NFL Week 12 Picks: Express Edition III
M.D. Wright
11.20.08
I've been making out better the past three or four weeks, as I've FINALLY figured some of these teams. THEY ARE WHO I THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!
There's a game tonight, hence the "Express Edition".
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Heinz Field
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
*THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL -- NFL Network*
The line on this game is CIN (+9). It ought to be higher than that. The Bengals are missing half their starting lineup on both sides of the ball. This will be ugly.
Call:
Cincinnati 9
Pittsburgh 27
---
Houston Texans vs. Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns Stadium
Cleveland, Ohio
I have given up on the Texans and Brady Quinn is at least doing some of the things that "D.A." couldn't/wasn't.
Call:
Houston 17
Cleveland 23
---
San Francisco 49ers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Texas Stadium
Irving, Texas
This is my upset special of the week. The Cowboys may have won last week, but they are by no means dominant. Mike Singletary has the Niners playing with fire and they're looking much better of late. Especially defensively. The Cowboys should continue running the ball if they expect to keep the leg up on the rest of the teams vying for the last Wild Card spot. This will be close, and I think the Niners are going to pull off an "upset".
Call:
San Francisco 27
Dallas 23
---
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan
LMAO.
Call:
Tampa Bay 20
Detroit -4 (To match the wind chill up there hah).
---
New York Football Jets vs. Tennessee Titans
LP Field
Nashville, Tennessee
*GAME OF THE WEEK*
The Jets are relevant again! The Titans have been begging for a loss of late. They do not evoke visions of the 1998 Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings, nor the 2007 Vikings in being 10-0. I keep telling people Collins is going to commit backbreaking turnovers when the Titans can least afford it. It's going to happen this week. I'm taking the Jets and a push on the over/under.
Call:
NY Jets 24
Tennessee 17
---
Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri
The Bills better watch out here. They are fading fast; virtually done with regards to playoff contention. The Chiefs are at home and playing decent football of late. Chiefs win.
Call:
Buffalo 20
Kansas City 30
---
Chicago Bears vs. St. Louis Rams
Edward Jones Dome
St. Louis, Missouri
The Bears have a favorable sked to finish the season; in order to bolster their NFC North title hopes. They must take care of business here and get their defense back on track. They are too predictable defensively and their offense isn't built to come back when they get behind. I believe they will be an absolutely woeful Rams team.
Call:
Chicago 31
St. Louis 13
---
New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins
Dolphin Stadium
Miami, Florida
The Patriots are not impressing me. They may not be done yet, but they don't have the athletes to contain the Wildcat Offense. The Dolphins had them flummoxed earlier in the season and they will do it again Sunday. The Patriots can only manage so many injuries before they are unable to keep up with the Jets, Fins and the rest of the AFC Least.
Call:
New England 16
Miami 22 (Don't they always have weird scores in their games?)
---
Minnesota Vikings vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Stadium
Jacksonville, Florida
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Peterson rushes for 174 yards... Gus Frerotte continues to suck royally.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Call:
Minnesota 13
Jacksonville 20
---
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Baltimore Ravens
M&T Bank Stadium
Baltimore, Maryland
The Iggles are smarting. Not only due to injuries (which they've mostly recovered from) but also from their last two ugly games (losses to the Giants and a tie to the Bengals... good lord).
The Ravens are going to take out their anger from their loss last week on the Iggles and it won't be pretty.
Call:
Philadelphia 17
Baltimore 31
---
Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos
Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium
Denver, Colorado
The Raiders stink. Plain and simple. The Broncos might keep them in it, though -- with their defense; which is a sieve right now. Cutler will definitely light up the Raiders' defense and no one on the Broncos can stop the Raiders' running game. Should be fun.
Call:
Oakland 23
Denver 27
---
Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons
The Georgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia
The Panthers are the least impressive 8-2 team I have possibly ever seen. Their quarterback sucks. It's time for them to plan on moving on to another coach. They SHOULD win this game, but if John Abraham & Co. can get to Jake Delhomme, all bets are off.
