Peas In A Pod

I have a predication to make regarding the presidential election. And this is a predication that you can take to the bank (provided there are any you still trust). Despite who wins this next election most bible believing African-Americans will pull the lever for Sen. Barack Obama while most white evangelicals will cast a ballot for Sen. John McCain. There are many reasons for this and while I doubt that we'll be able to explore all of them before the election I want to put forth a little proposal.

Despite our political differences bible believing blacks and evangelical whites are two peas in a pod. Both groups are subcultures within the larger society complete with their own traditions, history, customs and lingo. Both are viewed somewhat negatively within the larger society. Neither group trusts the mainstream media all that much and both carry a general feeling of being on the outside looking in. Both groups are loyal soldiers of their respective political parties but at times feel taken for granted. Both groups are extremely important in national elections and are counted to deliver by their respective parties. Moreover, it’s unlikely that the Republicans could win without the support of a good number of white evangelicals, nor could the Democrats re-capture the White House without a large turnout of bible-believing African-Americans. Despite this however neither group seems to get what it wants from those they support.

So here's the deal. Why don't we forge an alliance? We could agree on a common set of issues and throw our support behind the candidate who vows to promote them. An impossible dream you say? Perhaps. But though it wouldn't be easy we might be able to change the very nature of upcoming elections. Think of the possibility of candidates having to consider the primary issues of a voting bloc that consists of multiple millions of bible believing African-Americans and multiple millions of white evangelicals? What would it be like to have a pro-life candidate who spoke with as much enthusiasm for the interests of basketball moms as he or she did for soccer moms? How might the race for the nation's highest office change once a candidate had to address the top two or three concerns of both groups? And how might we work to address the needs of others as a witness of God's righteousness, wisdom and compassion?

How could this happen? Perhaps with both groups getting to know each other, understanding where each is coming from and having some genuine humility with respect to the issues they hold important. Such a step is both necessary and significant for we have to comprehend what drives us to vote the way we do. It will also be important for us to establish the important essentials of the gospel and the supremacy of God's kingdom. That will help us to keep our political ambitions in proper place. From there we can hash through the issues to be addressed recognizing the limits of the political process and be willing to accept that no one gets everything they want in any political situation.

Most of all, we can commit to following this course not just for the good of the country but for the strength of our witness. And that could be the action that puts shoe leather to the words of unity we often speak but for any number of reasons can't seem to demonstrate apart from a stray joint worship service. That witness could shine especially as we champion our unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ over the unity we have with those who agree with our politics. And that’s at least worth dreaming about.

To Him Who Loves Us…
Pastor Lance

Kings Crunch Knights

Six touchdowns. Six! Old Man #4 showed he's still got it after all. Put up 45 points all by himself! Mind you the team I squared off against mustered a grand total of 49. So why was the ageless wonder on my bench? Because when Daring Drew gets the 9ers at home you start him. Especially since the Old Man looked pretty old the previous week. And Drew didn't do all that bad throwing for over three c-notes with three TD's. 30 points at bad and once again the Daring One led the CPKings to victory.
But game balls go to the defenses of the 9ers, Skins, Cards and Ravens. No I don't own any of them but they stepped up big time for us Sunday. Both my RB's (Lynch and Turner) were pretty much shut down and shut out. The 9ers stopped Reggie 'skip, jump and hop' Bush for next to nothing and the Skins bottled up the Barbarian in similar fashion. And they did this on the road! The Cards decided to do their best impersonation of the Mets bullpen and fall apart just long enough for Jericho C to snatch two scores. The nightcap was provided by the Baltimore 'that's so Raven' defense who held Big Ben in check while at the same time allowing Santonio to slip by for the long TD I've been looking for.

Well onto next week and their are decisions to make. But we'll let that wait till Friday.

Go Pots
LL

We Are The Champions (of the NL East)

The Phiting Phillies Phinish in Phirst for the second straight year. Ryan, Utley, Rollins, Lidge, Myers, Hamels, Old Man Moyer and crew came through once again catching the Mets in the last couples of weeks of the season. Hopefully we'll last a bit longer in the playoffs then last time.



