Back in 2009, I wrote an e-mail to my dad about the trade that sent Jay Cutler to the Bears. Too many interceptions and sacks to count later, my thoughts haven't changed.
Since I've sent you an e-mail about every major move in Chicago sports since I got to Purdue, I thought that I would continue that tradition with the recent transaction that sent Kyle Orton, the former Boilermaker, the 2009 and 2010 first round draft picks, and a 2009 third round draft pick to the Denver Broncos for Pro-Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler. Since reports of Cutler's discontent in Denver came up when the team fired head coach Mike Shanahan and the offensive coordinator, Jay Cutler has been linked to the Bears. Many Bears fans are currently rejoicing because they fail to see the impact of such a trade. Let me start off by saying that Jay Cutler is a good quarterback. He's relatively mobile and can make any throw that the team needs him too. He's got a cannon of an arm but also has that soft touch to place the ball where it needs to be. It's been awhile since the Chicago Bears had a quarterback that could do that. Even though we upgraded the quarterback position, that does not necessarily mean that we upgraded the team. Logic says, if you have a guy that can throw the football, you also need a man that can catch the football. With our current core of receivers, we have one guy that can out maneuver any player on the field but cannot catch a ball (Hester), a guy with good hands that I could outrun (Davis), a rookie from last year, and an under-utilized Greg Olsen. Long story short, Cutler put up great numbers in Denver but he also had consistent and reliable weapons down the field. Intuition also says that regardless of the skill of the quarterback, the quarterback needs time to throw the football. Our offensive line has been consistently weak and only growing older since the last glory days of the Bears back in the Superbowl. Grossman didn't have much time to throw. Orton didn't have much time to throw. Since last year's team, two core players left the offensive line. This leaves us with not a lot of talent. Cutler is going to need time to throw the ball, especially with our receivers who have a knack for not getting open. We lost a quarterback that could manage the game and gained a quarterback that has the potential for the big home run plays if put into the right situation. Unfortunately, the Bears are along way away from being in the 'right situation'. Their opportunity to better the team was through the draft. Now they lost three draft picks of which they could have given Orton weapons and time to throw the ball.
There is more to Jay Cutler than the football side, however. Cutler is nothing more than an oversized and overpaid infant. The way he handled the fall-out in Denver perhaps the most unprofessional act in sports in recent memory. At the end of the day, football is a business. The team that pays you has the right to seek to better the team by moving you. The job of the athlete is to shut up and perform to the best of their abilities regardless of the situation placed upon him. Cutler whined, moaned, and demonstrated selfish behavior that every kindergarten teacher scolds her students about.
All in all, we'll have to wait and see how this trade works out by the progress and development of this chicago bears team over the course of the season. At the moment, I'm not sold in it.
Grade: D
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Two Things
There are two things that God constantly uses to slap me in the face.
1) Read about the Israelites and their disobedience to God only to realize that I am just like they were.
2) Read about Jesus rebuking the pharisees only to realize that I am just like the pharisees.
owned but caught in God's grace.
1) Read about the Israelites and their disobedience to God only to realize that I am just like they were.
2) Read about Jesus rebuking the pharisees only to realize that I am just like the pharisees.
owned but caught in God's grace.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Thoughts of the Past Week
+ "I'm not sure why I started to think about this but I think that I've fallen in love with the wrong things." Usually when you hear something like this, you immediately think of things of this word: cars, houses, designer brand goods, etc. I would say that for me, it's something quite different. I've fallen in love with mercy and grace. Each morning, I wake up thinking "Man, I'm glad I'm caught in God's grace and mercy today" rather than thinking "Man, God is awesome. I want to live for Him today." Somewhere over the course of the last few weeks, I've become a lover of God's gifts that He so generously pours out on my rather than God himself.
+"The idea that we have time is merely an illusion." Quite frankly, we don't have time. We don't know what's ahead of us - or anyone else for that matter. I find myself sitting here, almost complacent, when it comes to doing kingdom work and spreading the Good News. I go to school thinking I can be a good witness - tomorrow. But in reality, life is quick and short. I don't have much time. There's a message that I know, one that is radically life changing, that people need to hear not tomorrow or the day after but now.
