Happy Birthday, Coach Wooden

Today is the birthday of the man many consider to be the greatest basketball coach ever. John Wooden turns 99 today. Any basketball fan who is my age or a bit younger remembers the string of national championships that "Coach" won at UCLA. From 1967-1973, his teams emerged as champions seven years in a row, and they added three more to that streak for a total of ten. During those years, Wooden rarely traveled to recruit. Players came to him, seeking to be part of a dominant program.

Basketball coaches all over the world have studied Wooden's coaching methods. Not just to learn the x's and o's, but to learn the philosophy behind the program. Famous Wooden maxims can be found in countless coaches' offices and locker rooms. Some of the more famous are:

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

"Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters."

Coach Wooden left a great legacy, not only at UCLA, but all over the world. Happy birthday, Coach.

World Vision Wednesday

World Vision is involved in making lives better all around the world. Here is another success story about a World Vision program to train young women to be midwives in Afghanistan.

TGIF

President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Those of you who know me know that I am no Obama basher. I have some disagreements with his policies, but I have disagreed with every president that has held the office during my adult life. Having said that, I really don't understand the decision of the Nobel committee. They awarded a major prize to an individual who really hasn't done anything. He's only been in office seven months, and most of his energy has been expended on domestic issues. Is this a case of giving someone a prize to motivate them to carry out the actions which the prize honors?

Anyway, here's the important stuff:

When the poor die.
Bob Hyatt is doing a series on wives submitting to their husbands. Part 1. Part 2.
Love is patient.
Alan Knox asks, "what if they thought of the church?"
The bank account of the living dead.
Pam reviews Donald Miller's new book.
iMonk writes a story.
Scot McKnight has a good series titled, "God Hides in Plain Sight." Part 1 is here.
Good challenging story (HT: Scot McKnight).
fr'nklin reviews the Mosaic Bible.
Who would Jesus heal?
Buying or renting?

I have a three day weekend coming up, and I am definitely looking forward to it. I hope your weekend is restful.

Political, Cultural, Whatever Question: Part 2

On Tuesday I asked for opinions on what it would be like if the phrases "In God We Trust" and "under God" were removed from our money and from the Pledge of Allegiance. I received a number of good and interesting comments. Tonight, I'll tell you what I think.

Some of the commenters stated that they thought removal of the phrases would further inflame the culture wars as those on the right see it as another sign of how far down America has come. Others said that it would be a good thing. Still others wrote that it really wouldn't matter.

I do agree that those who believe that America is, or at least has been, a Christian nation would have their worst fears realized. They would see it as another step on the road to perdition for America, and would increase their preaching and efforts against those they see as responsible. Those who say it wouldn't matter have a valid point. America is not a nation that currently honors God and removing those phrases would not change it.

I believe that in the final analysis, removing the phrases could be a good thing for the Church. For too long the Kingdom of God has been confused with the United States of America . That has caused a number of problems, including other nations seeing some of the crap that America exports and associating that with Christianity. There are many in this country who believe that they are Christian because they are American. Add to this the bad theology that equates America with ancient Israel.

We are citizens of the Kingdom of God as well as citizens of the United States. Our first allegiance is to be to Jesus Christ. He is Lord. There are citizens of God's Kingdom in every nation on earth, and not only are they fellow citizens with us, they are our brothers and sisters. We can and should do what we can to make this country the best it can be, we need to remember that America is not the Kingdom of God. If taking certain phrases off our money and out of the Pledge will help the Church to remember who we belong to, then let them be removed.

World Vision Wednesday

I'm sure you've heard of the multiple natural disasters that devastated a number of countries in Asia. If you've seen any of the pictures or watched any of the news reports, you have an idea of how bad it is.

If God would so lead you, please give so the people impacted by these disasters can be helped. You can find out how by going here.

Political, Cultural, Whatever Question

While I was reading The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd, something he wrote intrigued me. Boyd suggests that it might not be a bad thing if the words "In God We Trust" were removed from our money and the words "under God" stricken from the Pledge of Allegiance.

I wonder what the effect would be if that happened. Would the effect on the Church be positive or negative? What about American culture in general? What would the short term impact be? Long term?

I would like to know what you think. Don't give your first gut reaction. Think about it and give me your reasoned answered. Thanks in advance.

TGIF

The weather has been beautiful this past week. The lows have been in the 40s and 50s with highs in the 70s. Soon the leaves will be changing color, and things will look nice for a while. We bought a new computer this week. Our dog got tangled up in the power cord and pulled our old Dell laptop off the chair, and it died. We replaced it with an Acer netbook. It takes a little getting used to the smaller size, but it's nice.

Evidently, Starbucks' new instant coffee isn't going over very well.
Experts. Well, maybe.
Jake Belder on Christian fellowship.
iMonk riffs.
Jeff McQ on shedding weight.
Strong words, but needed.
This sounds like a good idea.
This is wild.
Turns out Dan Brown isn't that good of a writer after all (HT: Brother Maynard).
Invite or invade?
Can the Church offer real alternatives?
Morality and narrative law.

Enjoy your weekend.