The Selfless Love of a Brother

Perhaps it's because I I've been thinking a lot lately about how we are to relate to one another within the church, but when I watched this video, I couldn't help but think the following:

How beautiful would it be if I loved my brothers and sisters in Christ as selflessly as Conner loves his brother?

Friday Fun...Silent Night at Taylor University

What happens when you mix a bunch of college kids, the joy of the Christmas season, the stress of pending final exams, and a basketball game? Well, watch the video below from Taylor University and find out. In it you will see action from last Friday night's traditional "Silent Night" game.

For almost 30 years, students have packed the gym at the NAIA school in Upland, Indiana for a basketball game the Friday night before finals. This year's game was against Akron-Wayne and as is tradition, the standing-room-only crowd stood in eerie, complete silence. Until the Trojans scored their 10th point. And then...



Below is a video of what it looked like from the stands...

Failing to Compete4Christ

Kurt Earl is one of the football coaches at Lincoln Christian School in Lincoln, Nebraska and is the author of Compete4Christ. At that blog he encourages Christian athletes to compete on the playing field (win or lose) in a way that brings glory to their Lord.

Today he had a blog post that came from a slightly different angle than he usually provides. It was entitled How I Failed to Compete4Christ. In it he described how the game's action had sent him into a tirade that left him, in his words, "going Bobby Knight on everyone."

The problem wasn’t what I said. It wasn’t like my sentences were laced with curse words. I think what I had to say the guys needed to hear. The problem was the way I went about it. My body language and the tone and volume of my voice were unacceptable. In fact, a friend of mine who was sitting with my wife in the stands said something like, “Kurt looked like a normal coach after that interception” to my wife. Therein lays the problem. I looked normal. I looked like the world.

Click  here to read the entire post and see what happened next, and be reminded with Kurt of how the gospel enables us to not despair in the midst of our failures.

You see, our failures are great opportunities to rest and soak in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the midst of our mistakes our need for a Savior to stand in our place as the perfect sacrifice is obvious. Friday, as the reality of my mistake was sinking in, I was reminded that only through the power of Christ’s death on the cross am I forgiven and worthy of an eternity in Heaven. I was thankful that my shameful acts of sin do not count against me. Through faith in Christ I stand righteous before God.

Friday Fun...Bad(minton) Olympic Highlights

I'm a big sports fan and would absolutely love to share video from the Olympic games here at my blog. Unfortunately, NBC has paid quite a tidy sum for exclusive rights to display such video.

Well, "Where there's a will, there's a way..." the saying goes. And the creative folks at The Wall Street Journal have figured out a way...

Friday Fun...Just a Bit Outside

I thought I would share this in honor of the start of baseball season. For full effect, you need to watch until the second replay. Remember, this is a man who is paid millions of dollars specifically to throw a baseball. And you will note that with two outs in the ninth inning, he had still not given up a run, so he was doing it incredibly effectively.

Until...

Video Podcast #1...Mastering Priorities

In this first attempt at a video podcast, I take a look at the priorities of the champion of this year's Masters golf tournament.

Click here to follow Bubba Watson on Twitter...or click here to follow Pete!

Free Download..."Jeremy Lin: Faith, Joy, and Basketball" by Ted Kluck

The other day I posted this message at Facebook:

My friend, Ted Kluck, has written a book about Jeremy Lin, subtitled Faith, Joy, and Basketball. I haven't read it yet, but Ted is a talented, honest and witty writer who has penned books on such varied topics as Mike Tyson, international adoption, and the emergent church.

In the Introduction to this book, Ted writes,

Watching the Knicks, and waiting for this deal, is like watching the stock market. I have a few shares of Jeremy Lin, Inc., and while I wait for my publisher to have the requisite fifty-five committee meetings necessary to approve a project, I'm praying Lin doesn't sprain an ankle or have a horrendous shooting night. Time is of the essence. I'm breaking the cardinal rule of publishing (and of pro sports, for that matter), which is "Don't begin work without a contract." Rod Tidwell would be ashamed of me.

Fortunately for Ted, the book got the green light and was made available for e-readers last week. Unfortunately for Lin, Ted's words turned seemingly prophetic this weekend with the announcement that Lin would have surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee, likely sidelining him for the rest of the season.

When I saw this news and then shortly thereafter saw that the download of the book was available for free, I assumed the two facts were related. Turns out the marketing plan all along was to make it available for free for a very limited time. I encourage you to click here today to get a FREE download of it for your e-reader. I'm not sure how long it will be available at no charge, so don't hesitate!

Friday Fun...Kurt Warner Comeback?

As I've mentioned before, Kurt Warner was, is and always will be my favorite football player. Part of that is because, being a native St. Louisan, I was a big Rams fan when he helped turn a perennial cellar-dweller into a Super Bowl champion. Then he followed this up by leading the team of my youth (the Cardinals) to the Super Bowl as well.  Furthermore, his personal history of grocery store stockboy turned NFL MVP is one of the great underdog stories of all time. Finally, add to these the fact that he found a way to have a Christian testimony in the midst of all this that was strong and yet not as annoying to non-Christians as that of many other outspoken Christian athletes.

