Some Super Bowl Facts

Super-Sized Super Bowl

It commands the biggest audience, the highest price for television ads, and the seven hours prior to it just for game analysis. Super Bowl time is almost upon us. And when you hear that it's the biggest TV event of the year, that's not a lie. To give you an idea of how huge it has become, here are some fun facts from last year's big game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. A Worldwide Audience The total audience for the game was 106 million people, making it the most watched television event ever. It was broadcast in 232 countries and territories and translated into 34 languages. Got The Munchies? The food numbers for the game were absurd. It would take 222,792 football fields worth of farmland to grow all the corn (eight million pounds of popcorn), potatoes (28 million pounds of potato chips) and avocados (53.5 million pounds) that were eaten during the game. There were also a billion chicken wings eaten and more than 325 million gallons of beer consumed. Also, if you laid all the potato chips eaten during the game end to end, they would circle the earth 11.72 times. Feel The Power About 187,800 Kilowatt/hours of energy were spent at the Super Bowl stadium. Televisions tuned into the game consumed about 10,004,600 Kilowatt/hours of power. For some perspective, that's more than the amount of solar power Kilowatt/hours generated by the United States. Show Me The Money Did you think we wouldn't talk about this? The city hosting the big game typically has about $400 million added to its local economy. But that is dwarfed by the $5.6 billion that consumers spend for Super-Bowl-related items. The cost of a 30-second commercial is well-documented ($2.8 million last year), and there are plenty of new HDTVs on which to watch said commercials (2.9 million units were sold in 2009). Oh, by the way ... it costs $12,500 for Tiffany & Co. to produce the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Hope the winners don't drop it when they hoist it. Source: Tree Hugger

Knowing the Future?

Do we really want to know the future? We say we do, but what we mean is that we want to know the winning lottery number, or who we will marry. We want to know when we will get a better paying job. Truth is we don't want to know the future, just the good part of the future.

We are really not that different from the baker found in Genesis 40:16. He had just heard Joseph give the interpretation for the butler's dream, and he told Joseph his dream. The baker was expecting good news, but instead he got the truth.

As Christians we should not desire to know the future, but rather know the one who holds the future. It is better to have someone walk with us through the next tough time, rather than fearing the inevitable. The Lord wants us to trust Him, no matter what happens. God will be with us, and never leave us alone.

Today I challenge you to give Jesus all of your tomorrows. He has big enough shoulders, and He knows the future.

Randy Johnson GEICO Commercial - Snowball

How Big is the Universe?

When you stop and think about the Sun, the Moon and the stars, do you ever wonder we are not seeing? Here is a quote from Lloyd John Ogilvie on the subject.

“The immensity of the heavens held the psalmist in a spell of wonderment. With his naked eye on a clear night, he could see about five thousand stars. Today with a four inch telescope we can see more than two million, and with the Mount Palomar two hundred inch mirror, we are able to see more than a billion. The latest means of observation reveal even greater numbers. The expanse is beyond our comprehension. If we set out and traveled at space rocket speed of 19,000 miles per hour, it would take 144,000 years to reach the nearest star. We measure the universe in light years rather than miles. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, so that in a year of seconds, light travels six trillion miles. This distance is called a light year. Calculation shows that it is equal to 60,000 times the distance of the sun from the earth. The universe is so vast that to cross it at the speed of light, you would travel forty billion light years.” (Ogilvie, L.J. 1984 Falling into greatness, p. 32 Thomas Nelson, Nashville)

Vapor and an Illusion

I read an interesting scripture found in Psalms the other day. It is found in Psalms 62:9, it says "men are only a vapor; exalted men, an illusion..." What does that mean?

I am reminded of James where he stated in chapter 4 verse 14 that our lives are a like a vapor that evaporates so quickly. Here is my take on this scripture.

Men and their power on this earth is short lived.
Men in positions of great power are nothing when compared to the King of Kings.
I have the tendency to fret when I think about who is deciding what on my behalf, then I remember it doesn't matter who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it matters who sits on the circle of the earth. His name is Jesus.

Falsely Accused!

Have you ever been accused of something that you did not do? Then you know the feeling when you are doing the right thing and all of sudden you find yourself in the midst of a difficult situation. Maybe you are reeling from wondering how you got there. Take heart God is in the midst of this mess.

Joseph was a young man who was holy and loved God with all of his heart. However Potiphar's wife was rebuffed by Joseph as she attempted to seduce him. Joseph resisted her enticements, and left his garment with her as he was fleeing. Some commentators believe that she seized his garment in order to accuse him of wrongdoing. Potiphar's wife may have seized his garment but she could not seize his destiny. If you are interested in reading the full account you can read Genesis chapter 39. Because Joseph was falsely accused he was taken to prison, but God is not limited by prisons or perplexing situations. If you have been falsely accused, understand that God will vindicate you in due time (I Peter 5:6).

The Guard of Righteousness

What protects the righteous? According to Proverbs 13:6 it is "righteousness that guards people of integrity." The people that live a whole can expect a complete life. On the other hand those that don't follow Jesus are undermined by wickedness. The sin that people enjoy now is more than they can handle. There is an old saying that goes like this:

Sin will take you further than you want to go.
It will keep you longer than you want to stay,
and it will cost you more than you want to pay.

Today, allow Jesus to be your guard. Remember you can't handle sin without being burned.