Category: Sports

Master’s Tournament Winner Bubba Watson and His Faith

~ Bob Hayton

I had the opportunity to watch some of the Master’s Tournament this year. I love watching golf (and try to play my hand at it, albeit rather poorly). So I caught some of the Master’s on Saturday, and was able to watch the conclusion of it on Sunday.

I was impressed with Bubba Watson’s win, and was thoroughly amazed by his unbelievable shot out of the woods and hooking onto the green to capture the victory. But I was unaware of the fact that Watson is a Christian.

He seems to be a solid Christian who is vocal about his faith, and I just wanted to point my readers in the direction of a few articles that make this point clear. I love the name Bubba, and his personality sure is winsome. But knowing we share a common faith makes me respect him even more.

Here are some links for additional reading:

Manute Bol, Basketball Redeemed for Christ

~ Bob Hayton ~ 3 Comments

The Wall Street Journal is not the place I would expect to read this piece. It was so good, I had to share it with my readers.

Back in the days when I collected basketball cards and followed the sport, I learned all the statistics I could. So I remember Manute Bol of the Washington Bullets, because he was the tallest basketball player ever at 7’7″ tall! He wasn’t all that great, but he did get some blocks in. As it turns out he left a much greater legacy than basketball heroics.

Let me quote from the opinion piece in the online WSJ:

Manute Bol, who died last week at the age of 47, is one player who never achieved redemption in the eyes of sports journalists. His life embodied an older, Christian conception of redemption that has been badly obscured by its current usage.

Bol, a Christian Sudanese immigrant, believed his life was a gift from God to be used in the service of others…

Bol reportedly gave most of his fortune, estimated at $6 million, to aid Sudanese refugees. As one twitter feed aptly put it: “Most NBA cats go broke on cars, jewelry & groupies. Manute Bol went broke building hospitals.”

When his fortune dried up, Bol raised more money for charity by doing what most athletes would find humiliating: He turned himself into a humorous spectacle. Bol was hired, for example, as a horse jockey, hockey player and celebrity boxer. Some Americans simply found amusement in the absurdity of him on a horse or skates. And who could deny the comic potential of Bol boxing William “the Refrigerator” Perry, the 335-pound former defensive linemen of the Chicago Bears?

Bol agreed to be a clown. But he was not willing to be mocked for his own personal gain as so many reality-television stars are. Bol let himself be ridiculed on behalf of suffering strangers in the Sudan; he was a fool for Christ…

Bol’s life and death throws into sharp relief the trivialized manner in which sports journalists employ the concept of redemption. In the world of sports media players are redeemed when they overcome some prior “humiliation” by playing well. Redemption then is deeply connected to personal gain and celebrity. It leads to fatter contracts, shoe endorsements, and adoring women.

Yet as Bol reminds us, the Christian understanding of redemption has always involved lowering and humbling oneself. It leads to suffering and even death.

It is of little surprise, then, that the sort of radical Christianity exemplified by Bol is rarely understood by sports journalists. For all its interest in the intimate details of players’ lives, the media has long been tone deaf to the way devout Christianity profoundly shapes some of them…

I encourage you to read the whole thing. Great words being shared and a wonderful story of a life lived for Christ. May each of us redeem the spheres of influence we find ourselves in. And may God give you a blessed Lord’s Day tomorrow in worship.

Long Pants, Basketball, and Modesty in the News

~ fundyreformed ~ 21 Comments

Recently, ESPN.com highlighted a small Christian school that required their boys to wear pants, when playing basketball [HT: Seth McBee]. For a couple years when I was in high school, I encountered the same thing. Check out Seth’s post, or the original ESPN article for the entire interview, as I’m sure many of my readers will have had some firsthand experience with this kind of standard. Let me give an excerpt from the interview, and then my own reflection that I shared at Seth’s blog.

reporter: Please forgive my ignorance on this point, but is there a specific verse of the Bible that addresses this?

school principal: There is, but I’d have to look it up — I don’t have it handy, but it’s definitely in Scripture. And I don’t know if you know this, but our girls’ basketball team dresses in skirts. [And the school’s cheerleading squad wears long skirts.]

reporter: From a layman’s standpoint, it seems like maybe you’d want the girls to wear pants as well, so they wouldn’t show any skin. But I’m guessing you don’t want the girls wearing pants or dressing the same as the boys, right?

school principal: Yeah, because the Bible says there should be a separate distinction between a man and a woman in terms of their apparel, so that’s what it’s all about.

