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Choosing choo-choo over the Jets; UPDATED

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I was disappointed with the first hour of The Sing Off on Monday night. Teeny-bopper music, some risque moves, snotty and snooty folks, and the standard “Paula Abdoul-esque” critique (saying something without saying anything) from Pussycat Doll judge. Then in the 2nd hour, they brought out the groups which were actually good. Everything changed. The music included “instruments,” the sounds were good, and the judges were blown away. In the end, the 2nd half redeemed the first. So I hope you at least got to hear Committed, a black gospel group which performed a Maroon 5 song. Solid.
With that said, I came across a fascinating and telling post about a former NY Jets player who declined their offer of a contract. The Jets, much like the Bucs, have lost several safeties do to injuries (the Bucs also lost one to drugs as well), and have been desperately searching for replacements. Keith Fitzhugh, released by the Jets on Sept 4th, has enjoyed his new job working for a railroad. Because his return would only be for several weeks, why leave the train station when he has a steady job? He’d be released after the season ended.
For Connar my 2 year old, who loves trains, this would be a no-brainer. Stay with the choo-choo’s. 
But Fitzhugh is also taking care of his disabled father who can’t work, and that definitely played into his decision. As a result of that, I found this story worthy of promoting.
The NFL has power. But it doesn’t have supreme power over some. That may show up next year in a lockout (I’m hoping it won’t be the case, but that may be a good thing for sports fans). Regardless, it is great to see a player who would can choose principle and parent care over the money, fame, experience, and fun offered by the NFL. Now I don’t want to say that he couldn’t have said “yes” to the Jets. He certainly could have.
But the fact that he COULD say No, not the fact that he HAD to say No, reveals to us that the NFL is not his idol. Watching a game, rooting for a team, spending money on a team is not bad in and of itself. Yet it’s a different story when we HAVE to watch, spend money on, root for, play, at the expense of other things which may be clearly commanded: corporate worship, loving family, taking care of parents, giving, etc… It is not saying YES to football that is bad. It is when we CAN’T say no, that we know, football has become an idol.
I’m sure I’ll have to eat my words soon, but putting this stuff down on paper is one way to hold myself accountable!
Unknown's avatar

Despite Bucs loss, someone is still singing off

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Well, yesterday, Mr. McCoy and my Buccaneers fell once again to the evil that is the Atlanta Falcons. I didn’t get to watch the game due to Fox deciding to show the lowly Cowboys and Colts instead, but it was probably best that I missed the game. The Bucs successfully snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory, by blowing a 10 point lead with 10 minutes to go. Either McCoy regressed spiritually, or the entire defensive line simply got outplayed yet again. No sacks. Again, another reason why it can be dangerous to equate God’s approval of you with personal or team performance.
On a completely unrelated note, and musical one at that, I’m excited that “The Sing Off” is on again. This is the 2nd season of an acapela group competition where voices don’t simply throw out musical instruments; the voices can actually replicate the instruments. That’s my favorite part.
It’s really quite amazing what singers can do with their voices, and definitely commend this show based upon last years performances. These folks would be great to have in your back pocket if your sound system suddenly went down.
I think they could do without Nick Lechey, and the flaky Pussycat Doll judge, but for the most part they get out of the way. Ben Folds Five front man and the Boys II Men judge usually do their part to add to the performances.

The show airs tonight at 8 pm, and will go on for 5 nights, ending Dec 20th. If you get a chance to DVR it, I think it will be worth your time to see what it looks like to truly get the most out of God’s great gift of the human voice.

Unknown's avatar

If blaming is bad, what about praising God for football success?

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A majority of this week’s posts have been about football: more specifically blaming God for football mistakes.

Here’s a story about Tampa Bay Buccaneers DT and first round draft pick Gerald McCoy where this player does the opposite of Steve Johnson. He actually credits God for his improved play in recent weeks. Here’s an excerpt from the St Pete Times.

