2008-07-09

All-Star Break

This year’s MLB All –Star selection process has had its share of controversies, which I believe will be there no matter how the players are chosen.
But I was driving home, I think Friday night, listening to a Astro’s game on the radio (against Pittsburgh) and they were talking about the quality of the Pirates outfield.
So I did some leg work and wow we’re they right.Except for Hits, the Pirate outfield tops both starting league’s All-Star outfields.

Player-----H-----HR-----SLG------AVG
Pirates Outfield
Nate McLouth-----97-----17-----.529-----.280
Jason Bay-----93-----17-----.530-----.292
Xavier Nady-----91-----12-----.534-----.322
AVERAGE-----93.67-----15.34-----.531-----.298
NL All-Star Outfield
Ryan Braun (MIL)-----101-----22-----.548-----.284
Kosuke Fukudome (CHC)-----88-----7-----.417-----.285
Alfonso Soriano (CHC)-----60-----15-----.547-----.283
AVERAGE-----83-----14.66-----.504-----.284
AL All-Star Outfield
Josh Hamilton (TEX)-----109-----19-----.544-----.301
Manny Ramirez (BOS)-----88-----17-----.500-----.280
Ichiro Suzuki (SEA)-----113-----3-----.544-----.309
AVERAGE-----103.33-----13-----.530-----.297
That really impressive.
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Quotable

Everything that's beautiful is cracked, that's how the light gets in.

-Leonard Cohen

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2008-07-06

Suggested Reading List

Found this link that suggested a reading list for 1st grade to 12th.
Then there are some additional suggested books.
Here's the basic list, but go visit the site and see all that is suggest?
Then come back and tell me what do you think you would add (or subtract).

Obviously the list is created by someone who cares very deeply about a well organized doctrine...but the idea of having a list like this is a good idea.

When would you introduce Harry Potter?...that's important as well.

1st Grade:
The Lightlings, R.C. Sproul
The King Without a Shadow, R.C. Sproul
The Child’s Story Bible, Catherine Vos
The Gospel for Children, John B. Leuzarder
The Big Book of Questions and Answers About Jesus, Sinclair Ferguson

2nd Grade:
Dangerous Journey, John Bunyan, Ed. Oliver Hunkin
The Child’s Story Bible, Catherine Vos
Grandpa's Box: Retelling the Biblical Story of Redemption, Starr Meade

3rd Grade:
Against the World, Henry Coray
The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History, A. Kenneth Curtis, et al.
Heroes of the Reformation: Life-Changing Lessons for the Young, Richard Newton
Training Hearts, Teaching Minds, Starr Meade

4th Grade:
Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis (box set)
Luther the Leader, Virgil Robinson
Ten Boys/Ten Girls Who Changed the World (box sets), Irene Howat
Training Hearts, Teaching Minds, Starr Meade

5th Grade:
The Young Peacemaker: Teaching Students to Respond to Conflict God's Way, Corlette Sande (Kit, grades 3-7)
Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea, Edmund S. Morgan
Survey of the Bible, William Hendriksen
According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible, Graeme Goldsworthy

6th Grade:
Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom
The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges

(Interim Recommended Reading: Shelf Life: How Books Have Changed the Destinies and Desires of People and Nations, George Grant; Read Any Good Books, Sinclair B. Ferguson; and Invitation to the Classics: A Guide to Books You've Always Wanted to Read, Eds. Louise Cowan & Os Guinness)

7th Grade:
The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
Church History Plain Language, Bruce L. Shelley
Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, Alex & Brett Harris
Chosen by God, R.C. Sproul
The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul

(Interim Essential Purchases: Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem; Concise Theology, J.I. Packer; and How to Read Slowly: Reading for Comprehension, James W. Sire)

8th Grade:
Crown & Covenant Trilogy, Douglas Bond
Confessions, St. Augustine of Hippo (Ed. Henry Chadwick)
The Heidelberg Catechism: A Study Guide, G.I. Williamson
Knowing God, J.I. Packer

9th Grade:
The Screwtape Letters & Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
The Peacemaker (Student Ed.), Ken Sande
Humility: The True Greatness, C.J. Mahaney
Living the Cross-Centered Life, C.J. Mahaney
Basic Christianity & Cross of Christ, John Stott

10th Grade:
The Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther
Christianity and Liberalism, J. Gresham Machen
The Sovereignty of God, Arthur W. Pink (Baker Books edition)
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, J.I. Packer
Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer

11th Grade:
Hostage Lands, Douglas Bond
Reading Between The Lines, Gene Edward Veith Jr.
Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography, Iain H. Murray
The Great Exchange, Jerry Bridges
The Truth of the Cross, R.C. Sproul
The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance, Leon Morris

12th Grade:
Paradise Lost, John Milton
John Owen on the Christian Life, Sinclair B. Ferguson
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Reason for God: Belief in God in an Age of Skepticism, Timothy Keller
The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, Leon Morris
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Hey Deuce!....

