I wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year, though it is about 8 hours early. If you’re going somewhere tonight, be sure to travel safely and watch out for the crazies and drunks out on the road!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, dear Mindy
Happy Birthday to you

From AP, via Yahoo: Jeopardy to Hold Super Tournament

Producers of the game show announced Tuesday a “Super Tournament,” which will pit Jennings in a final match against two survivors of a competition between nearly 150 past five-time winners.

Host Alex Trebek called the tournament the “quest for Ken.”

I read this over on Wes’ Blog some time ago, thought it was interesting, and wanted to post it here. Finally got around to it…

How to Destroy Christianity

I was recently listening to an audio file of Dr. Russell Fuller from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary teaching on the reliability of Scripture. Often atheists and skeptics try to destroy the Bible and Christianity by pointing out contradictions and mistakes in the text which we claim to be God’s perfect Word. However, many of these apparent “contradictions” can be explained—some easily, some not so easily. However, Fuller says that this is not ultimately the way that one should go about disproving Christianity. For these discussions often end up to be little spats through which neither side ever convinces the other of their argument. Near the end of his lecture, however, Fuller reveals the way to disprove the Bible and destroy Christianity.

Basically, the unfolding story of the Bible can be summarized by the following four events:

1. Creation
2. Fall
3. Redemption
4. Restoration

Dr. Fuller chooses to focus on the second event, the Fall. As you look back on history, think about much of the evil and tyranny that has occurred: Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, African genocide, Saddam Hussein—and those are only in the 20th Century. Christianity explains this, and all of the other countless evil events throughout history, as a result of the Fall. Basically, we are all descendants of Adam, who disobeyed God’s law, and through him we have inherited our sinful and depraved nature from him. Christians also believe that this nature has caused us to be at enmity with God and can only be freed from the enslaving power of sin by the sacrifice of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Fuller recounts a conversation with an atheist, and he tells the man the way to disprove the Bible and once and for all destroy Christianity. Suppose that through education, man could evolve into someone smart enough and good enough to stop being bad. If we could produce a world full of people that will never be evil, mean, selfish, and so forth—basically a world composed of all good people—then the Bible will be disproved. For if the world could solve its own problem of evil, apart from God and His sanctifying work, then Christianity is not necessary.

What do you think? Do you agree with Dr. Fuller’s assertions? It’s an interesting premise, but I don’t fully buy into it. I think that God is needed no matter what we humans do. Even if we are perfect, we’ll never be as perfect as God.

ABC News has named bloggers as one of their People of the Year, citing their coverage of the election, the hurricane, and the tsunami among many other things.

[UPDATE: Video of the segment on ABC is available now. Get it from: chrisvaught.com or boingboing.net]

Kentucky faced off against Campbell tonight and came away with a lopsided 82-50 victory and Tubby Smith’s 200th win as a coach at UK. Tubby is 200-53 in his eight seasons at Kentucky and joins the ranks of Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall and Rick Pitino as coaches who have reached 200 wins.

The first half saw some good defense and poor shooting as Campbell only scored 11 points, the lowest by a Kentucky opponent in a first half since Dec. 20, 1983. (Kentucky led Cincinnati 11-7 at the half, in that infamous game before the shot clock era began.) Freshman Randolph Morris was 5-5 with 10 points about midway through the first half, when the subs started rolling in. Morris ended up with a career high 25 points.

Being down by such a large margin, and scoring so few points in the first half, you would think Campbell had given up. Not so. The first 10 minutes of the second half saw a 22-6 run for the Camels. Kudos to Campbell coach Robbie Laing for his halftime pep talk and and for keeping his team motivated when they were clearly outmatched.

Thanks to Robin for inviting me to the game!

Here are some interesting things that I’ve read about the Indian Ocean earthquake, the resulting tsunami and it’s effect.

Did animals sense tsunami?

…the worst tsunami in memory has killed around 22,000 people along the Indian Ocean island’s coast, but [Sri Lankan wildlife officials] can’t find any dead animals

Quake May Have Made Earth Wobble

The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth’s rotation — shortening days by a fraction of a second — and caused the planet to wobble on its axis…

Scientists Say Quake Movement Shifted Islands

The massive earthquake that devastated parts of Asia permanently moved the tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean as much as 98 feet, slightly shifting islands near Sumatra an unknown distance…

Lori and I were playing some Disney Trivia Pursuit tonight and we had a question about one of our fave old school cartoons. See if this brings back some memories for some of you:

Intro:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

| Watch

Dashing and daring,
Courageous and caring,
Faithful and friendly,
With stories to share.
All through the forest,
They sing out in chorus,
Marching along,
As their song fills the air.

CHORUS:
Gummi Bears,
Bouncing here and there and everywhere.
High adventure that’s beyond compare,
They are the Gummi Bears.

Magic and mystery,
Are part of their history,
Along with the secret,
Of gummiberry juice.
Their legend is growing,
They take pride in knowing,
They’ll fight for what’s right,
In whatever they do.

CHORUS

(Repeat first verse)

CHORUS

Gummi Bears,
When a friend’s in danger they’ll be there,
Lives and legends that we all can share,
They are the Gummi Bears,
They are the Gummi Bears,
They are the Gummi Bears!

Ah, they just don’t make cartoons like they used to…

I just found out some sad news. The Supertones will be calling it quits next year. This decision by the band was actually revealed in a press release at the end of November, but I just found out about it. The Supertones are one of my favorite bands, one of the top 5 for sure, so it’ll be sad to them hang it up.

Here’s the press release:

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) Nov. 23, 2004—Renowned rock, ska band the O.C. Supertones bids a fond farewell to its long-lived career. Ten years, seven albums and millions of fans later, the group has decided to part ways in 2005.
In a letter that recently posted to its website the band comments, “There were several reasons that factored into our decision. Rest assured, however, that after much discussion and lots of prayer, we know this is right. Our end date is yet to be determined, but 2005 will be the Supertones’ last year together.”

The O.C. Supertones has summoned its fans for support in 2005, encouraging them to attend a live show. Among those events planned to mark the band’s final year together are a greatest hits record, Unite, a national tour as well as select concerts abroad.

Matt Morginsky, frontman for the O.C. Supertones and one of its founders, reflects, “It’s both difficult and sad to say goodbye to something you have been a part of since you were 15. I hope that this band leaves behind more than what numbers can indicate. Our goal was and still is to glorify God and to edify His people.”

This last decade, the band’s impact has gone beyond affecting its fans. “Working with the Supertones has been among the highest experiences of my career,” remarks Mark Guynn, booking agent for the William Morris Agency. “Their musicianship is exceeded only by their ability to get a crowd going. This is going to be a great year for the Supertones. Bittersweet, yes, but we’re gonna have a lot of fun too!” With more than one million album sales to its credit, the O.C. Supertones are one of contemporary Christian music’s leading rock bands. The group has acquired two rock radio hits, played 19 concert tours, and performed at such high-profile events as World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II as well as numerous Billy Graham Crusades. Media appearances include MTV’s “120 Minutes,” CNN “Headline News” and the cover of national touring magazine, Pollstar.

Sigh, another bites the dust…

I’ve put three more polls up:

Who’s Your Favorite Lord of the Rings Character?

What’s Your Favorite Lord of the Rings Movie?

What Type of Internet Access Do You Have?