Tidbits from the Week

First and foremost, there is big news in the Bold New City (Jackson, MS). I know some of our readers aren’t from the Bold New City, but many are. For those outside the Jackson community, you’ve missed out on the many years of hilarity which coincide with the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference). Jackson, MS tends to be a hub of the SWAC, and therefore those growing up in the Bold New City have read countless sports page articles about Jackson State, Mississippi Valley, or Alcorn St. From high points of athletics with Steve “Air II” McNair, to beautiful points of discussions regarding the SWAC coaches tour (they used to load up on a bus and go throughout the SWAC states talking up the conference), we’ve seen it all. We’ve seen the likes of a head coach who wore a green hard hat everyday to practice (Hard Hat Dorsey), a head coach by the name of “Big Daddy” Carson who spoke with a gruffled, raspy, James Earl Jones like voice, a conference that opened up applications for its commissioner position via the internet (I’m still disappointed my brother did not apply), and the push for a 66 MILLION dollar stadium for Jackson St. University If you haven’t lived in Jackson, I’m sorry. You’ve missed out on the continual media striving to give the same amount of coverage to Jackson State University as to Ole Miss or Miss. St. Just trust me when I tell you, “it’s always a source of good, humorous conversation…there are always some good surprises.”

All that to say, it’s with great joy that I announce the following: the Bold New City is one of three finalist left in the covetous bid to be the home of the SWAC headquarters which is looking to move from Birmingham, Al. The city legislature is voting today on offering $100,000 which will hopefully entice the SWAC to come our way. For my own entertainment, I am blissfully hoping this will happen. If my taxes go up ½% for the likes of good SWAC entertainment…so be it.

Secondly, if you have a birthday coming up and are looking for a manly gift idea. How about this? A Swiss Army Pocket Knife that weighs 2 pounds, 11 ounces, is nearly 9 inches long, and has over 85 functioning tools is very manly. For crying out loud it has laser pointers, a tire tread gauge, bottle openers, a bike chain rivet setter for Trae, a golf club face cleaner, and various other sharp points. How do I know its manly? 1) It’s an obnoxiously large tool. Anything that you must pull out of your pocket when you are seated, just so you can sit comfortably is manly (George’s Wallet). It gives you the excuse to put it on the table and show it off to others. 2) There are so many different functions on the knife that the average male doesn’t have a clue how to use. Therefore, one is forced to attempt to talk about its function when showing it off without really having a clue what that function is. Example “Oh, that tool is used to fix the functionator in my car when it’s not functioning properly.” 3) It’s something Macgyver would be proud to own. 4) I doubt any women will carry it around

Thirdly, anyone see where a guy claims to have found the bones of Jesus? I’m sure this is going to be some good ole solid, archaeology. Can’t wait to here all the skeptics start talking about this. I’ve got simple news for you guys. One will never find the bones of Jesus. As the disciple Thomas unequivocally discovered, He is risen indeed!

Lastly, Go see the movie Amazing Grace. I’ll save the review for a later date, but it was a quality movie about a Christian’s efforts to abolish slavery in the late 18th century England. John Newton (the main characters pastors) at one point states, “Two things I always remember, I’m a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior.”

Scottie Pippen...are you kidding me?

Ummmm...How about just saying "Thank You Michael"

Scottie Pippen is thinking about returning to the NBA. That's all fine and good but did anyone see what he told the New York Times? Scotte Pippen: "I think people love me as much as they love Michael Jordan. Fans who understand the game, GM, the coaches I think they would rather have a Scottie than a Michael because I am an all around player, I make people around me better."

Scottie, I think Michael could have had a few more years left in his game if his back hadn't given out after carrying you for so many years.

