A Class Act moves on

University of Michigan Head Football Coach Lloyd Carr announced his retirement today. It comes as no surprise, with all the rumors swirling around here. I wanted to thank him for things he did and did not do.

He won Michigan's first national championship in nearly 50 years.

He never had a whiff of scandal around his team.

He never threw a player or coach under the bus. He was loyal, almost to a fault.

He graduated players and made better men out of them.

He didn't go around asking for raises and holding the university hostage, as some (Saban) did.

It was never about him. It was always about the players and the University of Michigan.

He won 75% of his games. By Michigan fan standards, that is not good enough. Ask Notre Dame if they would take that. Or Nebraska.

Thanks Lloyd. The man who succeeds you will have a program in great shape. And some big shoes to fill. I have 2 kids who sing "Hail to the Victors" in part because of your success. And that makes me smile.

Thanks to the Detroit Free Press for the links and photo.

Willow Creek's Shocking Confession

Here is the article. I'll post more on this later But I wanted to throw it out there for discussion. It seems that Bill Hybels, founder of Willow Creek Community Church, one of the leaders of the "seeker-sensitive" church movement, has released a study of their methods that is not very flattering.

There are a couple things to chew on though:

If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states:

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.

Incredibly, the guru of church growth now tells us that people need to be reading their bibles and taking responsibility for their spiritual growth.

Share your thoughts please. It is an amazing thing to read.

When Dilbert has too much time on his hands

Things like this happen. First, who knows what a Tesla Coil is? Secondly, they make it play the Super Mario theme. Third, they post it on YouTube.

Odds are they have a lot of time to themselves. Just a hunch.

Somehow I knew this would happen

The Prosperity Gospel folks come out.

Jesus Died So We Could Be Rich! Declares Biblical Expert and Best Selling Author

Have you ever felt like you were being sold out?

I'm getting that vibe from the folks in Washington. First, gas and oil prices are setting records, yet some on Congress do not want us to drill for oil in our own country. ANWR and the continental shelf are off limits, yet they hold enormous amounts of oil that we could use and not be sending money to countries that are avowed enemies ours. But Hugo Chavez is helping Cuba drill off the coast of Florida. And China is now drilling off the Florida coast. But U.S firms are not allowed to do that. Go figure.

Secondly, this whole debacle with the Southern Border has me mystified. Our border is overrun, and the politicians seem to not understand that most Americans are not opposed to immigration, but they are opposed to unchecked illegal immigration.

I truly wonder if our representatives in Washington, regardless of party, have our national interest at heart. Or are they trying to curry favor with a bunch of potential new voters.

FYI - the photo is of clothing ditched by illegals as they cross the border.

More fallout from the Senate investigation of the Prosperity Gospel televangelists

My thanks to the Bible Belt Blogger for staying on top of this. Evidently Benny Hinn is feeling threatened by the Senate Finance Committee requests for information about how his ministry spends its money. This whole investigation seems to be driven by reports of lavish lifestyles being fueled by tax-exempt organization funds. While I do not want any more government intrusion into the church than we already have, I also do not want hucksters jeopardizing the status of churches because of their greed.

It seems that all of the ministries being investigated teach some form of the Prosperity Gospel, which teaches that God financially blesses the faithful. The allegation seems to be that these folks have taken that blessing to a new level of opulence. Personally, I think this borders on heresy, and it can be spiritually destructive to those who are not rich or healthy. It would necessarily lead those people to believe that they do not enjoy God's favor, which is a horrible thing to put on a person on his/her deathbed.

In the encouraging signs department, the Assemblies of God church seems to be distancing itself from this doctrine. May God put an end to this soon.

Thanks to this site for the ribbon fish graphic.

One of the favorite dishes in the church

I know this is an area where the Lord is working on me. For more info, go here. I may quibble with their very broad definition of gossip, but the intent is great. I've always viewed gossip as having an intent to damage another. Recounting events without judgment to me is not gossip, but there is a line close to there. I'd like to hear your definition of gossip.

Something to think about

This article dovetails nicely with my upcoming message. Praise God for bringing things across my path that help me do what he is calling me to do.

Veteran's Day

November 11 is the day we celebrate the end of The Great War, now known as World War I. Take a moment at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to honor those who have served their country in the armed forces. Honor their sacrifice, and mourn those who did not return. Lest we forget.

The video clip below recites the poem "In Flanders Fields" that came to commemorate this ghastly war and the entire generations of men that Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada and Australia lost. Watch it, it will move you.

