Rusty’s View

I know the last year has been difficult, (to say the least), for many of us and I hope you have at least been able to keep your head above the water. I know that sounds very cliche but it is definitely my hope for you, your families and myself and mine, included.

I look forward to the New Year with hope that the best is yet to come and I am turning my gaze away from the politicians (who are all a disappointment so far) and the current event media (who only seem to focus on the negative) and looking to the “Hills from where my help comes”.

There is no hope greater than the hope the Creator can put in us and there is no help greater than Him. He is our source and He is our provider. It isn’t government and politicians, (no matter how many times they tell us they are); it isn’t the movement toward “green technology” (even though they tell us it is our only hope for the human race) and it isn’t the strength of the not so strong economy.

No… the best is yet to come because there is a God who cares for us more than we care for ourselves and He is alive and well and in full control, (no matter who tells you He is dead or doesn’t exist.) He is still seated on His throne and is in “full control” of everything (whether you believe it or not) and nothing escapes His gaze. He sees your struggles and eagerly waits for you to call upon Him for help…

The best is yet to come because He cares, (no matter who tells you He doesn’t) and all He asks is that we trust and believe in Him and in the one He sent to rescue us… His son, Jesus…

Welcome to 2010… from Rusty’s View

I just couldn’t go any further.  It had stopped me dead in my tracks.  What had I just said? My mind was frozen and focused on the last statement I had made.  What does it mean . . .? But . . . why did that catch my attention? It was just a statement  . . . wasn’t it???

Okay, maybe I should back up a little bit.

It all came about one day while I was praying.  It was a day like any other day.  There was absolutely nothing unusual about it . . . just another day.  If anything, it was a bit more hectic than usual.  Nothing to be upset about and not a whole lot I could do to change the way it was going, but, I had finally reached a point where I could take a break.

I sat at the table and read a little and began to think on the things going on in the world.  I was a little overwhelmed with some of those thoughts and decided to go to my favorite place of prayer.  I guess you could say it was, ‘just one of those days’.  I began to pray about whatever came to mind.  For a while my mind was jumping from one thought to another and then I settled into one of those special times you mostly only hear about.  I was praying for the needs of friends and acquaintances and it seemed that there would be no shortage of needs entering my mind.

I began to pray for certain needs that were on my own heart.  I had some friends that had some very urgent needs and really needed an answer or some encouragement soon.  I brought up several more concerns I was familiar with, and then, (I remember it very vividly), I was praying for the upcoming services.  While praying, I mentioned how God might call some of us to minister in special ways to those that would be coming to the altars and be anointed and prayed for.  He might call some of us to lay hands on someone and they be healed by His mighty power to heal and our obedience to the Holy Spirit’s urging.  He may ask of us to give sacrificially of our finances.  He very well could call on some of us to do great things for the kingdom and then — are you ready for this? – He may call on some of us to ‘just pray.’

Did you catch that?!? I said, “You may call on some of us to, ‘just pray’. It was as though I had just been hit by a brick.  I almost felt like my heart had stopped.  ‘JUST pray’.  I couldn’t believe what had come out of my mouth and I had said it in passing.  JUST pray.

Has that ever happened to you? You’re going along, doing something and, WHAMO!! the Holy Spirit stops you dead in your tracks and demands your attention.  It was like He was saying to me, “Is that all it means to you?  WAIT A MINUTE!  Hold on, back up!”  The interruption definitely grabbed my attention.

I’ve been thinking on that subject a lot lately.  It sometimes seems to me, prayer is one of the hardest things to get the American Christian to do, at least on a consistent basis.  I don’t know whether it is because we have so filled our lives with so many things to do, or just because we are slowly becoming as “cold-hearted” as the rest of the world thinks we are.

Think about it for minute.  Of course we pray when we face a struggle or severe need in our life.  It is no trouble getting us to pray when someone close to us is in dire need.  In fact, we are more than willing to pray when someone asks us to support them with prayer when they have pressing needs on their own hearts.  The most bothersome thing I notice about our prayer lives, (or may be it is just mine), is that we pray without vision.  WE JUST DON’T REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT OUR PRAYERS ARE, nor do we realize, WHAT AN IMPACT OUR PRAYERS CAN MAKE.

When we are overwhelmed for the moment, we pray with fervency.  It is much harder for us to pray with fervency and a vision, and do it on a regular basis, to make a difference in our city, county, state, country or world.  For some reason, we seem to need to see immediate results for us to continue to pray for something specific on a regular basis.

