An Optimist Among The Debris

2006-05-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

GETTING BACK IN SHAPE

One of the goals this year was to shed some weight and to get back (at least) to where I was when I moved to San Antonio nearly five years ago. This is a noble endeavor as are all endeavors for health, but this one has the added burden of being attempted in the enchilada center of the universe. Did I mention how much I love Mexican food? Someone needs to put together a manual for new arrivals to San Antonio with at least one caveat about the enormous calorie-intake potentials at the local Mexican eateries. No one told me eating a bowl of chips with salsa before the meal was like eating a loaf of bread. Lesson learned.

So, I'm getting back in shape. I still have a long way to go but I'm making progress. I also have the help of a wonderful trainer who I not only knows what she is doing but motivates me to think twice about everything I put in my mouth. If I don't, I will pay for it the next day. Some things you just can't hide.

The strategy boils down essentially to these three things:

1. Physical training - both cardio and weight training

2. Eating right - no more junky, fatty, empty foods. Only "clean" foods that are nutritious. I have learned to window shop at Whole Foods.

3. Breathing - believe it or not we all need to learn/relearn how to breathe.

The goal is to take off a couple of pounds per week which is happening. The amazing thing is that I have not had to go without any food. I might be onto something.

2006-05-31T07:36:00.000-07:00

BUMPER STICKER OF THE DAY

Seen in in San Antonio:

"I do whatever the Twinkies say"

2006-05-31T07:25:00.000-07:00

CLEANING UP THE CLUTTER

A few weeks back I came home and found the hugely anticipated yellow flyer hanging on my front door. It was the city of San Antonio communicating what day they would be in my neighborhood helping me to minimize residential clutter. And so last Saturday the family and I cut down limbs from the many trees on our property and hauled them out to the curb. It’s amazing how nice the yard looks but you’ll have to wait until the mountain of limbs and leaves are hauled away before you can see it. You know, I really like this service the city provides. I like it a lot. Once or twice a year it’s good to have an opportunity to take a look around and deal with the clutter that has, well, cluttered up the scenery. I know some people may not like the idea because they feel it creates work for them but I really like the idea. It's not that I'm much of a minimalist but I think it’s healthy to look around from time to time and decide what needs to stay and what needs to go.

And what is good for yards, garages and desks is also good for the soul. Sometimes I think are lives get so cluttered with activities and unnecessary responsibilities that the true meaning of life gets hidden away behind all the limbs and leaves where it’s hard to see it. Or, at least, the things that have meaning do not nearly get the attention they deserve.

I ran across this old Celtic (I love to say "KELTIC")prayer that speaks from the heart for a lot of us.

Lord, help me now to unclutter my life.
To organize myself in the direction of simplicity.
Lord, teach me to listen to my heart;
teach me to welcome change, instead of fearing it.
Lord, i give you these stirrings inside me,
I give you my discontent,
I give you my restlessness,
I give you my doubt,
I give you my despair,
I give you all the longings i hold inside.
Help me to listen to these signs of change, of growth;
to listen seriously and follow where they lead
through the breathtaking empty space of an open door.

That's a good prayer. Happy uncluttering!

