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01.31.2010 |
Who is Jesus? A good teacher? A role model? A
religious leader? Or something even greater? That's
the question
Graeme Goldsworthy
( Prayer and the Knowledge of God, 12 & 46)
tackles in this week's quote:
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Jesus did not come primarily to set an example. Following Jesus was not,
for the disciples, solely a matter of trying to be like Him in His perfect
humanity. It was first of all a matter of believing in Him as the unique
fulfiller of the Old Testament prophecies of the Christ, the Savior who was to
come to do for them what they were powerless to do for themselves.
If we could reduce the status of Jesus to that of good
teacher of a new and enlightened ethical way, or if we could see Him as
merely an example of sacrificial love, then
we would have grounds for an optimistic
assessment of our natural human condition.
But if God had to become one of us to
provide a new Man who performed on our
behalf all the will of God for humans, and
who died to pay the penalty for our
rebellion, then the diagnosis is indeed
serious.
Doctors do not perform a heart-lung transplant to treat the common cold,
nor do they amputate a leg above the knee to
treat an ingrown toenail! The gospel,
rightly understood, reveals to us the
destructive nature of our rebellion against
God.
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I hope that you are able to understand the Gospel
and the reason why we need Jesus. He isn't a crutch
for weak-minded fanatics--He is the Son of God and
the only One who can intervene on behalf of sinners
like you and me. The diagnosis is fatal, but the
cure is forever!
And, as usual, I would greatly appreciate your
prayers. First I am teaching the final week of our
church-wide Sunday School series on The Family
at 9:30am and then I am preaching a sermon titled
Sin Can't Win: The Gospel According to Joseph
during the morning worship service. Because the last
week has been a bit more hectic (and
sleep-deprived!) than usual, please pray that I will
be awake and alert enough to communicate effectively
and that even if I am not, the Spirit will still
move in the hearts of God's people for His glory.
Thanks!
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01.28.2010 |
What's that? You wanted to see some more pictures of
Aaron and the family? No problem!
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01.26.2010 |
That's right! Aaron Samuel is here! Last Thursday
(01/21), I met Tricia at the doctor's office for her
1:00pm appointment. We were scheduled to have
another NST and see our doctor. The NST went fine,
and the little guy's heart looked great. But when we
talked to our doctor, she told us that she wanted to
go ahead and induce Tricia, just to make sure that
there weren't any problems. And after three weeks of
multiple visits, tests, and extended stays, we
agreed. What we didn't know was that she meant she
wanted to induce Tricia that day! But she
told us to go downstairs to Labor & Delivery and get
things started!
After a quick trip to Triage while we waited for our
doctor's office to get the information down to L&D
(the lack of communication in our hospital if often
astounding) we were finally ready to begin. They
started Tricia on the Pitocin drip at 5:00pm
Thursday afternoon. She was somewhere between 1-2cm
at that time, and we thought we might have a baby
before the night was through. Tricia was at 36 weeks
and 6 days, so if he was born before midnight he
would be premature, and after midnight he would be
full-term. We needn't have worried!
It wasn't until midnight that the contractions
started to get pretty painful for Tricia. She got an
epidural (best invention ever) around 1:00am, and by
2:00am the nurse said she was at 6cm. By the way,
let me just say that our nurses in L&D were
wonderful at their jobs and really made Tricia and I
feel completely at ease. Since Tricia's sister was
with us, I decided to take a brief nap at
3:10am...only to be awoken at 3:30am to the news
that Tricia was at 10cm and ready to go! She started
pushing a little after 4:00am and at 4:23am, Aaron
Samuel was born!
 He
weighed 5lb 10oz (or more than a pound above his
last ultrasound prediction) and was 18 inches long.
He was having a little trouble breathing at first,
making some grunting noises every so often, so after
we held him for a bit, he was taken to the nursery
and hooked up to a monitor. (Even outside the womb
this kid can't get away from monitors!)
Thankfully, by noon on Friday his breathing had
resolved itself without any additional oxygen and he
was able to come back to the room with us. Our first
nurse in recovery was excellent as well (and I think
we had her when we were there with Ethan) and we
settled in for a two-day stay.