If you think what I’m saying isn’t true, then try this as a test.  Commit to only one half- hour a day, (for thirty days), set aside for prayer.  Be specific about a time and keep it.  Go one step further. Make up a prayer schedule ahead of time and stay true to it.  Pray for someone or something or someplace with specific results in mind.  See how you feel about it after a few days and try to evaluate your effectiveness and persistence.

Now I realize some may say, “But, I already do that!”  (Wonderful!) Some may say, “I pray when I feel like it and when I am moved to pray.”  (That’s great!!)  But, consider this; how many of us pray on a regular basis for someone or someplace that we are not familiar with just because the Holy Spirit has laid that task on us? Do we pray as if that person or place would not be helped if we did not pray? You see, that kind of prayer – prayer with a vision, committed prayer, or offensive prayer (as opposed to defensive prayer) if you will – requires discipline and determination.  Discipline takes commitment and effort.  All too often, we’re too busy to pray or we’re not praying because we just don’t know what to pray for.  Let’s let the Holy Spirit expand us and our vision for prayer.  Let’s become more disciplined in our prayer lives to pray on a regular basis and to actually pray with effective intensity for those things.

I am absolutely convinced there is no higher calling for us.  There are some things not all of us are called to do, but prayer isn’t one of them.  We are admonished by the word to pray for one another and to pray fervently.  The word also tells us to pray in all things.  We can change the world.  We can break down strongholds that prevent people from hearing the truth that will set them free.  We can pray for God to supernaturally intervene in lives throughout the world.  It will take effort and determination on our part, but, we can do more than “JUST PRAY!”

Parting Thoughts:

I have to ask this question of myself and you.  Is our prayer a vision, or is our vision PRAYER?  We can all do more than JUST pray.  We can PRAY!!!  (Let’s do it with fervency.)

See Ya Next Time . . .

Rusty

© Sept 1993 & June 2009 – all rights reserved

Rusty Norman Blog – Rusty Norman – LivingLifenotes.com

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Rusty sings A song by Don Francisco “The Traveler”. HAPPY EASTER!!

 

 081108 Just A Fan's View Phoenix StdQ: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Desert Jewell in Phoenix should prove to be an interesting race this week. I don’t know of anyone that wants to win more than Carl Edwards does, but this week could be the week that someone other than the Chasers finish out front.

There are several drivers that run well at this track and there is more than one that could take the checkered flag this weekend. The problem is figuring out which one will win, though. I’m just having a hard time choosing who I think the winner will be, but that’s okay … I’ll get to that later.

In the meantime, I guess we could take a look at how the field is lining for the start of the race. This is another week that qualifying wasn’t rained out and the field will start according to their lap times. Personally, I’m glad they aren’t having to contend with rain because it definitely makes the start more interesting and adds a little more drama to those beginning laps. It also makes talking about the way drivers qualified much more interesting than them lining up according to points.

As everyone already knows, Jimmy Johnson won the poll position and will be leading the field to the green flag.  I find it fascinating that he is starting on the pole when the commentators last weekend tried to make the whole thing sound more intense than it actually is simply because Jimmy Johnson lost seventy some points to Carl Edwards.  It seemed to me they were all but counting him out just because he had a marginal week last week. All of the hype aside, he now leads by only 106 points.

I suppose the thing at the top of my list for discussion is where Carl Edwards and the 99 team are starting from this week. He is starting approximately from the same location he did last week and we all know how that went for him. Don’t be lulled into complacency because this track is a strong track for Carl and he could very possibly finish out front just as he did last week.  But for the present, I don’t think Jimmy will finish as far back from him as he did last week, especially if neither of them end up winning the race this weekend.

As I mentioned earlier,  there are several others who could easily take the victory at Phoenix. Some of the honorable mentions this week are Jamie McMurray (starting outside pole), Kurt Bush (starting third) and Dale Earnhardt Jr (starting fifth as of this writing). David Reutimann as well as Ryan Newman are staring in the top six and, of course, there’s Jeff Gordon who you can never count out as having a chance at winning starting seventh. Of course there are others and one of them is Mark Martin who starts tenth.  Kevin Harvick won the Truck race but I think he will have a tough time coming from the 19th starting spot in the cup race, (although stranger things have happened.)

I could probably mention most of the 43 drivers as potential winners of the race but I think I will quit here while I am still ahead. I would like to move on to who I think will win this weekend from this “Just A Fan’s View” perspective.

The truth is, I am having a tougher time than normal choosing which driver will finish ahead of the rest. Although I know who I would like to see win, I will try to be neutral in my choice.

