Terry O’Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, said she had respect for the private choices made by women such as Pam Tebow but condemned the planned ad as “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.”

“That’s not being respectful of other people’s lives,” O’Neill said. “It is offensive to hold one way out as being a superior way over everybody else’s.”

And even dumber stuff like this

“This organization is extremely intolerant and divisive and pushing an un-American agenda,” said Jehmu Greene, director of the Women’s Media Center, which is coordinating a campaign to force CBS to pull the ad before it airs on Feb. 7.

“Abortion is very controversial, and the anti-abortion vitriol has resulted in escalated violence against reproductive health providers and their patients,” Greene said. “We’ve seen that clearly with the murder of Dr. George Tiller,” the late-term abortion provider who was gunned down in his Kansas church in May 2009.

So what was this highly “divisive” add that was anti-American and will lead to the killing of doctors? See for yourself and you decide.

It seems to me the only divisive and ignorant people in this discussion are the pro-abortion woman’s groups that are not even smart enough to watch an Ad before they oppose it.

PS

Please watch more of the Tebow family story by clicking here.

Antaeus’ story of enduring strength is really quite cool.  Every time his enemies threw him to the ground, he just got stronger.  Every blow, every strike, every hit, only fed his strength… as long as he stayed connected to the ground.

So, the past couple of weeks you have mentioned that the topics are difficult ones. I just wanted to say that I am thankful for the times that you speak about those things because I feel that the hard topics are the ones we grow from the most. There isn’t as much difficulty in living some of the gospel because being kind and living well are things that most human beings strive for anyway. Yes, it is easier with the help of the Spirit of God, but they are things I would strive to do whether following Christ or not. It’s the “difficult” topics that are more challenging and grow my faith deeper. It’s the tough stuff that makes me think and question what I need to change in my life.

Sports is a great microcosm for looking at life. If you are like me, you are sick of hearing about coaches who coddle rich players and neglect to discipline the team. These shortsighted coaches put the immediate gratification of “winning now” over the long term satisfaction of building a strong team. BUT… not all coaches take this approach. The Church can learn a lot from Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Tomlin offers a much different approach to discipline.

Tomlin deactivated wide receiver Santonio Holmes for a Oct. 26 [2008] home game against the New York Giants — a game the Steelers lost. Tomlin was not happy with Holmes’ level of professionalism. Tomlin wanted more. He got it from Holmes.

Holmes said of their meeting: “He told me how he was going to handle it; I did not want to hear that. But he did what was best for the team and for me.”

This is the key thing about Tomlin’s decision, the beauty of it. What he did in requiring more of Holmes affected his team as much as it did Holmes, the Super Bowl XLIII Most Valuable Player who made the winning touchdown catch.

“I think it took real guts for coach Tomlin to do that with such a big game on the line and knowing how much Santonio means to our team,” Steelers safety Troy Polamalu said. “When he did that, he put action behind the words he had been preaching. He did something that raised the accountability of everyone. That was a decision that had a lasting impact on this team.”

Tomlin allowed Polamalu, a Greek Orthodox Christian, to worship at a monastery more than a one-hour drive away from Phoenix in the early morning hours on the same day of a September [2007] road game at Arizona. Tomlin kicked curfew aside for Polamalu so that this player could fulfill a wish, a personal mandate that meant everything to him.

So, tough love, admiring love — little difference for Tomlin. Every situation with his players, he knows, requires its own clarity.

The Steelers went on to lose this game against Arizona, but Tomlin did not regret his decision.  He recognized that discipline sometimes means sacrifice for a greater good.

For posterity’s sake, Roethlisberger was asked the name of the touchdown play: “Drop back, scramble right, scramble left, find someone open.”
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger calls it playground ball: his Pittsburgh Steelers down or tied in the fourth quarter, he eluded the pass rush, stood strong under pressure, got the ball off with multiple defenders draped over him and made several plays that seemingly can’t be made. Rothlisberger’s physical abilities and mental quickness make him a respected leader and one of the most unique quarterbacks in the NFL.
Mike Tomlin, a Tony Dungy prodigy and now in his second year as Head Coach for the Steelers, is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl. What a strong leader he has turned out to be for the Pittsburgh Steelers!

Movement will not happen if people do not move together in common mission

Erwin McManus

It is an unfortunate statement about our culture, but professional ball players are not known for their team play. Sometimes it seems the players only care about the money and the spotlight.  Rarely do players these days demonstrate a devotion to team above self.  All that changed this season with the Boston Celtics big three: Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.  Paul Levine on SportsPlus shares this unique story of committed leadership.

After starring for the once-mighty Celtics for 10 seasons, Pierce didn’t know if the opportunity to hoist a Championship banner to the rafters would ever present itself in his career. However, with the acquisitions of proven superstars Kevin Garnett (from Minnesota) and Ray Allen (from Seattle), the Celtics won a league-best 66 games and went from worst to first, with an historical 42-victory turnaround in the victory column from the previous season.

Neither of Boston’s “Big Three” had ever won a Championship, but they vowed to each other and Celtics coach Doc Rivers to put their individual statistics aside for the sake of coming together in an effort to earn that elusive ring.

“We said no more excuses, that is what it is,” said Garnett, who collected 26 points and 14 rebounds in the game six clincher. “We’ve all talked about getting personnel on the team.

“We said from day one this is Paul’s team. Ray and I had no problem with that. Doc let us know that the three of us were going to have to sacrifice. I know it sounds old fashioned and cliche, but it’s just real talk.”

These three men wanted their team to win, but they were coming out of one of the worst seasons in Celtics history.  Players wanted to quit.  The coach was ready to be fired.  The team was stagnant.  So how is it that 3 guys can change the destiny of an entire team?

2. It does not matter how fast you are going, if you are heading in the wrong direction.  Velocity is made up of two things: speed and direction. If either of these parts is missing, you will not go anywhere.  Pierce, Garnett, and Allen were all mega stars heading to the NBA hall of fame but, until this year, none of them had ever won a championship.  Each man was moving fast, but not in the right direction.  When they came together and discovered that leadership was a commitment to selfless play, their speed was targeted and each individual discovered how to win together.  

If your momentum is taking you to the wrong destination, you need the mass that comes from committed leaders.  Committed leadership knows that setting course in the direction and moving forward full speed is the only way to achieve momentum toward the prize.

Go back to the DNA of Commitment