blind in sight but not blind of victory

Matt Steven is like most other teenagers. He loves being around people his age, he loves to compete, he loves to be a part of the crowd, and he has hobbies. His favorite hobby is basketball, which is not that unusual unless you have faced what Matt Steven has faced. Since birth, Matt has been blind, because of two detached retinas. In the fifth grade he had one eye removed and in the sixth grade he had the other eye removed. Over the last few years he has begged his parents to let him go to the school that his brother goes too. Not long after his parents gave in, Matt decided he wanted to be a part of the basketball team. He went to every practice, attended every game, listened to every instruction by the coach and cheered the team on from the bench. Then one day his older brother decided that during a fundraiser game that it would be cool if Matt could shoot every free throw. The other team agreed to letting him shoot ever free throw. How did he do? Matt made the first two and ended up going 4 for 8...then at the end of the game, his team had come back, the best player got fouled while being down by 1 point...and suddenly guess who finds himself at the free throw line with 2 free throws to shoot? Matt Steven! That's right, the team let Matt Steven shoot the final second free throws and Matt calmly stepped to the line and nailed them both. Matt Steven's team won the game and Matt was the hero! Matt may be blind but that day he saw and felt victory in a new and bright way. Is there anything that God is calling you to do that seems to be too difficult? -Casey (original story written by Rick Reilly at http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3967807)

who's on your top 10?

You may remember the infamous, Wayne's World (if not, you didn't miss anything lifechanging) from Saturday Night Live and then from their own movie. The sometimes crude, sometimes funny sketch would typically center around who these frat boys considered to be the most beautiful women in the world. Each week would be centered around the Top 10 women in the world. Since those days, David Letterman has continued the famous top 10 countdown with his own current event Top 10. The Harris Poll recently asked a number of adults in America who they "admired most to call them their hero?" Here is this year's top 10:
1. Barack Obama
2. Jesus Christ
3. Martin Luther King, Jr.
4. Ronald Reagan
5. George W. Bush
6. Abraham Lincoln
7. John McCain
8. John F. Kennedy
9. Chesley Sullenberger
10. Mother Teresa

other notables: God, Bill Gates, George Washington, Oprah Winfrey...
The survey was last conducted in 2001, and in that survey Jesus Christ was the hero mentioned most often, followed by Martin Luther King, Colin Powell, John F. Kennedy and Mother Teresa.
So what makes a hero? Doing things right? Being well known? Lots of Power? What makes the difference between a hero and a "celebrity"? In short, heroes are people who have dramatic personal influence directly on our lives and celebrities are people who are well known for what they have done, achieved, or for what they possess. In his seminal study The Image, Daniel J. Boorstin says "the hero created himself, the celebrity is created by the media. The hero was a big person, the celebrity is a big name. (read more at www.serioustimes.com) So who is on your top 10 list? How did they arrive on your top 10 list? The key to the top 10 list is remembering that God has allowed these people to come into your life. It's my hope that each one of these people have influence you to become more like Christ!