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| Confession of a blog imbicile |
| 03.31.04 (4:33 pm) [edit] |
I think of the best things to blog, but they never make it to the blog, because the only thing that I remember about the great idea is that it was great.
So, often I'll sit here and try to think of what I wanted to say, but it sits there on the tip of my frontal lobe, mocking me just out of my mental reach. and I wind up waiting too long for it to "come to mind."
I think that I will have to get a voice recorder, before I go mad.
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| part four of my filibuster on "life." |
| 03.24.04 (7:59 pm) [edit] |
Most people see what I see about physical life and say, that it only has to do with physical life ... and that in reality we will remain without end. They say that we came into existence and that we will live forever whether everlasting torment, or everlasting pleasure. How is this different then the deciever in the garden - saying, "you shall surely not die" ??? There is no difference, and thus they are the deciever.
There are levels of existence higher then this physical one, but God did not decieve us with temporality. It is His tool to demonstrate in the frailty of physicality, what is hard to see in the higher realm of souls ... specifically, that we will face a "last and final day." In otherwords, just as our bodies can be destroyed, so can our souls be destroyed.
The notion that God pointlessly torments people for the sake of misery without end and for no purpose is a grand slander of God ... and is only presented to exalt man's innate substance of being to the level of God's being.
It might be true that we have forever - life ... in that we (our souls) will survive for-the-ever ... because that is our limit ... as long as there is time, we will remain. However, not all remained before the first day, and not all will remain after the last day. And there IS a last day. There is a conclusion to all things that are not eternal, because there is a beginning for all things that are not eternal.
The lesson of the weight of decay here is simple ... we shall surely die, if we do not eat of the tree of life. In other words, the serpent lied.
.... more on this later.
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| ... my forth continue about observing the contrast between life and death |
| 03.22.04 (7:41 pm) [edit] |
So, the last blog addressed how I think that what is alive will always dominate what is not living.
Psalm 90
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
If there is one thing that we can gather from the world around us, if there is anything we can surmise that is woven into the lesson of life, is that life is not lasting. Life cannot win over time, as it wins over the dead. We are children of time, and contingient upon it. Our identity is derived upon time. If you subtract enough time in reverse or add enough time from now ... we are all dust, all like flowers that wilt and shrink in the summer heat. We are here for a season, and just as quietly as we physically arrive, we are destined to physically go. One day, my body will become tree-food, just as certain as I eat plants as my food now.
The world's design demonstrates a temporal existence.
In contrast, there is a higher life, that has no beginning, and no end ... and is above time. It is the same life that is beyond ... removed from this void of infinity, though animating it from a distance. The Creator cannot know time, because the Creator is UNcreated, untouched by time, experiencing all, and knowing all "at once." God cannot learn, die, deminish, grow, sleep, wake, nor see what is beyond Him, because nothing is.
What a mystery to have life like that!!! What a mystery to have eternal life!!
... and I will discuss the assimilation of that life ... on another blog.
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| continued .... day 3 |
| 03.21.04 (7:49 am) [edit] |
On the last blog, I mentioned my fascination with how trees are made of water, dust, and air that has been reorganized by life, as the substance of the plant body. I also mentioned how those same elements will decay a dead tree, as sure as they would nourish a living one.
All of the life of a tree is in a seed. When I see a seed, I am looking at a tree, it only takes time, but the whole of that tree's life is within the seed.
In the mountains they have what is called "rock breakers." These are little plant seeds that get stuck in a crevase of the rock and start to grow. Before long the whole mountais is severed by the root's expansion. and boulders are literally pushed of the mountain by the tree.
There is only one thing that is special about the dust, air and water that makes up the plant, that allows it to demolish the mountain. The plant has life in it's body and the mountain has no life in it. Thus, the mountain has to loose the battle. It has no choice, but to loose. Dead things can never win over the living things.
More on this later ...
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| ... continued |
| 03.20.04 (9:34 am) [edit] |
What is life? What assimilates the earth, and pushes it back? What is this that defies gravity and expands?
I look at a tree in awe, because what is it made of? Is it dirt re-organized? Partially. It is also the carbon of the air, stripped away from oxygen and then placed in the walls of the cells. It is also the water from the ground and air, filling the walls of those cells.
A tree is made of water, air, and dirt. Amazing to think about. And what force turns these elements into the structure we see growing out of the ground? It is "LIFE."
You know those elements will have a different effect on something that does not have life.
On the golf course, one of the biggest trees was blown over in the storm, and was on it's side. Soon, if not already, the tree will die, because the roots were broken off. Then the tree will still be exposed to the air, water and dirt, but that exposure will not expand the structure, it will cause it to decay. No longer will it defy gravity and the errosion of the soil, it instead will be subject to disorganization. It will fall apart in the rain, when it used to grow in the rain. Why? It lacks "LIFE."
... more on this tomorrow.
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| In the park today - nature happens |
| 03.18.04 (9:00 pm) [edit] |
One of the reasons that I like to play frisbee golf is that I get to know acre after acre of beautiful parks and reserves. ... I mean know them.
I notice when the trees grow, and where their branches have fallen. It changes the hazzards of the play, when nature happens.
Today was beautiful with cool air, just enough breeze and a warm sun. The course plays up a hill, then across a mesa, then down and back-n-forth accross a sleepy creek. One of the best things is crossing the shallow creek, on stepping stones, and then up and down the steep slopes and banks.
I got to thinking today about stuff. Like, "what is life?" What can I learn about the life around me? Well, that deserves another blog. You'll have to read about it tomorrow ...
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| Backyard fences are uncool |
| 03.18.04 (7:10 pm) [edit] |
Cedar wood fences above the line of sight are still the thing that everyone is doing. I predict people are going to get sick of it. I know that I am.
Do we really need them? What are they for? If you have a dog, then partition off a part of your yard with a nice iron fence or something.
I just think that they are ugly and the few neighborhoods without them are 10 times as scenic.
Maybe it is just a Texas-thing.
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| Sin therepy - the CURE for sinfulness (a parody) |
| 03.18.04 (6:07 am) [edit] |
Introducing ...Tylenol Sin Therapy!
If you have trusted Tylenol Cold and Flu, or Tylenol
Allergy, then you are ready for the newest product in the Tylenol family of products.
