes he's changing me. To see that transformation brings me a lot of satisfaction and fulfillment. I definitely want to do something in ministry down the road, maybe as a pastor if that's where God leads."
Kudos to Jeremy Lin and wish him the best in the rest of this season and for whatever God has in store for him. I might acutally keep up with the NBA a little more now....
However, when there are good stories I tend to pay attention and this would be one of those stories. I always enjoy hearing a good underdog story. I also enjoy hearing athletes who are believers who share their faith both in action and in words. So when you have a story that involves both? As a friend would say "even gooder".
Jeremy Lin, the "it" player right now, is both those things. He is an underdog story in that he graduated from Harvard and went undrafted in 2010. He spent his rookie season mainly on the bench of the Golden State Warriors. He then was cut by them to start the year, then signed & cut by the Houston Rockets, then signed by the New York Knicks, rode the bench & even spent time in the D-League. But due to some injuries, he was brought back up and given the chance to play. And from that, the "Linsanity" began. He has had some Sportcenter worthy performances and has been on a tremendous roll.
He also is very honest and vocal about his faith in Jesus Christ. I love this quote that I came across a few years ago in an interview with InterVarsity:
"I think one of the most rewarding experiences in life is to see people come to Christ and make lifestyle changes. When that happens, you definitely see God behind it. . . . I'm really thankful that God is changing somebody, or sometimes he's changing me. To see that transformation brings me a lot of satisfaction and fulfillment. I definitely want to do something in ministry down the road, maybe as a pastor if that's where God leads."
Kudos to Jeremy Lin and wish him the best in the rest of this season and for whatever God has in store for him. I might acutally keep up with the NBA a little more now....
Monday, February 6, 2012
Reflections on Josh Hamilton
I would have blogged about this earlier but I helped take a group of college students to a winter conference/retreat in Myrtle Beach, SC (which was amazing). So now I'm getting around to it. News broke Friday morning about Josh Hamilton having a relapse. When I first heard the news there was little (and I mean very little) detail about what had happened because the news just broke. It wasn't until later that I heard more and honestly until today that I got a "full" idea of what happened.
There has been a lot said this weekend, some good (there's a great article by Yahoo Sports writer Jeff Passan that was particularly good, you can read it here) while others were not. For me personally, I felt bad for Josh. I can only imagine what it must be like to try and deal with addictions to drugs and alcohol (I've never drank nor taken illegal drugs).
But I do know what it's like to struggle with sin. We all have a sin problem. None of us are immune to sin. We are inclined to sin. It is an addiction. Even for those who follow Jesus, who trust in Him as their Lord and Savior like I do, there still is that sinful nature inside of us. And as long as we are alive (or until Jesus comes back), it is something we will all continue to struggle with. There are those days when the temptation to sin isn't that strong but then the temptation comes back strong.
We are not perfect. We follow the one who is. We are called to strive for perfection. But God understands when we mess up. He is willing and ready to accept us back when we acknowledge we mess up and repent. And it's a day by day process. Jesus told his disciples to deny themselves daily and take up their cross and follow Him. We who follow Jesus have to die to ourselves daily and follow after Christ.
I pray for Josh and his family. I pray that they continue to follow Christ and trust in Him during the good times and the bad. And I hope that those of us that hear his story are reminded of Jesus and how He's willing to forgive us when we mess up and willing to take us back when we repent.
There has been a lot said this weekend, some good (there's a great article by Yahoo Sports writer Jeff Passan that was particularly good, you can read it here) while others were not. For me personally, I felt bad for Josh. I can only imagine what it must be like to try and deal with addictions to drugs and alcohol (I've never drank nor taken illegal drugs).
But I do know what it's like to struggle with sin. We all have a sin problem. None of us are immune to sin. We are inclined to sin. It is an addiction. Even for those who follow Jesus, who trust in Him as their Lord and Savior like I do, there still is that sinful nature inside of us. And as long as we are alive (or until Jesus comes back), it is something we will all continue to struggle with. There are those days when the temptation to sin isn't that strong but then the temptation comes back strong.
We are not perfect. We follow the one who is. We are called to strive for perfection. But God understands when we mess up. He is willing and ready to accept us back when we acknowledge we mess up and repent. And it's a day by day process. Jesus told his disciples to deny themselves daily and take up their cross and follow Him. We who follow Jesus have to die to ourselves daily and follow after Christ.
