I don't know if I can remember his exact words . . . but Tony Dungy, holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy on national TV as the Head Coach of the Super Bowl-winning Indianapolis Colts said something like the following,

We (he and Bear's Head Coach Lovie Smith) are both Christians . . . and I am proud to say that we won this trophy the Lord's way.

Whatever the exact words were I had the sense that, had the Chicago Bears won the game, Coach Smith would have said much the same thing.

As a Christian Pastor I did not view this as a cheap attempt to get a plug in for Jesus. There was something far more substantial in what Dungy was trying to tell the American Super Bowl audience.

Dungy was saying that the Christian virtues of humility, self-sacrifice, putting others ahead of yourself, forgiveness, mercy, love and striving for excellence in all things for God's glory can make for a winning and successful life.

Dungy and Smith both coach like Christians and, whether their players are Christians or not, expect them all to live up to the highest standards and values that the Christian faith represents.

Both men are gracious, polite, selfless and always deflecting credit for their successes to either God, the players and other coaches on their teams or both. They are "class acts" by all accounts. They are men who their players look up to. They are role models for the youth who idolize their teams and they are men who make the cities of Chicago and Indianapolis seem like good and decent places to live.

As part of a pre-Super Bowl promotion, both men, and members of their teams, compiled a website to witness their common faith in Jesus Christ to the world. The site can be found at beyond the ultimate.org.

I encourage you to visit the site and read what these two coaches and others who play and coach for the Bears and Colts have to say about their faith in God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Today we all saw a great football game played by two great teams lead by two great Head Coaches. As both Smith and Dungy will tell you, however, what makes them great is not their success on the field but, rather, the saving love of God in their lives.

Whether you are a Head Coach of an NFL team or not, you can share that same measure of greatness with these two Super Bowl coaches. Check out their site and consider what they have to say.

Oh, and by the way, congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts on their 29-17 victory in Super Bowl XLI.

Here it is for posterity:

Indianapolis will defeat Chicago by a score of 23-14.   Final Score 29-17 Prediction grate B

The first half will be very close with a good chance of the score being tied or Chicago leading by four points.  Half-time score Colts 16-14 Grade B+

Vinateri will kick three field goals that will be the margin of victory for the Colts . . . and vindication for his being traded away by New England.  Vinateri prediction A+  even though the margin of victory turned out to be 12 pts.

Of course, I could be wrong!  Patting self on back for a job well done

 According to BBC News,

Andrew McLuskey was sacked from Bayliss Court Secondary School in Slough after a Religious Education lesson discussing the pros and cons of religion.

Pupils at the predominantly Muslim school claimed Mr McLuskey said most suicide bombers were Muslim.

The article concludes with these surreal paragraphs:

"I think I should've been given the chance to respond to the allegations and not in effect be ejected from a job without the chance to defend myself."

The school authorities denied they were being heavy-handed and said their first priority was pupils' welfare.

"I don't think it's important what I think," said the school's deputy head teacher Ray Hinds.

"It's what the pupils think that were in the classroom at the time. And they were very upset."

So that's the new standard for employment in an English school these days . . . if the students don't like what a teacher says . . . if they say that they are upset . . . the teacher gets fired . . . whether the school administrators feel it is fair or right or not.

Gee, if I ran my house that way when my three daughters were growing up I would have been "sacked" myself!

I guess, in England at least, it is now only safe to teach the facts that the students want to hear.

Although I am not a big fan of predictive Biblical prophecy I must confess that the words and warning of 2 Timothy 4:3-4 seem to have come to pass:

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Sigh.

 

While at a command post at Pearl Harbor yesterday I spotted this banner hanging on the wall. I asked the office Commander if I could take a photo of it. He said, "Sure, why not!"

I then asked him if the Navy's budget was so tight that they had to resort to seeking sponsorship funds from Budweiser? He laughed and said that someone must have gotten a good deal on the banner from somewhere.

Soon, I expect we will be seeing that familiar Nike "swoosh" on our military uniforms!

 

 My good friend, Mark, was promoted to the rank of Navy Commander yesterday morning. Here are a few photos of his promotion ceremony that took place at Pearl Harbor. The lovely lady is his wife, Cathy. My contribution to the event was to photoshop a promotion poster for Russel Crowe's movie "Master & Commander" and insert Mark's picture and name. Cathy used the photo for the cake at the reception.











Mark is now off to DC where he will continue to serve with distinction. We are blessed as a nation to have such men in our military service as Mark.

 From Troy Gorda of Springfield, Ill (a corporate travel agent) who is looking forward to Sunday's Super Bowl:

"It's like Christmas or Thanksgiving without all the hassles of family."

LOL & Amen!

1. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presented its preliminary report today and concluded that global warming is "very likely" (meaning 90% sure) caused by human activity.
2. Here is my uneducated opinion.

3. Global warming is real.

4. No one really knows whether this is a long-term trend (leading to glacial melt and loss of all ice caps....which would be catastrophic) or a short-term trend that may slow or reverse itself as a minor variation in global climate stability.

5. It is preposterous to say that the earth has a stable climate . . . research shows that the earth has always fluctuated in surface temperature, weather patterns, etc....sometimes with great variations lasting for many centuries (ice ages, etc.) or smaller variations lasting for shorter periods of time.

6. Until recent history (the past 200 years . . . from the beginning of the industrial revolution) the impact on human activity on climate change would have been zero. Yet climate change occurred even without human interference.

7. Are there other natural circumstances besides human activity that could explain the current warming trend? Yes. Sun activity, tectonic plate movement, volcanic activity, shifting of the earth's magnetic poles, etc.

