Joe Paterno is all over the news, and I had a quick thought I wanted to share. Forgive me that it’s not well developed as it’s not particularly important, but I find it interesting that some very symbolic characters have been going down over these last couple years. I threw a blurb on facebook when Tiger Woods life went down in a ball of flames because it struck me that he was the biggest sports pop star in the US. Joe Paterno’s firing strikes me similarly.
Joe Paterno had a sterling reputation in addition to being the all time winningest football coach. I’m not a Penn State fan, but I always generally liked PSU and Paterno because it seemed like they did things the “right way”. There’s a story I half heard on the radio a couple days ago that goes something like this…
Penn State had a team that did extremely well on the field (I missed the details, but they probably won a conference, or perhaps a national championship?) and a player on the team said to JoePa, “We’ve got a good team don’t we?”
Paterno responded, “We’ll find out in 25 years when we see how each of these young men develops and what their families are like!”
The story went that to JoePa, coaching football was about a lot more than winning or losing football games. He cares about what really matters! He and his program had a sterling image.
Turns out, the image was just that. It was a hollow image. I have no doubt that in some ways JoePa was a great man and mentor to many. I don’t want to get into the sordid details and I really hope that some of the rumors beginning to come out aren’t true, but the fact of the matter is that there are multiple little boys whose lives will never be the same. Joe Paterno could have stopped this years ago and didn’t.
The image that everyone believed was true, was false and went down in a ball of fire, never to be the same again.
This is another type, or foreshadow, of what is about to come.
Today, the United States is thought to be the greatest, most powerful country on the planet. It was founded by people who were passionate zealots for following Christ. Yet, it has become a hollowed out shell of its former self. It doesn’t really stand for what it used to stand for. I believe it too will be exposed and go down in a ball of fire.
The same can be said for the Church System in America (and throughout the West). It no longer stands for a sacrificial life of seeking Christ. There are many denominations and each goes in a different direction, but it is rare indeed to find a believer who willingly lays his life down to take whatever Christ has for him. The system is correct. It will go down in a ball of flames.
This is not the first time. It happened two thousand years ago as well (amongst other times). And for a very glorious purpose! The Lord’s plans are coming to fruition in a most powerful way. Seek Him that you don’t miss what He is doing!
If you missed our recent series on gold and silver, you can read those posts here…1) Gold & Silver on Sale, 2) Reasons to Buy Gold & Silver, 3) Gold & Silver: About to Take Off?, 4) Why & How to Buy Silver & Gold?, 5) Gold Bubble?, 6) Gold Speculators or Savers?, 7) Gold Article Rebuttal, & 8) Gold Rebuttal Pt 2.