He sounds like the insecure person that knows he's not good at something. In a vain attempt to make convince himself and others of the contrary he talks about his achievements all the time. You know who I'm talking about. The mediocre athlete that talks about how good he was in high school, about how good his high school team was, how good he played yesterday, and says things like "Man, I'm just off today, I usually hit that shot every time." If someone has to constantly talk about how good he is at something, he is insecure about his ACTUAL performance/ability. Scottie has gone delusional in his attempt to cast off the insecurity of Michael Jordan's shadow. Scottie, you had your chance. When Michael left, you tanked it. Oh wait, I forgot about that time he made everyone around him better. Remember when he SAT ON THE END OF THE BENCH, REFUSED TO GO IN THE GAME, AND POUTED BECAUSE TONI KUKOC WAS GETTING THE LAST SHOT INSTEAD OF HIM. What a team player.

Scottie Pippen should send Jordan thank you notes everyday for making him a better player. Scottie should give Michael one of his NBA rings just for good measure. B.J. Armstrong, Steve Kerr, Horace Grant, and Scottie Pippen would not have been household names in the 80's and 90's were it not for "His Airness." Just be thankful for M.J. and the gift it was to be able to play with him.

I conclude with my new favorite person of the week. In response to Scotties quote about feeling better since taking time off, Charles Barkley said: "If you take time, you feel better but you don't get better."

Feel free to chime in with any other ridiculous, "living-in-a-fantasy-world-about -yourself quotes from athletes, but this goes down as an all time great.

From Bush to Clinton to Bush to.....Clinton???

yeah, the election is far off...but not that far away. I'm not huge into politics, but i do watch the news daily and so it's on all the time. yesterday (i watch Brian Williams on NBC) it was reported that conservatives are starting to show lots of support to Hillary and her campaign. They report that a wave towards Hillary is due to an overwhelming frustration with the Bush administration. They say that conservatives are remembering how great things were when Bill was in office as opposed to the frustration of now.... Ok, not gonna get into the agenda's here. I love Bush's personality and antics - how can he not crack you up - he's totally the kinda guy you would want to invite over to watch the Super Bowl, but he is a public relations idiot.



What blows my mind about this wave of change in support is how idiotic people are with the claim that things were better when Bill was in office. Well, duh....Clinton was the "Kramer" of the Presidential corpus. Everything fell into his lap - it couldn't have gone bad. People rave about the time of "peace" we had, well Clinton followed Regan's end of the Cold War, and Senior Bush's middle east conflict - we had no one's ass left to kick, of course there was peace. People rave about how the economy was booming, ummmm this thing called THE INTERNET broke into culture and naturally created thousands of jobs - not exactly a governmental program. But of course Al Gore's outrageous claim to the invention has led some to believe Clinton was behind it. That claim reminds me Dr. Evil speaking of his father "My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament." I don't know a lot about the history of the Presidency and what each man has had to go through, but in recent history no one has delt with more than "W". I mean we suffer the worst attack ever on American Soil which launches a nation wide fear of terror, the Stock Market plummeted as soon as he was sworn in, and then we suffer the worst natural disaster in our countries history. Somehow Bush "didn't see" 9/11 coming, attempted to recreate Black tuesday, and then is responsible for some genormous wave washing out New Orleans. Listen, I really have felt loads of sympathy for what that city has gone through - but they said the storm was going to be aweful and screamed "GET OUT" - when in doubt blame Bush i guess.

Still, are we really gonna elect a woman?? Are conservatives really gonna jump on board with her?? I still think that NY and LA just don't get it - the rest of the country is on a different political map. Some country reneck is not gonna vote for a woman.....at least no one from Sweet Emotion that is.

I Love Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley is someone we gladly salute here at Sweet Emotion. He's always making great quotes, discussing running for governor, has a great name (round mound of rebound) or playing up his latest antic. This weekend he was at it again. Charles challenged 67-year old NBA referee Dick Bavetta to a race. Charles has put on the pounds exponentially since his playing days but was still able to grind out a win. Please notice how serious Mr. Bavetta is during the race. He is stretching out his strides and actually DIVES for the finish line. Charles wins, but if I'm 67 and able to dive across the half-court line, I'll be a happy man.

