Rick Joyner has been pushing the absurd notion that America is on the verge of a “spiritual revival” as God “pours out his spirit” — whatever the hell that means — on the country. And his evidence for that? The popularity of Tim Tebow and other Christian athletes. I kid you not.
The Tim Tebow phenomenon is another sign of the Awakening that is gaining momentum. There is no way to make sense of the kind of interest and popularity he has gained just by America’s love for underdogs and comebacks, even though the country is in desperate need of one. However, his string of improbable comebacks was impressive, but even those could not account for him passing some of the greatest names in sports history in popularity.
When the NFL forbid Tebow from putting “John 3:16” on his eye black, he threw for 316 yards, averaging 31.6 yards per completion, and the rating for that game was 31.6—it got the nation’s attention to the degree that 70 million people Googled John 3:16 over the next three days. Since no Christian would need to Google John 3:16 to see what it says, this may have been the biggest single witness of Christ in world history. Those were seeds sown, and we can be sure there will be a harvest.
Then we have the incredible popularity of Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks guard, also a Christian who stands bold and uncompromising in his faith. Bubba Watson, Ricky Fowler, and other professional golfers who are strong Christians and unapologetic about their faith, have likewise risen to the top of their sport in popularity. This is a clear sign we cannot ignore. The great majority of Americans are looking for courage, and for bold, uncompromising Christian leadership. There has been a great turning in the battle for the social values of America, and a Great Awakening is beginning.
One that will, no doubt, fill Joyner’s offering plates to overflowing.
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slc1
September 8, 2012 at 9:37 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I have a flash for Joyner. If Tebow doesn’t deliver in New York, he will be booed out of town. New York fans, like Philadelphia fans are intolerant of mediocrity.
slc1
September 8, 2012 at 9:41 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Apropos of this post, here is a link to a post by Biodork relative to a couple of football players with decidedly different views then Tebow.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/biodork/2012/09/08/chris-kluwes/
matty1
September 8, 2012 at 9:45 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I know nothing about this sport of American football but is it really possible for a player to ‘fix’ all those statistics in this way? Does he carefully measure where he throws from to make sure it will be exactly 316 yards from where he’s throwing to?
shakeb
September 8, 2012 at 10:12 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
In the playoff victory over the Steelers Tebow did throw for 316 yards for 31.6 yards per completion (he completed 10 passes, which is very few for an NFL QB in a game, though 31.6 yards per completion is unusually high), but his QB Rating* for that game was 125.6. A QB rating of 31.6 is worse than taking a single snap and throwing the ball directly into the ground (39.6). Neither Pro Football Reference or NFL.com has Tebow recording a QB Rating of 31.6 in any game to date.
*QB Rating is a really ugly statistic that really doesn’t belong in serious discussion of sports, there are statistics that are far easier to calculate that include more relevant information, such as ANY/A (Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt).
markmcglone
September 8, 2012 at 10:12 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
No, it was a coincidence.
scottjones
September 8, 2012 at 10:18 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
That religious revival stuff is great and all but the real reason Tim Tebow needs to have a comeback this season is because he’s QBing my Fantasy Football Team on a bet.
I don’t know a lot about football stats, but, the 316 yards thing is numerology bullshit. It’s just taking the yards he threw from one game which happened to result in 31.6 yards per completion which I’m guessing means he completed a ~50 yard pass then threw a bunch of shorter passes as normal so the average ended up there.
I’m going to assume his “rating” means his passing efficiency rating. Where 158.3 is a perfect rating. Peyton Manning, for example, had a rating of 121.1 at his peak in 2004. I could believe Tebow had 31.6 for that. He’s a grandstanding middling to shitty QB that needs to get over himself.
But I wish him every bit of luck this season for the aforementioned fantasy football reasons.
Randomfactor
September 8, 2012 at 10:25 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
No, it was a coincidence.
And not much of one.
busterggi
September 8, 2012 at 10:30 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wassa matter?
Weren’t rappers who won music awards good enuff?
W. Kevin Vicklund
September 8, 2012 at 10:31 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Rating probably refers to the television rating.
Pierce R. Butler
September 8, 2012 at 10:37 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Does IQ factor into QB ratings?
Gvlgeologist, FCD
September 8, 2012 at 10:43 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I do believe that if he threw for 316 yards and an average of 31.6, all that means is that he completed only 10 passes in the game.
Certainly proof that the FSM was involved.
Speaking as a Gator, so for me, the sun should shine out his ass.
StevoR
September 8, 2012 at 10:49 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m a little Tebow short and stout
Here is my play and crap now I’m out.
I don’t even know the rules but I know this.
It ain’t my game
But that guy is shit.
(Seriously Amercia can’t y’all play cricket properly like the rest of the former British empire hey? ;-) )
StevoR
September 8, 2012 at 10:51 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Um, Canada, the same applies for you too! ;-)
StevoR
September 8, 2012 at 10:53 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ain’t “teabowing” about fifty youtube fads ago?
Not that I’m keeping up with anything or nuthin’ ..
loreo
September 8, 2012 at 10:54 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“The great majority of Americans are looking for courage, and for bold, uncompromising Christian leadership.”
translation
“Somebody powerful, praise me for what I already believe! If my religion isn’t winning, it must be wrong, because truth is determined by power!”
anubisprime
September 8, 2012 at 10:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
We had a very devout xian in British sport a while back…a long jumper.