“My spiritual life, what was happening, I was swaying away from that,” McCoy said. “I was kind of doing things the way I wanted to do it. God had a plan for my life, and I wasn’t living according to how His plan was. “Once I got back on track is when things started to really make a quick transformation. Two games, three sacks, it happens that fast. You’ve got to stay on track with God, and things work out for you.”

First of all I have to say that I heard McCoy being interviewed on the Dan Patrick radio show, and he was very mature, classy, humble, and a godly lad.

In light of the respect I already have for this 21-22 year old,  I’d simply like to throw out a question: “Since its never a good idea to blame God as the reason for your bad play, is it ALWAYS good to cite God as the reason for your good play?”

It is always good to attribute your God-given ability to, well, God. It is always good to attribute your opportunity to God; some folks just don’t get the opportunity because of coaching situations, injuries, family tragedies, etc…

But while attributing ability, opportunity, and even success to God, athletes need to be very careful in attempting to explain WHY God has granted those things. This can actually become quite dangerous.

God does bless people when they return to Him, but HOW He does that is His business. We don’t get a vote. God could be graciously (unmerited) blessing McCoy after He wandered and returned, that his poor play was God’s way of getting his attention. But its also possible, that McCoy, a rookie, has simply begun to learn to play within the system now.
 There are numerous examples of God raising up athletes for seasons of their lives for a specific purpose and then setting them down. Pittsburgh Steeler’s Tommy Maddox comes to mind, as does Shaun King for the Bucs, both of whom are professing Christians. Both had A season of playing at a high level before being deposed.

Who knows why God exalted them for a bit, and then humbled them shortly after? Was it moral failure? Did God exalt them because they returned to the Lord? Did He simply want them to glorify Him in different places through defeat? No idea.

To assume we know WHY God allows Christian athletes, businessmen, or pastors to excel is to assume a very simple and reductionist view of God. It equates walking with God with outward success in life; aka the “prosperity gospel.” God simply becomes a vending machine with the currency of good works used to squeeze something out of Him.

In conclusion, I think it is awesome McCoy recognizes God’s Sovereignty in His success. I just wish he and other Christian athletes wouldn’t draw such a necessary connection between faith and success. 

Unknown's avatar

A prophet and king unwelcome in home town

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Jesus coined the phrase “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household (Matthew 13:57).” While he was born in Bethlehem, he grew up in Nazareth. People there had a hard time really getting behind the fact that while Jesus was fully human, he was also fully God (of course this was hard for the first 300 or so years of the church, but they always seemed to have the sense of it being true despite taking some time to agree upon the precise orthodox language). They saw Jesus as Mary and Joseph’s kid, who like all the other kids, did kid things (though not sinfully-I’d love to see what Jesus was like as a youth!), and now was a grown up telling people he was more than just a dude. So Jesus was not respected in his home town as even a prophet, much less a King, even though he did nothing wrong.
It seems a king is also not without honor except in his hometown as well. Lebron James, aka “King James” returned to his hometown-at least in the vicinity of-Cleveland with a similar reception. Except he received boos instead of disbelief. But these were well deserved boos seeing as he did jilt his hometown on national TV via his self-promoting TV special to head to Miami. The city reflected upon James and his actions, and the best way to dishonor this lesser King. Fortunately they stayed within the confines of the law and didn’t need the bail money they had set aside, as some had talked about on Jim Rome’s show.

So prophet and king aren’t welcomed in home towns. I wonder about priests…Where is Priest Holmes now?

