The Grandsons Call the Shots

What's Thanksgiving and family time without some football? When two of my grandsons are fans of opposing teams, it is a crackup to watch them interact. Dallas Cowboys or Cincinnati Bengals. Just listening to them recite stats, critiques plays, and disagree with the refs made it a day to remember.

Notable and Quotable: Kansas City Chief's Patrick Mahomes

"Doing what I do every single day, and then knowing that as long I'm doing everything the right way, the way that He'd want me to do it, then I can walk off the field with my head held high and be able to be the man that I'm supposed to be. It's given me a lot of blessing in my life and I'm trying to maximize and glorify Him in everything I do"

Super Bowl Winning Quarterback Patrick Mahomes

Ed Sheeran Rocks the City

Taylor Swift has done so much to benefit musical artists and fans that you could write chapters upon chapters about her as an artist and businesswoman. Music editors and sociologists will be talking about her impact for years. But I know very few of her songs. I'm not her target audience. 

I'm not Ed Sheeran's target audience either. That said, there are a few hits I own and know well. Apparently, the folks of Denver are more than aware, as the beloved red headed entertainer filled the field of the Denver Broncos football team last night.

Although delayed by a lightning storm until 10pm, Sheeran played for 2 hours with a set list of 27 songs. Everything from Thinking Out Loud to Shape of You to Sing to Perfect- one of my very favorite songs. Pretty impressive. I'm sure his forthcoming and much talked about "Autumn Variations" album will contain many more songs I'll be adding to my collection. This time, it's on his own custom label, "Gingerbread Man Records". Gotta love the name!

Due to a variety of reasons, I did not go to this concert. These photos are from my youngest son who is quite the fan- long before Ed became well known. He paid quite a bit of money to go. Was it with it? He'd definitely say yes.

Notable and Quotable: Patrick Mahomes

"Doing what I do every single day, and then knowing that as long I'm doing everything the right way, the way that He'd want me to do it, then I can walk off the field with my head held high and be able to be the man that I'm supposed to be. It's given me a lot of blessing in my life and I'm trying to maximize and glorify Him in everything I do"

Super Bowl LIV Winning Quarterback Patrick Mahomes

Can You Look Him in the Eye?

Can you look him in the eye? Can you? It's quite a haunting question that has to be answered. Unfortunately, this was censored by Fox! It's too bad. After all the trashy commercials during the Super Bowl, here was one that makes America think. See it below and the text that follows.

Botched Abortion survivors make their point, don't they? Lest you think abortion doesn't have a dirty underside, a foundation of hatred and racism, consider the quote below from it's founder:

"We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population..."

          Margaret Sanger, 
               Founder of Planned Parenthood

-- in her letter to Dr. Clarence J. Gamble, December 10, 1939.

The full letter is here (- with my screenshots below it):

https://libex.smith.edu/omeka/...

We will all have to give a report to God for our choices:

"So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God." (from the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans 14:12).

What will you say? Will you be able to look Him in the eye?

Winning At Life

Tim Tebow may not have a career in the Major Leagues coming his way anytime soon, but it doesn't matter. In a world where too many sports heroes are world class jerks if not felons, Tebow stands out as being a winner in the game of life. Way more important for this world and the next. Go Tim!

(Photograph from Jason Vinlove, USA Today.)

Tom Brady: From Deflated to Elated

What a great and inspiring tale of not giving up! Super Bowl LI belonged to the Atlanta Falcons in the first half- and it didn't look like the New England Patriots had a chance. Even Tom Brady seemed deflated. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) And then, it happened one step at a time. A tale of perseverance that paid off handsomely.

This morning, I ran across this challenging piece of Scripture, a command from God in the book of Jeremiah, and I thought of all of them:

Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

                                                            Jeremiah 9:23-24

Oh, Lord, let our hearts cry out to you! Let my heart be changed! To only boast of knowing you, but in a way that shows your greatness and our true humility. The gift of intimacy with you, the One True God is better than all the knowledge of what the world tells me is important. It's better than being strong and healthy with a perfect body. It's worth more than all the stocks, bonds, wealth and power found in corporate America and beyond.

Oh, Lord. let me love you more than anyone or anything! You alone, Oh God, deserve our praise! The eternal lasts beyond the temporary awards and accolades of this world. And Lord, let me persevere in the things you have called me to, not sacrificing the blessing of your call in exchange for the comforts and pleasures of the world.

Home Free

Modern day heroes are few and far between. If it isn't actors running amok, singers losing their decency, athletes acting as if they are above the law, or normal everyday people like you and me living for ourselves instead of something greater, it's our society and government pushing us to the lowest common denominator.

Tim Tebow stands out. And the man need our prayer support.
Here's a great article from CBN News:

"Tim Tebow has tasted success on and off the football field, but it was an experience in a village in the Philippines that made a huge impact on his life.

He spoke about his experience on the Church Boys Podcast, which was written up in a story by The Blaze.

"It's not about how much you have in your bank account. It's about the lives that you've changed, so that's what I want my life to be about," said Tebow.

