Well the “wicked witch” is dead. The Buccanneer ownership (The Glazers) fired yet another 9-7 coach. Perhaps it was because outside the Super Bowl year, the Bucs were an under 500 team. Perhaps it is because they didn’t win A play-off game outside that SuperBowl year. Perhaps it was because no team has ever gone 9-3 since reallignment and missed the play-offs with 4 straight losses (except the 08 Bucs). Perhaps it was because Jon Gruden treated people like garbage and was about as loyal to his quarterback and wide receivers as an elementary school boyfriend.

Jon, if you’re out there reading this blog, I would like to say, “Thanks for the Super Bowl in 02.” But being a jerk to everyone really only works if you’re winning the big one each and every year. Otherwise, niceness goes a long way.

In the end I would prefer another more proven coach, but to have a coach that the players actually like will be a nice change of place. And to have one the fans can respect is icing on the cake. Candles would be another Super Bowl.

Over the last several years, we have done an art exhibition at Hope. This past year we turned it into a coffeehouse with music AND art. One of our main goals was to bless artists and give the community a culturally enriching experience. Besides allowing the plethora of Home-owner’s Associations to meet in the church, we OUGHT to be doing things that would make the neighborhood sad if we ceased to exist.

A church up in St. Louis basically took that vision and ran with it. It’s kind of like our vision at Hope on steroids (of course the legal kind, with a prescription…).

Here’s what I’m talking about.

It’s Saturday night in St. Louis, Mo. A crowd gathers at a hot new venue for music, art and theater that’s unapologetically named The Chapel and sponsored by Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Tonight a punk band is playing. It could just as easily be an indie, acoustic, rock, folk or experimental group. The Chapel has featured all of these plus artists and theater groups.

The people arriving are the young and hip. Urban dwellers. Students at Washington University. Internationals. Gays. In short, people in the creative classes, the unreached populations near the church—those who Memorial set out to influence in the city by serving it. And serve it they do.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

The NFL saw a wonderful coach and even better man retire this week. Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, retired in hopes of pursuing other ministry and philanthropic opportunities. The good thing is that he will be back in Tampa.

His influence on other coaches and players has been profound, and even Warrick Dunn who started Homes for the Holidays credits Dungy with challenging him to give back to the community.

One of the things I noticed at his departing press conference was his class and grace. He proclaimed that he had a ton of people to thank, and one of the parties was the Glazer family. They are the family who owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the ones who gave him his first NFL coaching job.

True, they did take a risk in giving an unproven defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings the opportunity of a lifetime. Not to mention they were somewhat pioneering, giving the job to an African-American coach (I don’t remember how few there were back in 1996-but I know there weren’t many.)

So they were among those many whom Dungy thanked. But one could have easily ignored them. I mean, they did fire Dungy even though he took the Bucs to the play-offs 4 out of 6 years he coached and only had one losing season (they had 14 in a row prior to his arrival). And they did deceptively assure him his job was safe, when in fact it wasn’t. And they did not fire his successor despite 3 losing seasons and no play-off victories since the Super Bowl in 2002.

If I were Dungy, I could see myself omitting the Glazers on my people-to-thank list. But he didn’t. He instead affirmed what he could affirm about others. What a lesson we could all learn, especially in dealing with people whom we have “history” or disagreement.

While at Books-A-Million a few days ago, Amy overheard a conversation among an employee and customer that reinforced to me just how much power Oprah has. Check this out.

Customer: “I’m looking for the book Oprah mentioned yesterday on her show. Do you have it?”

Employee: “Well, if she mentioned it on her show, then we sell out such books within the first hour. So I’m sure we don’t have it in stock.”

How crazy is that! Oprah has got to be the most influential person in America. Now if “we” could get her to recommend The Reason for God…

A little while ago I included a post about a young athlete and Rhodes scholar from FSU named Mryon Rolle, who was undecided on which way to go: either the NFL or Oxford. He chose the latter. For all of those who look down upon athletes in a Hobbesian sort of way “nasty, brutish, and short” (well maybe not short, but the other two aren’t out of the question), check out Mryon Rolle’s decision to skip the immediate money and have two years of free schooling. At Oxford.

When a punter in football kicks the ball so far and so quickly up the field, he often puts the rest of his teammates at a disadvantage. The opposing return team is then able to set up quicker and the punt returner has a better chance of getting a good return. It is called “out-punting” your coverage. The goal is to kick the ball far, but also high, and keep it in the air as long as possible. Just kicking it far can present a problem.

Well it looks like Hugh Heffner and Playboy have “outpunted” their coverage by mainstreaming sexuality and pornography so much so that it may have hurt their market. Here is an excerpt of a thoughtful reflection on the issue, the cause, and why we don’t really have great cause for rejoicing.

The economy is apparently hitting the Playboy pornographic empire, at least according to an article in December in Business Week. The magazine which was famously described as being good for women, providing that women knew what they were good for, is struggling, but before you crack open the champagne, it is no cause for rejoicing those who deplore what it represent: the problem Playboy faces is twofold — the `softcore’ content on which it made its reputation is now so mainstream that equivalent material can be found in many magazines that would never be considered pornographic; and it cannot compete with the harder, more explicit stuff that is now easily available to any ten year old child with a computer and a modem. As one pundit on Tina Brown’s politics and culture webpage, The Daily Beast, asked, `Who buys a skin mag these days?’

