Christians and College Athletics

If you’re an incoming freshman, transfer student, or graduate student–welcome!

I just ran across an interesting article talking about the relationship between Christians and college sports, a relationship which can be summed up in the phrase [Recent scandals] may lead the faithful to ask a new question: Should a Christian student think twice before getting involved in high-profile college sports like basketball or football? What kind of values will he or she learn in that setting?

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, this question would have been unthinkable. Why? Because college sports was imbued with an ideal called “muscular Christianity.”

This was the belief that physical activity and sports, especially team sports, developed character, fostered patriotism, and instilled virtues that would serve their participantsand their participants’ Godwell in later life. In other words, team games taught their own high ethic, and that ethic could and should be a Christian one.

Read the whole thing and learn about the origins of the YMCA, basketball and the Olympics.

Some Random News And Comments

If you’re a new student, welcome! We periodically take time to comment on funny things happening in the world and on the web. God likes laughter, and so we try to oblige Him.

1) Have you seen the photos of whale flatulence? I’m not kidding–you’ve got to check this out: Whale Flatulence Stuns Scientists

2) Regarding the blackout in the NE: I expect to find a giant dead squirrel when it’s all over (squirrels are, I am told, the number once cause of power outages in America).

3) If you’re not already a fan, you really should check out the Strong Bad emails.

4) Finally, in case you were wondering, Compaq explains where to find the “Any” key.

We return you to your regularly scheduled web browsing.

Wow–thanks for the love!

I haven’t updated since our last announcement because we were deluged with nearly 150 emails congratulating us on our reproductive prowess (or words to that effect). Thanks for all the love!

People are wondering about names.

So far, we’re thinking of Gray Davis, Mavis Davis, April Fools Davis (say it out loud slowly), Raina Davis (like the last one, only less obvious), and Dave Davis.

Also, we’re thinking about funny initials: it’s not too hard to find names that spell out GOD, DUD, DED, or SAD.

For the humor-impaired, I would like to clearly state that these are, of course, all facetious.

We have no names in mind, nor do we have a gender preference.

If you think of any funny names please do let us know!

Preggers

We got back in from D.C. last night, and Paula visited the doctor today. She received confirmation of what we strongly suspected while on the road–she’s preggers!

Based on what we know now (which isn’t a whole lot), the expected delivery date is April 3, 2004.

Personally, I’m hoping she delivers a little early on April 1st (just so that no one believes me when I call them on my cell phone to deliver the good news)… 🙂

On The Road

We’ll be in Washington, D.C. for General Council.

This one will actually be an important one–we’re deciding on some pretty vital internal legislation (how we plant churches, for example). Nothing should make national news, however.

All that to say this: if you send either of us an email, it may be a while before we get back to you. We’re not sure how solid our connectivity will be on the road.

Mom’s Visit

I haven’t been updating the site much lately because my mom has been visiting. It was a good visit–we went to some beaches, ate at some restaurants, and relaxed.

Of particular interest to my father (who stayed back in Louisiana) will be the fact that not only did we eat Dungeness crabs, but we cooked them ourselves (as good Cajuns ought). Here they are in the bathtub awaiting their fate!

Another Little Way Stanford Is Changing The World

I was recently informed by one of our XA students that 2 of the new 15 appointees to the New York Times editorial board are Stanford grads: Philip Taubman (deputy editorial editor) and Andres Martinez (Economics, Foreign Affairs & Federal Regulatory Issues).

You can read the full bios at http://nytimes.com/ref/opinion/editorial-board.html.

Why does this matter? Because everyone in politics reacts to and comments on what’s being said in the NY Times editorials.

Unexpected Support For An Obscure Biblical Aside

I noticed something odd when I was reading some news recently: [in response to claims of nigh-immortality for humans in the near future] Outside the conference, many scientists who specialize in aging are skeptical of such claims and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and other organs will eventually condemn all humans.[source]

120 years? Interesting…

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, they will live no more than 120 years.” Genesis 6:3, NLT

Nothing conclusive here (we’re not talking about data published in a peer-reviewed journal or anything), but I did think it was worthy of comment.