I am ashamed

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There are times when groups that call themselves Christian do or say things that make me ,as one who claims to follow Christ, want to crawl into a hole and hide. Their actions give ammunition to all those people out there who think all Christians are alike. It lets them say things like “ You people. Think you are so much better than the rest of us but look at what you did.” It is horrible because usually there is no way to defend whatever it was the individual or group did. We just have to suffer with it and from it.
Last week I read about one of those groups on Russel’s blog ( A blog well worth visiting by the way). He told of a girls basketball game between The Covenant School of Dallas and the Dallas Academy. The final score of that game was 100 to 0. That’s right 100 to 0. Wow!
The Covenant school ( A Christian Academy) won over the Dallas Academy which is just a private school.
In the last quarter, already ahead 88 to 0 the coach had his team run a full court press. The local student crowd cheered for Covenant to make 100. What a marvelous time for the Academy.
There are a few other things you need to know.
1.The girls from the Dallas Academy haven’t won a game in four years.
2. Dallas Academy offers a structured multisensory program for students with diagnosed learning differences in grades 3-12.
3. Dallas Academy only has 20 girls in the high school program. Only eight play basketball.
On this team a Christian Academy choose to run up the score.
I am ashamed.
One would expect a Christian Academy to teach the Christian values of kindness, mercy, and compassion. There was none of that shown in this game.
Instead they demonstrated the secular values of win at all costs and humiliate your opponent if possible.
I am ashamed.
I looked up the website of the Covenant academy . I read with care its statement of beliefs. Nowhere does it say that it believes in the traditional Christian values of mercy, kindness, or compassion. No where does it say it tries to instill these in its students.
Why am I not surprised?
But without them we are left with a heartless , Christless Christianity.
They demonstrated that very well.
They also demonstrated they understood the value of good PR and apologized to the Dallas Academy and offered to forfeit the game . The apology came ten days after the game and after CNN picked up and made an issue of the score.
I am so ashamed.
If you want to see how Christians should act you need to look to the Dallas Academy.
It has no Christian belief statement.
But its students acted like Christians should.
1. They played until the end of the game. They didn’t quit because of the score. The fact that they played the best they could is evidenced by the fact that Covenant Academy needed a full court press to reach 100.
2. They didn’t become angry.
3. They refused to be humiliated by the loss. They choose not to feel bad.
4. When interviewed by CNN they choose to accent the positive. They learned from the game. They worked together as a team.
In them I rejoice. Somebody has to say to the win crazy world there are other important values that are being lost.
I would nominate them as my team of the year.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Yesterday Herman had arrived and Pastor Joan was ready to go to the office when the doorbell rang. In truth it can no longer really be called a doorbell. Since Oops came it just hasn’t been the same. Once it sounded like a canon going off. Once like a marching band. Yesterday it sounded like trumpets playing some kind of victory song.
Pastor Joan opened the door and there were three people and a cameraman. Two of them held up this great big check and one held a bouquet of flowers. It seems Pastor Joan had won a regional Publisher’s clearing House Award of ten thousand dollars. WLUC out of Marquette was there to record the event.
Pastor Joan started to cry. She wouldn’t have to worry about finances for the rest of this year. Last Lutheran could use the thousand two hundred she would give the Church. She always gave a tithe plus. The bad economy had cut into the offerings a little.
She thanked Publisher’s Clearing House profusely. It was only after they left that she realized that she couldn’t remember sending in an entry. She usually threw them directly into the garbage. She must have slipped up and entered once. But she just couldn’t remember.

Wrap UP

My oxygen was up a little more today. The temperature got up to twelve degrees.I spent a lot of the day visiting links and visited all of those on my list. It took a long time as some had very long entries. My sister Dawn called and we talked dogs and grand kids. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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