Personal Record

Dangerous Designers

Gay Softball League

Taken from The Week in National Review. I laughed out loud!!

A lawsuit has recently been filed over the 2008 Gay SoftballWorld Series, in which a San Francisco team called D2 wasstripped of its second-place finish for having three bisexualson its roster. The rules allow no more than two straight playersper team, and in the middle of the championship game, D2 wasangrily charged (by a team it had previously defeated) withinsufficient gayness. After the game, the accused were taken toa conference room and asked a series of rather personal questionsin an attempt to nail down their exact preferences. Theruling: Instead of adding up to one and a half heterosexuals, thefence-sitting trio were considered to be three “non-gays,” thusexceeding the quota. All three were suspended from gay softballfor at least a year; it was not made clear how they mightreestablish their eligibility.

Or in limerick form:

In the world of gay softball, it seems,
They take regulation to extremes.
Although here’s the big picture—
It boils down to one stricture:
You simply can’t play for both teams

The Prayer of Cyrus Brown

"The proper way for a man to pray,"
Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes,
"And the only proper attitude
Is down upon his knees."

"No, I should say the way to pray,"
Said Rev. Doctor Wise,
"Is standing straight with outstretched arms
And rapt and upturned eyes."

"Oh, no; no, no," said Elder Slow,
"Such posture is too proud:
A man should pray with eyes fast closed
And head contritely bowed."

"It seems to me his hands should be
Austerely clasped in front.
With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"
Said Rev. Doctor Blunt.

"Las' year I fell in Hodgkin's well
Head first," said Cyrus Brown,
"With both my heels a-stickin' up,
My head a-pinting down;

"An' I made a prayer right then an' there--
Best prayer I ever said,
The prayingest prayer I ever prayed,
A-standing on my head."

Sam Walter Foss.

Guilt vs. Conviction

Many of us can be prone to feelings of guilt. I know that for me it is very easy for me to feel responsible for things over which I have no control, and to feel guilty for decisions that I made in the past. We may tend to see guilt as an effective motivator, allowing us to constantly be assessing what we have done and motivating us to be sufficiently sorrowful for our past actions. We may even see guilt as something that the Lord uses to inflict punishment on us for how we acted or thought. We may see guilt as a form of conviction.

However, I have recently come to the realization that there is a distinct difference between guilt and conviction. The Lord does not use guilt to accomplish His purposes, for guilt is focused on the past, and it stays there, not allowing us to look ahead. Conviction, on the other hand, is focused on the future. Conviction allows us to ask and answer the question, "So what do I do about it?" This is the opposite of guilt, which asks, "How could you do that?"

Since we know that Satan is the Great Accuser, and that he would rather have us focus on our past than on our future, know that if thinking about past mistakes does not cause us to focus on the future, then it is not from the Lord. Our God is a forward-thinking God, and He does not intend for us to spend our time and energy trying to be sufficiently penitent for our past mistakes. He calls us out of our past mistakes and onto a new path. One that is wiser and able to more effectively glorify Him.

Don't confuse guilt for conviction, and don't allow Satan to hold you to your past.

No Incumbents

I think that I have finally found a solution to the issues in Washington DC. The main problem is that we have a ton of individuals who continue to create policies and pass legislation with the sole purpose of maintaining their own position of power and influence. We therefore have professional politicians who have lost all touch with the reality that everyday Americans deal with.

Therefore I propose a 100% turnover of congress every election cycle. Never vote for an incumbent. This will keep a fresh set of civic leaders who won't have enough time to be corrupted by special interest groups and lobbyists, but will only be there long enough to represent their constituents before going back home to get a real job.

Who's with me?