Going for the Goal, Not the Glory

The other day I was watching the Braves game and backup catcher David Ross was being interviewed. All he wanted to talk about was the way the team was playing and praising starting catcher Brian McCann. Ross was hitting close to .300 at the time with a handful of home runs in limited playing time. He was hitting .375 with 3 home runs in his previous 5 games. Some people might have wanted to discuss their own accomplishments, but Ross just wanted to talk about other people's.

There's a minister at our church who preaches on Sunday's occasionally as a substitute for the senior pastor. I think he's actually a little better than the senior pastor to be honest, although that is a matter of preference. Bottom line, he is good enough to have his own church. But he cares so deeply for others and has such a passion for helping in the community that I know he feels like he can do more good focusing on that rather than preparing for a sermon each week.

Both of the above men are good enough at what they do to take a position elsewhere in the center of the stage. But they prefer to play a supporting role and do just that - support. They are humble. They believe they can make an equal or greater impact by excelling at what their job is and supporting the team/church/group as a whole.

I think that's really important. If you are working as a unit - as a group of people to achieve a goal - there may be only one person that will get the glory. But most of us are in the background and won't receive any glory when the goal is accomplished. It's hard to accept that at times when we know we were just as capable as the person who received the glory.

Supporting others is a great thing. If you can get to the point where other people's successes make you happier than your own successes, then you're a very very admirable person. Everyone should strive to go for the goal, not the glory.

How Long it Will be Until we see Penn State in a Bowl Game

Penn State 15th all-time in bowl appearances and 12th in bowl wins. They've been to a bowl game in 38 of the last 45 years. But when will they be back?

The NCAA threw the hammer on Penn State. This is worse than the death penalty in my opinion. The have to pay $60 million, lose 10 scholarships a year and can't have more than 65 scholarships for the next five years...plus no postseason for the next four years. I'm fine with the punishment, but this will hurt really bad.

Penn State is now basically a FCS team with a really big stadium. We'll see how many of their current players jump ship, I'm guessing it will be at least a handful. Recruiting is where this in going to kill them. How can they possibly convince anyone to commit to the 2013 class knowing they will not be able to compete for any kind of championship until their senior year....and by then Penn State will suck.

With the players that will leave, coaches that won't want to stay after a year or two, lack of recruiting and reduction in scholarships and, in turn, depth, I see 2013 - 2016 being 2-10 years...4-8 at best. They won't be able to at least sell the chance at postseason play for half their college careers to recruits until the 2014 class. The 2012 class is likely to break up, and 2013 will be beyond horrible.

Once they get past all the probation they'll be able to start over. But it will be like they are moving from FCS to FBS since they go from 65 scholarships to 85. Of course, they do have a 100,000+ seat stadium and a ton of money so it isn't exactly like the transition of South Alabama.

Penn State will be eligible for a bowl game again in 2016. They might be able to muster 6 wins by 2018 but it wouldn't be any more. They will need at least 4-5 years after all the probation is over before they can get back to sustained success. And by sustained success I mean back-to-back bowl games. I think we are looking at 10+ years from now until they can get to the point of trying to win 8-9 games. It will probably be 12-15 years before they can be a legit threat for a Big Ten championship again.

100% Redneck

Uncle Si on Duck Dynasty. That is a true redneck right there. I wish I had the sack to wear that to a wedding/party. Wow.

Grilled Flounder Sandwich

I went to the beach this past week and picked up some fresh fish. I also had a little bit of french bread left from a meal a couple of days ago. So I decided to combine these and it turned out great!

I took a filet of flounder and put some butter on it, then seasoned it with Tony's a and seasoned salt. Then I grilled it.

While it was grilling I cut two slices from my loaf of french bread and buttered one side, then stuck it in the oven for a couple of minutes. I also made my homemade tarter sauce which is: mayonnaise, diced jalapenos, just a little bit of horseradish, garlic salt and onion powder.

Spread some tarter sauce on both pieces of bread, then put the fish on the buttered side of the bread. Throw a piece of lettuce or a tomato on there to your desire. Great sandwich.

Why, Lord? Why?