A Night at the Movies

I'm trying to imagine what it would have been like to be in this movie theater last night. There you are, relaxing, enjoying a movie with your loved one. It's a quiet, serene scene in the movie and you're locked in while scraping the bottle of the barrel for the last bits of popcorn. All of a sudden "BANG." I mean big "BANG." You hunch over and look to your right only to have a CAR BUMPER inches from your face! I think it's safe to assume quite a few expletives came spilling out from the audience...probably a few no one has ever heard before. Hey, if there is ever an appropriate time to use one... this gets my vote.

It would absolutely scare the doo doo out of me. I'm not sure I could ever sit in a movie theater again. I think I'm sitting in the middle of movie theaters now.

My other favorite aspect of the story is how the Theater owner gave the people who were inches from the car "some passes" (for free movies). Wow, Thanks! Free passes for a movie. That's the kind of gesture one gives when the movie is fuzzy or the sound goes wrong. A CAR ALMOST HIT ME IN THE FACE, How about a lifetime of free movies and some free counseling as I work through the issues.

Oh and two more things, after investigation.....Surprisingly, Alcohol was involved....and drumroll please.... surprisingly the driver was a woman!

I was going to do a blog on B.A. Baracus, a man among boys, but this story was too fascinating. So stay tuned as we salute B.A. later on this week.

Andy Kennedy, Europe's attempt to define morality

Don't look now but I had to adjust my radio today and make sure I wasn't dreaming. The Duke Blue Devils have now lost 4 in a row for the first time in 11 years under coach Krzyzewski. And wait a second, the Ole Miss Rebels have won 3 in a row. I'm not going to hunt down the statistic, but I'm pretty sure it's the first time this has ever happened. Congrats to Coach Kennedy, I don't know how you have done it so far.

In the name of the “lesser of two evils”, Europe is sadly at it again. Not too long ago, European countries passed laws making assisted suicide of the terminally ill legal. The rationale is as follows. Terminally ill men and women are going to endure suffering and eventually die. Would it not be ethical to allow the soon to be suffering human to die “peacefully” before the excruciating suffering begins? It sounds like a humane proposal.

Last week, the Swiss have proposed a law to further extend assisted suicide “relief” to the mentally ill. The argument is as follows: If it is good to assist in the killing a person with a terminally ill disease, then should it not also extend to the mentally ill that suffer. Why can the government tell a physically suffering person they can die peacefully, but a suffering mentally ill patient he cannot? Again, given the first law, the second law seems reasonable.

However, both these laws, though appearing reasonable, are terribly wrong. They assume and encourage the erroneous thinking that man can define what is good and therefore appropriate behavior. Surely it’s better to allow someone to kill himself peacefully than to eventually die a horribly suffering death. NO! It’s God and His Word that defines what is right and good. Only God has the right to give life and take life away. As Job says after terrible suffering, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” God loves life and is the creator of it (Gen. 1:27, Psalm 139:13), and only he can take it away.

Freedom is the new untouchable of our society. Woe to anyone who dares to infringe one someone’s rights. But again, what is freedom? The Bible clearly assumes that only in following the law of God do we experience freedom (Gal. 5:1, I Peter. 2:16, John 8:32). Government, individuals, and especially Christians are not to pursue a society that gives people the “freedom” to do wrong.”

It’s no surprise that abortion has led to assisted suicide of the terminally ill and then further to the possible assisted suicide of the mentally ill. When society, instead of God’s Word, begins to define what is good and lawful, the consequences are seemingly limitless. The European laws have deemed individuals as the ultimate barometer of truth and ethics. When government allows sinful individuals to believe the lie that “good” is in the eye of the beholder, then individuals apart from the grace of God will act selfishly and sinfully. Romans 13:3-4. and I Peter 2:13-14 states that a government’s duty is to reward what is good and punish what is evil. As Eric Liddell “God made countries and God made Kings” God has placed rulers in power, and their job is to uphold the law of God thereby punishing what is contrary to it. God’s law clearly states we never have the right to kill. Killing, even in the name of a greater good, is never right.

