Happy Birthday To You

Today I celebrate my beautiful wife Brittany. 29 years ago she entered this world, and I am blessed by that fact. She is an incredible wife, a wonderful mother, and a great friend.

Happy Birthday Brittany! I love you.

Role Playing

Veterans Day

Thank you to all of our men and women that have served and are serving our country.

We salute you.

NFL Picks For Week 10

So it appears my NFL Pick guy quit on me. I am now stepping up to fill his position. Brian left with a pretty good record of 17 Correct and 10 Incorrect.
Here are my picks for the week.

1. Tennessee over Chicago
2. Green Bay over Minnesota
3. New York Giants over Philadelphia
4. New York Jets over St Louis

Good luck to everyone this week with your Fantasy Football leagues and with your NFL picks.

Praying For The Election

"Father in heaven, as we approach this election on Tuesday, I pray … above all, that we will treasure Jesus Christ, and tell everyone of his sovereignty and supremacy over all nations, and that long after America is a footnote to the future world, he will reign with his people from every tribe and tongue and nation.

Keep us faithful to Christ’s all important Word, and may we turn to it every day for light in these dark times.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

• Part of John Piper’s Prayer for the Election
• Watch this video of Piper’s Heart for the Election
• Read Justin Taylor’s response to this video here

(HT:Doug Wolter)

Electoral Count: You Call It!

Tomorrow is the big day. The media has been making their predictions as to what the final Electoral count will be, so I thought I would post something up and see what you are all thinking.

Here are a few predictions...

Chris Matthews, MSNBC's 'Hardball With Chris Matthews' host
Presidential (Popular ~ Electoral): Obama 52% ~ 338 vs. McCain 46% ~ 200



George Will, Conservative columnist
Presidential Race (Electoral): Obama 378 vs. McCain 160

Edward Rollins, GOP strategist
Presidential Race (Popular ~ Electoral): Obama 52% ~ 353 vs. McCain 45% ~ 185

MY PREDICTION IS---AND IT PAINS ME TO EVEN TYPE THIS
Obama 311 vs McCain 227

You can go here to help you with your prediction.
Let's hear what you think.

Fix It!!!

This makes me laugh. Skip to the 2:08 point.

I Knew It!

Here is the proof that the Yeti (Bigfoot) exists. I knew it was not just a creature that was on The Six Dollar Man.







Check this clip out of a fight between Bigfoot and The Six Dollar Man. Classic stuff.

Obvious???

Is it just me, or isn't there something wrong here? Does this guy still have a job?

Brian's Picks For Week 7 In The NFL

San Diego over Buffalo
Chicago over Minnesota
Tennessee over Kansas City
Dallas over St Louis
New York Giants over San Francisco
New England over Denver

Brian's record after 6 weeks is 13-8.

Good luck everyone.

technorati tags: San Diego Buffalo Chicago Minnesota Tennessee Kansas City Dallas St Louis New York San Francisco New England Denver NFL Football

Born Alive

You need to watch this!

I just saw this on Z's blog and had to pass it on. If this doesn't make an impact on you, I don't know what will.

technorati tags: Abortion Obama John McCain

Chilling Post

Zach Nielsen had a chilling post today. Here it is...

James Grant:

Uwe Siemon-Netto is the director Concordia Seminary’s Institute on Lay Vocation in St. Louis, MO, as well as an instructor at the World Journalism Institute. He has a powerful essay called “Remembering Collective Shame” (cross-posted at Gene Veith’s blog). Siemon-Netto reflects on his experience as a German who wrestled with the concept of “collective shame” that he bears because of the events related to the Holocaust. He observes that the issue that made Germans choose Hitler was not the Nazis’ anti-Semitic rhetoric, but the economy. Then he points out that this is the central issue for voters in this particular election. Someone, even among evangelical and conservative Christians, the issue of abortion ranks way down the list.