Many Christians have a hard time understanding why on the cross Christ cried out, "Father, why have You forsaken Me?" On the surface, it seems contradictory to what we know of Christ, His understanding of His earthly mission, and His relationship with God. But the truth is that instead of being a contradiction, these words are actually a wonderful blessing for all of us!

Understand that when Jesus said those words, it was the exact moment He took all our sins upon Himself. And because God will have nothing to do with sin, Jesus was separated from His Heavenly Father. It's a picture of God having to turn away when His Son took that awful punishment of absorbing all of our sins. So Jesus cried out because He was separated from His Father for the only time in all eternity.

A great video montage of Ronald Reagan

Enslaved by Our Government

I would love to give the Pastor of this predominantly black church in
Virginia three cheers. This guy is obviously a leader. Perhaps we should
each decide who our real leader is... It is amazing to see that very little
has changed in 4,000 years.

Good morning, brothers and sisters; it's always a delight to see the pews
crowded on Sunday morning, and so eager to get into God's Word. Turn with me
in your Bibles, if you will, to the 47th chapter of Genesis. We'll begin our
reading at verse 13, and go through verse 27.

Brother Ray, would you stand and read that great passage for us? ...
(Reading) ... Thank you for that fine reading, Brother Ray. So we see that
economic hard times fell upon Egypt , and the people turned to the
government of Pharaoh to deal with this for them. And Pharaoh nationalized
the grain harvest, and placed the grain in great storehouses that he had
built. So the people brought their money to Pharaoh, like a great tax increase, and gave it all to him willingly in return for grain. And this
went on until their money ran out, and they were hungry again.

So when they went to Pharaoh after that, they brought their livestock -
their cattle, their horses, their sheep, and their donkey - to barter for
grain, and verse 17 says that only took them through the end of that year.
But the famine wasn't over, was it? So the next year, the people came before
Pharaoh and admitted they had nothing left, except their land and their own
lives. "There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our
land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and
our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh." So
they surrendered their homes, their land, and their real estate to Pharaoh's
government, and then sold themselves into slavery to him, in return for
grain.

What can we learn from this, brothers and sisters?

That turning to the government instead of to God to be our provider in hard
times only leads to slavery? Yes... That the only reason government wants to
be our provider is to also become our master?

Yes. But look how that passage ends, brothers and sisters! Thus Israel
settled in the land of Egypt , in the land of Goshen . And they gained
possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly." God provided
for His people, just as He always has! They didn't end up giving all their
possessions to government, no, it says they gained possessions! But I also
tell you a great truth today, and an ominous one.

We see the same thing happening today - the government today wants to "share
the wealth" once again, to take it from us and redistribute it back to us.
It wants to take control of healthcare, just as it has taken control of
education, and ration it back to us, and when government rations it, then
government decides who gets it, and how much, and what kind. And if we go
along with it, and do it willingly, then we will wind up no differently than
the people of Egypt did four thousand years ago - as slaves to the
government, and as slaves to our leaders.

What Mr. Obama's government is doing now is no different from what Pharaoh's
government did then, and it will end the same. And a lot of people like to
call Mr. Obama a "Messiah," don't they? Is he a Messiah? A savior? Didn't
the Egyptians say, after Pharaoh made them his slaves, "You have saved our
lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh"? Well, I tell
you this - I know the Messiah; the Messiah is a friend of mine; and Mr.
OBAMA IS NO MESSIAH! No, brothers and sisters, if Mr. Obama is a character
from the Bible, then he is Pharaoh. Bow with me in prayer, if you will...

Lord, You alone are worthy to be served, and we rely on You, and You alone.
We confess that the government is not our deliverer, and never rightly will
be. We read in the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, when Samuel warned the people
of what a ruler would do, where it says "And in that day you will cry out
because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will
not answer you in that day..."

And Lord, we acknowledge that day has come. We cry out to you because of the
ruler that we have chosen for ourselves as a nation. Lord, we pray for this
nation. We pray for revival, and we pray for deliverance from those who
would be our masters. Give us hearts to seek You and hands to serve You, and
protect Your people from the atrocities of Pharaoh's government. In God We
Trust...