I have to be honest and say this is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. Ridiculous. Look for the amateur sketch… it’s priceless.
I am a subscriber to the MLB.com TV package so I have the opportunity to watch every single baseball game that’s on. Tonight as I was working on my sermon for Sunday I watched the RedSox v. Rangers and had the opportunity to see Sammy Sosa bat (and start a HUGE 4th inning rall) against Dice-K.
So far this year he’s had 10 Home Runs and is leading the team in RBI’s with 37. What’s blowing my mind is that he’s not just leading the team in RBI’s he’s in the top 6 in the league. I know I’m not the only one who thought that the Rangers may have been making one of the dumbest moves in baseball history by signing Sammy… but it’s really looking like it could pay off.
Here’s to you Sammy. Go Rangers!
(note: this does not eliminate from my memory the night I watched your corked bat explode on the field, the time you told Rick Riley that you’d take a steroid test at any time and then when he asked you to go right then you cursed him out, the way your body deflated over the last 3 years, the way you couldn’t play baseball at all during the 2005 series, or the fact that you somehow forgot the entire english language when you were to testify before congress)
So.
Link of the day has been falling off a bit lately.
No excuses. I will try harder.
Today my friend Brian sent me a message that said this…
A history of metal icons: Scumboy
Emerging from the pits of Edgerton,OH, Scumboy ripped their way into the metal scene in 1996 with their debut album, Casette EP. The band’s latest album, Greatest Hits, fuses Doc’s larger-than-life snarls with crunching drum solos to create a record boiling over with technical masterpieces. With standout tracks like “Focused Cover,” dominating radio airwaves far and wide, Scumboy is an essential addition to any music lover’s library.
This of course blew my mind. You see Scumboy was Brian’s high school/early college hardcore band that sang songs about Josta and other awesome things. I still rock my cut off Scumboy shirt while running about once a week but never expected to see this kind of write up about them online.
That’s because it’s fake. Well… it’s not really fake, the info is real, but it’s not a real history.
If you go here you could write your own band history. I took it on myself to write one for Retribution, my brother’s old band.
A history of metal icons: Retribution
Rising from the bowels of Bryan, OH, Retribution climbed to the top of the metal scene in 2000 with their debut album, THE EP. The band’s latest album, rue the day, combines Jaketastic’s earth-shattering lyrics with thunderous guitars to generate a bevy of pulse-pounding scorchers. With standout tracks like “Sanctuary,” look for Retribution to be a major factor in the metal landscape for years to come
While it may not have every REALLY been written this is the true story of N(orth) W(est) O(hio) HARDCORE!
If you didn’t think this was totally awesome I understand. If you did though… your welcome.
In Spring of 1997 my brother and I drove to Huntington (then college) University to hear Dr. James Dobson speak to that years graduating class. Many other people also made the journey to hear what he had to say and to be honest all I remember is that Jake and I stopped to get some Arby’s on the way home so that we could both get Jamoka shakes.
Things sure have changed for Dobson since then. While Dobson was already a pretty influential force within the evangelical movement, now he’s picking presidents. Ok, not really, but I do find it strange that on the front page of cnn.com this radio show host/author is quoted telling us who he would vote for and that his opinion REALLY DOES matter to America because it influences so much of America.
Religious conservative leader James Dobson will sit out the 2008 presidential election if former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the Republican presidential nominee, he wrote Thursday in an online column.
In a piece published on the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily, Dobson wrote that Giuliani’s support for abortion rights and civil unions for homosexuals, as well as the former mayor’s two divorces, were a deal-breaker for him.
“I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008. It is an irrevocable decision,” he wrote.
This brings us to an even bigger question. If Dobson won’t vote for Giuliani then who would he vote for? McCain? Romney? Richard Cizik?
Articles like this one really do make me wonder how much power this guy has. I know that there are many churches across the nation that hand out Focus on the Families voter guides and I would guess that there are thousands of Christians who vote right off those guides, but if Dobson endorses a candidate does that guarantee them a win or would it hurt the candidate? Would you vote for a guy just because Dobson endorsed him? If Dobson decided not to vote one year how many other Christians do you think wouldn’t vote? What does this have to do with the Kingdom of God?
hmmmm….
Meri and I are heading to New York City June 14-17. The whole point is to go to a yankees game but they’re both sold out. I know that I’m going to have to pay… but if you know anyone who has tickets I’d love to talk with them. E-mail me at asikora@gmail.com.
If you’re reading this blog you probably already know that Jerry Falwell passed away today. It’s probably a pretty safe assumption that you have some strong feelings about Dr. Falwell.
Just this month I was at the Q conference and Susan Grant, an Executive VP from CNN, was talking about their desire to present both sides of “the issue” so they’ll have both an liberal and someone to represent us (a room full of pastors) like Jerry Falwell. At that moment someone in the crowd yelled “get someone else!”
It’s tough because there’s been so much that he’s said that has seemed so hateful and yet I know that there’s more to the man than the sound clips.
For a better perspective I refer you to my friend Josh’s blog (you know him better as *thelongbrake)
As a graduate of Liberty University, I am saddened to hear that Dr. Falwell has died. People have a wide range of opinions of him, especially regarding things he said on television, and I will be the first to tell you that there were many things that I starkly disagreed with in regards to his opinions.
