Huckabee Melee

This fight began weeks ago, when Conan O’Brien claimed responsibility for any success of Huckabee’s campaign after the former Arkansas governor appeared on his “Late Night” show. Steven Colbert took offense, having frequently touted the effect of the “Colbert bump” in the polls.

Ownership Has Shifted

2/6 Update: According to this story Mardell Christian Book Stores founder (and son of Hobby Lobby founder) Mert Green donated $70 million of his family's fortune to rescue Oral Roberts University. In return for the donation, Green becomes chairman of the university's new board of trustees, and hopes to restore the public's trust in the 5,700-student institution.

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10/7: Commenting on the recent scandal at Oral Roberts University professor Tim Brooker summed up the situation:

"All over that campus, there are signs up that say, 'And God said, build me a university, build it on my authority, and build it on the Holy Spirit,' ... Unfortunately, ownership has shifted."

In an era where sons of famous preachers like Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Robert Schuller, John Osteen, and others are inheriting huge ministries, it is helpful to reflect on the word ownership. I guess this is not a new phenomena.. religious history is replete with illustrations of how men take God authored and inspired movements to places that God never intended them to go.

Certainly men like Martin Luther and John Wesley would not endorse many of the aberrations that have stemmed from the revelations that initially inspired many to faith. I guess that is the nature of second hand faith and second hand revelation. People can take an idea to some pretty strange places if revelation is not personal. The result is often a lack of accountability and a shift in ownership.

Mystery Quote

"Pray as though everything depended on God.
Work as though everything depended on you."


Anybody know the author or want to guess?
Googling the answer is against the rules!

Hippie Quiz: No Surprise Here :)

You're Not Exactly a Hippie...

While you're not a hippie, you've got the spirit of one. Like most hippies, you have deep beliefs and unusual interests. You may not buy into hippie fashions, music, or heavy drug use. But at heart, you are a free spirit and suspicious of the status quo.

Are You a Hippie?

Dementia Test

It's that time of year to take our annual senior citizen test. Exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles. As we grow older, it's important to keep mentally alert. If you don't use it, you lose it! Below is a very private way to gauge your loss or non-loss of intelligence.

There are only 5 questions, so don't get all excited and confused yet.

Take the test presented here to determine if you're losing it or not. The spaces between the question and answers below are there so you don't see the correct answers until you've made your answer.

OK, relax, clear your mind and begin.

1. What do you put in a toaster?
   
2. Say 'silk' five times. Now spell 'silk.' What do cows drink?
   
3. If a red house is made from red bricks, and a blue house is made from blue bricks, and a pink house is made from pink bricks, and a black house is made from black bricks, what is a green house made from?
   
4. It's twenty years ago, and a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany (If you will recall , Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany ) Anyway, during the flight, TWO engines fail. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the engine fails before he can do so and the plane fatally crashes smack in the middle of 'no man's land' between East Germany and West Germany Where would you bury the survivors? East Germany, West Germany, or no man's land'?
   
5. Without using a calculator - You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales. In London, 17 people get on the bus. In Reading, six people get off the bus and nine people get on. In Swindon , two people get off and four get on. In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get on. In Swansea , three people get off and five people get on. In Carmathen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven. What was the name of the bus driver?

Here are the answers:

1. 'bread.' If you said 'toast,' maybe you should give up now and do something else. Try not to hurt yourself.
   
2. Cows drink water. If you said 'milk,' maybe you shouldn't even attempt to answer the next question. Your brain is apparently over-stressed and may even overheat. Content yourself with reading more appropriate literature such as Auto World.
   
3. Greenhouses are made from glass. If you said 'green bricks,' why are you still reading these???
   
4. You don't bury survivors.If you said ANYTHING else, you're in real bad shape and for your own sake you must stop. If you said, 'You don't bury survivors', proceed to the next question.
   
5. Oh, for crying out loud! Don't you remember your own name? Or have you forgotten it was YOU driving the BUS!!

Don't feel bad if you missed a few. 95% of people fail most of the questions :)

My Favorite Super Bowl Ad

What was your favorite commercial?

Karnak Bob

In the style of the late Johnny Carson I give you the question to the question in the comments. Feel free to join in and leave a question to this question.

Hattip to Laura for the pic!