Those of you that have children know that there is
nothing like the feeling of holding a newborn child
in your arms, and there's something even more
profound about it when the baby is as tiny as Aaron
was. Ethan was 8lb when he was born, and those
2-3lbs really make a difference at that age! (Aaron
dropped to 5lb 7oz on Saturday, 5lb 2oz by Sunday,
and was back up to 5lb 5oz on Monday.)
 Although
Aaron's breathing was finally stabilized, his body
temperature wasn't. They had to take him on Sunday
morning and put him under a warmer. That seemed to
help, but the doctors like to make sure that things
are going to be fine, so we were forced to leave
Aaron at the hospital Sunday night (and as it turned
out, Monday night as well) to keep an eye on his
temp and his eating habits.
Aaron had been eating fairly well over the first
couple of days, but he was much more interested in
sleep! If you could get him up, he would eat, but he
would often start slow and then be worn out after
20ml or so. When Tricia and I went up to visit him
yesterday, we found out that he has been eating
40-50ml consistently for the last several feedings,
and his body temperature looks goods. Everyone
seemed very confident that Aaron would be able to
come home on Tuesday, so that's what we are praying
for.
Leaving a child in the hospital is beyond difficult.
On the one hand, you know it's the best thing for
him, and the last thing you want to do is bring him
home and then have to rush him back in an emergency.
We understand that, and certainly agree with any
doctor who wants to put the safety and health of
Aaron first. But logic doesn't always help when you
get in the car and drive home without a baby, and it
has been tough these last two days. Fortunately, we
have Ethan to keep us busy!
We'll continue to keep everyone posted in the days
ahead (through blogs, facebook, twitter, email, etc)
and we sincerely appreciate all of your prayers for
our family!
Speaking of family, my dad got to come home from the
hospital last Thursday (at the same time we were
heading to L&D). The thyroid was determined to be
the culprit of his heart fluctuations an he's on a
new batch of medication to try and regulate
everything. Assuming the meds work, he won't need
any surgery, so please keep praying that all will be
well as he goes back for follow up visits in the
weeks ahead. I know he didn't want to spend a week
in the hospital, but I'm glad they were able to
diagnose the problem and hopefully this treatment
will be effective and keep his heart stable.
Sadly, it wasn't all good news last week. Abby, my
parent's dog for the past 13 years, had to be put
down last Friday. Abby hadn't been able to walk for
most of last week, and the vet said it was a
neurological disorder that would only get worse,
eventually resulting in paralysis. Although it was
an extremely difficult decision for my parents, they
knew that Abby was only going to suffer and get
worse, so they did the only thing they could do.
 Abby
was born in December 1996, and in the spring of
1997, someone brought her to the office where my dad
worked to see if anyone could take her. My dad saw
her in the hallway and I think it was an instant
decision. I was already in college at the time, but
Abby was the first pet we ever had.
The first time my dad tried to take her for a walk,
she refused to go (as I imagine she thought she was
being given away again) but she soon outgrew that
and became my dad's constant companion on his walks.
Although it didn't end the way anyone expected, Abby
had a good, long life. She was very much loved by my
parents (perhaps even spoiled?) and was always happy
to see everyone--except the mailman. She was very
loyal to 'her people' and Ethan always had a good
time watching her and petting her (gently!). It
won't be the same without her, but Abby certainly
provided everyone in the family with lots of
affection and great memories...and she will be
missed.
Time Travel Tuesday #26
We'll wrap things up this week with a side-by-side
comparison of the two boys!
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01.19.2010 |
Thanks again to everyone for your prayers. Tricia
and I had the smoothest (and possibly fastest)
doctor's appointment yet, and the little guy passed
all his tests without any trouble. We go back
Thursday for another NST and visit with our
doctor...unless we go back before that to have a
baby! (Tricia thinks labor is getting close!)
My dad remains in the hospital (the same one we go
to for the baby, so we actually just walked over to
his room after our appointment yesterday). He had
another episode on Sunday night, and after 9 vials
of blood (ouch!) the doctor thinks he might have a
thyroid problem. Of course that means more tests to
see if that is the case, so he will probably be in
until Wednesday. Please pray that the doctors will
find the cause and be able to treat it with
medicine, and that my dad won't get too restless
having to spend his days in a hospital bed.
