The Pour Over Today - Explaining the Enhanced Games

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's episode is brought to you by our lead sponsor, Crew. Hey, this is Catherine Ann. Happy Saturday. The inaugural Enhanced Games took place Sunday, so you may be hearing a lot about doping in sports and performance enhancing drugs. You may even be wondering, is something like this even allowed? Wait, what does this even mean? We had the same questions. Let's break it down together. But first, here's your quote of the day. The most important thing in your life is not what you do, it's who you become.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Dallas Willard. Let's start with, what are the enhanced games? Well, they're the Olympics on steroids. Literally. Founded in 2023 to quote, push the boundaries of human performance, the games are an international event for elite athletes to compete across three sports while using performance enhancing drugs.

Starting point is 00:01:02 The goal is, breaking world records. Winners get cash prizes and anyone who beats a record gets a $1 million bonus. The games three years in the making also function as a big infomercial. The same drugs and supplements the athletes use are available for purchased from enhanced games. Maybe you're thinking, wait, they can do that? Technically, yes, it is a gray area. The drugs are FDA approved, legal and prescribed by a physician, but performance-enhancing drugs are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, also known as the WADA, which isn't a law enforcement agency. It just sets the standards for organizations like the Olympics.

Starting point is 00:01:48 Enhanced has chosen to play by a different rulebook. Let's back up to the basics. What even are performance-enhancing drugs? While performance-enhancing drugs, also written as PEDs, are substances that can alter your body, typically to a degree that isn't considered natural. Think steroids, testosterone, and human growth hormone. Performance-enhancing drugs can do things like increase muscle mass and strength, improve endurance, and speed up recovery time, theoretically giving athletes a competitive edge. The WADA bans them in traditional sports, and they don't come without health risks. Side effects range from cosmetic, like acne or hair growth, to life-threatening,

Starting point is 00:02:33 and some dangers might not surface for years. Critics argue performance-enhancing drugs reduce sports to biological experimentation rather than a true show of human excellence, and some condemn enhanced for endangering athletes just to sell their products. So in that case, why do people do it? Supporters argue athletes are already doping under the table. The enhanced games, they say, are just upfront about it, and it's safer since athletes are monitored by a physician. There's also the cold hard cash.

Starting point is 00:03:07 Where many Olympians end up in the red, enhanced gamers are competing for a chance to juice their wallets. With over 1,000 translations in every type of decorative edition, it's easy to forget how many people can't. can't even get their hands on a single copy of the Bible in their native language. This is why we've partnered with Crew. Crew has missionaries in almost every country, but they need more Bibles. One missionary said,

Starting point is 00:03:34 I have never seen such a thirst for the Word of God in my country. Let's quench that thirst. For just $24 a month, you can provide three people with Bibles every month. As a bonus, Crew will provide meals to 12 hungry individuals through their humanitarian ministry and send you a free TPO coffee mug. Simply text pour to 71326 or visit give.cru.org

Starting point is 00:04:00 slash pour. Again, that's texting P-O-U-R to 71326 or give.cru.org slash P-O-U-R. Message and data rates may apply available to U.S. addresses only. Freed for. From the fear of death by Jesus' death and resurrection, Christians think of our bodies differently

Starting point is 00:04:40 than the rest of the world. Seek wisdom from your creator when you're unsure about how to care for his creation. Psalm 139 verses 13 and 14 say, For it was you who created my inward parts. You knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. Before we go today, let's pray a prayer for undivided faith. This comes from our book of prayers, praying the news, which comes out early 2027. God my maker, you alone are worthy of my trust. This world offers weak anchors that can't hold me fast, technologies, politicians, influencers, armies, and they only set me adrift when I depend on them. But when I trust in you, God my help, I find secure refuge. May my

Starting point is 00:05:33 heart overflow with joy as I trust you wholeheartedly, and may your steadfast love rest upon me. Amen. Want to bring more hard headlines to God in prayer? Join us in our Saturday afternoon newsletter, praying the news. Subscribe at the link in the show notes. Is your view of Jesus shaped by culture or by scripture? The answer might surprise you. In today's world, it's easy to turn Jesus into a life coach, a therapist, or a political

Starting point is 00:06:13 ally. We don't want a disruptive savior, just a convenient one. In their book, The Missing Messiah, Kyle Eidelman and Mark Moore will help you understand how the culture we live in has taught us to reshape Jesus into our own image and will teach you how to stop treating him as an accessory and start following him as king. If you believe there's a more revolutionary, more majestic Messiah than the one you've always heard about, visit missing messiah.com to learn more. Thank you.

The Pour Over Today - Explaining the Enhanced Games

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.