A great game. That sums up the Super Bowl for me even though the team I was pulling for didn’t win. I didn’t see any of the 1st half, much of the halftime show or many commercials but I did see Larry Fitzgerald do his thing and Santonio Holmes make some great catches – especially the last one in the corner of the end zone.
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February is here meaning two things. March Madness and Spring Training are coming soon. Wahooooo!
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Obama was cheering for the Steelers. I’ve heard both criticism and praise for a President who acts like a fan. I don’t think I have any concern about the President cheering for one team over another but it would have been interesting to see the Cardinals at the White House and hear what was said.
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Michael Phelps got caught smoking pot. The TV stories suggest that will cost him a lot of money from endorsements that get pulled. He made a mistake (join the crowd Michael) and I hope he will use it to make a positive statement about avoiding the pitfalls of evil. I saw Andy Pettite (pitcher for the Yankees) on TV last night speaking at a Baptist church in Dallas and using his experiences, good and bad, to encourage others in their walk with God.

We all face failures, some of us more than others, but we continue to get the opportunity to bounce back from them, learn from them and share what we have learned to help prevent someone from following the same path.

Did you hear about the bonuses the Wall Street/banking guys paid themselves with bailout money? Anyone still thinking the government is going to be able to pull us out of this collapse?
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Super Bowl Sunday. Arizona and Pittsburgh. Go team.

I wonder what Jerry sits around and thinks about during games like this?
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Skunks move in under our building during the winter. Mornings are rough on the nose.
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I wonder if God sees the potential collapse of our economy/country as an opportunity that will lead people back to Him? I have a lot of thoughts on that idea and actually started a blog discussing it but it was going on forever so I erased it. The idea is that when people have no more possessions to hang on to, they will seek something they can grasp and God is always there, always available, always waiting on us.

I really don’t have much on my mind today or maybe I have a lot on my mind and just can’t get it out in coherent sentences.

I really enjoy a Chick-fil-a sandwich. I used to eat them 2-3 times a week in high school and then went for several years rarely eating them. I keep hoping they will put a store in Decatur but it might spoil the enjoyment I get out of eating them because I would be there so often.

We will get to start judging President Obama soon. For everyone who thinks he is a gift from above to those who think he is straight out of you-know-where below but with no real history of proof – the time is coming soon where we can look at his actions and begin to assess what he will be as President. I do have hope for good things but I don’t have high expectations. His signing of an executive order to allow funding for international abortions was a bad decision in my eyes but I think it handled it more delicately than his predecessors.

Where is Osama bin-Laden? Someone knows and someone would tell. With all of our high-tech toys and gizmos, I can’t understand how he can hide so well.
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Make it a good day!

With the ice comes replay after replay of the same accident that got caught on film. Yesterday it was a red truck and I saw it a couple of times on the evening news. My wife said it had been on all day. Nothing like a video of a red truck spinning around in circles to give the news folks something to talk about.

What confounds me is when there is ice, they show it all day. We know there is ice and we know the dangers and we know it’s everywhere. When tornadoes are coming our way and we don’t know exactly where they are, they pop on and tell us to duck and then go back to regular programming. I don’t get it. I suppose it’s easier to report on something that is tangible and easy to spot as opposed to a tornado that may or may not form but the thing that might pick my house up and set it down in a different town worries me more.

I bet I won’t get hired to run a TV station anytime soon.
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On the bright side, Rangers pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just over 2 weeks. Play ball! The Rangers are working on signing Ben Sheets who was a hard throwing pitcher for Milwaukee until some elbow problems slowed him down. If he’s healed and the Rangers can get a deal done it will make some games more entertaining. I think if they can run Sheets, Millwood and Padilla to the bump they will be more competitive this year. Millwood isn’t a #1 and moving him back a spot could help his confidence. Padilla needs another year like last year and he’ll get a fat contract somewhere next year.
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Stay warm and safe today.

The TV stations will be filled up with ice-talk today. My short drive to work was easy. The ground is wet but not icy along my path although the drizzle was turning to ice on my windshield. One employee who comes from the north hit an icy patch and spun around but no serious damage. It sounds like it will just get worse today – be careful out there.
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Today’s scripture that popped up on my blog is one I am finally beginning to understand. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (See Ephesians 6:12-13) In the past, when the battle came to me, I fought back against flesh and blood which is exactly what the evil forces wanted me to do – move my focus from the real enemy to someone or something that would pull me further in the direction I didn’t need to go. I have talked about fighting demons but then tried to assign the fight to something/someone tangible. It’s hard to fight the battle against an unseen force when I try to fight the battle myself.

The beauty of what I have finally learned and experienced is allowing the Holy Spirit to fight the battle through me. The glory of God shines when I allow Him to work through me instead of working for what I think would be best and serve His purpose. It has been a difficult transition for me, having to let go of what I thought was best and waiting to hear God’s call for me, but it has been a wonderful transition because it has allowed me to see a power that is beyond imagination.

I thank God for allowing me to be His servant and pray that I will continue to open my heart to be molded by Him and I hope this for you too.

I don’t know if the information in this email is correct or not but it’s a good story and a good reminder of who God is.

Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’

This verse puzzled a group in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of them offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’

He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

There’s an email going around about Kurt Warner’s story. He’s the QB for the Arizona Cardinals and I remember hearing about his struggle to make it to the NFL when he was with the Rams but I had forgotten some of the details. If you want a good read, go to http://www.snopes.com and type Kurt Warner in the search function. I’ll be rooting for Warner and the Cardinals to do the unlikely and bring home a Super Bowl trophy.
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It was a tragic day in Decatur yesterday. A sophomore girl on her way to school had a wreck that killed her. I cannot begin to imagine what her parents are dealing with and pray that I won’t have to but my heart goes out to them. Please offer up a prayer for the Lunt family today.
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I never have really figured out the “ask, seek, knock” scripture. I feel like I have asked and sought and knocked only to hear or see nothing. I wonder what’s going on that I follow the steps and…nothing. Am I asking for the wrong thing? If that’s the case, why ask if I’m not sure I’m asking for the right thing. Am I seeking the wrong thing? If that’s the case, why look? Am I knocking at the wrong time? If that’s the case, when is a better time?

I am OK with the idea that God will allow us to wait but there comes a time when waiting turns to frustration and frustration turns to apathy but I realize that those are my emotions, my feelings. We used to sing a song that said “Lord teach me to wait…”

I hope I will perfect my waiting skills and will spend my time preparing myself for what God wants me to have.

Will today be a great day or just a historic day? It will be historic simply for the fact that a black man is taking over the top government job in our country. It’s a day that will hopefully allow this country to move on past the obstacle of race. Surely no one will be surprised today that the word “black” will likely be spoken more than any other day and that there will be a large number of black people on TV, in the newspaper, on the radio, etc. And why not? It’s a historic day for a lot of people based on how a group was treated in the past.

Will it be a great day? That remains to be seen. It’s greatness will be built over time if Obama accomplishes what he has made people believe he can accomplish. Otherwise, it will just be another day a new President was elected that did some good things and failed at others – very similar to the last few Presidents.

I read where someone referred to Obama as the “anointed one” and, if you watch and listen, you can’t help but see people who give that appearance – that Obama has come from a special place to do special things. I don’t have high hopes for the Obama years so maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. My hope for his time in office is that he doesn’t make things any worse and hopefully gets us thinking not so much about our status in the world but in our compassion and care for people – wherever they are. I hope he doesn’t get so focused on the monetary issue of compassion that he is blinded to simply taking from the rich to give to the poor. Instead, I hope he pushes the message of hope and sacrifice and work. A hope that people will work together to try and improve everyone’s place in life, the idea of sacrificing our time for others and working daily to grow in our compassion and labor for those who are hurting and those who are in need.

I didn’t vote for Obama but on this day, he has my prayers that he will be a good leader and that the decisions he makes will help this country be a better country-not wealthier or superior to anyone else but better in our compassion and assistance to those who need it.

For all those people that think Obama winning the Presidency is a historic moment…move over. The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl. Now that’s amazing!

I jest of course. Tomorrow may be the biggest TV watching day ever with Obama being sworn in. I read last night that this will be the most expensive inauguration ever (something like $150 million for this one compared with $40 million for Bush’s last go-round) because of the increased security. It is a historic day in our country and while I don’t have much invested in it (I’m a white guy who voted for McCain) I am somewhat fascinated by it simply for the fact that it tells a lot about a country that will elect someone with little experience and a minority to the most powerful office in the country, if not the world. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t say that as a negative but as a sign of how people are looking for hope, a hope for something better than what they have known or experienced. I don’t think Obama is the best person for the job but I do believe he brought a message of hope, of something different and better and people buy into hope – they want to have hope and need something or someone to invest that hope in.

I see it as a double-edged sword because it all depends on where we look for hope and what we look at for hope. I am developing some ideas in my head about where Christianity in America is headed and it is a mixed bag. I am envisioning some scary ideas but also some real hope. I don’t know if I’m right or wrong and won’t know until years pass but I do know this; if people are looking for hope from Barack Obama, maybe, just maybe they will also look to Jesus for hope when they figure out there is more to hope for, more than what man can provide.

This is my hope, that mankind (or “people”) will eventually grow to seek hope in the everlasting instead of the world.

Michael Young finally agreed to move to 3rd base to make way for the arrival of Elvis (Andrus). He’s asked for a trade and even in agreeing, is still grousing saying he might as well be moving to left field.

I really appreciated one writer’s comment. He said “ask Young if he would prefer the Rangers void his contract and allow him to seek his best deal.” Of course he wouldn’t because it’s not likely he will get that kind of money anywhere else.

Young has been exalted as a team player for agreeing to move from 2nd base to shortstop because the team needed it. Now that he is being asked again, it seems the team concept isn’t quite as important. I wonder if that’s because his first move was to the premier position in the infield and this move isn’t.

I can appreciate all the obstacles. Learning to play a new infield position is just that…learning. What Young has worked to perfect over 5 years now has to start all over. The bonus, at least in the eyes of the Rangers, is that it gives the Rangers a little better shot at getting to the World Series. Maybe they will get the idea that good pitching helps ALOT but in the meantime, this is the next step. Are they right? Who knows but I do know what they’ve been doing hasn’t worked so trying something new isn’t the end of the world. Oh…and the fact the Rangers pay him millions of dollars a year to play seems like it would give them some input on where people can best help the team.

Anyway, it has happened and now we can say “Elvis is in the building!”

That’s my Friday ranting. On a different note, DirecTV now has the MLB Network and I’m really liking it. How did people survive without ESPN and the MLB Network? Wow.

Have a great weekend and remember that God loves you wherever and in whatever condition you are in.