The other morning my phone alerted me to a new message.  When I checked the screen I saw the following message: "Bible – Update Available".  Now even though I realized that I was being alerted to a digital update for my smart phone Bible application, it is what I heard later in the day that made me think twice about the alert. 

As I traveled to work, the talk radio show I had tuned in was replaying an interview between talk show host Piers Morgan and Saddleback pastor Rick Warren.  During the interview, Mr. Morgan made the following statement:

"…the Bible and the Constitution were well intentioned, but they are basically inherently flawed.  Hence the need to amend it...it’s time for an amendment to the Bible."

Growing up with two older brothers meant I never got anything new. I was always dished secondhand items:clothes, sporting equipment, and toys. My big day came when I was eight years old and my dad bought me a new lacrosse stick. It was a glorious moment. The lacrosse stick glowed from newness. That experience marked me as a young athlete. It passed through my hands first—not second, third, or fourth!

God does not want our secondhand glory. Secondhand glory is taking credit when God should be getting the credit first. It is subtle. As athletes, it is easy to take credit because we are always getting it from teammates, coaches, and fans.

This year, the UConn Huskies played the Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl. Going into the game, they were massive underdogs. While they’d been 8-4 and won the Big East Conference, many considered their conference and schedule weak. Thus, the Sooners were highly favored to win the game.

Tuesday is always trash day. And on some Tuesdays, there seems to be very little good about the morning. Daily tasks often can become mundane, but not this one. Every Tuesday morning I am the member of the family who deposits the trash into the proper container. This morning, as I sat back at the table lamenting the fact that I had to take the trash out to the curb, I heard a song resonating from an upstairs bedroom. “I am C. I am C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.” It was coming from my 7-year-old, who was joyfully ringing in the day.

I love sports movies, but my all-time favorite is "Hoosiers." It might have something to do with my being a former Indiana high school basketball player, and the movie was filmed in the 80's when I was in college. One scene stood out in the movie to me. In one game, Hickory (the high school) was in need of a sub, and the coach didn't have anyone to put in the game except Ollie the manager. So coach put him in late in the game, and Ollie got fouled and had to go to the line for two free throws. The crowd was yelling, the opposing team was taunting, and Ollie's knees were shaking as he stepped to the line.

When Chris Byrd hears the iconic pop-culture phrase “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” he can’t help but crack a smile. And not for the reasons you would assume, coming from the former World Boxing Organization (WBO) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight champion who also happens to reside in Nevada’s self-proclaimed Sin City.

“For me, I put Christ first,” Byrd says. “I still do the same things I’ve always done. I stay home when I'm training, so I can be in church and not in some secluded place. I want to live my life like I live every day. I’m a boring guy. I don’t do anything. I don’t know what happens in Vegas. I don’t know anything about this city.”