Pure Church

One Sunday morning, a priest wakes up and decides to go golfing. He calls his boss and says that he feels very sick, and won't be able to go to work.

Way up in heaven, Saint Peter sees all this and asks God, ''Are you really going to let him get away with this?''

''No, I guess not,'' says God.

The priest drives about five to six hours away, so he doesn't bump into anyone he knows. The golf course is empty when he gets there. So he takes his first swing, drives the ball 495 yards away and gets a hole in one.

Saint Peter watches in disbelief and asks, '' Why did you let him do that?''

To this God says, ''Who's he going to tell?''

Mockingbird has interesting and encouraging short post about a somewhat unusual species... an athlete, singer, movie star, politician who lives to give away all that he earns to those in need. He's the modern-day opposite of the rich young ruler... and of professing Christians who love the world and wealth.

Personally, I'm drafting D-Wade. Exhibit A:

That may leave a bruise! HT: Z

I appreciated this post from Mockingbird on the return of Mark McGwire to major league baseball as a batting coach. I wonder if you agree?

Much respect to the Jamaican Olympic sprinters for their performance at the Beijing Olympics. Bolt set a new record dashing at 9.69 seconds and the ladies--big ups--did something no country has ever done, taking gold, silver, and bronze in a single event.

Stephen Altrogee is running a pretty interesting contest. Stephen is the author of a forthcoming book with Crossway, Game Day for the Glory of God. I had the privilege of reading the book in manuscript. It's a great blessing to the body of Christ, especially those of us who are sports fans or married to sports fans or the parents of sports fans!

Here are the contest details from Stephen:

Calling all sports fans! This is your time to shine. To celebrate the release of my book, Game Day for the Glory of God, I'm hosting a "Greatest Moments in Sports History" contest.

Here's how it works:
You, the avid blog reader and passionate sports fan select your favorite sports moment of all time and find a clip of that moment on YouTube.

You then email me the URL of the YouTube clip. Please place the words "Greatest Sports Moment" in the subject line. Entries must be received by Friday, August 22nd, and only one entry per person please.

I will then sift through the many magical moments that I receive and select what I believe are the ten greatest sports moments of all time. These clips will be gathered together into one glorious sports extravaganza and posted to this blog on Monday, August 25th.

If I select your video you will receive a free copy of my book when it's released on September 30th.

Sounds like a fun contest for all of us sports buffs. But whether you win the contest or not, let me assure you that the book will be worth the read and worth putting into practice.

HT: Justin Taylor. This piece over at ESPN is the best sports article I've read in a while. It features to Brothers who are also brothas. And praise God the accent is on Brothers! May their tribe increase. I'm not likely to see the Super Bowl, but somehow I feel like a winner either way it goes.