Merry Christmas - except in the Holy Land

It's very easy to be a Christian. Christianity is unique among the world's major religions. As a Christian, you do not have to perform any tasks to get into heaven. Jesus loved us so much he died for all our sins, including yours. He took the heat for you so you can get into heaven. All you have to do is acknowledge Jesus as your savior, and you're in. Many people (I'm looking at you, Catholics) have the mistaken belief that you can't get into heaven unless you perform good works or jump through certain hoops. That's simply not the case. Your faith in Christ gets you in. We, as Christians, do good works and try to lead a Christ-like life because that's what he'd like us to do. Contrary to popular belief, it is very unlikely that St. Peter is there at the pearly gates with his book to list off all your sins. Jesus has opened the door for you, if you're willing to walk in.

And so we reach Christmas again. We reflect upon the importance of Jesus's birth in light of what he did for us. It's very easy to gather round the tree, in front of the fireplace, and honor his birthday with gifts to each other in our Western world. But for many Christians, all they have this Christmas is Jesus' message. No, I'm not necessarily talking about the poor and homeless, although they certainly deserve our attention. I'm talking about persecuted Christians throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East. Even today, when we get bombarded with media attacks against Christianity or we see our fellow Christians everywhere we go, there are Christians that are clinging very tightly to the message of "peace on earth".

Muslim persecution of Christians goes largely unnoticed by the mainstream media. As you read this, in the Middle East (where Jesus was born and from where his message spread througout the world) Christians are becoming an endangered species. That seems so hard to fathom here, where there is a church on every corner, and we are almost led to feel guilty about how many of us there are and how our religion is pushed on people when we simply say "merry christmas".

But right now some Christians live in fear because of there beliefs. For a brief moment in 2001 this country felt what it is like to be those Christians, but we've quickly forgotten. I highly encourage you to read this article:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWEwZGJiMDEyOWU0ZWM0YWNmMThmMmQyOWQyZDM1OGI=

and do more research yourself. Let us not forget our brethern in the Holy Land this Christmas. Let us remember them in our prayers this Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Yes, it is very easy to be a Christian...for us.

If you're thinking of voting Democrat...

Couldn't have said this better myself:

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12269

Soldiers dying equals bad - killing babies equals good

Today on the way home I had a car in front of me with two interesting bumper stickers. One was calling for the troops to come home - specifically "bring them home ALIVE". On the other side of the bumper was a sticker saying Keep Abortion Legal.

I have to assume two things about this hypocrite. One, he probably didn't give a crap about soldiers before they could be used as an anti-Bush slogan. Two, he probably is ok with abortions all the way up to right before a birth would take place. Regardless, he wants all the soldiers to come home alive, but he's ok with mothers killing their unborn children. I bet he's against the dealth penalty, too. But...he has no problem with abortion.

If you're one of those people, please post a comment and explain your thinking to me. Soldiers sacrificing themselves for our freedom - not okay. Crimials convicted of heinous crimes being executed - not okay. Killing an unborn child for reasons as diverse as "I don't want it" to "it could really crimp my lifestyle" - okay?

Falcons follow-up

Ok, I was wrong about the Falcons. They'll be lucky to win five games this year, but it won't be Harrington's fault. He played a fantastic game against Carolina today. The o-line played well, too.

Why did they lose? DeAngelo Hall basically lost the game for us with those unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Stupid and juvenile. Is he a professional football player? Does he get paid millions to act like a jerk-off? He's so arrogant that he probably doesn't care (or perhaps realize) that he lost this game for the Falcons today. I hope his teammates tear him a new one. His penalties weren't the only ones, but his actions sucked the life out of the Falcons and breathed a new one into the Panthers. He negated what was an otherwise great effort by the whole team. Maybe someone will slip a tack in his shoe while he's in the showers.

Atlanta Falcons - no more Vick, no problem

I’m not an expert on football, so don’t place any wagers based on my say-so. But I have been paying a lot more attention to football the past few years than in the past, and I feel confident discussing it. The first regular season football game for this season is tonight, so all the pundits and sports media outlets have issued their predictions and power rankings. One thing that is almost universal this year is that they are holding the Atlanta Falcons in very low regard. Bottom of the barrel regard, in fact.

Quite frankly, that’s a mistake and I think most of them know it. By predicting failure on the Falcons’ part, though, they can they say “hey, isn’t it great they’re doing better than projected”, or they can simply claim they’ve been lucky or performing beyond they ability.

Well, unlike them, I’m happy to lay it on the line; the Falcons will do all right this season. I predict an 8 – 8 season. That may not sound like much, but compared to the 2 – 14 and 3 – 15 season most people are predicting I’m giving the Falcons a great deal of credit.

And they deserve it. The Falcons have a fantastic coaching staff, far better than Mora and his gang (except for special teams coach Joe DeCamillis – he was good). They have numerous playmakers on both sides of the ball. They offensive and defensive lines are solid. The Falcons lack depth, and they have a lot of rookies, but if they can stay healthy they can succeed this year.

