Sunday, December 17, 2017

Open Letter to Editor of New York Daily Regarding 'Gutless Saban' Article

Dear Editors,

University of Alabama head football coach, Nick Saban was a subject in the New York Daily News last Thursday morning when Chuck Modiano wrote “Nick Saban is a clueless, gutless, selfish coward for his silence on Roy Moore” .

My guess is the article succeeded in your primary objective to stir the pot and elicit response. The article was posted numerous times under salacious headlines and helped fill time between commercials on talk radio across the nation.

I do not know Mr. Modiano, but the nature of his charges and the assertions he makes illustrates why people refuse to learn the lesson that the State of Alabama taught all of us this past week.

We don't TALK anymore in this country. It is way easier to make bold assertions (some in as few as 280 characters) in short and simple scorched earth diatribes than it is to actually sit down and listen to one another.

You printed/posted an article that made a very serious charge regarding Coach Saban:



My biggest issue with these types of statements is that our culture seizes on these exchanges and often accept conclusions without a full analysis of all the facts.

I am saddened that we have a culture today where a simple label can be fixed to a name without a burden of proof and the consequences of such tags can be life destroying. The bar is too low to suffer the blows that such charged words result in. 

If I am honest, I know that I am without any protection if anyone charges me with any odious 'ism'.

The difficulty is the medium itself. I do not have the space, and most readers do not have the patience to read all that it would take to exonerate a man of your serious allegations.

WHAT WAS THE LESSON LAST WEEK IN ALABAMA? 

I had numerous conversations with people who were torn. As millions of dollars poured in on both sides of the situation- we were told over and over that Judge Moore was a child molester and Mr. Jones wanted to kill babies.

It caused great concern, because to a man, most people in Alabama are burdened to vote.

There were questions that in most people minds were never answered. The biggest one was "If all of these allegations against Roy Moore were true, why are we just learning this NOW?"

But if they were true, it would be almost impossible to cast that vote.

 This letter doesn't allow me to adequately articulate all of the different views and how some lean right and some lean left in Alabama BECAUSE of faith...  and after prayer and wrestling with the issues....Alabama chose to vote- we had a large turnout.

There were many examples of how people chose principles over party. That is what every person in the nation needs to embrace as well. Our country wold be better off if we did that. Instead, we choose a side, believe nothing that gives evidence to the contrary, and throw gasoline on the fire of dissension regardless if it means we will all go down in flames.

And the man you called 'clueless' got over 20,000 write in votes. Pretty high for a gutless coward.

Here is what I can say about Nick Saban.... he brings in players from all different backgrounds and builds a great culture of unity and advancement. He gives millions to charity and was wise enough to not insert himself into the race. 

He is preparing his team to play every week and recruiting more players form all over the country... my guess is that he would say he doesn't actually know enough to make a bold proclamation about either candidate in the race- and he know his words do carry weight.

I wish Mr. Modiano used that same discretion.......



Wednesday, December 06, 2017

Running on Empty? Turn on Love

There are a number of reasons why we get beaten down and drained. We are busier than ever- mass communication technology has produced a sprinters pace for a marathon life... it causes even young people to hit the wall quite frequently.
But another reason we often overlook is the toll of sin.... our personal sin... but also the weariness of living in a world of sin. People who care only about themselves: they mock, disregard, and mistreat others.
The Book of Revelation gives us a reminder about God's truth and God's heart... I found some encouragement this morning from the letter to the Church in Ephesus:
EPHESUS was the greatest city in Asia minor. It boasted a population over 250,000 people. But it was a deeply pagan city where people worshipped in the world of the occult and witchcraft. The city was famous for the Temple of Diana. It was 100,000 sq. feet, which is twice the size of a football field! The typical pagan practice in those days combined ‘worship’  with immorality! A church in a city like this needs DOCTRINE and DISCERNMENT. If we look at our Bibles, we will find that  Paul, Timothy, Barnabas, and John had all been there.
Let’s look at what Jesus says to the church in Ephesus!
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
I have heard a lot of great talks on ‘finding your first love’… but I think it is easy to miss what Jesus is saying here.
I believe Jesus is exhorting the church to teach the truth in ‘LOVE’.
TRUTH WITHOUT LOVE IS A SERIOUS SIN
I had a great friend of mine, a pastor in Nashville who used to say: “There is a difference in being right and DEAD RIGHT. Don’t kill people with the truth.”
I get sad when I see the poisonous rhetoric in our culture today…..
And the key? You show love by deeds.
My prayer is that we will never shrink back from great doctrine…but we never lose our love for people!
Believe me, I know it is easy to get jaded and worn down when you see people who seem to sin with boldness and treat God with contempt.
We must keep our love for Jesus first…but that love should spill over and flow out of us as well to others. Loving them does not mean CONDONING sin…in fact, IF we love them, we will speak gospel truth..which is HARD.
But Jesus led the way in showing that we are to keep loving others, even if they are headed in a contrary way or show a contrary spirit.
Today- I feel weary over sin... my sin and the sin of others. God tells me to keep loving others... even if they do not love me back.
He never stops loving me, even when I ignore Him. Is it too much for me to do the same?