As usual, I'll keep everyone posted with any
updates. In the meantime, let's go back to our
regularly scheduled blog, already in progress...
Time Travel Tuesday #25
That's me chilling on my Grandma Jackie's back steps
as a youngster. I think the overalls were a sign
that someday I would drive a big truck while my car
was in the shop (and my insurance company called
yesterday to say that the repairs were going to take
a few more days than thought, so Ethan gets to keep
on truckin' for a while!):
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01.18.2010 |
Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my dad.
He's still in the hospital, and the doctors aren't
sure what caused his heart to accelerate the way it
did, but they are running tests and trying medicine
to keep him regulated. Hopefully he will get to come
home tomorrow, assuming there are no more
occurrences.
Also, please pray for Tricia and I. We have a
doctor's appointment scheduled for this afternoon
and last time we went for one of these they kept us
overnight! Pray that the baby is doing well and that
we will either get to come home quickly or come home
with baby brother!
And of course
Monday means it's time for the
weekly sports update!
All of my teams are done, but the NFL playoffs are
down to the final four, and I'm pulling for the
Colts to run the table and win Super Bowl XLIV
(that's 44 to you and me, kids). They will have to
take care of the visiting New York Jets first,
who feature one of the best defenses in the league, so that's
no easy task. Whoever wins the AFC crown will face
the winner of Minnesota at New Orleans in Miami. That
means there are only three football games left in
the 2009 season, folks! (Unless you count the Pro
Bowl, but no one does.)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(3-13) Season Completed
Louisville Cardinals
(4-8) Season Completed
PRP Panthers (3-8) Season
Completed
Here are the final overall 2009
standings for football:
The Louisville Cardinals reversed
last week's 2-0 record and went 0-2 this week.
First, they were up on visiting #4 Villanova by 17
in the first half last Monday, but decided not to
play much defense on Scottie Reynolds (36 pts, 30 in
the second half) and the Wildcats surged back for a
92-84 win in Freedom Hall. Then, on Saturday, they
were up by six at #20 Pittsburgh with under a minute
to go, only to choke it away on the free throw line. Pitt was
able to force overtime and ran away with a 82-77
win. Granted, both of these teams are in the top 20,
but if the Cards can't win these close games in the
Big East, they'll find themselves on the outside of
the NCAA tourney in March. They need quality
conference wins to ensure a spot at the dance.
Games This Week: @ Seton Hall (1/21), Cincinnati
(1/24)
The PRP Panthers beat Bullitt East
55-54 on a last-second shot at the Louisville
Invitational Tournament last Wednesday. Their
reward? A game on Friday with #1 Ballard, who rolled
the Panthers 75-54. It looks like PRP has a decent
squad, but they are not an upper-level team in the
state, and may not be able to pull away in the Sixth
Region either. But there are still a lot of games
left, so the jury's out, so to speak.
Games This Week: @ Southern (1/19), @ Doss (1/22)
Here are the
current overall 2009-2010
standings for basketball:
The
New York Mets' outfielder Carlos
Beltran had a scope on his knee last week and will
miss up to 12 weeks. Beltran missed over two months
last season with a knee injury and hopefully this
will remedy the issue. Trouble is, the team
reportedly found out about the surgery after he had
it and had asked him to get another opinon. (Beltran
and his agent Scott Boras deny those claims.) Now
the team is trying to figure out if there was a
violation of his contract, and will also have to
handle the PR on this mess. Isn't this a lovely way
to head into spring training?
Season Begins April 5 vs. Marlins
Louisville Cardinals
Season Begins in February
PRP Panthers
Season Begins in March
Here are the
current overall 2010
standings for baseball:
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01.17.2010 |
Before we get to anything else, I would like to ask
everyone to pray for my dad. He went to the hospital
last night with an extremely rapid heart rate, and
although they have ruled out a heart attack, he is
being monitored/tested to see what might be the
cause. This isn't the first time he's had an episode
of high heart rates, so I'm glad he's getting things
checked out and I hope the doctors can figure out
how to solve the problem. I'll keep everyone
updated, and thank you for your prayers.
