Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[Sun Sentinel]

A defiant Rodney McGill prayed for affliction upon his adversaries prior to his sentencing in Martin County Circuit Court, and turned his back on Judge Sherwood Bauer, Jr., as he was handed a 20-year prison term for his part in fraudulently obtaining some $1 million in real estate loans.

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, for every witness called against me I pray cancer in their lives, lupus, brain tumor, pancreatic cancer,” McGill intoned at his counsel table prior to the start of the hearing Tuesday.

Read more here.

[From me]

I don’t think that is what Jesus meant about praying for your enemies!

What do you think?

[Yahoo News]

Could it be divine intervention that’s kept Florida safe from hurricanes since Gov. Charlie Crist took office? Crist said he isn’t trying to take credit, but he told a group of real estate agents Friday that he’s had prayer notes placed in the Western Wall in Jerusalem each year and no major storms have hit Florida. Crist noted that just before his election in 2006, Florida had been affected by a total of eight hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.
”
Do you know the last time it was we had a hurricane in Florida? It’s been awhile. In 2007, I took my first trade mission. Do you know where I went?” said Crist, a Methodist, referring to a trip to Israel.

He then told of going to the Western Wall and inserting a note with a prayer. He said it read, “Dear God, please protect our Florida from storms and other difficulties. Charlie.”

“Time goes on — May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December — no hurricanes,” Crist said. “Thank God.”

Read more here.

[From me]

Prayer works. I have reason to believe that God didn’t listen to the Governor’s prayer. He sure has answered a lot of mine. But there are some he hasn’t answered the way I wanted too. But as Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego said, “even if He does not save us we will praise God.” I’ll keep praying and trusting.

What do you think?

This week has been the SEC Media Days for the upcoming football season. It is held just 5 miles from where I live. I didn’t get to go by there because I was working. But I listened to a lot of the talk on Sport Talk Radio.

One lawyer turned journalist (if you can call him that) named Clay Travis who writes a blog called Fanhouse.com decided he was going to ask Tim Tebow the QB of The University of Florida if he was a virgin in front of all of the reporters. Clay came on several of the local radio programs here in Birmingham and was laughing about the question he was going to ask.

Tim Tebow is a beast of a football player.(I’m not a Gator fan at all–I Roll with the Tide) He is arguably the greatest college football player ever. But he is also a devout follower of Jesus Christ. He puts scripture verses below his eyes when he plays QB. When other college students are going to the beach and getting in trouble he goes and speaks at prisons, goes overseas, and talks to children about his relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the kind of guy you would want your daughter to date.

But because he is such a great football player and such a Godly guy people like Clay Travis want to find the chink in his armor. Instead of praising Tebow some are trying to bring him down.

Clay Travis, who writes a column for AOL’s FanHouse.com, asked Tebow on Thursday if he was still a virgin and “saving himself for marriage.”

After composing himself, Tebow answered, “Yes, I am,” and then good-naturedly gigged the media present in the TV and Internet room for being stunned by the question.

As another reported stumbled through trying to ask an unrelated question, Tebow laughed wildly and said. “Ya’ll can’t even ask a question. I was ready for the question, but I don’t think ya’ll were.”

Travis tried his best to stick it to Tim Tebow but Tebow threw it back at him! He didn’t get offended. He didn’t dodge the question. He said he expected it and yes he is going to wait until he gets married. What a great example to all believers of how we should always be ready to talk about our faith.

1 Peter 3:15 NIV says:

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

What do you think?

[World Net Daily]

John 3:16″ has appeared in various forms at nationally televised sporting events over the years, but after University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow inscribed it on his eye black for last night’s BCS National Championship game, the biblical reference became the most popular search item on Google.com.

Google Trends this morning had “John 3:16″ ahead of searches for actress Mary Lynn Rajskub and the Windows 7 beta download. Searches for the Bible verse reached a peak during last night’s game.

In previous games, Tebow, an outspoken evangelical Christian who was born to missionary parents in the Philippines, sported on his eye black Philippians 4:13, notes Christianity Today. The verse says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

The well-known verse John 3:16 is commonly presented as a summation of the Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Read more here.

[From me]

I am by no means a Gator fan, but I am a Tebow fan.  What a winner on and off the field!  Imagine what our world would be like if we had more Tim Tebows!  Now, I want to encourage him to go pro!

What do you think?

[TBO]

A Gibbs High School science teacher was arrested today on charges that he engaged in inappropriate behavior with a student, police said. The official charge against Darren Snieszko, 25, of St. Petersburg, is interference with custody, a felony. According to an arrest affidavit, Snieszko encouraged a 16-year-old girl attending Gibbs High to go on what he called a field trip to Lowry Park Zoo, but there were no other students or teachers involved with the trip, the affidavit states.

Snieszko paid for the girl’s admission with his Pinellas County teacher’s discount card, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt. The spokesman characterized the outing as a date.

Read about it here.

[From me]

I’ve never heard of a 2 person field trip. What is in the water in Florida?