2006-05-03T04:34:00.000-07:00

WORDS FOR MOM

MOTHER’S DAY IS COMING UP SOON AND I HOPE YOU ARE ALREADY THINKING OF WAYS YOU CAN HONOR HER. BELIEVE IT OR NOT I LOOK FORWARD TO MOTHER’S DAY BECAUSE AS A FATHER OF TWO CHILDREN I SEE THE IMPACT THE IRREPLACEABLE LOVE OF A MOTHER HAS ON HER CHILDREN. AND BEING A MOM IS HARD AND SEEMINGLY ENDLESS WORK AND IT’S EASY TO BECOME DISCOURAGED BY ALL THE PRESSURE YOU FEEL. FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES LET ME SHARE WITH YOU SOME THINGS WORTH REMEMBERING ABOUT BEING A MOM. FIRST, EVERY CHILD IS RAISED BY IMPERFECT PARENTS. ALL PARENTS MAKE MISTAKES. THAT’S REALITY. STOP PUTTING NEEDLESS PRESSURE ON YOURSELF TO BE PERFECT. ONLY GOD IS THE PERFECT PARENT. SO SECONDLY, NEVER STOP LEARNING TO IMPROVE YOUR PARENTING SKILLS. CHILDREN CAN PRESENT INTERESTING CHALLENGES TO SAY THE LEAST. AND AS THEY DEVELOP INTO ADULTS THROUGH THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF LIFE, SO YOU NEED TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING AS A PARENT. THIRD, REMEMBER THE MATURE LEADS THE IMMATURE. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH CHILDREN BEING IMMATURE. THEY’RE CHILDREN. THAT’S WHY THEY NEED YOU TO LEAD THEM. NUMBER FOUR, WATCH YOUR USE OF HUMOR. HUMOR THAT IS USED TO MASK CRUELTY IS CRUEL AND NOT FUNNY.FIFTH, YOUR CHILDREN NEED SPIRITUAL AND MORAL TRAINING. GOD IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOUR CHILDREN NEED TO KNOW. AND THEY ALSO NEED TO LEARN HOW TO LIVE IN LIGHT OF THAT KNOWLEDGE. NUMBER SIX, INTENTIONALLY POINT OUT THE GOOD IN YOUR CHILDREN. MANY TIMES THE WORLD IS BETTER AT POINTING OUT SHORTCOMINGS THAN STRONG POINTS. REMEMBER THAT THE POSITIVE THING YOU SAY TO YOUR CHILD MAY BE THE ONLY POSITIVE THING THEY HEAR ABOUT THEMSELVES ALL DAY. SEVENTH, DON’T FORGET TO TEACH THE REALITY OF CONSEQUENCES. A CHILD NEEDS TO KNOW THAT POOR DECISIONS CAN LEAD TO SOME TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES IN THEIR LIFE. AND FINALLY, NUMBER EIGHT, REMEMBER WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT. IT’S SO EASY TO BECOME DISTRACTED WITH RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE POINT THAT PARENTING TAKES A BACK SEAT. BUT IN THE END, PARENTING IS ABOUT BUILDING A PERSON, A HEALTHY, WHOLE HUMAN BEING. AND YOUR WORKAS A PARENT…AS A MOTHER IS IRREPLACEABLE. AND THAT IS WHY WE HONOR YOU.

2006-04-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

BUMPER STICKER SEEN IN SAN ANTONIO

Pro Wife
(I don't have a choice)

2006-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

GETTING FOCUSED

This past Sunday we (meaning the staff and shepherds) announced that in an effort to address the five biblical areas of the church's mission, we would be realigning and restructuring our staff as well as hiring two additional ministers to become part of our ministry team. All of this is our attempt to be much more focused in our ministries with the hopeful product being greater effectiveness and excellence in our ministries.

The five areas are: Worship, Ministry, Fellowship, Evangelism and Discipleship. These can be found in the biblical texts we call The Great Commandment and the The Great Commission.

I will continue to preach and teach as well as work with our worship (and with our worship leader, Ben). I will add to my list of responsibilities the area of evangelism and outreach.

Richard will transition slowly from youth and family to what we are calling the "Congregational Life Minister." His responsibilities will be to help our church administer better our ministies, communication needs, technology and ministry development.

Douglas will continue to work with our adults in various ways but now with the official title of Minister of Adult Discipleship. His duties will continue to be to oversee adult education and involvement but the emphasis will be to make disciples of our adults.

Tamra, our newest staff member (one year anniversary coming up!)will serve as Director of Children's ministries.

With the addition of two new staff members, we will once again have six full time ministers on board.

Our congregation has been challenged to pray three times a day during the entire month of May as we begin the search process. This is to also include fasting for those who choose to do so.

May God grant us His favor.