Do you feel helplessly sinful? Well, here is the cure: Tylenol Sin
Therapy! With Sin Therapy, you are on your way to a sinless future!
How did we do it? Easy, we simply added cyanide to our proven pain-fighting and fever-reducing
formula.
Our original ingredients can ease the discomfort, and the new cyanide ingredient will make your eyes stay open and your body drop to room temperature. That is when you know that you will never sin again.
Imitation products are far less effective. Some help you reach a long sleep, other therapies may get you all the way to a coma, but only
Tylenol Sin Therapy is guaranteed to work forever.
Listen to these testimonials:
- “The sinless coma only temporarily worked for me. Now with Tylenol Sin Therapy I know that I will not wake up just to start sinning again. Thanks Tylenol Sin Therapy!”-Joe Somebody / Phoenix , AR
- “My kids were sinning up a storm, but thanks to Tylenol Sin Therapy, they haven’t sinned in years!”-Mary Long / Tempe , OK
Three out of four euthanasia doctors agree, Tylenol Sin Therapy is the most effective sin eliminator money can buy.
The Great Physician Warning:
Using Tylenol Sin Therapy may cause you to quit sinning, but it will not make
you more useful to God. A lack of unrighteousness does not make anyone
righteous. The goal in life is not to kill your self in order to quit sinning
rather the goal is to become a LIVING (get it?) sacrifice.
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| Break an oath for Jesus (a satire about remarriage) |
| 03.18.04 (5:48 am) [edit] |
If Jesus says that you can break an oath, or promise, or vow ... then that kind-of settles it. I mean, if God comes from heaven and says in point blank fashion that there is nothing wrong with going back on your word under certain circumstances, then that is the final word on the matter, isn't it?? After all He is God, and He did say that you can break a solomn and sober oath, promise, and vow.
Matthew 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.''
SEE THERE???
Even if you wedding vows were somber and soberly recited that "you would forsake all others, ... for better or worse, ... until death do you part." That does NOT matter!! Wow, if God says that you can break that serious of an oath, then the sky is the limit.
Break an oath for Jesus. He made it OK. Now it is your duty to bring Him the glory each time that you break you marriage vows and divorce and remarry and divorce and remarry and divorce and, well, you get the idea.
After all He did for you, it is the least that you can do for Him.
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| TOP TEN ways to develop a Messiah-Complex |
| 03.17.04 (8:08 pm) [edit] |
TOP TEN ways to develop a Messiah-Complex
- Always preface your indoctrination sessions with the words, "The Holy Spirit is the best teacher."
- Make sure that 90% of your posts are Bible quotes to refute other people's unauthorized Bible quotes.
- Like the King that you are; demand proof, demand respect, demand apologies, demand allegiance and shame your unruly subjects until they submit. (and don't forget to demand proof.)
- Stubbornly ignore polite and direct requests from others to be left alone.
- Realize that God depends on you, and you alone.
- Recognize insubordination as the spirit of the antichrist.
- Make outrageous claims to put people on the defensive. (ie. "When are you going to stop beating your wife?")
- Have the uncanny ability to always be at war with yourself or those around you.
- The world is your audience. Show them the way.
- Persuade others to join your crusade of sanitizing the world of all the people/ideologies that God forgot to kill first.
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| Selfish ego - the opposite of love. |
| 03.17.04 (4:55 pm) [edit] |
Selfish ego is impatient.
Selfish ego is mean.
Selfish ego does not find pleasure in other people's fortune.
Selfish ego does not humble themselves, and is full of pride.
Selfish ego does not seek the good for others.
Selfish ego looses its temper.
Selfish ego tracks and remembers others mistakes.
Selfish ego isn't happy about holiness, but rejoices with evil.
Selfish ego is reckless, always suspicious, always defeated, and always gives up on others.
Selfish ego never pulls through.
1 Corinthians 13
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails.
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| Abiding vs Legalism |
| 03.17.04 (6:23 am) [edit] |
Christian teaching can either focus on effort driven legalism or grace driven abiding, or some kind of Galatian-like-mixture of the two.
I like to teach abiding. I want my mission to believers to teach participating in Christ, not imitating His behavior. I would like people to work FROM salvation, not work FOR salvation.
Sometimes that makes people wonder if abiding will lead to passivity. But, living water must be received like water from a stream. There is some effort involved in drinking from a stream, but if you are taught that you have to grasp it will your strength, take hold with your strength, and hang on to it with human strength then you will find that the water will elude you. But, if you make room for it with your hands and just accept it into your hands, then there is not a reason to squeeze it and hold on to it ... and there is no other way to take it into you. Such is the nature of revelation and faith. Faith does not produce the things of God, but it receives them, and the receiving is the revelation.
Legalism will teach you to take hold of the things of God, grasp it and hang on to it will your strength, but yet these people have found it to elude them, and how many of them are afraid of falling away because of all the others that they know to leave? They should be questioning the method, they should question the encouragement to hang on to your salvation or take hold of it with your strength.
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| (polishing the image) |
| 03.15.04 (7:57 pm) [edit] |
As I am working through this series of emphasis observations, I am not putting them in order of importance. If I did put them in order, this topic would be right at the top. And the topic is that carnal teaching is directed to make reform in the showcase, and spiritual teaching only emphasizes changes in the warehouse. But, here is the secret - a change in the warehouse will always result in a change in the showcase.
The warehouse is the heart, attitude and thought the true inner condition that only God can see. The showcase is the image, the outward actions, and you might even include reputation - but it all is the impression that we want others to have of us based on our appearance.
When you sit under carnal teaching then you can expect to hear about 997 lessons out of 1000 about behavior adjustments (you did bad, now do good) and you'll hear maybe 3 lessons on the flesh, and maybe one lesson on pride. But under spiritual instruction you'll hear hundreds of lessons about the flesh and pride and only a handful of lessons focusing on behavior.
Why? Well, the real impact is made deeper then in the behavior. It is useless to spend your whole life sweeping webs, and not go after the spider. If you don't like the fruit, then lay an axe to the root. And the root of sin is pride.
So, lessons that teach you techniques of improving success by doing this instead of that are just avoiding a deeper issue, and will not really afford any life change no matter how long you sit under that kind of stuff.
So, I say "clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside of the cup will become clean also."
