Reflections on the Tragedy in Kansas City

This past Saturday there was a lot of great things going on in the country in the realm of sports.  College football was playing their championship games (and playoffs).  The NFL was gearing up for another great day of action.  But there was one tragic event that cast a somberness to the weekend.

When I woke up that morning and was going about my routine I saw on twitter a tweet by Danny Parkins, a sports talk host from Kansas City, who had tweeted that Arrowhead Stadium was on lockdown.  I thought at the time that was weird and was trying to think of what was going on at the stadium.  Then slowly tweets and news reports were coming in across the internet.  There was a shooting at a house in K.C. & there was an incident at the stadium practice facilities and that those two things were linked.  Then there was a murder-suicide.  Then it was one of the players involved.

Finally, the story came out.  Jovan Belcher, linebacker for the Chiefs, had shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, and mother of their daughter then killed himself.  As more details came out, the more it was a tragic story.  It started with Belcher getting angry at his girlfriend for staying out too late after spending time with friends at a concert and hanging out afterwards.  It escalated into Belcher shooting and killing Perkins and then driving to the Chiefs practice facility.  There he talked with Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, GM Scott Pioli & linebackers coach Gary Gibbs before pulling out a gun and killing himself as they watched unable to stop him.

So much has been written in the past 48 hours that I'm sure a lot of what I say would just be repeating but there are two things that I do want to reflect on here.  The first is that it's a tragic reminder that ultimately (unlike Jason Whitlock & Bob Costas say) there is a sin problem in our world.  Belcher in his anger and jealousy acted in a tragic manner which robbed Perkins of her life and their daughter of her mother.  Sin was at the root of this.  I was reminded yesterday morning by my pastor who preached on anger (it was planned sermon prior to this event) and was reminded of the verse in Ephesians 4:26-27 "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."  Unfortunately, Belcher in his anger did sin and in one instant not only his life but the lives of those around him were affected.  Sin has consequences that affect not only us but those around us.  Thankfully we have a savior in Jesus who forgives us of our sins and does not leave us in our sins but until He returns again, we do have to deal with the effects of sin.

The other thing to reflect on was something I read this morning on NBC's Pro Football Talk website.  There was an article written by Mike Florio.  He shared Brady Quinn (Chiefs QB)'s comments postgame.  If you haven't heard or read them yet, they are worth sharing.  I will leave you with those quotes:

“The one thing people can hopefully try to take away, I guess, is the relationships they have with people,” Quinn told reporters after the game.  “I know when it happened, I was sitting and, in my head, thinking what I could have done differently.  When you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it?  When you answer someone back how you are doing, are you really telling the truth?
“We live in a society of social networks, with Twitter pages and Facebook, and that’s fine, but we have contact with our work associates, our family, our friends, and it seems like half the time we are more preoccupied with our phone and other things going on instead of the actual relationships that we have right in front of us.  Hopefully, people can learn from this and try to actually help if someone is battling something deeper on the inside than what they are revealing on a day-to-day basis.”

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.

Pacman and Second Chances

It seems like only yesterday I was making a similar post like this (it actually was about ten months ago). But it seems like after hearing what I heard yesterday, it's prompted me to write again on the subject of Adam "Pacman" Jones, the now ex-Dallas Cowboys DB. He was cut by the team (who traded for him last offseason, then subsequently got suspended for a couple of games in the middle of the season and is now under allegations involving an incident a few years ago at an Atlanta (yes you can guess) strip club.

Jones and his lawyer were on the CBS NFL pregame show to talk about that and his off the field issues. Now granted, he did say in the piece that he is dealing with alcohol problem, going to AA meetings and seeing a counselor. But when asked by host James Brown about strip clubs, Jones' response was this: "Strip clubs are just like any other club."

Let that sink in for a moment...."Strip clubs are like any other club." Hmmm, I'm no rocket scientist but I'm pretty sure that a strip club is not just like any other club. It kind of says so in the name. What doesn't make it like any other club is the 'strip' part of it. When he said that I laughed (not really the proper response I know but first reaction) and then I just shook my head. Here is a young guy (he's younger than me at 25) who has all the talent in the world. He has been blessed with athletic ability that not too many people have. He has been given chances in a league that is hard to get a job in. And yet, he has done the things that he's done.

It's an object lesson in two ways. One, it should be a reminder that we are no different that Pacman. We are all given talent in some way by God. And we don't use it like we should and squander it because we live for ourselves and not for Him. Yet, in his mercy and compassion, we are able to have a second chance (and third, and fourth) because of Jesus and the work He did on the cross. In having a relationship with Jesus, we can get our act together and use the gifts we've been given properly and to our fullest potential. Two, it's a prime example of showing love and forgiveness to others. Yes, what Pacman has done is wrong and he will have to live with the consequences of those actions, but we are called to forgive one another. I hope that there are people in his life now (if not I hope some will come his way soon) that will love on him and show mercy and forgiveness.

I don't think Pacman is too far gone. If I can be saved, he can be saved. I'm no better than he is. I'm just a sinner saved from myself by the grace of God. I hope that Pacman will turn his life around. We'll see how the next few months and years play out. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Pacman...

Pacman and the Defintion of Sin

I thought I had heard and seen everything regarding Adam "Pacman" Jones, the currently suspended NFL Defensive Back. And trust me, I've heard a lot. But what was said yesterday out of his own mouth really takes the cake. Pacman was on the the radio in Dallas, TX being interviewed by Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin on Irvin's radio show. During that interview, Jones talked about his past and how he's living clean and wanting to get reinstated and hopefully get traded to play with the Cowboys.

One thing that really stood out to me was the statement he made referring to a conversation he had with his counselor (he was required to go to a counselor as part of his suspension). Here is the statement: "It ain't no sin to go to the strip club."

Okay, let's think about this one for a moment. "It ain't no sin to go to the strip club." Something just doesn't sound right in that statement. Maybe it's the correlation between no sin and strip club. Then again, my friend Erin, the English professor would comment on the double negative that Pacman used. So maybe in a subtle way that it is a sin to go to the strip club.....no that's probably not what he meant.

Now for a long time, I've defended Pacman. Probably way longer than I should have. I even thought him getting involved with pro wrestling was a good thing for him. But there comes a point when it's just like "Okay you're going to have to learn the hard way." I hate to break it to you Pacman, but going to a strip club, that's a sin. And we've seen the consequences in your life how that's played out because you've went (suspended for a year...maybe more, bodyguard shot and paralyzed, numerous other bad incidents).

I think the old catchphrase "It is what it is" rings true here. Sin is sin. Period. Doesn't matter who you are, what kind of background you have, it's still bad and bad for you. I still hold out hope for Pacman to turn his life around. But after that interview, he still has a long way to go. And there isn't going to be a power pellet that's going to get him out of this mess....