I have to say that I am really sick and tired of all the politically correct garbage in our society. This week it seems that some students are offended that a teacher has labeled them by...what they are! (link to article no longer available)

(CBS4) HOLBROOK Some students at Holbrook senior and junior high school are accusing a gym teacher of labeling them by race. The teacher allegedly wrote the remarks to help her learn the names of the students.

"You'd see our last name, comma and then you'd see our first name and on the side....it said black girl."

Fourteen-year-old Darlene Fontes says she glanced at her gym teacher's attendance sheet and couldn't believe what she saw next to her name.

This quote from the student is the one that really got me:

It shouldn't matter at all. We're all equal. You shouldn't pinpoint people because of what they are...

Think about that...you shouldn't call me what I am? People...stop looking for something to be offended about...

In my last entry I spoke of reading a book with my wife.

The night we finished it (before reading) she said "do you want to read a chapter tonight?". I had my typical reaction, you know, slumping shoulders..."okaayyyy" (in my mind) like I didn't really want to but I will. Then we read the book and I really enjoyed it and it was awesome.

The next day, I think, I was thinking about how the previous night had played out. I then thought of a contrast, for example, looking at porn. As it turns out it is exactly the opposite. When I first get the thought and throughout the act it's intriguing, intersting, even fun. Then after I come to my senses and stopped I become miserable, punishing myself, feeling like a loser, etc...

So it goes like this:

GOOD DEED: initial reaction is blah...result is spiritual woohoo

EVIL DEED: initial reaction is woohoo...result is spiritual blah

- crucifyd -

I've been reading a book with my wife called Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson. Excellent book.

I've written of my struggle with porn / lust in the past and that is part of what he covers in this book. He spoke of how marriage is a representation of the relationship between Christ and the Church, which I knew of previously. However, he put it in a way that I hadn't heard before, and it has really impacted my thinking.

Almost any guy reading this can identify with being out driving around or whatever and being zoned out on some woman "almost wearing a dress" (as Wilson put it in the book). Here is a quote from Wilson, from pgs 108-109:

When a new family is formed, it is formed around a sexual relationship. The Bible teaches us that this marriage relationship portrays Christ and the Church. Just as the husband and wife are physically united as one, so Christ and the Church are spiritually one. When a husband and wife have a physical union along with spiritual harmony, then it provides a good picture of Christ and the Church. A couple who have this physical union, but who are constantly fighting are constantly lying about Christ and the Church.

A husband and wife do not have the option of saying nothing about Christ and the Church. If the husband and wife are driving down the street, and some woman who is almost wearing a dress walks by, and he almost drives off the road, then the whole world knows that his wife has been insulted. But the world does not really know why. The husband is saying that, even though Jesus singled out a people for Himself, and then shed His blood for His elect, He is still willing to gawk at strangers. The lie says that Christ is unfaithful to His elect. So mental or physical infidelity is telling a lie about the spiritual faithfulness of Jesus to His people. Christian couples must protect their sexual and spiritual harmony, keeping that unity free from all disruptions. Otherwise we lie to the world about Christ and the Church.

- Douglas Wilson -

source: Reforming Marriage

So, the concept of lying about Christ everytime I let my eyes wander to another woman has really impacted me and I believe this is another milestone marker on the way to purity of thought and action that I have struggled so long to achieve. Of course the reason it is changing is that God is doing a work in me and each time I have made progress is when I have let go of putting my own effort into it. Everytime I have tried has ended in failure. Only when I give up and quit trying is true progress made.

Reprinted by permission.

why a tshirt? why the message?

in a culture blinded by sensational materialism numbed by sensuality and drowning in apathy one can only hope that a few individuals will continue to stand.

this isn't a self-righteous moral crusade however, where one group of people look at another and shake their heads in disapproval.

this crusade starts from within.

it is our goal that over the next few pages, you will take a good hard look at your values, priorities, and goals.

not because we're perfect, but because we're learning to question our hearts.

because not everything is what it seems.

and the faith that you've grown comfortable with may not be acceptable to the Holy Spirit.

and the God you pray to on occasion just might be ready to burst out of the tiny box you've put Him in. your silly routine of living like everyone else and calling yourself a christ-follower may be over.

the days in which you lived for yourself and seldom opened your eyes to the higher reality may be over. there is no time left for selfishness. no time for playing games with God. no time to sit in your comfortable little life saying someday i'll consider surrendering my life. LIFE is here, waiting for you, He is standing in front of you, and the time has come for a face to face surrender.

this isn't about nominal legalism. this isn't about wasting energy doing religious activities that have nothing to do with the Heart of the one who created us. this isn't about getting you 'real busy' and spending every second of every day going to bible studies and christian clubs. it's not even about making you into a cookie cutter christian who looks like every other person in your church.

it's about LIFE. it's about relating to our Creator. it's about hearing His voice, sensing His touch, and following His direction. it's about getting outside yourself for once, and touching the supernatural.

it's about living a life that defies human explanation. it's about a faith that is just as real as these stapled pieces of paper that you're reading.

about a God who still heals the sick, touches the brokenhearted and sets the captives free.