But Siemon-Netto draws a few noteworthy parallels between the killing of innocent people under the Nazis’ regime, and the killing of innocent babies in this country. Quote:

1. Man presumes to decide which lives are worthy of living and which are not. “Lebensunwertes Leben” (life unworthy of living) was a Nazi “excuse” for killing mentally handicapped children and adults, a crime that preceded the holocaust committed against the Jews. Notice that today fetuses diagnosed with Downs Syndrome are often aborted as a matter of course in America and Europe.
2. In German-occupied territories, Jews and Gypsies were gassed for no other reason than that some people considered it inconvenient to have them around. Today, unborn children are often slaughtered because it is inconvenient for their mothers to bring their pregnancies to term.
3. Murder I is legally defined as killing another human being with malice and aforethought. The Nazis killed Jewish and Gypsies with deliberation – and maliciously. But what are we to think of babies being killed deliberately simply because they would be a nuisance if they were allowed to live? No malice here?
4. Ordinary Germans of the Nazi era were rightly chastised for not having come to their Jewish neighbors’ rescue when they were rounded up and sent to extermination camps. Ordinary Americans and Western Europeans might find the fad to kill babies disagreeable, but as we see from the Faith in Life poll, most have more pressing concerns. Some future day Americans and Western Europeans will be asked why they allowed their children to be slaughtered. They would even have less of an excuse than Germans of my grandparents’ and parents’ generation. In Germany, you risked your life if you dared to come to the Jews’ rescue. In today’s democracies the worst that can happen to you is being ridiculed for being “a Christian.”

This is chilling, and he doesn’t end there. He goes on to remind us of a physician in Kansas named George Tiller, who boasts of already performing 60,000 abortions. On top of that, Dr. Tiller belongs to the Luther Church of the Reformation, the ELCA, and he will often baptize these babies before incinerating them in his own crematorium.

What will be the result of all this killing. Uwe Siemon-Netto concludes his essay with this warning:

Perhaps this little tale will give even non-believers pause if they have not discarded their conscience, known to Christians as the law God has written upon every man’s heart. One day, of this I am certain, this will indeed result in collective shame – and God knows what other horrible consequences.

Take a moment to read his whole post, and if you can, pass it around.

If you are a Christian who believes God's word has authority in your life, how could it be any more clear that you shouldn't vote for Obama in a few days?

One-Issue Politics

I have had some discussions about the upcoming election with quite a few people. When the topic of abortion comes up it usually leads to some uncomfortable pause. Lately, I have been hearing, "Well, I am not a one issue voter". I have a real problem with that answer.

This article deals with one-issue politics. Check it out.

Theologian Dr. John Frame:

“…in some cultures (like the ancient Roman, in which the New Testament was written) there is not much that Christians can do, other than pray, to influence political structures and policies. But when they can influence them, they should. In modern democracies, all citizens are ‘lesser magistrates’ by virtue of the ballot box. Christians have an obligation to vote according to God’s standards. And, as they are gifted and called, they should influence others to vote in the same way.

This is not to say that political choices are always obvious. Often we must choose the lesser of two evils. Candidate Mershon may have a better view of one issue than Candidate Beates, while Beates has a better view on a different issue. It is an art to weigh the importance of different issues and to come to a godly conclusion. Each of us should have a large amount of tolerance for other Christians who come to conclusions that are different from ours. Rarely will one issue trump all others, though I must say that I will never vote for a candidate who advocates or facilitates the killing of unborn children.” [The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R 2008). p. 617.]

Preacher/author Dr. John Piper:

“…When we bought our dog at the Humane Society, I picked up a brochure on the laws of Minnesota concerning animals. Statute 343.2, subdivision 1 says, ‘No person shall . . . unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal.’ Subdivision 7 says, ‘No person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal.’ The penalty: ‘A person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.’

Now this set me to pondering the rights of the unborn. An eight-week-old human fetus has a beating heart, an EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity, but under our present laws is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment, which says that ‘no state shall deprive any person of life . . . without due process of law.’ Well, I wondered, if the unborn do not qualify as persons, it seems that they could at least qualify as animals, say a dog, or at least a cat. Could we not at least charge abortion clinics with cruelty to animals under Statute 343.2, subdivision 7? Why is it legal to ’maim, mutilate and kill’ a pain-sensitive unborn human being but not an animal?

These reflections have confirmed my conviction never to vote for a person who endorses such an evil—even if he could balance the budget tomorrow and end all taxation.”