Unknown's avatar

Steve Johnson Tweet Take 3

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This is my final Steve Johnson Twitter take. Again, this is not to pile on one man’s mistake, but simply to consider our own response to “dropping passes” in our lives. He’s probably a cool cat, and he probably loves Jesus just as much as I do. Although, one could make an argument that if his life was so structured as his tweet- he “praised God 24/7” so that good things can happen, and is mad when they don’t-that’s really not love at all but attempted manipulation. God can’t be manipulated like people, so don’t try. But I don’t want to read too much more into his tweet, so this take is more on the public nature of twitter and facebook.
There is a powerful scene in The Apostle, one of my favorite movies of all time, where Robert Duvall is literally yelling and screaming at God, wondering what in the world is happening to him. The neighbors call up fairly perturbed and ask what the deal is. His mother answers to something to the effect of, “Sometimes Sonny talks to God, sometimes he yells.”
God can take our frustrations. He can take our yelling. We don’t need to be gentle as though He gets His feelings hurt by us. We just need to couch everything in the fact that He is God, and we are not. He’s privy to more than we are, and He love us more than we love ourselves (hard to believe, but true). But with that pre-supposition in our heads (our hearts may be miles away), we can lay our souls bare before him. I think we can even yell and cry out.
But bearing your soul and frustrations before Him is one thing. Bearing your unfiltered frustrations with God and others before the world is another.
Facebook and Twitter can be great things. But they are not good places to lay your soul bare, and air dirty laundry that you have with your spouse, children, siblings, and frustrations with God. Such venues dishonor ALL of the aforementioned. God doesn’t do that with us, and he doesn’t let others do that to us (Matthew 18). 
Frustrations are best done in real community, not cyber-community. A small group, a close friend, a pastor, elder, are 100% better than Facebook in this regard. These are safe places to be frustrated which don’t dishonor anyone. Of course the best person is the person with whom you are frustrated.

Mike Florio of profootballtalk.nbcsports.com, though not a believer to my knowledge, offers some sage advice on what we can learn from Johnson’s tweet:

The possible lesson?  Prayer is best left between the person sending it, and the entity receiving it.

Unless your prayer is something that you want repeated throughout generations, like those Puritan prayers in The Valley of Vision, Florio has a good point.

Unknown's avatar

Steve Johnson Tweet Take 2

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Other folks, perhaps smarter, with blogs more well read, have blogged about Steve Johnson’s tweet. One thoughtful, albeit lengthy response is here.
Before moving on, I will say that Johnson tried to recant his tweet here. Nevertheless, since his tweet raised some interesting questions, I’m going to give my “take two” on Johnson’s shot at God. This take is more aimed at a question, then at Johnson.
You regularly see QB’s pointing to the sky for touchdown catches, as well as some who give praise to Jesus for a win. So if God makes you win, then does God make you lose? If God makes you catch the pass, then does God make you drop the pass? If you can credit Him for the win, shouldn’t you be able to blame Him for the loss?

Hmmm…..

God is providentially involved in all of life, even evil things which people do to us (Gen 50:20). I prefer to use the word, “allow.” He allows us to drop passes, catch passes, remember our spelling words, or forget something on the SAT. He is in charge of all things, and nothing is out of His control. Jesus calmed the storm in Matthew 8, and showing how even weather systems are powerless against his will. But Jesus often lets weather systems run their course too. Are they his fault? Well he did allow them…
At what level was God involved in Johnson’s drop (he actually had 5 in the game), I don’t know. And I don’t care, and neither should we. While football is often the center of our universe, it isn’t the center of God’s universe. I don’t think he cares a whole lot about the outcome of the game. He could run that operation like Angels in the Outfield, or just allow normal cause and effect and differing levels of skills and coaching to be the deciding factor.
The problem is that the one who wins is the one who gets the microphone, and so all we hear is, “Thank you Jesus for this win.” We rarely get to hear the loser speak, which is what reporters would do if I had any say. But after Johnson’s tweet, maybe I don’t want Christian football players who just lost the game get in front of the mic. Twitter, like it or not, is perhaps even more powerful a tool than TV now.
In the end, good receivers, whether Christian or non-Christian, make touchdown catches at the end of the game. They just do. It is not wrong for them to take some credit in making a great catch.
Ultimately, in the end, God allows us to both catch and drop passes. When you catch it, remember who gave you the ability to catch it-whether you mention Jesus in the interview or not. I don’t think Christ is dishonored when you don’t throw out his name by giving him credit for the win. 
But when you drop it, recognize your part in it all, and then remember who gave you the ability to deal with the drop.
Unknown's avatar