a God who's not intimidated by sin, immorality, or a dirty past. a God who can see behind the hard mask that's been put up to see the hurting child on the inside. who is willing to deal with real issues and doesn't need to sugarcoat truth because HE is the ANSWER.

are you willing to walk these dirty streets with Him? it may not be glamorous. it may be controversial. it may not be efficient and it may not fit the model you learned in church. but there's nothing more amazing. it's simple. it involves intimacy. it fits in to your life because it encompasses your life. it requires everything. it will demand for you to hand over your haphazard spiritual discipline, your sloppy dysfunctional way of relating to members of the opposite sex, and your blatant lack of care for people who can't give you anything you want or need. it will mean you'll have to deal with the hurts and sins of your past, instead of burying them so they can be unearthed on another bitter painful day. but in trade, you'll experience LIFE Himself.

are you ready to surrender?

- Unknown -

source: http://www.onetruth.com

Saw this in sombody's signiture on the seahawks.net message board quite awhile ago and liked it. referring to the formula for the 12th man:

68,000 x 90 decibels = 12

- Unkown -

Reprinted by permission.

we, the united sheep of america.

we will do anything to feel accepted. we follow the crowd, even when the crowd is going nowhere. we embrace it's values as our own, even when it has none.

we intoxicate ourselves to the point of mindlessness, and give our bodies over to someone else's pleasure.

we spend our lives trying to pursue that which some call success. or we try to follow endless religious traditions that lead us nowhere.

we are continually filling ourselves yet we still feel empty because we forget: long ago a man died on a wooden cross, nails through his hands and feet, blood dripping on to the ground, in order to release us from the sheep mentality. love held Him on that cross and cries out to us now. the choice is ours: we accept truth or deny Christ.

His truth changes conformity to courage - fear to hope - apathy to love - death to life.

now is the time. surrender your life to the one truth.

"I have come to give life, and give it more abundantly" (john 10:10)

- www.onetruth.com -

source: http://www.onetruth.com

Here's a killer piece my boy wrote for school last week:

God has all the power,
to make all the trees and flowers,
He made all the trees,
so we could see the breeze,
can you see that He has all the power?

- crucifyd's son -

That part about the breeze is what really got me...

Well back to SB XL. I saw this on the www.seahawks.net message board:

to those steeler fans and others who blame the seahawks for not overcoming the bad calls enough to win anyway, i ask: why should the seahawks be required to score five tds in order to have three of them count, when the steelers only had to score two tds in order to have three of them count?

- Unknown -

As someone said in response to that, officiating shouldn't be something you have to 'overcome'...

I saw this on www.firestream.net posted in response to the comment "but God would not ask us to be perfect like Him if He knew we couldn't do it."

actually - that's exactly why God asked us - because we can't do it. it's impossible. we cannot be perfect. the only way we can be perfect is for Him to regard us as perfect through sanctification and justification.

- Unknown -

Interesting comment, another one of those i'll have to ponder...

Apparently this is a note in the New King James version of the Bible:

if we attempt to live by the law, we quickly discover that we are breaking the law (cf romans 7:5). but when we act in accordance with God's love, without being under the law, we fulfill it.

Posted in the week following the Super Bowl #1

definition:
seahawked (v) - to get ripped off, hosed, screwed by someone due to their incompetence, stupidity and/or ignorance to the situation.

in a sentence:
i was running to second base and got there ahead of the ball but the ump seahawked me and called me out anyways.

origin:
english - this term was minted after super bowl xl in detroit when a team from seattle named the seahawks were the victims of bad interpretations of rules and even worse calls made by officials who were incompetent and unable to make the correct call. this resulted in the superior seahawk team to suffer a defeat as a result of the poor officiating.

- AStack75 @ www.seahawksal.com -

source: http://www.seahawksal.com/...

Posted in the week following the Super Bowl #2

I had a bet at work where the loser had to wear the winners jersey....

30 Steeler fans were not impressed when I walked in this morning wearing white and black stripes.....I told them to prove me wrong....they couldn't.

- btp2k2 @ www.seahawksal.com -

source: http://www.seahawksal.com/...

Posted in the week following the Super Bowl #3

1963: jfk assasination
1969: us space mission lands on the moon
1972: watergate
2000: presidential election of the usa
2006: super bowl xl

- NewYawkSeahawk @ www.seahawksal.com -

source: http://www.seahawksal.com/...

Wow...the Hawks made it to the big show after 30 years...only to have it become a farce. I honestly thought this was pretty evenly matched and had the potential to be an all-time Super Bowl...

Bad calls happen but to have that many blatant bad calls (and non-calls) go against one team? In one game? This was just crazy...not to mention the incredible bias in the broadcast itself. I'm not prepared to say "fix" although the term has crossed my mind a million times in the last 53 hours.

Today the NFL said the game was properly officiated, including, as in most nfl games, some tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials.

NFL...what game are you referring to?

Suspicious...

Referring to Super Bowl XL...

We knew it was going to be tough going against the Pittsburgh Steelers,...I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.

- Mike Holmgren -