|
| Let me begin this post by saying up-front that I am not out to get democrats. I am, however, out to point out the pinheads in our nation's leadership. It just happens to be that most of these pinheads are democrats. I can't help that. And trust me...the republicans have their fair share of pinheads (a beautiful phrase thrown into political situations by Bill O'Reilly). I read this news article about the governor of Texas supposedly making statements about having Texas secede from the United States. At first glance, I thought this was ridiculous. After reading the article, my thoughts hadn't changed. But it wasn't because of the subject of the article. It was the response from the democrats about this matter. You can read the article here on Yahoo! News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090416/ap_on_re_us/perry_secession Basically, here's what happened. Texas Governor Rick Perry (a republican) was commenting on the "anti-tax tea party" that occured on Wednesday. Apparently, at an Austin, Texas rally, someone shouted "Secede!" during his speech. He commented on the interruption, saying this: "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot." Does that sound like a threat to leave the Union to you? Yeah, I didn't think so. Apparently the democrats did, though. They went as far as to propose a House resolution stating that have "complete and total disagreement with any fringe element advocating the 'secession' of Texas or any other state from our one and indivisible Union." Not only that, they blamed the Texas governor of listening to "fringe of Texas politics." Seriously, democrats? Really?!?!? The only "fringe politics" that is going on here is the "fringe" who actually believe that Perry wants Texas to secede from the United States. And then to waste legislation time on something that is useless. It reminds me of a child who had a brother. The brother, one warm summer day, joked around and said that he just might throw a water balloon at the child, against the parent's strictest commands. The brother laughed after that and said, "Ha! Just kidding!" The child, though, with his eyes swelled up with tears, went to his mother and complained. That, my friends, is what I called a "tattle-tale" when I was in 1st grade. What am I saying? According to the democrats, the big, bad, republican bully Governor Perry threatened to leave the nation. So, the democrats (being the compassionate bunch they are) rallied around their "geniuses" and came up with a fool-proof plan: Time-wasting legislation! That'll fix everything! What really happened? An idiot during a rally shouted something that was "inappropriate" and the democrats jumped at the chance to point fingers at the republicans. Why would they do this? Well, Governor Perry was their in a stance against the democrats in power at Congress today. Looking out for their buddies? I guess so. But come on democrats; get over yourselves. You all had 8 years of rallies and protesting. Now it's time to let someone else have their turn. Once again, if I offended you, I'm sorry. I just had to vent a little bit. | | |
| Alright...I had to say something about this. I figured since no one reads this, I wouldn't offend anyone. But if I do...oh well. I just heard on WLEX-18 news that some people got offended over the Obama Chia Pet. They got so offended that Walgreen's was forced to pull it off of their shelves. What?!?!? Really!?!?!?! What's wrong with it? If Chia had done it to George W. Bush, NO ONE would have a problem with it! Since when does a small household shrub offend someone who like Obama? That is COMPLETELY ridiculous. Right now is one of the times I wish I had my own TV news show. I would definitely label the people who got mad pinheads, idiots, or the like. I'm thinking about getting an Obama Chia Pet out of anger. Then I'll take pictures of it. And post them on here. You all can participate in the joke, too. I was correct in my thinking whenever Obama was elected President. I said there will be a double standard. You can joke around and make fun of Bush all you want. But make one joke about Obama? Watch out. Those "Obama mamas" will get you. Thanks for listening to me, America. I just had to rant a little bit. Have a great night. splanky | | |
| So...hardly anyone ever reads this anymore. So, I'm going to stray from what I usually never talk about...and talk about it. And that is sports. Particularly, NFL Football. Now, I'm a HUGE Tennessee Titans fan, and I'm thrilled to see them at the top of the AFC, and at the top of the NFL. I hope to see them in the Superbowl...and I want to see them WIN the Superbowl. However, it's officially play-off season. Next weekend is Wild Card Weekend. 8 teams will be battling it out; 4 in the AFC and 4 in the NFC. I want to tell you who's playing, and give my little spin on what I think about it. Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins Really? If I had made a prediction at the end of last season about who would FOR SURE not be anywhere close to the playoffs, I would've said these two teams (along with the Falcons and Cardinals, but we'll get to them). The most impressive of this dual is the Miami Dolphins. They have come from a 1-15 season last year to an 11-5 season this year. What happened? I'm going to pin a lot of this success on Bill Parcels and Chad Pennington. Parcels gave the Dolphins and their fans hope...something that was foreign to them during the entire season. A legendary veteran in the NFL coming to help this team is what re-energized them. Then, cry-baby Brett Favre entered back into the NFL (don't get me started on that) and forced Chad Pennington out of the quarterback position for the Jets. That was an unfortunate move, but a good one for Pennington. Who would've thought that moving from the mediocre New York Jets to the 1-15 Miami Dolphins would be a good thing? It was, though. Miami started (gasp!) winning! As a result, they are looking at the playoffs right now. Pennington has the experience and expertise of playing good pro ball and that paid off for the OK team members on the Dolphins. However, they have to play the Ravens. The Ravens surprised me this season. Who would've thought that a first year head coach and rookie QB could be so good? They work out though. It's a magical thing, and quite can't be explained. Who am I picking for this game? Good question. The Dolphins have the fire and experience, whereas the Ravens seem to just have the fire. But the Ravens are trying things that no one else will during a game...and it's paying off. Despite all that, though, both teams are at 11-5. You're probably going to see this game go into overtime. The winner? I'm gonna say...the Miami Dolphins. Experience pays off in the NFL. Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers Let me start with the Chargers. They got in by pure stroke of luck. They are 8-8, have mediocre players (except for LT), and, frankly, don't deserve to be in the playoff picture. They did, however, smash the Broncos tonight. What does that say about them? They can play whenever they're under pressure. That's something that a lot of teams can't do at all (cough...Dallas Cowboys...cough cough). If the pressure remains constant for them during the entire playoff picture, you could very well see them go far into the picture. However...the pressure won't be the same. And even if it would be, Phillip Rivers would crack as QB. Perhaps another shooting off of the mouth as we saw last season against the Broncos? Who knows. What we have in Phillip Rivers is, honestly, a big kid playing pro ball. He's on the same level as Tony Romo of the Cowboys, except the rest of the Chargers are actually a decent team and can work with the ups and downs of Rivers. How about the Colts, though? They did beat the number one seeded Tennessee Titans today, right? Well, yes...but the Titans played their second string (as most teams at the top will do during the last regular season game). So we have to go to previous games. Looking at the Colts, they've had a good season. Not great, not bad either. A good one. Peyton Manning is one of the greatest QBs in the league (and I'm saying that, even as a Titans fan) and can lead the Colts far into the playoffs. Despite having a rocky start to the season, I see the Colts being one of the strongest teams out there, week after week. The outcome of this game? Let's see...8-8 Chargers and the 12-4 Colts? No contest on this one...Indianapolis Colts. Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings What can I say about both of these teams? They are on equal footing here. The Eagles have the strength, but the Vikings have the speed. We must remember, though...the Eagles tied with the Cincinnatti Bengals. I'm not saying that tie should be a blemish on the game of the Eagles, but we must remember...it was the BENGALS! The Vikings haven't done so hot, either, at various times during the season. But look at who both of them played today. The Eagles defeated the Cowboys by a magnificent margin, and the Vikings narrowly beat the Giants. Based on that alone, the Vikings have the upper hand, since they had better competition (and defeated the reigning Superbowl champs). Plus, the Vikings have the awesome playing power of Adrian Peterson. Who do I pick for this game? Again, it could be an overtime game...and if it's not, it will probably be a slim margin of no more than 7 points...but I'm going to choose the Minnesota Vikings for this one. Atlanta Falcons at Arizona Cardinals One word: Seriously? That's all I can think of. The Falcons have had a rough few years, and the Cardinals just can't win key games against worthy opponents. But all of that has changed this year. At first, I began to believe that Arizona doesn't deserve a playoff chance...but I changed my mind. They've come a long way. It wasn't a dramatic turn-around like the Dolphins, but it was a gradual one. The Falcons, however, have always had the explosive players, but no leader to harness that power into a team effort. I'm still not convinced they have that leader, but that can be debated. For this game, I'm going to have to go with the 11-5 Atlanta Falcons. They are a solid football team that has the ability to win games. Can they do it? It's up to them. There you have it, guys. My run-down of Wild Card Weekend. I hope you enjoyed it. see ya splanky | | |
| Hey semi-faithful readers. So I haven't posted on this thing in like 6 months (maybe more)...and I apologize. Things have been really hectic lately. But, honestly...I wouldn't mind getting back into the groove of regularly posting on Xanga. I'm not here to revive it or anything...cause everyone says that and look at what happens: they fail miserably. I won't lie to you, semi-faithful readers. I just want you to have fun reading the musings of my mind. So what has my life consisted of since my last update on this thing? Many things, actually. I finished my sophomore year at KCU. I'm now a junior and I have a pretty busy schedule next semester. We'll talk more about that later. Right now, though, I'm working for KCU Special Events, doing the SITS-JHC staff thing. I love it. Yeah, it's hard to get up in the morning, and sometimes the day will drag on and on, but I do love it. One cool thing I'm doing for Summer in the Son and Jr. High Challenge is a workshop. I'm teaching the "Rethink Salvation" workshop which covers the core beliefs and basic things of Christianity. The funny thing, though, is that the workshop has impacted me and trimmed the fat off of my faith moreso than my students. All I'm doing is revisiting the basic things we believe as Christians and asking questions like "Why did God send Jesus?" and "Who is God and Jesus?", among other questions. But we look at these things, REthink them, and realize the full impact of them. Maybe we sometimes