I am every Man

I've been accused by some as being an inscrutable leader. Yet others swear that I am the most approachable, most transparent leader they've ever met. Still others suggest that I am a bit of both and somewhat enigmatic. So which one am I? No really, which one am I? Paul, in writing to the Corinthian Church declared:

"To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gosepel...."

So, Paul, what exactly are you saying? Are you excusing bad behavior for the sake of reaching any and everyone with the message of the Gospel? I think not. May I suggest that Casting Crowns clearly understood what Paul was saying in his message to the Church at Corinth. Here's how they've interpreted his words in a song titled Every Man:

I'm the man with all I've wanted

All the toys and playing games

I am the one who pours your coffee

Corner booth each Saturday

I am your daughter's favorite teacher

I'm the leader of the band

I sit behind you in the bleachers

I am every man

I'm the coach of every winning team

And still a loser in my mind

I am the soldier in the airport

Facing giants one more time

I am the woman shamed and haunted

By the cry of unborn life

I am every broken man

Nervous child, lonely wife...

Quite eloqently put, wouldn't you say? Until you've identified with each person's circumstance, you are in no position to judge their condition. Love covers a multitude of sin (it doesn't judge it). So who am I? I am every man! Sometimes inscrutable, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes a bit of both, that I might reach some for Christ. And in His grace, He doesn't judge me the way others do. Thankfully He is the One I have to answer to. I am every man!

Frivolous Friday!

I want you to picture the town council meeting in your mind's eye. They're gathered around the 8' makeshift conference table discussing that one busy street that cuts right through the middle of the one-traffic-light town. The discussion is heated and animated. Some people want the street declared a one-way street so that it is safer for the townsfolk crossing over to the other side. The dissenters argue that this is the only way in and out of the town and so making it a one way street would dissuade people from visiting (not that there's much to visit anyway). Finally, the vote is tallied. the Aye's have it. The street will be made one way. Just one small problem... in the thick of the argument, they forgot to decide which way was one way. Problem solved! We'll just make it one way both ways!! What a great town to live in!!!
I've heard of 'rocks falling' but trees falling??? I guess preparing for the unexpected is a good mantra to adopt as you go through life otherwise the results can be fatal!!! Have a great weekend

Do you Prey? (no, this is not a typo)

Sola and I went out on a well deserved movie date last night and I even threw in a chinese dinner which we ordered take-out (Hey, I know how to show my wife a good time). We went to see Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys . I've got to tell you, it was an amazing movie. His movies are always brilliantly scripted, well cast, and beautifully executed. Okay, the secrets out... I'm a humongous Tyler Perry fan. I thought he couldn't outdo himself after Why Did I Get Married?, but I was wrong. This movie really spoke to some very real issues in both overt and subtle ways. One of the things I admire about Perry is the fact that he makes no secret of his Christian roots, as they are patently obvious in every one of his movies (even if it's just a church choir singing gospel music), yet he manages to keep his movies mainstream and not limited to a Christian audience. I'd give you my take on what was so impressive about the movie, but that would spoil it for you so... power down the computer, put on some deodorant, and head out to the movie theater now! This is a must see movie. See you when you get back, and tell me what you thought!!

A lion goes to church too...

Here's an intriguing story coming out of the hurricane "Ike" aftermath. The owner of a lion from a Texas zoo was trying to get his animal to safety through rising water levels. Realizing that they were in grave danger as the water continued to rise, he diverted from his planned route and happened upon a church where people were taking refuge. He somehow convinced them that he and the lion were safe, and they agreed to help him. According to the story, they actually helped him guide the full grown lion through a couple of feet of water and locked him in the sanctuary until rescuers came by the next morning. Apparently, even though the water level rose to over four feet, the lion reportedly remained calm. Here's what the lions owner had to say about the experience:

"They worked pretty well together, actually [speaking of the people and the lion]," said the lion's owner, Michael Ray Kujawa. "When you have to swim, the lion doesn't care about eating nobody."