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| Don't trade your big problem for another little problem. |
| 03.13.04 (9:17 am) [edit] |
Yesterday I-45 from Dallas to Houston was a parking lot of construction traffic. I tried to find a way to get around it and wound up going on the service road that was a dead end. I then had to go back to where I was, travel about 10 miles in the other direction, just so I could get back into the same traffic jam that I was in to begin with.
I believe that the Word is woven into the fabric of the universe, and that everything that is created preaches something of Truth, so I had some time just to see what this was all about, and turn to my spirit and listen.
I learned that sometimes there is trouble that you can't get out of, and to not try to start whole new problems when the big trouble will eventually get me through if I just stick with it.
There is a story of Paul in a storm on the Mediterranean Sea. The sailors abandoned ship and got into a little boat, but Paul insisted on staying and the big ship brought him to the shore while the little boat was crushed by the sea.
This is the story of my last year starting my own business. It has been rough, and at times it seemed hopeless, but I stayed in it, and got through it safely, instead of abandoning it for another project. Now, my big idea that had big risk and big trouble is about to render a big reward, because I stayed in it through the trouble.
Maybe you are in a tough situation right now. Maybe your kids won't behave, or your spouse makes things impossible. If it seems hopeless, remember that you have a Shepherd, and don't go out and get into another little problem. Stick with the problem that you are in, and see if God doesn't deliver you through it. Sometimes deliverance isn't avoiding, or abandoning, but deliverance is right where you are, with a huge reward in the end.
I am not saying that you should stick with every calamity, but if your faith is to hang in there, then I won't talk you out of it. I will commend your faith instead. Some people will completely shipwreck their life, because they got out of a marriage by having an affair, when they should have stuck with the troubled marriage and found deliverance through it, rather then from it.
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| Own it, so that you can not |
| 03.12.04 (1:17 pm) [edit] |
How can I give away, something that I do not own? Could I give away your parents home? Only if I own it, right? This is basic logic, and would not even be worth mentioning if we weren't so afraid of owning our weaknesses.
How can you give away your shortcomings if you don't have any? You cannot, but the problem is that you certainly DO have them even if you repress them or deny it. Everyone has weaknesses, but only those that own their weaknesses are able to disown them.
So, what happens to you when someone says that you are stupid? Do you resist it, or do you own it? Are they really speaking a falsehood? Does God look at you and say, "Whoa, hear is a beacon of understanding and intelligence!" ?
I have been called many names, particullarly in the last month or two. Part of me wants to retreat in the darkness of a mask, and project an exterior that is more flattering then the one that the criticism projects. But, the spiritual walk makes no allowance for self-preservation and even reputation. In truth, there has not been a critic that has come close to describing my utter bankruptcy. I do act apathetic, demeaning, people-pleasing, and superior minded much more then anyone has yet to bring to light. I can cut you down, and only be sad that my blows left a trace of human dignity sprawled on the curb. I can betray, gossip, lie, justify wickedness much more then anyone has yet to alledge. I know that there is nothing good inside of me, and that I need infusion of God's life to do anything unselfish, and to do anything out of love. Even to simply be honest, or to even shut my mouth.
When I am weak, then God's strength comes into it's own in me. When I am strong, then I fall.
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| Oneness, not sameness |
| 03.11.04 (11:01 pm) [edit] |
If I am to learn to love others in this world, I have to get to know them. At some point I must make room for them within my heart, differences and all. May I be given sufficient grace to continue the process of loving my neighbors, as I am given to love you.
There is an interesting custom in Jewish weddings. Before the ceremony, the groom visits the bride and covers her head with a veil. Then he leaves her to wait for her to come forward. Traditionally this is explained as the groom "making sure who the bride is." Why? Because Jacob was tricked by his father-in-law, who traded Rachel (who Jacob was fond of) for Leah, his other daughter. Jacob consummated with Leah in the dark before he realized the deception. Jacob accepted his fate, and later also married the woman of his choice, Rachel.
The "traditional explanation" is weak. The tradition of the groom and veil is NOT a way of making sure of who the bride is. If that were the case then there would be not veil and the groom could examine her during the ceremony. No, the veil is a way to describe love. The groom may not know who he is marrying and indeed will not know everything about her. But, he will commit to love and learn to make room for all that he does not know about her. That is the meaning of the veil, for we read that Jacob made room for Leah in his life and later was buried with her, instead of the bride of his choice.
The point is that many people have not learned the love of God. His love always make room for others and commits to do so. Indeed I want to know His love fully and pass it on to others. To do so, I must commit to accept others, even though I do not know all there is to know about them. I must make room for their differences and achieve oneness apart from taking on a conquest of sameness.
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| The eyes have it! |
| 03.11.04 (10:55 pm) [edit] |
[Christ was] ?a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief? Is. 53:3
?[Christ] in the days of his flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, ...? Heb 5:7
Tears have a physical purpose: they clean the eyes. But, have you not discovered how vital to the spiritual realm? I dry eye reveals a hard heart, insensitive as wood or stone. Christians, let us not harden our hearts, unable to cry ?lest we become dull and blind to spiritual things.
?Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may shed tears and our eyelids flow with water.? Jer. 9:18
Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet, because he cried so often. Tears are a part of the New Testament experience also. Paul wanted to be with Timothy remembering all of his tears (2 Tim. 1) and we read in Acts that Paul served the Lord with humility and with tears. (20:19)
?For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.? (2 Cor. 2:4) Here we discover the attitude of Paul?s heart as he wrote the first letter to the church in Corinth. He was full of tears and it crushed his heart to write such a strong rebuke.
Do not search for your ministry without first searching your heart for your tears. A man?s eyes, that are flooded with tears, is a man that can be used by God.
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| Is Christianity Imposed Upon People? |
| 03.11.04 (4:48 pm) [edit] |
"The Bible is a set of scruples imposed upon humanity to keep it from functioning naturally and normally." ... or that is what the quote in the newspaper said.
Is it an outward force? If so then I can escape it or at least try. But what if Christianity is imprinted within you? What if Christianity could be revealed through us, not just another religion that is imposed upon us?
Christianity should be an exposition of God, not in imposition by God. One is God adopting you, and the other is you adopting religion.