Okay, some are laughing right now. Some can’t imagine this. But the sense of loyalty to the standards of a strict fundamentalist school is quite strong. Consider my own reflections (shared at Seth’s blog).

That brings back memories for me! I was one of those long-pants-ers.

Our school ran about 50-70 or so and we had a very low budget, so we bought uniforms but didn’t order the shorts. The plan was to order them a few years later, or so we were told. So we played in warm-up pants.

But because of this we were able to play one or two other schools that would not play against any team that did not wear pants. We did have a cheer-leading squad and their skirts went down to the knee or below.

We were independent fundamental Baptists, not charismatics.

Looking back on it, we sure looked stupid. And they were uncomfortable.

The college I went to did not allow men to wear shorts except for in the gym, pretty much. Women had to wear skirts/dresses all the time (even in the dorms). And no, there is no verse in scripture about the shorts thing.

There was even a time I wouldn’t wear shorts in the dorm because I just wasn’t sure whether it was sinful or not to wear them.

Boy, God has brought me a long way! And opened my eyes to His grace along the way.

[Just] thought I’d just share my perspective on this interesting story!

Anyone else have any memories about anything similar to this?

Football Hall of Famer Art Monk Boasts in the Lord

~ fundyreformed ~ 1 Comment

Recently, Art Monk (along with fellow Washington Redskin Darrell Green) was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. Instead of boasting in his achievements, however, Art Monk took the opportunity to boast in Jesus. Here is an excerpt from his Hall of Fame induction speech (HT: CJ Mahaney).

…as great as this honor is, it’s not what really defines who I am or the things that I’ve been able to accomplish in my life. …

And even now as a Hall of Famer, the one thing I want to make very clear is that my identity and my security is found in the Lord. And what defines me and my validation comes in having accepted his son Jesus Christ as my personal savior. And what defines me is the Word of God, and it’s the Word of God that will continue to shape and mold me into the person that I know he’s called me to be.

So I’ve learned a long time ago never to put my faith or trust in man, for man will always fail you. Man will always disappoint you. But the Word of God says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. And He will never fail you.

And that is what I live by and what I stand on….

There’s a scripture that I think about almost every day and I’ve come to personalize it to my life. It says: “Lord, who am I that you are mindful of me?” [Psalm 8:4]. And the Apostle Paul says, “Think of what you were when you were called. Not many were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were born of noble birth” [1 Corinthians 1:26]. And when I look at my life and how I grew up, I certainly had none of those qualities or benefits.

But I understand and I know that I’m here not by, in, and of my own strength””but it’s by the grace and the power of God upon my life, who I know gave me favor along the way, and who provided opportunity and room for me to use my gifts.

So I am very grateful to receive this honor, and I can stand here before you and say, “Hey, look at me, look at what I did.” But if I’m going to boast, I’m going to boast today in the Lord, for it’s because of him that I’m here and I give him thanks and glory and honor for all that he has done for me.

A pretty good message. And its from a NFL football player! Art Monk was one of the game’s great receivers, but from the looks of it, he also has a great testimony of following Jesus Christ. Check out the full post with more excerpts from the speech, at C.J. Mahaney’s blog.

Super Bowl XLII, Play of the Game

~ fundyreformed ~ 1 Comment

Wow! This game has to be one of the best Super Bowls ever. And I don’t remember seeing such a spectacular play as this one. It was the game changer 1 minute left which propelled the Giants to victory. Again, the play is simply jaww dropping.

Eli Manning and the Giants deserve this win. The defense was phenomenal, and Coach Kauflin certainly vindicated himself — he’ll be coaching the Giants for quite some time, I predict.

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