Okay, this is a very tough decision, but, I do believe that Jimmy Johnson will win and that he will lead most of the laps (including the one that counts). It is possible that he could pretty much clinch the title this weekend even though I know that Carl Edwards is going to give his all to close the gap between him and Jimmy. I’m just not sure either of them will actually win.

I still think Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Dale Jr or Jamie McMurray have an excellent chance of possibly taking the checkered flag and taking home the trophy, as well as Kurt or Kyle Bush and, yes, even Tony Stewart. I guess you’ve noticed I think this is one of those weeks that anything could happen.

As always, I do think pit strategy will play a very important role in who will actually take the the coveted trip to  victory lane and that is precisely why this week could prove to be won by the most unexpected player in the Chase.

Oh well, all of that doesn’t matter much, because I have already made my choice and it will be Jimmy Johnson driving across the finish line first. That’s my ‘View’ of how things will pan out at Phoenix this weekend and I’m sticking to it …

See ya next time

Rusty

©2008 PCN Productions and Rusty Norman

all rights reserved

(COMING SOON … Just A Fan’s View is moving to its own site in the very near future. Check back with us often and we’ll definitely let you know when it happens!)

 

 081104 JAFV Texas After Chatter: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Okay, okay … I admit it.  I didn’t pick the winner and things didn’t turn out quite the way I expected.  I also admit it did turn out there was an exciting finish to a relatively uneventful and boring race with very little  passing for position, except for the person that won and he seemed to be able to pass at will.

Hard charging Carl Edwards dominated the field right down to the last pit stop and his inability to advance after that last stop may have been a lot of smoke and mirrors in a effort to conserve fuel for the end of the race. His crew chief, Bob Osborn, made a call that everyone just figured was impossible and it proved to be the deciding factor in Carl’s trip to victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway.

Now that I’ve gotten all of the cliches and expected statements out of my thought processes, I look back at a race that was dominated by one team, (the 99 team), and could have been one of the least exciting races of the 2008 Chase.  Although it did turn out to be somewhat of a nail-biter at the end, for the most part, it looked as though Carl Edwards was going to lap the entire field  at least once.

The gamble on fuel mileage at the end by the 99, 88 and 24 teams, ended any chance of the finish being completely boring because any of the three of them could have run out of fuel at any time. A quick mention of the top five finishers shows Carl Edwards first, Jeff Gordon second (a miracle in itself), Jamie McMurray third, Clint Bowyer fourth and Greg Biffle fifth. Dale junior in the 88 car ran out of gas with about five to go and finished twentieth.

Any way you look at it, the race once again came down to a risky call made in the pits late in the race that resulted in another unexpected finish. It seems that strategy plays a bigger roll than ever in how the top competitors finish consistently, and sometimes unexpectedly,  ahead of the rest.  If Bob Osborn’s estimate of fuel mileage had been wrong by just a little bit, Jeff Gordon would have won the race.

In fairness we need to remember an interesting fact about risk-taking — you either end up ‘the Hero’ or ‘the Zero’.  Fortunately for Chad Knaus at Atlanta last week and Bob Osborn at Texas this week, they both wear ‘the Hero’ hat. Had Chad Knaus not taken the chance in Atlanta, Jimmy Johnson’s lead would be even less this week than it is. My opinion is that it was a 35 to a 40 point decision the same as the fuel mileage chance Bob Osborn made in Texas.

It is interesting to watch these two crew chiefs go about their work week after week. They are both very talented and have fared quite well with what I am sure they would call their “calculated risks”. They both continue to make tough, gutsy calls and both have come out winning the praise of those they compete with. I guess at some point it does beg the question though, “When will the luck run out for either of them?”

As it stands right now, the Chase is closer than it was a week ago but it is still Jimmy Johnson’s to lose. The next race could either increase his lead or could decrease it and make the Chase even more interesting by the time the teams arrive in Homestead. It is expected that both the 99 and the 48 teams will run well at Phoenix, but there is no guarantee that either of them will win.

There are others that have the opportunity to make the trip to victory lane in Phoenix. Tune in to the Saturday edition of “Just A Fan’s View” when we will discuss the possibilities. For now, though, it is time to say goodbye to Texas for this year and hope that next year will be at least a little more exciting of a race before the last ten laps or so.

See ya next time …

Rusty

©2008 PCN Productions and Rusty Norman

 

 Nascar at Texas: "Just A Fan: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How can two tracks be so similar and yet so different?

If we take a look at the two tracks, Atlanta and Texas, they are quite similar in size and banking, but much different in age of the asphalt and transition from the banking to the straightaways. Those appear to be the biggest differences from my point of view and it is what gives the Texas Speedway a character all its own when compared to Atlanta.

