Tim Ellsworth

Scott Slayton asked me to repost my rant about new shirts from last year, so here it is:

Begin rant:

Can someone explain to me why clothing companies see the need to put so many blasted straight pins in new shirts? I just pulled 10 pins out of a new shirt — 10. What’s the point? Does a shirt really need to be pinned up that much in order to be acceptable? Heck, they could knock 50 cents off the price of the shirt if it didn’t come with so many stinking pins. Why, why, why???

Rant complete. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Filming on the fourth “Indiana Jones” movie is set to begin in 2007.

Michael Jordan and his wife of 17 years, Juanita, are getting divorced.

Federal agents are supposedly close to a jackpot of evidence about steroid use in baseball.

Justice is served.

The San Francisco Giants wasted a bunch of money on an overrated Barry Zito, who signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with the team.

Mike Tyson was arrested for DUI and cocaine possession. Maybe they should throw him into a women’s prison, so he can box all the women he ever wanted to.

Bob Knight’s quest for the all-time NCAA wins record will have to wait, as UNLV defeated Texas Tech last night.

Anybody else feel like they spent half of their Christmas simply trying to get toys out of their packages? When the heck did they start screwing toys to the box?

It’s pretty bad when you don’t need a screwdriver to assemble a toy, but you do need one to get the toy out of the box. If I ever meet the guy who came up with the idea for doing this, it ain’t gonna be pretty.

That’s a question Albert Mohler tackled on his blog in a post on Christmas day. After giving an overview of some of the attacks about the virgin birth, Mohler concludes:

Can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? The answer to that question must be a decisive No. Those who deny the virgin birth reject the authority of Scripture, deny the supernatural birth of the Savior, undermine the very foundations of the Gospel, and have no way of explaining the deity of Christ.

Anyone who claims that the virgin birth can be discarded even as the deity of Christ is affirmed is either intellectually dishonest or theological incompetent.

And further:

Christians must face the fact that a denial of the virgin birth is a denial of Jesus as the Christ. The Savior who died for our sins was none other than the baby who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin. The virgin birth does not stand alone as a biblical doctrine, it is an irreducible part of the biblical revelation about the person and work of Jesus Christ. With it, the Gospel stands or falls.

Strong words — yet necessary, and true.

One of my Christmas presents was “Daughtry,” the new album by American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry. I’ve only listened to it a couple of times, but I’m mighty impressed. If you liked him on the show, you’ll probably enjoy this album.

Also recommended, from a couple of my other Christmas presents:

“From Baghdad, With Love,” by Jay Kopelman and Melinda Roth. This is the story about Kopelman’s efforts to get Lava, a puppy he found in Baghdad, out of Iraq. It’s a quick read — I got through it in just a few hours. And it has a happy ending. Here’s a link to a YouTube video about the book.

“Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War,” by Nathaniel Philbrick. I’m only about a third of the way through this one, and it’s hard to put down. I have no doubt the rest of the book will be just as good as what I’ve read thus far.

I’m about to wrap up what has been a hard semester, and my brain is fried. I’m looking forward to a lengthy vacation beginning this Thursday, when I can recharge, spend some time with family and friends and read some good books. Barring anything earth-shattering that compels me to write something (like the Cardinals trading for A-Rod), this will most likely be my last post until after Christmas, and maybe until after the end of the year.

May you have a blessed Christmas. I’ll leave you with the words of Luke 2, always a welcome reminder of why we celebrate:

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

My latest column (after a brief hiatus) is about Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, who has an incredible discipleship ministry to a group of several teenagers and young men.

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Thanks very much.

You know what to do.

I’ve heard of tennis elbow, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of “video game forearm,” a new ailment which plagued Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya during the playoffs.

Zumaya, 22, was known to play “Guitar Hero,” a PlayStation 2 game in which a player uses a guitar-shaped controller to simulate the performance of popular songs.

During the radio interview, Dombrowski said the Tigers’ athletic training staff discovered that Zumaya’s forearm pain was more consistent with the action of a guitar player than a baseball pitcher. The Tigers asked Zumaya to stop playing the video game, and he did.

What next? Text-messaging wrist?

The question is simple enough. Maybe you can’t list just one, but who are some of your favorites? Why?

If you’ve ever wondered what’s on those big cards that NFL coaches carry around, ESPN’s Page 2 has the answer.

For example, here’s what Arizona Cardinals coach Denny Green is carrying:

According to an article by Jim Rutz on WorldNetDaily, soy is to blame.

Amazing how we read about this scientific breakthrough on a site like WorldNetDaily, and not from any scientists.