I am not a Parrot Head. I never got into that. It’s never appealed to me. But I’m telling you right now, I could listen to “Come Monday” twelve times in a row, back to back to back, straight through, and love every second of it. That is one terrific song.
Author: Allan (Page 68 of 492)
The last of the original Dallas Cowboys triplets has passed from this life and, along with him, the last remaining tie the franchise has to any of its long-ago greatness. Gil Brandt, the longtime Director of Player Personnel, died yesterday at 91.
Brandt came to Dallas in 1960 with Tex Schramm and Tom Landry and together they built a football dynasty and forever changed the NFL. Brandt is the pioneer of computerized scouting systems and the first to use psychological tests to evaluate players. It was his idea to bring college players together in a scouting combine. During his 29 years with the Cowboys, Brandt evaluated and the Cowboys drafted 41 Pro Bowlers, 9 Hall of Famers, and 15 members of the Cowboys hallowed Ring of Honor.
Sure, you and I would have drafted guys like Staubach, Dorsett, Lilly, and Aikman. No brainers. But Brandt evaluated and discovered the hidden gems who would become the cornerstone of championship teams, guys like Mel Renfro, Randy White, Cornell Green, Rayfield Wright, Drew Pearson, Cliff Harris, Bob Hayes, Michael Irvin and a long list of others. Brandt was an invaluable part of the brain trust that oversaw 20 straight winning seasons, five Super Bowl appearances, and two championships.
For a well done five-minute tribute video from the NFL, click here.
I met Gil Brandt between Christmas and New Year’s 1988, at a UCLA football practice at Texas Stadium. Troy Aikman’s Bruins were playing Arkansas in that year’s Cotton Bowl, UCLA was practicing that week at Texas Stadium, and a couple of the practices were open to the public. Well, everybody knew the Cowboys were going to draft Aikman with the number one pick, so my brother Keith and I took the opportunity to see the future up close. After practice, Brandt was hanging out on the field, just talking to random people, and I approached him for an autograph. I wasn’t prepared. He had to use his own pen to scribble his name on the back of a flyer/advertisement I picked up off the ground. But he was great. Very personable. Happy to talk to a fan.
I have no idea when or where I lost that piece of paper.
Less than two months after that chance encounter, Jerry Wayne bought the Cowboys and fired Brandt. A couple of months later, Jimmy and Jerry drafted Aikman to join Brandt’s last number one pick, Michael Irvin.
I talked to Gil Brandt several times during the course of my mediocre radio career. He would always appear at a few Cowboys training camps and in-season practices every year, and he was a constant during Cotton Bowl and Fort Worth Bowl weeks and Big 12 media days. He could give you a quote about any player you asked about and he was always available. The last time I talked to Brandt was when Tex Schramm died in 2003. I interviewed him via telephone for KRLD. He had given me both Danny White’s and Randy White’s home phone numbers the week before so I could call them with the news when it happened. Gil Brandt was a hustler, an innovator, a people person, and he went out of his way to help others. I always appreciated that about him.
They’re all gone now. The original architects of the Dallas Cowboys. Brandt was the last one.
Somehow it’s fitting that on the day Brandt died, Forbes released their list of the most valuable NFL franchises, and Jerry’s Cowboys are number one again, valued at over $9-billion. Brandt’s Cowboys never went more than six years without an NFC Championship Game appearance. Ever. Jerry’s Cowboys are working on 28 straight seasons without a single divisional playoff win. And counting. Rest in peace, Gil. You don’t have to watch this train wreck anymore.
Peace,
Allan
According to American Bible Society surveys, the number of Americans who read their Bibles is dropping dramatically. From 2011 to 2021, roughly 50-percent of Americans reported opening Scripture at least three times a year every year during that period. But, last year that number dropped to 39-percent. In other words, in the middle of domestic threats to this country’s democracy, threats of nuclear war in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, record inflation, and unprecedented gun violence, about 26-million Americans stopped reading the Bible.
Of the 39-percent who reported reading the Bible at least three times last year, only 27-percent read the Bible in print — a real Bible with two covers and paper pages that turn and crinkle. Nineteen-percent reported reading the Bible on an app on their phones, 18-percent online, and the other 11-percent listen to the Word on a podcast.
I find that data to be disturbing.
I’m also troubled to see new Ipsos research that shows Christians don’t know the teachings of our Lord. In response to the question, “Did Jesus teach people to turn the other cheek?” less than half of those who claim to follow Jesus said, “Yes.”
Evangelicals – 49%
Catholics – 29%
Mainline Protestants – 40%
Other Protestants – 51%
Those of us in the Churches of Christ would fit into that “other protestants” category so, yay, we win with just barely half of us knowing one of our Lord’s most fundamental teachings.
Please read the Bible. Please schedule the time every single day to read God’s Word. Please read it out loud in your home with your children and grandchildren. Be transformed by the holy words of Scripture. Let the ancient words sink into your soul and become a part of you. We are rapidly becoming biblically and doctrinally illiterate. We’re not sure what we believe and we certainly don’t know how to articulate it. Our God has saved us in Christ Jesus and called us to obey all that he commanded and to teach others all that he commanded. How are we going to live into that when we don’t read the Bible?