Thanks kindly Mr Kujawa, but I don't know if that 'rousing' commendation would have been sufficient for me. It's amazing how resilient people are in the face of danger. Ordinarily, most of these people wouldn't come within a hundred yards of a lion that wasn't securely caged, yet, here they are voluntarily spending the night with a lion in a church sanctuary. I don't know when the lion was last fed, but I do know that even the greatest lion trainers have been 'eaten' by their lions on occasion. I guess the truth is, when our backs are against the wall, survival and the preservation of life is instinctive, even if it's preserving the life of a lion that "doesn't care about eating nobody." Well done and kudos to you wonderful, resilient Texans who not only had to survive Ike, but potentially being dinner for a lion.

Stupid is as stupid does

I'm ticked! I know, I know, it seems as if I've been ticked for a while now, right? Any way, this time I'm waxing philosophical on a completely different issue than politics or faith. One of the drawbacks of living in a country where everyone gets to excercise their 'free-will' freely, is that you have to deal with stupid people who display a measure of lunacy by putting others in harms way because, in the excercising of their free-will they've chosen unwisely. The recent hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas are perfect examples. Read the following excerpt from the Associated Press reports:

As dawn broke, emergency officials were fielding pleas for help from residents along the coast who remained behind and were trapped in their homes.... "The unfortunate truth is we're going to have to go in... and put our people in the tough situation to save people who did not choose wisely. We'll probably do the largest search and rescue operation that's ever been conducted in the state of Texas," said Andrew Barlow, spokesman for (Governor) Perry.

About half of the nearly 300,000 residents of coastal Brazoria County stayed behind in defiance of evacuations orders... as did about half of the 110,000 people in Beaumont.... "I'm drained. I'm beat up," Steven Rushing said later Saturday morning. "My family is traumatized. I kept them here, promising them everything would be alright, but this is the real deal and I won't stay no more."

Wow, Steven, what a revelation! At least you're alive to commit to excercising some wisdom next time. Others weren't so fortunate. The truth is, we are spoiled, because we live in a country that has such an advanced disaster response system that we can take for granted. People in most developing nations find out about natural disasters when they happen. Then it's every 'man' for himself as people trample on one another trying to escape. Sometimes there is more carnage from the disorganized attempts to flee than there is from the actual natural disaster. How can anyone "promise" their family that everything will be alright in a hurricane!?! One inch of standing water is known to be able to float vehicles (hydroplaning) let alone 4 - 8 feet of fast rushing water laden with oversized debris. There are mandatory evacuation orders preceding these hurricanes, yet people foolishy defy those orders in an attempt to 'protect' their property. Well... dead people can't protect anything. So here's a friendly word of advice to future hurricane warning areas: heed the warning!!! There, I've said my piece. I feel much better now! It's your turn.

The long and winding road

Somehow today doesn't quite feel like a "Frivolous Friday" so I think I'm going to skip the funny signs and just share with you from my heart. This has been a really busy week for me. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had to fly out to Texas after church on Sunday so that I could help deal with an emergency that called for my intervention. I returned on Monday night, only to head out to the doctors office on Tuesday morning with my son. He was having his finger checked since it was still swollen and didn't look like the surgery had managed to solve the problem. We ended up having another surgery scheduled for yesterday morning. We were at the surgery center from 10.00am until 3.30pm and it turns out his little finger is broken. They fixed it and want him to lay off football for at least three weeks and possibly more. So here I am... exhausted, dealing with a frustrated teenager, thinking that I am so not ready for my Lead Team meeting on Thursday evening (not to talk about service on Sunday!), and all this is just the tip of the iceberg. Have you ever had one of those weeks? One of those weeks when you want to crawl back into bed, pull the covers up over your head and just let life make it without you? If you have, you'll know exactly what I'm going through. If you have, then you won't mind me asking you to spare a prayer for me today will you? Have a great weekend. I'm really working hard on ensuring that I do too!

Imitating life!

