So the Flames, despite their sensational comeback circa Game 3 and Game 4, were finally ousted in 6.
Badly outscored - 18 to 10. Badly outshot - 255 to 129. If it weren't for Kipper's superhuman efforts, this series would've been done long before Game 6 OT.
On paper, the two sides matched up fairly evenly in most areas.
In net, the Flames probably even had a edge over the Wings. The unflappable Miikka Kiprusoff was at his calm-and-cool best in Game 6, repelling 53 of 54 shots until Franzen blasted a high one against the grain past his glove hand to end the series. Dominik Hasek, meanwhile, was at his comical best in Game 4, unsheathing his scythe at Jarome Iginla after a fish-out-of-water impersonation. Oh, and the fact that his English is unintelligible doesn't help his cause.
Up front, it would be hard to argue that the Wings' top players were really miles ahead of the Flames'. Calgary boasted three 30-goal scorers in Iginla (39), Kristian Huselius (34), and Daymond Langkow (33); Detroit had two - Henrik Zetterberg (33) and Tomas Holmstrom (30). Alex Tanguay led the Flames with 59 assists; Datsyuk led the Wings with 60. Craig Conroy recovered from an abysmal 16 points in 52 games season with the L.A. Kings to score 21 in 28 for the Flames; Kyle Calder had an even worse year with Philly (21 in 59) before bouncing back for 14 in 19 in Detroit. Tony Amonte had his worst season in the NHL to date, with just 10 goals and 30 points; Robert Lang had a subpar year with 52. Matthew Lombardi and Dan Cleary both hit 20 goals for the first time in their careers. Jeff Friesen scored a pitiful 6 goals and 12 points, sadly still one better than last year; Todd Bertuzzi had an injury-riddled season.
But really, can you honestly say you'd prefer the Red Wings' top-five of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Lang, and Bertuzzi to the Flames' Iginla, Tanguay, Huselius, Langkow, and Conroy?
Depth-wise, Stephane Yelle and Marcus Nilson match up fairly well against Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, although probably lagging slightly on the physical side. Beyond that, Byron Ritchie, Wayne Primeau, Darren McCarty, and Davis Moss cannot possibly be preferred to Mikael Samuelsson, Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler, and Valtteri Filippula.
So the Flames could do better on the third and fourth lines, and the Wings' impressive drafting history shines through again. But that's not the most glaring difference.
On defence, Niklas Lidstrom, Mathieu Schneider, and Chris Chelios lead a Detroit blueline that's years ahead of the Flames'. Lidstrom and Schneider, point men on the Wings' PP, combined for 24 goals and 114 points; Dion Phaneuf and Roman Hamrlik had 24 goals and 88 points. Rhett Warrener's physical play equals that of Chelios, and Brad Stuart was a good late-season pickup, though sophomore Brett Lebda has been solid as well. Robyn Regehr and Niklas Kronvall both missed the playoffs due to injuries. The inconsistent play of Andrei Zyuzin and Mark Giordano probably ranks them below Danny Markov and Andreas Lilja. Though Zyuzin displayed flashes of offensive flair towards the end of the series, his poor defensive judgment has proven costly on many occasions, and does not justify his hefty price tag.
Despite employing three aging veterans on the blueline, the Wings clearly benefitted from their timeless talent and experience. Lidstrom has 15 years in the NHL and 174 playoff games under his belt, Schneider 17 years and 92 playoff games, and Chelios 22 years and 228 games. By contrast, Hamrlik has 14 years and 51 playoff games, Warrener 11 years and 95 games, and Stuart 7 years and 46 games. That's 44 combined years to 32, and 494 playoff games to 192 between the two teams' three most experienced defencemen.
Perhaps the most disturbing stat of all is the fact that Zyuzin, of all people, was the only Flame to finish the series at even plus/minus. At the other end, Zetterberg and Samuelsson finished at even. The difference? The rest of the Flames were minuses, and the rest of the Wings were plusses.
In conclusion? The Flames' current corp of D-men aren't as deep as the '04 edition. Regehr and Warrener are still around, and Phaneuf, Hamrlik, and Stuart are probably upgrades over Denis Gauthier, Jordan Leopold, and Toni Lydman. But somehow, Zyuzin, Giordano, and Hale just aren't as reliable as Andrew Ference, Steve Montador, and Mike Commodore.
