Prayers For Blowouts will be featuring posts from PFB Members this summer. This submission is from Member #038, Michael Terry.

Well, I know I’m new around here (as a contributor) so I want to say “hi” and give a brief introduction. As you will see, if I make any other contributions here, I am not your typical American sports fan. I love racing, but hate NASCAR. I like NCAA Football, but am bored by the NFL. My top 5 sports, in no particular order, are F1, Pro Cycling, NCAA Football, Soccer, and ALMS (do any of you even know that last one?). So even though my “fanhood” may not jive with yours, I hope my contribution(s) will be readable, enjoyable, and beneficial to all the PFB readers.

There has been a massive upheaval in the sport of Formula 1 racing. Even as I type this, news of an imminent change of command at the head of the FIA (the governing body for F1) has just been announced. A lot of the upheaval has centered around a desire to cut costs. The FIA wants to appear like they are cutting costs while The Formula One Teams Association (or FOTA) thinks that the ways the FIA are choosing to cut costs are… hmm… well… “bloody stupid.” In an effort to find a Christian life lesson in the world of sports, I began to think about how a situation like this plays out in the Church.

The FIA didn’t like its image so it decided that it was time to cut costs. But in a sport where an average of $10m is spent to take off 0.10 sec. of a lap time, the cost cutting methods that were chosen are lame. They banned all in-season testing, for one thing, as well as changing the aerodynamic regulations. But the straw that broke the proverbial camels back was when they placed a budget cap on next years racing. They told teams “if you spend under $___ you will have more lax rules while if you spend over $___ you will have a more strict set of rules in place that will, in effect, attempt to hamper your team and its performance“.

Why do these things chap the hides of F1 fans? We are coming off of an F1 Championship that was decided by 1 point on the final corner of the final lap of the final race of the season! Does it get much more exciting than that? But the FIA, again, wants to save face and not look bad, so they went for the new rules changes. But like most who want to save face, they really don’t want to change anything other than outward appearance. I’ll give you an example: F1 rules state that you can only bring one car per driver to each race. This sounds like an effective cost cutting solution since teams used to bring as many as 4 cars per driver to each race, but the fine print of the regulation states that you can bring all the parts necessary to build a second car, it just can’t be put together. It is this kind of hypocritical, “face-saving” that has me chomping at the bit for a new head of the FIA. But how does this apply to the Church?

As those of us who have the audacity to call ourselves followers of Christ know, it is our job “to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.” One of our directives is to love and serve the poor. In the last 20 years or so a new attitude has infiltrated the Church. It’s the idea that a big fancy church building full of people equals a good church. We must ask how this attitude jives with out directive to love others by giving of ourselves. Many of these “Mega-Churches” have shared their desire to serve the poor and they can tell you how much they give…etc. This spoken desire, however, is conflicted by other actions. How does a 37 million dollar gaudy monstrosity of a building help you serve the poor? Many of these churches like to say they are serving the poor but their bank records say another thing.

So what am I espousing here? Am I telling us all to live in monasteries and have no monetary income? No. All I want to encourage us with is that if we say we are followers of Christ who want to love and serve the poor, we should have concrete evidence of it in our lives. We should volunteer to serve dinner at a homeless shelter. We should sign up to give less fortunate children a better christmas by providing some gifts to those who might not receive any. There are endless numbers of charities like Blood:Water Mission and the International Justice Mission that are doing great work around the world and would gladly and humbly accept anything you can offer. My extended family and I are saving money so that we can purchase a well at Christmas time for a village in Africa through Blood:Water Mission as a way of giving back.

I hate to be the “guy” that most of you may think I’m being right now, but as we sit back in our comfy chairs to watch our NFL or MLB, let’s remember to not only say we love and serve the poor but to find ways to actually love and serve them. Let’s not concern ourselves with the outward appearance of our actions like the FIA, but rather let’s be the real deal.

As believers, we know what has taken us from being “poor in spirit” to the infinite riches of Christ Jesus. In loving those around us, we can show our brothers and sisters that difference as well.

