Football is in the air

MSU held their spring game a couple of weeks ago and it was quite nice to be back in the stadium, watching some football...even if it wasn't a true game. I like our chances to repeat and one-up last season, especially since Dak Prescott decided not to enter the draft and come back for his senior year!

Pictures

I love photography and will shoot just about anything. This picture is from last night's walk to campus, using the camera on my iPhone - I cleaned it up a bit in snap seed an app on my iPad. I love this app as it's mobile and easy to use and has just enough features to work on pictures.

How 'bout them Dawgs???!!!

History has been made! MS State University BullDawgs are #1 in the nation!!! We are one of just 5 teams ever to defeat 3 top 10 back to back to back and the first to do so in 40 years! GO DAWGS!!! #HAILSTATE

Gator in heat

Caught a gator doing his mating ritual dance. Here's a pic of it before it started the dance.

Here's the video:
Gator

Max Lucado - Grace

When I was a kid, I learned an easy way to remember what Grace is - God's riches at Christ's expense. Very simplistic but it gets the point across somewhat. Lucado starts off talking about the grace we are familiar with in everyday life: a grace period, a fall from grace, someone who is gracious or graceful....on the list goes. He says we've settled for a wimpy grace but his book delves into the deeper question, have you been changed/strengthened/shaped by grace? One verse Lucado quotes early on is from Paul, where Paul says 'It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20)'. As Lucado states, when grace happens, Christ moves in and takes control. There is nothing we can do to be acceptable for Christ, Christ must move in and change us, fill us with grace.
What is the first bible verse to pop in your head about grace? For me, it is Eph 2:8-9 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Were it not for the grace of God, no one could be saved, there are no deeds that we can do to get saved, only accept the gift of grace from God and believe fully in Him. However, we don't just receive His gift of grace but we also give the gift of grace to others. The story in the bible of the servant who owed his master a lot of money but was shown mercy and told he didn't have to pay the debt. What happened? Did he pass on his good fortune to others? No, he had one who owed him little thrown in prison until he could pay it. The master called him in and reprimanded him and had him thrown into prison until the debt could be paid. As Lucado says halfway thru his book, 'To accept grace is to accept the vow to give it'. That servant accepted grace but didn't accept the vow to pass it on.
God says, 'My grace is all sufficient for you'. Will you trust that it is? Will you accept His gift, let it change you, and pass it on to others?

I received this book as part of the BookSneeze blogger program.

Argh!!

My Dawgs are ending the regular season at 8-4 but at least we'll go to a bowl. I really thought they were the worst team in the country at last night's egg bowl vs Ole Miss. Neither side of the ball played well at all - defense was like hot butter and don't even get me started on the offense. We've controlled this state for 3 years straight but the Dawgs just didn't really seem to care for another year of dominance.

BullDawg football

Who can believe that the MSU Dawgs are 5-0?! First time since 1999! It will be a good (but late) game this week-end against the Tn Vols, who have only lost 1 game. I think this will be the first true test of my Dawgs and I hope we are able to pull it off and continue the winning streak!

Abducted by Janice Cantore

Published by Tyndale Fiction. This is book 2 of the Pacific Coast Justice Series.
Officer Carly Edwards is a new Christian and is plunged into the mystery of who kidnapped her partner, Joe's, infant son and why. Thrown into the mix of this issue is her ex-husband and police Sgt. Nick (also a new Christian) who had said he wanted to reconcile but then shows signs of pulling away. Her room-mate Andi was on duty during the kidnapping and is being suspended and she herself has pulled away from Carly, hating everything about her being a Christian. Will all work out? Will her trust in God help her survive everything and find the infant? Does she and Nick have a chance? Will Andi remain her friend?
This was a good book to read and kept my interest throughout. I plan to read the other books by Cantore. It would be a good book for someone who is not a Christian as it's suspenseful and not a 'preachy' book but does give enough good info to lead someone to ask questions. At the end of the book are discussion questions that lead you to think thru some of the issues presented in the book. For example: Think of a time you've felt distanced from someone you cared for. How did you respond to the situation? When is it right to let a relationship dwindle, and when is it appropriate to fight to maintain it? This topic is sprinkled throughout this book as Carly works thru her relationship with Nick and Andi and whether she should just give up on them or trust that God has a plan for her. I will say that she chose to trust God to work things out in His way and not how she wanted them to be.
Tyndale House Publishers gave me this book in exchange for my review, positive or not.

