1. What does it say about a sport if one of the most manly costumes worn consists of a pink sweater vest?
2. Male pair figure skaters are not considered to be really macho, yet who among us can hoist our wives over our heads with one arm?
3. Maybe a better question: Why does anyone standing on a slippery surface want to hoist a woman wearing 10″ blades above their head?  I would have liked to have been in the meeting where that was first purposed as a beautiful and good idea.
4. Is it really a sport (curling) if the rules state there needs to be snacks and beer at each end of the court?
5. How come snowboarders have to wear team uniforms but figure skaters don’t?
6. Chris Collinsworth as a key commentator on the Winter Olympics?  Is football in the Olympics?
7. Then again, I think I would take Chris Collinsworth and throw in Billy Packer calling the figure skating over the people they have sighing it disgust throughout the program.

We live in days when anything like strict Sabbath observance is loudly denounced, in some quarters, as a remnant of Jewish superstition. We are boldly told by some people, that to keep the Sabbath holy is legal, and that to enforce the fourth commandment on Christians, is going back to bondage. Let it suffice us to remember, when we hear such things, that assertions are not proofs, and that vague talk like this has no confirmation in the word of God. Let us settle it in our minds, that the fourth commandment has never been repealed by Christ, and that we have no more right to break the Sabbath day, under the Gospel, than we have to murder and to steal.

The architect who repairs a building, and restores it to its proper use, is not the destroyer of it, but the preserver. The Savior who redeemed the Sabbath from Jewish traditions, and so frequently explained its true meaning, ought never to be regarded as the enemy of the fourth commandment. On the contrary, He has “magnified it, and made it honorable.”

Let us cling to our Sabbath, as the best safeguard of our Country’s religion. Let us defend it against the assaults of ignorant and mistaken men, who would gladly turn the day of God into a day of business and pleasure. Above all, let us each strive to keep the day holy ourselves. Much of our spiritual prosperity depends, under God, on the manner in which we employ our Sundays.

JC RYLE

Wed Feb 3, 1:05 pm ET

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – A Slovenian who saved his three dogs from being put down for attacking humans was himself mauled to death by them, police said Wednesday.

“Three dogs bit their 52-year-old owner to death in Ljubljana yesterday,” police spokeswoman Maja Adlesic said.

Four years ago, the three bullmastiffs attacked and seriously injured a passer-by outside their owner’s house. They spent years in custody pending legal hearings, but when one of them attacked a dog handler, authorities ordered them to be put down.

Their owner, a doctor, succeeded last June in his legal appeals to get the dogs back, sparking a national controversy. After his death, an opposition party said the agriculture minister should resign for failing to stop the dogs from being released.

The dogs attacked the man in his garden Tuesday, killing him before the police arrived. All three dogs were put down following the attack.

As I was checking back into the possibility of these children arriving in Indianapolis I discovered that the government red tape may hold things up for quite some time.  But at the end of an article from WISHTV I was hit by the closing sentences:

He says many bureaucratic hurdles must be cleared before any Haitian orphans are flown to Indiana. Might it still happen? Perhaps. But he says it’s unlikely to be soon. But the Director of the Indiana Department of Child Services says there are still many opportunities for Hoosiers to help a child.

“We have 250 children today who are adoptable – who are ready and waiting for a family to step forward and adopt them,” he said.

250 Children that have been sitting right here in Indiana all this time, that have had a need that has not seen a response.  Sometimes we need tragedy to open our eyes, and our desire should be to help.  Many tragedies happen half way around the world, and this does not mean that if we have opportunity that would should not help, but they can also be a a challenge for us to question whether we are responding to needs that God has placed right in our own community?   We won’t all be able to adopt, but we are all called as Christians to show the love of Christ.  Are we looking for ways to express that in our own communities?

Matthew 10:42

So Colt gripped the ball, stared at his dad and thought, “It’s just a simple throw.” He threw. The ball went soft and wide. Everyone grimaced. “Give it to me again,” Colt demanded. Brad got the ball and gave it back to his son. The next throw was the same, bouncing harmlessly away. “Give it to me again,” Colt said, again. Brad did.

It was the same. It was over. Colt couldn’t throw it 7 yards to his own father. “My arm was dead,” he said. The dad hugged his son. The son broke down and cried.

From Michael Gerson’s article on the Brit Hume kerfuffle:

True tolerance consists in engaging deep disagreements respectfully — through persuasion — not in banning certain categories of argument and belief from public debate.

In this controversy, we are presented with two models of discourse. Hume, in an angry sea of loss and tragedy — his son’s death in 1998 — found a life preserver in faith. He offered that life preserver to another drowning man. Whatever your view of Hume’s beliefs, he could have no motive other than concern for Woods himself.

The other model has come from critics such as Shales, in a spittle-flinging rage at the mention of religion in public, comparing Hume to “Mary Poppins on the joys of a tidy room, or Ron Popeil on the glories of some amazing potato peeler.” Shales, of course, is engaged in proselytism of his own — for a secular fundamentalism that trivializes and banishes all other faiths. He distributes the sacrament of the sneer.

Who in this picture is more intolerant?

Today we rarely hear of Christian athletes with such conviction, but Scotland has given us another modern day example in rugby player Euan Murray.  Here is his explanation for not playing for Scotland on the Lord’s Day.

Euan said: “It’s basically all or nothing, following Jesus. I don’t believe in pick ‘n’ mix Christianity. I believe the bible is the word of God, so who am I to ignore something from it?

“I might as well tear out that page then keep tearing out pages as and when it suits me. If I started out like that there would soon be nothing left.”

Euan’s recent decision to keep Sunday as a day of worship means he will miss Scotland’s opening Six Nations game against France on February 7 and, potentially, some key matches with his club, Northampton.

Despite his religious stand, Euan has played for Scotland before on a Sunday – in the 2008 Six Nations against France.

But he said turning out on the Sabbath grew increasingly painful.

Euan, who has 28 caps, said: “I was going against my conscience and it became impossible to enjoy.

“I realised it’s quite simple, really.

“Jesus said, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’ and there are 10 commandments – not nine.”

It is understood a clause in Euan’s new club contract, stating he does not have to play on Sundays, is unique in top-flight rugby

He added: “I’ve talked about the ‘call to excellence’ I perceive in the bible, being the best you can be and I try to present myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord.

“I want to excel in rugby because that’s where I’ve been given the opportunity to serve my God – but it has to fit with the way I want to live my life.

“The most important thing in my life will always be serving Christ.

“I want to live my life believing and doing the things he wants and the Sabbath day is a full day.

“It’s not a case of a couple of hours in church then playing rugby or going down the pub, it’s the full day.”

(ht:tc)

Bethlehem Baptist Reading Plan
Mc’Cheyne Reading Plan

Here is a site that lets you develop a reading plan and will even email it to you in various versions.
ESV also offers a variety of plans and helps.

There is even a Bible plan for slackers! It is actually a very helpful reading plan that keeps one from getting discouraged and giving up.

For the more ambitions you can read through the New Testament in 90 Days.

Or read through it in 30 days.

Happy New Year!