Both tracks have 24 degree banking and both are one and a half mile in distance, but that is where the similarities stop. According to the drivers, Atlanta is just plain slippery and the surface is old and abrasive, kinda like old Darlington used to be.  It chews up tires quickly and the only thing you can do as the tires begin to wear is slow down or put it in the wall, (which once again according to the drivers is in a lap or two.)

If we look at the last nine laps in Atlanta last week, those that took new tires at the last yellow flag consistently moved to the front past those that didn’t.  Jimmy Johnson was the most noticeable as he went from eleventh to second and, given a another lap or two, may well have passed Carl Edwards and finished first, but that’s just a ‘what if’ statement. The race was what it was and ended the way it did.

So, Texas is just another one and a half mile oval, right? Maybe so, but I’m interested in seeing how the tires hold up throughout a run and how much the drop off in lap times will be.  I think that will be one of the important key factors in the results at the end of the race.

Another thing that will prove to be interesting is that the field was able to qualify this week and the difference in where the Chasers pit is totally different than the last three weeks. It is my opinion this could make the largest difference from the last three weeks in who finishes out front.

This week, the front runners in the Chase are not lined up in the pits according to the standings.

• This week, Jeff Gordon starts on the pole and has the first pit stall and Jimmy Johnson will not have that advantage.
• This week, Martin Truex Starts second and Carl Edwards is beginning the race back in sixteenth. That will also affect Carl’s ability to make anything up in the pits.
• Greg Biffle, instead of starting third, will be mired back in nineteenth place. All of this could make a big difference in the way things wring out as the race progresses.

This week should be no different than other weeks with the C.O.T. Track position will ultimately determine the final outcome of the race and that will be affected by strategies and decisions made in the pits.

I find it interesting that several of those that are situated in the middle to the back of the top twelve in the Chase standings and need any type of advantage to make any advancement in the Chase standings, are starting ahead of the top four.  It makes me ask the questions:

• “Would the Chase standings be closer if we wouldn’t have had qualifying rained out over the last three weeks?”
• “If things were closer would this week’s starting lineup shake things up when the checkered flag drops at the end of the race?”
• “What if all of the top twelve were separated by only 225 points?”

These are all interesting ‘what if’ or ‘if only’ questions, but the facts are that the three straight qualifying rain-outs did give an advantage to those highest in the points at the time.  Whether or not they could capitalize on that advantage depended on how prepared they were for the three tracks they raced at and whether or not they had part or equipment failures of some sort. The facts also showed that not everyone had great luck in that department during those three weeks either.

I guess that is what makes the Chase so exciting, isn’t it?

That brings us to the “Just A Fan’s View” opinion of who will win this weekend and, as usual, it is a hard choice because of the way things are shaking out so far this weekend.

I know how strong Matt Kenseth was at Atlanta last week and how incredibly fast Jimmy Johnson and Carl Edwards were.

Jeff Gordon has not fared well at Texas in the past but consistently ran up front at Atlanta last week. This could bode well for his chances of winning the race this week in Texas, but I’m not sure about that either.

It is very possible the winner this week could be one that is unexpected.  Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer and yes, even Dale Earnhardt, Jr could be in victory lane at the end of the race this weekend.

You see, Jamie McMurray has been running strong over the last several races and is my strongest candidate for a dark horse winner this weekend, but, it is also possible that Kurt Bush could come home with the victory as my unexpected second choice for a dark horse winner.

With the way everyone is all over the place in the line up this week, it is a harder choice for me than usual.

I guess I shouldn’t leave out the one that has been the most consistent and say that Jimmy Johnson is a very strong choice for the visit to victory lane at the end of the race. This is his best chance to finish in the middle of the pack for the race and not lose a lot to those behind him. I do not think he will win but I do admit the possibility.

Carl Edwards is also strong at this type track and with Bob Osborn in the pits as crew chief, his chances are also very good this weekend.

Alright, enough of this avoiding the issue of who will actually win. It is time for the rubber to meet the road, stick my neck out and choose the winner.

I guess my problem is that I think it is a toss up between Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon and I am really torn between the two. Naturally, I would like to see Jeff Gordon end his drought of winning and take the victory but, I know how strong Matt Kenseth is at tracks like these, (which holds true for all of the Roush teams.)

Wow, as I said, this is tough, but here goes.

Jeff Gordon will win this weekend in a tight battle that goes right down to the wire and Matt Kenseth will finish in the top five along with Dale Jr, Jimmy Johnson and Carl Edwards.

Well, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it, no matter what.

See ya next time …

Rusty

© 2008 PCN Productions and Rusty Norman