I pray for Josh and his family. I pray that they continue to follow Christ and trust in Him during the good times and the bad. And I hope that those of us that hear his story are reminded of Jesus and how He's willing to forgive us when we mess up and willing to take us back when we repent.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Trash Talk: Is It Really Entertaining?
I think I've been on a blogging roll of late. It helps that I have some time to it, plus there have been some topics to talk about. One that has recently stood out was last week's playoff games, particularly in the AFC. Both in the Ravens/Steelers and Jets/Patriots there was a lot of words being said from both sides. What seemed different from the usual "We're the better team" or "We guarantee we're going to win", there was more vulgar and harsh words and actions being used.
For instance, Terrell Suggs of the Ravens wore a shirt that showed him giving a finger (the middle one in particular) to the city of Pittsburgh. Then you had Antonio Cromartie of the Jets calling Tom Brady an expletative (I'm not even going to mention what it is). Then Bart Scott of the Jets, in reference to comments that Patriots WR Wes Welker made in reference to Scott's coach Rex Ryan, said that Welker's "days in a uniform will be numbered.", insuating that he'd take him out of the game.
On Monday, I was listening to one of my favorite sports talk shows out of Nashville online, and they were talking about this. All three of them agreed that it was fine and was in fact entertaining and shouldn't be legislated out (the NFL over the weekend sent memos to teams saying to tone down the trash talking). When I heard this, I was disappointed. How is calling someone something inappropriate entertaining? Same goes for flipping the middle finger at a city?
Words do matter and they can affect a lot of things. Personally, I think it's more entertaining what happens on the field rather than words that are said off the field. Words do have an impact. I know personally how much of an impact words have in people's lives and what my interaction is with them. As a follower of Jesus, I'm reminded of the words that Jesus himself said in Matthew 12:34b where He said "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". What's in my heart is reflected on what comes out of my mouth. When I'm following after Jesus like I should be, it will be reflected in my words and actions.
When I hear trash talk like this past weekend, I'm not entertained, I'm saddened. I hope that there are people who can speak into those players' lives and show them Christ. Let the product on the field be the entertainment, let the conduct off the field be more respectful.
For instance, Terrell Suggs of the Ravens wore a shirt that showed him giving a finger (the middle one in particular) to the city of Pittsburgh. Then you had Antonio Cromartie of the Jets calling Tom Brady an expletative (I'm not even going to mention what it is). Then Bart Scott of the Jets, in reference to comments that Patriots WR Wes Welker made in reference to Scott's coach Rex Ryan, said that Welker's "days in a uniform will be numbered.", insuating that he'd take him out of the game.
On Monday, I was listening to one of my favorite sports talk shows out of Nashville online, and they were talking about this. All three of them agreed that it was fine and was in fact entertaining and shouldn't be legislated out (the NFL over the weekend sent memos to teams saying to tone down the trash talking). When I heard this, I was disappointed. How is calling someone something inappropriate entertaining? Same goes for flipping the middle finger at a city?
Words do matter and they can affect a lot of things. Personally, I think it's more entertaining what happens on the field rather than words that are said off the field. Words do have an impact. I know personally how much of an impact words have in people's lives and what my interaction is with them. As a follower of Jesus, I'm reminded of the words that Jesus himself said in Matthew 12:34b where He said "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". What's in my heart is reflected on what comes out of my mouth. When I'm following after Jesus like I should be, it will be reflected in my words and actions.
When I hear trash talk like this past weekend, I'm not entertained, I'm saddened. I hope that there are people who can speak into those players' lives and show them Christ. Let the product on the field be the entertainment, let the conduct off the field be more respectful.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Reflections on Phil Jackson and Christmas Games
I thought it was rather interesting when I heard the latest comments from Phil Jackson, head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was addressing the media this week about playing on Christmas Day. He starts out rather innocently by saying "It used to be two teams. It used to be Phoenix and L.A. and New York and Boston or New York and Philly or somebody on the East coast. Now I see that they have like six games on Christmas." (it's actually five games this year)
He then goes onto say this: "I don't think anybody should play on Christmas Day. Soccer teams don't play this time of year, they take a break. I don't understand it. When I was in the CBA, we had a commissioner who had a Christmas Eve game. I had to call him up and say that's the holy time. ... You just have to keep reminding them that this is a special day."