Pray for me

On November 18 I will be bringing the message in our local congregation. My topic is Mark 2:1-12 the story of where the friends lower the crippled man through the roof. I'm still struggling with finding the right video clip to illustrate what I am talking about. Here is a link to a previous post that contains the gist of what I intend to talk about. The linked article in the post is key to the idea, so if you have time, please read it as well.

I appreciate any suggestions you may have. I'm just kind of stumped on this one.

I see a bad moon rising

I see trouble on the way.

It appears that the Congress is going to do what the church cannot/will not do to police the lavish life of the prosperity gospel preachers on TV. Senator Charles Grassley has written letters asking for information from six televangelists. Grassley wrote to Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries of Tampa, Fla.; Benny Hinn of World Healing Center Church, Inc. and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine, Texas; David and Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries of Fenton, Mo.; Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas; Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Bishop Eddie Long Ministries of Lithonia, Ga., and Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International and Creflo Dollar Ministries of College Park, Ga.

At least three of these are members of the board of directors at Oral Roberts University, where another financial scandal is brewing.

It is sad that the government is going to have to intervene on this. The cause of Christ will suffer because of the sin of a few greedy individuals. This really chaps me. And it is hard not to be vindictive and wish the wrath of the IRS on these folks.

Now we know why the ancients were spooked

Comets were often seen as portents of doom and messengers from God. If you get a chance, go out and look to the North in the next few weeks. You should get a decent view of Comet 17P/Holmes, which recently increased in brightness by about a million times.

I don't know if the comet has anything to do with the Lions going 6-2, but pigs are flying and comets are appearing. I'll let you be the judge.

It should be fun to look at in the meantime while we wait for the mothership to arrive. :)

The Detroit Lions are 6-2

This is what I saw out my window yesterday.

Thank you Sir! May I have another?

The paddling scene from Animal House comes to mind. While the movie is not virtuous, that scene seems apropos. It seems that the Governor and Legislature, after passing a capricious and poorly-thought-out tax increase, have bent us over the desk and are administering the paddle to us, the taxpayers.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the state budget will increase by $760 million, not decrease by $400 million as promised. It seems that the "cuts" were from next year's projections, not from real spending. It's akin to the 50% off sale at the furniture store. 50% off of an inflated number still leaves a profit. Cuts from an inflated budget projection still lead to more spending, while picking our pockets for more taxes.

Personally I am getting tired of taking the paddling from the politicians. Isn't there an election coming up?

For all of you blog junkies out there

This little piece of news will allow those of you with a Google account (it is free) to receive email updates when comments are posted on this blog, or any other blog for which you have registered.

That way, if you leave a comment, you will know when someone responds to your comment.

Just trying to be helpful on a Friday.

Want to scare the pants off yourself?

Go to this site. It has a map updated every 400 seconds showing terrorism and suspected terrorism information around the world.

I keep reminding myself that God is Sovereign. It seems to help.

The Good Old Days

The next time you get wistful for the way things used to be, take a look at this. Flash back to 1977, when I was 10 years old.

Warning - small children should not be allowed to view this. The years of therapy are not worth it.

Scenes from the 1977 J.C. Penney Catalog.

Edit note: Evidently the photos came from this blog. My apologies for not attributing them to the site.

Happy Reformation Day

October 31 commemorates the day Martin Luther posted his famous 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. The ensuing events gave rise to the Reformation and created the Church as we know it today with the three main branches of Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy and the Protestant church.

As you hand out candy to the little hooligans in your neighborhood this evening, think about one of the seminal events in the history of the Christian church that has profoundly affected Western Culture. The goals of the Reformation were admirable and appropriate. The aftermath was pretty messy. And we are still picking up the pieces today.

Ducking, Bobbing, and Weaving

It seems that Senator Clinton is not adept at articulating what she means. This article chronicles her troubles during a recent debate. I don't normally comment on presidential politics, especially this early in the process, but there was a line in the article that caught my eye.

"And when it was over, both the Barack Obama and John Edwards campaigns signaled that in the weeks ahead they intend to hammer home a simple message: Hillary Clinton does not say what she means or mean what she says."

This sounds very familiar to me. The link takes you to a post about Authentic Church where I said that if the church was like Horton the Elephant, we would all be better off. Political candidates, family members, heck, all of us would be better human beings if we meant what we said and said what we meant.

Eventually vacillating will come back to bite us. Pray for grace often, and say what you mean. But also remember to do what you say you will. It only works if both parts are present.

Not that they don't have their value...

Thanks to my brother in Christ for this day-brightener.

Committee's have their place, please don't send me hate mail.