Texas Rangers Magic Number Update 4-30-11

Rangers 11, Athletics 2

With 135 games to go, the Rangers have a 1 game lead over the Angels.

Magic number is 135.

Yippee.

Texas Rangers Magic Number Update 4-4-11

Rangers 6, Mariners 4.

Magic Number is 156.

Woohoo!

Texas Rangers Magic Number Update

160!

Go Rangers!

Are our images of Jesus sinful?

15 “Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,16 lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. 19 And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. 

 Deuteronomy 4:15-19

Our images of Jesus Christ are good.  He is sitting with children.  He is sharing a meal with his friends at the Last Supper.  He is a well-groomed, robed man knocking on our heart's door.

None of these images are bad, but are they sinful?  (Of course not, but sometimes our response to them may be.)

Credit: Marianne at heavenawaits.wordpress.com

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He wasclothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

 Revelation 19:11-16

When was the last time you thought of Jesus Christ like that?  Why don't we have paintings in churches and our homes of Christ riding a white horse, wearing a crown and a blood-dipped robe, and leading an army?

As humans with finite minds, we all have trouble believing what we can't see.  So, we make some sort of representation from what we know.  Let's not omit the things we know that don't make pretty pictures though.  If we put God in a box and neuter Christ the King, we commit heresy.  Instead, let's choose to know God in every way in which He reveals himself and worship the Living God.

AC

Test

Test

New American Bible loses its "booty"

By now, you have probably heard that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is ordering a Bible with updated language.

Some of the changed language, taken very out of context includes:

• booty-now "spoils of war"
• holocaust- now "burnt offering"
• ideal wife-now "woman of worth"
• virgin-now "young woman"

So, will these bishops now talk about the "Burnt Offering" of the Jews during World War II?  Sounds a little anti-Semitic.

However, on the positive side, can unmarried women of all ages refer to themselves as "young women", while married women can now celebrate their newfound "worth"?

Priests all over America can celebrate their new translation by shaking their "spoils of war" and listening to a little KC and the Sunshine Band.

Gangsta Wraps

I saw on the news tonight that a new show called America's Next Great Restaurant is on NBC.  A woman from the Metroplex pitched an idea for a restaurant called "Sports Wraps" which would be a self-serve healthy "wraps" shop.

I had the same idea for self-serve wraps called "Gangsta Wraps" that would have a hip-hop theme.  If she wins, should she pay me royalties for my self-serve wraps idea?

My plan to fix Texas education

So, Texas teachers are all getting canned because of budget crisis and the students are all behind the rest of the world in math and science.  How can this be fixed?

1. If the rest of the economy is beginning to recover, why couldn't the Texas legislature dip into the rainy day fund and encourage schools to use some of their own reserves?  If thousands of teachers are out of work in Texas, or at best just take pay cuts, that would be a significant reduction in spending power.  If schools cut programs, many parents would lose their built-in baby sitter (school) and sacrifice some work to take care of their children or pay more for day care.

All of these add up to less money available to anyone associated with schools.  So why not use the financial reserves available to ride out the storm?

2. Change the structure of secondary schools.  Many students are disengaged in school and get into trouble because of this, not because they are future criminals.  My two-pronged approach is very similar to the way things were 30 years ago:

1. Create a two-track system of College Prep and Vo-Tech education.
2. The College Prep would prepare students for a liberal arts or math/science education and be subject to rigorous testing (to please the NCLB folks).  This would also put us on a level playing field with the rest of the world when we begin to compare math/science scores.
3. The Vo-Tech program would begin in 8th grade and mimic the Master/Apprentice system of the past by hiring people of vocational and technical expertise to put students to work learning skills.  At the completion of high school, a student would have at least 5 years of experience in a career and could be immediate contributors to society.

3. Instead of abandoning technology, embrace it.  Many students in rural and home-bound situations could be served using distance education to save the money from serving them with a full-time classroom teacher.

I think the economy and education could be saved with a willingness to change how we do things, along with not panicking about our current situation.

A better school system=a better economy.