More than 24 years ago, Pam and her husband, Bob, were serving as missionaries to the Philippines. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, went into a coma, and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant.
Doctors begged her to abort the baby for her own health. Her medicines nearly always caused irreversible damage to babies in the womb. She refused, trusting Jesus for the outcome. To the doctors this baby was just a mass of fetal tissue.
Pam nearly miscarried four times. She and Bob made a promise to God: If you will give us a son, we’ll name him Timothy and we’ll make him a preacher.
Eventually Pam gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. He indeed is a preacher…in prisons, hospitals, on many foreign mission fields, and on the football field. He “preaches” on TV every Sunday in the fall in interviews, in “Tebowing, bowing on one knee and praying after amazing plays, and in quarterbacking the Denver Broncos.
While at the University of Florida he became the first sophomore in history to win college football’s highest award, the Heisman Trophy. He also led Florida to two national championships.
Right after he led his Broncos to their monumental upset against the Pittsburgh Steelers, January 8, he testified before TV millions, that while he enjoyed football, the best part of that week was hanging out with a little girl who had endured more than 25 surgeries. “That’s what life is all about,” said Tebow with a smile.
That’s what being a bonafide sports hero, being a Christian, and being a man is all about.
The NFL has banned any letters on a player’s face in direct response to Tim’s standard writing in his eyeblack--the Bible verse John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, so that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” However they couldn’t stop these stats from screaming that Scripture on January 8th:
*Tebow threw for 316 yards.
*Roethlisberger threw his critical interception on 3rd & 16
*The Steelers time of possession was 31 minutes and 6 seconds
*Tebow’s average yards per pass was 31.6, a playoff record
*TV ratings for the final quarter were 31.6, the most for a wildcard playoff since 1988
*Demaryius Thomas, who caught the game-winning TD, was born on Christmas Day.
When one crusty commentator (ProFootballTalk.com) heard these miraculous stats he said he was going to church this Sunday. And more will join him because of this young man who knows what life is all about.
