We have a very special Tract Tuesday for you today! The brilliant Jon Bois, from the SBNation NFL blog has modified an old favorite of ours- the “Bad Bob” Chick Tract.
Being an NFL writer, he slightly modified Jack Chick’s fine work to reflect the coming of our new Savior: Tim Tebow.
As the premier Chick Tract archivists on the internet, we thank Jon Bois for his contribution to all things Chick. Well done, sir.
In Dallas, a youth pastor is incorporating football into his church services. My favorite part of the news article is the excessive use of football/faith metaphors, like the following:
“And the playbook is your Bible,”
“And as a receiver, you have to receive the blessings from the Lord,”
“In life, sometimes you’ll need a Hail Mary; a break when you feel blitzed; and the freedom to celebrate when victory comes your way.”
I’d like to offer up some football/faith metaphors of my own. Feel free to use these in your own sermons.
” As a running back for Jesus, we have to carry the gospel to the endzone of unbelievers!”
” Don’t let Satan’s blitz package get you down!”
“Don’t let anyone near your tight end!” (For teenage girls)
(Via)
On Monday, I shared my thoughts on the whole “Stevie Johnson angrily tweets to God” story. Later that night, God and football intersected again… in an equally ridiculous fashion.
As you can see in the video above, Ronnie Hastie quickly kneeled in the end-zone and pointed heavenward after scoring a touchdown. It didn’t seem excessive, and it didn’t seem to draw attention to himself- and yet he was given a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct.
One has to wonder why the referee was so quick with the flag. I would like to commend the young man for not making a huge deal out of a stupid situation. You don’t seem him crying about “religious persecution”- only that he’ll do his praying on the sideline out of respect for the rules. Way to be the bigger man.
A personal pet peeve of mine is when athletes thank God for victories or stellar play. I mean, I’m down with thanking God for the ability to play the game- but when an athlete thanks God for a win, it just rubs me the wrong way. The idea that the Creator of the universe has his hand in pushing a field goal wide left at the end of a game just strikes me as silly. However, thanking God for victories is just as much a part of football as the halfback draw…
Which is why I have a hard time swallowing the public outcry over Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson’s tweet after the game yesterday. After dropping a fairly routine ball in overtime that would have won the game for his team, Johnson had the following to tweet:
Johnson seems to blame God for his drop. Honestly though, if a player gives credit to God for catches… doesn’t it sort of make sense to blame him for drops as well?
Maybe we can just accept the fact that football games are generally won on the field, and by the players who have worked harder and are more prepared. If you need proof that God doesn’t play favorites, go look at Notre Dame scores from the past few years…
