God and Football: The NFL’s Chaplains Give Advice

Every football team in the NFL has at least one chaplain to whom the players and coaches can turn for religious guidance. And though some may question the appropriateness of bringing one popular American Sunday pastime — God — into a considerably more commercial and violent Sunday pastime, the chaplains believe it is precisely their mission to help reconcile the two. Forget the mysteries of the sacraments — what about the answers to these theological questions: Does God want us to lose? Does he favor the Steelers? What makes Lambeau Field sacred? Is it right to pray for first downs when people are suffering? And who caused that fumble, Jesus or Julius Peppers?

Owners and coaches try to take care of their players physically, financially and psychologically, but they understand that players have spiritual needs too. And the more the players are spiritually at peace, the more they can focus on the game. Some teams favor a group approach — the Indianapolis Colts, for example, have three go-to spiritual receivers, covering Protestant and Catholic denominations. (The NFL is overwhelmingly Christian; when the occasional Jewish or Muslim player requires counsel, the teams generally outsource.)

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First Baptist Dallas unveils $130 million building plan for downtown campus

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First Baptist Church of Dallas today announced a $130 million capital campaign to build a 3,000-seat worship center, a religious education building and parking lot, a glass concourse, and a sky bridge.

“The finest facility in this area should be one that glorifies almighty God,” said the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas.

Five older buildings on the church campus will come down, but the 1890 sanctuary – where the congregation has long worshipped – will remain for weddings, funerals and other special events.

Jeffress said an independent church fundraising consultant, Doug Turner, had determined that this is the largest church building program in modern history.

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Building Project Website

Many people in the area have told me it was only a matter of time before FBC Dallas became insignificant because of dwindling numbers and the trouble of getting people to actually go to downtown Dallas since everyone now lives in the subards, where all the local mega-churches are located.  All that to say, this news came to me as a surprise.  I’m not saying I’m wishing for a demise or anything, it’s just what I heard.

But I will say I don’t know how I feel about it being the largest church building plan in modern history.  Job creation is a good thing, but I don’t know anything about their financial planning or their current or projected attendance numbers.  I will admit I felt that after I watched the last video on the projects website (titled “Overview”) it seemed a bit self gratifying and seemed to stretch scripture a little bit.

No matter the case, I hope they keep their focus and that everything is filled with substance.

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How To Eat A Chicken Wing

I never knew . . .

That video reminds me of a time when I ate with one of my Aggie friends who never knew the proper way to eat a Freebirds burrito. After I told him he looked around the restaurant in amazement how many people ate their Freebird like I did.

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The Postal Service’s ‘get well’ plan? Greeting cards

The U.S. Postal Service has started selling Hallmark greeting cards at some post offices, a one-year experiment that may lead the nation’s 34,000 postal outlets to eventually sell other goods and services, including banking, insurance and cellphones.

Unlike the mail, greeting cards remain a popular and profitable line of business, with 7 billion sold annually for more than $7.5 billion in sales, according to the Greeting Card Association.  People receive more than 20 greeting cards each year, one-third of them for birthdays.

Of those 7 billion cards, roughly 4 billion are sent through the mail, accounting for about 2 percent of total mail volume, said Robert F. Bernstock, president of mailing and shipping services for the Postal Service.

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