Reading Thoughts- November 12, 2012

In reading today there were two concepts that spoke to me.  One is John the Baptist's words in John 3:30, "He must become greater; I must become less."  The other is in John 4:34, "'My food', said Jesus, 'is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.'"

Both verses really point to the same issue within me; selfishness.

If I am going to be a disciple, I really need to get these concepts down.  God must become greater in my life.  His will, rather than my own, needs to become the driving force in my life.  

God, I submit to your authority and lordship.  I lay down all I have, and claim to be, at your feet to be used for your purposes.  I confess my selfish thoughts and pursuits, and desire your Spirit to transform my thought and pursuits in order that your kingdom be furthered through me.  May Your will be done.

An Excuse To Use Creativity

"It's the most wonderful time of the year."  So goes the tune inside my head as I think about this time of year.  No, I'm not talking about the "Christmas in July" sale happening at your local mattress store, but I'm talking about preparing for Fantasy Football Season.

I suppose I'd still be considered a newbie, but this is my fourth year playing fantasy football and I am hooked.  My love of fantasy football even drove me to watch the actual NFL draft this year follow closely every move made in free agency.  Today I rejoiced as Matt Forte and Ray Rice signed long-term contracts, because I had already drafted them in a couple of my early-draft leagues.  

Part of the process of fantasy football is coming up with the right name.  A lot of times a name will have something to do with current issues in NFL football or it will be a play on a certain players name.  I like to add a bit of humor in with some of them myself.

So, all that to say, I want to share my 2012 team names with you.  Ready?  Here goes:

1. Hoomanawanui To You Too- not much of a back story on this one other than this particular Rams tight end has a crazy name that barely fits on his jersey.
2. The Bountiful Vilmas- you have to have lived under a rock to not hear about the bounty scandal with the New Orleans Saints this year.  Jonathan Vilma is one of the players that has been suspended for the year because of his alleged involvement in the bounties.
3. 1K4A Cart Off- this one is in regards to the above mentioned bounties where players were supposedly offered $1000 to hit someone hard enough that they would have to be carted off the field.
4. Scoblo Beefy Boyz- this is a result of me being lazy and not being creative with my name.
5. Scoblo Blackshirts- this name isn't too creative either, but it fits with the league.  The league is a Nebraska Cornhusker league, so I wanted to rep the community and have the team name tie in with something Husker.
6. The Yellow Perils- here is another example of a league dictating the name.  This team is in a Green Lantern league.  The Green Lantern is a comic book character.  I had to do a little research to get creative with this one.  I researched villains of Green Lantern over the years and in different spans of the comic books existence and came up with this one.
7. The Harbaugh Backslaps- last year there was an incident between two coaches during an after game handshake.  Jim Schwartz of the Detroit Lions and Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers met in the middle of the field for the "good game" handshake and good ol' Harbaugh got a little zealous with his handshake and gave Schwartz a little shove.  It turned into a little yelling match and if Schwartz would've had his way they would've thrown down right there.
8. APs Off-Duty PoPos- derived from Adrian Petersen's recent run-in with some off-duty officers moonlighting as security officers in a night club in Texas.
9. Tannehill?  TannYerHyde!- is just a clever little play on words inspired by the 8th overall draft pick by Miami Ryan Tannehill.
10. Weeden Out The Bad McCoys- is another play on a couple names in a tricky situation.  Brandon Weeden was the new QB drafted in the first round this year to come in and replace Colt McCoy who hasn't been doing a stellar job in leading the Cleveland Browns.
11. Manning's Last Nerve- is an homage to my favorite team, the Denver Broncos, and their acquiring of this season's hottest free agent, Peyton Manning.  He had sat out last year with the Indie Colts because of neck surgeries and nerve damage that was not allowing him to have control over his arm like he needs to have.  Here's to hoping that problem is solved and we'll see the Broncos in the Super Bowl this year.
12. The Wilfork TD Machines- is probably my favorite name this year.  It is in honor of Vince Wilfork, a massive defensive lineman with the New England Patriots.  The great thing about this 350 lb machine is that he had several interceptions last year, of which I can think of two, that he ran back for touch downs.  It does my heart good to see a big man like this running for his life toward the end zone.
13. Scoblo Shank-O-Potamus- in another ode to laziness possibly.  It was derived actually because I saw the logo first of the outline of a hippos head with a little knife and it said "Shank-O-Patamus" along the bottom.  I instantly fell in love.

So, there you have it.  A piece of my nerdery.  This is part of why it is such a wonderful time of the year.  I am waiting just a little impatiently for September when all the action of games start.

If you haven't tried fantasy football and are thinking about it, don't be afraid to plunge right in.  It's cheap and easy and provides hours of entertainment.  It also provides you with in depth understanding and studying of America's most-loved game.

Creativity and Christian "Artists"

I'm going to take a minute here for a little rant. I know I haven't blogged in a while now, but this snapped me out of my unblogging fog. Ready for a rant? Here goes...

Some friends borrowed my FM transmitter for my iPod this weekend so I have been reduced to listening to the radio. I tuned in to KLove, which for those of you who aren't Christian, or just don't know, KLove is a contemporary Christian music station. As I was driving back to the office after lunch I heard a familiar guitar riff from a great song called, "Overcome", written by Jon Egan and featured on a worship album called "Counting on God" from New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Only this wasn't that version. It was, according to the radio announcer, the latest song from Jeremy Camp. Disappointed I was. (Yes, I just threw in some Yoda-nese for y'all) Instead of playing the original version, written and performed by the original artist, they pawned off yet another song onto another one of contemporary Christian music's poster boys. Jeremy Camp didn't even bother to try to make it his own, except for adding his gravelly, nu-metal voice to it.

That scenario brings me to the real crux of this blog, the lack of creativity from the "artists" that seemed to be pushed so hard by the contemporary Christian music scene and contemporary Christian radio. KLove is filled with songs being performed by people doing less creative versions of songs than those that originally wrote and recorded the songs. Third Day, Phillips Craig and Dean, and now Jeremy Camp, are some of the worst offenders.

Come on Christian artists, producers, record execs, radio managers...quit spending so much time ripping off other people's songs and write your own, record something new, take a chance on the original writers and performers and push them as hard as you push all your poster children.

I'm done with my tirade for now. :) If you like the song "Overcome", I encourage you to check out the original version and go to youtube.com to check out the back story on the song and why it was written. Oh, and familiarize yourself with the writer, Jon Egan, and his body of work with New Life and the Desperation Band.