To "Tebow" or Not To "Tebow"....That is the Question!

If you came here for a blog about football, you are in the wrong place…If you came for a blog about Tim Tebow, you are in the wrong place…if you came to a blog that is probably going to stir up some controversy, then you are more than likely in the right place.  With that said, I would like to preface this with the assurance that I am not condemning anyone, nor am I perfect.  Usually when I am preparing a devotion, I do so with my own faults in mind .So, if you feel your toes being stepped on – remember that I am crushing my own firstJ

What is Tebowing? (This information from tebowing.com, a website that made me incredibly uncomfortable)

Tebowing is apparently a verb that means to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different. (This definition actually came from Tim Tebow himself in a quote from his Tweet)(A tweet is from twitter, and if you are not familiar with tweeting…I can’t help youJ)

After doing a little background check(Reading a Denver Post blog), I found that tebowing.com was actually started by someone named Jared Kleinstein, who after watching a Denver game from a bar in New York convinced his friends to kneel down and bow their heads to pay homage to the Bronco quarterback. (Ummm, this really bugged me) Once he got home he posted the picture on Facebook…and the rest you could say is history. (Check out full story for your self on blogs.denverpost.com, the title is “The Story Behind the Tebowing Craze”) The article says…“Kleinstein said the initial picture and website were truly meant as a tribute to Tebow. He understands it could be viewed by some as mocking the quarterback, but that was certainly not the intent.”

Okay….Am I the only one that thinks that this is mocking God, not to mention mocking prayer??? I want to tell you that I am a huge fan of Tim Tebow, the person.  He has a great testimony to share and truly wants to put focus on God.  He has used his talents and stage to bring attention to the bible and faith, and I love him for that.  I do not doubt for one minute that when Tim takes a knee to pray during a football game that he is giving total glory to God.  I do worry, however, when people take a knee pretending to give glory to God, just to take a picture of it to post on Facebook or Tebowing.com.   I was actually saddened, and a few times disgusted, as I was scrolling through some of the pictures on the website. Some of them had their heads bowed, only to be sheepishly looking at the camera and smiling.  UGHH! 

So…I went to the Bible.  The first mention about prayer in the Bible was from Gen. 4:26 “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.”  Hmmm, coincidence that the beginning of prayer and the birth of a child were mentioned in the same verse??? Especially the birth of a boy child???  After learning this little jewel of information, I kept being drawn to Matthew 6:5-15 where Jesus is teaching about prayer. I don’t want to take this out of context so go check it out for yourself, but specifically verses 5 and 6….”and when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.  (6) But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” 

My Bible has a commentary out to the side, and I think it truly sums this up perfectly.  “Doing the right things for the wrong reasons to gain the honor and recognition of others, undermines the purity of our good works.  Jesus encourages us to let our deeds be seen so that onlookers will glorify God, not so they will be impressed with us.”  Please do not be ashamed of your faith or for your belief in God, but please be careful of making a display of it, just to be making a display of it.

So, for all my friends who I have made really mad with this post…..Go Broncos!!! Better luck next yearJ  (and I really and truly mean that!!!)

Black-eyed peas??? Nah, don't need em', I've got God!

Growing up I had several “rules” I had to follow…Do not open your umbrella in the house, do not lay your hat on the bed, double back and go a mile out of the way if a black cat crosses your path, and eat your black-eyed peas on New Year’s day, to name a few.  Yes, my dad put the “super” in superstitious.  I’m not sure, but I think it goes back to his Native American upbringing and my Grandpa Bruner.  Well, this is something that I have held onto as well….not so much the black-eyed peas cause I am not a big fan, but most everything else.  My husband gets incredibly irritated at me when I freak out at finding his hat on my bed.  I have told him a million times NOT to do it because it is bad luck, but then he scolds me by saying that as a Christian I shouldn’t be superstitious, which I fully agree, but I just can’t seem to get over it.  Well, imagine my surprise when my perfect non-superstitious husband HAS TO HAVE black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day…and not only that, he makes everyone else eat them as well.  SMH..(that means Shaking my head – this knowledge I got from Facebook)

 Anyway, I decided to do a little research on exactly why we are supposed to eat black-eyed peas, I mean, if there is an actual “reason” why we do something that makes it right….right????  I am not sure how accurate my sources are because I just “Googled” it, but for the most part several sites were saying the same two things.  One thought was that it was a Jewish tradition to be eaten at Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, as recorded in the Babylonian blah blah blah..(blah blah blah – means there were a bunch of words and stuff I didn’t understand).  The other thought was that it came from the Civil war era, when the Union troops came through and stripped the southern countryside of all the food, crops and livestock, and destroyed whatever they could not carry away. (so says Wikipedia) At that time, the “Northerners” considered these field peas only suitable for the animals to eat and did not take the time to steal or destroy these humble foods.  (Humble…now we’re talking!  I love the word humble, and I would SO love to be it, this is my daily struggle, along with the superstitions of course.)  This was what was left for the struggling south to eat, but little did those northerners know that they were jammed packed with nutrients.  Black-eyed peas became a major food source for surviving confederates. 

While I love that this little legume has some history and tradition behind it, I feel that we should not place our good luck and livelihood on this humble little bean, but rather put our hope into a humble man who came to the earth to die for each and every one of us.  As I was doing my research, the bridge to the song, “Praise You in this Storm” from Casting Crowns kept going through my mind (God speaks to me through song A LOT)…It says, “I lift my eyes unto the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, The Maker of Heaven and Earth”.  This was not written by Casting Crowns, it actually came from God, via David in Psalm 121.  Go ahead and take the time to look up the whole thing…It’s a good readJ  Don’t look for hope or prosperity in the wrong places. Our hope comes from God and God alone.  I want to end with one of my favorite verses Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  No mention of a bean there my friends….God Luck to you this yearJ