2006-04-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to me the things you miss in life unless you happen to be looking with the right kind of eyes and notice them. For example, I was stopped at a crosswalk at a local elementary school just as school let out. And while I was sitting there in my car I noticed that the woman who was serving as the crossing guard was very popular with all the kids. As they walked by her they would reach out and touch her on the arm to say, "hello." A couple of children as they walked by held up their school pictures and you could tell from the smile on the crossing guard’s face that she was communicating to these small ones that she thought they were just terrific. And I thought to myself as I sat in the traffic that here is a woman who is not only making sure these children get across the street safely but at the same time letting them know that they mattered. She’s at the crosswalk for awhile in the morning and awhile in the afternoon and all the while making a difference. And then there was the young man—probably a college student—walking up to the entrance of the local HEB who on his way grabbed a shopping cart someone had left in the middle of a parking spot and pushed it up to the front of the store and left it with the rows of other carts while he went into the store. Again I thought to myself, here is such a small thing…moving a cart out of a parking spot, getting it out of the way so that it doesn’t chip the paint on someone’s car…it’s small but it made a huge difference in someone's day. And have you noticed how polite people can be coming and going from the local starbucks…smiling and holding open the door for you. An instant of politness. Little acts of kindness. A brief encounter with courteousness. A brush with charity. When Jesus talks of going the extra mile, he not only means those moments that call for great sacrifice but also every degree in between that brings goodness, decency and rightness into everyday life.

2006-04-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a John Updike poem about the Resurrection entitled Seven Stanzas

Make no mistake: if he rose at all
It was as His body;
If the cell’s dissolution did not reverse, the molecule reknit,
The amino acids rekindle,
The Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
Each soft spring recurrent;
It was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the
Eleven apostles;
It was as His flesh; ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes
The same valved heart
That—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then regathered
Out of enduring Might
New strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
Analogy, sidestepping, transcendence,
Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded
Credulity of earlier ages:
Let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
Not a stone in a story,
But the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of
Time will eclipse for each of us
The wide light of day.

And if we have an angel at the tomb,
Make it a real angel,
Weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair, opaque in
The dawn light, robed in real linen
Spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
For our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
Lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are embarrassed
By the miracle,
And crushed by remonstrance.

2006-03-22T01:43:00.000-08:00

Texas Still Alive

You never know which team will show up but so far the Longhorns have played good ball and, if they continue to play such, will meet for the second time this season Duke (in the Elite Eight). If the team that showed up for the early season match up appears on the court for the tournament game I am afraid Duke will romp to another forty point win. But if the physical, hard-charging, athletically blessed team shows then who knows...

2006-03-22T01:23:00.000-08:00

Stopped in Mid Stampede

It has been sometime since the last post which is another way of saying my mind has been going full tilt with other issues and unfortunately, this leaves no time for writing. When I get into these veins of mega-activity I usually find myself not concentrating as I should on my readings. And then, all of a sudden, I run across a piece of writing that stops me in mid-stampede. I just read a very moving piece about an E.R. doctor who ministers to a miserably soiled homeless man not in the name of medicine but in the name of Jesus. You can read it for yourself at http://missionrus.blogspot.com/2006/03/er-jesus-homeless-schizo.html. I am thankful for such pieces as they come to me, causing me to stop, and to reflect on how the cross is not merely an example to follow but an achievement to be worked out in each of our individual lives. I could not help but think of the true power of the gospel when it has truly captured out hearts.

2006-03-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

What Classic Movie Are You?
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2006-03-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

What Famous Leader Are You?
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2006-02-20T08:33:00.000-08:00

The Top Starbucks in San Antonio
The Starbucks coffee shops around San Antonio have become in some respects satellite offices for me. The reasons are simple. First, they provide a great atmosphere for reading uninterruptedly which is a necessary of component of each day. And secondly, there are times when folks who wish to see me for counseling purposes would rather go to a neutral site. Being seen arriving in the middle of the week at the preacher's office can be a daunting task for some. So, over the last few years I have had the opportunity to sample the ambiance of nearly all the Starbucks in the area and here are my favorites.

1. Nacogdoches and New Braunfels (inside Loop 410): By far the best Starbucks in my opinion in San Antonio. They always get the coffee right, the staff is the most pleasureable to interact with and it's not far from the office. Their entire store is predominately windows which makes it an optimal place for reading. And besides, Oak Park is a great area of the city.

2. West Avenue and Lockhill Selma: Again, another great place for meeting or reading. They do a great job with the coffee and have adequate space for meeting people. Late last year, I arranged for a group of our Worship Technology fellas to meet with a donor to talk about improvements which could be made to the sound system of our auditorium as well as (and especially) upgrading some recording technology. This store provided a great relaxed place for that to happen.

3. Broadway (Broadway and Austin Highway): They have a great area in the back of the store where one can read and think without being disturbed.

