A Christian's Take on Tim Tebow

The people or issues that get the most media attention are what are most important to us as a society. Right or wrong, this is what it is. Or just what the media thinks is important, maybe. No matter how you slice it, given his media attention, Tim Tebow is pretty darn important right now. Everyone has an opinion on Tebow. Countless articles have been written, interviews conducted, and things said. Our words about Tim Tebow, whether written or spoken, say far more about us than they do about him.

Tebow is constantly criticized and rarely praised. Why? Is it because of his unorthodox throwing motion? Because he runs too much and throws too little? Because Broncos fans love him so much that Kyle Orton was let go? No, it is none of those things.

Tim Tebow is criticized so often because he is a born-again Christian and not afraid to talk about it. People are quick to say that his faith flows out of his football, and the two should be separated. People say God doesn’t care about sports, and to believe He does is ludicrous. People are wrong on all these points. First of all, Tebow’s faith doesn’t flow out of his football. It is precisely the other way around. His football flows out of his faith. Tim Tebow is a Christian first, a football player second (or third). Thus, the two cannot, and should not, be separated. Christians are not called to only talk about God or “act” like Christians within the four walls of a church on Sunday. Those, in fact, are the Christians who are ineffective in spreading the love of God and his kingdom. Christians are called to take their faith wherever they go, because it is who they are. Notice I did not say a part of who they are. There is no part about it, it is everything. As far as God not caring about sports; God cares about what His children do, especially when they use what they do as a way to show Him to other people. Now I am not saying that Tebow has won these games simply because he is a Christian, but the bottom line is that if God wants Tebow to have a good game, he will have a good game. If He decides Tebow will have a bad game, then he will. And that is when we will hear the uber-ignorant, “Where is your Savior, now?” crowd. He is right where He has always been. Everywhere. The fact that people would use a loss or a bad game as “evidence” that God doesn’t exist, God doesn’t care about Tebow anymore, or Tebow is an idiot speaks volumes about us as a society. None of those volumes are good.

Many people attack Tebow for his faith. Those that attack him for his football skills (or lack thereof, as some say) are simply masking their disdain for his evangelical lifestyle. He brings the ball too low and takes too long to release his throws. He abandons pass plays too quickly in favor of the run. His accuracy has issues. Perhaps, but consider the people God has historically used to lead people. He uses the weak to lead the strong. He uses the humble to lead the proud. He chose lowly fisherman and a tax collector to be by His side. He has used people who lack public speaking skills to motivate crowds of people. Why then, can He not use a quarterback with a jacked up throwing motion to lead a revolution in the football world? I am not saying Tim Tebow is leading a revolution, but he will if that’s what his Father wants from him.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “One must keep on pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important." That is why Tebow cannot “tone it down” as Jake Plummer and even fellow-Christian Kurt Warner would have him do. The media attention Tebow has garnered proves that this issue is pretty important to us. I argue that it is infinitely important.

People argue that if Tebow celebrated touchdowns by some display of faith in Allah it would not be tolerated. If he were Muslim, or some other religion, society would not stand for it. Bull. The world today preaches tolerance and coexistence, but wants those things for everyone other than the Christian. Those who believe in the Lord and Savior of the Bible are told to shut their hypocritical mouths and let others do what they want to do. If Tebow celebrated a touchdown by kneeling down facing East, the same people who criticize him for being an outspoken Christian would not have a problem with it. The NFL would, of course, and they would flag him for going to the ground in his celebration, but that’s a whole separate issue.

People want to see Tebow fail simply because he is a Christian. Because he makes them uncomfortable. Because he makes them think about God and a Savior and Heaven and a multitude of other things that they want to ignore. Maybe that’s why I want him to win. Why are we so quick to hate a man who is an actual role model? He praises his Savior, family, and teammates. He does not exalt himself. He plays the game his way, unorthodox as it may be. I sincerely hope he continues to succeed. I hope this is a new era in football and the sporting world in general. I hope the system they have set up in Denver continues to work.

I hope we all, in one way or another, get Tebowed.

*These are the opinions of the writer of this blog. Please keep any comments clean, or they will be deleted.*

At the Dentist

I'm a cavity-free kid. That's not the point of this post, but I like not having to have a power drill attack my teeth.

I had gotten some x-rays done and was waiting for the hygienist to clean my teeth. She was stuck answering a million questions from some old lady who, from the sound of it, had no idea what a tooth was. A boy was taken into the exam area next to mine. It's all pretty open, architecturally speaking, so I could hear the x-ray technician talking to him. He was probably in his early teens. Maybe younger. I've never been able to judge age very well. I hear this conversation:

Technician: Now you had a route canal, right?
Kid: Yeah.
Tech: Has it been hurting you at all?
Kid: No. Sometimes it hurts if I don't brush my teeth for awhile, but then I brush them and it doesn't hurt anymore.
Tech: How long is awhile?
Kid: Um, like three days.
Tech: Three days?! You go three days without brushing your teeth?
Kid: Well, sometimes I lose it and (intelligible teenage mumbling)
Tech: You lose what, your toothbrush?
Kid: Yeah.
Tech: You don't keep it in the bathroom?
Kid: Yeah I do but (more intelligible teenage mumbling)

The tech did the whole dentist thing and asked about flossing and told him how he should brush and floss at least once a day, but preferably twice. Then she came over to my area and got these pictorial guides to brushing and flossing to give to the kid. She shot me a smirk.

