This from my new friend Vox Day (thanks Adam!):
In my ideal world, there would be a test for an inclination to tell other people what to do. Those who test positive would be sent to Antarctica, where they could spend their lives trying to run each others' lives, leaving the rest of us in peace for a change.
AMEN!

Also, I'm not en ecologist or biologist or any other kind of -gist, but I was reading in National Geographic yesterday that nearly a century ago they (I don't know who they are) removed wolves from Yellowstone National Park. Recently, within the past ten years anyway, they have been reintroduced , which of course was feared to be a death sentence for the elk. Au Contraire Mu Fraire! It seems the elk and other flora are thriving like never before. The wolf are back in their natural habitat and all species are doing just fine. This makes me think, God created the wolf and put them in their natural habitat, we came in and messed it up for some reason but when they returned things returned to normal. I see God so in this, as Paul wrote to the church in Rome, "being understood from what has been made..."
Maybe it's a stretch, but it makes sense to me...

I'm thinking of adding more "Signs of the Apocalypse" much like Sports Illustrated, since the more I am reading the more I am finding. Here is another one from Discovery News:
It seems that Michelangelo's David sculpture is anatomically perfect except for a missing muscle in the back. Michelangelo knew this but sait he couldn't help it due to an imperfection in the marble.
Who in the world has the time and wants to take the time to study these things? And who pays them?

This from rapper KRS-One, who said he and other blacks cheerer when 9-11 happened:
The atrocity of 9-11 "doesn't affect us the hip-hop community," he said. "9-11 happened to them, not us," he added, explaining that by "them" he meant "the rich ... those who are oppressing us. RCA or BMG, Universal, the radio stations."
Oppressing them, Hmmm... I would like to hear what he means by that.

Another sign that the Apocalypse is upon us:
The Fox Valley Humane Association has raised $1 million dollars since April for a new building, a third of the way to their $3.2 million goal. Donations have come from private individuals and small businesses. "The 17,500 sqare foot building...will have a memorial garden, exercise area, training room, and children's learning room..."
And people around the world and locally are starving and living without basic needs...

I'm a tortured soul, I hate the Miami Hurricanes and the Yankees, and no matter what they scum out and find a way to win. I love Florida State and the Red Sox and no matter what bad things tend to happen to them. Why do I put myself through this?

I'm creating a list of things I want to do before I die, but really sometime in the very near future. Some of them I think are a little weird yet I want to do them anyway.

1) See Alicia Keys in concert (she's my girl)
2) See Sheryl Crow in concert (this one convicts me, but it's true)
3) Learn to surf
4) Drive through Mexico to the Guatemala border
5) Spend a year in a foreign, third world country
6) Hit every continent (really just Asia, Australia, and South America, Antarctica and Europe apart from the Italian coast are of no interest to me)


There's more but that's enough for now.

This from the AP:

A Fox News Channel producer sued Bill O'Reilly for sexual harassment Wednesday, alleging her boss had phone sex with her against her wishes three times. Fox filed a countersuit, saying the complaint was a politically motivated extortion attempt.

How does this happen? Couldn't she just hang up? I'm confused.

I find this quote from Leon Morris in the "Atonement" very pertinent to our world today:

"We are talking about some act we do at cost to ourselves and for the benefit of others (or sometimes for some future good for ourselves). Thus we may speak of the sacrifices some parents make to give their children a good education. Ancients like me remember that during the years of the Second World War we were frequently called upon to make sacrifices to assist our country. That meant forgoing comfort and pay raises and it involved making due with inferior substitutes instead of insisting on the superior article; on occasion it meant going without something altogether." (43)

Very convicting and I ask myself and others, are we willing to give up some luxuries for the benefit of the war on terrorism and some of our brothers and sisters around the world starving and being persecuted for their faith?

Another interesting comment, probably very familiar, same book:

"In every age people have found it easier to perform outward actions that to live pure lives." (51)

I think that is why we are so infatuated with the model of church that we have today.

Finally, this comment from "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth":

"In Matthew 5:29-30 Jesus tells his disciples to gouge out an offending eye or cut off an offending arm. Now we all know that Jesus "did not really mean that."

How do we know that? I think Jesus meant that more literal than we think when we look at it in context. Check it out.

I've never really connected with the Psalms, but I ran across one tonight that really hit me. Some excerpts from Psalm 143:

"O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief...
The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground...
I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; my souls thirsts for you like a parched land...
For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life, in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. In your unfailing love, silence my enemies and destroy all my foes, for I am your servant."