Princeton prof Dr. Robert George on 10/14/08:

“Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress…”

(HT: Zach)

technorati tags: Obama Abortion Politics

If You Are Still Thinking of Voting For Obama Please Read This Article

This is one of the most profound indictments against voting for Barack Obama that I have ever seen compiled in one place. Justin Taylor highlights an article by Dr. Robert P. George dealing with the arguments that Christians are giving in favor of voting for Obama. Please read it. Dr. George's conclusion:

What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama’s America is one in which being human just isn’t enough to warrant care and protection. It is an America where the unborn may legitimately be killed without legal restriction, even by the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion. It is an America where a baby who survives abortion is not even entitled to comfort care as she dies on a stainless steel table or in a soiled linen bin. It is a nation in which some members of the human family are regarded as inferior and others superior in fundamental dignity and rights. In Obama’s America, public policy would make a mockery of the great constitutional principle of the equal protection of the laws. In perhaps the most telling comment made by any candidate in either party in this election year, Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: “that question is above my pay grade.” It was a profoundly disingenuous answer: For even at a state senator’s pay grade, Obama presumed to answer that question with blind certainty. His unspoken answer then, as now, is chilling: human beings have no rights until infancy—and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then.

In the end, the efforts of Obama’s apologists to depict their man as the true pro-life candidate that Catholics and Evangelicals may and even should vote for, doesn’t even amount to a nice try. Voting for the most extreme pro-abortion political candidate in American history is not the way to save unborn babies.

(HT: Vitamin Z)

technorati tags: Obama Abortion Politics

Dave Ramsey Would Be Proud

Dave Ramsey would be so proud of my 2 1/2 year old daughter. For those of you who don't know who Dave Ramsey is, you need to check him out. You can check him out here at http://daveramsey.com

Dave believes that you shouldn't use credit cards, and that you should pay cash. He is in to helping people get out of debt and has a really great program. Here are what he calls his 7 baby steps.



Get out of debt the same way you learned to walk, one step at a time. Dave has taught these principles to millions via radio, books, Financial Peace University, Live events, and online:

		$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
		Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
		3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
		Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
		College funding for children
		Pay off home early
		Build wealth and give! Anyway, my wife had London(my daughter) out the other day at Old Navy. They were in the check out line getting ready to pay for the merchandise. London takes a glance to her left and then to her right and notices the people are paying with credit cards. London knows that we don't use credit cards and pay for things by cash. Well, London took this opportunity to begin telling the people that they should not use credit cards and should only use cash. People in line started cracking up, but I am sure they were a little taken off guard. She proceeded to tell them they need to work hard, and take the cash and put it in the bank. Great moment. technorati tags: Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University

Brian's Week 6 Picks

Coming in to this week, Brian's record is 10-5.
Here are his picks for week 6 in the NFL.

Green Bay over Seattle
NY Giants over Cleveland
Washington over St Louis
Dallas over Arizona
Philadelphia over San Francisco
Jacksonville over Denver

Good luck everyone.

Brian's Picks For Week 5 In The NFL

Coming in to the week, Brian's record stands at 7-4.
Here are his picks for this week.

The Bears will beat the Millen-less Lions.
Chicago over Detroit.

The Eagles will not get scalped by the Redskins.
Philly over Washington.


High Flyin' Matt Ryan over Aaron's bum shoulder.
Atlanta over Green Bay.

Lock of the Week: The Ram's won't lose this weekend.

2nd Lock of the Week: Cowboys will lasso the Bengals.
Dallas over Cincy by a big margin!!!!!!!

Fantasy Player of the Week: Tony Romo

Coaches on the hot seat this week: Herm Edwards and Romeo is lucky to have a bye.

So there you go. Good luck with all of you picks! Let me know how your fantasy teams are doing and feel free to ask any questions about rosters as far as Sit or Start. I would also love to know your team names.

Holla!!!

Brian's Picks For Week 4 In The NFL

Hotlanta over Carolina--go home Delhomme, it isn't your week.

Battle of the boobs from Ohio--Cleveland over Cincy.

Lock of the Week: Cutler cutting up the Chiefs. Denver over the crappy Chiefs.

Buffalo will stampede the Rams. Sorry Linehan this is your last week. Buffalo over St. Louis.