Freedom is the hallmark of true faith. Bondage to rules and styles of living are the hallmarks of empty form and pride. One gives life and the other brings death.
The gospel is not about a new lifestyle. The Greek equivalent to "lifestyle" is "bios." From that, we know that biology is the study of how animals live, and what they do. Biographies are the written record of what someone did and how they went through life. But bios is not the word for the life that the Gospel is about. God is not imposing a bios upon us. We are not adopting a lifestyle. The word for the life that God offers is "Zoe." Zoe is defined by a person. Jesus said, "I am the Zoe."
What kind of life do you find in the core of your faith? Are you latched on to an outward imposition, or are you finding life inside of you and working it's way out? Is Christ your life, or are you just looking for a better lifestyle?
How many people can combat that definition that is found in the newspaper?
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| Nobody will be damned for sins |
| 03.10.04 (8:08 pm) [edit] |
Nobody will be damned for sins
Have you heard the good news? Your sins are not keeping you from the deep spiritual life, or even preventing you from the Kingdom!
Leviticus 17:11
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.
Often we associate blood with death, and that carries over to how we interpret the word "blood" in the Bible. The New Testament has over 90 uses of blood, and only a couple of those are in association with sins. The overwhelming revelation is that it is the LIFE of God, through the blood of Christ that can save you! ... and that His death was necessary to prepare the world for salvation by His life!
We must not make the mistake of seeing the blood of Christ as a reference to His death. His blood is His life. His life is what we need, if we want to experience freedom, and a fulfilling intimacy with God ... and ultimately to give us hope from perishing on the last day.
John 6
53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
If your prideful unbelief keeps you from partaking of His life, then it won't matter how little you sinned or how many/few sins of yours are forgiven. The only way to be saved is through His life. The only way to perish, is to reject His life.
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| I like soup. |
| 03.10.04 (8:01 am) [edit] |
Is there anything wrong with a 6'-5" dude, that loves soup?
I'm into Tortilla soup, if they have it, I'm ordering it. So far, the best is Papasitto's. I could eat that soup for dessert.
I think the real reason I like soup is the food serving size is just too much on most entrees, and I like to have chips or something to start-off. That, and the fact that I am a cheap-skate.
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| Rushing to judgement. an allegory |
| 03.10.04 (7:37 am) [edit] |
Next time you rush to judgement, remember this story. It begins in Wales in a town called Gellert, in which a castle called Gellert has a tomb in the middle. The stone on the tomb indicates that Gellert is burried there. But, that isn't even half the story. Gellert is a dog.
Beth Gellert
More than anything in the world, Prince Llewelyn loved to hunt. When he was ready for the chase he would stop by the castle gate and blow his hunting horn. All his hounds would come running, and fastest and keenest of all was his favourite hound, Gellert. This hound had been a gift from the prince?s father-in-law, King John. The prince loved the hound because, although he was brave as a lion when hunting, he was the gentlest creature at home, and was especially fond of the prince?s young son, still a babe in arms.
The dog would always come to his master?s bidding and was usually the first to scent a deer and lead the huntsmen to their quarry. Few were the days when they returned home without venison for the prince?s table when Llewelyn went hunting with Gellert.
One morning Llewelyn waited by the castle gatehouse and blew his horn to call his hounds as usual. All the hounds came running to the call except for Gellert. Llewelyn was surprised, for this rarely happened, so he sounded the horn once more, but still Gellert did not appear. In the end, they gave up their wait and Llewelyn rode off without his favourite hound.
That day they had poor hunting. They rode far, but the few deer they sighted managed to escape, and Llewelyn and his men went home empty-handed. The prince felt that it was because he did not have his best hound with him, and he was angry when he returned to the castle. As he approached the gatehouse, who should come running towards him but his favourite hound. At first Llewelyn was overjoyed. But then, as the dog grew near him, he saw that the animal?s muzzle was dripping with blood.
The prince was mystified, but a horrible suspicion came to him. He thought of his young son, just one year old, and how Gellert loved to play with the child. Could it be that the dog had harmed the child? Quickly, the prince bounded up the stairs to the nursery.
When he got to the room, his fears were confirmed. The baby?s basket lay upset on the floor, and there was no sign any-where of Llewelyn?s son. He looked more closely, and there was blood on the cradle. Surely the dog had murdered his child. Frantically, the prince searched for his son, but he could only find more patches of blood and signs of a struggle. He turned to Gellert, saying, ?Monster! You have killed and eaten my son.? And without further ado, the prince drew his sword and plunged it into the hound?s side. The dog howled in pain and expired, gazing, as if in wonder, at his master?s face.
As Gellert howled, a small, plaintive cry came from some-where on the other side of the room. Straight away, Llewelyn realised his fatal mistake. He strode across the room, and looked beneath the baby?s basket. Sure enough, there was his baby son, unharmed, and waking from sleep. Beside the child was the body of a great wolf, its flesh torn and bloodied. Gellert had not killed the boy, but had stood guard and protected him from the wolf. The prince hung his head in regret and shame.
a true story. NOT
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| JUDGMENTALISM 101 |
| 03.09.04 (6:34 pm) [edit] |
Judgments always backfire.
The person that judges only reveals themselves, rather then the person they are trying to expose. That attempt at exposure is not always derogatory. However, judgmentalism is always a violation of decency.
A judgment is simply a stated determination (whether good or bad) of an other person's hidden intentions or perceived purpose/attitude. I make a judgment when I say, "They didn't mean any harm." I don't KNOW whether they meant any harm or not, but I assert my determination as fact. What does that really reveal? Such an assertion reveals only MY heart. What I am really saying is "I wouldn't have meant any harm in that circumstance." ... because I can only really know my heart, even though they may have really meant harm. The same is true if I say "When he looks at her that way, then he wants sex." I am really revealing my desires when I look at someone in the same way. Meanwhile, the reality of that other person's heart remains a mystery. How many other reasons could there be for their actions? Yet, I have only projected MY reason to that other person's actions.
When someone's judgments are always trusting, who should you trust? When someone's judgments are always hopeful, where can you go to find hope? But all too often, those that are judgmental are extremely critical. They project and presume the derogatory things behind your action what they are blinded from seeing about themselves. They do not even know what their judgments are really revealing.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. [Matthew 7:1]
Recently, a person judged me by saying that when I say, "Of course!" that I am actually lying and trying to deceive. So, how honest do you think that person is when they say, "Of course!"? Did his remarks reveal me, or him?