It's Time!

Football season is upon us! 1 week till my BullDawgs play Jackson State at MSU!! Cannot wait to see what we do this year but it's another tough schedule for us. We seem to have the toughest schedule in the SEC year after year but it's all fun! GO DAWGS!!!!

Grant by Mitchell Yockelson

This is a short biography on the life of Grant, focusing mainly on his education and military career. It is a part of a series, The generals, published by Thomas Nelson. While this is a just a short overview about Grant, it is very well written and gives the reader a chance to learn a lot about Grant. One thing that I didn't realize, between the Mexican War and the Civil War, Grant had left the military. After the Mexican War, Grant married Julia Dent and they had a son. A year after the first child was born, Julia discovered she was pregnant and Grant had orders to ship out to California, so Julia stayed behind. Grant missed his family so much, that he resigned from the military and tried to make it as a civilian (he had little success). When the Civil War broke out, he tried to re-enlist but was denied due to a supposed drinking problem he had developed in California. Finally, with the help of his friends, he was enlisted in the army and given the rank of Col. of the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
There's other such little known facts throughout this book along with a good generalization of his military history. It gives a very, very brief look at his presidency but the book is focused mainly on the military. Interspersed throughout are pictures of Grant, his family, and several of his military generals and friends - on a personal note, a lot of these pictures and some of the info came from the Grant Papers Collection at the local university here, Ms State University.
I got this book thru the Book-Sneeze blogger program of Thomas Nelson.

Women pastors ?

As I said in my book review of My hair...by Yvette Maher, I disagree with her decision to serve as a pastor. I don't think it's biblical for women to serve as pastors. Yes, women can lead women Bible studies or teach Sunday school classes for kids but they shouldn't be in roles where they are in leadership over men in the church (and I'm not sure what I think about women politicians, torn on that issue). I will discuss a few scripture references here using the ESV:

First: Genesis is the story of creation and who did God create first? Adam was created first and given the authority to name the animals. Eve was created to be the helper and companion of Adam. Genesis 2:7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he formed. v.18: Then the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him. v.21: So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman because she was taken from man.

Who committed the first sin? It was woman who was deceived and convinced her husband to follow suit and as such, both were punished. Genesis 3:16 (see also, multiple verses before to get the full context) To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. -- See that, man is over woman, NOT woman over man!

Second: Read I Timothy 2 - here is v. 12: I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. So we can see here that women shouldn't serve as pastors because that puts them in a leadership position with authority over men. This make me wonder about women as political leaders - I know that in the Bible, there were women judges but is that really the same thing as being a governor/senator/president in today's times? I don't know! Certainly, women can have roles in a church to support it with her gifts, even the gift of teaching.
What about the chapter in Timothy (3) where instructions were given for elders and deacons? They hold authority over the church and so women can't have authority over man. -- They are to be HUSBAND of but one WIFE. He must manage his household well and have control of his children. -- I wonder how churches that have women serving as elder or deacon get around this chapter? Political-correctness, I'll wager!

Back to the reason that got me started on this topic - in the book, My hair and God's mercies by Yvette Maher (she is an associate pastor and that is what really got me started), she has a section titled Mantle of authority. I find it interesting that in this section, she concedes that the husband should be the authority in the house and yet she holds a place of authority over men in church! The 'mantle of authority' as she describes it, is given to man by God and is provided for spiritual leadership for the household. Huh! Look at that...spiritual leadership - reminds me of Timothy 3 where man is to be head of his household and if he can't control his own house, how can he have authority in church. So, if man is to be head in the house and control it, then how can women be in authority in church? Hmmm....

