06/29/92 - Managers In the Making
06/22/92 - David Cone, New York Mets
06/15/22 - Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers
06/08/92 - Jeff Reardon, Boston Red Sox
06/01/92 - Terry Porter, Portland Trail Blazers
05/25/92 - Lenny Harris, Los Angeles Dodgers
05/18/92 - Clyde Drexler, Portland Trail Blazers
05/11/92 - Tony Gwynn, San Diego Padres
05/04/92 - Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh Pirates
04/27/92 - Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls
04/20/92 - Oriole Park at Camden Yards
04/13/92 - Duke over Michigan
04/06/92 - Rob Dibble, Cincinnati and Joe Carter, Toronto
03/30/92 - Ohio State and NCAA Tournament
03/23/92 - Mark Messier, New York Rangers
03/16/92 - Dennis Rodman, Detroit Pistons
03/09/92 - Charles Barkley
03/02/92 - Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky
02/10/92 - Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV
02/03/92 - Washington Redskins over Buffalo Bills
01/27/92 - Kenny Smith, Houston Rockets
01/20/92 - Buffalo Bills Defense
01/13/92 - John Elway, Denver Broncos
01/06/92 - Michael Jordan
Thursday, May 21, 2020
50 Sermons from 50 States: Alaska
Anchorage Baptist Temple, Anchorage, AK
Service Date: Sunday, May 17, 2020
View Date: Wednesday, May, 20, 2020
View Method: Facebook Live
Why am I watching a service from a church in Anchorage, Alaska?
Well, I do crazy things sometime. That would be one answer, but I thought it would be interesting to view a sermon from a church from each state in the United States.
And, yes, while Alabama comes before Alaska, the 49th state was on my mind first.
As I was getting ready to watch the service this evening, I noticed a couple of things through this church's Facebook page and website.
First, given my interest in promoting Texas private and parochial high school athletics, Anchorage Baptist Temple owns Anchorage Christian Schools.
Its pastor, Ron Hoffman, and his wife, Crystal, both attended ACS, but Ron went on to study at and graduate from Liberty University in 1991. Liberty, of course, is where my daughter graduated from.
He opened his message by stating that there congregation was able to provide a meal for the nurses at Anchorage Regional Hospital as well as helping out at the VA hospital on east side of Anchorage and then shared the excitement of the graduation ceremonies at ACS.
He said that they were in Phase 2 of reopening and were needing to get to Phase 3 for their church to be able to meet again. (And as I finished up the sermon, I saw on their Facebook page that they were meeting this coming Sunday, May 24 for a Memorial Day service in their congregation.)
He shared that they were in a series of sermons titled, "Encounters with Christ", and this was "Walking on the Road to Nowhere."
I had to chuckle a little bit as it was close to the former Alaska governor's "Bridge to Nowhere" when Sarah Palin held the office.
His illustration was the there are often times in his life - and in ours - that he just needs to get out and get away from everyone. He wondered if Jesus meets us where we are and he said that he believes that He does.
And he said he thinks that He really does use times like we're in today.
In referencing Luke 24:15, he said that Jesus drew near the disciples after his resurrection and went with them and he said that while he believes that Jesus is always there with us that He doesn't always make it crystal clear or obvious.
And he illustrated from verse 16 that the disciples didn't know that they were walking with Jesus.
He spoke about how that Jesus never gives us a trial that we can't handle and shared I Corinthians 10:13 that He will provide a way of escape to be able to endure it.
And from verse 17, he said that Jesus wants us to share with Him where we find ourselves. He shared from personal experience that when he is having a conversation with God that "as my words are coming out how I'm feeling ... Jesus gives me the answer."
He believed that in the scripture that Jesus was looking to see how broad our view of life is. He said that he thinks that we sometime look at just our life and not the whole picture.
Referencing COVID-19, he said that "this is going to change everything" and that there's "no going back to 100%" and that it would be "years, years, years to go away if it ever does."
And that God's work with this is to show man it is not about man, but rather where He is going to go.
He said that the disciples behavior in Luke 24:19-21 was that, even though they were followers, they proved that they had the right facts and knowledge of the truth, but not the faith to be believe it. He related that to us today that when we're in a trial, we need to remove ourselves from that situation.
