Tim Tebow is UGLY!!!

My belief

I have not been following Tim Tebow as long as most people, because I am more of an NFL guy than a college guy. My dad however is huge Tebow and Florida Gators fan. Now that Tebow is in the NFL for the Denver Broncos, I have been paying a lot more attention to him. Even more than paying attention to Tim, I have paid attention to all the “media hype” about Tim. They are ruthless toward Tim Tebow. They say his throwing motion is to slow. He will never make it the NFL. He should become a running back or something because he is not made for the position of NFL Quarterback. As harsh as they are about his football ability they are TEN TIMES more harsh about his FAITH!!! Tim Tebow is a HARDCORE believer in Jesus Christ. He is more bold for God than I could ever hope to be. He prays on the field. He evangelizes others on his teams. He even writes Bible verses in his facial eye black before games. I love to watch the NFL and when I miss the games I catch all the recaps on ESPN sports center. In doing so, I have to admit that Tim’s performances have been UGLY!!! His passes don’t look sharp. He gets hit by defenders because his release is slow and the guy seems to always want to RUN the ball instead of throwing it! Despite this, under his leadership the Broncos are now 5 wins and 1 loss. Tebow keeps on coming up with just enough to win. Big plays at the end of the game for a big score. I LOVE THIS!!!

Here is a man of faith that loves the Lord and has been given the chance to play in the NFL. He uses his opportunity to speak about Jesus with no reservations. He does not look and perform sharp like Aaron Rodgers, Payton Manning, or Tom Brady, but he continues to succeed. This is beautiful! I love it when the Lord takes a humble faithful servant to pronounce His own Glory. Tebow’s play is ugly because God wants everyone to know his success is from his faith in Jesus not his own ability. In this way God uses Tim to bring Glory to Himself. As a QB Tim looks ugly, but as a believer in Christ the entire package becomes AMAZING!

Scripture

1 Cor 26-31

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Application for Life

I pray and strive to be as bold in my faith as Tim Tebow. I hope God is able to use me to point to Himself. God always picks a loser to do his work because it shows that none of the glory is due to that person, but rather to the God behind the person. Thank you God for another beautiful example of how you operate. May I become as faithful of an ugly servant, just like Tim Tebow!

Before you do that…

My Belief

Being a First Officer (copilot) for a major airline is an important job. You must be just as proficient as the Captain in the event that something were to happen and he became incapacitated. In the last year alone I remember a time where a heavy jet liner coming back from Europe to the USA was landed by the First Officer alone. The Captain had a major heart attack and did not make it. Even as important as the First Officers job is, there is usually only one thing on his mind…… becoming the Captain.

I learned a lot of valuable lesson when I became a Captain. Training is a fast paced experience where the airline assumes you have gained the knowledge and experience to take command of a an aircraft. While I was in training I thought up a phrase that I would keep in head at all time. I continue to this day to utilize this phrase in all my decision making. The phrase is “before you do that…” Everything has a prerequisite before you do it. I will give you a few examples: Before you can turn the switches required to power up and aircraft you have to check the quality of the power available, before passengers board an aircraft the emergency oxygen has to be sufficient, before the main cabin door can be closed all fueling must be completed as a precaution against fire, and before each sequence of events happens the appropriate checklist must be run. In the event of any kind of inflight emergency even the most novice of pilots knows before any action can be taken they must ensure they have control of the aircraft first. This list can go on forever and applies to anything and everything.

This principle even applies to my walk as a believer in Jesus Christ. I believe we all get this principle wrong when it comes to the decisions we make in our lives.  We make decisions about buying cars, buying homes, taking jobs, marrying people, etc… without first accomplishing the prerequisite. As Christians, the prerequisite for everything we do in life is to first saturate that thing in prayer. Most of the time in my past I have done this in reverse. I go for it first and then I pray about it. I buy the house and then I pray, “oh God please let this work and please let me afford this”. If I am to live a Godly life and the life that the Lord wants for me I must first pray diligently before the throne of grace and then choose my path. God will honor this and guide my footsteps in everything I do.

Scripture

James 4:13-17

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Application for life

Based on the Bible, prayer is our number one tool in this life. Billy Graham was recently asked by a reporter what he would have done differently in his life and he said, “I would have prayed more”. In recent years I have made it a discipline of my life  to seek God before I set out on anything. I will pray in the name of the Lord Jesus for my will to be conformed to God’s will. That he would use me in any decisions I make in this life.