To think what might be the next step is appalling. If the assisted suicide law extends to the mentally ill, what’s to stop it from eventually extending to the extremely depressed? If someone is so depressed that he desires to end his life peacefully, who are we to step in and stop him? What’s to stop the law to extending to paraplegics who no longer want to live in a wheelchair? We need to beg God for mercy for the sins of our own country involving abortion, pray for renewed hearts, and turn back to the Word of God. Matt. 4:4.

Sweet Emotion Iverson

Luke sent me this video, no words can be added to how unbelievable Iverson is - he is sweet emotion

..in other news, a Chicago Bears fan lost a bet on the Super Bowl and is going to legally change his name to Peyton Manning (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2757758) .

Let this be known: Manly law #17 - if you lose a bet you must comply to the stipulations of that bet no matter how absurd the arrangement may be, disregarding anyone the outcome may affect.

And for complying with the situation, Sweet Emotion salutes "Peyton Manning"

A Day Full of Testosterone

I will die trying

Martin Strel receives the man of the week award with flying colors. The Slovenian swimmer has announced that he is going to swim the length of the Amazon River. Let's do a quick Jr. High refresher on the Amazon River. The Amazon River snakes for 3,375 miles, and on top of that, the Amazon is filled with piranhas, crocodiles, and snakes. Not only does swimming more than 2 laps impress me, but piranhas scare the heck out of me. Needless to say, it's never been done and many people are calling his manly goal a death wish. To his nay-sayers, Martin simply states "I'm going to swim that river or die trying. But dying is not my intention."

Martin receives the award because he is following the 5 manly rules of achievment. What are the 5 manly rules of achievment?

1) Make preposterous goals that people (especially women) smirk at and declare impossible. He is attempting to swim the Amazon.
2) Act like it will be no sweat to achieve your proposterous goal.
"I'm going to swim that river
3) Convince others you are crazy enough to actually do it. He said he will die trying.
4) Actually attempt to achieve the goal (yet to be determined)
5) Spill blood in your efforts to achieve the goal.
His plan for avoiding the crocodiles and piranhas is to dump buckets of animal blood in the river to distract them as he swims by.

The rules remind me of my childhood. Who doesn't remember pulling a trampoline under a tree (always a good idea). After that we daringly went higher and higher on the tree to prove our manhood. We would launch ourselves off of trees onto the deathtrap itself (trampoline). Sure, panic would come across my face when I actually jumped, but after your feet were finally secure on the groun....you simply acted like it was no big deal. Should we have been injured...of course. But we walked away feeling rather manly.
Martin, congratulations! Sweet Emotion is proud to hand you this award.

Lastly, (as if we needed any more testosterone) today is a very manly day. It only comes around once a year. It's the day that fans of college football get to sit around and fantasize about how good their respective teams will be next year. It's called signing day. In the south, recruiting takes the headlines. I join the ranks of the rest of the south and start analyzing our recruits. After analyzing the recruits, I begin to "see the light" of how the new recruits will successfully fill the hole in last year's team. By the end of the analysis, I've convinced myself that Ole Miss got almost exactly what they needed and even found a few "under the radar, sleeper" stars. It's the pattern of every true manly fan of his program. Hey, I'm already convinced Ole Miss will turn a corner next year. Look at all these recruits that have never played a down of college football. Ah...the bliss of being an Ole Miss fan. Until the season actually comes around, one can make up his own foreseen results for the season.