They say that art imitates life! If that's true, then I've seen a fair amount of great 'artwork' lately, much of it on the football field. Since my son's football recruiting took off on an entirely unexpected plane (pun intended), I've found loads of amazing spiritual life lessons from the 'art' of football. At the beginning of spring practice Demi decided he wanted to wear Jersey #9 for his senior year (admittedly a strange number for a defensive end, but... oh well!) Any way, when the jerseys came in he discovered that his was a medium (if you know my son you'll be laughing hysterically about now). He managed to squeeze into it for a photo shoot with the Orlando Sentinel, but decided that it was way too tight for him to be comfortable playing in it. Let me digress for a moment and tell you that he had surgery on the 'pinkie' finger on his left hand a few weeks ago, because he'd had an accident while going one-on-one with their biggest offensive line-man during practice.

For those of you who don't want the gory details, skip to the next paragraph. The tendon came off the knuckle joint, some of the ligaments were torn and a piece of tendon was wedged between the two knuckle bones. In order to fix it the doctor had to 'slice' open his finger, move the tendon out from between the bones, fix the tendon and the ligaments, realign the bones properly and then suture the opening. Like all typical football players, Demi wanted to be back on the field the next day. However, wisdom, the doctor, and threats from yours truly about him missing his entire season, prevailed, and he had to lay off practice for almost two weeks, coming back just in time for the first game of the season which happened to be against the number 7 ranked team in the state of Florida. So here he is on gameday with a soft caste that looks like an oversized boxing glove attached to his appendage, which in turn made his entire arm look like a misplaced club dangling from his body.

Inspite of the 'club' he had an amazing game. He recorded 8-tackles, 4-tackles for loss, 2-sacks (for those of you not up on your football terminology, this is when you knock down the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage), 1-forced fumble, and 1-fumble recovery. He did all of this wearing jersey #44, which apparently belonged to someone else, so every time he made a tackle or a sack, the announcer gave the credit to someone else who wasn't even playing in the game. So what's the life lesson you're wondering? First, the commitment to do whatever it is you have to do even when you're not 100% healthy, knowing that you put your self at greater risk, is an amazing picture of resilience in the face of hardship. Also, and may be even more noteworthy, is the fact that Demi did all that he did anonymously. It is human nature to want to be recognized and sometimes even celebrated for the good things you've done. It's tough to do good things and yet hear someone else get the credit for it. Demi told me he was so 'pumped' to be back on the field hitting people again, he didn't even hear the announcements. Wow! I guess if you're really focused on the task at hand, you don't even pay attention to who gets the credit. All I can say is... another lesson in leading, from my teenage son. You go number 9... I mean number 44!!!

Quick hits

I'm people watching again as I sit in Houston's Lobby Airport waiting for my return flight to Orlando. Don't ask, but I made an emergency trip to South Texas yesterday after church and am on the way back home. I thought I was done with traveling for a while, but as it turns out, not only did I have to make this emergency trip to Texas, but I will be making a trip to New England toward the end of the month. I am working on some major things right now and will let you all know about them once the decisions have been made. I watched Notre Dame play on Saturday, and barely eek out a win against San Diego State. What!?! Notre Dame used to be a perennial powerhouse but they have, it would appear, lost their edge. It's a good thing my son's college choice will offer me a new team to support without seeming to shift loyalties from a bad team to a good one. Seriously though, I've been a loyal ND fan for years and they've been bad for quite a few of them now. I'll see you tomorrow after I watch the Broncos pound the Raiders (fingers crossed).

This house is falling... or is it? (Part 3of 3)

For this post to make much sense I suggest you read parts 1 and 2 first.

