Cullen Allen

In Victory & Defeat

For those who know me, it's obvious that I'm a big Texas Longhorn fan. So it was heartbreaking to see the QB with the most wins and highest completion percentage in the history of college football go down to injury on the 5th play of the BCS National Championship game. (I really think we could have won the game if he would have played - but that's another subject).  He is definitely a difference-maker.

Well, one of my good friends gave me a Colt McCoy jersey today as a gift. I absolutely love it!  McCoy isn't just a great football player, he's also a follower of Christ and an all around classy guy.  I believe that you can learn a lot about a person by how they handle disappointment and defeat. The moments right after the championship game against Alabama were probably some of the most difficult moments in McCoy's football career, since he didn't get to play in the biggest game of his life.  This was the game he had waited all of his life to compete in.  Yet in that moment of great disappointment, it's refreshing to hear what he said and how he handled himself.  While he's one of the great college football QB's to ever play the game, his character and relationship with God speak louder than all the accomplishments. That's the last memory we'll have of McCoy on a college football field.  That's the kind of message that will live on long after the event, the trophies and accolades.  Watch it below. . .

The World In Perspective

Easy To Fall For. . .

There are many temptations that we are faced with every day.  This is nothing new.  It all started with Adam & Eve.  The Bible says in Genesis 3:6 "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."

This records the first instance of sin in the world.  Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God told them not to eat.  They fell for the temptation of the enemy. These are the 3 basic aspects of temptation.  These 3 elements are also found when Satan tempted Jesus and also in 1 John 2:16.

1) Physical Pleasure - Satan tempted Adam & Eve by getting them to focus on something that was "good for food," even though God warned them against it.  He tries to appeal to our "hungry" desires. When we let our 5 senses control us, we are headed for danger. A hungry need, can be a dangerous one if we allow it to dominate us. Where do we have "appetites" that we're allowing to control us and need to be surrendered to God? It's disastrous to fill our "hunger" outside of God's plans and intentions for our lives.

2) What We See - Eve saw that the fruit looked attractive and "pleasing to the eye," so she decided to eat. She and Adam made an emotional decision and acted upon it. When we live by emotional decisions we are also headed for trouble. Just because something looks, feels and seems right doesn't mean that it's healthy. Satan disguises things to make them look good, when in the end they bring death. It's important to set up boundaries beforehand so that we don't rely on emotions or feelings to rule us.  Do we have proper boundaries in our lives so that we're not fooled by emotions in the heat of the moment?

3) Selfish Living & Pride - Satan tempted Eve by telling her if she ate the fruit, it would be help her "gain wisdom" and be like God.  Ultimately, there is a desire that we all have to be our own "god."  That's what pride is.  It's about us going our own way and refusing the lordship/leadership of Christ.  It's when we become our own boss and disregard sound council and instruction.  Satan will purposefully appeal to our pride and use it against us in order to see us fall.  Where am I not allowing God to lead my life?

It's interesting that Satan used all 3 of these elements when tempting Adam and Eve, just like he did when he tempted Jesus. He went all out and didn't hold anything back.  While we are not above temptation, we have the ability to overcome it by the power of Jesus Christ. We can live in victory and not defeat when it comes to temptation. We can access the power of the cross and declare that Satan and his plans are defeated in our lives.