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| i'm on the soap box |
| 03.31.05 (12:43 am) [edit] |
hello fellow believers. i'd like to take just a minute and give you a little pep talk.
how many of you have non-christian friends? not just people you work with or the other parents at little johnny's soccer practice, but real live friends. people you hang out with, go to dinner with, have over to the house.
if the answer is not many then i suggest that you upon completion of reading go out and find some. why, you may ask, because dear bretheren that is exactly what Jesus did.
did you ever wonder why the religious folk of the day would comment so much on the fact that Jesus ate with whores and tax collectors. He did it to reach them. the religious folk didn't want Him to because what if they actually came to the synygog. why they were unclean and they might rub it all over us.
same thing happens today. religious folk are ok if you come to church and CHANGE, but hey stay away if you ain't gonna be like us.
we all love the drug addict who wants to clean up and get right with Jesus, but let's go on down to the clinic and stand outside and yell MURDERER-WHORE-KILLER!!!
oh we want that alchoholic to give up the demon booze, but let's not go to the bar with fellow co-workers and create relationships, why that would just not be very spiritual.
let's get real. let's be real. if we can't reach out to those who are not like us then who is going to? if you are not strong enough in your faith after years and years of practice to be able to hang out in "the world" then you may not be as mature as you believe yourself to be.
let me give you one little example. there is a certain time of year when almost everyone in your neighborhood lets you come and knock on thier door and they give you stuff. it's that evil devil day. october 31, halloween. have you ever thought that instead of going to your churches lame substitute, you just might stay home and meet some people in your nieghborhood. give out some candy and hey maybe even a little track, heck maybe just the candy and forget the track. nope, wouldn't want to give the impression that you condone satanic holidays. well can you give me a better time to meet people who aren't church folk?
enough of my rambling, you know what's right. it may be a little uncomfortable, but try it you just might be surprised at how God may use little ol you.
P.S.
just a few more examples of where you can meet the non-church going crowd and create relatioships that can lead to evangelism:
company softball leauge
weekly poker game co-worker has
go to lunch with an unsaved person day (even if they want to go to hooters)
take a meal to dave in accounting who's wife just had a baby
go out with the guys from the shop to thier local watering hole shoot some pool, throw some darts, and maybe even (gasp) drink a beer with them.
invite your neighbor to dinner at your house
start a neighborhood can food drive
join the chamber of commerce (the non-christian one)
the list keeps going and going and going...
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| what do we have in common? |
| 03.24.05 (3:28 pm) [edit] |
what do a witch from the upper middle class, a trappist monk, a misister from dallas, a professor, and some guy who works for wal-mart have in common? we are all bloggers and we post stuff in the religion section, but that's really not all. we are human, we have families, and we share our beliefs, at least here, in what i think is a very honest and genuine way. not to say that others don't but these folks i can't wait to read. when i log on the first thing i do is look at all their blogs to see if they have added a new morsel of honesty.
we don't all agree on everything, but that's cool. it gives us the opportunity to have interaction with people who probably aren't in our regualr social circle. i mean i don't know any monks except here so i am blessed to have that opportunity. i don't know any witches, wiccan, either except here so i can ask stuoid questions and get answers or just read and find out thing that i have been curios about.
these people i truly believe are used by God in my life to help me see and understand different points of view.
all this makes me wonder how hard do i try in "real" life to get to know others who aren't like me? not very much and that makes me sad. Jesus, wasn't like that. He was all the time with people who were outside his social-economic group. He made it a point in His life to be friends with those who were not "religious" heck not even jewish. i need to start doing that more. it is always rewarding, and it gives me an opportunity to share the gospel, but most of all it gives me the opportunity to make new friends.
to those of you who i am writing about, and you know who you are i hope, thank you for being genuine, and thank you for sharing your ideas and thought.