The Flames can no longer claim to have the league's deepest defence. That honour goes to the Ottawa Senators, with Wade Redden, Tom Preissing, Joe Corvo, Andrej Meszaros, Chris Phillips, Christoph Schubert, and Anton Volchenkov to choose from, even in the post-Zdeno Chara era. Buffalo (Brian Campbell, Dimitri Kalinin, Teppo Numminen, Nathan Paetsch, Jaroslav Spacek, Toni Lydman, and Henrik Tallinder), Dallas (Sergei Zubov, Philippe Boucher, Darryl Sydor, Stephane Robidas, Trevor Daley, Mattias Norstrom, and Jon Klemm), Nashville (Kimmo Timonen, Marek Zidlicky, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Dan Hamhuis, and Vitaly Vishnevski), and San Jose (Matthew Carle, Christian Ehrhoff, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Craig Rivet, Scott Hannan, and Kyle McLaren) are all challengers.
Anyway. The point is, the Flames need to get back to their old stingy selves if they want to go anywhere in the playoffs. Allowing 40 shots a game isn't gonna cut it at any level of hockey.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Game 3
Finally snapped my drought with a topshelf wrister today, the last goal in a losing cause.
We're down 2-1 now in our best-of-5 series. Things are getting a little heated, tempers flaring, people getting physical.
Had a few chances earlier in the game too, but missed the net on one and couldn't stuff it past the goalie on others.
Used my feet a lot more today, indicative of my primal need for soccer.
We're down 2-1 now in our best-of-5 series. Things are getting a little heated, tempers flaring, people getting physical.
Had a few chances earlier in the game too, but missed the net on one and couldn't stuff it past the goalie on others.
Used my feet a lot more today, indicative of my primal need for soccer.
Inevitable
Just when you think I could make it through a game unscathed.
My teammate apparently had different thoughts when he shot the ball at my eye essentially at the buzzer.
The only good to come out of it was the extra long weekend, since I took the afternoon off Thursday after the game. My glasses were so bent out of shape, and I couldn't possibly read the screen without them anyway.
Kept the swelling down and saw my family doctor, who said it's only superficial. Still, it looked as though I was wearing eyeshadow and stuff.
Apparently blood vessels were ruptured in the eyeball, and half my eye was bright red by Sunday. It's almost completely gone now, so I think I'll be ready to go for today's game.
My teammate apparently had different thoughts when he shot the ball at my eye essentially at the buzzer.
The only good to come out of it was the extra long weekend, since I took the afternoon off Thursday after the game. My glasses were so bent out of shape, and I couldn't possibly read the screen without them anyway.
Kept the swelling down and saw my family doctor, who said it's only superficial. Still, it looked as though I was wearing eyeshadow and stuff.
Apparently blood vessels were ruptured in the eyeball, and half my eye was bright red by Sunday. It's almost completely gone now, so I think I'll be ready to go for today's game.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Please, Open Your Eyes
It's frustrating when people renounce religion and creationism by citing "scientific evidence".
It's especially irritating when they make it sound like science has proven there is no God, that science has proven life has evolved over unimaginable stretches of time with no need for an intelligent designer.
The scientific method gives us the framework for gathering information, organizing information, and understanding information. The basic idea is this:
1) A scientist proposes a hypothesis to explain a phenomenon.
2) The scientist then either experimentally or empirically verifies the hypothesis.
3) The scientist then combines verified hypotheses into a theory that explains them.
4) The scientific community tests and re-tests the theory through experiments and observations. Hence, experimental procedure used in initially verifying the theory must be reproducible in a controlled environment, in order to preserve the objectivity of the results.
People, please understand the fact that Evolution, Big Bang, Global Warming, etc. are all just theories.
Science cannot reproduce evolution, or the big bang, or global warming in a lab. Science cannot observe irrefutable evidence of evolution, or the big bang, or global warming. Any "evidence" they are able to put together, can just as easily be explained by a different theory. If you cannot prove it in a lab through repeatable experiments, you cannot prove a theory.
Evolution especially gets on my nerves. Nobody's ever seen a fish grow legs or a being that's half-chimp and half-human. Nobody's ever seen a live intermediate species. There is no proof, period. It's all fantasy in the heads of a bunch of scientists who want to believe they descended from apes. That way, they could do away with God and religion, morality and meaning. If life accidentally came out of a pond billions of years ago on its own, then life has no meaning, no reason, and thus man is not accountable to anyone but himself in this world of "Survival of the Fittest". He only needs to look out for number one. Nothing else matters. If intelligence can be evolved, then there is no right or wrong. One's intelligence is no more or less correct than another's.
