Grantland recently published an article from staff writer Charles P. Pierce entitled, “Tebow’s Religion: Fair Game.” While I already knew the sentiment present in the title was true, my evangelicalism bristled at what I feared was about to come. As we’ve noted in other articles here at The Two Cities, Tebow is quite the polarizing figure. Depending on which side of the Tim Tebow debate you take, you either view him as unjustly criticized or...
2011 has come to a close. It has been a great year and there are a lot of fun things to look forward to in 2012 (who isn’t excited for The Dark Knight Rises or The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey?). Here at The Two Cities we are very excited for the introduction of this blog in August 2011 and look forward to the upcoming year. We hope to continue to provide daily posts and greatly want...
If you live in Colorado, you will likely hear a news or sports story about Denver Bronco quarterback Tim Tebow at least once a day. However, when the Wall Street Journal Weekend dedicated two pages to Tebow, I knew it was time for pastors to start blogging. Tebow came to Denver in the 2009 draft, simultaneously heralded and maligned. He didn’t see much on-field action in his first seasons. The few times he played at the QB...
What do Derek Jeter, Tim Tebow, Lebron James, and Sidney Crosby have in common? Is each the premier player in their respective sport? No. Are they the highest paid individuals in each league? No. Do they all have the same level of experience, or have they won identical rewards in each of their respective leagues (i.e. each is an MVP’er, responsible for producing the highest offensive tallies for their sport in a single year, etc)? Not...
Everyone knows how the Christmas story goes. As Stanley Hudson vehemently asserted in the most recent episode of The Office (8.10 Christmas Wishes) regarding the sensitivity to celebrate everything but Christmas during the Holidays: I want Christmas! Just give me plain-baby-Jesus-lying-in-a-manger Christmas! When our culture boils down the Christmas event it looks like this: baby Jesus in a manger. We’ve seen live nativity scenes and some of us have small-scale versions of it around our...
Survey anyone within the church, and if they are honest, they will let you know that there is at least one approach or method for sharing the gospel that makes them cringe. It’s not that there isn’t excitement about the spreading of the news of Jesus and His redemptive work to redeem and restore mankind. It is the fact that, filtered through our own personalities, our own life experiences, and I might add, perhaps our...
The concept is bizarre when you stop and think about it. Let’s take a couple of days off of work at one of the busiest times of the year. We’ll time our school calendars so that the semester break occurs during the holiday. For the month preceding the holiday, houses and storefronts will be decorated with fir trees, snowflakes, wreaths, lights, snowmen, reindeer, and a man in a red suit. We’ll write songs about it...
Today (Dec 13) I am flying home after my first term at St Andrews. It feels like time has sped up ever since I arrived. An hour seems a bit shorter than I remembered in the States. Whole weeks have felt like insignificant blocks of time that pass by all too quickly. Why does time seem so relative? For others I’m sure time might appear to creep along slowly. As is often said, “time flies...
For the reading audience, this comes as part three of a themed week focus on the tension between celebrating Christmas, as specifically Santa, alongside the advent of the Messiah. For those of you who have not read John’s misnomer[1] article titled “Why I Wouldn’t Teach my Kids About Santa” posted earlier this week, I would recommend giving it a read. In fact, it is the starting point from which these musings travel. It is a question that needs...
The commercial and symbolic culture of Christmas has been lost on no one. The true meaning of Christmas has. In America, Christmas is a month-long celebration full of tradition. It’s more a season than merely a date on the calendar. Radio stations and department stores play nothing but Christmas music from late-November on. Houses and stores are strung with lights and other decorations. Fir trees are purchased from the Home Depot or the lot down the block that’s...
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