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| the issue at hand |
| 03.21.05 (9:17 pm) [edit] |
Terri Schiavo has been in the news for years and years. her plight and that of her husband and parents is heart wrenching, and difficult to grasp if you have never been in the situation.
on one hand you have a set of loving parents who hope againts hope that medical science can bring their daughter back to them. they believe that she would want to live and to let her die would be a sin.
her husband on the other hand believes he knows his wife's wishes. he says she never wanted to be kept alive by machines.
who do you believe? both have pros and cons in their arguments. so who do you believe?
i believe that life is sacred and that we must do all we can to save it, yet i also agree with those who sign a DNR order so that no heroic measure be taken to save a terminal life.
i find that the issue at hand is much more closly related to the later.
i used to be able to make snap judgments about these situations. give me a situation and i'd rattle off the standard right-wing evangelical response, lately it hasn't been that easy. am i becoming a liberal? i don't thnk so, what i think is happening in my life is i am able to see "spin" more clearly.
her husband all along has been adament that her wishes were not to be kept alive by machines. why would he lie? unless he is a phycopathic killer then why would he want and fight so hard to see her wishes out. i truly think that he is acting out of love and concern for his wife. if he were a heartless cad he would have just ducked out and said OK mom and dad you take her i'm out.
instead he risks his reputation, and life, literally. you know he has received death threats from zealots. he gets harrassed as a murderer and general creep, yet he goes on.
Terri's parents too are acting out of love. they hope that their daughter given time and new technologies will get better. they want nothing more in this life than to see she gets a fair chance. they pray and ask for support and have exhausted all resources to maintain their daughters life.
i'm sure they have gotten their fair share of zealot abuse as well, but they continue on in their vigil to save their daughter.
so who is right and who is wrong? i don't know, and i have been searching for an answer since i first heard about this case years ago.
i see both sides.
i see the rightness of wanting to preserve the life of your lovely daughter. the pain of seeing the one you saw take her first step lying on a bed with a far away stare, but hoping that she will wake up and be "normal" again.
i see the rightness of wanting the one you chose above all others to have her wish of not being kept alive artificially. the pain of knowing nothing can be done and she will never wake up and be "normal" again.
and please before you respond with comments i know Terri's husband has a new family and i am quite OK with that. he realized long ago that he must move on to keep his life going even though hers is slipping.
take away the "spin" and you get 3 people who love one person and want to see the best for her. so who's right?
no one will win. peoples lives will be drastically changed forever no matter what happens and Terri will never recover. our responsibility as chritians then is to show love to both sides and to comfort the hurting lives in both camps. stop throwing stones and calling names and be an example of Christ.
at times like this is think i understand most what it means to be in the world but not of it. no matter how the judge rules we are to be an example of Christ. putting our faith not in laws of man, but in the God who created us all. knowing that life is not fair, but rather it is fragile and fleeting. all the money in the world will not bring Terri back, and yet not all the money in the world will replace her life.
i'm sure that you have your own opinion, and this is mine. the real sin is not letting her live or die it is the "spin" we put on the issue. tragedy is used by agents supporting both sides for political gain, with no real regard for the individuals. they are but pawns in a media circus used for sound bites and ratings. the real sin is our inability to see both sides of an issue and long for the wisdom of solomon.
as a reformed believer i know that God's purpose will be served and that His will is being and will be done. i may never know how or why, but i am confident that God is God and we need only to pray for the comfort and salvation of those who we agree and disagree with because after all there but by the grace of God go i.
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| i'm so in love |
| 03.13.05 (7:22 pm) [edit] |
my wife of 14 years, 15 in november, is the most monderful person i have ever met. she is kind, and gentle. she is genuine and warm. she loves me and i really have no idea why. most of the time i think i'm pretty unloveable.
she is a great woman. she has the unique ability to see through all the crap of life and find the very best. she is easy to talk to and always knows what to say.
she is a good friend and although she would say she has few friends the ones that she has are quality relationships that she spends real time on.
she has little time for herself, and gives her all to what she is doing. she is a great employee, tons of great performance reviews, and the people she works for appreciate her and trust her. she is a good supervisor and always gets the job done.
she is a most excellent mother who always makes time for the "little" things like actually spending time with the kids, reading with them, talking with them, and making sure they are doing well.
mostly though she is the light of my life. she is the reason i get up in the morning. God gave her to me because he knew i needed her and for that i am grateeful forever.
i love her with all my heart, mind, and soul. she is the love of my life and i pray i am worthy of her.