Very devout and a pin up for the evangelical brigade to get all hot and breathless over.
He was also presenter of a Sunday religious show called ‘songs of praise’
This was his billet after he retired from sport competition.
It is about the only show shown on the BBC…and is regarded mainly as an anachronism to the schedule but they cannot get rid cos otherwise the C of e will have a heart attack and a severe dose of the vapors…his loss of nonsense gobbly gook coincided with his work on the show and he quit…which is about the best evidence of integrity I have come across in quite a while.
The reaction from the jeebus droolers was as you would expect, most being middle england C of E dismissed the loss of faith as a temporary inconvenience and he will pick it up when he comes to his senses others cursed him as a tool of Satan.
But over all the shock was palpable in the legions…and they went very very quite where before they were absolutely pompous about their pin up, they basically disowned him.
Pretending it did not happen and if it did it was a mistake on Jon’s part.
Absolutely priceless…his reconversion to rationalist was never mentioned in the media as a main headline, mainly packed away as a couple of line FYI piece in the gossip columns, compared with before when they would get all righteous about his faith winning it…medals competitions whatever… for UK sports….on the front page and all over the sport sections.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-460983/I-lost-faith-God-I-retired-says-Olympic-hero-Jonathan-Edwards.html
For the record his attitude is “probably agnostic, but practically an atheist”
He does not think he will ever regain xianity…
raven
September 8, 2012 at 11:11 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The reality is that 2-3 million people leave US xianity every year.
The SBC has lost members for 5 years in a row. It is a missionary church that spends something like 150 million USD a year trying to
con the suckersconvert the heathens.raven
September 8, 2012 at 11:15 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Translated from Fundiespeak, this means you should send Joyner money.
I’m always amused at how fundies just waste their money on these fakes. So if there are any fundies reading this, check your bank balance. Send it all to Rick Joyner, Cindy Jacobs, or the Couches.
It won’t be wasted. Makers of sports cars, private jets, builders of mansions, luxury goods merchants, and servants all need money and it will recirculate through the economy,
kantalope
September 8, 2012 at 11:46 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Why would the Big G man pick Tebow for his team? As the all powerful ultimate being of the universe not only could you pick your ultimate fantasy team you could put in the fix and make your team better. But Tebow? Why not send him an angel to teach him how to throw a football? Or why not just poofta his arm so he can throw?
Although I’ve also been a little suspicious of the heavenly hiring process – the people that get picked as spokespersons…RLY?
Modusoperandi
September 8, 2012 at 1:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
StevoR “Um, Canada, the same applies for you too! ;-)”
Canadians tried Cricket, but the skates cut up the field pretty bad.
feralboy12
September 8, 2012 at 1:42 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Tim Tebow was so valuable to the Denver Broncos that they traded him to the New York Jets in the off-season.
Jeremy Lin, on the other hand, meant so much to the New York Knicks that they let him go as a free agent to the Houston Rockets.
Rick Joyner needs to bookmark a sports news site and keep up a little better.
Rip Steakface
September 8, 2012 at 4:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
If anything, we should just pour out a spirit every time Joyner says something this stupid.
Of course, that would probably leave us too drunk to care anymore.
Nemo
September 8, 2012 at 4:30 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Has much actually been made of Jeremy Lin’s Christianity? This is the first I’ve heard of it, but I don’t follow sports — but the Tebow stuff was inescapable.
jakc
September 8, 2012 at 11:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
the rating is the television rating for viewers, not the qbr. Interesting though that the christians don’t seem to notice the difference between 3.16 and 31.6.
PatrickG
September 9, 2012 at 12:43 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@ Nemo: Oh my yes, a lot was made out of his Christianity. I’m far too lazy to provide links (about to go to bed), but a quick google of “Jeremy Lin Christian” provides oodles.
Apparently he was in some sort of raucous party lately, which causes people to question his devotion.
Well, OK, I was able to provide a single link. The rest you’ll have to search for. ;)
matty1
September 9, 2012 at 1:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
While wandering around the intertubes unsupervised I happened to come across a player who may be more to your liking. Chris Kluwe defending another player after a politician asked the teams’ owners to stop him speaking out in support of same sex marriage.
The whole thing is worth reading but here are some highlights
matty1
September 9, 2012 at 1:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
PS The politician in question is one Emmett C Burns, presumably the older and less likeable brother of Montgomery.
Suido
September 9, 2012 at 8:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Oh, that’s just beautiful. Those Christians and their miraculously eidetic memories.
I couldn’t quote a bible passage based on its chapter and verse number despite being brought up Catholic. I guess I wasn’t a True Christian.
democommie
September 9, 2012 at 11:27 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It would appear that there was a “Miracle In The Meadowlands” , today. The jets managed to trounce the Bills even though GOD chose to let Tebow be used as a distraction by Rex Ryan.
One of the play by play guys said it was refreshing to see a guy like Tebow who will do whatever it takes to move the ball for the team. I remarked to the the guy who was helping me find the bottom of the keg that we used to call that “following orders”.