So let me see if I've got this right. According to the gist of my preceding two posts, if we are to follow popular opinion:

• We (Christians) are bigots because we believe homosexuality to be a sin according to the Scriptures.
• A black man elected to the office of President of the U.S.A. is the highest calling and duty of every black American, and indeed black person around the globe, irrespective of what compromise that might be to our faith.
• Protesting the ordination of gay ministers and of non-believers in the Deity of Jesus is “problematic,” illegitimate and troublesome.
• Adhering to the Scriptures as the true source of deliverance for humanity is “obscure,” arcane, outdated, and irrelevant
  
  And we wonder why our culture is regressing, while we become increasingly self-absorbed and arrogant? Meanwhile, as all of this is going on in our ‘developed’ nations, as we battle to figure out what true Christianity looks like in this generation, here’s what’s happening on the other side of the globe. A little known country named Rwanda is torn apart at the seams through genocide, as nearly one million ethnic Tutsi’s are slaughtered in the space of 91-days. Helpless young women, are raped, tortured and beheaded with near blunt axes. Eight of the more fortunate survivors, in an attempt to save their lives, are holed up in a 3’ X 5’ bathroom for 91-days (Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left To Tell).
  
  Here’s one more excerpt from an article in September 2008’s Charisma magazine that I think you might find interesting.
  
  “Two Christians in the Algerian town of Tissemsilt were sentenced to six months in jail and fined 100,000 dinars ($1,617) in July for preaching the gospel. Rachid Muhammad Essaghir, 37, and Djallal Dhamani, were handed suspended jail terms and fined for violating a February 2006 law that forbids “proselytism and the illegal practice of a non-Muslim religion.” The law prescribes up to five years in jail and fines of between $8000 and $16,000 for anyone who “incites, constrains or seduces a Muslim to join another religion.””
  
  I guess there is hope for Christianity after all. This House cannot fall because Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16: 18). So while others may be building puny, un-enduring empires, and squabbling over what the ‘politically correct’ terminology of the day is, Jesus is slowly but surely building His Church around the world, and those who are willing, are privileged to sacrifice their personal comfort and even their lives for the sake of the Gospel. There is an ominous reminder in Scripture, to those of us who would seek to protect our lives at all costs, even if it means the compromise of our faith.
  
  “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16: 24-25)
  
  My prayer for you and me today is that we be found willing if such a demand is ever placed on us.

This house is falling... or is it? (Part 2)

If you haven't already done so, I suggest that you read yesterday's post here first before continuing with this article.

I’m on a roll now, so let’s not stop there. Harry R. Jackson, Jr. wrote a thought-provoking article in the same issue of Charisma magazine titled, “The Changing Black Vote.” Historically, black people have largely voted Democrat as opposed to Republican. This is in large part due to the fact that the Democratic Party seemed more humane and more committed to helping remove the ‘burden’ from the backs of black families. The ‘politics’ of Christianity have taken on an almost ‘comical’ expression that would suggest that to be Christian is to be Republican… if you’re white. On the other hand, to be Christian is to be Democrat, if you’re black. Since Obama’s historic nomination as Presidential Candidate for the Democratic Party, there has been a groundswell of support among blacks (including Christians) across the globe, primarily because America has taken strides towards potentially electing her first black president. Recently, in keeping with this trend of unquestioning support, Nigeria’s beleaguered Director General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), Ndidi Okereke, foolishly embarked on a fund-raising campaign for Obama, to help elect him into the office of President of the U.S.A. (I should state here that Obama’s campaign has strongly denounced any connection with Ms. Okereke, or indeed any need for her funds or any other assistance). She did all of this while serving in a highly sensitive, financially related, appointed office in Nigeria. Impartial? Hardly so. Such foolishness portends nothing good for a nation that needs to take an impartial observer status in the politics of the USA. It would appear however, that, many of us have thrown all caution to the wind, and placed our brains on temporary hiatus, simply so that a black man can be elected president. Sadly, any issues that would seem to compromise our values as Christians are swiftly relegated to the back seat of common sense. Apparently it is more important to put a black man in the White House than it is to uphold our Christian values. Hear what Jackson has to say about this:

“I am deeply troubled by the pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, tax-and-spend policies of the Democrats. And a lot of people in our community feel as I do. Consequently, there is a new dynamic in our midst: a new surge of African American political activism with strong conservative roots—a movement that is drawing its energy from the conservative moral values of the new black church.”