The same person made many judgments: "you intentionally deceive," he said, "you are purposefully trying to cause discord," "your intention is to divide, period!" Probably, the best example came when someone in the same thread told me that I avoid answering questions. I asked them to show me a single question unanswered, and at the same time found 12 blatant examples of HIS avoiding MY questions ... some of them clearly marked as "(non-rhetorical)!" Do you think that they were able to find an example where I did what they were accusing me? Doesn't judgmentalism always backfire?
They were trying to overwhelm me and put me on the defensive, but certain people cannot be judged (1 Corinthians 2:15).
Romans 2
1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
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| The Spirit leads to all Truth (From the "Deep End") |
| 03.08.04 (6:19 pm) [edit] |
John 1
17b grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
When one approaches intellectual understanding of Truth under the rule of reason (according to the dictates of limited and available knowledge,) they are bound to realize the limits of their human condition - specifically mental activity of creatures cannot lay hold of UNCREATED Truth. Truth cannot be discovered by thought alone. Any revelation of Truth requires spiritual contemplation, subtle intuition, and pure inspiration. For Truth to set one free, it must be infused within from above. The faculty for such revelation is the human spirit regenerated by and mingled with the Spirit of God.
WHO can rise (through logical thinking) above what is happening by means of abstract thought about some object to reveal spiritual principles without being impotent to overcome the limitations of human intellect? To say that grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ is to exclaim to all of the world that there is a novel spiritual way to contemplate what is truth, and that way is a person, who is the way, truth, and life. No longer is man separate from truth and hopelessly led to recognize the limitations of the faculty of the mind to grasping reality, itself. (not that they always recognize their limitations, or else there would be no philosophical systems.) Abiding in truth, by way of the Spirit of God is the destiny of those that are born of the Spirit of God. This is the lone escape from inevitable error.
John 14
17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
Christians - Residing in the depths of our soul, He lives in our innermost being. He transcends our soul as the source of truth proceeding in every internal and external manifestations of the soul. In our spirit's core, God's Spirit is formless and without distinction. It does not know about the truth; it IS the truth. The knowledge of the Spirit of Truth is complete. It's essence is total knowledge and all that is is knowable in everything. It knows truth, because it is the truth. There is nothing about truth that it is not, because God knows Himself completely. That is to say that the subject and object of Truth are one, within the life of God.
Thought, on the other hand, is a single and distinct plane reflecting the intelligible; it is always in motion between the subject (our mind), and the object (that which is reflected in thought, such as truth.) Whatever is reflected in thought is therefore assimilated only in it's reflected form, not in the reality of that which is being contemplated, and certainly not in its spiritual, universal reality. Thus the Spirit of truth never escapes the depths of our spirit, to be fully manifested in thought, or in the symbolic reflection archived in our minds. The reflection never becomes the reality, and thus Truth is a commodity of our spirits that brings us mentally closer to reality. However, the inherent objective and subjective disconnect between Truth and our thoughts about Truth inevitably persist to the point of error.
While God's certainty and wisdom are attributable to the unity of all Truth within Himself, conversely, our doubt, and error are caused by the mental disunity of distorted thoughts. This brings us back to the necessity of spiritual revelation to supercede any and all mental notions. It is the Spirit of God that leads us to all Truth. Thoughts, through revelation, can be conformed to and effaced by the Spirit of Truth as the only solution for the obstacle of natural reasoning. Devine revelation is the link between soul and spirit, that otherwise would be separated by the abyss of organic limitation. Therefore, I have no Truth to offer anyone; I can only introduce you to the Spirit of Truth, so that you can forsake thought and embrace reality through revelation.
Isaiah 55
7 Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the LORD,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
True to my experience, I have tried and failed to present my erroneous thoughts of Truth to no avail. On one occasion I was trying to impart to my mother a truth that seemed so simplistic as to be unavoidable. But, frustration overwhelmed me during the repeated reasoned explanations. At that point I turned to my spirit, and it was revealed that I should say it once more. Bewildered, I almost could not believe that it would make any difference. Finally, I exercised faith in the revelation, and spoke again. This time the message was plain and simple yet inspired, but the response in my mother was completely different. Before I was half way through my first sentence, I saw perfect understanding in her eyes. The Truth was revealed in her through the faculty of her spirit rather the the subjective mind through mental ascent, or the objective reflection in my thoughts and words. Now that it has been revealed to her, it cannot be reconstructed in her mind, thoughts, or words any more then Truth can be reconstructed in my soul-ish faculties, both internal and external. This was the spiritual reality behind the famous recruitment of Peter:
Luke 5
4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."
5 Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets."
6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;
7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!"
9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;
10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."
11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
So it is when we are used by the Spirit's direction to introduce the sublime implications of the Gospel to others, so that they may know the deep love of God and be filled with joy! It is not by might, nor power, but by His Spirit.
That is all for now. Sorry so long.
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| God uses the things that are not. - an allegory |
| 03.08.04 (7:21 am) [edit] |
God uses the things that are not.
A man, after hitting a hole-in-one, shook everyone's hand he could on the course. After all, it had been 20 year of trying. Seeing an old man he waited until the man finished his swing before bragging on the hole-in-one. Just then he noticed that the man's club was nothing more then a rock, strapped on the end of a crooked stick. The old-timer wound-up and struck the ball with a mighty force, and the ball flew toward the green. Higher and higher. Then it plopped in the hole without even a bounce. This hole was twice as long as the boastful golfer's hole-in-one. Awestruck, the braggart could not speak, and the old man turned to him and said, "That makes it 18 in a row."
Now who is the better golfer?
1 Corinthians 1:28
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are,
Do you see that God golfs with a rock, strapped on the end of a crooked stick? What glory is found in hitting the ball with a perfect driver? God chooses the flawed, ruined, broken, weak, and ill to magnify His ability.
I hope you see your value to the kingdom is found in your availability; not your ability.
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| when I drive |
| 03.07.04 (11:19 am) [edit] |
Friday was another long road trip, but the moon was soooo bright that I did not need headlights.
