Best Drink

My Grandpa was a huge Mt. Dew fan. In those early years that I'd spend the night with him, he'd come home from the mines, get me out of bed, and we'd go in the kitchen for a midnight snack of Mt. Dew and Pringles. That was back when Mt. Dew came in those cool bottles with the little mountain guy cartoons on them. Mt. Dew has been my beverage of choice ever since.

Fun Friday #1

What's the best roller coaster you've experienced? I haven't ridden a roller coaster since our honeymoon, so it's been quite a long time. But the Texas Giant, pictured above, is my #1. Baseball fans, you can see the Ballpark at Arlington in the background.

Mark Dever is Mr. Deliberate

Mark Dever's latest book, The Deliberate Church, co-authored with Paul Alexander, has an intriguing title, considering the author. If you need any evidence that Dever is a deliberate man, look at this blog post by him.

Read the second half of the post (go ahead...I'll wait).

Now that's deliberate, eh? One gets the feeling that he didn't fully reveal just how specifically deliberate he is in planning his reading.

Don't Support our Troops? Hugh Hewitt interviews Joel Stein

Hugh Hewitt backs Joel Stein, who doesn't support our troops, into a corner with ruthless logic. Listen here. Notice how near the end of the interview Joel's voice gets very shaky.

HT: Justin Taylor

Best Basketball Player Ever?

Who is the best basketball player ever?

Jordan? Magic? Bird? Abdul-Jabbar? Wilt? The Big O?

One stands above the rest: Bill Russell.

What about Mike? Everyone says he's the best.

If you carefully study all the facts you have to land with Russell.

In fact, you could call him Mr. Basketball.

Of three years he played college basketball, he won 2 national titles at a school that hasn't really done anything before or since.

11 NBA titles with the Celtics in 13 seasons.

Coached two NBA championship teams.

IMHO, was an excellent color commentator for NBA games, clearly showing what an intelligent player and coach he was.

If anyone thinks someone else is better, make the argument. Fair warning: any argument you make can be easily brought down.

Best Coach Alive? 900 Reasons Why...

...Pat Summitt is the best coach alive today.

Last night in Nashville, TN, the Lady Vols beat Vanderbilt to secure Coach Summitt's 900th career win.

I'm talking about 900 wins.

More than any other coach in Division I history.
More than Dean Smith.
More than Adolph Rupp.
More than Jody Conradt.

Could she win if she coached men?
You'd be a fool to say she couldn't.

900 wins. And she's only 53!
Let's suppose she gets 35 wins this season (the top ranked Lady Vols are 18-0, so that may even be a conservative number). She's averaged about 32 wins per season over the past 12 years. If she averages only 30 more wins for the next 12 years and retires at 65, she'll finish with 1277 wins. Or if she matches her 32 wins per year pace, she'd finish with 1303!

Baseball's Greatest Hitter?

Who is the all-time greatest hitter in baseball?

My vote goes to Ted Williams. His numbers are very, very impressive. No, his numbers are not Ruthian or Aaronesque. BUT, when you consider that he lost nearly five seasons to serving in two wars, it is scary to think what kind of numbers he could have put up. He holds the major league record for career on-base percentage, won the Triple Crown twice, and was the last man to hit .400, a feat he accomplished at the age of 22. He won his last batting title at age 39. His 521 homers still put him in the top 15 all-time (he'd be even higher if the cheaters were removed from the list; I count at least 4 cheaters ahead of him).

The one knock against him? He's not a member of the 3,000 hit club. Hard to believe the great Ted Williams didn' t even have 2,700 hits. But consider this, he was walked more than anyone in his generation and, again, he missed nearly five seasons to military service. Had he played just 3 of those seasons, he would have easily surpassed the 3,000 mark.

Insightful Words from Justin Taylor

From an an interview with Adrian Warnock:

The Osteenification and Oprahization of evangelicalism—where the emphasis in on the therapeutic and on surface feelings and the trivial—is deeply troubling to me. Some, however, see evangelicalism as a monolithic mass sliding downward. I tend to have a different view. I think that the bad is getting worse and the good is getting better. So on the one hand, there are throngs of people that are attracted to anything new but nothing weighty. But on the other hand, we see a growth in Reformed theology and ministries dedicated to strengthening the church.

