Free Republic

What got them all to agree is Roy Moore’s stance on gay marriage. All of the news media is united on this issue. Almost all of them have gay friends and this is a very big deal to them even though they may not say so.

Name one Jew who has ever kept the law besides Jesus. I’ve been a staunch pro-Israel Christian all of my adult life with a number of my closest friends being Jews. The Torah will never produce unity - either among the Jews, themselves, or the nations of the earth. The purpose of the Torah is to convince all men that they are guilty before G-d and are in dire need of forgiveness and redemption. It produces condemnation and death not righteousness and life because NONE can keep it. It’s the reason that Jeremiah prophesied that G-d Himself was going to institute a new covenant - not according to the covenant which He made with Israel when He brought them out of the land of Egypt, i.e. the Torah. In this new covenant, G-d declared through Jeremiah that He would be merciful to all of our unrighteousness and that our sins and lawless deeds He would remember no more. The reason being - He remembered them once and for all - in the body of Jesus on the cross who fulfilled not only the obedience requirements of the law but who also took all of the curse for disobedience of the law by hanging on a tree. He came at a time when capital punishment under the Jewish law was stoning but under the Roman law, it was crucifixion. This was not a coincidence. And the fact that fallible men cannot see eye to eye is not going to change until Messiah returns. Shalom my friend.

I’m supporting Trump and I’ve never watched a reality tv show and I don’t go to casinos.

The Hebrew text indicates that a great deal of time may have elapsed between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 - which only makes sense if you believe what the Bible says about Lucifer and his rebellion. The quotes of Jesus seem to indicate that He believed the Scriptures as written. The problem with most people is that they want to debate what the Scriptures are not clear about and ignore what the Scriptures are very clear about.

The Bible doesn’t say the earth is 6,000 years old. It is basically a record of Adam and his descendants. That record is approximately 6,000 years old. It’s anyone’s guess as to what time period elapsed between Genesis 1:1 and the creation of Adam.

This was meant for Gargantua not Alberta’s child - Apparently, you’ve forgotten about Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics.

Apparently you’ve forgotten about Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics.

I meant the supplemental draft of 1985.

In the years leading up to Belichek’s hiring with Cleveland, the Browns were in the playoffs in 1980, 82, 85,86,87,88 and 89. It’s true that in 1990 they were 3-13 but in Belichek’s five years, they made the playoffs once and they were 5-11 in his last year which was 1995 - leading to his firing and the Browns moving to Baltimore. The Browns franchise has been a disaster ever since they came back into the league.

Since Brady has been on the Patriots team, when he hasn’t been able to play for some reason, Belichek has a losing record - I believe. These guys coaching in the NFL by and large are not geniuses. They all run the same offenses and defenses - with little nuances here and there. Their quarterbacks make them or break them - which is why so many of them have on again, off again relationships with their QB’s and also the reason that you see the same QB’s in the playoffs every year. It is the toughest position to predict success which is why Brady as a 6th round pick surprised some people and why so many 1st round QB picks flop. God knows we’ve seen a bundle of 1st round QB flops in Cleveland starting with trade of Warren, Ohio home grown hall of fame wide receiver, Paul Warfield, for the rights to draft Mike Phipps with the third pick in the 1970 draft. And he was one of our smaller flops - at least he played and remained in the league for 12 seasons. It looks like Johnny Manziel - who seems to be able to drink like Kenny Stabler - might not be able to play like him.

Belichek unceremoniously cut Bernie Kosar, a Youngstown, Ohio kid, a local legend who won a college national championship as a freshman with the University of Miami, graduated from there in 3 1/2 years, manipulated his draft status so he could come to Cleveland in the supplemental draft of 1995 and then led the Browns to 5 consecutive playoff appearances and a couple of AFC championship games. Belichek treated him like a dog at the end of his career. He was a young coach at the time so I chalked it up to youthful ignorance. But now I think that’s just who he seems to be. I also can’t stand what Pete Carroll did to the USC program but I do like Russell Wilson so I hope that Seattle pummels the Patriots. But really I couldn’t care less. I’d rather watch two good high school teams play - where players play their a**es off and coaches coach their a**es off - for the love of the game - and where every play made isn’t celebrated like someone just cured cancer.

Belchek has a losing record with the Patriots when Tom Brady doesn’t play. He not only failed in Cleveland - he has the worst winning percentage of any Browns coach who lasted more than two years. He had five. Forrest Gregg has a lower winning percentage but we got tired of him after two years. Plus, he took over a Browns organization that had been in the playoffs and the AFC finals for a number of years leading to his hiring. He then put together the worst winning percentage of a Browns head coach over a five year period which resulted in the team moving to Baltimore and winning Super Bowls. No one in Cleveland will ever be a Bill Belichek fan

Agreed. Still better than BCS but at least if you expand it to 16 teams - 2 and 3 loss teams have less to complain about if they don’t get in. Plus, it gives teams that lose a game or two due to injuries or turnovers or whatever a chance to still compete. Like I said, we see it all the time in our high school playoffs. Another thing it does is make teams more willing to schedule quality opponents because they know that one or two losses will not automatically eliminate them.

