Uncategorized

  • Boston College at the Rose Bowl?

    So there's a 1% chance that the BC Eagles could be playing USC in the Rose Bowl this January.  Normally the Pac-10 and the Big 10 champs play in the Rose Bowl unless it is the National Championship game, like last year, in which case No.1 and No. 2 play each other.  The other caveat is if either the Pac-10 or Big 10 champs are contending for the National championship, like OSU this year, they can turn down their Rose Bowl bid and the runner up in that division will play in their stead.  This year, since OSU will be playing in Arizona for the championship, most likely USC will be playing Michigan.  Unless...

    If Michigan finishes No. 2 dispite their loss tonight, they will also be going to Arizona to play OSU in a rematch of today's game for the National Championship.  This means that there is no representative of the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl this year.  Then, the ACC Champion will take the Big Ten place in the Rose Bowl.  Georgia Tech has already clinched a berth in the ACC championship game.  Boston College, depending on what happens next week, may also clinch a berth to the ACC championship game.  That means that if BC beats GA Tech and if Michigan can pull out the No. 2 seed in the BCS, then Boston College will be playing in the Rose Bowl this year.

    However, I will be in New Jersey this winter speaking at multiple retreats, so I will not be in Pasadena.  Ironic?  No?  Oh well... Knowing the BCS's gross bias, they probably would try to bend over backwards to put Notre Dame in the National Championship game...

    Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait a few years until the National Championship game is played again at the Rose Bowl for me to see BC play in Pasadena...

  • Goodbye

    Goodbye to my family at Young-Nak.  You will be missed.

  • In Case You Were Wondering

    I've had some people asking me whether it is true I am leaving Young-Nak so I will let you all know so there is no more guessing.  Yes, I am leaving at the end of the month.  If you want to know why, please come and ask me personally.  I will be happy to tell you.  However, I will not be posting it for the world to see.  It would be inappropriate.  I hope you understand.

  • If any of you have skype, I am leejosep.  Add me.

  • What's in a name?



    You've got to love the creativity.

  • A House of Prayer or a Den of Soccer?

    Here is what worship service this Sunday looked like:




    Here is what the gym looked like where people were watching the World Cup:




    God, forgive us for making your house of prayer into a den of nationalistic zealots...


    May God have mercy on our churches.

  • From My Childhood, just a little edited...

    This is one of the funniest things I've seen lately...





    I love the internet.

  • My Son, the Yankee Fan

    Danny got to go to his first Yankee game.







    Only sad detail is that the Angels beat the Yankees 2-3 that night.


    Oh, well, Danny will have to wait to see his first Yankee victory.

  • Poets

    I always thought that poets were these guys that had nothing better to do than to put words together that sounded nice in order to attract girls.  I'm starting to see that what they called "prophetic" in seminary is not so much prophetic as in the Biblical sense of the word, but it's more poetic in this sense:


    Poets don't just BS, at least not the real poets.  It seems that they create words for those of us that cannot put words to what we are feeling.  They bring to life those things that all of us feel but cannot express.


    As I listen to some "praise" songs, I realize that it's the christianized version of Brittany Spears or some other pop nonsense.  It sounds musically good, but too much of it is nonsense and fluff.  It has no depth.  Adding words like "God is great" or something like that does not add depth or spirituality to something that is essentially the "Christianized" version of "Material Girl" any more than throwing in the word "grace" makes a self motivational speech into a sermon.  (Another topic for another time)


    As I listen to U2, I think "40" might be one fo the best praise songs out there.  It actually puts to words what so many people are actually thinking and feeling but cannot express on their own.  Of course U2 is musically very good, but besides that, the poetic voice of Bono cannot be mistaken for anything else than the voice that is speaking on behalf of all of us who feel that something is not all right here.


    This Lent, instead of giving up sugar or Xanga, I think I will fast superficial "praise" and listen to U2 and 2Pac.

  • From my friend's Xanga Blog - Wow, so true...

    Good Samaritan: A Modern-day Parable




    A certain African woman and her children walked from Kondobe to Al Geneina, Darfur. And along the way she and her children were robbed, raped, beaten and left for dead.


    And by chance their came along an American Christian who had power, influence, and a great deal of wealth. And when he saw the half dead and beaten African woman and her children he presumed to himself that no amount of money would ever be enough to help: for if they wanted badly enough to fair well as he had, then they needed to work harder and take every opportunity that came along. Besides, it wasn’t his problem, after all, doesn’t the Bible say that God helps those who help themselves? So the American Christian passed along on the other side of the road, diverting his eyes from even looking in their direction.


    Then there came a Roman Catholic priest. He took one look at the woman and her children and saw they had no adornments to Mary or the saints hung about their necks, they had no money to buy indulgences, or water to wash his feet, so he too passed along on the other side of the road.


    But a certain French homosexual, as he journeyed down the road, saw them and had compassion on them. He immediately picked up their frail bodies from the roadside and took them to a close doctor friend who also was gay. After he and his doctor friend attented to their wounds, the French homosexual man took them to a nearby hotel where tourists usually stay. He paid for three days of logding and meals in advance for the African woman and her children, and made request that whatever their bill came to beyond the advance that it be placed on his tab.


    Which do you suppose Jesus would say was a neighbor and did rightly by the African woman and her children?