I have to say, I have loved the Tim Tebow story this year.  As a football fan, I've enjoyed seeing an offense that you usually don't get to see in the NFL.  As an American, I love to see a guy succeed that has been told he has no chance.  (C'mon, you had to like watching the talking heads scratch their heads trying to figure out how this kid was doing it) As a father, I like having a guy I can point to that is doing things the right way for the right reasons.  It's good for my boys to see a guy doing a manly thing like football and loving Jesus because  It breaks the stereotype that you have to be a guy in a sweater and talk softly to be a man of God.  

I don't have any problem with having heroes.  The bible is full of men and women who did great things for God.  Some led nations, battles and even revolutions.  Of course the bible is all about Jesus, our true hero.  But other then Jesus, all the other heroes in the bible are flawed.  As you read their accounts, nothing is hidden.  There is no marketing campaign in the bible, only truth.  We actually learn allot about these men and women and God through their failures that are recorded in scripture.  

I have been a Christian many years now and I have seen "Christian" heroes come and go.  Many with lots of fanfare in the beginning, and then many slide away as time goes.  Sometimes they just aren't popular anymore, sometimes it's because they messed up.  What I have noticed is that as a whole, Christians love their heroes until they show themselves to be human, then we turn on them and find another new and improved one.  

Like I said, I don't have a problem having heroes.  It is a problem when we turn from cheering them to worshiping them.  When we worship them and they fail....we often turn on them.  We get afraid to be associated with weakness or failure.  From what I know about Jesus, nothing could be more opposite of Jesus then turning from someone in their lowest moments.  

Everything I have seen about Tim Tebow suggests that he is a good quality young man, an extraordinary athlete, skilled leader and a guy who loves Jesus with his whole heart.  At some point he will disappoint.  He might say the wrong thing someday, have a bad day and not be perfect, disagree with our theology..who knows.  But he is just a guy that God is working through in a mighty way right now.  

I'm not afraid to call Tim Tebow a brother right now, I'm not afraid to call him brother 5 yrs from now.  If he loves Jesus, we are in it together, good bad or ugly.  Maybe if the world saw us treat our heroes with compassion when they fail, they wouldn't treat them with so much contempt when they are succeeding?   So I will cheer Tim Tebow and I will worship God.  

Skipp Phipps

So I've been going "OLD TESTAMENT" in my bible reading lately. It amazes me how little things have really changed. People are still people. We battle the same problems as they did thousands of years ago. Now granted, Abraham didn't have to deal with the frustration of an incredibly slow iPhone, but I never had to deal with camel dung. So I guess we are even.

One thing I do have in common with many of the people I read about in the Old Testament is being a father to boys. One of the most important things to me is the type of men my boys grow up to be. When they were little, all I really cared about was hoping they didn't beat up some kid in the play land at McDonald's, now we talk about things like character, true strength, and.....girls. 

I started reading through 1 Samuel where we see the accounts of Eli and Samuel. Eli appears to have been a good man. He was the priest and judge for Israel and very devoted. He had some sons who were....well less than upstanding young men. God rose up Samuel to take their place because of their disobedience. Eventually we see that Samuel had sons with the same problem. The elders of Israel were so afraid of Samuel's sons taking over that they demanded a King, which is a whole other story. 

I love the church, I love talking church, I love planning the future of the church and taking care of the things of God...but I've come to realize that the first church I am responsible for is the one called family. If I Pastor those around me and don't Pastor my family, I've really been a failure as a church leader. It's hard to say what Eli or Samuel did wrong, we don't know much about their relationships to their children from scripture, but we do know that they seemed at least somewhat passive about the sins of their own family. I think we learn from the accounts of Eli and Samuel that if we don't pastor our families well, we could end up effecting much more then just ourselves. Maybe even effecting the course of a whole nation! 

As a whole I think the church suffers from passive men. Men who have lost the art of protection and fighting for the kingdom of God. I've been that man myself. If we continue to be passive priest's for our families.....I see very little change in our churches and nations. 

Looking to be a better pastor to my family this year.