Fantasy Player Of The Week: Marshawn Lynch

Coaches on their last leg, possibly their last week: Scott Linehan, Romeo Crennel, Lane Kiffin, and Herm Edwards.

Brian's Record after 3 weeks:
5 correct, 2 incorrect

Good luck!

Brian's Super Picks For NFL Week 3

So our NFL pick guy (Brian) went 2-1 last week. The Houston game was postponed. He is back again this week for all of you NFL junkies and gamblers.

Here are his picks...

1. Lock of the Week
Buffalo will (Marshawn) Lynch the Raiders.
Buffalo over Oakland

2. The Denver Katrina's will devastate New Orleans.
Denver over New Orleans

3. With the extra week off, Houston will upend Kerry "don't call me Tom" Collins.
Houston over Tennessee

4. High flyin' Matt Ryan over the crappy Chiefs.
Atlanta over Kansas City

and...just for a little extra somethin', somethin', the Fantasy Player of the Week is Michael "the burner" Turner.

In closing, Brian wants to give a fond farewell to 3 Head Coaches coaching their last week in the NFL. Lane Kiffin, Herm Edwards, and our very own Scott Linehan. I will probably be 2 for 3 on this.

We would love to have comments on Brian's predictions and we would like to see your picks.

Brian's Super PIcks For The Week

Once again the NFL season is upon us. I know that I missed last week, which was the opening week of the season, but things were crazy and my NFL picks guy (Brian) was not available.

Weekly I will post Brian's picks for the week. This is for all of you that are possibly in a pool, a pick'em on Yahoo or something like that, or maybe you are taking a trip to Vegas and want in on the action.

Brian will pick 4 games weekly, and we will keep track of his record here. Here are Brian's picks for week #2.

1. LOCK OF THE WEEK
The G-Men over The Lambs...Giants over the Rams

2. Ocho-Cinco this week, not Ocho Stinko...Bengals over the Titans

3. The Texan's D over the Flyin' Flacco's...Houston over the Ravens

4. The Raiders will tomahawk the Chiefs...Raiders over the Chiefs

Good Luck.

Reasons People Choose A Church

Scott Sterner reports:

OK, I just pulled this from churchrelevance.com and was admittedly suprised by these statistics. For so long the church has believed the most important way to grow your church is with music. Music is still very important, but it is interesting to me that it isn't the deal breaker, especially for unchurched people.

- - -
Top 13 Reasons that Unchurched People Choose a Church

(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 90% - Pastor/Preaching
2. 88% - Doctrines
3. 49% - Friendliness of Members
4. 42% - Other Issues
5. 41% - Someone Church Witnessed to Me
6. 38% - Family Member
7. 37% - Sensed God’s Presence/Atmosphere of Church
8. 25% - Relationship Other than Family Member
9. 25% - Sunday School Class
10. 25% - Children’s/Youth Ministry
11. 12% - Other Groups/Ministries
12. 11% - Worship Style/Music
13. 7% - Location

Top 9 Reasons that Church-Attenders Choose a Church
(research conducted by the Barna Group in 1999)

1. 58% - Doctrine/Theology
2. 53% - People Caring for Each Other
3. 52% - Preaching
4. 45% - Friendliness
5. 45% - Children’s Programs
6. 43% - Helping the Poor
7. 36% - Denomination
8. 35% - Like the Pastor
9. 26% - Sunday School

Top 6 Things that Keep the Formerly Unchurched Active in the Church
(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 62% - Ministry Involvement
2. 55% - Sunday School
3. 54% - Obedience to God
4. 49% - Fellowship of Members
5. 38% - Pastor/Preaching
6. 14% - Worship Services

The statistics speak for themselves. Overall, doctrine, the pastor and his preaching, and the friendliness and fellowship of the congregation are the most influential qualities.

Round, Like A Record

I saw this on my friends blog and just had to post it. Is this for real? Please somebody tell me this is not serious.



(HT: Vitamin Z)

Prediction!

Okay, here is my prediction for tonight. As much as I hate to see it, I think Brooke White may be going home tonight on American Idol. If it was to be based on the performances alone, I think Jason Castro would be going home. His vocal was just weak this last week. The song was not his style. Brooke forgot the lyrics but came back pretty strong I thought. I just don't think she has the following Jason has.