4. The Quarry: They have the best patio area which makes a great place to meet with groups. The Quarry store is where I have met with the single/college group from church for years. We have had as many as 18-20 out on their patio enjoying each others' company. During the cooler months of the year, they have placed space heaters on the patio to take a bit of the chill out of the air. The only downside is that it is also an extremely busy store. The timing has to be just right to get enough chairs. In general they are quick to get the coffee to you as well.

I feel the need for caffeine comming on.

2006-02-20T08:25:00.001-08:00

Prayer for Monday
My God and Father: The week stretches out and I see before me each opportunity for ministry and I lift them up to You for Your blessing. I beg for Your wisdom, discernment, tender compassion and mercy to fill each of these moments with Your grace. I also pray for each unforeseen interruption that will come as surely as You give us time. Patience I ask for. May all be done with one thing in mind: Your Glory! Amen

The nearness of God, that is my good. Psalm 73:28 (NASB)

2006-02-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

Prayer for Sunday
Father, Thank you for the reminder that you are sovereign. Our inability to control our vehicles on the simplest of all substances--ice--is a reminder that we are not the ones ultimately in control. You are. Our work is to trust and to obey. Nothing more. Nothing less. Deepen us in this truth each day. Amen...

2006-01-30T13:15:00.000-08:00

THOUGHTS ON EVIL (1)
I will begin preaching a series of lessons on Sunday nights pertaining to the omnipresent struggle to make sense of moral evil. The first message will center on trying to understand our problem with evil.

The first difficulty seems to be that we have striven to understand evil from a metaphysical/philosophical approach. We attempt to rationalize and rationalize away evil's existence but the urgency of the problem and the practical nature of evil rears its head in every generation. In our generation it is "Columbine" and September 11, 2001. We have assumed progress (think Hegel and his Progressive Idealism) because of medical advances and technological breakthroughs but it is far easier to make a better microwave than a better human heart. Nietzsche's power, Freud's sex and Marx's money issues have been feeble attempts to do away with the original sin of Genesis 3. Why we cling to progress when the evidence at times is other is beyond me. The questions about the holocaust, terrorism, tribalistic genocide, etc. are not answered . Nietzsche's route beyond good and evil leads to a Hitler and the old morality represented by Judaism an obstacle in the road that must be removed. Freud's notions about our sexual behavior are attempts to laugh at death and in the end the energy we pour into promiscuous and licentious behavior have brought massive heartache on countless families. Marx's money and power strategies in the final analysis do little more than misjudge true human nature and true human worth.Evil must be understood differently than the way we define it presently. More on that later.

The second difficulty seems to be our response when faced with evil. We ignore it until it splashes down in front of us. We are surprised when it does occur. And normally our responses to it are faint. Nobody took the threat of Al Qaeda seriously overall. With a few exceptions of truth speakers among the levels of democracy no one thought the evil of terrorism a real threat. September 11th changed all of that. I remember speaking at an all-church devotional on September 12th that of all people on the face of the earth, we as Christians should not be surprised at this kind of behavior. We understand how dark the dark side of this life can potentially be. And our surest weapon is prayer. A theological deepening on the nature of evil realizes that it is vastly more powerful than any patriot missile system can defend against.

The 19th century did not eradicate the world of the problems stemming from the original sin. Christians know this. And the beginning of a response to the presence of evil in a world where we declare God to be sovereign begins in thinking Christianly about the problem.

2006-01-29T13:47:00.000-08:00

AT HOME
Today I am recovering from some form of illness whose exact identification escapes me but feels like some water downed version of the flu. I think I caught it in time to stave off the more horrific forms and manifestations with sleep. Rich Taylor, an old farm boy from New Mexico, told me he had an Ag professor who told him he could go to the doctor and beat the illness in a week or he could treat it himself and be well in seven days. Thankfully sleeping around the clock did the trick in two.