We know God's there with us, but we lack the faith because He believes that we lack the understanding. And that we've bought into the lies that Satan has created in the culture of satisfaction, leaving us very impatient people who are selfish and self-centered.
As they continued in verses 22 and 23, Pastor Hoffman said that the truth was right before them, but they missed it. He said that if we would declare that God is control, He would be glorified and that we would present ourselves differently in our circumstances.
He suggested that we need to open our eyes and see generations from now and ask what is the impact of what is happening in your life and how does it play out for your church, your family and so on.
He said that the current COVID-19 crisis should present a new opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and that we should look for opportunity to encourage somebody as we're a part of the body of Christ.
As the Pastor spoke earlier about his praying - or as simple as talking to God - and how God would sometimes show him the answer through the dialogue, the disciples realized in the scripture in verses 30-31 the "a ha" moment when Jesus took their bread, blessed, brake it and gave it to them that their eyes were opened - and he vanished.
Pastor Hoffman wrapped things up by asking us all, "How many people will we pick up along the way? Not about the journey, the destination, the moment, but how many will we pick up along the way?"
He implored to everyone to think about their journey. Were they on a journey to nowhere? Or where they onboard in the direction they were going because they had a "Jesus encounter"?
Service Date: Sunday, May 17, 2020
View Date: Wednesday, May, 20, 2020
View Method: Facebook Live
Why am I watching a service from a church in Anchorage, Alaska?
Well, I do crazy things sometime. That would be one answer, but I thought it would be interesting to view a sermon from a church from each state in the United States.
And, yes, while Alabama comes before Alaska, the 49th state was on my mind first.
As I was getting ready to watch the service this evening, I noticed a couple of things through this church's Facebook page and website.
First, given my interest in promoting Texas private and parochial high school athletics, Anchorage Baptist Temple owns Anchorage Christian Schools.
Its pastor, Ron Hoffman, and his wife, Crystal, both attended ACS, but Ron went on to study at and graduate from Liberty University in 1991. Liberty, of course, is where my daughter graduated from.
He opened his message by stating that there congregation was able to provide a meal for the nurses at Anchorage Regional Hospital as well as helping out at the VA hospital on east side of Anchorage and then shared the excitement of the graduation ceremonies at ACS.
He said that they were in Phase 2 of reopening and were needing to get to Phase 3 for their church to be able to meet again. (And as I finished up the sermon, I saw on their Facebook page that they were meeting this coming Sunday, May 24 for a Memorial Day service in their congregation.)
He shared that they were in a series of sermons titled, "Encounters with Christ", and this was "Walking on the Road to Nowhere."
I had to chuckle a little bit as it was close to the former Alaska governor's "Bridge to Nowhere" when Sarah Palin held the office.
His illustration was the there are often times in his life - and in ours - that he just needs to get out and get away from everyone. He wondered if Jesus meets us where we are and he said that he believes that He does.
And he said he thinks that He really does use times like we're in today.
In referencing Luke 24:15, he said that Jesus drew near the disciples after his resurrection and went with them and he said that while he believes that Jesus is always there with us that He doesn't always make it crystal clear or obvious.
And he illustrated from verse 16 that the disciples didn't know that they were walking with Jesus.
He spoke about how that Jesus never gives us a trial that we can't handle and shared I Corinthians 10:13 that He will provide a way of escape to be able to endure it.
And from verse 17, he said that Jesus wants us to share with Him where we find ourselves. He shared from personal experience that when he is having a conversation with God that "as my words are coming out how I'm feeling ... Jesus gives me the answer."
He believed that in the scripture that Jesus was looking to see how broad our view of life is. He said that he thinks that we sometime look at just our life and not the whole picture.
Referencing COVID-19, he said that "this is going to change everything" and that there's "no going back to 100%" and that it would be "years, years, years to go away if it ever does."
And that God's work with this is to show man it is not about man, but rather where He is going to go.
He said that the disciples behavior in Luke 24:19-21 was that, even though they were followers, they proved that they had the right facts and knowledge of the truth, but not the faith to be believe it. He related that to us today that when we're in a trial, we need to remove ourselves from that situation.
We know God's there with us, but we lack the faith because He believes that we lack the understanding. And that we've bought into the lies that Satan has created in the culture of satisfaction, leaving us very impatient people who are selfish and self-centered.