And instead of the usual Sunday quote this week, I've
decided to catch everyone up on the two major events
in my family from the last seven days:
The Car
 Tuesday afternoon I decided to run an errand before
I picked Ethan up. As I was merging onto the
Watterson the lane from the on-ramp was about to end
so I turned my head to see if anything was in the
next lane over. When I looked back to the road
ahead, all I saw were brake lights--from the car in
front of me and the van in the next lane over. I
locked up the brakes but there wasn't enough room to
stop before I hit the back end of the car. As you can see from the
picture, there was quite a bit of damage to the
front of the Focus. Surprisingly, though, neither
headlight broke. The other car was able to drive
away, and I could actually get the Focus stared
again, but it was leaking something and I didn't
want to risk stalling out on the way to the shop, so
I called a tow truck.
Fortunately, Tricia and Ethan were not with me, and
neither I nor the driver of the other car were hurt.
(Although I am a bit miffed that the air bags in the
Focus didn't deploy as a result of the front-end
collision. I don't think I needed them, but isn't
that the reason that air bags are installed in the
first place?) The body shop and insurance company
got together and decided (thankfully) that the car
is repairable, and should be back on the road in
about a week.
Of course, I still need a way to get around while
the car is being repaired, so I had my insurance
company set me up with a rental. Turns out all that
the rental place had on hand was a truck. Not just
any truck, mind you, but a brand new (only 52 miles
on it) Chevy Silverado, which is roughly the size of
Vermont. I am not a 'truck guy' by any stretch of
the imagination, and most of the time I feel like
it's driving me, but Ethan absolutely loves it. I
mean loves it. He wants to play in it, and when we
go in he wants to go back out and play some more. I
already feel bad for how disappointed he's going to
be when I return it and get the tiny car back. Check
it out:
The Baby
As most of you know, Tricia is going in to the
doctor's office twice a week for NSTs (Non-Stress
Tests, where they monitor the baby's heart for 20
minutes or so) and once a week for BPPs
(Bio-Physical Profiles, where they use an ultrasound
to check the baby's heart, amniotic fluid levels,
and blood flow through the umbilical cord). Last
Friday, she had an NST scheduled right after school,
so she drove over for what we thought would be a
routine test. Instead, the NST showed some
decelerations in the heart rate, and they decided to
admit her overnight.
So Friday night was spent in the hospital with
Tricia hooked up to the fetal monitors from about
5:30pm until around 11:00am on Saturday. Needless to
say, she didn't get much sleep. I fared a bit
better, but the fold-out chair wasn't quite the same
as the memory foam mattress topper we have at home.
The good news is that the baby's heart looked fine
the entire time, and the doctor's saw nothing that
worried them at all.
Around 11:00 on Saturday we had an ultrasound (which
was #7 for this baby) and the little guy went
8-for-8 and scored a 100% on his BPP. Since
everything looked fine, we were sent home and told
to keep our appointments for next week, which means
another NST & BPP on Monday and another NST and
doctor's visit on Thursday.
Tricia and I are both glad that the baby is okay,
but he is still measuring small in his abdomen
(about four weeks behind schedule) and we are just a
bit frustrated with our doctors. Okay, we are
actually a lot frustrated with them. Since
there are eight doctors in the OB/GYN practice we
use, we rotate between whoever is available when our
appointments are scheduled. But eight doctors means
eight opinions, and we often get different--if not
flat-out contradictory--information and diagnosis.
For example, one doctor told us that the baby's
small growth was a reason to be concerned. She said
that if Tricia had been at 37 weeks instead of 34
(what she was on the day the growth issue was first
noted) we would be having a baby that day. On a
separate visit, another doctor told us that growth
wasn't really an issue, and as long as the NST & BPP
tests were good, there was no reason to have a baby
before 39-40 weeks. On yet another visit, that
same doctor said that we need to keep a close
eye on the baby's growth. What?! I could go on, but
I think you get the point. We're confused and don't
feel like there is any consistency among our
doctors, so we don't know how much we should be
worried, if at all. It really just makes us both
want to have the baby here so we can know exactly
what to do to take care of him.