Side note...A little trivia question for you here: In the 47 Super Bowls to have been played, what quarterback threw for the most yards in a game? How about the second most? How about the third?

Answer: Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner. And Kurt Warner. That's right. Of the 94 starting quarterbacks in the history of the Super Bowl, Kurt Warner's three starts were the top three performances in terms of passing yards.

Anyway, sports-wise, I'd love nothing more than to see Kurt Warner make a comeback and play forever. With that in mind, I really enjoyed the following video:

Friday Fun...Starting Lineups

The other night in New Orleans, as the Hornets hosted the Chicago Bulls, Will Ferrell served as the guest public address announcer for the starting lineups. It was, well, unique.

Friday Fun...Just Like Ol' Abner Drew It Up

In the cold of winter, a baseball fan like me needs to throw a few logs on the fire to keep warm until spring training. Here's one such piece of kindling that was brought to my attention by one of my seminary professors, Jack Collins.

Tim Tebow, Lance Berkman and Athletes Talking About Faith

The story of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has gotten a lot of publicity over the last few months. With that, and the fact that Tebow often publicly speaks about Christ, there has been somewhat of an ongoing conversation in the public arena about how much athletes should talk about their personal faith.

Below is a video of Lance Berkman recently accepting an award from the Missouri Athletic Club as their Sports Personality of the Year. I was impressed with both what he had to say and the tone in which he said it. But then again, I'm a Cardinal fan and a Christian; an atheistic Cub fan might feel differently.

No matter where you are on either spectrum (religious or athletic) I'd love to know what you think about his comments. Please take a listen to what he has to say and let me know, be it in the comments section, on Facebook, or via email at SolaGratiaBlog@hotmail.com.

I Am Just Like Albert Pujols

The news I had been fearing came this morning: Albert Pujols, the premier baseball player of his generation, was leaving the St. Louis Cardinals, my St. Louis Cardinals, for the Los Angeles Angels. And why? Because they offered him somewhere in excess of $250 million dollars when the the Cardinals' offer was closer to $200 million.

Cardinal fans are passionate about baseball. The national media make much of (and I'm sure other teams' fans are tired of hearing about) the fact that Cardinal fans are "the best fans in baseball." I'll grant that it seems to be a pretty subjective designation, and I don't know what kind of barometer you might use to measure it. I can attest to this though: The spirits of an entire region invariably rise and fall with the performance of its baseball team.

I remember back in 1987 when the Cardinals lost first baseman Jack Clark to free agency the same week St. Louis lost our NFL team to Arizona. The newspaper ran a public opinion poll as to which was the more devastating loss, a first baseman leaving the baseball team or the ENTIRE football team leaving the city. Clark had only been in St. Louis for three years and was nowhere near the player Pujols is. He won in a landslide.

Anyway, as I've followed things on Facebook & Twitter, Cardinal fans are unsurprisingly distraught. Amidst their anguish, cries are arising over the unmitigated pride of Pujols. After all, isn't $200 million enough?

I too am saddened by the departure for a number of reasons. Not the least of these is the discussion it forces me to have this evening with a twelve year old son whose first words to me each day for the last month have been, "Any news on Pujols?"

This being said, I think to criticize Pujols for greed is a little off base. If anything, I think the operative sin here would not be greed, but pride. Ultimately, in his heart of hearts, my guess is that what Pujols wanted wasn't so much the extra $50 million, but the status that comes with having received such a large contract.

I am reminded of the words of C.S. Lewis from his book, Mere Christianity: 

Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone. That is why I say that Pride is essentially competitive in a way the other vices are not. The sexual impulse may drive two men into competition if they both want the same girl. But that is only by accident; they might just as likely have wanted two different girls. But a proud man will take your girl from you, not because he wants her, but just to prove to himself that he is a better man than you. Greed may drive men into competition if there is not enough to go round; but the proud man, even when he has got more than he can possibly want, will try to get still more just to assert his power. Nearly all those evils in the world which people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of Pride.

Now, it's easy for me to be critical of the greedy man who wants another $50 million because I am not likely ever to find myself in such a situation.  But each day I am forced to do battle with my pride.  So as disappointed as I am that Pujols has left, I'm going to try to get my own pride issues taken care of before I start bashing him. And as soon as I think I've eliminated pride in my life, that will be the first indication I haven't.


***** CLARIFICATTION *****

There seems to be some confusion over what I was saying as some folks I have talked to thought that I was making precisely the opposite point I intended to make -- never a good thing for a communicator.

It was not my desire to suggest that Albert's decision was necessarily sinful. Rather, I was merely suggesting that it was my guess that whatever sin might be wrapped up in it would more likely be a sin of pride than of greed. As such, I hoped to demonstrate that we should probably refrain from being too critical of him as we all struggle with pride in its various manifestations. Hence the title of the post.

What Scandals Can Teach A Christian Sports Fan

A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting author Ted Kluck.  Since then, I've enjoyed getting to know him.  Ted and I share many interests, not the least of which are sports, theology and the relationship between the two.  The author of The Reason for Sports: A Christian Fainfesto, Ted has written in many different genres that I've enjoyed, but I think it is when he is writing on this area that I most appreciate his talents.