A lot of people are using the Vick fiasco as an excuse to predict a bad season for the Falcons. If you think that they would have been a championship team this year simply if they had him on the team you’re as delusional as the people predicting they dismal failure. The team is better off without him. He wasn’t a leader, on or off the field. His unique skills maybe allow you to salvage one or two games in the win column that you might otherwise loose, and yes, one game can mean the difference between getting to the playoffs or not.

Some might point to the season in which Vick broke his leg in a pre-season game. His back-ups were Doug Johnson and some guy whose name escapes me. If it weren’t for the fact that Doug Johnson sucked ass so hard that season in Vick’s absence I wouldn’t even remember his name. The Falcons tanked without Vick that year because they didn’t have a good back-up.

So, what’s different this year? Joey Harrington. He’s got something to prove, and that is always a positive factor. He’s got a good attitude, and by all accounts he’s ready for a fresh start. Most importantly, he’s better than you think. And really, that’s all he has to be, because you (and you know who you are) think he stinks.

With Vick gone the true playmakers in this offense can shine – Warrick Dunn, Jerious Norwood, Joe Horn, Alge Crumpler, etc. All Harrington has to do is not play badly. If he plays well the Falcons can really kick some ass on offense because of the plan and plays that Coach Petrino has in place, but as long as he doesn’t play badly they can get by. I predict he’ll have a great year, though. This preseason he’s shown poise, accuracy, and an ability to make something happen when plays or protection breaks down. If he’s consistent this season, I’ll take him over Vick any day.

No, I’m sober. Really.
Other folks point to the breakdowns they’ve had in the second half of the past two seasons. You can blame that squarely on former (thankfully) coaches Jim Mora and Greg Knapp. They deserved to get canned for a variety of reasons. The only one I’ll go into here is the fact that they inherited a team with numerous playmakers, and after some first season luck failed to capitalize at all on their skills the next two seasons. If your coach can’t do that, why keep him around? Coach Petrino and his staff have made it a point to craft the offense so that the ball gets to the all the playmakers. And unlike Mora and his staff, Petrino won’t have to figure out a way to make Vick a good throwing quarterback or craft plays that can utitlize him. They can just concentrate on calling good plays.

Are the Falcon’s going to win the Super Bowl? No. Are the Falcons going to make the playoffs? Possibly. I think the Saints will win the NFC South, but the Falcons might make a run at a wildcard spot. Will the Falcons exceed expectations? Definitely.

Here’s how I see it the positives:
Low expectations from pundits equals motivation for team
Great coaching staff in place
Lots of playmakers on both sides of the ball
Good quarterback with something to prove
Solid o-line
Solid d-line
Experienced players and fresh-legged rookies

Here’s how I see the negatives:
All new staff and scheme that might not come together the first year
Very little depth behind the starters
Quarterback has history of failure and his mental toughness is an unknown
Aging players and inexperience rookies

Either way, I predict that if the Falcons stay healthy they’ll at least break even this season, and make a respectable showing. There may even be a few upsets along the way. Cinderella story for 2008? Only a deluded fan will predict that. I’ll take 8 – 8 this year, though.

Note: after the Falcons play they first regular season game this Sunday I’ll follow-up this blog with any alterations to my prediction, and then leave it alone for the rest of the season.

God is not "allah"

From the Associated Press:

AMSTERDAM - A Roman Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands has proposed people of all faiths refer to God as Allah to foster understanding, stoking an already heated debate on religious tolerance in a country with one million Muslims.
Bishop Tiny Muskens, from the southern diocese of Breda, told Dutch television on Monday that God did not mind what he was named and that in Indonesia, where Muskens spent eight years, priests used the word "Allah" while celebrating Mass.
"Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? ... What does God care what we call him? It is our problem."

Are you a Christian? You say yes. What makes you a Christian? "I believe in God" you say. You might even say "I believe in Jesus", which I will take to mean that you believe Jesus was the son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, and died for our salvation. What about the Holy Spirit (or Ghost, if you prefer)? Not something you probably think about much, but we'll let that go for the moment.

As a Christian, what do you think of the news story above? Many people assume that Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and we just have different names for him. That's what the media tells us. All three started with the Old Testament, Abraham, etc. God and allah are the same guy, right?

Wrong. God is not Allah. A Christian believes (or is supposed to believe) in a Triune god - a Trinity. Father - Son - Holy Spirit. Separate, but one. Muslims believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is blasphemous idolatry. Allah is the arabic translation for the word god, but when Muslims refer to Allah they are referring to the subject of the Koran, not the Christian god.

"Wait, H.K.," you interrupt. "Muslims believe in Jesus. I saw it on TV, dickhead." Yes, to my knowledge, Muslims believe Jesus existed. They believe he was one of Allah's prophets, but not the son of God. Not a redeemer.