The one quote that actually stood out was the following: "It's like Christian holidays don't mean anything to them anymore. We just go out and play and entertain the TV. It's really weird." This stood out for several reasons. One, this comes from a man who follows Zen Buddhism. Two, in the article, it mentions that he is the son of a minister (which I didn't know).
My thoughts on this: I don't necessarily have a problem with what he's saying per se. Growing up there was really only one NBA Christmas Day game. It was special. Now it's almost like any other slate of games for a day/night. There are actually more than double the games on Christmas Day than Thanksgiving Day (only two games). There are more people who will be working on Christmas than Thanksgiving this year in several NBA cities.
As a follower of Jesus, I am glad for Christmas. It is a reminder of the birth of Christ. We should not forget that importance. Even more so, we should not forget the importance of this death and resurrection. For those who are working on Christmas Day, including players, coaches, staff, arena workers, I hope that in the midst of working that the are reminded of for lack of a better phrase "The Reason for the Season". And I would love for Phil Jackson to not just recognize the time of the year but to also recognize Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
He then goes onto say this: "I don't think anybody should play on Christmas Day. Soccer teams don't play this time of year, they take a break. I don't understand it. When I was in the CBA, we had a commissioner who had a Christmas Eve game. I had to call him up and say that's the holy time. ... You just have to keep reminding them that this is a special day."
The one quote that actually stood out was the following: "It's like Christian holidays don't mean anything to them anymore. We just go out and play and entertain the TV. It's really weird." This stood out for several reasons. One, this comes from a man who follows Zen Buddhism. Two, in the article, it mentions that he is the son of a minister (which I didn't know).
My thoughts on this: I don't necessarily have a problem with what he's saying per se. Growing up there was really only one NBA Christmas Day game. It was special. Now it's almost like any other slate of games for a day/night. There are actually more than double the games on Christmas Day than Thanksgiving Day (only two games). There are more people who will be working on Christmas than Thanksgiving this year in several NBA cities.
As a follower of Jesus, I am glad for Christmas. It is a reminder of the birth of Christ. We should not forget that importance. Even more so, we should not forget the importance of this death and resurrection. For those who are working on Christmas Day, including players, coaches, staff, arena workers, I hope that in the midst of working that the are reminded of for lack of a better phrase "The Reason for the Season". And I would love for Phil Jackson to not just recognize the time of the year but to also recognize Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Reflections on Kurt Warner's Retirement
This past Friday, Kurt Warner, All-Pro and MVP quarterback retired from the NFL. It was expected but at the same time kinda sad. He went out on his own terms and did so while still having something left in the tank.
There are several things I've thought about in reflecting on Kurt. First, he's a great guy and a class act. He is someone who is strong in his faith and has reflected Christ both on and off the field. I must admit, I wasn't too happy when his team won the Super Bowl (the Rams back in Super Bowl XXXIV because they beat my Titans) but I admired the guy from where he came from. This was even more the case the past few years in Arizona. Though he was a rival to the Seahawks (who became my second team after living in Seattle for three years), I was really impressed by how he handled being a backup to Matt Leinart to coming in and lighting up the desert. I was rooting for Arizona last year in the Super Bowl and for Kurt.
There's always the debate about when one retires. In the end, I hold it's up to the person. Just as much as Brett Favre deserves to play as long as he wants, I think Kurt's right in deciding to retire now. God has blessed those who get to play the game with the ability and desire. I'm sure Kurt still loves the game but I believe he loves Jesus and his family more than the game and rightfully so.
Kurt, you will be missed and I hope you continue to do big things and serve God in whatever way He calls you to.
There are several things I've thought about in reflecting on Kurt. First, he's a great guy and a class act. He is someone who is strong in his faith and has reflected Christ both on and off the field. I must admit, I wasn't too happy when his team won the Super Bowl (the Rams back in Super Bowl XXXIV because they beat my Titans) but I admired the guy from where he came from. This was even more the case the past few years in Arizona. Though he was a rival to the Seahawks (who became my second team after living in Seattle for three years), I was really impressed by how he handled being a backup to Matt Leinart to coming in and lighting up the desert. I was rooting for Arizona last year in the Super Bowl and for Kurt.
There's always the debate about when one retires. In the end, I hold it's up to the person. Just as much as Brett Favre deserves to play as long as he wants, I think Kurt's right in deciding to retire now. God has blessed those who get to play the game with the ability and desire. I'm sure Kurt still loves the game but I believe he loves Jesus and his family more than the game and rightfully so.