Call:
Carolina 26
Atlanta 24
---
New York Football Giants vs. Arizona Cardinals
University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, Arizona
Listen, the Giants are great at what they do. No one player is above the team and therefore, they are better as a sum of the parts than an individual on his own. The Cards have been leaning more and more toward Pass-First the past few weeks. The contention going into this game is "Can the Giants cover Fitzgerald, Boldin AND Breaston?" (remember, this was the question going into the NFC Championship Game vs. Green Bay in January...) The real question is the battle of the lines. The Giants' defensive line vs. the Cardinals' offensive line. If the Giants are able to get to and hit Kurt Warner, he's going to throw interceptions and fumble the ball. On the flipside of that, if they can't he's going to shred the Giants. The former will happen, though.
On offense, the Giants' offensive line has solid as a rock and can run the ball against anyone. Also, Manning can make all the throws when he NEEDS to. The Cards haven't proven that they can stop the run nor the pass consistently. Given that I believe the Giants' defense will get to Warner a few times, that will be the difference in the game.
Call:
NY Giants 38
Arizona 23
---
Washington Redskins vs. Seattle Seahawks
Qwest Field
Seattle, Washington
If the Seahawks weren't so banged up... because the 'skins are REELING.
Call:
Washington 23
Seattle 10
---
Indianapolis Colts vs. San Diego Chargers
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego, California
*SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL*
This is a MUST win for the Chargers. A loss here likely spells the end of their playoff hopes. They do have a game left against Denver that could eliminate their tiebreaker disadvantage, but the rest of their sked does not bode well, either. Tomlinson is not healthy and Gates is not 100%. Rivers must cut down on his mistakes. Bob Sanders' status will determine how well Rivers does against the Colt defense. The Colts are actually very stout against the pass, so this might be tough.
The Colts seem to be rounding into form... finally. I don't know that the Chargers have what it takes to beat the Colts right now. (Breaks out John Madden voice) "Yeah, and and and... when you don't have what it takes to winnnnnnn... then you're probably not going to beat Peyton Manning, because Peyton Manning just has "it". And whatever "it" isssssssss... Philip Rivers and the Chargers do not have "it" right now."
Call:
Indianapolis 30
San Diego 24
---
Green Bay Packers vs. New Orleans Saints
The Louisiana Superdome
New Orleans, Louisiana
*MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL*
The Saints are done. It's Drew Brees playing 3 on 11 against a very opportunistic defense. Sure, he gets 375 yards passing, but he's been throwing BACKBREAKING interceptions of late. Given that they cannot run the ball to save their lives nor stop it, the Saints are definitively DONE. The end.
Call:
Green Bay 31
New Orleans 20
---
More this weekend.
As politically incorrect as I wanna be.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
How To Obey God
How To Obey God
So how do we obey God exactly? Well first, we obey God by obeying the gospel. You see, the first step in your decision to stop having your own way, and start doing things God's way, is to come to salvation God's way. Many teachers today will tell you that there are many different ways to God, but what they don't tell you is that what they are really saying is "You can do it your own way, you don't have to do it God's way."
This is why God hates works-based religion so much. God hates religion you say? How so? God hates religion because religion is man's attempt to get to God in his own way, by his own efforts. This is only the continuation of the self-centered way of operation. Instead, God has come to us in Jesus Christ, and God wants us to come to Jesus to have eternal life. This is God's way. It's his way because God himself did the work, not us, God himself set the example of submission and obedience, and God needs us to be willing to surrender our own will, and be willing to do it His way.
Now God's redemption is far more than what I just laid out above, but that pretty much gets to the heart of the issue. You see, God calls you a sinner not because you have made some bad decisions, and did some wrong things. God calls you a sinner because you are a little Lucifer.
"That sounds a little extreme," you may be thinking, but you see, you naturally want to have things your way, and not God's way. If that was allowed to blossom, and nothing hindered you, you would become a little tyrant who wants to rule the universe, and have everyone serve you. You don't believe me? Spend some time in a kindergarten classroom, and you will see all the tyrants, demanding their own way, and only submitting out of threats of punishment or loss of privilege.
So the problem, you see, is not really that you did some wrong things, and now you must pay the penalty or you will suffer eternal punishment. The problem is that you are a sinner. You are a potential Lucifer that must either submit to God, or have your satanic nature blossom into its fullness. It is that Lucifer in you that Christ had to die for.