Referring to God as "allah" is not referring to God at all. It would be like referring to your best friend Hank as Bob. Hank is not Bob, and vice versa. Jews, Muslims and Christians do not believe in the same God.

I ask again, are you a Christian? If so, you wouldn't start referring to God as "allah". In fact, this is what you're supposed to believe, as the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod puts it:

On the basis of the Holy Scriptures we teach the sublime article of the Holy Trinity; that is, we teach that the one true God, Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4, is the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, three distinct persons, but of one and the same divine essence, equal in power, equal in eternity, equal in majesty, because each person possesses the one divine essence entire, Col. 2:9, Matt. 28:19. We hold that all teachers and communions that deny the doctrine of the Holy Trinity are outside the pale of the Christian Church. The Triune God is the God who is gracious to man, John 3:16-18, 1 Cor. 12:3. Since the Fall, no man can believe in the "fatherhood" of God except he believe in the eternal Son of God, who became man and reconciled us to God by His vicarious satisfaction, 1 John 2:23; John 14:6.

Are you sure you are a Christian?

Michael Vick - model citizen

It's been too long since my last post. I've got a lot of half finished ones that I keep putting off, but as a metro Atlanta resident there's one current event I can't wait to post about. That's right - Michael Vick.
For those of you living in a Dixie cup he is the Atlanta Falcons quarterback and a huge NFL star. He was recently indicted on federal charges related to dog fighting. The indictment is full of horrific stuff; I'll leave you to find the details on your own. Sufficed to say, the details are gruesome, and he was in the thick of it. There's a special room in Hell for folks that do the things he's accused of doing.
The question in the past week has been what will the NFL commissioner or team owner Arthur Blank do in response? For those not in the know, the commissioner has complete discretion to sanction Vick. The team owner can either cut him or impose a four game suspension. Comissioner Goodell has been bringing the hammer down on low-lifes in the NFL since he took office. He can't look weak in the Vick situation, but he has to move carefully. There are factors like the players' union agreement with the NFL, and the conditions of Vick's contract that have to be taken into account.

We learned on Monday and Tuesday what will happen. On Monday Goodell ordered Vick not to report to training camp, which starts tomorrow. On Tuesday the Falcons held a press conference, and announced that prior to the commissioner's directive they were going for the max themselves, which is a four game suspension. The commissioner asked them to hold off until he completed his review. When asked if he ever expected Vick to play as a Falcon again Arthur Blank gave what is essentially a negative response. What it all boils down to now is that it is obvious Blank has had his fill of Michael Vick's embarassments - incidents like Ron Mexico/herpes, fake water bottle, skipping congressional hearing, flipping a bird at the fans, etc. etc. Reading between the lines you can tell that as far as Blank is concerned Vick is out. And, it's obvious that Goodell will bring the hammer down hard, and soon. My guess is that he will suspend Vick for the season, after which the Falcons will cut him, regardless of how the legal case plays out.

Now, many Vick apologists or general mamby-pamby folks say that Vick is innocent until proven guilty, and we should give him the benefit of the doubt. My answer is that the legal process is the legal process. He'll end up guilty or innocent. It has nothing to do with the NFL. The commissioner has the discretion and authority to discipline players that violate the league's personal conduct policy. The players' union expressly agreed to that. A player can appeal it, of course...to the commissioner. I love it.

So, has Vick violated the personal conduct policy? Is he deserving of punishment? Of course! Aside from the many embarassing incidents he's been involved in over the years, he is clearly guilty of three things:

1. He chooses very poor company


2. He has very bad judgment


3. He has been terribly negligent

The result has been one black eye after another.

He owns the house/property in Virginia where the dogfighting occurred. Let's say for the sake of argument that he knew nothing of it. At the very least, he deserves to be punished for allowing something like this to occur under his nose. He is responsible for his property and how it is used. And that's if you believe he knew nothing was going on. His cousin lives there, for Pete's sake! How naive are you?

He's brought negative publicity and embarassment to the league, the team, and the town too many times. He deserves to be cut, or at the very least suspended for the entire next season.

Let's be clear about one thing - unlike a lot of people I wanted Mike Vick as quarterback. I was eager to see what new coach Bobby Patrino and his staff were going to make out of him this year. I think that if he applied himself properly and the right coaching staff took hold of him he could be much more than an incredible runner with a mediocre arm. I'm terribly disappointed that we won't see Vick the athlete on the field this season. The Falcons are probably half as likely to win a game without him than with him. But I'm more than happy to see Vick the person go to jail or get run out of this town on a rail. As exciting a player as he is, good riddance to bad rubbish.

It terms of NFL history this is a huge loss. Vick will now become one of sports greatest "what if's". What if the Vick had taken football more seriously? What if he had worked harder? What if he had used better judgment off the field? What if Arthur Blank hadn't wasted three years with coach Jim Mora and staff? And the biggest one of all...what would this season have been like if Vick had played? We'll never know. Vick has cheated himself, his team, and NFL fans everywhere out of quite a lot...so he could conduct and watch dog fights. Well done.