2006-01-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

Future Sermons for 2006
I enter each year with a head full of ideas, concepts, musings and plans for 104 different sermons I will preach this year. Believe it or not, some of them actually make it from the conceptual stage to actually being manuscripted into a sermon that in turn is memorized and delivered to the congregation. Here are some of the plans for the next twelve months:

Romans 1-8: There is no title for this series as of yet but it will probably be something like "Unashamed" or something similar perhaps. Romans 8 is one of the most important pieces of Scripture in the entire Bible and should be memorized by every believer.
The Presence of God and the Existence of Evil: A perpetual problem for believer and unbeliever alike this is. The attributes and characteristics of God are called into question because of the presence of evil in our world.
Angels: Much is written erroneously and in contradiction to the biblical teaching on the presence and work of angels.
Worship: What is worship and why is it a necessary component of the Christian life?

Pray for me as I struggle through the texts and attempt to speak a word for God (without presumption!!).

2006-01-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

Saturdays
I remember reading somewhere once about how Saturday as a "day off" came into being but the details elude my memory at the present but I was thinking we should celebrate his birth or death with another day off. Rest is good. Rest is very good.

Today our band, The Potluck Bellies (the name says it all, right), will get together to play for a few hours. Jordan is heading back to school and it will be the last time we can get together for the purposes of music for a couple of months with Jordan included. Not that three lead guitarists are needed at every opportunity to play and practice but it's nice to have in the words of Paul Stanley some "fi-yah."

Jordan's youth aside, a band of mainly middle-aged dudes playing rock seems so anachronistic--like Roman Centurions wearing tennis shoes--when you think about it. The "Weezers" might have been a more appropriate name considering our diminished lung capacity but that name was taken. Rock is a young man's game yet, and yet, there is the lure of creativity and music-making that gets the juices flowing. And it fun. I'm not nearly as proficient on the drums as I was two-and-a-half decades ago and I'm half as quick, but I still dig playing from time to time. And as embarassing as it is to see Mick still strutting, I understand it a little better.

Hum a tune to a loved one today.

2006-01-12T04:55:00.000-08:00

THOUGHTS AT SUNRISE
It's Thursday morning and I have just returned from a walk with the dogs. It is still dark outside and I can't help but think about the subject of last night's lecture.

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, "As you know, the Passover is two days away--and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." Matthew 26:1-2

There are three components of this text that are important for my thoughts. The first is all these things. The second the Passover is two days away. The third is to be crucified. Why does Jesus insist that he must be crucified?

The work of God in the cross is far more than a solution to the personal sin problem each human being faces. Viewing the work of the cross as an answer to the human dilemma of sinfulness and helplessness to do anything about it is correct but not nearly adequate.

The hope of the people of Jesus' day was that Messiah would come and defeat the great enemy of God's people and build/rebuild the Temple. Their significant leaders through history had done this very work. David's first significant work after being annointed was to defeat the Philistine Goliath. His last significant work was to plan and finance the building of the Temple. Judas Maccabeus some decades before the birth of Jesus defeated the Syrians and rededicated the Temple. Even Herod defeated the Parthians and rebuilt the Temple. Even a century later this is precisely the work the false messiah Bar-Kochba will fail to do: defeat the Romans and rebuild the Temple destroyed in AD 70.

And yet here is Jesus who is not only NOT going to defeat the Romans but the Romans by all human ways of reckoning are going to defeat him by crucifixion. Jesus is not going to rebuild the Temple but is going to condemn it (Matthew 23-25 contains I think the unit of Jesus' condemnation of the Judaism of the Pharisees and pronouncement of doom on the Temple). Jesus is not going to follow in the steps of the significant leaders of his people in the eyes of many.

But there is more to this than meets the eye. Jesus suffered and died to in fact defeat not just Israel's great enemy but the great enemy of all mankind. This is not the Philistine army, the Seleucid troops or the Roman legions but, as Paul described it, a victory over death which is the product of sin (I Corinthians 15). It is by his death that true freedom comes to those held in bondage by the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).

What is more, the Passover/Last Supper comes to symbolize the new community that will be formed because of his death. The Temple is denounced and condemned. The work of Jesus on the cross will create the metaphorical yet very much real building of God's people into a place where God will be pleased to dwell.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Rejoice today in the work of the true Messiah, Jesus.

2006-01-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

WHY THE TITLE?
Earlier I promised to write the "whys" for the title of this blog and to explain what I mean by it. In short, I see everywhere the effects of a fallen creation. Denial of what our eyes plainly tell us is happening all around us will not do. The very fact that we have words in our vocabulary such as unfair, unjust, unreasonable, unethical and unforgivable implies that we understand at some level that life has a harsh side. Things are not the way they are supposed to be.