This from the Sports Guy:

"My favorite part of that Cialis commercial: When the announcer quickly voices over near the end, "Erections lasting for more than four hours require immediate medical help." Nurse, can you get me a billy club please? Thanks."

On a different note, I'm coming more and more to the realization that many people (from my vantage point, however, I've experienced this more from teens, but also seen it from adults) don't want to realize that the world we live in is not God's will. They always want to say that their parents getting divorced is God's will, people getting sick is not God's will, when something bad happens, it's God's will, etc. That's just not true, yet they are very sensitive to telling them that it's not. We live in the product of a fallen world that God has and is redeeming, but what we see in most cases day to day is not God's will. The Garden of Eden prior to the fall was God's will and Revelation 21 & 22 lay out the will of God as well. In the meantime, we must pray for God's will to be done, for the world to see Him as Lord and live their lives to glorify Him, and that must be done one person at a time.

This from Ray Buchanan, cornerback for the Raiders:

Favorite off-day activity?

"I love bowling. I average, like, 180. On Tuesdays during the season I get my brothers and go roll."

Bring on Lebowski!

There is this girl that prays with us at school every morning that just makes me laugh. She always gives the group a pep talk while she is praying, and more than the group she'll give other groups a pep talk. This morning she was praying for good weather at the game tonight so the football players, "who have given all their time and effort and dedication can go out there and show what a good team they are..." I just had to laugh. I think her heart is in the right place, but...not necessarily prayer glorifying or praising or seeking wisdom from God.

Talk about nothing being out on the video scene, I was just looking at Family Video online and there has been nothing good released in the last two moths and nothing on the horizon. Ladykillers? Alamo? Makes me sick...I can't wait for Christmas when "Oceans 12" and "Meet the Fochers" comes out.

On another somber note, I see Brett Favre's brother-in-law was killed on an ATV accident. It reminds me of when I was somewhere around 12 and had a nasty crash with one of those and was lucky to walk away. It always reminds me when I hear stories like this how lucky I was to survive adolescence and early adulthood alive and have the chance to get to know Jesus.

Speaking of that, I was asked yesterday if I was a "very religious person?" I hate that term, but never know how to respond. From now on I am going to say, "If you are asking if I love Jesus, yes I do. If you are asking if I am some religious nut, then no." I can't wait to see the reaction on that person's face.

If I was Dick Cheney I would look at John Edwards and ask, "Who let you in?" And then I'd swat him like a little flea.

I like what Cheney said in response to one of Edwards' comments last night, "That's good rhetoric from the Senator but just not true..." and then went on to refute his comments.

There is a haunted house in the Fox Valley called "The Morgue" and is being sponsored by a church. Another sign that the Apocalypse is soon upon us.

A speaker came into school today with a positive message, although I don't think the message was what they were expecting. He talked about excuses and reasons for the first half hour and then spend about 20 minutes on how Jesus changed his life and all the goods. The auditorium was silent. At the beginning I was wondering how he was getting away with this and that he shouldn't be doing then, but then I realized, who cares, these kids need to hear the Gospel and I have just been too brainwashed to realize that this is a free country and this should be allowed in the schools.

Then, this from the Sports Guy today, you may have to be a Red Sox fan to get it:

"Superstars: Vlad vs. Manny. Two streaky, enigmatic guys who can carry a team for weeks at a time. Their stats are almost identical -- Vlad hit 30 points higher (.337 to .308), but their OBP's were the same, plus Manny had more homers and RBI and a higher slugging percentage. Then again, Vlad gives you better defense, a cannon arm and the occasional SB. Then again, Manny has a huge edge in playoff experience: something like 60 playoff games to zero. Then again, we're not even sure Manny realizes that there's a difference between the regular season and the playoffs, or that they're keeping score during games. EDGE: EVEN"

Jesse Jackson Jr. was being interviewed on the radio this morning by Mike North out of Chicago and he asked him what exactly Kerry's plan for Iraq was, since it was laid out so well on Thursday evening but no one still has any idea what it was. He called for a global summit to discuss the exit process, but then also said that wouldn't work so there would have to be an Arab summit to get those countries involved in helping us get out of Iraq. That'll work...

I went to the grocery store last night to pick up some pasta and went through the express lane. I couldn't beleive my eyes when the person two ahead of me paid for Robitussin with a check. Then, the guy in front of me paid for whatever he bought, which came to $7.77 with a check as well! I thought the Lord Himself was coming back...