Last night my friends son came over his house with a couple hundred dollars of fireworks. So the whole youth group went out and watched light them off. What is it about things that make loud bangs and sparkle that facinate us so much? I don't know but they were so much fun to watch, even the grumpier older people stepped outside to enjoy.
I went to Va beach this past week. My family lives there so it was sort of a vacation/visit family but it was a great time. I'll post a few pics that I have.
Heard a quote today but can't find the source so hopefully I'll get it right:
Teach a man his rights and you'll start a revolution,
Teach a man his responsibilities and you'll start a revival.
-Bill Gothard
I came across this paragraph while studying for my last ordination paper. I love the intensity in which the author portrays Jesus.
Christ wants to return. He longs to reign. It is His right. Then why does He wait? He is waiting for you and me to complete the task. He is waiting for us to do what He has told us to do. Many a time He must say to Himself as He sits there, 'How long, I wonder, are they going to keep me waiting? When will they let Me come back? How soon can I return to earth to sit on My throne and reign?'
I heard this song for the first time today a great reminder of how we should live everyday!
Live like you were dying by Tim McGraw
He said: "I was in my early forties,
"With a lot of life before me,
"An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
"I spent most of the next days,
"Looking at the x-rays,
"An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin’ ‘bout sweet time."
I asked him when it sank in,
That this might really be the real end?
How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news?
Man whatcha do?
An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."
He said "I was finally the husband,
"That most the time I wasn’t.
"An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.
"And all of a sudden goin' fishin’,
"Wasn’t such an imposition,
"And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.
"Well, I finally read the Good Book,
"And I took a good long hard look,
"At what I'd do if I could do it all again,
"And then:
"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."
Like tomorrow was a gift,
And you got eternity,
To think about what you’d do with it.
An' what did you do with it?
An' what can I do with it?
An' what would I do with it?
"Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I watched Blue Eagle as it was flyin'."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."
Sometimes it's good to have a little fun and then there are those times it's good to have a lot of fun. Last night at youth group was one of those lot of fun times. We had water/yuck night. The night had little spiritual value and I'm not the least bit worried about that. It had tremendous relational value. We saw several new kids, one professed athiest and one who had never been to a church anything ever!
When's the last time you went on a slip-n-slide? Sat in a baby pool? Threw a water balloon?
So our neighbor comes to the door yesterday morning and tells my wife. Your cat and another cat are fighting in my back yard. So she looks for the cat for a long time and can't find it. This cat is a real bully and likes to come into our yard and pick on our cat. Finally our cat came home and I checked her out for wounds she was fine.
So tonight the bully cat climbs up onto our deck and start meowing at the door. I am faced with a decision. Do I??? Grab the board we use to lock the door and smash it into the cat or do I??? thank the bully cat for beating the tar out of my cat because I don't like my cat either? I elected to do neither and just chase it off the porch.
Ever notice how people panic in certain situations. I was at Lowe's today to pick up some gate hinges so I can fix my gate and my hyper active dog will quit escaping. On my way back out to the truck to get my wallet I forgot I see this lady driving a Camry and this old dude who was driving a Stratus. The cars are both half in spots and both drivers are standing outside their cars. The lady who's bumper took the brunt of the incident was dented in on one of the corners. She was on her cell phone in an extreme panic not knowing what to do. The old dude was exactly opposite. He was leaning against his car just looking at her sympathetically, he could have been watching the waves at the beach for all his concern. I just thought it was funny to see those two extremes. The lady didn't need to panic as much as she did, no one was hurt, the damage was minimal. Kind of reminds me to not take things so seriously sometimes.
Pistons won again. I might actually watch some basketball next season.
How bout this guy in Texas that went after this foul ball. The video is pretty funny that a guy would go over a seat to get a foul ball but honestly I think it's been blown way out of proportion. The media makes it sound like the knocked the kid out of the way while he was going for the ball. The kid had no idea what had happened or that a foul ball was even close to him. The kid got bumped a little by his legs but that's it. Then the fans and lady made such a big deal about it the kid ended up getting a bunch of stuff from other players and fans. Moral of the story: Act like a victim and you get what you want.
Shooting Range: I went to the range today to test my accuracy and get a feel for my new gun. For anyone who is afraid of guns or not wanting to get shot let me give you some pointers. The safest place for you to stand if a gun is pointing at you is right in front of it about 30 feet away. There were so many people who were missing the complete target and target pad.
