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Olympics 2021: Japan to ban foreign spectators

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Japan’s government is planning to stop overseas spectators coming to the Summer Olympics due to worries they will spread the coronavirus, a report said on Wednesday, as many Japanese remain opposed to holding the Games during the pandemic.

The final decision would be made this month after talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other parties, the Mainichi newspaper reported, citing multiple unnamed sources.

The government would continue to consider whether to accept spectators from within Japan, including the number allowed into venues, the Mainichi added.

The report came as the local organising committee was set to host a meeting on Wednesday with officials from the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee, and the Tokyo and national governments.

The question of whether to allow spectators into venues was top of the agenda and organisers have previously said they would make a decision by March.

A Yomiuri newspaper poll showed on Wednesday that, if the Games are to go ahead as scheduled, 91 per cent of people in Japan want spectators kept to a minimum or not allowed at all.

The poll – conducted between January 18 and February 2 – showed 70 per cent of respondents said they were “interested in the Olympics”, but 58 per cent said they did not want them to be held this year because of fears over COVID-19.

The 58 per cent in opposition was, however, about 20 percentage points lower than earlier opinion polls.

Delayed games

The Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed last year because of the pandemic and rescheduled to take place this year from July 23.

A survey by global consultancy Kekst CNC published on Wednesday showed similar rates of majority opposition to the Games going ahead in Japan, at 56 per cent, as well as in Britain and Germany, at 55 per cent and 52 per cent respectively.

In France and Sweden, more people opposed than approved, while in the United States, respondents were split at one-third between those who agreed and disagreed that the Games should go ahead, according to the survey.

While coronavirus infection numbers are low in Japan compared with the United States and many European countries, the greater Tokyo metropolitan area remains in a state of emergency, with restrictions in place for spectator numbers for big sporting and cultural events, as well as closing times for bars and restaurants. The country remains closed to non-resident foreigners.

A Reuters poll published last month showed nearly two-thirds of Japanese companies also oppose holding the Games as planned, swinging from the previous survey showing most in favour.

Japan has so far confirmed 431,250 coronavirus cases and 7,931 deaths as of Monday.

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Football Team Under Fire for Reciting ‘Lord’s Prayer’

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The Freedom From Religion Foundation is once again rattling the gates of a Tennessee public school—this time demanding that football coaches stop praying with their players.

The Wisconsin-based atheist organization sent a Sept. 2 complaint to attorneys for Robertson County Schools accusing coaches at White House Heritage High School and Middle School of unconstitutional religious activity.

According to the letter, an unidentified parent told FFRF that coaches pray with players after practices and before and after games, including reciting the Lord’s Prayer. The organization also alleges that one of the high school coaches brings Christian speakers to team events and that coaches encourage players to attend Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings.

FFRF says the parent reported that “some students fear being penalized for not reciting the Lord’s Prayer.” The allegation has not been independently verified:

“Here, the football coaches seem to have crossed the constitutional line by leading students in the Lord’s Prayer while acting in their official capacities as school employees, bringing in outside adults to proselytize players, and promoting attendance at a Christian club. Student-athletes are especially susceptible to coercion, and the relationship between student-athletes and their coaches is inherently coercive. Students know that their coaches control their positions on the team, including who plays in each game.”

The atheist group demanded that Robertson County Schools “immediately stop proselytizing and leading football players in prayer.”

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor went even further, declaring there should be no “‘pray to play’ practices” in public-school athletics.

“Public school coaches have enormous authority over their players, and they cannot use that authority to pressure students to pray or attend religious athletic clubs,” Gaylor said. “There should be no ‘pray to play’ practices or other overstepping of the professional boundary between coaches and vulnerable public school students. Robertson County Schools must ensure that participation in athletics does not come with a religious test.”

For the record, the complaint is just that—a complaint, not a court ruling.

FFRF acknowledges the Supreme Court’s 2022 Kennedy v. Bremerton decision protected a public-school football coach’s private postgame prayer, but argues the Robertson County allegations are different because coaches allegedly lead students in prayer while acting as school employees.

The out-of-town atheists would rather players listen to profanity-laced rap music than “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Sources: Breaking Christian News

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‘He Was My Childhood Hero’: Bo Nix and Tim Tebow Talk About Jesus and How Their Journeys Are Linked

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Two iconic Denver Broncos quarterbacks are connecting over their faith in Christ, their love of football, and becoming fathers for the first time.

The Broncos organization brought Bo Nix and Tim Tebow together to talk about faith, football, and fatherhood before Nix and Tebow swap their football jerseys on Sep. 20th in a match-up with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Denver – the second game of the NFL season.

Swapping Nix’s No. 10 for Tebow’s No. 15 is special because the jerseys bear the Broncos’ trademark logo, as well as handwritten personal messages to each other on the orange and blue back sides.

Growing up, Nix played football as a kid and at high school in Alabama, where he first met University of Florida Quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) gathering.

“He was my childhood hero watching him play for the Gators,” said Nix.

He, like Tebow, later played quarterback for another Southeastern Conference (SEC) rival team, Auburn University.

Tebow remembers meeting Nix in Birmingham and later, during a televised college game, picking Auburn as the winner over Oregon, telling a national audience, “The name you’re going to remember is Bo Nix.”