In the meantime, here are some awesome 3-D pictures
from yesterday's ultrasound:
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01.12.2010 |
Time Travel Tuesday #24
Here's one of Tricia when she was very little! From looking through her
baby photos, I can tell that her
mom really liked dressing her in yellow. As Tricia
and I get
set to welcome our newest baby in the next few weeks
(days?) I wonder if he'll look anything like this
picture of his mommy (minus the dress, of course):
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01.11.2010 |
Before
I even get to my teams, let me just say that even
though I have no official training as an NFL
referee, I think what we see in the picture on the
right qualifies as a facemask.
Missing a call is one thing, but missing this call
which directly (via a fumble return for a touchdown)
led to Arizona winning the game in overtime, is
ridiculous. The defender's hand was clearly on the
quarterback's facemask for several seconds as he
latched on and pulled him to the ground. Of course
it's harder to see in real-time, full-speed
action--but I could see it immediately as it
happened. As Arizona ran it in I actually thought
"that's coming back" because of the blatant
facemask...but no flag was thrown.
I'm not a Packer or Cardinal fan, so the outcome of
the game didn't really fire me up one way or the
other. It's just odd that in a league where you can
get 15 yards for sneezing in the general direction
of a quarterback, it seemed odd to have a no-call
with a playoff game on the line.
And now on with the
weekly sports update!
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
announced they would keep new head coach Raheem
Morris in place for next year. (Unlike Seattle, who
fired Jim Mora after one season and will replace him
with Pete Carroll from USC. Not sure about that
move...) Also, last week I incorrectly reported that
Tampa would have the #4 pick in April's draft, when
they really have the #3 pick by virtue of their
record. More thoughts on that as the draft
approaches.
(3-13) Season Completed
Louisville Cardinals
(4-8) Season Completed
And it turns out that the
PRP Panthers actually
played an extra game this year, falling to Ryle by a
score of 52-22 in the 6A playoffs back in November.
I stumbled across this information while looking for
the Ridge's basketball scores, and honestly had no
idea that you could play a postseason game with a
3-7 record. Well, make that 3-8. (3-8) Season
Completed
Here are the final overall 2009
standings for football:
The Louisville Cardinals were able
to go 2-0 this week, notching two more wins to bring
their Big East record to 3-0. With plenty of
conference powerhouses yet to play, it's important
for the Cards to win these games and get as many Big
East victories as possible. Samuels is playing better at
the post, but he's the only real inside threat they
have, and any foul trouble for him means the team is
"3-pointer or nothing" on offense.
Case in point: after jumping out to a 14-0 start
against Providence, Louisville starting shooting
threes (and missing) and trailed at halftime. Then
they went back to Samuels in the second half and
cruised to a 92-70 win. A similar thing happened in
the St. John's game, as Louisville finally pulled
ahead in the second half by virtue of the inside
game (which then opened up some perimeter shots) for
a 75-68 final. The question is: can they keep it
going?
Games This Week: #6 Villanova (1/11), @ Pittsburgh
(1/16)
The PRP Panthers have played a few
more games than I realized last week, since I didn't
count the Las Vegas Prep Classic they played in over
Christmas break. They went 4-1 in that tournament,
but were unable to fend off Holy Cross last week,
falling 52-35. (The game against Tates Creek was
postponed due to Jefferson County schools being
cancelled for snow on Friday.) They also lost to
Beech Southern (TN) 73-33 on Saturday at a game
played in Lexington for the Dunkin Donuts National
Shootout. The Panthers are poised to play in the LIT
(Louisville Invitational Tournament) during this
week, and hopefully they can get back to their
winning ways!
Games This Week: (LIT) Bullitt East (1/12)
Here are the
current overall 2009-2010
standings for basketball:
New York Mets
Season Begins in April
Louisville Cardinals
Season Begins in February
PRP Panthers
Season Begins in March
Here are the
current overall 2010
standings for baseball:
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01.10.2010 |
The word 'repent' carries the idea of a change of
heart. It's not just feeling bad because of sin's
consequences, it's seeing sin for what it is:
falling short of God's glory. And with that
recognition firmly impressed upon our hearts, we
find a genuine desire to walk away from sin,
refusing to participate in something that dishonors
God and caused Christ to suffer.
