Cokasoc

While confirming to Blogger a few minutes ago that no, I am not a picture of a scantily clad woman spamming people's walls about Viagra, I had to do the whole "type this word" thing. The word?

Cokasoc.

I found myself smiling. Randomness can be so much fun!

Geekout

Trek it out.

Is anyone not excited to see J.J. Abrams to direct Spock and Kirk? Is anyone not pumped about Eric Bana as some Romulan baddie? Is anyone not moved by the return of Leonard Nimoy? Is anyone not seriously disturbed by the scenes in the trailers of young Kirk "exploring strange new worlds" with Uhura? (Ewww. Ick. Gagghh. Does everything have to be sexual?)

Regardless, I'm actually intrigued about this new Star Trek film. Come May 8, I will most definitely be requesting permission to come aboard.

The King is Dead...

Last night, Randy "the Natural" Couture returned to the Octagon to defend his heavyweight belt versus the up-and-coming rock slab of human named Brock Lesnar. With similar skill sets (wrestling background, speed, tenacity) the advantage was to Lesnar from the onset, as he is fast and powerful, requiring custom 4XL gloves to cover the hams he calls "fists." Good blows were traded back and forth, but Lesnar could not be overcome and Randy fell at 3:07 in the second round, with Lesnar the winner by TKO. The king is dead. Brock Lesnar is undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. What now, then? Has a reign of terror begun?

Yes and no. Frank Mir and Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira are set to fight on December 27 at UFC 92 and the winner of that fight will most certainly be next in line for a title shot. While both are jiu-jitsu specialists (remember the footbar Frank caught Brock in, way back in February?), I don't think that Brock is quite as one-dimensional as some make him out to be. I really do think he has staying power, especially if he's as serious about hard work as he told Joe Rogan post fight last night. Discounting the wild card that is Randy Couture (Will he stay in the Octagon at age 45?) and pending Fedor Emelianenko's willingness to fight for a real belt (Affliction = lame), I foresee only two serious threats to the new top dog. Both Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo have size and skill.

Gonzaga was especially impressive in his dismantling of Josh Hendricks last night. One thing that interests me about the Brazilian-born black-belt is that he does not talk through an interpreter any more but answers questions in English. Granted, his English is slow and somewhat broken but I think that his willingness to do his own interviews speaks to both his heart (fighter heart, not spiritual heart) and his overall commitment to his game. You may remember Gabe from his title shot against Randy 15 months ago (Randy's last outing in the ring until last night). Gonzaga got his butt kicked to pieces, although he did manage to break Randy's arm with a kick himself, but the fighter I saw last night has come a long way since that humiliation. Might he be the one to end Brock's reign? Time will tell, but in case he does, remember you heard it here first.

Remember!

I forget so so quickly. Case in point, Deuteronomy 8.

The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way the the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciples his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware, lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if your forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Remember!!! Everything in this life, both good and ill, comes to us from the hand of our loving God! I forget so often. Either comfort lulls me to forget or trials spark the timbers of unbelief in my heart. I was reading a devotion by Dietrich Bonhoeffer today (taken from Ethik) in which he talked about how Jesus referring to himself as "the life" changes the conversation entirely. No longer do we discourse abstractly about pain and suffering. Rather now, we have a relationship with life. "Jesus sets his own self in the sharpest contrast to all thoughts, concepts, and ways that claim to make up the essence of life." I think is exactly what the Spirit is saying through Moses in Deuteronomy 8.

The Israelites had known the bitter tears of slavery and were about to experience the lush joys of Canaan. Regardless of circumstance, the call to them is the same call of Christ to us: "Know me! Know me! I am the way, the truth, and the life." Our life is not a series of events or a list of things: It's Christ!

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked... But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:1,5-6)

Wrap Up Music: 11/9/08

As I head to bed at the end of another amazing Sunday, in lieu of a longer post (hopefully tomorrow) I thought I'd mention that Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken are singing me to sleep. Specifically, "When the Summer's Gone" and the entirety of their Ampersand EP is a beautiful display of what love looks like in a mature yet honest Christian relationship. Seasons of our life come and go, but God is faithful throughout. Hit this up on iTunes. It's the best $.99 you'll spend all week!

When the summer's gone
When the harvest comes and the leaves are red
We'll remember then
Making love in the sun and the sand
You are the one to whom my heart belongs
Will our love be strong when the summer's gone?

When the summer's gone
As we fight our way through the winter snow
And we will mark the days
Till our july friend returns again, where have you been?
You are the one to whom my heart belongs
Will our love be strong when the summer's gone

(chorus)

We could drive down to the water
If we ever lose our way
Summer sky, goes on forever
Will our love be strong..
When the summer's gone...

When the summer's gone
And the poetry has all been read
will our midnight sun
Burn though the year till the august fears have disappeared
You are the one to whom my heart belongs
Will our love be strong when the summer's gone

(chorus)

You are the one, to whom my heart belongs
Will our love be strong (when the summer's gone?)
Will our love be strong (when the summer's gone?)
Will our love be strong when the summer's gone?