Here's the ESPN top 25 recruiting rankings so far.
1. Florida 2. USC 3. Texas 4. South Carolina 5. Notre Dame 6. Tennessee 7. LSU 8. Auburn 9. Georgia 10. Illinois 11. Georgia Tech 12. Michigan 13. Virginia Tech 14. Texas A&M 15. Clemson 16. Miami (Fla.) 17. Pittsburgh 18. Alabama 19. Ohio State 20. Penn State 21. North Carolina 22. Nebraska 23. Iowa 24. Oregon 25. Mississippi

That is 6 Top 10 recruiting classes for the SEC and 0 in the Big 10.

"The Bill Simmons Face"

This is Bill Simmons shortly after he found out the Colts won the super bowl and Peyton Manning was the MVP (i don't really think he deserved it, but hey..more spit in Bill's cereal!). Now i personally think that the 'sports guy' is a blogging genius, he has a huge audience on espn.com and writes knowledgeably with a fresh dose of humor. But when it comes to his Boston tantrums, he begins to sound like spoiled 7th grade girl who lost her 4-H club beauty pageant. He's great b/c you either hate him or love him, there is no boring reaction to this guy, which is why I can't wait to read his article this week--hoping he will munch on his crow. Knowing Bill, I'm sure he'll somehow refer again to "Pass interference" call on Troy Brown, or bring up the fact that Tom Brady has won 3, or that the Colts beat a lousy Bears team in one of the most boring super bowls ever. He'll research his way into dogging Manning and the Colts again, as well he should - in keeping up with the Boston persona.

Here is the complete irony for Bill though. The colts story of winning the super bowl is a recapitulation of his beloved Red Sox world series run in 04'. I thought it was humorous last week when he picked the Bears to win b/c he thought that Colts would be worn out like the Yankees were in 03' after that tough 7 game series with the Sox. Now certainly i don't want to presume that Colts fans have been through anything compared to what Red Sox fans went through for 81 years, but the Colts run is circumstantially altered recapitulation. Simmons along with everyone else sees the Yankees as the evil empire of Baseball and the Red Sox as the gathered rebellion of that empire; but Bill, we all know what Belichick is murmuring on that headset during the Patriot's games, "Tear this ship apart until you find those plans!!!....Peyton, I AM YOUR FATHER!!". Tom Brady is Derek Jeter. In recent NFL times, the Colts are the MLB version of the Red sox and the Patriots are the Yankees. The stories are the same,They beat their arch rival in the most dramatic fashion possible, vindicating years of frustration. Not only to did they beat their arc rival, but came made the LARGEST comeback in their respective sports history. The colts, like the Red Sox, rode the momentum of their storybook victories to win the championship. Of course the Super Bowl was going to be boring and anti-climactic, remember how boring the 04' world series was? Neither of those had a chance to live up to the 'breakthrough' victories. The climax was in good finally defeating evil. You know why Tony Dungy is going to come back and coach another NFL season? He still wants that handshake he didn't get at midfield of the AFC championship game, he still has hope..."There is still good in him, I can feel it."

Now I do think the Red Sox finally winning and the way in which they did was MORE thrilling, but the Colts run is the same movie...maybe just the animated version (Manning's bent thumb is NOT Schilling's broken ankle). So Bill, you more than anyone must "face" up to the beauty of this --- or keep sportin' your own 'face'

http://serioussportsnewsnetwork.com/2007/01/bill-simmons-spotted-with-manning-face.html


Get out of the kettle, and quit calling it black! I'll still read his articles and if you don't, you should. His antics are hilarious!

...Also, i thought it was great that the entire Colts team showed up yesterday for their victory parade wearing "Gray hooded sweatshirts". Thank God we can put this all to rest, "Now I can die in Peace".

Super Bowl and Global Warming

The Super Bowl is over. It was a rather depressing experience for this writer of sweet emotion. What best expressed my attitude towards Super Bowl 41 was the commercial involving the emotionally distraught NFL fans whose teams did NOT make the Super Bowl. The commercial led off with a Saints fan looking horribly depressed, and it summed up my feelings. The Bears were not a great Super Bowl team, and I think the Saints could have put up a better fight...but it was not meant to be this year.