Reagan: I posted a few days ago wondering what made Reagan so great, because great men are to be modeled. Through watching some of his friends speak I came up with a few characteristics of great. 1. Be positive- Reagan was a gun that saw things in a positive light, he was willing try try new things and encourage others 2. He was a man of vision, he saw big picture 3. Admit when you are wrong 4. Have a sense of humor 5. Show people love when they need it most (Challenger 1986)
Detroit Pistons: I'm not an NBA fan at all, in fact I really dislike the NBA not because I dislike basketball but because it's mostly show boating one man team basketball. The pistons are different. They are TEAM. Forget Kobe forget Shaq, the pistons are a team and they act like one. The shooting guard has the most offensive rebounds...that's team. If there were more teams like them I'd watch NBA again, I hope they win it all 4-1.
Huggins: I've always liked this guy and thought he taught good basketball at Cinci. People make mistakes unfortunately in times like this people who work with young adults can't get caught DUI.
Now I'm not a parent and we don't even have one on the way but I sure would be frustrated by the daycare and preschool selection out today. Driving to work today I see a sign that says "just opened, Kare-a-Lot Daycare and Preschool" I'm sorry but I'm not sending my kid to a preschool that can't spell "Care" right.
And how bout this La Petit academy...see that's what's wrong with America, the french invade us at the youngest levels robbing us of our backbones.
James 3:1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.
I have actually heard people, friends use this verse to decline a teaching position that they were positive they were called to by God. I wondered if they figured they would get a less strict judgement by declining than leading people astray.
I've been thinking about the lack of service and volunteers that plagues churches, not all churches but far to many. Then I think of the song "Thank you for giving to the Lord" While it is a pretty cheesy song it has a good message, but it's awfully feel good. I'd like to hear the dark side version. About a person that is a believer and bound for heaven but as his judgement God sends him to hell for a few minutes. That person walks through hell and hears the screams of those he refused to serve. Then he encounters a few people he could have helped, a few people that wanted him to be their teacher, or spiritual mentor, or accountability partner and instead he declined them. Because of this rejection they turned their back on God never to believe and confess (Romans 10:9).
Maybe if we sung songs like that in church we wouldn't have to scramble to fill leadership positions but I don't think God works via guilt. Only conviction.
I was too lazy to come up with a good rant today. I have one brewing about the emergent church but I haven't thought about that enough yet to articulate it well.
I have been doing some studying about Kaballah, a mystic jewish religion. It seems to be the new religion of the hollywood stars. It's quite interesting but basically the same old junk by Satan to take as many to hell with him as he can. Someone gave me a video that is very anti-semetic. The hatred for the Jews is so sickening. What did they ever do that was so bad? What did they do that no other nation has done? Reject God, reject Christ, reject salvation, we've all done it so why hate the jews for it?
My wife and I joke about it, when something is wrong with the world we blame the jews in jest. I guess that's not a good idea we don't really mean it but that's what I feel like the world is doing. War with Iraq, it's the jews. Economy is bad, the jews must have done it. That's just a bunch of crap. To me it's just prejudice that people try to justify.
I guess I came up with a rant, who knew?
With the passing of this great american president I've had to wonder. I was alive for the whole Reagan administration but to be honest I can't say I remember it much if at all. I realize I have lived with his decisions and have nothing to complain about. But here is what I have been wondering.
I have heard on the news that he was one of the two great American presidents of the 20th century. I do not doubt that Reagan was a great man and a great president but what I have not heard is why. Perhaps if we knew why more people would live like him, thus making a epidemic of being great, that's something we all would benefit from. For the most part America does not value morals, we do not value acting on principle, what we value is self.
Sports Note: I love the way we ripped off the Calgary Flames in Games 6 forcing a game seven that Tampa Ray won. If I were a Canadian I'd be mad as all. Who likes hockey in Florida? Who has even heard of hockey in Florida?
FF: Fantasy Football starts up soon I'm excited. I won't have to watch Nascar anymore.
I've been doing a blog for about a month now but it was been a personal journal of sorts, one between me and God. I'm not comfortable sharing that with people I know or even strangers but I think it would be cool to have another place to share thoughts to maybe sharpen some of my brothers and sisters in their thoughts.
Nothing Profound, nothing profane, just some thoughts.
