Pastors

A Jamaican bobsled team! Now there's an oxymoron. Yet, not long ago audiences were thrilled with a movie on that subject.

I first saw Cool Runnings when I was in the middle of a sermon series titled "Character Counts." An upcoming message focused on integrity. Since all communicators are elated when they find a masterful illustration, I was ecstatic.

In the movie, young Dareese is consumed with becoming an Olympic runner for Jamaica just as his father had been. But he gets tripped at the qualifying trials and there is no hope of making the team. Then Dareese spies a picture of his former-Olympian father and an unknown man. He learns that the man is Erwin Brister, an American medal winner in bobsledding. Brister was disqualified for adding weight to the nose of his bobsled and his two gold medals were revoked.

Dareese sets out to establish Jamaica's first-ever bobsled team. He finds Brister, now an alcoholic, and challenges him to train the team. It's a humorous trail of events, but they finally ...

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