The Colts deserved to win this year. Their defense stepped up during the playoffs and Peyton actually played a decent big game. Rex on the other hand...ouch. All in all, I know Alex is excited, and for that I congratulate him.

On a completely different note. I haven't talked to Alex today, but I'm guessing the reason he hasn't blogged today is because that might involve him going OUTSIDE. And outside Alex's house in Philadelphia it is -1 windchill. I'm not sure how cold it has to be for your spit to actually freeze on the way out of your mouth but I'm sure it's not too far off. Is anyone else tired of hearing about global warming? I mean, it's freaking -30 (yes that was a - sign) windchill in Chicago today. Where is all this global warming in Chicago and across the east coast? Can we please stop spending billions of dollars in a global warming study? Climatologist Timothy Ball (not sure what a climatologist does...but anyway) wrote an article about how ridiculous the Global Warming chaos is. It's very interesting if you care to read. He's Canadian, but I like him already.

Oh, and lastly, one of my old Auburn friends told me about a very cool website if you like music. www.pandora.com lets you type in an artist or song you enjoy and then it gives you other songs/artists that sound like the one you typed in. Let's just put it this way, I typed in Mandolin Rain) and it gave me this description of my suggested songs: "To start things off here's a track musical similar to "Mandolin Rain" that featuring basic rock song structures, a subtle use of vocal harmony, acoustic rhythm piano, major key tonality and prominent organ." How great is that...Bruce Hornsby's Mandolin Rain described to perfection.

The phenomenon of the Super Bowl Commercial

I am definitely of the opinion, that Super Bowl Sunday ought to become a national holiday. Everything involved in the day is both Manly and American. The game is what matters, but of course the commercials are somewhat of a tasty "bag of Dorito's" before the Pizza arrives. This creates an unusually frustrating predicament...when do you take a bathroom brake?? If your a man, you better choose wisely. Still, it's the only time of the year we ACTUALLY WANT TO WATCH COMMERCIALS. The Super Bowl is the 'eschatos' of the story of advertising, in a word - it is their own Super Bowl. I wanted to do a post on the greatest commercials, but i just couldn't decide how to properlly do that. There have been so many great ones and the list is so long. I checked around, and everyone's favorite commercial is either the Apple-1984 (when they introduced Macintosh and essentially changed communication forever) or the 1977 Coke Commercial with Mean Joe Green. Both are special, but since I wasn't really 'around' to appreciate those and they already get their props, we should just list some of our favorites, No real order is here just the comapanies and my favorite ones that came to mind. Also, that guy who is trying to propose in an ad spot - how gay is he? During the Super Bowl?

1) Bud light - It's too difficult to find my favorite of theirs, but they are without a doubt the best in the business. I think my personal favorite is the "I love you man" one (where a father and son are fishing and the son tells his Dad he loves him..the father turns and says thanks, but your not getting my Bud light). Also in recent memory the 'trained dog', the 'magic revolving refrigerator', the 'skydiving' one where the pilot jumps out w/o a chute, the 'farting horses', and of course 'the real men of Genius'.

2) Budweiser - not sure how much these two can be separated, but they are pretty close in greatness. I wasn't so crazy about the "frogs", some were. "Cedric the entertainer's" one where he shakes up the bottle was classic. Maybe the most famous of them all was the "waaaaaaaaaasssssuuuppp" - which was funny Super Bowl night, and then quickly got old. The "Clydesdales Play Ball" (1996) -- A snowy game of pick-up football between two teams of horses -- was funny.

3) McDonald's Jordan vs. Bird ("nothing but net")- i actually remember being nervous as a kid that someone might miss

4) FED EX - the caveman one a few years ago was funny, but my favorite was the "Castaway" commercial a few years ago where they recapitulate the final scene and the woman opens the 'package that gave him a will to live' - in the package was a sattelite phone and gps system

5) Pepsi and Coke - both of these bring out some greats. The 'diner' with the truck drivers, who can forget the little boy and Cindy Crawford, P-diddy's new ride, Micheal J. Fox and the apartment 10G, and my personal favorite was the year they introduced 'clear pepsi' - i could have sworn that was gonna taste good and last.