As they continued in verses 22 and 23, Pastor Hoffman said that the truth was right before them, but they missed it. He said that if we would declare that God is control, He would be glorified and that we would present ourselves differently in our circumstances.
He suggested that we need to open our eyes and see generations from now and ask what is the impact of what is happening in your life and how does it play out for your church, your family and so on.
He said that the current COVID-19 crisis should present a new opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and that we should look for opportunity to encourage somebody as we're a part of the body of Christ.
As the Pastor spoke earlier about his praying - or as simple as talking to God - and how God would sometimes show him the answer through the dialogue, the disciples realized in the scripture in verses 30-31 the "a ha" moment when Jesus took their bread, blessed, brake it and gave it to them that their eyes were opened - and he vanished.
Pastor Hoffman wrapped things up by asking us all, "How many people will we pick up along the way? Not about the journey, the destination, the moment, but how many will we pick up along the way?"
He implored to everyone to think about their journey. Were they on a journey to nowhere? Or where they onboard in the direction they were going because they had a "Jesus encounter"?
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Squeezing In A Few Words; May 12, 2020
Find it really hard to take time out to write, but I usually feel better after doing so (and not that I'm distressed in any way!)
Today was pretty much consumed with work and it was a busy day at that. Seven (7) meetings. Wow.
I got in a late evening 3.7-mile walk in Springwoods Village after riding more than 15 miles on my Air Assault bike Monday evening followed by a four-mile walk of The Woodlands Waterway.
I think I'm holding in check my pandemic appetite.
Seriously, though, I'm really not eating too much more and I'm replacing eating out in the evenings with the HEB Simple Meals, but the snacking is negating the activity.
I'm at 34.56 miles running, 52.105 miles walking and 30.8 miles cycling for the period of April 25 to May 24, with 12 days to go.
I listened to some NPR podcasts early in the evening, while looking at the weather and seeing if I needed to modify my weekend running routes to dodge as much rain as possible.
They included the following topics:
+ Americans Are Driving Less and Snacking More
+ "There Was So Little Information": Polio Survivors Offer Pandemic Perspective
+ U.S. Officials: Beware of China And Others Trying to Steal COVID-19 Research
+ In 'Together', Former Surgeon General Writes About Importance of Human Connection
And then I listed to a podcast from Alaska Public Radio about the winner of this year's Iditarod, the "Last Great Race of Earth", and how the race continued in the midst of the escalation of the COVID-19 crisis.
As I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, I saw this note from the Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) Facebook page, "The first 30 minutes could be the most important thing you watch during this COVID-19 pandemic."
The church that I attended for much of my life, its former pastor is now the Communications Director for BBFI and doing a great job.
This was a video recording of an Online Forum for the organization's pastors and it talked about the legal and liability implications that churches needed to consider as they were reopening their services across the country. Really a fascinating listen as a believer.
Often criticisms from non-believers who didn't attend church or those who did believe but thought that church had a lot of rules, well, for a while, there might be many rules to follow just simply to keep fellow congregants safe from COVID-19.
The pastors that shared their numbers from the surveys they took of their churches showed that about 60-70% would return immediately, given the church was taking necessary precautions, while one pastor in Iowa shared that - even though they tried to make sure that they exceeded their congregation's expectations - for the first Sunday back that they were only 25% of their regular attendance.
I think there's a lot of perception that churches are being reckless. There will probably be a few that will be, but given the potentiality of lawsuits, most will make sure that they document what they plan to do and work to follow their plans to protect against legal action and/or loss of insurance coverage.
A couple of podcasts that I want to listen to soon.
I'll bookmark them here in case you get a chance before I do.
They are Telos Running's interview with Dick Beardsley which can be heard here - and three episodes of VAULT Studios' "Selena: A Star Dies in Texas", which can found here.
More tomorrow.
Today was pretty much consumed with work and it was a busy day at that. Seven (7) meetings. Wow.
I got in a late evening 3.7-mile walk in Springwoods Village after riding more than 15 miles on my Air Assault bike Monday evening followed by a four-mile walk of The Woodlands Waterway.
I think I'm holding in check my pandemic appetite.
Seriously, though, I'm really not eating too much more and I'm replacing eating out in the evenings with the HEB Simple Meals, but the snacking is negating the activity.
I'm at 34.56 miles running, 52.105 miles walking and 30.8 miles cycling for the period of April 25 to May 24, with 12 days to go.