Grace and Peace in Christ Jesus,

Michael Terry

Author Ted Kluck pens an open letter to Mike Tyson in the wake of his daughter’s tragic death.

Kluck, who we’ve interviewed here at PFB in the past, is the author of several books, including Facing Tyson: Fifteen Fighters, Fifteen Stories.

(BPSports.com)

a few things to check out before you go shovel that snow (or snicker because you don’t have to)…

+ Shane Raynor’s got an interesting site over at FaithBlogging.com where he keeps tabs on what’s going on in the world of Christian Blogging. He’s got our very own Prayers For Blowouts in his list of the The Faith Blogging 50, so we’re really excited about that. Add him to your feedlinkage and give him a spin…

+ Tony Dungy wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times a few weeks ago on the lack of diversity on the college football sidelines. There’s no denying it, 7 out of 120 is an embarrassing number.

+ Jim Burton writes about the Utah Jazz attending the funeral of their former owner, Larry Miller. “There’s definitely been things going on that put life in perspective,” Kyle Korver said. “Basketball is what it is: it’s a game.”

+ We’re doing a 12-team Head-2-Head fantasy baseball league that drafts online on March 21st. I opened it up to PFB Members first, and we filled most of the slots. There are a few spots open though, so if you’re interested, shoot me an email at prayersforblowouts(at)gmail.com. Heck, if there’s more than 10 of you what want in, we could start up a second league as well.

Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like asked me to do another guest post last month, and today that post is featured on the site:

SCL#499 – Having a Favorite Book of the Bible

I thought it would be fun to do a books of the Bible fantasy draft, and it was. I took Luke, Revelation, Romans, and Song of Solomon with my first 4 picks (the full piece has my top 11 choices, along with explanations).

You’re on the clock…who ya got?

a few stories to check out while your cousin shoots steroids in your butt…

+ Pastor Glenn Sprunger is using soccer to reach his community in Ashland, Ohio. His program, Spirit-driven soccer, is a co-ed league where players ranging from high school age to their 40s and 50s come out to play indoor soccer. Halftimes usually involve a brief spiritual lesson, and Sprunger estimates that more than half of the participants do not regularly go to church.

+ Here’s a story on the witnessing efforts put together by Sports Fan Outreach at the Super Bowl in Tampa a few weeks ago. The piece highlights Donnie Legg, who works in spring training as a major league baseball chaplain for the Washington Nationals and also for a Milwaukee Brewers farm organization.

+ The Community Sports Network is trying to get the testimonies of professional athletes into as many houses as possible, via printed booklets and videos. They’ve printed nearly a million booklets already, and have camera crews descending on spring training this year to record up to 60 hours worth of video.

+ This is a couple weeks old, but it’s a piece on religious displays in sporting events by Kurt Streeter of the L.A. Times. He says, “The constant pointing to the sky, the kneeling at the goal posts, etc., in most cases are thinly veiled attempts by sports stars to reel in converts, and only seen as OK because the athletes are in almost all cases Christians, the religion of our majority.”

+ Ted Kluck’s “The Reason For Sports”, which releases on August 1st of 2009, is now available for pre-order at Amazon. Says the product description, “…there is little thoughtful, Christ-centered writing on the subject that drives most of men’s banter with each other and consumes the bulk of their free time. Sports.” I enjoy Ted’s writing a lot, so this will be a must-read for me…

On his blog, Pastor CJ Mahaney interviewed John Piper on a bunch of topics. When asked about sports, Piper had this to say:

“I enjoy watching gymnastics, soccer, basketball, and football, in that order. If my back weren’t so stiff I would love to play racquetball. When our staff goes away we play volleyball and floor hockey.”

I know there’s a lot of John Piper fans out there, so there you go.

C.J. Mahaney of Sovereign Grace Ministries is offering a free copy of his DVD, “Don’t Waste Your Sports”, to the winners of a contest he’s running on his blog:

As C.J. points out in his message, athletics provides us many opportunities to cultivate humility (often unexpectedly). Whether it’s having a jumpshot rejected, a big fat swing and a whiff at a waist-level fastball, or accidentally high-fiving someone in the face, few things in life provide more opportunities for humility than athletics. And now is your opportunity to tell the world about your your embarrassing moment lesson in humility. For a free DVD, of course.

