Kobe Bryant has been dead for almost exactly a month. With his death came some of the greatest gatherings of celebrities the world has ever seen, the largest of which took place three days ago at the Staples Center, where fans, celebrities, basketball players, rappers, and even a former president gathered to honor the legend named Kobe Bryant.
Continue reading “A Recap of Kobe Bryant’s Memorial”
The discussion of Kobe Bryant’s death has now reached epic proportions. Every single news channel, website, blog, or business is now discussing it or giving opinions. In discussions ranging from his daughter to the FBI’s investigations, Kobe is at the center of every dinner conversation. Ironically, even as the third-greatest basketball player of all time, it took him dying to reach this level of fame.
Interestingly, a large debate topic has been the idea of Kobe’s fate. I recently witnessed a large debate revolving around the idea of Kobe’s beliefs. Some said that, due to his sexual abuse allegations, he was not a Christian. Others disagreed, citing Kobe as a Christian.
At first, I entered the debate as a mediator, trying to ensure that no one side became too forceful. I reminded both sides that, although this was an interesting discussion, the fact that Kobe sinned hardly disqualifies him from Christianity. We are all sinners and all deserve Hell. However, I also reminded the other side that, in the same way, just although Kobe claimed Christianity, we’ll never truly know whether a person was saved or not, regardless of denomination. The only thing we can do is trust in God and hope that those who die suddenly were already believers.
Then, I realized something. Oftentimes, people will say that someone isn’t a Christian simply because of their profession or mannerisms, and yet they refuse to actually research the subject and find out what this person has to say. As it turns out, that is exactly what happened two days ago. The friends of mine taking the side of Kobe’s ignorance said this because of his actions, not his words. And although the saying, “actions speak louder than words” is true, we should never discount someone simply because of a first impression.
And so, having realized that there may be more to this situation then one may believe, I set out to answer my own question: was Kobe Bryant a Christian? The answer is far more surprising than I could have dreamed.
Continue reading “The Truth About Kobe Bryant”
Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest men to ever touch a basketball, died yesterday when his helicopter crashed at around 9:40 A.M (Pacific Standard Time). With him in the helicopter were nine people, including his daughter, Gianna, and Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli.
Only hours before his death, Lebron James, small forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, had passed Kobe for third place in the all-time NBA scoring record. Kobe had tweeted out a congratulatory message to his “brother”, welcoming him to the new spot. This would be the last tweet he would make.
Continue reading “Kobe Bryant: The Life and Legacy of the Black Mamba”
Elisha McFarland 