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From C.J. Mahaney, “Thoughts on Super Bowl XLIV”

Given my love for sports I have an obligation to publish a public service announcement to prepare you for the impending Super Bowl…

O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D

The Super Bowl is the most overrated sporting event in the history of all sports, dating back to the very first Olympics. The NFL thinks so highly of itself, the Super Bowl is assigned Roman numerals.

Yet despite the hype, year after year this game rarely delivers. With few exceptions, most of these games are neither exciting nor memorable (unless your team is participating). With Peyton Manning and Drew Brees in the Super Bowl, there is at least a chance that Super Bowl 44 will be entertaining, but I doubt it.                    -read the rest of the article here

From Kevin Deyoung, “A Simpler View of Sports”

Like most Christian men I know, I have a love/hate relationship with sports. I’ve played sports–in high school, in college, and on the side–and I’ve been a fan of sports my whole life. I love it when my teams wins. I feel pangs of sorrow when they lose. I love the conversational fodder sports has provided thousands of times for me and my brother and my dad. I love the way sports gives me something to talk about with the majority of men in my church, many boys, and a not few women and girls.

And yet, I recognize sports talk is only the shallow end of the pool. More than that, I am fearful of the place sports can occupy in my heart. As a pastor, I want the folks in my congregation to give their lives for something more meaningful than youth soccer leagues and the triumphs of fandom. I am not blind to the idolatries of sport and the failings of sport stars. But, still, I am a huge sports fan.

So it was with interest that I read the Christianity Today cover article on “Sports Fanatics.” In this lengthy essay, Shirl James Hoffman, an emeritus professor of kinesiology at UNC-Greensboro, sets out to prove “how Christians have succumbed to the sports culture–and what might be done about it.” I was hoping for an article that took a fair look at the world of sports–the good, the bad, and the ugly. What I got was something like this, but not quite: an argument that, on the one hand, affirms sports as “derivatives of the God-given play impulse,” and, on the other hand, argues that Christians should get rid of football and take up swimming.                       -read the rest of the artcle here

Christopher Hitchens (a popular atheist or as he prefers “anti-theist”) was recently interviewed by Marilyn Sewell (a Unitarian minister).  In that interview there was an interesting exchange about the true nature of Christianity.  And oddly enough, Hitchens got it right!

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian. (read the entire interview)

from Mark Driscoll’s Blog:

There is an ongoing debate as to the purpose of the sermon and whether it should focus on converting the lost or maturing the saved. The apparent conflict between preaching for seekers and preaching for believers is resolved simply by noting that both need to repent of sin and trust in Jesus to live a new life empowered by the Spirit. Therefore, a sermon can and should effectively communicate to both audiences, and it will if the preacher is able to go after the root of sin and explain Christian jargon in order to speak the “tongue” of the hearer. This includes saying the name of Jesus and making him known.

Very interesting debate.  Driscoll did a good job of defending the existence of Satan, and most importantly he clearly presented the Gospel.

Watch the debate on the ABC News website.

Also, check out the Mars Hill website for “8 Things to Know About Nightline’s Satan Debate“.

Tim Keller – Preaching the Gospel from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Tim Keller – The City from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Tim Keller – Cultural Transformation from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Be reminded of the Gospel this morning. Great article http://bit.ly/3PDTPr

Great article by Dever on “The Sin of Infant Baptism.” I appreciate his point . . . though of course I disagree with him. http://bit.l …

Here is a reflection on the cross from a puritan prayer:

O my Saviour,

I thank thee from the depths of my being for thy wondrous grace and love in bearing my sin on the tree. May the cross be to me as the tree that sweetens my bitter Marahs, as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty, as the brazen serpent that calls forth the look of faith.

By thy cross crucify my every sin; Use it to increase my intimacy with thyself; Make it the ground of all my comfort, the liveliness of all my duties, the sum of all thy gospel promises, the comfort of all my afflictions, the vigour of my love, thankfulness, graces, the very essence of my religion; And by it give me that rest without rest, the rest of ceaseless praise.

O my Lord and Saviour,

Thou has also appointed a cross for me to take up and carry, a cross before thou givest me a crown. Thou has appointed it to be my portion, but self-love hates it, carnal reason is unreconciled to it; without the grace of patience I cannot bear it, walk with it, profit by it.

O blessed cross, what mercies dost thou bring with thee! Thou are only esteemed hateful by my rebel will, heavy because I shirk thy load. Teach me, gracious Lord and Saviour, that with my cross thou sendest promised grace so that I may bear it patiently, that my cross is thy yoke which is easy, and thy burden which is light.

Thanks to Walt Mueller at CPYU for sharing this prayer.

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