My hair

My hair & God's mercies... new every morning by Yvette Maher - I received this book as a review copy from Tyndale House Publishers. This book was very easy to read and well written. Yvette uses the trials in her life as a stepping stone for teaching how to live a better life with Christ in control. As a teen, she went thru her father spending less and less time with the family and then eventually divorcing her mother. She sought her father's love and when he wasn't around, she sought love in other places. She ended up pregnant searching for love and it led her to have an abortion, a decision she regretted even before she became a Christian (not that non-Christians don't regret it). She partied hard and did drugs and was very promiscuous. She found love again and once again ended up pregnant. This time she chose to keep her baby and the baby's father decided to marry her, knowing that they had a lot of work to do in their relationship. Shortly after she married, she was blessed with twin daughters, and this in spite of her having had an appointment earlier to have an abortion and then backing out of it! Eventually, they moved to Ky and closer to her home and this is where her life really made a change. Her next door neighbor was a Christian and they often walked their kids together. Little did Yvette know, her neighbor and others were praying for her salvation. One weekend, she left the kids with her husband to go to her high school reunion and while there, realized everyone was busy getting smashed while she just wanted to show pictures of her kids off. She left the reunion early and sat in her car thinking about the friends at the reunion getting smashed and then of her neighbor who was a Christian and decided she wanted what her neighbor had and prayed to God. She made a deal that she would live His way for a year if He would show her that His way was better for her than her way - a year was up a long time again. Over the course of time, her husband became a Christian as well. They went thru many ups and downs in their relationship and even had a time where they talked of seperation or divorce but they fought for their relationship and sought help and prayed without ceasing and eventually were able to grow even closer and fix things. You'll have to read the book to learn more about their fight for their relationship and what all they went thru, it is a good example of how to deal with issues biblically. I had just 1 issue with the author and plan to do a blog post about why - I disagree with the fact that she is a pastor as I believe this is not biblical. Otherwise, I recommend this book for everyone who feels they can't escape their situation and that God can't possibly love them or bless their life. He does love us (yes, even non-christians)and provides for His children.

Spirit fighter by Jerel Law

This is book 1 in Son of Angels: Jonah Stone series. It was awesome!! It's sort of a mix between Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and Frank Peretti-like books. It's about quarterlings - children of Nephilim or half-angels - whose mother is kidnapped by fallen angels serving Abaddon (devil). The children put their trust in Elohim (God) and trust Him to get them thru all the obstacles in their way to rescue their mother. They are helped by their guardian angel who secretly wishes to be promoted to the ranks of warrior angel. The book is based on Ephesians 6: 10-20 - 10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The book takes each part of putting on the whole armour of God and uses it to describe how the children prepare themselves to fight Abaddon. There are a lot of scripture references throughout the book. One thing I notice about it, is that it's not necessarily the sort of book to give someone as encouragement to become a Christian. I think that this book is for those who already know scripture well and will understand the various characters and references made throughout. However, it is overall a great book for anyone to read who wants a clean read for a change. I received this book from Thomas Nelson Book-Sneeze

The Voice

Got my copy of The voice New testament and I don't much like it, it just doesn't read or flow like many other versions of the Bible do - I realize this is supposed to be more to update but still... Maybe it will grow on me as I refer to it more and get a better grasp of it. Here's John 3:16 from The voice, ESV, KJV, and NIV:
(Voice) - For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life.
(KJV) - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(ESV) - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
(NIV) - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Call me a traditionalist, but I just don't much care for modern language translations that are quite that different sounding.
Another thing that bugs me about this translation is the way it's divided into sections of who is talking. John 3 has Nicodemus and Jesus speaking back and forth and it's divided with headers so that you know exactly who is speaking but I think this detracts from scripture, it doesn't flow well in this fashion. I also don't like having the notes in the middle of reading scripture, notes are helpful but like other translations, should be at the bottom of the page.
All in all, this is a translation of Scripture and is useful in learning more about God. I will continue perusing this translation and maybe it will grow on me.