jump deep into our faith before we really get the basics down. That's what this workshop is for. Again...I absolutely LOVE teaching it. It's really revived my heart for ministry. SITS/JHC has impacted me this way thus far: Yes, I am really tired right now, and I'm REALLY looking forward to my day off tomorrow...but seeing kids accept Christ, be rededicated, or accepting their call into ministry makes it ALL worth it. Every Thursday night we have a celebration service where we baptize and recognize the students that made a commitment to Christ. And it never fails...I always tear up every Thursday night. Seeing God change lives is a beautiful thing. And these aren't just students that come to KCU for a couple of days and leave...they've been there for a week, and I've talked to most of them. Some of them came to me with their problems, laid them out on the table, and looked at me, asking what they should do. All I do, and all the staff does, and all the speaker, worship leaders, whoever....all they do is introduce them to Jesus Christ. Then Christ does His own thing and blows our minds. It never fails. He never fails. It's great. I really didn't think working these conferences would impact me this much...but I was wrong. It has. And I'm really thankful for that. Another cool bit of news for me is that I'm starting an internship this fall at Gregoryville Christian Church in Grayson. I'll be learning from the pastor and youth pastor while heading up a college-age ministry there. I'm really excited about this. Please pray for this. Have I told you how excited I am? Extremely. I got a report back from campus ministry, and the people that went to Evensong this past semester said that they really liked it and will continue to go to it. Some of them said that it revived the once-dead discipleship on campus, and others said that it was the one true chance they had to lift their hands in worship on campus. God really has blessed Evensong, and I know He will continue to do so. I'm really excited about Evensong. To you guys and girls reading this who went to Evensong...thank you so much! Continue to come! Pray for it! Your support and prayers mean SO MUCH to me and the crew who plans it. Like I said, between classes, the internship, Evensong, and Student Council...I'm going to be really busy next semester. But I'm really excited about it (duh!) and looking forward to it. Never fail...I'll still have time to hang out and such. I always do. I have many more exciting stories and such, but I'll save them for a later time. Or I'll just tell you personally. That's usually what happens. Until next time, guys...stay cool, Xanga-land. consumed by the call splanky | | |
| Come and listen
Come to the water’s edge
All you who know and fear the Lord
Come and listen
Come to the water’s edge
All you who are thirsty, come
Let me tell you what He has done for me
Let me tell you what He had done for me
He has done for you
He has done for us
Come and listen
Come and listen to what He’s done
Praise our God for He is good
He has done for me
He has done for you
He has done for us As many have already noticed around campus, Evensong has started up. First, I'm so happy to see this thing get up and running. But, let me tell you...I'm blown away by what has happened in only the first two meetings. One of the main reasons we created Evensong was so that Christians can come together to worship corporately, and be discipled. By being discipled, Christians can lead others to Christ. So, for the ultimate goal of evangelism, we must disciple. We must be fed by God, watered by Him. That's exactly what is happening with Evensong. I'm so blessed by this, and I know God is being blessed by our coming together. The first two meetings totally blew away my expectations. I had set a "mental bar" on how things would go. God definitely had his own "mental bar" which totally exceeded mine...thankfully. I can't even begin to describe how well it went. I can't even begin to put into words the huge blessing it was to see Christians on campus raising their hands to God, diligently seeking Him, and wanting to take the Gospel and run to others with it. To say that Evensong has been just a "good service" would be the exact meaning of an understatement. Evensong has been, and is, and will continue to be, a God-movement. Not only a God-movement (which in it's best sense means us being moved by God), but God moving among us. Through Evensong, as crazy as it sounds, it seems like we have fallen into some sort of "dance" with God. We are moving, and He is moving, but it's all in unison. And, let me tell you...this dance is the greatest dance that can happen. God is drawing people closer to Him through the events of Evensong, and people are diligently seeking God in the mundane events and practices of everyday because of it. Once you taste the greatest thing, that's all you want! And praise God! Just through these two services of Evensong, we've tasted and we've seen! What more could we want? I want to say thank you to all that have come to Evensong. Please consider the invitation I'm extending to you now: Continue to come, and bring your friends. We can't contain what we've seen and tasted in a "box." It's our job to spread it. Everywhere, to all people, at all times. I'm leaving you with a song that is quite possibly one of my favorite worship songs. Funny thing is...it's an oldie. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this was written in the 1700s...maybe 1800s. The song touches me, though. Let it do the same to you. consumed by the call, sean Come thou font of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of thy redeeming love
Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I'm come
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wondering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood
O to grace how how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above! | | |
|
