The End of An Era

I've been writing very serious posts lately, with the only brevity being a funny title or two thrown in, so I wanted to write something light today. For me that means one of two subjects... humor or sports? Look no further than the image below, sports fans, it's Broncos season and we have really big news.

Jay Cutler named starting quarterback for the Broncos

This could be the end of an era.
No, not the Jake Plummer era, you can't actually call one playoff victory an era.
Certainly not the Mike Shanahan era, he will be around a long time to come.
No, this could finally be the end of the John Elway Era.

In Denver there has only, ever, been one quarterback and he retired in 1999. The immediate heir apparent to John (as everyone in Denver refers to him) was Brian Greise who tripped over his dog, threw the most costly interception in Broncos history and was eventually cut from the team. Someone had to be that first guy.

John's shadow was too big, Elway's name was revered in Broncoland.
Thus, there was never a Brian Griese era,
no Bubby Brister era,
no Steve Beuerlein era,
no Jake Plummer era
and no Bradlee Van Pelt era (sorry CSU fans).

Jay Cutler, however, might be different. No one will forget John Elway (especially not until the next Bronco Super Bowl victory), but there just might be enough bodies piled up in the past for Jay (as everyone in Denver will refer to him) to climb and see beyond that shadow. After all, when was the last time you heard this kind of buzz about a rookie quarterback? If you are around my age, the answer is never.
Jay Cutler is making Bronco fans talk about the future instead of reminiscing about the past.
Jay has the fans on his side.

Oh, the boo-birds will still fly, they'll just come later in the games and a little softer. A rookie quarterback is not likely to kick start an offense that is obviously hurting, and you can't just blame Plummer for the pain.

During the preseason I thought the biggest Denver Broncos loss was going to be Trevor Pryce or even Mike Anderson, but it turns out the big loss was Gary Kubiak.

Last year under offensive coordinator Kubiak, Plummer had his best season ever with a quarterback rating at an impressive 90.2, while David Carr struggled in Houston with a rating of 77.2. After Kubiak took the head coach position in Houston, Carr's numbers improved significantly with his passer rating currently at 88.8, 9th in the NFL. Plummer's numbers, however, have plummeted to 27th in the NFL, with a passer rating at a miserable 70.5.

It's strange to say this about a 7-4 team who is currently holding a playoff spot, but the problems with the offense are likely to mean an early exit from the super bowl race this season. Couple that with the exciting young talent in the AFC West with Larry Johnson in Kansas City and Phillip Rivers, LaDanian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates in San Diego, and it might be time to start looking to the future. In that light, the decision to bring Jay in as the quarterback is a good one.

Let's just hope it serves as a wake up call to the rest of the Bronco offense as well.

Tags:

• broncos
• sports

My Little Dreams

Exhortation, building one another up. Gathering as a community to care for one another. This is the key to the church, for they will know us by our love for one another.

We experienced firsthand this ministry of the church in our time at the ECFC conference in Bangkok as we were personally encouraged by conversations with leaders from Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka who went out of their way to minister to Lori and I. It was a refreshing time, and a time of vision.

Repeatedly throughout the conference a message was spoken to us. An encouragement of "Don't let go of the vision. Hold on to your dreams. God is going to do everything that He has planted in you."

Wow.

There are some visions in our heart for ministry and for our future that are much larger than Lori or I. These hopes for the Akha and for the world are more than we could ever do and require gifts we do not have. We have smaller dreams as well, things we want to experience and to see, and the encouragement we received this past week was to hold tightly to all of these hopes, big and small, and watch to see what the Lord does.

One of my little dreams has been to write a series of books. Nothing preachy or even teachy. Just stories. Adventures. Inspired by relationships and friendships I have had over the years.

Of course, writing stories isn't going to be my job, just a hobby. I'm quite occupied with working with the Akha hill tribe and expect to be doing this work long into the future. I don't know when, or where, for that matter, I will be able to start. It might take 10 years, it might take fifty years. I don't know. What I know is that the hope of writing is something that is deep in my heart, something that excites me, something that I dream about. And do you know what amazes me? I personally know a God who cares about my little dreams.

Tags:

• personal
• books