Tyndale by David Teems

This book is a good read for anyone who knows very little about William Tyndale - be sure you read the prologue (I sometimes skip that part)as it has a lot of fascinating info about Tyndale - such as: did you know that had Tyndale not been the person he was and come up with words we use today (such as godspeed or network), there would have been no Shakespeare as we know him? Shakespeare used phrases (similar to or the same as) that Tyndale concocted years before. For example: "he hath eaten me out of house and home" (Henry IV, part one) is like Tyndale's "eat the poor out of house and harbor" (The parable of the wicked mammon). Also in the prologue, you learn the background history of the culture surrounding Tyndale's era, the religious culture mostly. The rest of the book lets you learn about the man himself, what he did, and what he believed in. At the end of the book is a William Tyndale timeline so you can more easily see what happened when in his life along with other major events that have occurred during the time. There is also a First usage of words by William Tyndale - words introduced into the English language by him. It is interesting to note that this list points out a number of words that were credited to other people but that Tyndale himself is the first person to have used those words (such as: fig leaves, birthright, sin offering...). We also have William Tyndale's letters to John Frith while Frith was confined in the tower. Overall, this book is a good introduction to the man most known for his translation of the Bible into English.

I received this book thru the Book-sneeze program of Thomas Nelson.

Poem

Christmas by Kara (2001)

Christmas!

jingle bell time

time for presents and fun

friends and family visiting

snow falling and good cheer

crowded stores

Birthday.

Jesus

Immanuel

born in a stable

REAL meaning of Christmas

came to Earth to save us all

God with us

Savior.

Mary

mother of Jesus

obedient virgin

born of David’s line

Blessed.

Joseph

earthly father of Jesus

son of David

obedient husband

Nazarene.

Jesus

born to save us

bore our sins on the cross

rose from the dead

returned to Heaven

Love.

Christian zombie killers handbook

The Christian zombie killers handbook: slaying the living dead within by Jeff Kinley. I've had a hard time reading this book as zombie books just aren't my cup of tea but this is a different spin on the genre. This is a combination of fiction and non-fiction. You have a fiction story about zombies but in reality, it's about the sinful nature of man. There are chapters in the book that are specifically about religious stuff like faith, peer pressure, living for fleshly things vs Godly things, temptations, how to kill the zombie in you (salvation). Interspersed in the book are biblical references for the various topics discussed.
An example of the types of zombies that exist in the world: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness and orgies... (pg.63/64) Galatians 5: 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
This is a good book to counter all the blood and gore zombie books that teens like to read!

I got this book as part of the booksneeze.com book-review program

Bowling

MSU Dawgs are headed to Nashville to play Wake Forest in the Music City Bowl on Dec 30th. While I have mixed feelings about our deserving to go bowling, this is a good opportunity for our guys to represent Ms and make some improvements for next season. Go Dawgs!!

Dawgs squeaked by this year

Whew! Dawgs go .500 in football this year - not a good year at all! I'm very disappointed by the coaching or lack thereof. Coach Mullen should resign as coach and go to Penn State as the rumours are saying. We need someone who is not a friend or fan of Jackie Sherrill to lead our team, we need Coach Croom back! I believe we will be able to go bowling but I feel that we don't deserve to do so. Yes, the players played their best with what they were told to do but all it, bad job guys!

God's promise for the American patriot

This book is by Dr Richard Lee and Jack Countryman, published by Thomas Nelson.
This is a quick glimpse into various portions of our nations history mixed with relevant Bible quotations. The book is divided into several sections: Thanksgiving proclamation, The Bible and American presidents, The Gettysburg Address, Faith of the founders, God of our fathers, and The battle hymn of the republic. A couple of examples of the sort of historical events found in each section: Thanksgiving proclamation gives the story of how Thanksgiving came to be as a day "we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country". I've never understood how people argue that the US wasn't founded on Christian principles when you have proclamations such as this made by George Washington. Another point under the Thanksgiving proclamation section is Praying for our nation and how at various times in our history, the president has called for a national day of prayer and how Truman established the annual day of prayer in 1952. This historical event is accompanied by 4 verses pertaining to prayer. In the section The Bible and American presidents you find a lesson called One man, one woman. In 1885 the Supreme Court recognized the traditional institution of marriage - husband and wife not 2 men/women marrying each other. There are 3 scripture references for this lesson.
All in all, this book is a quick read to learn more about this country's history and how it was founded upon Christian principles. Let us not forget!
received from Thomas Nelson's BookSneeze