D. L. Foster also added his voice to the conversation when he stated in his Charisma magazine article;

“Equally alarming is the way black churches have opened their pulpits to Obama despite his embrace of homosexuality…. While delivering a speech at a church event honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Obama chided the black community for not embracing homosexuals. He later called Romans 1 an “obscure passage” that had no bearing on Christian beliefs concerning same –sex relationships….Granted, Obama is at the center of an unprecedented moment in U.S. history. But do we as black Christians put our beliefs on the back burner just to get an African-American in the Oval Office? In the last several years we’ve seen the advance of gay rights lead to the suppression of religious liberty. Increasingly, believing that homosexuality is a sin is being equated with bigotry.”

Foster precedes his summation with the story of a United Methodist pastor in Houston who, having endorsed Obama, faced criticism from homosexual activists for having an “overcoming ministry” listed on his church’s website. The pastor informed the gay activists that “he didn’t know his church operated such an outreach.” He later told a political website “[name of ministry] is not a ministry of the church. It is not supported financially by the church. It is not located at the church. That is pretty much where I am with it.” According to the article, the ministry has since been “scrubbed” from the church’s website. I'll conclude this series tomorrow. Meanwhile, remember that we have an enemy that isn't flesh and blood, and the means of our warfare is spiritual not physical.

This House is falling... or is it?

Christianity is under attack!!! There is a seemingly unwitting, malicious, and spurious plot to undermine the very values that define Christianity, while kowtowing to the secular values of our post-Christian, ‘politically-correct,’ western societies. What makes this attack even more dangerous is the fact that it comes, not from the secular culture which we have foolishly deemed to be the enemy, but from elements of our own, who purportedly profess the same faith that we do. Sadly, much of this ‘distancing’ from Biblical values is done under the guise of being culturally relevant and accommodating of others that don’t believe the way we do.

I have spent the last couple of days ‘devouring’ my copy of the September 2008 edition of Charisma and Christian Life magazine. As I read one story after another, I cannot tell you how truly disheartened I am at the extent of our insensate approach to what is ostensibly our well intentioned attempt to ‘love’ and accept people, no matter what that looks like or how it impacts the true witness of the Gospel message. Our message has become the epitome of the maxim, “The end justifies the means.” Let me unequivocally state: I’m convinced that this continued watering down of the Gospel will only serve to enervate and weaken our already unflattering image among non-Christians who are searching for truth.

Before you begin to rebuke me for going on a seemingly pointless diatribe, let me show you a few examples of what I’m talking about. There has been a tremendous amount of vituperation directed towards the Anglican Church in recent years, following their wide acceptance and ordination of homosexual clergy in North America. Here are some excerpts from an article by Nicole Schiavi in the September issue of Charisma magazine.

“Conservative Anglicans gathered in Jerusalem to formulate a declaration that drew a clear line between conservative and liberal camps in the Anglican body while opting not to break away from the traditional church. The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) was held in response to deep dissent in the Anglican Communion over the ordination of gay clergy in North America and the denial by some of the divinity of Jesus… “What we have here today is not just Africa and the global South, but truly a global coming together of Anglicans from around the world…” said the Most Rev. Peter Akinola of Nigeria, a primate and chairman of GAFCON…. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who did not sanction the Jerusalem gathering, called GAFCON’s proposals “problematic” and illegitimate. “Any claim to be free to operate across provincial boundaries is fraught with difficulties, both theological and practical,” the archbishop said.”

Excuse me!?! Did I read the archbishop right? Operating across provincial boundaries poses theological difficulties? Is there a ‘relevant’ gospel that is specific for each culture? Shouldn’t the so-called head of the Anglican Church be concerned that the very essence of his faith is being plundered and marginalized? Or is it suddenly okay to have a group of Anglican ministers believing that Jesus is not Deity, all in the name of being tolerant? When’s the last time he read the Bible, and when he did, could he have missed the verse which says, “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (I John 2: 22 ESV) Trust me folks, you want to come back tomorrow for more of this, it gets better!