As usual, I listen to music on my laptop while I drive and "rank" the tunes. I call it "Spin and Spare." Some songs are "spin." Other songs are "spare."
I had some new music to rank, thanks to my brother's late birthday present. Audioslave, Jet, The White Stripes, Coldplay, and Evenscense. Mostly spins. I was really interested in Audioslave, being a child of the 90s grunge music.
Sometimes, I get sick of music and listen to some sermons from Mike Wells that I have stored.
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| TLC, Trading Spaces last night. |
| 03.07.04 (9:47 am) [edit] |
I did not see the new episode, and it is replaying now, so I'll cut this short .. .but I did see the re-run of Hilda's horrible spray-painted furnature room and records nailed to the walls. (Who wants vinal records on the wall?)
The other room was done by the greatness of the Vern, and it is the best room ever on that show ... so one neighbor got the best, and the other got the worst.
I like the tag that they do after a re-run when they re-visit the owners to get their disappointment off their chest and show how they fixed the disasterous Trainwreck after the show producers left.
Very funny stuff.
Well, it is almost time for the reveal between Frank and Laurie. Laurie is doing wall covered in Lenolium (spelling?) That should be interesting.
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| (God's Work?) |
| 03.07.04 (8:33 am) [edit] |
Carnal teaching seems mostly to be emphasizing the list of tasks that man must do to secure God, while spiritual teaching seems to emphasize what God is doing to secure us.
At a pastor convention the guest speaker asked hundreds of pastors this question: "What can a Christian do to grow closer to God and secure a vibrant godly family life and witness?" The hands went up like rockets - church attendance, devotions with family, read the Bible, pray, evangelize, and the list went on and on ... But the next question did not get a single response in all three groups of pastors. Not a single person could muster a response to this question: "Now, what does GOD do to grow us, and secure a vibrant family life, and testimony to the world? What are some of the things that GOD is involved in?" Well, you could have tasted the collective confusion.
What does that tell me about that group of pastors? Well, I think that they are involved in carnal discipleship ... and their teaching will be like trying to cut down a tree with an axe handle but no blade ... it is wood upon wood, and no edge to cut through problems.
The Spirit does all the work, and the cutting edge is Christ ... we don't swing wood upon wood. We are not going to say that we have a God and live like we don't.
Very few people have not heard that Christianity is said to be different then all the world religions because it tells the story of God reaching down to men, rather then man reaching up to God ... but if that is true then why could they not go on and on about what God is doing, and instead stumble over the first question about what we must do to grow, and get on with life and godliness?
It is good to have a Shepherd and know that whatever I am doing to grow, is being met with God's work and that is administered 100 times my pathetic attempts.
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| How much can you take? |
| 03.06.04 (12:26 pm) [edit] |
How much can you take?
What does it take to bring you down?
A letter of lying accusation
Finding drugs in your kids belongings
Picking up other people's garbage for the 50th time today
There isn't support for your plan
Someone promised to change for you, but that was just the latest disappointing deception
The disillusionment of personal failure
Opening the Visa bill.
Someone you love makes another bad decision
Your view is unappreciated and shot down as soon as it comes out of your mouth
You hate what you see in the mirror
Someone cuts you off on the highway or beats you to the spot you wanted
Can you relate to what I am saying, here? It seems like the most insignificant thing can send our fragile selves into a spiral. Why do I let those things take me to the bottom? Is it not written that the Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and He rescues those that are crushed in their spirit? But, we are not overcoming the world, when the world overcomes us. Why are there so many suicidal rapturist?
God's promises mean nothing and the trouble is the only thing that we consider relevant. Now tell me, do you rule your believing or does your believing rule you?
A man goes into a bar in Texas, and orders a beer. After the bartender tops off the glass he asks the guy to wait while he rips open the corner of a tiny packet and sprinkles a white powder around the glass. "What is that for?" ask the man. "That is a very good powder, an expensive powder," the bartender went on, "when I sprinkle it around your glass, polar bears stay out of the bar."
"Well, there are no polar bears in Texas!" the man explained.
"I know. I told you that is a very good powder!"
:-)
How can you cure a man of that? He is being ruled by his believing and the only way to confront it is to bring in a polar bear and have it stand upon the ring of powder in his bar.
So, what do we believe about God? Where does He end, and what do we have to do because He can't or He refuses to do it for us? Do we have a tiny God that won't help us, or can't overcome our distress? How can God fix that? How can God free us of our believing so that we can adopt a bigger system of belief?
When the problem seems bigger then what we believe about God, then we have crisis. But, the good news is that God is bigger then the problem whether we want to believe it or not. Overcoming is not fixing the problem, but yielding to God within the problem. If greater is He who is in You, then you will find that you are more then a conqueror.
Maybe God will fix the problem, more likely you will be fixed by it. But, one thing is for sure ... you will be left with a belief system that outlines a bigger God then you had before. ... but still smaller then He really is. The question is whether or not you will try to fill in the gaps in your small believing with self effort, because you think that you have to push back against the pressure. "If you won't do it, who will?" - we wonder, because we think that God is dependent on us, instead of the other way around.
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| the gospel according to legalistic knuckleheads |
| 03.06.04 (11:32 am) [edit] |
Here is the gospel according to legalistic knuckleheads. Learn it, and then be intolarant of it, because somethings are just stupid:
[i]BEGINING*** Repent if you sin, when your sin becomes "practicing" sin, (or immediately, if the sin is so horrid that you need not "practice" the sin for God to judge you) or God may cause you to breathe your last due to unrepentance. Only on the condition that the Holy Spirit previously convicted you of that particular "practiced" sin, or if the sin is so horrid that it is so obvious that it is sin that the Spirit's conviction would be redundant, therfore you should repent whether or not the Spirit convicts you of it. In such a no-brainer case, you might as well preemptively repent so that you are not stuck dead by God and sent to hell. By such repentance you will be reissued your salvation for another day. Just don't sin. And if you sin, repent when your sin becomes practicing sin ... etc..