Steve Johnson Tweet Take 1

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I just came across this fascinating post about how Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson blamed God for dropping a touchdown pass in O.T. against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He actually tweeted it.
“I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…”
Here’s a few takes on this tweet
1.) We often think like this don’t we? That we’ve been good, so we should make the over the should proverbial touch down catch in life. Anything we get should be a reward, right? I’m not blasting this guy, because I sometimes I think this way. I reveal it by anger or over frustration at dropped balls in my life. While I do have a twitter account, I don’t tweet, so it doesn’t get to CNN, or even out the door.
2.) David’s laments before God sometimes bear a slight resemblance to this. Check out Psalm 73:13-14.
“…All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.”
In other words, I’ve tried to honor you, but the “other guy” has it made in the shade while I’m the one getting the shaft. 
So where is the difference? Other than the fact that one was inspired by the Holy Spirit and the other one inspired by the frustration of losing, there is a difference in direction.
The Psalms point us to Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus said all of the Psalms pointed to him (Luke 24). While we are free to, and should express these frustrating feelings to the Lord, we need to realize that Jesus lived out the frustrations in these Psalms. He truly was 100% innocent, and had 100% clean hands, and 100% clean heart, and yet he took upon himself the frustrations of life in this world. At the cross, he experienced the frustration of being publicly scorned by those who were in the wrong. And just as he was vindicated by rising from the grave, so too will we who are united with him by faith. It just won’t be because we praised God 24/7; it will be because of Jesus.
Unknown's avatar

Some good Xmas tunes

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We put up the family Xmas tree on this lovely, but very cold, WV Friday-after-Thanksgiving day. I had some help from a number of festive (not to be confused with “festivus”) Xmas albums on the I-pod. Of course the usuals like The Chieftans (family tradition) showed up large, along with Point of Grace (for Amy). But many songs came courtesy of http://www.noisetrade.com. You can download a plethora of solid Xmas albumes at this site. I have most of the titles on the first page, and many have already added to my enjoyment of the season. If you’re looking for some good tunes, definitely give this site a whirl.

If you have any Xmas suggestions, or albums to stay away from, please comment.

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A pragmatic Childress gets an extension one year and fired the next

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After another unproductive Brett Favre performance, the Minnesota Vikings finally fired coach Brad Childress. The coach who took them (though it was probably Favre who “took” them) to within a field goal of the Super Bowl (though they didn’t get a chance to kick the field goal b/c Favre threw an interception), was fired after signing an extension through 2013. A near hero one year, and 10 weeks later the goat. 
Two years ago I pondered whether or not coaxing Favre out of retirement, the 2nd time, was a ‘good’ idea; both ethically and pragmatically. I felt like while it wasn’t a positively ethical decision (it ignored the hard work of the previously starting QB’s), it was pragmatically a good decision: they won. For the pragmatist, if it works, then it is good.
This year, I wondered the same two things when Childress tried to coax Farve out of retirement, for the 3rd time. This time sending players down to Mississippi, while instructing others to lie about their whereabouts. How other Viking players wouldn’t find out IMMEDIATELY about the media circus that is Favre is beyond me. 
So Favre came back, skipping training camp again, and has so far led the league in interceptions. Pragmatically the decision was a bad one. It didn’t work. Ethically the decision was also a bad one, filled with lies and lack of respect for the quarterbacks in training camp. 

Childress found out about the blessing and curses of pragmatism. He got a 3 year extension because the Favre decision worked last year. But he found the dangers of pragmatism as well; things that work one year don’t always work the next year. At least an ethically based decision is right or wrong on the front end, and you don’t have to wait till half the season is over before you know if you made the right decision!