An incredible number of the best coaches in the country are from a 100 mile radius of Canton, Ohio - including Saban and Meyer - as are a number of the best quarterbacks in the history of the nfl. At one point during this season, 9 different teams from the SEC were in the top 10. There has always been a bias toward the SEC under the BCS and even under the current system. Why was Alabama number 1? If the BCS were in effect, #1 Florida State would be playing #2 Alabama next week. It should be a 16 team playoff with the first two rounds hosted by the highest seed. Bring these southern teams north for a change and see how they perform in less than ideal conditions. One week between games except for the national championship game. Every other college football division does it so it’s not a matter of academics. A 4-6 week layoff to prepare for games is ridiculous. Teams lose their sharpness. I am from Ohio (within 100 miles of Canton) and I coach football so you can take every thing I say with just a little grain of salt. But this is not sour grapes since Ohio State got in and won. It’s a shame that more teams didn’t get to compete. Lower seeds win all the time in our high school playoff system and it is tremendously exciting. Match ups are key and the only way to determine the BEST team is to see them match up against a variety of other teams in a variety of conditions.

I’m an Ohio State fan and have said for many years that there should be a 16 team playoff just like D2 and D3 football. Shorten the regular season. Only one week to prepare for the playoff teams. Southern teams have to come north if they are a lower seed. First two rounds, higher seed is home team. Then normal bowl games become semi-finals like this year and then two weeks to prepare for finals. It is the only major sport in America where teams do not have to go through a playoff gauntlet to be called a champion. The SEC teams are always at an advantage because they play no one outside of their conference and never come north. At one point, both Ole Miss and Miss. State were in the top four - solely because they are in the SEC. A six week layoff to prepare for one game is not the way to determine a champion in any sport. That’s why it’s not done in any other sport. Match ups are huge as are long layoffs. TCU fans are understandably upset just as I would be if an early season loss with a new QB would have kept the Buckeyes out.

Apple is one of the few American companies still left. They don’t pay lobbyists or journalists for favors and they’re building huge data and assembly plants in America.

I am a Bible believing Christian and I personally know hundreds of evangelical Christians - every one of whom couldn’t wait to get to the polls and vote for Romney. Maybe the sector of evangelical Christianity that I am personally involved with is more politically astute than the rest of evangelical Americans - but I doubt it. I don’t believe these so called statistics.

Urban Meyer is a Buckeye and has always wanted the Ohio State job. My son-in-law played for him at Bowling Green - his first head coaching job. He took a team that was lousy, ran off 20 scholarship players and made them a top 25 team. He then went and did the same thing at Utah.

I was at one of his first spring practices at Florida. The Gators were soft as a pillow and he molded them into a great team and won two national championships with them. I have been a football coach for a long time so I know softness when I see it.

One last thing - Here is a list of Meyer’s coaches from that Bowling Green team: Tim Beckman - Illinois new head coach; Dan Mullen - hc at Miss St. and front runner for Penn State job; Greg Studrawa - offensive co-ord. at LSU; DJ Durkin - LB coach at Florida; Mick McCall - OC at Northwestern; Billy Gonzales - WR coach at LSU; Zack Azzani - OC at Western Kentucky; Matt Campbell - Toledo’s new head coach. And these are only the ones that I remember off the top of my head.

Unless Michigan wins the recruiting war for Ohio high school players (which I doubt is going to happen - I don’t any beat downs coming in the near future. Meyer’s dad who just died was a huge OSU fan and Woody Hayes fan. They have a picture of Woody hanging in their house. The Buckeyes will play for the national championship before Braxton Miller graduates. What Urban Meyer has accomplished as a head coach is not done by accident or because Ron Zook is a great recruiter.

Rush has done more for the conservative cause than maybe anyone in the country for the last 20 years. He truly has “talent on loan from God” and has probably “converted” more people than anyone else in the country.

Our church is heavily involved in Kenya and on one trip there several years ago, before Obama was elected, one of the Kenyan ladies said “Barack Obama was born 15 minutes from here.” This is when he was just beginning his run against Hillary.

I don’t believe the guy was born in Hawaii but until you, me or anybody else can actually prove that he wasn’t, it is a losing issue and Rush is wise for steering clear of it. Do I like the fact that this is the case? No. But I’m certainly not going to knock Rush for not headlining it. It’s the story of this whole Republican presidential campaign so far - eat your own and let the left fight over the bones.

Who is Isaiah talking about in Isaiah chapter 53:6?

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

How about Zechariah 12:10?

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Like Jesus, Paul, all of the apostles and all of the first disciples, no one needs the New Testament to show that Jesus is the Messiah. He is risen. He’s alive. He is coming again just as prophesied in Zechariah 14:

1 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.
4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.
5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You.
6 It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish.
7 It shall be one day Which is known to the Lord— Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light.
8 And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.
9 And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be “The Lord is one,” And His name one.
10 All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.
11 The people shall dwell in it; And no longer shall there be utter destruction, But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
13 It shall come to pass in that day That a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, And raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand;
14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations Shall be gathered together: Gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance.
15 Such also shall be the plague: On the horse and the mule, On the camel and the donkey, And on all the cattle that will be in those camps. So shall this plague be.
16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
20 In that day “HOLINESS TO THE Lord” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.

Although the historical church has not always understood our debt to the Jewish people - more and more are coming to the knowledge that we have been “grafted in.”

May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob help you in your quest for truth.

If you fall down the stairs and say “Thank God that’s over with” you might be a Calvinist.