Evolution proponents argue that the many similarities at the molecular levels between vastly different species is proof that some species evolved out of others. They say that all living things share common building blocks, such as DNA, and as these building blocks mutate and diversify, the living things speciated into different species. Unfortunately, the fact that vastly different kinds of animals share the same building blocks says nothing in favour of evolution. Just because a chair, a table, and a doghouse are all made of wood, doesn't mean one evolved out of the other naturally. The carpenter had the blueprints in his head, and though he used the same building blocks, the same material, the same tools to realize them, they were each their own kind. He did not gradually make taller and bigger chairs until one day he declared it a table, suitable for placing objects on rather than for sitting. Each had its own design, and each served its own purpose. He may, at some point, decide to add armrests to the chair, or make a three-legged round table instead of a four-legged square one, but a chair is nevertheless a chair designed for sitting, and a table is nevertheless a table on which objects are placed.
Evolution is not science. It is at best a theory, and at worst just another religion. If anything, it requires a bigger leap of faith to accept Evolution as truth than to accept the Bible as God's Word.
Evolution reduces us to animals. It says we're merely evolved apes. God says we're special. God says He created man "in His own image" (Genesis 1:27), and "breathed into his hostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7) God says we are to "rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (Genesis 1:26) God gave man the gift of intelligence, to the point where he named every living creature (Genesis 2:19-20). God prepared a home for man, a garden in Eden, where He "made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food." (Genesis 2:9) God created man to have a relationship with him, to have fellowship with him. Only spiritual beings are capable of communicating with and seeking God, who is spirit. None of the other living creatures have ever displayed any God-seeking behaviour; only man is capable of praying. Only man is aware of the spiritual realm. We are and were created for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11).
The fact that we are not our own masters, that we are at the mercy of a higher being, that we are subject to an absolute moral standard, may offend some people. But choosing to ignore a fact does not make it go away.
It's especially irritating when they make it sound like science has proven there is no God, that science has proven life has evolved over unimaginable stretches of time with no need for an intelligent designer.
The scientific method gives us the framework for gathering information, organizing information, and understanding information. The basic idea is this:
1) A scientist proposes a hypothesis to explain a phenomenon.
2) The scientist then either experimentally or empirically verifies the hypothesis.
3) The scientist then combines verified hypotheses into a theory that explains them.
4) The scientific community tests and re-tests the theory through experiments and observations. Hence, experimental procedure used in initially verifying the theory must be reproducible in a controlled environment, in order to preserve the objectivity of the results.
People, please understand the fact that Evolution, Big Bang, Global Warming, etc. are all just theories.
Science cannot reproduce evolution, or the big bang, or global warming in a lab. Science cannot observe irrefutable evidence of evolution, or the big bang, or global warming. Any "evidence" they are able to put together, can just as easily be explained by a different theory. If you cannot prove it in a lab through repeatable experiments, you cannot prove a theory.
Evolution especially gets on my nerves. Nobody's ever seen a fish grow legs or a being that's half-chimp and half-human. Nobody's ever seen a live intermediate species. There is no proof, period. It's all fantasy in the heads of a bunch of scientists who want to believe they descended from apes. That way, they could do away with God and religion, morality and meaning. If life accidentally came out of a pond billions of years ago on its own, then life has no meaning, no reason, and thus man is not accountable to anyone but himself in this world of "Survival of the Fittest". He only needs to look out for number one. Nothing else matters. If intelligence can be evolved, then there is no right or wrong. One's intelligence is no more or less correct than another's.
Evolution proponents argue that the many similarities at the molecular levels between vastly different species is proof that some species evolved out of others. They say that all living things share common building blocks, such as DNA, and as these building blocks mutate and diversify, the living things speciated into different species. Unfortunately, the fact that vastly different kinds of animals share the same building blocks says nothing in favour of evolution. Just because a chair, a table, and a doghouse are all made of wood, doesn't mean one evolved out of the other naturally. The carpenter had the blueprints in his head, and though he used the same building blocks, the same material, the same tools to realize them, they were each their own kind. He did not gradually make taller and bigger chairs until one day he declared it a table, suitable for placing objects on rather than for sitting. Each had its own design, and each served its own purpose. He may, at some point, decide to add armrests to the chair, or make a three-legged round table instead of a four-legged square one, but a chair is nevertheless a chair designed for sitting, and a table is nevertheless a table on which objects are placed.