ENDING***[/i]
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| A parody of 1 Peter 4:7-11 that reflects Christian culture |
| 03.06.04 (7:44 am) [edit] |
1Pecker 4:7-11
The end of all things will never come. Therefore, blindly adhere to what you know nothing about, and be zealous so that you can influence. Above all, have an intense and unfailing criticism of those who need it, for love regards and exposes the offenses of others. Practice expulsion of others, and do so cordially, without complaining, but as representing Him. None of you have special gifts or spiritual talents, to offer anyone. So, if anyone speaks, he shouldn't think that God is relevant to in the choosing of words. You know what everyone needs, so serve it up with the strength that God has given you, so that in some things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
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| The 23rd Psalm - Self Righteous Version |
| 03.05.04 (6:21 am) [edit] |
Religion is my shepherd: I shall sin no more.
It alloweth me to lie to myself in flattering ways;
It leadeth me to water down the law.
It represseth my wickedness;
It leadeth me to a righteous exterior for my name's sake.
Yea, though I walk among the sinners in the temple,
I am glad I am not like them;
My piety and fig leaves, they conceal me.
I preparest my award acceptance speech for distinction from mine peers;
My head no longer fits through the door;
My cup is outwardly cleansed.
Surely reputation and excellence shall follow me all of the days of my life:
and I will rule at the right hand of Jesus forever.
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| Twenty-third Psalm -A Workaholic version |
| 03.05.04 (6:20 am) [edit] |
My work is my shepherd;
I shall not stop.
I maketh myself to wake at weird hours:
I run away from my family responsibilities.
I burneth out my soul:
I leadeth a hypocrites life for the sake of my reputation.
Yea, though I win if I die with the most toys,
I will fear no goal: for my ambition is with me,
my strength and education comfort me.
I prepare a expedient conclusion for mine enemies:
I am bestowed with wealth and status; though I am empty.
Surely, weariness and denial shall be repressed all of the days of my life:
and I have sold my soul and will perish forever.
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| A parody sung to the tune of "Amazing Grace"... |
| 03.04.04 (8:40 pm) [edit] |
Amazing Works
Verse 1:
Amazing works,
How neat my tomb,
I washed 'til it was clean!
I once was bought,
but now I have found:
The rest is up to me.
Verse 2:
When I've been yoked
With ten-thousand pounds,
and burdened by the Son;
I'll weave all my days,
And work the loom,
that Jesus Christ begun.
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| Destroy Government References to God! |
| 03.04.04 (3:48 pm) [edit] |
As you know the US Court of Appeals has gone a long way recently to abolish the wickedness of the fundamental Christians who are trying to push religion on everyone and hang 10 commands on any municipal, state, or federal building that they can get away with. However, they aren't moving quick enough.
We need to strike while the iron is hot and get rid of all state sponsored religion. Specifically, I am talking about the capitol of California with a nuclear bomb. Clearly, the government made Sacramento into the state capitol because they knew that Sacramento means "The Sacrament" in Spanish. This is a hideous ploy, that was duplicated in other great cities in order to evangelize people against their will.
First we destroy Sacramento, and remove that abomination from the earth, and then we go on to other religious towns like SAINT LOUIS (which was named after another fundamental oppressor), LOS ANGELES (which is named after pretend messengers of a pretend god), CORPUS CHRISTI (which actually means "the body of Christ"), SAINT PAUL (which was named after the Hitler of the salvation army - Paul), ... and many, many more, should be scorched off the face of the earth, until religious references in city names are completely wiped off the face of the earth! Besides, it would also eliminate some of our overstocked nuclear arsenal.
Are you with me?
-Mr. Bigot
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| (done-done) |
| 03.03.04 (10:11 pm) [edit] |
You know you are under carnal teaching when you are constantly focusing on what we need to do. It is almost like you are given a pair of glasses with "do" written on one lens and "do" written on the other lens. It can be action or it can be what we must think. With the do-do glasses you read the Bible and try emphasize the things that might suggest that we are supposed to do something. Every page, every chapter and every verse is a chore to apply it by finding and doing what we must do.
Before you know it you are up to your hips in do-do.
Why is the emphasis on doing? Why is it man-centered religion? Because carnal teaching cannot stand for anything that God is doing. They don't want to trust God, they hunger and thirst for it to be up to themselves. They require activity, because they think that they will become like they act. You might as well face it; it is unbelief. They are running from God and will only trust God, when they have jumped through all the hoops that they think will make them acceptable to God. When they fail, they shrink back, because their hope is not in Christ, but in themselves.
Spiritual teaching emphasizes what God has done, and where their hope really can be found. Our glasses say "done" on the lenses, and we read what God has done in every passage. We want you to know that He is your only chance, and that moral success and moral failure makes no change in who you really are. When you think about how Christ has done everything for you, then you are full of hope, and trust. We want you to run to God when you fail, for only He has the cure, not to wait until you shape up to run to Him.
Dispensationalist will tell you that the Old Testament depicts a God of wrath and judgement, but the New Testament depicts a new approach from God. Well, I am telling you that when you have your "done-done" glasses on, you will see a new God in the OT. You will see His compassion, His love, His mercy, who will deliver, who will free, who is constantly working to set straight those whom He shepherds.
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| My mind is perverted. |
| 03.03.04 (9:13 am) [edit] |
My mind is perverted. (nice lead-in, eh?) I battled that for years as a Christian, always asking God to take it away from me, and always plagued with base impulses. Then I realized that I gave it to God the first time.
If you sign over your property to me, don't comfort yourself if I don't take if from you the first day, or even the first week. It is mine and I'll take it when I want to take it. Such is the nature of what we give God.
Well, from that revelation I quit asking God to take it from me, and instead I thanked God that He already had it. Slowly but surely, progress was made. I would still check out the occasional naughty pic, but afterward I did not wallow in it. I did not comfort me, and it did not suit me, so I would just thank God that I gave that idol to Him. ... and I can't believe my mind's purity these days. I am wondering what happened to the pervert that used to live up there. But, who knows what I might do later on today ... however, I'll still be thankful that God has it and I don't have to keep asking Him to take it even if I fall.
That might be a shocking story, but more radical to me is the unbelief I had when I was juggling the struggle - tossing it to God, but catching it on the way down and tossing it again, and again, and again ... until I thought that I would just have to keep it forever.
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| Do you think that the church needs more New Testament miracles? |
| 03.03.04 (9:09 am) [edit] |
Don't you think that the church needs more New Testament miracles? I do. If the world could see more New Testament miracles in the church then it would be more difficult for them to blow-off the Gospel, right?