If you (like Ted and me) are a sports fan, no doubt you have heard of the scandal that is currently rocking the world of college football.  If you are unaware of the details, simply consider yourself fortunate. Regardless though, check out this piece Ted wrote related to the scandal, dealing specifically with the topic of our attitude toward sports as Christians.

In it he states,

I’m reminded of something that we say a lot but I think rarely internalize and actually live: The idea that nothing good is possible apart from Christ. As proud and hopeful as Penn State football made us feel over the years, this story is an occasion to be reminded that Christ is our only comfort, and our only source of joy. It’s a chance to be reminded that God gives football and God, sometimes, in his sovereignty, takes it away.

And I think it’s an occasion to question our own tendency toward hero-worship. If we say that we worship the author and perfector of our faith, why then do we have an almost insatiable and semi-embarrassing drive to create heroes in other walks of life?

Click here to read the whole post.

Friday Fun...Rally Squirrel

Those who know me know that I am a big fan of baseball in general and of the St. Louis Cardinals in particular.  Tonight the Cardinals play a fifth and deciding game in their best of five playoff series with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cardinal fans are excited about the game, but they're also excited about a furry visitor to Busch Stadium this week.  In each of the last two games, a squirrel has interrupted action, making mad dashes across the field, much to the delight of the fans.

In St. Louis he's been dubbed "The Rally Squirrel" and he is being seen among fans as somewhat of an unofficial mascot.  The fun has been portrayed in song below by Randy Mayfield, one of the pastors at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis.

Friday Fun...The Triple Play

Going a little different direction than normal, today's Friday Fun presentation is from the world of minor league baseball.  Below is your routine 8-4-3 (or is it 8-8-8-4-3?) triple play, started (and continued, and continued again) by Nashville Sounds' centerfielder Logan Schafer.



(HT: Challies)

Compete4Christ

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a pretty big sports fan.  That being said, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I get a little uncomfortable when outspoken Christian athletes seemingly turn God's word into nothing but decontextualized, triumphalistic platitudes about God's goodness in times of victory.

That's why I was recently heartened to find a new blog produced by Kurt Earl named Compete4Christ. Kurt is one of the football coaches at Lincoln Christian School in Lincoln, Nebraska, and in his words, "Compete4Christ exists to offer athletes, coaches and fans the opportunity to read verse by verse exegetical teaching of the Bible from an athletic perspective. My prayer is that this blog, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit, will help to equip the Elect in redeeming sporting events for God's glory."

We need to realize that if God is truly God, then all of life (including our competition on the athletic field) is subject to his sovereignty. Furthermore, if God is present and active in our victories, then he must be every bit as much so in our defeats. If we only see God's hand at work in our victories, then every time we fail it will call into question God's faithfulness.  But as Kurt pointed out in a recent entry, God is perhaps even more active in our failures.

When you Compete4Christ you begin to see failure as an opportunity for growth rather than a reason to be embarrassed or feel shame. Is God surprised or disappointed when we give our best effort and fall short? In fact, what we often declare failure God probably sees as opportunity.

'More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.' –Romans 5:3-5 

God sees failure as an opportunity for growth, for becoming more like His Son. Remember, our goal in participating in sports is to become more like Jesus Christ, to conform to his image. No amount of failure can deter us from that goal. In fact, as we have seen, failure gives us a chance to obtain the goal. Is that liberating or what?!

A great story...even if it is the Yankees.

(HT: Challies)

Kirk Cousins: Privilege Leads to Responsibility

"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more." (Luke 12:48b)

This post is a little different than the norm for my blog, but I thought it well worth sharing.  As I've mentioned before, I am a big sports fan.  And one of my favorite sports (along with baseball) is college football.  That makes this an exciting time of year for me, as student athletes have returned to campus and began practice this week for the upcoming season.

But I was also excited about something that occurred a couple weeks ago in Chicago.  That's when Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins spoke at the Big 10 preseason media luncheon.  In an age where we are all so prone to consider ourselves entitled to whatever we have, Cousins instead articulately stated how privileged he sees himself to be as a college football player.  He went on to emphasize that instead of leading to a sense of entitlement, privilege ought to lead to a sense of responsibility.

What Cousins had to say should be required listening for every big time college football player in the nation.  And the rest of us should listen to him as well, not only to be heartened by his wise and humble example in the midst of so many prima donnas, but (more importantly) so that we could consider how we might apply his words to our lives as well.

Friday Fun (Monday Mirth?)...The Horse Race

This morning I saw the latest mission from Improv Everywhere and I knew I had to include it as a Friday Fun post. The only problem is I didn't want to wait until Friday.

Friday Fun...Lebron James and the Golden Rule of Sports

I saw this about a week ago and perhaps many of you have seen it already as well.  But I found it pretty funny (and disturbingly accurate), and as a sports fan with a blog, I wanted to pass it along.  A Friday Fun post the morning after the NBA Draft seemed like as good a time as any...