Me: Did he say three days?
Tech: Yeah.
Me: Wow.

Okay, that's just gross. If I didn't brush my teeth twice a day, I would feel like they were just going to jump out of my mouth to go find a cleaner place to live. And logically speaking, if something hurts when you don't brush your teeth, then stops hurting when you brush, wouldn't you put two and two together and brush daily? I guess math isn't his strong suit. Along with oral hygiene.

Rants. And a Few Raves.

1. The Sad Meal

McDonald's has managed to sink to new levels of lame. The new "Happy" Meal will have fewer fries and apples in place of the fries they take away. First of all, Happy Meals have like ten fries to begin with. I mean, they come in that tiny paper sleeve the size of a postage stamp. So in this new version, there are like eight fries. Neat. And they come with apples regardless of whether you want them or not. No, no, you don't get a choice of all fries or less fries plus apples. They just give you less fries plus apples. You wanna know why? Because parents are idiots. They can't tell their kids no, so McDonald's feels like they have to change something because everyone blames them for kids getting fat. News Flash: it's not the Happy Meal's fault! If your kid asks for McDonald's, and you don't want them to have it, say, "NO!" I don't eat at McDonald's, and haven't in a long time. Not because I think it will make me fat, but because I don't think their food is very good. But when I have kids, if I want to give them a special treat in the form of a Happy Meal, I don't want it to have apples in it. That is NOT a special treat. They can have apples at home. And they will. They can't have golden, delicious fries at home, because no one can replicate those things. The fries, by the way, are the only thing under the arches worth eating in terms of taste. So now my kids are forced to have apples because people can't tell their fat kids no. Thanks, guys.


2. My Fellow Motorists

Stop taking my safe driving as an invitation to cut me off. I do not tailgate people. I would like to, you know, get home without ending up in the back seat of the car in front of me. So if I am leaving, let's just say, 15 feet between my car and the one in front of me, that is not an invitation to cram your 14-foot vehicle in between us. You see, now I am tailgating you. Just because your vehicle can fit doesn't mean it should. Knock it off. Please.


3.Heinz

They just made a new fast food ketchup container. After like three years of research and development. Three years, really? What was the problem? Well, you see, people were so upset with the difficulty and mess of the old containers, that they would just completely skip ordering fries if they were going to eat in their car. Oh no. Heaven forbid people don't order fries. Okay, I get that fries are important to a ketchup company, but come on. Here's an idea: get out of your car and actually walk into the restaurant. Then you can make all the ketchup mess you want. This new ketchup container is called the Dip n' Squeeze. Or Squeeze n' Dip. I don't remember, but neither option sounds like ketchup. You can squeeze it out one end, or peel back the cover and dip right in. Are we still talking about ketchup? It has three times the ketchup of the old packs. Here's my problem with it: because people are so dumb about ketchup, this new container costs like three times as much. Restaurants give these away free. How long will this last when they pay three times the old price for ketchup? Get ready to be charged for ketchup or see the price of your beloved burgers and fries go up. Have fun with that. Why are two of my rants about fast food? I'm not even sure, because I don't even eat it.


4. People Who Honk at Me While I'm Running

I don't know you. If I do, you're in a car. By the time the heart attack you just gave me goes away and I look in the direction of the horrible noise, you have sped by. I can't tell who you are. "Hey, I saw you running the other day," you'll say. "Oh did you honk at me?" You'll reply, "Yeah, that was me." "You owe me a new pair of shorts, because your honking caused me to soil mine. They're like 15 bucks. I don't take checks. Thanks."

Two Years

Today I celebrate two years with Wife. I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed. Next thing we know, it's all rocking chairs, Ensure, and forgetting who the other one is. This year has brought us closer, and some great things have happened to us. Most importantly, we have seen just how powerful a marriage can be...

Marriage is a ministry. After all, the love Christ has for the church is described as the love a husband has for his wife. The way we treat each other in marriage should show Christ to others. Sometimes when you are just living your life, unbeknownst to you, that is exactly what happens. I have been reminded of this twice this year.

Our old neighbor and I were talking one day before they moved out. He said, "Yeah, my girlfriend and I were talking and I said, 'They must really love each other because I never hear them yelling at each other.'" Coming from someone who yelled constantly, it's not that hard to be considered a non-yeller. But nonetheless, he noticed that something was different about Wife and me, and that is a good thing.

The woman who took their place next door is a very nice single mom. We get along great and watch each others pets when we go out of town. Wife was home one afternoon, and the neighbor's daughter came over and handed her a card. "This is from my mom," she said.

I know that we haven't been friends for a long time, but I am so very thankful to have such amazing neighbors. I have seen an incredible love between you two that I not only admire, but am also praying for. You both have Christ's love written all over you and it is quite a picture. Just want you to know that I am praying for you to have a beautiful and blessed life together.