Frivolous Friday!

All this political campaigning has made me hungry! Any one else fancy a meal at a good old chinese food place? Oops, I'm sorry, I'm not that hungry, I think I'll pass on chinese food and settle for something with good old beef in it. I suspect that the people who made the "DONT'T drink and drive" sign which I posted last week, are probably the same folks that were contracted to paint this "SOTP" sign. I would strongly suggest that local governments re-open the bidding for new sign making contractors (preferably one's that graduated from kindergarten), as it appears that you get what you pay for. SOTP laughing so hard will you!!!
Evidently, 'Dr. Phil' below, a fine, red-blooded, all-American, is exempt from following his own advice. Last I heard, he was applying for a job at a sign making company! Hey, at least he spelt USA correctly!! At least I think he did. What if his "U" is actually a partially obscured "W"? Have an excellent, extended-weekend of 'vegging' in front of the TV watching college football! Hey, I'm sorry if you don't like college football, but I understand that we can't all be perfect right!?! See you next week!!

"No Way, No How, No McCain!"

I refuse to tip my hand as to my position on the presidential elections. However, since we are in the throes of the Democratic Party Convention, I thought I would point out some glaring inconsistencies I've noticed that are at best disingenuous of Hillary Clinton and her fellow Democrats. While the Democrats accuse McCain of 'dirty' politics, I marvel at the fact that what they are repudiating is an advert that turns the tables on a statement made by Hillary herself regarding Obama's competence to serve as Commander-in Chief. Her very public statement quoted her as claiming that both she and McCain would bring loads of political experience to the office of president, while Obama merely had a speech he gave in 2002. McCain recently used a clip from that speech in an ad drawing attention to the fact that even Obama's fellow Democrats think he lacks the necessary expertise to serve as president during these tenuous times. In response to the ad, Hillary, with as much political rhetoric as she can muster claims, "I'm Hillary Clinton, and I do not approve of that message."

What??? You made the statement in the first place. Where you smoking something when you said it, or are you suggesting that, since you lost the primaries to Obama he has suddenly gained the necessary political experience to serve as president? McCain is simply highlighting a statement you made in an attempt to wrest the nomination for Democratic Party candidate from Obama, and now you're mad about that!?! Furthermore, in her speech yesterday, Clinton highlighted three families that are going through dire straits because they don't have health insurance to take care of their very pressing medical needs, and she blames it on the Bush administrations failed health care policies and agenda. Now that is not only disingenuous, but downright dishonest. To hear her speak, you would think that every American had health insurance while her husband was president, and that you couldn't find any similar stories to the ones she told, during his tenure in the White House. That is political gerrymandering of the highest order. Don't use poor, innocent, suffering people to advance your political agenda. If she'd ended the stories by telling us how she paid for these three families to receive the necessary medical care (I'm sure it would only cost a miniscule percentage of what she spent on her political campaign from her own personal resources), I would have commended her and agreed that those were stories worth telling. As it stands, how are their stories any different from the ones told when Bill Clinton was in the White House, and she had the mandate to turn the health care system around?

Finally, there's the governor of Pennsylvania, an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter, knocking Obama in the press, and when he's confronted with his own statement in an interview with Katie Couric of CBS News, he suggests that the Republicans are putting a spin on it to further their own political agenda. He asserts that they should have listened to the entire speech. Excuse me, but if, hypothetically speaking you call someone 'incompetent,' I'm not sure that anything else you say after that will suddenly change the fact that you've called him incompetent. These are some of the things I hate the most about our presidential elections. It would appear that, for what's at stake, people will say and do anything to get elected to political office regardless of how it compromises their integrity and character. So, Mr Republican Party, we await your own convention to see if you have any more character than the Democrats or if you'll just add the typical political rhetoric that makes us aware that either way we choose, we lose!

Redeem or Re-Dream Team?