So you do it God's way, or not at all, and God's way is that you believe in Jesus Christ, and receive his free gift of eternal life. Why is it free? Well because God is gracious first of all, but also because it is something that God did in Christ, and not something that you can do on your own. Your act of submission to God is exactly what God needs from you. But it certainly is not cheap, because the obedience that caused you to get saved God's way, must continue in doing God's will,
God can offer you salvation, and be right in doing so, because ultimately, the issue is going to be whether salvation is going to come from God, or from you. If it comes from God, then you are not trying to take the throne, and that means you don't want to go play Satan forever and ever. If it is from you. If it is based on your achievements, and your efforts, then it is nothing more than an expression of self-reliance, and self-exaltation...its you having your own way once again.
That's why the Apostle Paul said: "For by grace are you saved, through faith, and this is NOT OF YOURSELVES. It is the gift of God so that NONE MAY BOAST." It's all right there in the Bible. Not your way, but God's way. It is called "The obedience of faith" in Romans 1:5.
So we obey God by believing the gospel according to God's way...but then the Christian life is also an expression of this idea that we must do things God's way, and not our way. This means we must live a life of obedience as Christians.
Now I have some bad news for you Christians who think that you can live in disobedience and still be saved. You can't. "Why?" you say. Because again, the real issue is whether we desire God's way, or our own way. That's why the Bible says things like "He who is born of God does not practice sin" in 1 John 3:9. Why don't we practice sin? Because when we do, we are acting like the Devil. In fact. 1 John 3:8 says just that: "He who does what is sinful is of the devil."
The entire Christian life, in a nutshell, is learning to give up ourselves, and live out the decision to live in harmony with others by submitting to God. This is what love is all about...you put God before yourself and you put others before yourself. You think about what they want, and not just about what you want. You desire to live in harmony with them, instead of wanting to subvert, rule over, be better, or take advantage of them.
Obedience is also what the Scriptures are all about. Some people like to turn the Bible into a science textbook, and promote biblical scientific theories, or perhaps a history book, and argue for some sort of exactness in regards to historical events. Others just like to spend their time picking the Bible apart, and come up with all sorts of interesting new ideas and approaches to how the Bible was written, or when it was written, or whether what it says is really true or not. Some people just like to memorize the Bible, and then astound us with their ability to quote entire sections of Scripture.
But the Bible was written for a much more practical purpose. The Bible was written so that we might know the will of God, and DO IT. The Bible exists as the handbook on how one is to obey God, and the Bible can only be truly understood as one seeks to obey what it says, and put it into practice.
There are scores of denominations, each with their own set of beliefs about what the Bible really says. However, you will not fail to know what you need to know to follow Christ if you approach the Scriptures with the sincere desire to obey God, and do what he tells you to do.
So the choice is yours. Like C.S Lewis said, "you can say to God Thy will be done, or God will say to you thy will be done". It's as simple as that. If you put God on the throne, and come to Him in His way, you will have eternal life. But some would not have it God's way. They would rather join the chorus with Lucifer in Milton's Paradise Lost and say "Better to Reign in hell than serve in heaven." And if that's what you want, that is what you will get.
Just think, we live in a universe where everyone gets exactly what they want. That sounds like God is giving us a pretty good deal to me.
Rated:E Now that we know what obedience is, how do we practice it?by: Norksquad (E: Everyone)
© Copyright 2005 Norksquad (UN: norksquad at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Norksquad has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
So how do we obey God exactly? Well first, we obey God by obeying the gospel. You see, the first step in your decision to stop having your own way, and start doing things God's way, is to come to salvation God's way. Many teachers today will tell you that there are many different ways to God, but what they don't tell you is that what they are really saying is "You can do it your own way, you don't have to do it God's way."
This is why God hates works-based religion so much. God hates religion you say? How so? God hates religion because religion is man's attempt to get to God in his own way, by his own efforts. This is only the continuation of the self-centered way of operation. Instead, God has come to us in Jesus Christ, and God wants us to come to Jesus to have eternal life. This is God's way. It's his way because God himself did the work, not us, God himself set the example of submission and obedience, and God needs us to be willing to surrender our own will, and be willing to do it His way.