+"The idea that we have time is merely an illusion." Quite frankly, we don't have time. We don't know what's ahead of us - or anyone else for that matter. I find myself sitting here, almost complacent, when it comes to doing kingdom work and spreading the Good News. I go to school thinking I can be a good witness - tomorrow. But in reality, life is quick and short. I don't have much time. There's a message that I know, one that is radically life changing, that people need to hear not tomorrow or the day after but now.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Luke 7:11-17
Luke 7:11-17
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry." Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea[a] and the surrounding country.
When I first read this passage along time ago, I thought almost nothing of it. Okay, so Jesus performs another miracle and raises a guy from the dead. Cool. But upon further examination during small group this week, this passage came out of the text, grasped and enveloped me inside of it.
Where the heck is Nain? It's a serious question. What was so significant about this little town of Nain that made Jesus decide to go there? If anything, this shows that Jesus is intentional in His actions. Jesus intentionally goes to this little town because of the events that He knew were to happen.
Jesus met the woman where she was.This happens in two accounts. One account is that he goes to Nain and meets with her physically. The second encounter occurs when His "heart went out to her" and connects with her emotionally. At times, we think that God is this impersonal deity, ruling over everything from afar but this passage indicates otherwise. Jesus is very personal. Jesus is able to relate to our pain and our feelings and desires to meet us.
Jesus is higher than culture. Back in those times, touching a dead man would have made Jesus ceremonially unclean and would have been considered taboo. Instead, Jesus intentionally defies culture. Like we saw earlier in Luke 7, Jesus was able to heal the servant of the centurion with a few words from afar and yet here, we see Jesus physically touching the corpse of the young man. His ways are higher than our own. At the same time, Jesus is effectively demonstrating that it is He that cleanses us and gives us life, not the following of ritualistic patterns governed by the customs of society. We also see that Jesus met the young man where he was - dead and gone when he could have easily spoken a few words and gone on with his day.
I am the young man. As I read this passage, I thought a lot about my twenty years of life. I was the young man. I was dead. I had no hope. I was destined for an eternal condemnation, packaged in that coffin ready to be carried to my burial. I had no other way. It was a dead end. And then Jesus came down and met me despite of my sin. He breathed life into this dead corpse and told me to get up. At a point where it seemed like there was no hope, I was given hope in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that so exciting? When I think about the height from which I have fallen being overcome by the love of my savior, I can't help but respond in the same way that the town's people did when they witnessed this miracle - I am humbled and in awe of Jesus and will praise Him for eternity.
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry." Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea[a] and the surrounding country.
When I first read this passage along time ago, I thought almost nothing of it. Okay, so Jesus performs another miracle and raises a guy from the dead. Cool. But upon further examination during small group this week, this passage came out of the text, grasped and enveloped me inside of it.
Where the heck is Nain? It's a serious question. What was so significant about this little town of Nain that made Jesus decide to go there? If anything, this shows that Jesus is intentional in His actions. Jesus intentionally goes to this little town because of the events that He knew were to happen.
Jesus met the woman where she was.This happens in two accounts. One account is that he goes to Nain and meets with her physically. The second encounter occurs when His "heart went out to her" and connects with her emotionally. At times, we think that God is this impersonal deity, ruling over everything from afar but this passage indicates otherwise. Jesus is very personal. Jesus is able to relate to our pain and our feelings and desires to meet us.
Jesus is higher than culture. Back in those times, touching a dead man would have made Jesus ceremonially unclean and would have been considered taboo. Instead, Jesus intentionally defies culture. Like we saw earlier in Luke 7, Jesus was able to heal the servant of the centurion with a few words from afar and yet here, we see Jesus physically touching the corpse of the young man. His ways are higher than our own. At the same time, Jesus is effectively demonstrating that it is He that cleanses us and gives us life, not the following of ritualistic patterns governed by the customs of society. We also see that Jesus met the young man where he was - dead and gone when he could have easily spoken a few words and gone on with his day.
I am the young man. As I read this passage, I thought a lot about my twenty years of life. I was the young man. I was dead. I had no hope. I was destined for an eternal condemnation, packaged in that coffin ready to be carried to my burial. I had no other way. It was a dead end. And then Jesus came down and met me despite of my sin. He breathed life into this dead corpse and told me to get up. At a point where it seemed like there was no hope, I was given hope in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that so exciting? When I think about the height from which I have fallen being overcome by the love of my savior, I can't help but respond in the same way that the town's people did when they witnessed this miracle - I am humbled and in awe of Jesus and will praise Him for eternity.
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