Brooke seems like a great girl, and I hope she does very well in the future. She appears to be a person of great integrity and I respect that a lot.

technorati tags: American Idol Brooke White Jason Castro

This week's American Idol Predictions

Okay. So I didn't get to watch American Idol this week. However, I am dedicated to making my predictions, so I ran http://youtube.com and checked out last night's performances.

David Cook did a great version of Billie Jean. He had some great vocals and I really liked the arrangement. David Archuleta sang a song that I have never heard. I wonder who is choosing his songs. The judges really liked Michael Johns performance, but I thought it was horrible.

I think that overall the night was just an average night by all of the performers.

However, I think it is the end of the road for Ramiele Malubay. She seems like a very nice person, but her performances have just not been that great. In fact, this week it sounded as if she was really having to push to get the notes out. It was like she was yelling.

So that is it for now. Tell me what you all think.

echnorati tags: American Idol David Cook David Archuleta Michael Johns Ramiele Malubay Youtube

American Idol Top 12

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! David, say it isn't so. Last night was a train wreck for the contestant I consider the favorite, David Archuleta. He forgot the words, looked very nervous, and vocally did not sound that great at all. I have been a big fan of this kid, but last night I think he opened the door for a few people.

Chikezie came out last night and laid it down. He had a lot of energy and looked as if he was having the time of his life. I don't consider him a potential winner, but I think a lot of people took notice of him last night.

Brooke White and Carly Smithson gave some good performances, as did Michael Johns. My problem with Michael is that he seems so boring. David Cook showed that he has skills and Jason Castro did too. I think Jason Castro is someone to look out for. He impressed me last night, even though Simon did not give him raving reviews.

The people that I think are in trouble are David Hernandez and Kristy Lee Cook. I started off during the audition period a big Kristy fan, but lately she has slipped. So I am making the call that Kristy Lee Cook will be the one leaving American Idol.

What do you think?

technorati tags: American Idol David Archuleta Chikezie Brooke White Carly Smithson Michael Johns Jason Castro David Cook Kristy Lee Cook

This Week's American Idol Predictions

This week was filled with some pretty good songs. How can you beat "Hello" by Lionel Richie? The guys were a lot better than the girls. Here are my predictions for who is going home.

Top Row: David Hernandez & Kady Malloy
Bottom Row: Luke Menard & Ramiele Malubay



I want to go on record that I don't think Ramiele should be the one going home, but I just think she is not going to get enough votes.

technorati tags: American Idol David Archuleta Kady Malloy David Hernandez Luke Menard Ramiele Malubay Lionel Richie

American Idol Season 7 Top 20

So tonight there are more cuts. As far as I am concerned they should just declare David Archuleta the winner right now, and get ready for next season. David can just flat out sing. It doesn't hurt that he seems to have a very high likability factor.

Here are my predictions for who is going home tonight.

Top: Jason Yeager & Kady Malloy
Bottom: Amanda Overmeyer & Robbie Carrico




What does everyone else think?

technorati tags: American Idol David Archuleta Amanda Overmeyer Kady Malloy Jason Yeager Robbie Carrico Season 7 Top 20

Once Again, It's On!!!

Yes. It is that time of year. Once again American Idol is upon us, and it is time for me to make my weekly predictions, and comments. Season 7 has promised us that this year the talent is even greater and that we are in for a real treat, but I have to say after Tuesday night and Wednesday night I would have to disagree. The talent did not seem that great. I know there will be improvement and I look forward to it.

My early favorites are David Archuleta, Carly Smithson. I am also pulling for Asia'h Epperson because of what she has gone through lately wit the loss of her father.

Here are my predictions for who is going home tonight.

Top Row:Amy Davis & Luke Menard
Bottom Row:Chikezie & Joanne Borgella

technorati tags: Amerian Idol David Archuleta Carly Smithson Asia'h Epperson Amy Davis Luke Menard Chikezie Joanne Borgella

Things That Make You Say Hmmm

If nothing ever sticks to Teflon, how do they get Teflon to stick to the pan?

Happy Valentine's Day