Now God's redemption is far more than what I just laid out above, but that pretty much gets to the heart of the issue. You see, God calls you a sinner not because you have made some bad decisions, and did some wrong things. God calls you a sinner because you are a little Lucifer.
"That sounds a little extreme," you may be thinking, but you see, you naturally want to have things your way, and not God's way. If that was allowed to blossom, and nothing hindered you, you would become a little tyrant who wants to rule the universe, and have everyone serve you. You don't believe me? Spend some time in a kindergarten classroom, and you will see all the tyrants, demanding their own way, and only submitting out of threats of punishment or loss of privilege.
So the problem, you see, is not really that you did some wrong things, and now you must pay the penalty or you will suffer eternal punishment. The problem is that you are a sinner. You are a potential Lucifer that must either submit to God, or have your satanic nature blossom into its fullness. It is that Lucifer in you that Christ had to die for.
So you do it God's way, or not at all, and God's way is that you believe in Jesus Christ, and receive his free gift of eternal life. Why is it free? Well because God is gracious first of all, but also because it is something that God did in Christ, and not something that you can do on your own. Your act of submission to God is exactly what God needs from you. But it certainly is not cheap, because the obedience that caused you to get saved God's way, must continue in doing God's will,
God can offer you salvation, and be right in doing so, because ultimately, the issue is going to be whether salvation is going to come from God, or from you. If it comes from God, then you are not trying to take the throne, and that means you don't want to go play Satan forever and ever. If it is from you. If it is based on your achievements, and your efforts, then it is nothing more than an expression of self-reliance, and self-exaltation...its you having your own way once again.
That's why the Apostle Paul said: "For by grace are you saved, through faith, and this is NOT OF YOURSELVES. It is the gift of God so that NONE MAY BOAST." It's all right there in the Bible. Not your way, but God's way. It is called "The obedience of faith" in Romans 1:5.
So we obey God by believing the gospel according to God's way...but then the Christian life is also an expression of this idea that we must do things God's way, and not our way. This means we must live a life of obedience as Christians.
Now I have some bad news for you Christians who think that you can live in disobedience and still be saved. You can't. "Why?" you say. Because again, the real issue is whether we desire God's way, or our own way. That's why the Bible says things like "He who is born of God does not practice sin" in 1 John 3:9. Why don't we practice sin? Because when we do, we are acting like the Devil. In fact. 1 John 3:8 says just that: "He who does what is sinful is of the devil."
The entire Christian life, in a nutshell, is learning to give up ourselves, and live out the decision to live in harmony with others by submitting to God. This is what love is all about...you put God before yourself and you put others before yourself. You think about what they want, and not just about what you want. You desire to live in harmony with them, instead of wanting to subvert, rule over, be better, or take advantage of them.
Obedience is also what the Scriptures are all about. Some people like to turn the Bible into a science textbook, and promote biblical scientific theories, or perhaps a history book, and argue for some sort of exactness in regards to historical events. Others just like to spend their time picking the Bible apart, and come up with all sorts of interesting new ideas and approaches to how the Bible was written, or when it was written, or whether what it says is really true or not. Some people just like to memorize the Bible, and then astound us with their ability to quote entire sections of Scripture.
But the Bible was written for a much more practical purpose. The Bible was written so that we might know the will of God, and DO IT. The Bible exists as the handbook on how one is to obey God, and the Bible can only be truly understood as one seeks to obey what it says, and put it into practice.
There are scores of denominations, each with their own set of beliefs about what the Bible really says. However, you will not fail to know what you need to know to follow Christ if you approach the Scriptures with the sincere desire to obey God, and do what he tells you to do.
So the choice is yours. Like C.S Lewis said, "you can say to God Thy will be done, or God will say to you thy will be done". It's as simple as that. If you put God on the throne, and come to Him in His way, you will have eternal life. But some would not have it God's way. They would rather join the chorus with Lucifer in Milton's Paradise Lost and say "Better to Reign in hell than serve in heaven." And if that's what you want, that is what you will get.
Just think, we live in a universe where everyone gets exactly what they want. That sounds like God is giving us a pretty good deal to me.
Rated:E Now that we know what obedience is, how do we practice it?by: Norksquad (E: Everyone)
© Copyright 2005 Norksquad (UN: norksquad at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Norksquad has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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