I Think You’re a Receiver Now

I’ve been meaning to post this for a week or two, but I’m just now getting to it. It’s kind of old now, but if nothing else it’s here for my future reference.

In a recent issue of Sports Illustrated, Dan Patrick has a list of the most memorable encounters he had during Super Bowl week.

Here is his number 1:

David Tyree was at a restaurant last Thursday, and I heard him correct a man who called him a receiver. Tyree said he was a just a special teams guy. Three day days later he made the greatest Super Bowl catch ever.

I think Tyree can call himself a receiver now.

This has me thinking about how quickly our self-perception can change. What is the difference between a struggling writer and a published author? A phone call from a publisher who says yes. What is the difference between being a failure in business and being a successful entrepreneur? It could be the outcome of one meeting or presentation.

How many of us are only good thing away from changing the way we describe ourselves to others?

Shame and Guilt

So what is the difference between guilt and shame?

Guilt says “You’ve done something wrong.”

Shame says “There is something wrong with you.”

In his book, Atonement for a “Sinless” Society, Alan Mann suggests that before churches address the problem of guilt they must address the epidemic of shame that exists in a post-Christian culture.

Do you agree?

It’s About Time

Atonement

I’m doing some reading about atonement theory.

I’ve got A Community Called Atonement, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross, and Atonement for a ‘Sinless’ Society.

Any other ideas?

It’s interesting to me that while all Christians agree that we are saved by Jesus’ death on the cross, we can’t agree upon a unified theory for explaining how our salvation is achieved. Even more interesting is that the writers of the Bible seem uninterested in providing a complete theory. They give us bits and pieces and hints and allusions, but an all-encompassing theory of atonement that settles the matter once and for all we do not have.

Or do we?

What do you think?

Congratulations

Congratulations to the the New York Football Giants.

After pulling off that kind of upset, I’ll call them whatever they want to be called.