Month: March 2007 (page 3 of 4)

OK, a couple of disclaimers…

1. I know absolutely nothing about college basketball, except that I like it better than the NBA
2. I have absolutely no expertise about brackets and handicapping and such
3. The only thing I really know about this year’s March Madness is that the men’s Final Four is in the ATL, which means traffic will once again be a mess. (And BTW, whoever came up with the inane phrase “The ATL” for Atlanta? Guess we should start saying “The WOO” for our up-and-coming town…but I digress…)
4. Oh, and I know Dickie V will say “bay-bee” at least 147 times and “awesome” at least 235 times before the tournament’s final buzzer sounds.

All that being said, I filled out my bracket for the Atlanta paper’s online contest. My very unscientific, uneducated, and really uncaring picks for the Final Four are Wisconsin, Illinois (my Cinderella team for this year), Ohio State, and in a nod to Tadd – who bleeds Carolina blue – North Carolina. (Hey, Tadd…what exactly is a freakin’ Tar Heel anyway?!?!?)

I know, I know…that’s the Big Ten filling out three-quarters of the Big Dance. So sue me…

My winner? North Carolina over Wisconsin…86-78.

Since my journey toward health and fitness started and progressed over the last year or so, some people have asked me to post an “after” picture to document my progress. If you’re a glutton for punishment, if you have some pests you need to chase away, if you love the grotesque, just hold on…one may be on the way!

Finished the “Prayerbusters” series yesterday. The last barrier to answered prayer was lack of faith or inadequate faith.

Late Saturday night on the road, I heard Martina McBride‘s song “Anyway,” and I thought it was perfect for what I wanted to convey…

You can spend your whole life buildin’
Something from nothin’
One storm could come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

You could chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

God is great but sometimes life ain’t good
And when I pray
It doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

This world’s gone crazy
And it’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all you heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
Love ’em anyway

God is great but sometimes life ain’t good
And when I pray
It doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
Yeah I do it anyway

You can pour your soul out singin’
A song you believe in
Then tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yeah sing it anyway

I sing
I dream
I love anyway

I just noticed that these two have one thing in common… the word “too” in the titles! Cool!

Anyway, I picked these up on my first Starbucks stop yesterday. I listened to them already on a trip, but they are absolutely perfect for an unwind on the Daylight Saving Time Sunday!

This date, March 8, comes around annually, and I don’t really like it one bit. I’m not particularly fond of September 7, either.

Why?

Am I reminded of some tragic event that happened on March 8 and September 7? Are those days the anniversaries of some cataclysmic occurrence?

Nope.

I don’t like these two dates because I use the One Year Bible on an almost-daily basis. And sometimes I’m tempted to skip March 8 and September 7.

See, I don’t really like to be confronted about my failures, sin, and falling-short-ness. And these words do it better (worse?) than just about any words I read…

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

On the other hand, the same days also have these words…

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Welcome back to the blogosphere, Ken!

There may not be better Saturday morning music in the whole wide world than The Verve’s classic “Bitter Sweet Symphony.”

Go ahead, you know you want to…

What if you could live your life over again?

You mean, exactly as I’ve lived it?

You know Earl Creps, right? The Off-Road Disciplines guy? Seminary professor guy? And now, soon-to-be fledgling church planter guy? Yeah, him…

I wish he had just minded his own business.

I wish he had just done that seminary professor thing, and coasted on off into the sunset of his later years.

I wish he had just decided to keep blogging.

I wish he had just kept on encouraging the whippersnappers out there.

But nooooooo! You know what Earl Creps had the audacity to do? He’s taking a huge plunge. He’s planting a church. In Berkeley, California. He’s over 50. And he’s bragging about it! (Well, not really “bragging” per se, but he is throwing it out there for all the world – including other timid, almost-50, sedate, comfortable-but-unfulfilled types – to see.

And if that’s not enough, he says this about one of the reasons why…

My friend and Dean, Joe Castleberry, preached a sermon in an AGTS chapel last fall that contained an intriguing statement: the two great risk-taking phases of life are the twenties (before you have kids) and the fifties (after the nest is empty). This thought became like a virus in my mental programming, slowly beginning to take control of things.

I really, really wish he hadn’t “quit preaching and gone to meddling.”

If you are approaching “middle age,” if you find yourself wondering “what if?” or “is this all there is?” do not – I repeat – do not read Earl’s post. You may find yourself gearing up for something that will rock your world…

As a complement/update to that last post about XM Channel 75, I just realized you could switch over to Radio Paradise for some of the same kind of groove…that works, too!

Or if you really want an eclectic mix of tunes, check out student-run WREK at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.