Evolution is not science. It is at best a theory, and at worst just another religion. If anything, it requires a bigger leap of faith to accept Evolution as truth than to accept the Bible as God's Word.
Evolution reduces us to animals. It says we're merely evolved apes. God says we're special. God says He created man "in His own image" (Genesis 1:27), and "breathed into his hostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7) God says we are to "rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (Genesis 1:26) God gave man the gift of intelligence, to the point where he named every living creature (Genesis 2:19-20). God prepared a home for man, a garden in Eden, where He "made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food." (Genesis 2:9) God created man to have a relationship with him, to have fellowship with him. Only spiritual beings are capable of communicating with and seeking God, who is spirit. None of the other living creatures have ever displayed any God-seeking behaviour; only man is capable of praying. Only man is aware of the spiritual realm. We are and were created for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11).
The fact that we are not our own masters, that we are at the mercy of a higher being, that we are subject to an absolute moral standard, may offend some people. But choosing to ignore a fact does not make it go away.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Enjoy
"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)
"I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God." (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)
"Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart." (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20)
"So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 8:15)
"Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 9:7-9)
"Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
"I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God." (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)
"Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart." (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20)
"So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 8:15)
"Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 9:7-9)
"Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
Heartrending
You know what the saddest thing is?
That "... God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16), for "we all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)
"... Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." (1 Timothy, 1:15), "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." (John 1:11)
It is so frustrating to hear, day in and day out, how people either cite evil as evidence of God's nonexistence, or attribute it to Him.
"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Corinthians 4:4)
"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good." (Psalm 53:1)
How can one use evil as evidence against God's existence? If anything, evil should prove God's existence. For evil is simply deviance from God. You can't deviate from something that doesn't exist. Darkness cannot exist on its own; it is merely the lack of light. If light never existed, we wouldn't know what darkness was. Likewise, without some form of God's moral standards imprinted in our hearts, we wouldn't know what evil meant.
Worse yet, how can one attribute evil to God? If God is evil, then who is good? Man? It's only logical that if a God exists, He must represent pure goodness. It is impossible for created beings to have a higher moral standard than the Creator.
Yes, the world is a scary place.
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:18-32)
"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips." (Colossians 3:5-8)
If it saddens me so to see these people, many of whom I've never even met, lost and wandering aimlessly through life, without Christ and without hope, and never finding the abundant life that God promised through Christ, who "[has] come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10), how much more must God, who created each and every one of us, who knows each of us by name, who has numbered the very hairs of our heads (Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7), who has known each of us since before we were even born (Psalm 22:9-10, 71:6, 139:13), despair at our refusal to repent and return to Him?
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:37-38, Luke 10:2)
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?'
And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" (Isaiah 6:8)
That "... God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16), for "we all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)
"... Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." (1 Timothy, 1:15), "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." (John 1:11)
It is so frustrating to hear, day in and day out, how people either cite evil as evidence of God's nonexistence, or attribute it to Him.
"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Corinthians 4:4)
"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good." (Psalm 53:1)
How can one use evil as evidence against God's existence? If anything, evil should prove God's existence. For evil is simply deviance from God. You can't deviate from something that doesn't exist. Darkness cannot exist on its own; it is merely the lack of light. If light never existed, we wouldn't know what darkness was. Likewise, without some form of God's moral standards imprinted in our hearts, we wouldn't know what evil meant.
Worse yet, how can one attribute evil to God? If God is evil, then who is good? Man? It's only logical that if a God exists, He must represent pure goodness. It is impossible for created beings to have a higher moral standard than the Creator.
Yes, the world is a scary place.
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:18-32)
"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips." (Colossians 3:5-8)
If it saddens me so to see these people, many of whom I've never even met, lost and wandering aimlessly through life, without Christ and without hope, and never finding the abundant life that God promised through Christ, who "[has] come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10), how much more must God, who created each and every one of us, who knows each of us by name, who has numbered the very hairs of our heads (Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7), who has known each of us since before we were even born (Psalm 22:9-10, 71:6, 139:13), despair at our refusal to repent and return to Him?
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:37-38, Luke 10:2)
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?'
And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" (Isaiah 6:8)
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