2008 Predictions: 4 misses so far

02/04: Giants won last night in a great game. It is not looking good for the rest of my predictions. Alas, what a poor pundit am I. L

01/30: Looks like I missed it on predictions #4 (at least half of it) #8 and #10.. I guess am just bad at this predicting stuff. More updates to come.. we will know about prediction #1 on Sunday night J

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01/01: Internet Monk has Twelve 2008 Predictions.. here are a few:

1. Barak Obama will defeat Mitt Romney for President and evangelicals who refused to vote for Romney will be blamed.

5. Hillary Clinton will begin divorce proceedings against Bill.

7. The Patriots will lose the Super Bowl.

Go to his place to see the rest. Here are a few (fun) predictions of my own:

1. The Patriots will win the Super Bowl.

2. The KC Chiefs will miss the playoffs again and lose their GM.

3. Barak Obama will be the US Democratic VP candidate.

4. John Edwards will defeat Mitt Romney for US President.

5. The US will win 13 Gold Medals in the Summer Olympics.

6. Indiana Jones IV will break box office records.

7. The Iraq War will continue with little reduction in troop numbers.

8. Roger Federer will sweep all four Grand Slam events.

9. Sprint will merge with or be bought by a rival telcom company.

10. Denzel Washington will win an Oscar.

Hey.. at least I made you laugh.. or cry.. with a few of these.

What are your predictions for next year.. I promise not to throw a literary stone at your blog if you mispredict.. after all no one is saying "thus saith the Lord" J

Page 123

I have been tagged by Julie Unplugged.. no Unplugged isn't her last name.. just her blog name. Anywho.. here are the rules of the tag:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)
2. Find Page 123.
3. Find the first 5 sentences.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.
5. Tag 5 people.

Here is my response to #4 using a book found on my wife's kitchen desk:

I dare say that David could take on John Wayne or James Bond any day; yet this true man is unashamed to admit his desperate dependence on God. We know we are meant to embody strength, we know we are not what we were meant to be, and so we feel our brokenness as a source of shame. As we spoke of his wound recently, and how he needed to enter into it for healing, Dave protested.

Any guesses about the book's name?

Here is my response to #5.. not the usual suspects as I tried to tag some on my blogroll that I have not tagged before:

Sarah, Stephanie, Bilbo, Therese and Ed

And of course you all are released from any obligation to continue this madness.. I think that you are not as compulsive as I am.. or are you? Come to think of it.. a few of you might not see this tag anyway.. all the better :)

Phil for President

With "Phil for President" signs all around him.. and in what seemed to be darkness.. America's most famous groundhog emerged from his burrow early on Saturday and declared that winter will last another six weeks.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow shortly before 7:30 a.m. to the cheers of more than 30,000 people from as far away as Alaska and Texas.

With Super Tuesday just a few days away.. maybe if we really get the word out.. we can get a write-in campaign going for candidate Phil.. maybe not :)

Splintered Conservatives

2/1 Update: With Giuliani and Thompson gone from the race it seems that moderate John McCain will be ushered in this (Super) Tuesday as the Republican candidate as conservatives splinter their votes between Huckabee and Romney.

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11/27: Recent endorsements from national conservative leaders and celebrities:

Romney: David Keene (head of the American Conservative Union); Paul Weyrich (chairman of the Free Congress Foundation and former co-founder of the Moral Majority)

Giuliani: Pat Robertson (head of Christian Broadcasting Network)

Huckabee: Jerry Falwell Jr. (son of Moral Majority co-founder)

Thompson: National Right to Life

I know there are others.. too lazy to check.. let me know if you find other national conservatives.. yeah.. Falwell is a stretch. Anywho.. it should be interesting to see if splintered conservatives can have much of an impact in the Repbulican primaries.

10 Most Redeeming Films

Here is Christianty Today's list of the 10 most redeeming films of 2007:

1. Into Great Silence
2. Lars and the Real Girl
3. Juno
4. Amazing Grace
5. Bella
6. Into the Wild
7. The Kite Runner
8. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
9. Ratatouille
10. Freedom Writers

I saw #4 and #10 and agree with their inclusion on this list. Have you seen any of the others and do you think that they deserve to be on this redeeming list?

Pro-Life Cinema

An excerpt from Christianity Today's

Choosing Life at the Movies:

From the church-friendly Bella to the raunchy Knocked Up, film after film depicted its main character facing an unplanned pregnancy and opting not for abortion, but for carrying the unborn child to term. Sometimes the mother kept the baby (Knocked Up, Waitress), and sometimes she gave the baby up for adoption (Bella, Juno, August Rush). But in each of these films, the mother, and sometimes the father, made a critical decision that was decidedly "pro-life."

I had not thought about "Knocked Up" as a pro-life movie.. an interesting take.

Meatloaf Again?

Yes, we're having meatloaf again. Why do you ask? (Therese Z)