This is not to say that there is not much good in the world. There is. And there are hints of it in the least expected places and at the most surprising times. When you least expect it, there is a moment when time is stilled and goodness, beauty, nobility and grace spill out onto the page for a time. The beginning strains of Mozart, an act of unexpected generosity, the changing seasons, the touch of a loved ones hand and more, much more, are part of the beauty of life. But they do not transform by some mystical alchemy that which is bad into something good; by and large we live in a corrupted and blemished world. At best they are momentary veils which hide for a time the lingering effects and daily reminders of grief.

And in each of us is a world. There is a world around us and a world within us, an inner world that at times is capable of tremendous mercy, compassion, gentleness and affection. But in the unguarded moment that same inner world is capable of dispicable crimes real or fantasized. Our hearts can teem with animosity, be brilliantly slanderous, and viciously cruel. We are the architects of our woes by and large. The world is thus; thus have we made it.

And we must not be fooled into thinking that the progress of technology translates into human progress. It is one thing to make a better microwave, a faster computer and richer shaving cream. It is another thing to make a better human heart. And try as we may it is not within us. The questions of secular man and the humanist regarding the holocaust, Enron and the like are still not answered. Sin will not go away.

But an optimist I am--even among the debris of ruined days. I rejoice in the hope of the glory of God and that has made all the difference.

1. My relationship with God (a gift of His grace) is putting me on a track from "new birth" (the salvation of John 3) to "new creation/creature" (see 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Romans 8:29). God not only forgives but begins to transform my life. The Apostle Paul would refer to it in Galatians 5 as the Fruit of the Spirit and describe it as the bloom of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in the human heart. This leads to a second point.

2. God does not leave this "inner" development in His human project to humans alone. One of the great promises at the point of salvation is that God will put His Spirit in humans (see: Acts 2:38). How this happens I do not know. The Bible is vague on the specifics. But the Bible is clear that God is not finished with humans after forgiveness has been established and reconciliation celebrated. God's Spirit resides in humans and continues the work returning the human heart to its original state back in the Garden of Eden.

3. God also rules over every event as an absolutely sovereign King. God not only takes an ever-increasing control of my inner life, but God still reigns in the world around me. Suffering is a mystery. The Bible does not answer the question of "why" there is suffering and evil in the world with nearly as much detail as it does answering the question of "what" God is doing about it. I may not understand it all, but I can trust the God who reveals Himself, His good purposes and His sustaining blessings.

This is why I am an optimist. It is not because I believe in a moral-Darwinism where humans are slowly evolving into superior moral agents when the evidence suggests otherwise. It is because of what God is capable of doing in rebuilding humans spiritually from the inside out.

2006-01-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

It's about three and a half hours away from THE kickoff to THE game of the year for those of us who appreciate the college game and are developing a distaste for the professional one. The Texas Longhorns get pugnacious with the USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl and here is my prediction for the game. It is based on three conditions:

The Longhorns play to their potential both offensively and defensively
The Longhorns do NOT get conservative
Reggie Bush is held to under 175 yards rushing

and one maxim:

Defense wins championships!

With that said: UT 45; USC 31

If the aforementioned conditions are not met, Mack Brown and crew will have a long trip back to the ATX. But until then: "hook 'em!!"

2006-01-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

It's the beginning of a new year and I find myself watching the Ohio State v. Notre Dame game on ABC. With the Christmas and New Year holidays falling on Sundays this is the first game I have been able to pay much attention to. I'm rooting for the Buckeyes over the "golden domers" but not for theological reasons.

Pittman just ran for a sixty yeard score--game over.

One of my resolutions this year is to switch from paper journaling to cyber journaling (Think of the trees being saved!!). There are two main reasons for this. One is that with unlimited blank pages of paper my journaling efforts turn into marathons. Blogging by its nature forces shorter more concise writing. Another reason is that I have wanted for some time to provide a devotional forum for members of my church. Not that all the entries will be devotional in nature but it will be a major emphasis.

I'll write about the reasons for the naming of this blog what I have named it in a blog or two to come.

Happy New Year!