...who does this remind you of?

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2008-07-05

Taking Off Masks

Shaun Groves had a great post this week about his family's relationship with some neighbors, specifically an incident involving loud expletive music.

Worth the couple minutes of reading.

Who knows, maybe you and I will be challenged to share our lives with our actual neighbors.
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Endorsement

Got my new issue of Rolling Stone this week.
Question: Does anyone know which candidate they are backing?

In typical guy fashion, I'm failing to pick up on their subtlety.

Not sure what your political opinions are (nor my own), but got to admit, it's gotta be pretty cool having the cover photo for Rolling Stone...especially when you have nothing to do with entertainment.

(feel free to post your comments about the Rolling Stone cover - Barack Obama's photo - I don't particular care to hear about political opinions at this moment...let's save that for another post)

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Site Recommendation: The Rabbit Room

I love visiting the Rabbit Room and think you will too. Stop by occasionally, or add the blog to your reader list. The Rabbit Room is a gathering place for artists (writers, musicians, thinkers, etc...) to creatively express...well their creative expressions (I know, I know...I should be included with those writers...with words like that.)
FYI - The Rabbit Room was the room in the English pub Eagle and Child where the Inkings (a group made up of C.S. Lewis, Tolkien and others) met.
One of the cool features is the Song of the Day. The Proprietor (Andrew Peterson) will often post a song and give some personal insights to the song (always cool to hear a song writer's impressions on a song...even others songs). Plus he post the song so you can even get a listen...

Here are some past Song of the Days:

and many more...
go on now...
read and listen...
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A New Kinda Worship

This is from a worship Service at Mars Hill's Ballard Campus.

'Send Me' - Live at MHC | Ballard from Mars Hill Church on Vimeo.

What do you think?
Would you, could you, worship like this?
Is this the next wave in worship's musical revolution?
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2008-07-04

Dancing

Josh Harris posted this on his blog... He said it challenged his thoughts towards heaven.

I'm not much of a dancer, meaning that I don't know what I'm doing when my body gets a goin', nor do I enjoy making an idiot of myself...
But this video is reminding me of two things:
1. I need to dance more
2. I need to travel more (I think I've been to 3-4 of the place's Matt's danced at)
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Wicked Cover

Good article too, if your interested in the dynamics of the pitching motion. Worth the read, Tom Verducci always has great baseball insights.
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Amazing Play

Have you ever seen this before?

Seems like something out of a movie. But if this was a movie, the game would probably be a playoff game or somekind of game that determined whether or not the heroes made it to the playoffs (it's never the actual championship game...why?).
If this had been a scene in a movie and the hero was the batter (Youkilis) the ball would of course fallen outside the fence for a homerun.
Or if the hero had been the fielder (Damon) he would have rolled, after hitting the ground, toward the fence and made the catch for the final out.
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2008-07-02

Did you know...

Melissa Etheridge, in high school, want to have a career in Christian music. In fact her first real gig was opening for Phil Keaggy in her hometown (Leavenworth, Kansas...been there). After the show, when she asked him what he thought, Melissa said he responded, "'I don't think there's a place for people like you in Christian music,' but he said it very nicely."
It always sucks being rejected. Even though Phil was being honest, brutally so, and was probably right... I'm glad she was able to find her success still in music (although I'm not a huge fan of hers...sorry Melissa).
You can read the article and more on Melissa's faith in the current Rolling Stone.
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2008-06-30

This is Stupid

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The Pursuit of Pointlessness

I woke up an extra hour early this morning in order to attend a meeting for work. 

A team from an outside agency is here this week to instruct us on some new procedures that will be in place soon.  Blah blah blah work blah…

Unfortunately we waited around for fifteen minutes for the team to arrive (they were waiting on one of their members who would still not arrive).