But I will tell you that he was a very loving and kind man. I talked with Dr. Falwell on numerous occasions while I was a student at LU. I was continually impressed with the amount of attention he paid to me when we were talking. He was an incredibly busy man, but when we would talk I remember thinking He actually cares about this conversation. I would watch him interact with other students and I was always surprised as his charisma and care. It set me back every time.
He did many amazing things while he was alive. 95% of the things he put his effort towards were never made public. 5% of the things he said that outraged many were made incredibly public. I am not excusing those things, but it was very evident to me that most of the good things he would do were never made public, and so most people only saw the ridiculous things he said about children’s shows and his bold thoughts on sexual preference and lifestyle.
If you know me even just a little then you know that I regularly listen to whatever the latest teaching is at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids. This past week (May 6th) the teaching was a Q&A with Rob Bell and it was incredible.
All of the questions were collected from regular attenders and listeners of Sundays at Mars Hill and the church wanted to give their congregation as many answers as possible so they combined all 3 of their Sunday services and made them into one mp3.
My favorite part of the Q&A comes at about 43 minutes in where Rob talks about why their church is moving in certain directions (care for the poor, dealing with global poverty, pro-life pursuits)… here’s part of an answer about social action and political involvement to wet your appetite.
The Kingdom of God is not a left or a right. The Kingdom of God is not a liberal or conservative…
We are conditioned to think in dualities and so “is it liberal or conservative?” “is that a democrat or a republican?” “is that postmodern or is that modern?” “is that emergent or nonemerging?” or whatever.
The Kingdom of God truth and life so the Kingdom of God plunders anybody’s agenda for good and true.
So even when people say “that sounds like a such and such cause…” IF IT’S TRUE IT BELONGS TO GOD! GOD OWNS IT, not that particular faction of people. And so when people say “you start taking care of the poor, what about Jesus?” or… “if you start studying the Bible you might not be active…”. The Kingdom of God is anywhere that the rule and reign of God is expanding on earth….
At Mars Hill we are aggressively nonpartisan. My worst fear is that Mars Hill would be co-opted by either, or any of the political parties…. We will never tell you how to vote, but as we are aggressively nonpartisan the Gospel has political edges to it. When somebody says “no no no… Jesus just came for the personal”. Well, why’d they kill Him?
This would be an example [of the political edges]. Caring for the environment is not a Democratic issue, it is a Genesis 1 issue. If I met a woman here who’s pregnant and thinking about an abortion, I would instantly ask her if I could introduce her to 10 women who could tell her their stories because we are desperate for you not to make that choice. That is NOT a Republican issue, we want to affirm life and we believe that mistakes, in redemption, become opportunities for grace.
So any side that wants to say “well, we own this issue, or we own that issue,” YOU ONLY HAVE IT BECAUSE YOU BORROWED IT FROM GOD. So I’ve had people say “if you’re saying that you must be against the president,” or “you must be for the president.” I am simply trying to articulate the way of Jesus. I don’t care who’s for or against it, I just simply want to get the word out so everybody can do it….
If you’re interested in downloading the rest you can get it here.
A few weeks back while at the Q Conference I told you about 2 great new companies and encouraged you to get some gear from both of them.
Well mine arrived last week and I thought I would share some pics with you to perhaps get in on these movements.
Let’s start with my new P is for Panda shirt.
P is for Panda is a new venture from Brian Manley and Chad Pearson that is seeking to not just make an impact in the music scene but also make a difference while doing it. Part of the proceeds from this shirt go to the WWF (no, not that WWF, the World Wildlife Fund). You can check out more of their gear here.
Now onto my TOMS Shoes.
You may remember that I told you the company exists to get kids in Argentina shoes. For every pair of shoes they sell they give a pair to kids who don’t have any. It’s sweet because these shoes are just $38 and honestly some of the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn (plus there’s lots of styles to choose from).
You should go to tomsshoes.com to read more about it and buy your first pair (who can say no to kids without shoes… even if these shoes don’t have laces).
Ok… So I was doing some research as to what amazing bands would be coming to Cleveland (and the answer is a couple) and I realized that this Sunday The Hold Steady would be rocking out at the Beachland Ballroom.
Normally we have 2 services at 707 but since it’s mother’s day we’ll only be doing 1 at 7.07pm which means we’ll probably get out of there about 9.15. That means 1 thing.
I can go see the aformentioned Hold Steady. OH HAPPY DAY!
So… do you want to go with me? If so please post a comment and we’ll go together.
If you don’t know if you want to go, click here to listen to Stuck Between Stations and once you do you’ll totally want to go.
This is one of the crazy-funniest things I’ve ever seen.
I know that this picture looks like Mickey may have put on a few pounds but rest assured that it’s not actually Mickey.
This is Farfour and he is part of the Palestinian children’s program called “Tomorrow’s Pioneers.” Farfour likes to warn Palestinian children about Israel and the US.
While the show has since been pulled, this story tells us a little bit about what you could have seen…
“You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists,” Farfour squeaked on a recent episode. “We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers.”
While that may seem a little odd for a funny little mouse to say… you should really WATCH THE VIDEO!!!! When you do, make sure you spend most of the time reading the subtitles provided by the AP.
It’s the most surreal video you’ll see online.