Wow. We just live our life. Together. We laugh a lot. We respect one another. We love one another. We love the Lord, and try to let Him show in how we carry ourselves. Apparently, sometimes, we succeed. What a blessing it is that God gives us such a wonderful opportunity to showcase His love.

My wife is amazing, and it is far beyond what she knows. I got a new job this year. Before that blessing, there was a lot of wondering, worrying, and confusion. Men want to be good providers for their families, and when money is tight, they worry about not being good enough. When I had no idea what I was going to do about getting a different job, but wanted to do something, I wasn't sure if I was being a good enough provider. My wife never did anything to make me think that she thought that. I never once felt like I wasn't good enough due to anything she said or did. She prayed with me. More importantly, when I was long asleep and she was still awake, she prayed for me. When I was blessed with a new opportunity, she was my biggest cheerleader. She has no idea how much it meant to me to feel worthy in her eyes. She could have asked me why I wasn't searching harder. She could have complained about not having cable. She never did. To my wife, I thank you. Thank you for being my love, my confidant, my prayer partner, my friend. I love you more than I can express. I thank God everyday that He blessed me with a life where I am married to you. I look forward to many more years of showing His love to those around us, even if all we are doing is just living our life. Together.

Treasures in the Sink

This post begins gross, but will be hilarious by the end. Bear with it.

If you live in an apartment, take the pipes off your bathroom sink.

You may be wondering why I am telling you to do this. Let me back up a bit. Our bathroom sink clogs up once in a while. What with the mane that Wife has it's a small wonder that our sink drains at all. It's also a small wonder how she is not completely bald with the amount of hair that ends up in the drain. Every so often, I take the top off the drain stopper and use tweezers to pull out clumps of hair mixed with face-wash-lotion-stuff. This usually works to restore some semblance of flow to the pipes. Sometimes we have to use Draino. But it's always worked. Until this last time.

I pulled out a ridiculous amount of hair. We were out of Draino. The pulling out of hair seemed to actually make it worse. The sink drained at a snail's pace. So I decided to pull the pipes off and really get all the junk out.

First of all, the smell. I mean, really. There is no need for anything to smell as bad as the gunk in your pipes. Oh there was hair. And black gooey paste. Not sure what the heck that stuff is, but once you just accept it, you can grab it with your bare hands and squish it around. And then, the treasures...

You never know, in apartment, who lived there before you. Based on the mail we still get (despite numerous "Return to Sender. They have not lived here for over a year" responses) our humble abode has been occupied by Scientologists, Bed Bath and Beyond shoppers, and people who really, really need to pay their credit card bills. So these mystery people have not only lived here, but also somehow managed to get some very interesting things into the pipes of our sink. I found them as follows:

1. The ink tube of a ball point pen
2. A bamboo-esque stick (sort of like those chop stick looking things that women put through their hair, only shorter)
3. A toothpaste cap
4. A very rusted quarter

Yes, all four of those items were in the pipes of our sink. It is amazing that the water ever went down the pipes with all that junk for hair to get caught on.

Here is my analysis. Perhaps a child lived here at one time. That explains the quarter and possibly the toothpaste cap. The pen and stick, I believe, were accidentally dropped into the pipes by women attempting to push their masses of drain-clogging hair into the pipes to restore water flow.

So, yeah, if you live in an apartment, check the pipes. You may end up with a few good laughs and make 25 cents.

New Endeavor

My cooking blog is officially online. I love food. I love cooking food, most likely because I'm excited to eat it. I hate hearing people say they can't cook. Yes you can, you just won't. Check out this blog, and hopefully you can start expanding your kitchen-ness. I try to use simple recipes that are easy to follow and execute. There's not much on the site yet, but will expand soon.

So check it out at http://thisiswhatjoncooks.blogspot.com/

See you there. Happy fooding.

Surprise for Me

I surprised Wife with the Big Ditch, she surprised me with a weekend in Mt. Laguna. If you know me at all, you know I love mountains. Any mountains, really.

We stayed at the Mt. Laguna Lodge in a rustic little cabin. No frills. Just right. On Thursday night, we fell asleep to howling winds and woke up Friday to a world covered by white. It snowed off and on the rest of the weekend.

Friday was spent just hanging out in the cabin and watching the snow. On Saturday we drove into Julian and ate at Mom's. Just a tip, there is no line if you go in the snow. We actually got a table! After our chicken pot pie and apple turnovers, we started the drive home. Wife decided she wanted to hike Stonewall, a hike we have done in the past. Let's see, go home or hike. Tough choice. The trail was, well, interesting. The snow was beginning to melt at this point, and the trail was slushy and muddy. On the way up, we attempted to keep our shoes relatively dry. On the way down we just plowed through the puddles, or lakes, as they were by then. The views from the top we spectacular.

Thank you, Wife, for a wonderful weekend.

 Before the Storm

 After the Storm

 Overhang of Snow

 Over the Desert

 View from Stonewall

Lake Cuyamaca

Us