Amen.

A Nickel's Worth of Skim Milk

BOOK REVIEW: A Nickel's Worth of Skim Milk by Robert J. Hastings; Southern Illinois University Press.

This is one of those books that has been on my parents' bookshelf for as long as I can remember. It's one that I picked up every few years and would read a few pages. This year, at Christmas, I picked up and decided I would take it home and read the whole thing.

Hastings tells the story of growing up in a small town in Southern Illinois during the Depression. Like most who lived through these years, he not only learned the value of a dollar, but picked up invaluable life lessons on gratitude, family, hard work, sharing, etc. Hastings is a great story-teller. His attention to details puts you right there in his childhood world, a time in America that produced what many consider to be our "greatest generation."

It's a short book, and you will be able to read it quickly. But don't go too fast, for some of these stories will be best appreciated if you take some time to pause and reflect on how our greedy and busy culture could use a dose of humility and a reminder of a simpler time. If you can get your hands on a copy, it would be a great book to read through with your children, also.

What is Your Eschatology?

What is your eschatology position? Have you ever changed your position? What position was taught in the church in which you were raised?

I am unsettled. I am leaning toward Historic Premillialism. I was raised in a church that I don't recall ever emphasized eschatology, so I grew up pretty ignorant on the subject. Once I became a Baptist, I learned the Dispensational Premillinial position, but have since come to have real problems with it.

What about you?

Alito Will Be Confirmed...

...when such liberal media outlets such as NBC News and CBS News are making statements that Alito's confirmation is pretty much in the bag.

U2's Bono A Christian? Not My Kind.

For years I've heard that Bono, of the rock band U2, was an authentic believer in Christ. The folks at Christianity Today have obviously bought into the idea that he is the real deal:

...Bono turned the conversation to Christianity, expressing his preference for God's grace over "karma," offering an articulate apologetic for the deity of Christ, and giving a clear presentation of the gospel message. (1)

Don't miss that last phrase offered by CT: ...giving a clear presentation of the gospel message.

Here's another quote from CT:

Bono is similarly self-effacing about his faith. He doesn't even like to call himself a Christian, although it is apparent to anyone who has spent any time with him—or even just listened to his lyrics—that his faith is rooted in the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ. (2)

The whole article reads like an apologetic for Bono. While Bono's humanitarian emphasis is certainly admirable, it is time for a reality check.

Tara Leigh Cobble gives us one in Relevant Magazine. To misunderstand or deny the exclusivity of Jesus Christ is to be outside the realm of biblical Christianity. Based on Cobble's experience, Bono is a universalist at best and a postmodern relativist at worse.

American Evangelicals have been starry-eyed for some time now. Why are we so quick to want to affirm the professed faith of the rich and famous? Could it be that somehow we have a hard time acccepting that God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God? (3)

Christianity doesn't need celebrities. Celebrities need Christ. I don't hope that Bono would be an authentic Christian so that the world will be impressed with us. I hope that he would be a true Christian for the sake of his soul and to the praise of the glory of God's grace.


Sources:
(1) http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/interviews/2005/ bono-0805.html
(2) http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/003/2.38.html
(3) 1 Corinthians 1.27-29, ESV.

Texas O-Line Close Second for MVP

Everyone admits that Vince Young was the undisputed MVP of last night's national championship gamge. What disappoints me is how little I'm hearing people credit UT's offensive line. With the exception of when USC started blitzing heavy near the end of the game, Young had googles of time to decide whether to throw or to identify the lanes he would take when running. The UT line dominated the game, which enabled Young to work his magic.

2006 Weight Loss Competition

Bradley's weigh-in

At our family get-together this New Year's Day, my two brothers-in-law and I decided on a friendly competition. This time next year when we are all together for the Holidays, the person who has lost the most weight percentage-wise will win an agreed upon prize from the two losers (the prize is yet to be decided).

Using Grandmama's scales, here are the official weigh-ins for January 1, 2006:

Anthony - 190.0
Bradley - 198.0
Brett - 190.0

Let the games begin!

Taking recommendations for the prize. What do you think the prize should be?