Go Phils
LL

Fantasy Football Friday

One of the fun things about playing fantasy football is the freedom of taking a chance knowing that it's only a game and (at least the way we play) no money is involved. There's also the thrill of seeing a long TD pass and then waiting to see if it's your first string receiver who nabbed it or some third string cat you've never heard of.

Which brings us to the first bye week of the season. For the most part the Kings intact. Drew Brees will start at QB with Michael Turner and Marshawn Lynch driving the ground game. I decided to drop the TB D and pick up the Jags especially since they have an enticing matchup against the flailing Texans this week. I also decided to replace my kicker with the kid from Denver whose showing some serious potential.

And now for the hard part. I went into this season with a what I thought would be a fairly strong receiving corps. Calvin Johnson led the way with Santonio Holmes and Jericho Cotchery. While none of these occupied the top tier of receivers with the likes of Moss, Owens and Wayne I thought they'd provide the good consistent production needed to put and keep the Kings on top. I also had Nate Burleson as a solid backup. We ended up at TE with Greg Olson who I thought might be a cool sleeper candidate only to have him become a big bust to this point. And apart from a beast like game by Johnson in week 2 my receivers have been just okay if less so. And now Burleson is out for the year and I need some help. I'm starting Cotchery as he may be finally developing some rapport with Brett Farve. I've also picked up two short term newcomers. Robert Meachem was supposed to be the next big thing in the Big Easy. He's got the size and potential to be a big time threat in an offense that will throw early and often. He's in for this week.

And now for the hard part which is where I need your help.

For now I've decided to bench Santonio Holmes and start Antonio Bryant of TB. Holmes hasn't done much so far and faces a Ravens D that's similar to the Birds. Why Antonio instead of Santonio? I think he can have a good enough game against a banged up Packers D that allowed Miles Austin to get deep on them. But what would you do? Stick with Santonio or drop the S and go out on a limb with Antonio?

Go Pots
LL

Kings Keep Rollin'

The Kings rode strong performances by Wild Buffalo Marshawn Lynch and Michael 'the Burner' Turner to our third straight victory. And now we've got some decisions to make. Our starting QB 'Daring' Drew Brees just lost Jeremy Shockey in addition to Marques Colston. And though I almost stepped out on a limb and started J.T. O'Sullivan in his place this past week I'm still willing to stick with the daring one at Frisco this week. My other backup is Brett 'I'll throw it to anybody, at anytime and anywhere' Farve. We don't have cable so I didn't see the Monday night game but from what I've read Brett looked bad. I'm thinking of dropping the mythical #4 and keeping Sully in his place.

Sunday begins the season's bye weeks which means it's time to surf the waiver wire for intriguing pickups for Sunday's game. So far I've decided to go with Josh 'who dat' Reed and Robert 'kings kid' Royal. Both play for the Bills which means both will get to start against St. Louis. And right now it doesn't look like the Rams could stop our community flag football team. Reed replaces Calvin Johnson who gets the day off and Royal (talk about a name fit for the CPKings) replaces my TE whose also on a bye week. For now I'm still sticking with Santonio Holmes but getting nervous. Well that's it for now dudes and dudettes. I'll hit you back Friday with the final lineup.

Go Pots
LL

This

I meant to mention this a couple of weeks ago. Registration has opened for the Miami Pastor’s Conference. The conference theme is 'What Christ is Saying To and Through His Church.' Featured speakers include Voddie Baucham and Michael Campbell. You can view conference info and register here. As I said last year this conference won’t necessarily change your life but I believe it’s a valuable time of fellowship for any and all who wish to see biblically reformed theology impact the Black community. 

And who knows if you’re good enough you might even be able to try out for the Fins. 

Peace

LL

That

The venerable Spectrum in South Philly is set to be demolished to make way for a new hotel/retail/entertainment complex. For years the Spectrum was home to the Flyers and Sixers and is the last Philly sports venue to host a championship team (83 Sixers though they won the championship on the Lakers home court). 

The Spectrum was where I saw the Temptations, the Jackson Five, Disney on Ice and the circus. It was a pretty cool place that holds some nice memories for many of us Philly folk. 

Peace

LL