Life is lived through a dash, Tebow said. "When we die, there's going to be a dash in between the date we were born and the date that we died, and that dash is going to represent everything we did in our life."

The college football star said that his life was changed in an experience he had as a teenager on a mission trip to the Philippines.

He came across a child during the trip whose feet were backwards, which is considered a curse. Tebow said he had the opportunity to carry the boy and tell the village that he was not cursed, but loved by God.

The experience led Tebow to open a hospital called CURE in the Philippines that helps children specifically with orthopedic needs.

He has continued to use his fame to help those in need on a new television show he is co-hosting, called "Home Free." He described the show as having an overarching theme of love and sacrifice. "We have a chance to change people's lives," he said.

The show gives nine deserving couples the chance to win their dream house. They are challenged to revive one run-down home each week, and do the best job they can to stay in the competition and move forward.

"Every single one of them will get a home. They will be playing for their personal heroes who have done amazing things," said Tebow.

"One of our contestants was a hero in Afghanistan and got blown up, and the man he's playing for was the person who came back in battle and picked him up and carried him off the battlefield and saved his life. Another one of our contestants is playing for a woman who randomly donated her kidney to her father when he was on dialysis," said Tebow.

Tebow says that he is grateful for the platform God has given him to reach others through playing football and he says humility is central to living a life of faith.

"The only thing that we've been called to brag about is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because He's the one that did everything for us and He overcame death and hell and everything else and He's the reason that we get to stand in victory, because we know Him and we love Him."

"Home Free" will debut on the Fox Network on June 16."

(Photograph and text copyright CBN News.)

We Could Do Much Worse

Would Tim Tebow really consider a career in politics? This USA Today article sure sounds like it could be under consideration- one day. 

Regardless of what you think of his football skill or his religious beliefs, one thing is certain: The guy has integrity and is pretty honest. That's more than you can say for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump. I'd certainly vote for the guy!

Shine, Shine, Shine

What a Night to Shine! One of my closest friends worked with his church to host a prom for special needs folks of all ages on Friday February 12. With 200 or so churches sponsoring the events, attendees were treated to an evening of music, gifts, games, making it all a night fit for a king or queen. The Tim Tebow Foundation also helped pay for some of it. 

In my friend's church, over 500 volunteers blessed their local communities by loving on the kids and their caretakers. Say what you will, but it says much about this football hero's heart that his foundation would present this event. A real man of God who lives his life for Christ! What a c interest to so many on the field who serve themselves often at the expense of the people around them. What to go, Tebow! And thank you, Professor...

Golden Boy Gets What He Deserves

New England Patriot's Tom Brady, the All-American Golden Boy, gets what he deserves: a four game suspension for deflating game footballs and damaging the integrity of the game. God knows the game of football has been plagued by men of dubious character- and all to often, many of them get a slap on the wrist. For very serious crimes. But at least they finally got this one right.

Disney Theme Park Disasters: Chester and Hester's Dinorama

Of course, like most of Americans who watched last night's Super Bowl, I'm still surprised by the turn of events. Have a great Monday!

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Consider this new look at Disney Theme Park Disasters as the counterpoint to my earlier post (and series) "When Reality is Better Than Imagineering Art". I'm among the many cheerleaders of Disney Imagineering (and the decisions of the Suits) when something spectacular is built at the parks. Or, as in the case of Tokyo Disney Sea, when an entire park turns out to be full of substance and incredible eye candy. Be it old school (Disneyland's New Orleans Square) or new (California Adventure's Cars Land and Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Point) or something in between (Animal Kingdom's new Africa expansion), park fans like myself love to discuss all the detailed beauty we find and praise all who do a great job to make it happen.

The opposite is also true. I'll complain loud and clear to anyone who asks when I see Disney take the shorter and cheaper route, giving well paying guests a less than excellent product. I don't care what the project is, who the Imagineers are, or what park it is in. We've seen California Adventure at opening, Walt Disney Studios in Paris, and a number of cheap additions designed to fill a void and pad that huge paycheck of Bob Iger's and the investors in the Company. I have no doubt, that those will be the subject of future posts.

Let's take a look now at some of the worst of the worst...

Top of my list in Florida? Chester and Hester's Dinorama in Disney's beautiful and woefully (for now) under built Animal Kingdom. 

Relatively attractive art cannot hide the cheap look of the end result.

This area is not only a black eye on an otherwise stunning park, it is an example of everything wrong with the Florida parks under the budgeteer business mindset of the Walt Disney World leadership- prior to the stupendous success of Universal Studios' Harry Potter expansion, when they immediately realized they were content playing second fiddle to their competition. 

Be it under Michael Eisner or Robert Iger, there is no excuse for this mess of an expansion or others that similarly fall short of excellence. (Trust me, there's many other places where the Company we love has sold its fans short!)

Triceratop Spin and Primeval Whirl are the main "attractions" here, along with an assortment of carnival games to extract even more cash from a crowd that has already paid too much money to enter the park gates. Certainly this area was a quick addition to address the complaint of not enough attractions, but the overall "theme" and execution is horrible at best. Spinners should fill out a terrific menu of attractions, not replace them.