Nix transferred from Auburn to Oregon for his senior year and afterwards secured a QB spot with the same National Football League team his childhood hero Tebow played for 13 years earlier.

Picked by the Denver franchise in 2023 and 2010, respectively, Nix and Tebow are most memorable as the only drafted quarterbacks in club history to win playoff games.

Besides playing in the SEC and for the Broncos, both quarterbacks point to their love of Jesus Christ as greater than their shared passion for football.

As new fathers for the first time at ages 26 and 39, respectively, Nix and Tebow now share love for their growing families that they view as incredible gifts from God.

Nix is grateful to Tebow for being somebody he could look up to as a kid and into his teenage years.

“I really understood why you did things; you were doing it for one purpose and person. You were literally trying to share Jesus,” said Nix.

He determined to emulate Tebow in football and faith early in life. “I don’t want football to be about me but about sharing the gospel,” Nix told Tebow during their Jersey Swap video.

Tebow, who will personally give his jersey to Nix in Denver, wrote an inspiring message, then signed it, GB2, like he did when he was on the Broncos’ team roster.

“Your faith, determination, and resilience are second to none. So proud of you. Your brother in Christ,” Tebow wrote. “GB squared means God bless and Go Broncos,” he added.

As quarterbacks who like to talk about winning, Nix remembers Tebow leading the Broncos to an overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2011 AFC Wild Card playoff game.

It’s remembered as the 3:16 win because five game statistics contained those numbers in that order.

The numbers also represent the Bible verse John 3:16, Tebow’s signature eye-black message dating back to his days as a Florida Gators quarterback.

As CBN News reported, over 90 million viewers reportedly searched the internet for the meaning of Tebow’s 3:16 message.

Tebow also pointed to Nix leading the Broncos to a 33-30 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills in an AFC Divisional Round earlier this year, when Nix broke his ankle, ending the season with surgery.

Beginning with Tebow and his wife Demi-Leigh in July 2025, both QBs are now fathers, experiencing for the first time in their lives emotions both gratifying and terrifying. Fatherhood has moved each closer to the heart of God, they agree.

“I think the thing that hit me the most, especially when we were putting Daphne in the car seat to take her home from the hospital, is the level of responsibility,” said Tebow.

He remembers asking his wife at home, “Where’s the game plan for this?”

“We’ve just been trying to figure it out and learn from people that have gone before us,” Tebow said.

Nix and wife Izzy welcomed their baby girl, Riley Belle, on February 25th after the 2025-26 NFL season.

“It’s been the biggest, life-changing moment for me,” said Nix.

He also respects motherhood even more, now that his wife is a mother, and he’s experiencing what it means to be a Godly father.

“When I leave for work, it’s fine. Izzy’s good. But if she leaves for a couple hours, I’m like, ‘Can you please just come back home?'” Nix said.

This summer, the Tim Tebow Foundation’s expert testimony regarding online childhood exploitation before the United States Congress led to legislation to curb it. And at the United Nations, Tebow and Ambassador Mike Walz recently presented ways in which U.S. efforts to end exploitation will aid nations globally.
Sources:CBN News

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Southern Miss Football Coach Makes Bold Faith Declaration Ahead of Big Win

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Football season is just now getting underway, but Southern Miss head coach Blake Anderson drew a lot of attention before his players ever hit the gridiron Saturday.

Ahead of kickoff, Anderson wore a black long-sleeve shirt with the words “Christ Is King” emblazoned in yellow letters across the chest as he and the University of Southern Mississippi team performed took part in the “Eagle Walk” to the stadium.

The team went on to win an impressive 49-3 victory against Alcorn State University.

“I’ve had a bunch of people comment, and I’m pleased that it was noticed,” Anderson said during his weekly press conference. “I mean, the whole point of wearing it was for Christ to be glorified and it to be noticed.”

“I’m super grateful for my bosses that allowed me to be religious [and] use my platform to share my faith,” he continued. “[That is] not probably an easy decision for an AD and a president. But, you know, those are my views. That’s just me trying to use my platform.”

Anderson went on to say he is “saved by grace” and credited God with his success as a coach.

While bold public stances like his often garner criticism, the head football coach said he is thankful the responses online have been overwhelmingly positive.

“You never know what kind of response you’re going to get,” he admitted. “It’s been 99% positive and a few negative, which is what I expected. I wasn’t completely aware of just where it would go.”

He added, “In my opinion, if it makes one person think, then it was worth it.”

Anderson has been vocal about his faith for several years, even through incredible tragedies.

His wife, Wendy, died of breast cancer in 2019, followed soon after by the passing of his father. Anderson’s son, Cason, took his life in 2022, and the coach’s brother, Bryan, died in 2024, following a lengthy battle with aggressive colon cancer.

One of Anderson’s close friends, Larry Fedora, said he “wouldn’t have been able to survive if he didn’t have such a strong faith.”

In 2020, when he was the head coach of Utah State, Anderson told local reporters, “I’m a Christian before I’m anything else. I love the Lord and I feel like God put me in coaching.”

And in an interview five years later with Football Scoop, he said, “My faith comes from Christ, not from me. I’m not tough enough, I’m not big enough to do this on my own.”
Sources:faithwire

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