Chad Bonham

I’ve been writing about Christian athletes for over a decade now, but it wasn’t until this past couple of years when I started to understand the precarious nature of my work. You see, I found out something interesting about these sports stars that perhaps I didn’t fully comprehend —they’re human. It’s a simple truth, I …

Destiny’s Manchild Read More »

My wife Amy is a Boston Red Sox fan. Strangely, she’s never been to Boston. In her defense, when you grow up in Oklahoma where there are no Major League teams, I suppose you’ve got to root for somebody. So needless to say, she thought it was pretty cool when I had the chance to …

Mr. Clean Read More »

My original plan for this week’s blog was to write about “American Idol.” Wednesday night’s shocking victory by Conway, Arkansas native and former worship leader Kris Allen is quite the story. He is yet another Christian who has done quite well on the eight-year old program that has become an international pop culture icon. But …

One Last Rebound Read More »

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to interview “American Idol” season five finalist Mandisa Hundley (more commonly referred to as just “Mandisa”). I asked her about the ironic nature of someone such as herself, a staunchly devout Evangelical Christian, on a show that celebrates the concept of world-driven stardom.   The irony …

Christian Idols? Read More »

Before there was The Da Vinci Code, there was Angels & Demons. This might come as a surprise to some who thought Dan Brown's best-selling novel turned 2006's blockbuster movie was the first to center around Robert Langdon, a fictional Harvard professor of religious symbology.

In fact, Angels & Demons was written in 2000 and preceded The Da Vinci Code by three years. But Ron Howard-who returns to direct the latest intellectual thriller-decided to tackle the two projects in reverse order, presumably because of The Da Vinci Code's more scintillating story line. He also retained Tom Hanks' services as Langdon for this prequel turned sequel that hit theatres this past weekend.

As I sit in the Tulsa International Airport waiting for my flight to Houston, I just realized how oxymoronic my life is when it comes to travel. I love going places, especially cities and states that I’ve never visited. That number is quickly decreasing yet I still find myself longing to go. I love the …

Flight Risk Read More »

Marie Green was an amazing woman. As the wife of a church-planting pastor and the mother of six ministry-minded children, her legacy continues to have a far-reaching impact. In case you haven’t heard about Marie Green (and I’m assuming that’s probably the case), let me tell you a little bit about her. Marie was a …

Marie Green Day Read More »

There are sports. And then there's NASCAR.

I really didn't understand that concept until I went to my first NASCAR event back in 2005. I watched stock car racing from time to time and got more interested when I found out my wife (heavily influenced by her dad) was a big fan.

But it took hanging out in the garage area throughout the practice rounds and during qualifying for me to really get it. Hearing 43 finely-tuned speed machines roaring in perfect harmony was a kind of music I'd never heard before.

If you ever run into Lance Berkman, do me a favor. Don’t tell him I named my first son after him. As someone I’ve interviewed three times before and will likely interview again in the near future, it’s probably best he doesn’t think I’m less like a journalist and more like a crazed, stalker-fan. The …

What’s In A Name? Read More »

The concept of justice has always intrigued me. Even more interesting is the way that justice is dispensed throughout the world.

England and Wales practice English law. This system is based on common law that, as defined by Wikipedia, "is determined by judges sitting in courts applying common sense and knowledge of legal precedent to the facts before them."

In Mexico, criminal defendants are considered guilty until proven innocent. Fortunately for the accused, there is no death penalty in Mexico, or most Latin American countries for that matter.

I sent a man to prison last month. And it wasn't the first time.

Before I get accused of melodramatic hyperbole here, let me explain.

A couple weeks ago, I was scheduled for jury duty in Tulsa County. This marked the second appearance serving our judicial system in almost exactly 10 years. My previous experience was very traumatic. At the time I was the youngest person on a jury that sentenced a man to prison for about 25 years on two counts of sexual molestation. Without getting into the gory details, the two victims were his children.

We spent several hours in the deliberation room before all 12 of us could produce a guilty charge. I was the next to last person to change my vote. When I got home that night, I broke down the moment my mom opened the door. The trial shook me in ways I'd never felt before.

In the superficial worlds of Manhattan and Hollywood, image is everything and fashion sense (or the lack thereof) dictates success and failure. So ironically, it's the Hollywood-produced television show "Ugly Betty"-set within the confines of Manhattan's cutthroat publishing world-that has strangely (and somewhat effectively) tackled the concept of true beauty.

In ABC's hit show (based on the Columbian telenovela "Yo Soy Betty La Fea"), we meet Betty Suarez, a recent college graduate from Queens College (and resident of Queens, NY) who is passionate about the publishing industry. However, several magazines (including those owned by Meade Publications) turn her down-implicitly due to her less than fashionable appearance. Betty (America Ferrera) has an outdated, frumpy style (if you want to call it that) complete with frizzy hair and overstated bangs, bushy eyebrows, outdated glasses and hard-to-miss braces.

Every once in a great while, an athletic performance transcends sports and instantly becomes folklore.

Tiger Woods' fought through a knee injury to capture the 2008 U.S. Open. Last November, New England quarterback Matt Cassel-the previously unheralded backup to Tom Brady-passed for over 400 yards in two consecutive games.

A couple months earlier on September 1st, Stephen Drew of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Adrian Beltre of the Seattle Mariners became the first Major League Baseball players since 1920 to hit for the cycle on the same day. That means they hit a single, a double, a triple and a home run in one game.

Modern terrorism has plagued our world for decades, but it wasn’t until Sept. 11, 2001 when domestic terrorism in North America was solidified as a legitimate threat. Ironically, it was just two months later when a groundbreaking television program known as 24 was first introduced. Over the past seven years, the FOX network has fashioned …

24: One Day At A Time Read More »