So, what am I talking about when I say miracles? Would walking on water turn a few heads? How about some people raised from the dead?
Actually, that is not what I am talking about at all. Those might be interesting and sensational to watch, but next to the miracles that I am thinking of ... walking on water and raising the dead are a piece of cake. I am talking about when a husband walks across the room to the wife that just cut him down, and rather then returning the blow, he kisses her instead ... his natural instinct would prefer drowning then do that! I am talking about a wife that meets her husband in the morning with breakfast in bed after a painful betrayal ... in the natural she would sooner drop dead then do that!
When the rod given to Moses turned into a snake, the magicians in the court had no problem duplicating the same stunt. But when it comes to someone returning good for the evil that happened to them ... nobody will duplicate that before they are transformed by the true and living God. Those are miracles that defy explanation except to say that God has made a difference in their life.
Don't expect the church to turn any heads, unless Christ has impacted our hearts to the point that we are willing to turn the other cheek.
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| Why do we care about gas prices? and OCD rambling. |
| 03.02.04 (4:26 pm) [edit] |
I was following my dad on a road trip, and he stopped for gas. "I would have stoped at the Texaco, but this was only 147.9 and Texaco was 148.9," he explained.
"Well," I replied, "I think that I will buy a gumball with my dime. What are you going to do with the 10 cents that you save." (he knows that I am a sarcastic person just as I know that he is a tight wad.)
The funny thing is that I get obsessed by stuff like that. Some times the little things steal the most life, if we let them.
Here is a little thing that used to dominate my life when I was a kid. I always looked at the floor and watched the intersection of lines on the floor from shadows or patterned decorations. I would try to navigate the room without steping on a border of a shadow or something like that.
Pretty OCD, eh?
I guess that started when I walked to school. We had a concrete curb on an asphalt street. There was no side-walk so we walked in the street. About every 4 feet there was a joint in the concrete that I walked on, like the lines in the sidewalk. That is when I learned to walk without stepping on a crack, and got obsessed with it. Perhaps I was told the rhyme about breaking your mother's back by stepping on a crack or something.
I know people that still freakout on things like that, though I don't do that any more. It is a kind of prison, and I know that clean-freaks or obsessive people want to be rid of their mental games. I sure know that I wanted to.
I think that it ended when I just decided to ignore the geometric shapes on the floor and step wherever my foot landed. It felt weird at first and soon, I wasn't bothered by the shadows or patterns any more.
... and thats all I have to say about that.
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| Highlights of the Oscars (there wasn't much) |
| 03.02.04 (3:43 pm) [edit] |
funny? Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller were funny in their little tux and Strarsky routine. I also thought that the lyrical version of the hurry-up song was brilliant by Jack Black and whats-his-face from SNL.
Billy Crystal is funny, but I won't miss him too much if they find a replacement.
All in all, it was boring and too long. I did not watch much, but I would not have missed much if I did not watch at all.
The part when they did songs from movies was the worst. All three songs stunk up the place.
That is my take. Agree?
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| Friends don't let friend "Trade Spaces" |
| 03.01.04 (9:38 pm) [edit] |
Yeah, but I can't help but watch it ... even the re-runs. It is like watching a train-wreck most of the time. My wife and all have renamed TLC's "Trading Spaces" as "Trainwreck Spaces."
There is only one designer that won't disappoint - Vern!
Ah, the greatness of the Vern.
Heather and I met him at a builder show in Houston, and Vern is not only a really great designer ... Vern is a terrific guy, with limitless patience. Not only did he let Heather and I whip his ass ... there was a long line before us and after us.
Each person in line was treated like a friend by Vern ...
Golden!
Sometime, when I am in a pissy mood, I'll reflect on Hilda/"Hildie" ... or as we call her - "Hildes" made to sound like Hades. Or when I am more disagreeable, I'll give you a bleeding ear about how much worse Page is then the first host, Alex.
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| A perspective about "The Passion" PART2 - (a continuation of PART1) |
| 03.01.04 (9:12 pm) [edit] |
A perspective about "The Passion" PART2 - a continuation of [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]Part1[/url]
What gives you passion to endure all things?
Besides the unconditional forgiveness and love, that struck me, I could not get over the strength of purpose that Jesus exhibited. In a word - PASSION.
Do you remember sitting there watching the adversity and wondering "how can He go on under all that stress? What is fueling Him?" I sure did. What can make a human stand up after being beaten within an inch of their life, just so they can take another beating? Who would not be defeated, by the cruelty and unjustly made to carry the cross? I would have been defeated much earlier, I thought to myself.
"My food is to do the will of the Father" - Jesus
At the beginning of the film, we see that Jesus wants to do as the Father commands, and that His body is terribly stressed against Him, to the point of shedding blood through sweat. But, once the decision is made, He stands with the conviction of the decision that He has taken and crushes the serpents head. From then, His PASSION is told beautifully in the movie, of how nothing could keep Him from His goal - the accomplishment of our redemption through the shedding of His blood.
I've seen this, that I can take on the world when I know what I am doing is right ... but even when I had to "sell" something at work, I could not lift a finger unless I KNEW that what I was selling was in their best interest to buy. If it wasn't a good deal, then I was too defeated to even present it to an enemy.
Disobedience saps my strength and leaves me defeated. When I invite a way into my life that is not THE Way, and am crippled and undone so easily. My strength is gone, my song is gone, and even what is sweet begins to taste bitter on my tongue.
Once my boss told me to deceive customers, and under that oppression my morale for work was wasted away. I had no drive. No PASSION.
When I feel defeated, I know that the disintegration of myself is telling me something. I have invited a way into my life that is not THE Way, every time I feel that I cannot go on. Conversely, every time that I have strength to spare, and the passion to do more then I thought possible, it has been at times that I am doing what I am passionate about.
I won't brag that I have more obedience then a common person you might meet at the street, but I will witness to the times that I have been obedient. At those times I know where the "strength to go on" came from in Christ. Obedience gives me a spring in my step, and a twinkle in my eye, and a song on my lips. Obedience to a specific calling, has been like a berry in my mouth ... making everything in life taste sweet.
Was obedience the berry in Jesus' mouth, that helped Him endure and persevere under the dire circumstances? I tend to think that it had a lot to do with it.
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