Here is the deal: Explain the most humbling moment from your life as an athlete, coach, or parent of an athlete. In 250 words (or less), write a narrative of the experience. Include your first name, last initial, and your hometown in an email and send it to blog AT sovgracemin DOT org.

The best and/or funniest stories will win a free copy of the DVD and the entry will be posted on the blog. If your entry is chosen and posted on the blog, your first name, last initial, and hometown will appear along with it. Please email your story by 12:00 noon (EST) on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Winners will be announced later that afternoon.

Please note that reference to the supremacy of the Duke Blue Devils, New York Yankees, or Dallas Cowboys will not help your chances.

Sorry Ron Davis (Yankee Fan), Geof Morris (Duke fan) and Gary Hampson (Cowboys fan). You guys can keep your stories to yourself.

Here’s a couple of video excerpts from the DVD:

I’d love to see some of y’all give this a shot. Would be cool to have PFB represented among the finalists.

Did you know prayers travel back and forth to God in tubes?

These tubes are different than the tubes that carry the internet. Internet Tubes are flexible and made from the plucked hairs of Al Gore’s wisdom. Prayer Tubes are rigid, vertical, and made from the sinews of angel’s wings.

Here at PFB, we have a giant stethoscope that we can stick on the prayer tubes to listen in on the requests being made to the Almighty. From time to time we’ll share some of those prayers with you. Now is one of those times.

Overheard in the Prayer Tubes

“Dear God, this is cool, huh?” – Kurt Warner

“Dear God, i hear that Roger Federer wants a guided tour of heaven. Can we make that happen soon?” – Andy Roddick

“Dear God, this isn’t really how you wanted my brother to handle this, was it?” - Mark McGwire

“Dear God, does coaching the Raiders for another year qualify as suffering?” – Tom Cable

“Dear God, milk coach win square black truman silver telegram.” – Al Davis

Feel free to add your own if you feel so inspired.

a few things to check out while you prepare that cheesy-salsa dip for tonight’s game…

+ If you can stomach another “Tim Tebow is a Great Guy…No Really, He is a Great Guy” article, here’s one from Pat Forde at ESPN.com. (h/t: Blake #010)

+ Rick Reilly has a new tv show on ESPN debuting tomorrow night (January 9th, 8pm EST) called “Homecoming”. In it, he’ll interview athletes in their hometowns. Tomorrow night’s inaugural episode will be an interview with former drug abuser and current Home Run Derby Champ (and outspoken Christian) Josh Hamilton. (h/t: Awful Announcing)

+ What can a $5,000 corporate sponsorship get you? How about a photo opportunity with UGA Head Football Coach Mark Richt. He’ll be appearing at the 2nd Annual Flint River Fellowship of Christian Athletes Spring Banquet at the Georgia National Fairgrounds on Feb. 26. (h/t: The Sun)

+ Isabel Lyman writes for the John Birch Society about all the God talk that went on at the Heismans this year.

+ In a letter to the editor printed in the Boston Globe two weeks ago, Eric Dragsbaek called out the NFL for their $10,000 fine on Wes Welker for making a snow angel after scoring a touchdown. “The only conclusion that makes sense is that the NFL sold its soul to the devil in order to surpass baseball as the national pastime, and now Lucifer has come calling to collect,” he writes.

I’ve got to be honest. I know the NFL is just trying to be consistent, but I thought that was the most ridiculous fine the No Fun League has ever levied. The 15-yard penalty, I can live with. But a $10,000 fine? What a joke. Bunch of scrooges…

+ Oh wait, here’s more on the quarterbacks of Florida and Oklahoma, via Mark Moring at Christianity Today.

FoxNews caught this photo of a skier in need of rescue. The cold, chaffed skier hung there for seven minutes until they could rescue him. The man, gratefully, was not named in the story.

So go ahead and come up with the caption for this extreme sport.