6) Miller Lite - I just loved the ones where they combine stuff (weiner dog show and drag racing became 'weiner dog racing'..and ice skating and hockey became full contact figure skating)

7) Just one commercial from this company: Nissan Maxima “Pigeon”: America loves ads with talking pigeons, especially when those pigeon’s sound like Cliff Clavin from “Cheers.” In this 1997 ad, three pigeons see a new Maxima emerge from a car wash. They immediately sense it is their duty to, well, doodie on the car windshields. As the theme to “Top Gun” plays in the background, two pigeons miss their target and leave it to their leader, the Cliff Clavin-esqe bird, to fly down onto the Maxima. Despite his confidence, he only ends up colliding head first with a closing garage door.


This list is so minimal and needs to be enhanced by the sweet emotion community. What is the best of all time?? Also, if your wondering why i posted this particular commercial for viewing - please....this is Sweet Emotion, would i have gone any other way??

Super Bowl Pick: Colts by 20

Quite a claim

It appears there is a guy in Doral, Florida making quite a claim. Just so I don't misquote him here is what Newseek says:

Then one night in 1973, he says, he awoke to a vision of two hulking men at his bedside who announced the arrival of the Lord, who, says de Jesus, "came to me and integrated with me."

Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda says he is the second coming of Christ. Again let's let the article speak:

A native of Puerto Rico, de Jesus, 60, spent his youth drifting from the Roman Catholics to the Pentecostals to the Baptists. Then one night in 1973, he says, he awoke to a vision of two hulking men at his bedside who announced the arrival of the Lord, who, says de Jesus, "came to me and integrated with me." In the early years after founding Growing in Grace in Miami in 1986, de Jesus didn't claim to be Christ. Instead, he worked as a pastor spreading his doctrine: that under a new covenant with God, there is no sin and no Satan, and people are predestined to be saved. But as his following expanded, his claims did, too. In 1998, de Jesus avowed that he was the reincarnation of the Apostle Paul. Two years ago at Growing in Grace's world convention in Venezuela, he declared himself Christ. And just last week, he called himself the Antichrist and revealed a "666" tattooed on his forearm. His explanation: that, as the second coming of Christ, he rejects the continued worship of Jesus of Nazareth.

He has been both the reincarnation of the Apostle Paul, the AntiChrist and Jesus. And here is the amazing part, over 100,000 people believe him. Is it any shock that he requires a tithe and gladly accepts credit cards? Just last year they took in over 1.4 million to support his ministry. These funds go to support his broadcast ministry and his lifestyle which includes fancy cars and diamond encrusted gold rings (Nice!).

The articles begins its conclusion with "Some observers call Growing in Grace a cult." Let me think about that for a minute.... I would call that a safe assumption

I really started laughing but then was saddened when I realized these are real souls being dooped. It's an outlandish account that reminds us of the vital importance of God's Word. When the Scriptures are not the rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God, then disaster is sure to follow. God never contradicts himself, it is against His nature. Therefore, we must look to His revelation in His Word for life, wisdom, direction...etc. Anyone claiming anything "from God or about God" that contradicts His Word is assuredly false.

Jesus is coming again. As the Westminster Confession of Faith beautifully puts it "At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed: and all the dead shall be raised up, with self-same bodies, and none other (although with different qualities), which shall be united again to their souls for ever." (I Thess. 4:17; I Cor. 15:51-52, Job 19:26-27, I Cor. 15:42-44).

We await the second coming, and when the King returns to judge the world, there will be no doubt he has returned. For one thing, the dead will be resurrected and in the twinkling of an eye those in Christ will see Him and be like Him.

p.s. My Super Bowl Pick: Colts win by 10