But keep in mind that repentance is a work fueled by
the Spirit within. No one--Christian or not--has the
power to deny sin in and of themselves. Instead, we
must throw ourselves on God's mercy, trusting that
He will provide the strength and conviction to turn
from sin. It's with this idea in mind that
Thomas Waston
( The Doctrine of Repentance, various pages)
makes the following statements in this
week's quote:
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We should hate
sin infinitely more than ever we loved it.
He who is not resolved to be an enemy of sin is conquered by it.
You can no more
conceal your sin than you can defend it.
Be as speedy in
your repentance as you would have God speedy
in His mercies.
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Some helpful thoughts from Watson (who I highly
recommend reading). As sin attempts to take root in
your life, how will you respond? Do not ignore it
hoping it will go away. Do not feed it hoping it
will ever be satisfied. And do not entertain it, for
you will soon find that is not so easy to control as
you had thought. Instead, reject sin and repent by
the mercy of God.
* * * * *
Baby Update: After a five-hour
(yes, five!) doctor's appointment on
Thursday, the end result was that the baby is doing
fine. We have to go back twice again this week for
fetal monitoring and to check the baby's growth. As
long as the baby is not distressed and is growing,
they will let him continue towards the full term,
but any sign otherwise and baby will be here!
I really appreciate everyone who has been praying
for our family, and I continue to ask that you do
so. And, just like last week, you can find more
information, including the baby's name (sort of), on
Tricia's blog.
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01.05.2010 |
Time Travel Tuesday #23
As a new year begins, we go back to the beginning
for me with some very early baby pictures! I'm
calling these '1977' since I seem to be standing up
in the one on the left, and I doubt I was doing that
at four months. The person holding me in the other
picture is my paternal grandmother, Grandma Jackie
(everyone called her Jackie even though her name was
Sadie Bell...but I'm not sure why!):
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01.04.2010 |
The weekly football update has now become the
weekly sports update!

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
wrapped up the 2009 season with a 20-10 loss to the
visiting Atlanta Falcons. That caps off the worst
season for the Bucs since 1991, when they were also
3-13. With the loss, Tampa also secured the #4 pick
in this spring's NFL draft--one I hope they can use
wisely. The season was obviously a disappointment,
but nearly every veteran was cut, the coaching staff
had major changes, and a rookie QB was asked to
shoulder the load. I don't think the Bucs will be
quite back to playoff potential next year, but they
should be much more competitive week in and week
out.
Season Completed
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TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 2009 FOOTBALL |
|
DATE |
OPPONENT |
W/L |
SCORE |
RECORD |
| 09.13 |
Dallas Cowboys |
L |
21-34 |
0-1 |
|
09.20 |
@
Buffalo Bills |
L |
20-33 |
0-2 |
| 09.27 |
New York Giants |
L |
0-24 |
0-3 |
| 10.04 |
@
Washington Redskins |
L |
13-16 |
0-4 |
|
10.11 |
@
Philadelphia Eagles |
L |
14-33 |
0-5 |
|
10.18 |
Carolina Panthers |
L |
21-28 |
0-6 |
|
10.25 |
New England Patriots
(UK) |
L |
7-35 |
0-7 |
| 11.01 |
BYE |
|
|
0-7 |
| 11.08 |
Green Bay Packers |
W |
38-28 |
1-7 |
| 11.15 |
@
Miami Dolphins |
L |
23-25 |
1-8 |
| 11.22 |
New Orleans Saints |
L |
7-38 |
1-9 |
| 11.29 |
@
Atlanta Falcons |
L |
17-20 |
1-10 |
|
12.06 |
@
Carolina Panthers |
L |
6-16 |
1-11 |
|
12.13 |
New York Jets |
L |
3-26 |
1-12 |
|
12.20 |
@
Seattle Seahawks |
W |
24-7 |
2-12 |
|
12.27 |
@
New Orleans Saints |
W |
20-17/OT |
3-12 |
|
01.03 |
Atlanta Falcons |
L |
10-20 |
3-13 |
Louisville Cardinals
(4-8) Season Completed
PRP Panthers (3-7) Season
Completed
Here are the final overall 2009
standings for football:
The Louisville Cardinals are the
only college basketball team I really follow these days
and I don't watch pro hoops
(sorry, NBA) so they get added to the mix--fresh off
a 71-62 loss at Kentucky. Although I must say that the
Cards made quite a game of it in the second half,
even gaining a one-point lead with 10:00 minutes to
go. Both teams played sloppy ball, but UK remains
too explosive and talented for many teams to compete
with, even when they are outrebounded and have too
many turnovers.