It's been a while since I 'mounted' my soap box, so indulge me while I rant about The USA mens Olympic basketball team. First off, I'm with Kobe Bryant when he says that the coined name "Redeem Team" is "cheesy." I mean, come on, who seriously cares whether you're trying to redeem yourselves from the fact that you've only won 12 out of the last 15 Olympic gold medals in mens basketball? The Olympics represent so much more than indulged, overpaid, self-entitled men parading themselves around as if being a professional basketball player somehow makes you better than all the other athletes at the games. Having said that, I am thoroughly 'chuffed' that David Stern (commissioner of the NBA) refused to be drawn into the hype of comparing this "Redeem Team" to the original "Dream Team" that first shone the spotlight on professional basketball players competing at the Olympics. When asked which team he thought was better, he responded, "That's not a comparison that I'm going to make. I think it's a nice set of bookends representing how we introduced the sport to a broader audience..."

Then they asked some of the players what they thought a matchup between the two teams would have looked like. Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat, who, a few years ago won the NBA championship, demonstrated as much class as David Stern when he responded, "I would never even try to match us with the Dream Team. First of all, they gave us the vision to be the team that we are, with all those stars coming together.... You can't be compared to the first. Only thing you can do is write your own history, and that's what we're doing." What a smart response from a young man who has already won the crowning jewel of the NBA. Similarly, Lebron James, declined to conjecture about the outcome of such a matchup and simply said, "It would be a good one. It would be a real good one." Sadly, not all players displayed such class and intelligence. Carmelo Anthony, confronted with the same question responded, "I think we would've beat them... we think we can hang with anybody."

Forgive me, but the last time I checked, Carmelo Anthony hasn't even won the Western Conference Finals. Carmelo who??? He wasn't even a starter on the so called "Redeem Team" yet he dares to compare himself and his team to the greatest players that ever played the game of basketball. I mean, he has a nick name like "Melo" while that team had names like "Larry Legend." It featured the most prolific passing tandem of Stockton and Malone. One of the biggest and best point guards to ever play the game, in Earving Magic Johnson. The Dream Team boasted all stars like Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Joe Dumars, Scottie Pippen, and of course the greatest basketball player of all time in Michael Jordan, to name just some of the players. These were men who were mostly past their prime yet not one team could even come close to threatening their reign as the 'supreme team.' Maybe Carmelo was talking about beating that team if they played them today, since most of them would be in their mid to late forties. Even then, I still wouldn't put my money on Carmelo and his boys. Kobe Bryant may arguably be the best player on this current team and even he doesn't hold a candle to Michael and Magic and co.

I think it is tactless and arrogant for the likes of Carmelo Anthony to make such thoughtless assertions when he is better known for his off the court DUI's and other such activities than he is for his skill on the court. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, didn't presume to compare themselves to the original "Dream Team" yet Carmelo thinks they would've beaten them. Carmelo, if you're listening, you haven't even begun to approach leaving a legacy of any substance so you'd best shut up and play basketball and let history judge the rest. Your assertions sound as ridiculous as Tiger Woods would sound if he bragged that he's better than Jack Nicklaus. He doesn't need to say it, he just needs to prove it so that the end of his career leaves no doubt of that fact. Just some friendly advice! There, I feel much better now!!!

Frivolous Friday!

I know it's Saturday, and I generally never post on the weekend, but I missed Friday's post because I was flying back from Lagos, Nigeria and didn't arrive in Orlando until past 10.00pm. If you'd been awake for 24 straight hours like I had, you wouldn't be in a position to post a blog either. So I'm catching up on 'Frivolous Friday' and posting today's funny signs which essentially leave me scratching my head in wonder.
Evidently you shouldn't drink and make signs either. May be this sign making company should crack open spell check once in a while so that they don't spell DONT'T with a double T.So which is it? Are you always open or are you closed? This kind of uncertainty is certainly bad for business!No, I mean your other right, idiot!!! Well, that's enough idiocy to last me the weekend, so enjoy, and have a great weekend.