10 Nov, 2009

Tackle the OTHER team!

Las Vegas, NV — Local football player receiving national attention for tackling teammate

Cory Turner’s now-infamous play during a local adult football game will surely be part of sports blooper highlight packages for years to come. Turner, a defensive tackle for the Las Vegas Cobras, inadvertently tackled his own teammate during a punt return two weeks ago against the Henderson Wolverines. The play instantly drew laughter from everyone at Ed Fountain Park. That, however, was just the beginning.

Someone was filming the contest and put a 37-second video of the play on Youtube.com. The video was picked up on Monday by deadinespin.com — the nation’s most popular sports blog site.

It has since been shown on ESPN and other national newscasts and talked about on the Jim Rome syndicated radio show. As for the play, Turner quickly realized the ball carrier was his teammate. The video shows him putting his hands on his helmet and sitting on the turf in embarrassment.

Cobras coach Mike Howard, who has been coaching in the Wild West Football League for nine seasons and is part of the Minor League Football Hall of Fame, said the play will go down as the wackiest in his tenure. “That’s the funniest thing I have seen in 40 years of football,” Howard said. “We laughed, everyone at the park laughed. But, of course, the guy who got tackled wasn’t too happy.”

To view full story by Ray Brewer, go to lasvegassun.com.
To view video, go to youtube.com.

Galatians 6:10 [NIV]

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Galatians 5:14-15 [NIV]

The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

I Thess. 5:11 [NIV]

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

II Corinthians 10:3-4

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

What does God's Story teach us about how to treat our own team?

  • We are supposed to take special care of "our own team". If someone is a brother or sister in Christ, then we should treat them just like a loving family member should be treated.
  • Sometimes we, as Christians, can get in the habit of tearing one another down. It might be talking about someone badly, gossiping or just being mean...this should not be! If we aren't careful, we will end up "tackling each other" and eventually destroy our own family.
  • What we should do is encourage one another. This might be through acts of kindness, praying for each other or just a word of encouragement, but this should be what we are all about as family.
  • Remember who the enemy is...the devil, who wants to devour us...NOT each other...let's gang up and fight against HIM!!!

Connecting today's story and God's Story with my story

  • Perhaps you have been wronged by a brother or sister in Christ. Maybe they have done or said something that really "tackled" you inside. I would encourage you to take some mature steps towards making that relationship right...even if it wasn't your fault...work towards forgiveness and restoration of the relationship.
  • Perhaps you were the one who tackled a Christian teammate. Be honest before God. If you are truly sorry, He is ready to forgive you. Then, be honest with your brother or sister. It might be the hardest phone call you will ever make, but asking their forgiveness will help you fight against the real enemy together.

Connecting today's story, God's Story and my story with their story

Think about what the other football team must have been thinking when they saw their opponents tackling themselves. Their first response, I'm sure, was confusion. Maybe they were asking questions like, "Aren't they supposed to be on the same team?" or "Why would they do that to each other?"

And do you think that any of the opponents would be really excited to join their team? Ummm...probably not. "Hey, come on over to our side where we tackle each other when you least expect it" isn't exactly a very enticing offer. In the same way, when non-believers see Christians saying bad things about one another or being mean to each other, it just doesn't make sense to them. Further more, they don't want to have anything to do with becoming a Christian.

So let's stop tackling our teammates and fight together against the real enemy!

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