As far as the Cards go, I expected this game to be a
loss (unlike the Western Carolina and Charlotte
games at home earlier this year). Without dominant
post players, it could be a long season of Big East
competition, but they're 1-0 in the Big East right now, so we'll see how
things pan out after two more conference games this
week.
Games This Week: @ Providence (1/6), St.
John's (1/9)
The PRP Panthers are off to a
strong start, and just finished a holiday tournament
where they went 2-1. I haven't been able to keep up
with high school basketball very much, so I'm not
sure if the Panthers are expected to make any noise
in their region, but the action will heat up with
three games in the next week.
Games This Week: @ Holy Cross (1/5), Western
(1/7), @ Tates Creek (1/8)
Here are the
current overall 2009-2010
standings for basketball:
The New York Mets signed outfielder
Jason Bay to a multi-year deal last week--which
means he should hit the DL in the next few days!
Last season, the Mets had over 20 players on the
disabled list at one point or another. Let's hope
they're using the off-season to recover and can make
a pennant run in 2010!
Season Begins in April
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01.03.2010 |
Happy New Year! I trust that 2010 has gotten off to
a good start for everyone, and I hope that it is a
year that draws each of us closer to the Lord Jesus
Christ.
What do you not do on Sundays? Do you avoid
cleaning the house or cutting the grass? Do you
intentionally put off grocery shopping or laundry
because it's on a Sunday? There is a long-standing
tradition (especially among those of us who are
Southern Baptists) that Sunday is a 'day of rest'
and therefore should not be filled with work and
chores. While that can be a good idea, it might miss
the actual point, as Albert Mohler
( Words from the Fire, 90) explains in this
week's quote:
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All that we do in worship, from the preaching of the Word to the singing
of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, to
the mutual edification of the body, to the
fellowship that we enjoy in the observance
of the Lord’s Table that proclaims His life,
His death, and His resurrection until He
comes—all of this Lord’s Day observance
focuses on the positive content of the
Lord’s Day, and the positive expectation
that God’s people will yearn for this day.
The main issue is what we are to
do,
rather than what we are
not to
do on the Lord’s Day. |
So while there isn't anything wrong with resting on
Sunday, the main emphasis of Sundays aren't on the
things we avoid, but on what we actually do. Sundays
are celebrated as the Lord's Day (though they all
belong to Him equally) because of Christ's
resurrection. The things we do as we gather with
fellow believers on Sundays have much more
significance than any of the things we do not do.
That's something we should practice, starting today!
* * * * *
Most of you know that Tricia and I are expecting a
baby boy in the next several weeks. We had a
doctor's appointment on New Year's Eve, and it turns
out that the baby is only measuring in the 8th
percentile for growth. This concerned the doctors,
so they are going to have us come in for fetal heart
monitoring twice a week and an ultrasound once a
week to keep a close eye on his progress. If the
baby shows any signs of distress, they will go ahead
and induce Tricia--so although his due date is
February 12, we could very easily have a January
baby.
We ask that you please keep the little guy in your
prayers, and if you are interested in knowing more
about our doctor's visit last week, you can read a
more detailed account on
Tricia's blog. In the meantime, here are some
ultrasound pictures to enjoy!
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A B O
U T M E
>
My name is Mark and I was born in 1976.
> I am
married to my beautiful wife and best friend, Tricia.
> We
have an 20-month old son named Ethan.
> We have
another son due in February 2010.
> Tricia
also has a
blog.
Hers is better than mine.
>
I'm Associate Pastor at
Parkwood Baptist in Louisville, KY.
> all
content is (c) 2003-2010
se7enty6ix.com |
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JAN 2010 |
click each title below for review
click here for
review index |
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