And what a group I was with.  Not only was I the only person in their 20’s, except for one other person in her late 30’s/early 40’s, everyone has reached that half century mark.  Which is nothing against my elders, but it’s hard for me to get up and going on a Monday morning, and even more so when the topic of conversation is retirement and calcium deficiency.

And I was there because the new procedures involve the computer, which my boss approaches like Derek and Hansel.

The meeting lasted an entire 5 minutes as the team introduced themselves.  No immediate training , no handouts of information, nothing!  Just introductions.

Goo-o-o-d morning.

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2008-06-29

Awesome!

Originally I wanted to title this post "frickin' awesome", but I wasn't sure if Psalty would appreciate that, so I just edited it. But then I remembered that Psalty doesn't read this blog, so I wrote it here in the actualy post.



I could go for a Psalty comeback, I don't know about you.
My favorite album was when they climbed the mountain, or the baseball one.

When my sister's came along they didn't fully appreciate the wonder and awe of a singing songbook, rather they preferred Rappin' Rabbit.
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2008-06-25

I'm All Twitter-pated

So I've been using Twitter for a little while now. Some of you may not know what Twitter is, I compare it to blogging on crack. You are limited to just 140 characters and many people send updates straight from their phones, via text messaging.

For a while I was really having trouble being consistent with it. But I think I've found my groove now. Want to know my secret? Well I'll tell you anyways...hiaku!

Here are my twits...er...twitters....er...twitter post...whatever they are called from yesterday.
Ah crap!!! Just noticed that the first line above has an extra "to" in it...oh well.
My Twitter identity is the same as here, tsharrison, so find me and follow, and I promise I'll do the same. Oh and I should sit down and add a photo to my Twitter account too...maybe I'll get to that soon enough.

Update:
I noticed that for some reason I couldn't open the photo up. So for you're benefit I've copied and pasted the last several twitter post of mine. Enjoy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tsharrison using a keyboard / strange way to update twitter / different than phone about 2 hours ago from web

tsharrison @buff23_7 figuring it out / how to reply to someone / when using twitter about 2 hours ago from web in reply to buff23_7

tsharrison finally home now / sandwich for dinner tonight / have a big headache about 3 hours ago from web

tsharrison guy teaching lesson / reminds me of J D Roth / perfect game show host about 6 hours ago from web

tsharrison doing guys study / talking about being heirs / David and Jesus about 6 hours ago from web

tsharrison middle school students / i would have hated doing this / plus it's hot as heck about 7 hours ago from web

tsharrison at wacky wednesday / a once a week vbs / middle school students about 7 hours ago from web

tsharrison (oops again - tpying and driving never a smart combo, can result in misspelled words - " current place in world" about 7 hours ago from web

tsharrison (oops - last post - first line - "current place in wolrld" about 7 hours ago from web

tsharrison current place in this wolrd / san antonio traffic / starting to pick up about 8 hours ago from web

tsharrison my first ozark crush / a secret not so secret / who missed out? me? her? about 8 hours ago from web

tsharrison a rapid heartbeat / a very blunt rejection / worst phone call ever about 10 hours ago from web

tsharrison she is still single / she should have taken a chance / i tried to take one about 10 hours ago from web

tsharrison i was just confirmed / think "trevor's got girl problems" / yes she was that one about 10 hours ago from web

tsharrison life is not easy / actions are hard to relay / when told in hiaku about 14 hours ago from web

tsharrison i have been slacking / not much twittering lately / getting on the ball about 14 hours ago from web

tsharrison movie of the night / watching jack black and mos def / in "be kind rewind" 08:18 PM June 23, 2008 from web

tsharrison unproductive day / doing a lot of staring / i need better sleep 11:58 AM June 23, 2008 from web

tsharrison today's summary / a broken and beaten world / need light truth and grace 09:01 PM June 22, 2008 from web
Posted by at 1 comment:

Baseball on Juice?

I never really questioned it, but just in case you have...

Will a baseball blend?
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I Could Go For...

Why has there no been an adult-size big wheel developed?
I think I would purchase one if there was. I loved mine growing up. I think I had a Knight Rider, if memory serves right.
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2008-06-24

I Need a Friend to do This!

I promise I'll try not to point when I'm laughing at you.
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Quote of the Day

"God is subtle but not malicious."
-Albert Einstein
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