14 Jan, 2008
"Gladiators" a gift for "Smackdown" crowd
"
American Gladiators," is a first cousin of professional wrestling with its glitzy costumes, bombastic names and trash talk.
This time, just as in the original, a group of mostly muscular men and women contestants compete against the house gladiators, a team of six men and six women with such names as Titan, Militia, Mayhem, Crush, Venom and Stealth (the latter three are women, by the way). In each hour, two men and two women compete. One out of each pair moves to the next round.
The grand prize, given after an entire season, is a paltry $100,000 to the last man and woman left standing. Someone should tell them they could do so much better by conserving their energy and just opening a few briefcases.
The well-padded players take turns battling the gladiators in games that make dodge ball look like hopscotch. The eliminator is the Eliminator, the name given to a rugged obstacle course that ultimately decides which of the two men or women stays on the show.
The producers have updated the show with all the usual reality bells and whistles: flashing lights, dramatic music, two tons of product placement and a studio audience warmed up. The action is taped to eliminate the long, dull parts while they change the set. Short videos try to coax viewers to develop a rooting interest in the contestants.
The co-hosts are pro wrestling icon Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, Muhammad's daughter. They encourage and commiserate with the contestants, sometimes in bewildering ways. In the opening minutes of the show, a divorced mother of three suffers a disqualifying leg injury during the first contest. "You're a great role model to your children," Ali consoles.
Later in the show, a male contestant says he is dedicating his victory to "my buddy, who passed away a year ago." Responds Ali, "I'm sure you made him proud."
The show is at 8 p.m. Mondays.
photo & story courtesy news.yahoo.com, 1/8/08
Smackdown talk?
Yes, with the TV warriors...none with the apostle Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:6-10 (NLT)
6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said,
What does today's God's Story scripture teach us about the ultimate source of strength and how do we get it?
Paul is simply telling us that God's supernatural power shows up in weak people! So you might say that there's no room for us to do any spiritual "smackdown" talking.
Though we don't know exactly what Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was, it probably was some sort of disease of the eyes, or perhaps epilepsy. I'm pretty sure that he would not have done well in "Gladiators" competition (though he probably saw more than he wanted to in Rome). Whatever it was, it was a serious enough to keep him from working in his ministry at times.
Even though Paul asked God to remove his problem, God allowed it to continue so that Paul would remain humble and rely on God for his strength.
Let's be honest. Haven't we noticed that when we're feeling strong in our own abilities, we often tend to forget about relying on God's Holy Spirit to give us strength? When we're weak, we turn to God and allow Him to fill us with power.
This is an ongoing theme in God's Story! Our story needs to be about abiding in Christ...then in Christ's strength, we are more than "Gladiators" - we are more than conquerors!
How can we connect today's God's Story scripture to our lives?
- Rather than boasting of any strength, be honest about a weakness that you wish God would remove? Are you willing to trust Him like Paul did? That's pretty good company.
- Try reading reading today's passage every day for one week so that this truth of God's Story becomes a discipline that you apply daily to your story.
- Memorize 2nd Corinthians 12:10.
- Pray a pray of thanks to God for giving Paul the words to write down His Truth! Confess any way in which you have been talking (or thinking) smack about your own strength. Ask His Spirit to help you simply recognize every day that in your weakness, Jesus provides His supernatural strength.
How can we connect today's story and God's Story scripture and our story to others?
- Remember that the 3Story way of living will become more and more natural for you as you consistently abide in Jesus. He will fill you with His love, insight and strength. Jesus will help you connect your story to their story and God's Story.
- If you're up for some fun, have some friends over to watch "American Gladiators". Laugh a lot and make fun of it! Ask your friends about what makes them feel strong or weak? Be ready to share a little of your story and how you find strength in God.
- If you can't stand the idea of watching "Gladiators", use what you learned in today's DAILYBIDE to encourage someone who is feeling weak about something in his or her life.
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