I listened to some NPR podcasts early in the evening, while looking at the weather and seeing if I needed to modify my weekend running routes to dodge as much rain as possible.
They included the following topics:
+ Americans Are Driving Less and Snacking More
+ "There Was So Little Information": Polio Survivors Offer Pandemic Perspective
+ U.S. Officials: Beware of China And Others Trying to Steal COVID-19 Research
+ In 'Together', Former Surgeon General Writes About Importance of Human Connection
And then I listed to a podcast from Alaska Public Radio about the winner of this year's Iditarod, the "Last Great Race of Earth", and how the race continued in the midst of the escalation of the COVID-19 crisis.
As I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, I saw this note from the Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) Facebook page, "The first 30 minutes could be the most important thing you watch during this COVID-19 pandemic."
The church that I attended for much of my life, its former pastor is now the Communications Director for BBFI and doing a great job.
This was a video recording of an Online Forum for the organization's pastors and it talked about the legal and liability implications that churches needed to consider as they were reopening their services across the country. Really a fascinating listen as a believer.
Often criticisms from non-believers who didn't attend church or those who did believe but thought that church had a lot of rules, well, for a while, there might be many rules to follow just simply to keep fellow congregants safe from COVID-19.
The pastors that shared their numbers from the surveys they took of their churches showed that about 60-70% would return immediately, given the church was taking necessary precautions, while one pastor in Iowa shared that - even though they tried to make sure that they exceeded their congregation's expectations - for the first Sunday back that they were only 25% of their regular attendance.
I think there's a lot of perception that churches are being reckless. There will probably be a few that will be, but given the potentiality of lawsuits, most will make sure that they document what they plan to do and work to follow their plans to protect against legal action and/or loss of insurance coverage.
A couple of podcasts that I want to listen to soon.
I'll bookmark them here in case you get a chance before I do.
They are Telos Running's interview with Dick Beardsley which can be heard here - and three episodes of VAULT Studios' "Selena: A Star Dies in Texas", which can found here.
More tomorrow.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Quiet On A Sunday; May 10, 2010
Mother's Day 2020. My daughter and I had the opportunity to spend the evening yesterday with my Mom and Dad.
We normally take my parents out to eat each year for Mother's and Father's Day, but given the fact the restaurants are just opening back up and Dad isn't in the best spot to getting out after having a stroke nearly three weeks ago she asked for their favorite barbecue in.
Naturally, we obliged.
Like most other visits, we had a great time with them.
My daughter has already spent time today with her Mom and is heading to her grandparents' for an evening meal with her Mom's family.
It was really good to get out last weekend and I have plans to do so again next weekend.
I took off 11 counties from my list of 254 Texas counties to run in and I have plans to - hopefully - remove 15 or 16 from the list next weekend.
Two weeks after that, I plan to get on a plane for the first time since February and head to Midland to do the same.
Since many things I have enjoyed doing are no longer options until larger crowds are able to gather, I can still run and as I said earlier this goal to run a mile or more in every Texas county is something I will strive to complete in 2020.
I was pretty flattered this week to be asked to write something by the daughter of a long-time friend of our running and triathlon community who is about to turn sixty.
She wrote to me saying, "I am asking 60 people to share something they admire about him or a fun memory with me to put in a booklet for him."
I felt like I was one of the NBA's top 50 of all-time to get to be asked to do something like this.
She said she needed it by Friday. Her ask was on Monday and when I was out walking on Tuesday I thought about what I was going to write, but I didn't get it done until Friday.
Am pretty thankful for the ability to write that God's given me and I was fortunate to complete it in a single setting.
When I sent it, I shared, "Might be more than what you wanted, and it might be a little different; however, it speaks to what I see in your Dad."
I won't post what I wrote because I certainly don't want to for somebody to read this that might not have been included in the sixth, but his daughter had this to say about what I shared:
"Mr. Walk, this made me tear up! Thank you for such an incredible write-up! I agree with you 100%. May God bless you and your family in this season. I am so grateful for this truly 🙂. My dad and I share a birthday so this is so special."
As I share with my daughter all of the time, I might not say it as often as I should but when I open my mouth I try to acknowledge to God how thankful I am for my abilities and the opportunities that He gives me to use them.