There was one good thing to be found at Chester and Hester's Dinorama. Although I never saw him, it was the temporary home of Lucky the Dinosaur, a free roaming animatronic that walked the area. He was last seen at Hong Kong Disneyland when that park was a shadow of what it is now and prior to that was found at a struggling California Adventure. 

As proof of how unimpressed I was with the area, I searched photos from my last two trips to the World (2007 and 2009), and I found only a handful of photos. Of course, it's now 2015, and there's not another trip to Walt Disney World in sight. But that is another story altogether. Perhaps after Pandora. Perhaps, no guarantee.

Yes, "the World" is a beautiful place and worth our time. But in this mini-land at Animal Kingdom, I say not here, not ever. Chester's and Hester's is at best a temporary project but should become extinct as soon as possible... but we know how the Mouse views "temporary", don't we?

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company. Photos copyright Mark Taft.)

Super Bowl Heroes

Yesterday was not a glorious day for us in Denver and definitely not for the Broncos. But whether you rooted for Denver or Seattle, you've just have to check this out!

Go!

Don't watch much football at all, little really- but I have to hand it to Peyton Manning and the Broncos. GO! 

Tebow Upsets Critics From Both Sides

Just heard Tim Tebow did a photo shoot for Vogue that will cause a stir. (Not this photo, above, taken years ago and touched up). This newest photo shoot is with renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. 

You know, people can complain about him all they want- and he's not perfect- but you have to applaud his willingness to be open about his love for Jesus. Too many people who profess Christianity decide to not be open about it where they work. And I don't mean "obnoxious" either, just real about their lives. Time to move on, people.

Way to Go Tebow!

Not a football fan naturally, but even I was mesmerized by the Denver Broncos performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tim Tebow, love him or leave him, is shaping up to be quite an exciting reason to watch the sport.

(Photograph by Chris Humphries)

Notable and Quotable: Tim Tebow

"If you're married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife 'I love her' the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity?

"And that's how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ is that it is the most important thing in my life. So any time I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I'm gonna take that opportunity. And so I look at it as a relationship that I have with him that I want to give him the honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity. And then right after I give him the honor and glory, I always try to give my teammates the honor and glory."


Tim Tebow on ESPN, in response to Jake Plummer

I say, right on, Tim! Right on!

Bulls and Beasts

Two bits of news yesterday that made me stop and think:

In Madrid, Spain, a bull in the ring actually jumped over the grandstands into the crowd, injuring many.

The other? LaGarrette Blount, a football player known for his unrestrained temper, once again lost his cool, punching another player.

What's disturbing about this? LaGarrette's coach writes the episode off as "It's football, it's training camp." Making excuses for poor sportmanship. This is another bit of proof that we as a people have fallen into a trap. We reward talent instead of character, making heroes out of those who have no such reason to be seen as one.
The bull in Madrid was doing what bulls so. I guess LaGarrette was too, as man is sinful at his core. But I ask, when we will stop the craziness of elevating those who do wrong just because they are great talents? And who really needs to be trained correctly here?

Playing for Purpose

From the always excellent blog, CrossTraining:

"I Speak Soccer

Our last CoreTraining session with the team included the viewing of the soccer documentary “I Speak Soccer” (http://www.ispeaksoccer.com) and a discussion about the themes and issues raised by this look at the world’s game. Our journey went from Brazil to Thailand to Africa and interesting to all was a common theme that seemed to arise in that there is a token sense of spirituality that accompanies the “most beautiful game.”

For the Brazilians, there was much language which included “God” – how thankful they were to God for the game, the passion to play, the ability to play, etc. – and one almost felt invited into a family and welcomed even as a stranger into a home. For the Thai people, the expression was very different – as if the social, religious, and cultural values prevented certain formations of community and friendship – the “language” of football (soccer) felt more distant and cold with the Thai people than the warm, smiling Brazilians. In Nigeria, soccer and faith were again more tied together as soccer was a hopeful way out of the poverty, desperation, and suffering of the people.

If you have ever traveled across the borders of your own country or even the invisible boundaries that separate us culturally and ethnically within our cities, you know that there is a growing shift in the communities of the world. While technology claims to bring us closer together there is seemingly more that separates and divides and it is harder and harder to find common language and common ground... "

Go here for the rest.

Created for Good Works

The National Day of Prayer is today- and prayer is always a good thing!

The newest Denver Broncos player Tim Tebow, above, is ending the National Prayer Breakfast by closing it in prayer.

On the pro ball front, in the National Football League, it seems the NFL acronym often stands for "National Felons League". Lurid tales of extra marital sex, domestic abuse and violence are almost daily news items. Yet, Tim Tebow is taking flack for doing something good? Let's get a grip! Instead of making heroes out of thugs, let's uphold someone who is imperfect but seemingly trying to do right.

By the way, ever wonder what the "Eph 2:8-10" means as seen on Tim's face here? It's a verse from the Apostle Paul to the church:
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:8-10
(Photo By Bill Haber, AP)