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The waterfall at Eagle Creek has evidently dried up for the season. My two mile hike to the site and back wasn’t without its pleasures — a mama deer and her two little spotted fawns, dozens of tiny and very colorful song birds whipping through the trees and brush, squirrels and some kind of chipmunk-ish things scurrying around. But I wanted to see the waterfall. Another time, maybe.
Today, I’m reading the Gospel of John out loud and trying to finish a manuscript I’ve been working on for almost four years. I had intended to also read Timothy Keller’s “Forgive” while I was in Ruidoso this week, but I’m not sure I’m going to get to it.
Peace,
Allan
I spent a couple of hours yesterday at this beautiful lake in Alto, less than two-and-a-half miles from Billy’s cabin. No books, no Bible, no phone, no agenda — just me on a park bench with three deer, lots of ducks, and our Lord Jesus. I took the mile long hike on the trail that runs the perimeter of the lake and got some sun and enjoyed the heights of relaxing and reconnecting with God.
Today’s docket includes immersing myself in the Gospel of Luke, searching for a waterfall I’ve heard about, and probably worshiping with the Gateway Church here in Ruidoso.
I am also happy to report that this bat that showed up at the cabin while I was at the lake was gone early this morning. I’m not opposed to bats. I understand well the role of bats when it comes to eliminating pesky bugs and benefiting the overall environment. I would never knowingly harm a bat. It was interesting when I topped the stairs to see the bat. It was momentarily exciting in a you-don’t-see-that-everyday kind of way. But I’m also admittedly relieved the bat decided to take off.
Peace,
Allan
I had company for breakfast this morning just off the back deck at the Futrells’ cabin. I’m sure they were looking for corn, and not any of my jalapeno sausage omelette.
It rained and stormed all evening and well into the night here in Ruidoso. It’s clear and 57-degrees as I’m writing this at 8:15am. Absolutely beautiful.
I’ve got the Gospel of Mark ahead of me right now. But I’m also dealing with a home warranty company on both a broken water heater and air conditioner back home in Midland. Not exactly the type of sabbatical I was planning. The water heater busted through and began leaking water early yesterday morning and the A/C stopped working yesterday evening. Would the devil attack my home appliances and systems just to wreck my week of reconnecting with the Lord?
There’s not much in life more aggravating than dealing with a home warranty company. I don’t remember praying for patience as I entered this week.
Peace,
Allan
I am posting today from the redwood deck of a beautiful two-story cabin in the mountains of Ruidoso, courtesy of Billy and Kathy Futrell. I arrived here at about 6:00 last night, delayed only briefly by a half-dozen massive mule deer who were grazing and crossing the road very slowly about three miles away. That breathtaking sight reminded me that I am on sabbatical. So what if during my nearly five hour drive the Rangers blew a 5-0 lead over the Twins and lost on a 13th inning bases loaded walk on four pitches? So what if Texas has lost nine of their past ten games and has surrendered first place in the division for the first time since April 8? I am on sabbatical. No TV, no Rangers, no staff meetings or elders meetings, no sermon preparation or small groups planning. These five-and-a-half days are for rest, relaxation, and reconnecting with my Lord.
As I pulled in last night, one of Billy’s neighbors welcomed me and and told me that “the bears have been really active this weekend.” Yikes. I was also reminded — again! — that I pronounce Ruidoso like a Texan and not like someone from Ruidoso. I have wrestled with this since we moved to Midland two years ago. Do I continue to maintain my Texan pronunciation, Ree-uh-doe-sa, or do I say it like the natives here and the West Texans who regularly travel and relax here, Roo-uh-doe-so? I can argue both ways. Maybe the Lord will reveal it to me.
I am surrounded by giant pines, rolling ranges, and very aggressive hummingbirds. The morning and afternoon temperatures are 20 degrees cooler than they are in Midland. I have my lectionary and my Bible, Diet Dr Peppers and iced-tea, my brats and Skip’s salsa. My plan is to immerse myself in the Gospels, to spend much time in prayer, to listen to the Lord more than I talk, and to rest.
This is a prayer I will be using as a focal point during this week in the mountains with our God. It comes from The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith:
Lord Jesus, I believe that you are able and willing to deliver me from all the care and unrest and bondage of my Christian life. I believe that you did die to set me free, not only in the future, but now and here. I believe you are stronger than sin, and that you can keep me, even me, in my extreme of weakness, from falling into its snares or yielding obedience to its commands. And, Lord, I am going to trust you to keep me. I have tried keeping myself, and have failed, and failed most grievously. I am absolutely helpless. So now I will trust you.
I give myself to you. I keep back no reserves. Body, soul, and spirit, I present myself to you as a piece of clay, to be fashioned into anything your love and your wisdom shall choose. And now I am yours. I believe you do accept that which I present to you; I believe that this poor, weak, foolish heart has been taken possession of by you, and that you have even at this very moment begun to work in me to will and to do of your good pleasure. I trust you utterly and I trust you now.
Amen.
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