You can read the rest of the article here. I highly recommend it.

I’ve been enjoying the NFL play-off games lately. When the Bucs don’t play, which is usually, since Gruden took over, I simply pull against teams I dislike the most.

Yesterday, both Carolina and Tennessee played. They both performed very well throughout the season and earned first round bye’s and a home game. Both lost. So all that winning simply to lose their first game. Was it that important to win? I mean from a fan’s perspective.

Was it worth it to get worked up about all of the close games? Was it worth putting all that stock in a game that I have absolutely no control over? After all, I may only get to see ONE extra game. Doesn’t make a ton of sense. But then again, “fan” is short for “fanatic.” I mean one who follows a sports team isn’t called a “log,” short for “logical.”

The other day I received a Xmas card (with actual personal writing in it; I don’t “get” the one’s that just have a name or two signed) AND Xmas letter. The letter was simply an update on the life of one of my good friends. Since we just got back from vacation, and had a plethora of other bills and junk mail to view, I found myself skimming the one-page form letter.

Amy came up to me about five minutes later and asked, “Did you read the letter from Troy?” “Yes, skimmed it,” I told her. And she responded, “So can you believe they are having another baby?”

I had no idea. I obviously missed that part. I really missed the most important part of the letter.

With that in mind, there are a ton of details we seem to miss in the bible. And in addition to better learning the context of the individual verses, books, sections of books (Law, Prophets, even minor Prophets, Pauline epistles, etc…), re-reading the bible in a year can allow us to see things we “missed” the previous time. And if you’re reading it this year, I guess you’ll have to go back next year and see what you missed, eh?

Here’s a link to some bible reading schedules if you’re interested. At Hope, we’re trying to encourage our community groups and even youth group to consider taking this beneficial challenge together. I started a few days late but can play “catch-up” on the off days.

Are you as romantic as 98 year-old basketball coach? I think this dude is a good challenge for all the fellas. Here’s an excerpt of an interview with former UCLA ball coach John Wooden from Sporting News magazine. He is considered by most to be the best coach of all time but his legacy goes beyond way beyond sports.

SN: “There is much love in this house, isn’t there?”

Wooden: “Yes there is. My late wife (who died in 1985), the only girl I ever dated, the only girl I ever went with, picked it out out to be closer to our daughter….”

SN: “Many things are just so: the books, the photographs. And also many things that belonged to Nell-even the little things, like her lipstick. Are you holding on to her still?”

Wooden: “Yes. All the things that she used, like her makeup. And her side of the bed. Her gown is stretched out on her side of the bed since I lost her. And once the sheets are changed, then we put everything back on the same way. So I wouldn’t want to leave here.”

SN: “Your family speaks with emotion about the letters you write to Nell every month, a simple act that is profoundly touching and romantic. How does it make you feel when you write to her?”

Wooden: “It makes me feel closer to her. It brings back many feelings…(long pause)…that we had between us. It makes me feel better.

SN: “Will your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren read them someday? Or are they just for you and Nell?”

Wooden: “They are between us.”

I think this kind of love is a beautiful picture of the love a husband should have for his wife. But ultimately it points us to the love that Christ has for the church: the greater reality to which marriage directs us.

Last night I found myself pulling for a team I’ve always pulled against: Ohio State. Why you ask (or I’ll ask on your behalf)?

A number of players including their All-American linebacker and freshmen quarterback had little scripture references on their “eye black” (those black sticky things they put under their eyes to reduce glare, and to look cool). Now that is not unique. Florida Gator QB Tim Teebow has “Phil” on one and “4:13” on the other. In case you’re not familiar with this verse, it is the sports-ubiquitous “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” verse. I think this is a good verse to put, especially if “all things” include “being content” with a loss (as it refers to Paul being content , in essence, whether he “wins” or “loses”).

But the scripture references these players were donning seemed to be less about the game itself. The QB was wearing Phil 3:14. Either he got confused and mixed up the scripture reference OR he was “….pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Wow. I thought that to be a pretty cool reference since it didn’t have anything to do with the outcome of the game (unless his translation was “goal-line” instead of “goal!”).

The verse that linebacker James Larunitis (whose father and uncles were professional wrestlers-seriously, remember the “Ultimate Warrior?”) had was Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Nothing against Tim Teebow (seriously the dude is an incredible athlete, Christian, missionary, etc.., the Tony Dungy of college quarterbacks) but these are the verses I personally would rather see because they seem to place more emphasis on Christ and less on the actual game. That and I still can’t get the taste of Evander Holyfield’s use of Phil 4:13 on his boxing robe out of my mouth from the late 90’s.

Nevertheless, I am thankful for all such athletes who wear their faith (literally during the games) and who will have a chance to minister on a larger platform in the NFL. Click here to see some other NCAA football players who share faith in Christ.