The day before the request, I learned that a very long-time sportswriting friend of mine was being let go as the parent company of the newspaper he worked for was paring down other publications around the country, likely due to a drop in advertising during the COVID-19 crisis.
It just gave me a sickening feeling.
He's one of the good guys, with a great wife and two great boys.
And a talented writer to boot.
I have his one book that he wrote and he's working on another, which he said that he was going to send me a few sections of to preview. I look forward to getting and reading them
I hope that he'll start a website or blog and figure out a way to monetize a little bit. I'd love to read more of what he writes.
And finally, for now, it was good to talk to probably my best friend - the only person that I told of my Dad's stroke (aside if he read about it here, a bit buried) - to learn that he started his training group's meetings back on Saturday mornings, but with all of the appropriate social distancing guidelines of the municipality that they run from.
His spirit, I know, was lifted and he shared that he felt others were as well. (For the record, nobody was allowed to congregate, but rather come in to the common area, say "Hi!", take off on their long run and come back, rinse, wash and repeat.)
He's going to do things by the book because well, he would even if nobody was watching but in this case: everybody, I'm sure, is watching.
If you're reading, have a great start of the week.
We normally take my parents out to eat each year for Mother's and Father's Day, but given the fact the restaurants are just opening back up and Dad isn't in the best spot to getting out after having a stroke nearly three weeks ago she asked for their favorite barbecue in.
Naturally, we obliged.
Like most other visits, we had a great time with them.
My daughter has already spent time today with her Mom and is heading to her grandparents' for an evening meal with her Mom's family.
It was really good to get out last weekend and I have plans to do so again next weekend.
I took off 11 counties from my list of 254 Texas counties to run in and I have plans to - hopefully - remove 15 or 16 from the list next weekend.
Two weeks after that, I plan to get on a plane for the first time since February and head to Midland to do the same.
Since many things I have enjoyed doing are no longer options until larger crowds are able to gather, I can still run and as I said earlier this goal to run a mile or more in every Texas county is something I will strive to complete in 2020.
I was pretty flattered this week to be asked to write something by the daughter of a long-time friend of our running and triathlon community who is about to turn sixty.
She wrote to me saying, "I am asking 60 people to share something they admire about him or a fun memory with me to put in a booklet for him."
I felt like I was one of the NBA's top 50 of all-time to get to be asked to do something like this.
She said she needed it by Friday. Her ask was on Monday and when I was out walking on Tuesday I thought about what I was going to write, but I didn't get it done until Friday.
Am pretty thankful for the ability to write that God's given me and I was fortunate to complete it in a single setting.
When I sent it, I shared, "Might be more than what you wanted, and it might be a little different; however, it speaks to what I see in your Dad."
I won't post what I wrote because I certainly don't want to for somebody to read this that might not have been included in the sixth, but his daughter had this to say about what I shared:
"Mr. Walk, this made me tear up! Thank you for such an incredible write-up! I agree with you 100%. May God bless you and your family in this season. I am so grateful for this truly 🙂. My dad and I share a birthday so this is so special."
As I share with my daughter all of the time, I might not say it as often as I should but when I open my mouth I try to acknowledge to God how thankful I am for my abilities and the opportunities that He gives me to use them.
The day before the request, I learned that a very long-time sportswriting friend of mine was being let go as the parent company of the newspaper he worked for was paring down other publications around the country, likely due to a drop in advertising during the COVID-19 crisis.
It just gave me a sickening feeling.
He's one of the good guys, with a great wife and two great boys.
And a talented writer to boot.
I have his one book that he wrote and he's working on another, which he said that he was going to send me a few sections of to preview. I look forward to getting and reading them
I hope that he'll start a website or blog and figure out a way to monetize a little bit. I'd love to read more of what he writes.
And finally, for now, it was good to talk to probably my best friend - the only person that I told of my Dad's stroke (aside if he read about it here, a bit buried) - to learn that he started his training group's meetings back on Saturday mornings, but with all of the appropriate social distancing guidelines of the municipality that they run from.
His spirit, I know, was lifted and he shared that he felt others were as well. (For the record, nobody was allowed to congregate, but rather come in to the common area, say "Hi!", take off on their long run and come back, rinse, wash and repeat.)
He's going to do things by the book because well, he would even if nobody was watching but in this case: everybody, I'm sure, is watching.
If you're reading, have a great start of the week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)