Poor Man Has Merchandise

God: my biggest "Fan"

2008-07-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

*Note: I've been meaning to post this for a while... just forgot!*

Bare with me on this analogy, but the other day when i was in the shower, i started thinking about a sports scenario involving the recently completed NBA finals. Yeah, yeah, i know, the lakeshow lost, whatever, that’s not the point.

i pictured myself yelling at the television, disgusted at the performance of my team. When you are that big of a fan of a team, you feel part of it, so of course you would want your team to perform and eventually win! However, my luck wasn’t so great and instead i watched fundamental breakdowns such as poor defense by Sasha Vujacic (Really? You’re just gonna let Ray Allen do you like that? THAT easily?) and in the end, that put us behind 3-1 in the series which eventually snow balled into coming up short on a championship.

This is going somewhere, i promise!!!!!!

Here is where it got real. That’s when i got the exact same image… but God was the one sitting on the couch, and his frustration was with me. i’m the team he watches! Let us think about that!

i MISS KEY FUNDAMENTALS, SIMPLE KEY FUNDAMENTALS EVERY DAY

Examples: 1)Relying first on God. i so often try to man up and do it myself

2)Praising Him, i often just ask him for things

3) Diligent reading of His Word

4) passing judgment

That's just a few of them

Will it cost me my “championship,” which would be the Kingdom of Heaven?

i mean, no one knows, not until death at least… but still, i don’t want to take that lightly.

i can just picture God! “Watch the weak side Phil!”

“Are you serious? Move your feet! Play defense!!!!! This isn’t a scrimmage!”

Or even worse… when He puts someone in front of me so obviously: “you’re open!!! I passed you the ball, now shoot! Make a play!”

i know that no one is perfect, but heck, “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt 7:14). With that known, and with me being well aware of areas that i have been working on, i definitely need to “train” hard in order to be ready to make some plays!

After all, i wouldn’t want to disappoint my biggest Fan now… would i?!

-P.No

Lakers-Celtics Game 4

2008-06-13T12:11:00.001-07:00

Ive slept on this...well by sleep I mean I tossed and turned over this. This is sport at its finest, clearly! If you don't know by now, I am a die hard Lakers fan. Last night, something crazy happened, but that is sport... thats why we play the game. This is a classic rivalry, and last night adds some great pages to the book. I give full dap (respect) to the Celtics. KG, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce have been great players and deserve a championships as their careers are winding down. However, there is still a game 5 to be played. If the Lakers want to win the championship, they have to win 3 straight to come back from 3-1, which has NEVER been done beforein the Finals. But, as KG's brand, ADIDAS says: Impossible is Nothing. Do I expect it? No. But I am a fan, and a believer in our talent (that doesnt come to play in the finals?), so I will support us as we learn and play. One thing I feel NO ONE is talking about: I feel that more important than the Celts being "Physical" and outplaying us, is the overall game experience of the Celtics team. If you go 10 deep (which is what the finals have been) the Celtics avg age is 30, and the Lakers avg age is 26.4. I feel that this is CLEARLY shown here in the finals. The celtics players clearly have more of a grasp of what it means to be hungry. We have our young guns who dont know how to stay aggressive for 48 minutes, maybe this will show them what that truly means. I mean, this is all just my personal opinion, because I feel that the reason we lost the game is that we weren't hungry enough. Pierce, KG, and allen all have the killer instinct in their eyes. They have all lost enough to know how much it means to them to want to win, and I respect that, especially since as a Lakers fan, I am going through that exact feeling. I want to win! have we lost yet, no, but you know what, losing in the Finals against detroit, and now with circumstances the way they are now, I know what its like to taste victory and I would rather eat the meal rather than taste the damn thing. Its a growing process! I could go on and on about why we lost, about things that are wrong with our team, about how this was never supposed to be our year anyway since bynum is out, but then we got pau, about how Kobe is quadruple teamed an no one can hit a shot, about how Kobe played aweful yesterday, but Im not going to. Last night, I whined about it, alot of wine, some beer, a couple shots, about 20 of em, let it digest, but guess what, its time to go to work again. (that was all from Kobe post game). Is Kobe Jordan? No, he is Kobe Bryant. And if he is the Kobe Bryant I know, even if he is going to go out... he will go out swinging.

Strength and Honor,

P.No

Off, off, and AWAY

2008-05-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

Friends,

As I leave for Cairo, I leave with a heart full of nervousness, relief, excitement, and confusion. Please keep my team in your prayers, and be ready for some EXTENSIVE journal entries into my blog!!!! I get back the 3rd of June, so be patient! I've never done anything like this, and I am in a time in my life when I just need to clear my head for a while, and Austin just doesn't let me do that right now, so God has provided me an excellent opportunity which hopefully I can capitalize on. I leave with a lot on my heart, but dont get me wrong, that stuff isn't bad stuff, it is simply stuff that I just need to pray about and reaffirm (if led in that direction...). There are so many things that I wish I could say right now, but I unfortunately am tied down from saying! AHH! Well, friends, if you have trouble with knowing what to pray for, here are some basic things you can pray for:

*Safety for my team

*wisdom for my team to recognize the work God has made for us in Cairo

*Open hearts and minds for my team

*The Egyptian people

*The few Christians in Egypt and our role in supporting them out there

*Garbage City (YouTube it!)

*That I may accomplish my goals

*That I may recognize the goals God has for me

*That we may be a good representation of Gods Love and Kingdom to the Muslim people of Egypt (84%)

*That we may learn about a new culture!!!!!

*Did I mention safety?!

*For Phil's heart

Well, I doubt anyone reads this, plus I couldn't sleep last night.... so I got 1.4 hours of sleep! Good thing the flight is so long! haha! I will miss my friends and family, but I promise to have great tales when I return, and I cant wait to share them.

How GREAT, His love for us,

P. No

PS: Dont stop, believing....