Kurt, you will be missed and I hope you continue to do big things and serve God in whatever way He calls you to.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sports Analogies from the Big Debate On Campus
So last night, there was a big debate on the campus of the seminary I go to (Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary). The debate centered around the question essentially whether historians can prove the resurrection of Jesus. The two debaters were Michael Licona, author of "The Case For the Resurrection of Jesus" and Bart Ehrman, professor at UNC Chapel Hill. Licona took the position that one could prove historically and Ehrman took the opposing view.
Aside from the debate, which I thought ended as I draw, I walked away with two thoughts. These two thoughts I will elaborate on with the use of sports analogies (of course). The first centered around Dr. Ehrman, who is an agnostic. He talked about his past and how he went to Moody Bible Institute and to Wheaton College (a Christian college) and how he "believed" in the truth of the resurrection for the longest time and that he only came to the position that he's at now in his words "kicking and screaming". Now I mulled on that and to me it sounded like this. Picture if you will a superstar baseball player. He is very talented, has risen up the minor leagues as the "can't miss prospect". He becomes identified with Team A, pretty much is the heart and soul of the team. He then signs with Team B for an exorbernt amount of money (like 100 million dollars). At the press conference, the player says that it was hard for him to leave team A and he was pulled away kicking and screaming. Now, if you heard about that, what would you think? For me, there are only three options. One, he's a liar. Two, he's (to put it nicely) not bright. Or three, he knows exactly why he left (the 100 million dollar contract). I think the same goes for Ehrman in regard to his former beliefs. Either he's option one and a liar, option two and not bright, or option three and he knew exactly what he was doing. For me, I tend to go with option three. In the end, he chose what he felt was the truth. Do I think he chose right? Well, no but the point is that don't make it out to be that it was hard for you when in the end it wasn't.
The second thing was that it gave me a better apprecation for those followers of Jesus that I don't necessarily agree with or like all the time. Here the sports example is this. On any given team, there will be players who don't like other players, for whatever reason. But, they are teammates and as long as they are teammates they have one common goal, to win. And they must cooperate and play together in order to achieve that goal. Same thing for followers of Jesus. There are some followers that I don't always like or agree with. But I have to be reminded, and last night was a reminder, that we're on the same team. If we're following Jesus, then he or she are not the enemy, they're my brother or my sister, they're a part of the body of Christ just like I am. And that is a good encouragment to have when faced with a difficult situation.
By the way, Happy Leap Day everyone :)
Aside from the debate, which I thought ended as I draw, I walked away with two thoughts. These two thoughts I will elaborate on with the use of sports analogies (of course). The first centered around Dr. Ehrman, who is an agnostic. He talked about his past and how he went to Moody Bible Institute and to Wheaton College (a Christian college) and how he "believed" in the truth of the resurrection for the longest time and that he only came to the position that he's at now in his words "kicking and screaming". Now I mulled on that and to me it sounded like this. Picture if you will a superstar baseball player. He is very talented, has risen up the minor leagues as the "can't miss prospect". He becomes identified with Team A, pretty much is the heart and soul of the team. He then signs with Team B for an exorbernt amount of money (like 100 million dollars). At the press conference, the player says that it was hard for him to leave team A and he was pulled away kicking and screaming. Now, if you heard about that, what would you think? For me, there are only three options. One, he's a liar. Two, he's (to put it nicely) not bright. Or three, he knows exactly why he left (the 100 million dollar contract). I think the same goes for Ehrman in regard to his former beliefs. Either he's option one and a liar, option two and not bright, or option three and he knew exactly what he was doing. For me, I tend to go with option three. In the end, he chose what he felt was the truth. Do I think he chose right? Well, no but the point is that don't make it out to be that it was hard for you when in the end it wasn't.
The second thing was that it gave me a better apprecation for those followers of Jesus that I don't necessarily agree with or like all the time. Here the sports example is this. On any given team, there will be players who don't like other players, for whatever reason. But, they are teammates and as long as they are teammates they have one common goal, to win. And they must cooperate and play together in order to achieve that goal. Same thing for followers of Jesus. There are some followers that I don't always like or agree with. But I have to be reminded, and last night was a reminder, that we're on the same team. If we're following Jesus, then he or she are not the enemy, they're my brother or my sister, they're a part of the body of Christ just like I am. And that is a good encouragment to have when faced with a difficult situation.
By the way, Happy Leap Day everyone :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)