8. Do I believe that human activity is responsible for 90% of the worlds temperature increase? No. But I am 100% sure that it is a contributing factor . . . perhaps even a significant factor. But nowhere near the 90% factor cited in the report.

9. Do I believe that we should attempt to reduce the pollution and atmospheric emissions that contribute to this warming trend? Yes. But not precipitously. As with pollution in the LA basin some things take time. Our nation's release of "global warming-related) pollutants have declined as a percentage of our total national energy and industrial production. Auto emissions have also declined per automobile. This is good. But does not remove the problem. It only keeps it from being worse than it already is.

10. Rapidly developing nations such as Russia, China and India not account for the largest increase in global-warming emissions. These countries, and others like them, have not yet introduced the high-technology and expensive additions to the production output that would in any way reduce the "bad" emissions to anything remotely comparable to that of the United States.

11. As one writer to the BBC put it, " Who is going to tell a billion people that they can't have air-conditioning or an automobile?"

12. Should we, either as Christians or simply as concerned and responsible citizens of the world, do anything in response to this? Yes, of course. From the simple acts of recycling, purchasing more fuel-efficient cars, using our air-conditioners less frequently and at lower settings, eating foods that require less processing and transportation and the like will collectively help in this problem.

13. As Christians, we should be concerned about our "stewardship" responsibilities in a world of God's own making. After all, we believe that "the earth is the Lord's and all that is therein." In judgment we believe that we will be held accountable for our behavior in this matter as well as in other moral and ethical areas of our lives.

14. Is there any scientific model, either supporting the Intergovernmental report or contradicting it, that offers any hope or practical solution to this matter of global warming? None that I have seen. Whether this warming trend is caused by human or natural causes there is little evidence that very much can be done about it in a comprehensive way. The world, the number of human beings and the growth of industrial consumption is simply too vast to bring under any sort of practical control.

15. What then, will happen? Who knows. Ocean levels may continue to rise, flooding low-lying coastal areas, islets and atolls. Entire nations may disappear (Micronesia and Kiribas come to mind). The reduction of global ice caps and the glacial ice of Greenland could produce accelerated warming or actually slow it down according to the various models I have seen. Areas currently arable may become deserts and desert areas may become arable. Major cities in certain climes may become too expensive to maintain large populations. Populations may actually shift globally to accommodate the climate changes. Shipping routes may even change if trans-polar shipping become feasible. Some national economies may suffer terribly. Others may actually benefit. The balance of world resources may also shift, affecting national alliances and balances of trade and economic markets. Political power will also shift along with the climate.

16. Is all this going to happen in our lifetimes? Some of it, yes. But, if the warming continues at the present pace it will be our children's children's children who will probably have to face the reality of major change in lifestyles and geo-political-economic transitions.

17. Is what you are saying true? Or have you just made it all up? Not being an expert I am simply expressing my current understanding of the situation based on what I have read. What this means, of course, is that I have mostly made it all up. On the other hand, for all their intellectual fire-power, so has the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2523974,00.html#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=World">From the London Times
</a>

<blockquote><em><strong>April 28, 1937 - December 30, 2006</strong></em></blockquote><em><blockquote>Saddam Hussein was a tyrant whose actions brought down unimaginable catastrophe on Iraq and its peoples. From an early age, he had enjoyed inflicted suffering on those around him and, when he came to positions of political power, those whom he could not force or corrupt into submitting to his will, he maimed, murdered or made to flee . . .

He started two major international wars - one against Iran, the second as a result of aggression against Kuwait - which cost an estimated one million lives. He instituted genocidal campaigns against the Kurds in the north of Iraq and the Marsh Arabs in the south . . .

(A) new American President, George W Bush, determined to find a scapegoat for the Muslim terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001, was in no mood to abide by the niceties of international law. In the determination of President Bush and his cabinet of advisers, Saddam at length met his match, though the internecine aftermath of the campaign that overthrew him gave his conquerors little enough satisfaction . . .

Saddam appeared to have psychopathic tendencies which, combined with the exacerbating circumstances of his absolute power, resulted in the killing of more fellow Muslims, possibly, than Genghis Khan and Tamberlaine had caused between them in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Yet, until he invaded the oil-rich state of Kuwait, he enjoyed the collaboration of many governments abroad - including those in the West - who had given him backing in his unprovoked assault on Iran . . .

A fervent admirer of Hitler on account of the latter's boldness and hatred of Jews, he told his official biographer in 1980 that he wanted Iraqis to think of Nebuchadnezzar every day. "We could march into Palestine and bring all those Jews here in Babylon with their hands tied behind their backs once more", he said . . .

Saddam's schooling began at the age of seven in Tikrit. Such was the lawless environment around him that, on his first day at school, he carried a steel bar in his hand and a loaded revolver in his pocket, the latter bought for him by his relatives. . . .

In 1958, after the overthrow of the monarchy, he was briefly imprisoned for the murder of a teacher, his uncle's Communist opponent in parliamentary elections in Tikrit, and began to develop a reputation as an assassin . . .

Saddam returned to Iraq after the overthrow of Qasim in a military-Baathist coup less than three years later, in February 1963, and was immediately engaged in plots against the Baathists' partners in the new regime. He also enrolled at Baghdad university's law faculty and turned up for final examinations in military uniform and carrying a pistol. He was promptly granted a degree . . .</blockquote></em>

According to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/29/hussein/index.html"><strong>news sources</strong></a> Saddam Hussein was hung by the neck until dead approximately 20 minutes ago, 6:00 am Saturday, Iraqi time and 5:00 pm Hawaii time.

Iraq now has one less albatross hanging around its neck.

If you are looking for my blog you will find it a www.tbirdofparadise.blogspot.com  That is where I post.  I do appreciate being a part of the Townhall.com community, however!

Aloha, Bird of Paradise