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| today i feel a little sad |
| 03.08.05 (5:55 pm) [edit] |
two and a half years ago we lost a baby due to a miscariage.
it still hurts. i know i will never get over it. we survived and moved on and God even blessed us with another child, but i will never get over it.
whatever your take on life is, mine is that it begins at conception and so this was and is a real child. to lose her, was horrible and for months i wasn't able to think of much else. i blamed myself because when we found out about the pregnancy i was not overjoyed, i was quite frankly not even happy. i was worried and concerned. we had not planned another child, and i was not "ready" for another one.
so after she died, i blamed myself. i said God was punishing me for not being excited. He was showing me how precious even an unplanned life is. i know that that is bad theology. I suppsoe i even knew it then, but i needed someone to blame and i chose God and me.
nothing will ever take the place of my daughter, Charity Grace. she is missed and will be forever. i wrote a poem for her after she died and i would like to share it for the first time.
CHARITY GRACE
I am undone with grief over your lost life.
I know you are not dead just gone from me.
I do not know when I will see you.
I will see you I promise.
I will see you in heaven where all things are perfect.
I will hold you in my arms and kiss you on your cheek.
I will know you by the way you laugh.
I will see you I promise.
I cry at night when no one else hears.
I scream in my pillow.
I feel numb and lifeless.
I will see you I promise.
I want to hold you now.
I do not want to wait.
I will though because I must
I will see you I promise.
I will grieve forever in this life.
I look forward to heaven.
I will see you then.
I will see you I promise.
i don't know why but today is a hard day. i've been thinking about her a lot, and i miss her. i'm going to go and hug my other girls now, and remind them of thier sister in heaven.
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| broken dream, dream again |
| 03.02.05 (3:49 pm) [edit] |
this song, like many others of his, totally breaks my heart and then lifts me up.
[b][u]broken dreams dream again[/u][/b]
somewhere, a girl cries, love gone wrong
somewhere, a mother cries, her son is gone
somewhere, two parents fight
somewhere, a child hides, in the darkness
broken dreams, broken dreams, broken dreams
keep on haunting me
manipulation takes it's toll
soul left stale and bruised
tricked by the ones that say they love you
hurt by the ones that really do
broken dreams, broken dreams, these broken dreams
keep on haunting me
somewhere, a junkie finds his arm again
his eyes are too blinded to see the hurt within
somewhere, a baby finds his mother in a pool of blood
razor blade on the floor
she's was just a whore
with dreams left no more
so if your tired lay your head down
there will be a visitor soon
when you hear the knocking
just go ahead and let Him on in
and dream, dream again
won't you now dream, dream again?
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| some more things i think |
| 03.02.05 (12:14 am) [edit] |
salt-water taffy sux
gin and tonic is the best summer time adult beverage
how wal-mart got to be as big as they are is a mystery (trust me i work there)
people miss out on a lot when they don't try new things
schedules are a neccesity being spontaneous is a must
people you work with are usually the best part of your job
pop-up blockers rule
i need to get away from explorer and try mozilla
e-mailing an old friend and getting no response is sad
america's poor are rich compared to most of the world
i like to dip snuff and my wife dislikes that i do
i need to put my theology on hold and find a church for my kids
the above statement will be very hard to do
i like to blog, but i don't write enough
if you read all this you probably think i'm a loser, but i'm really not. well maybe i am, and i am just fooling myself, or then again maybe you think i'm great, and in reality i am a loser. one thing is for sure i am who i am and that is the truth.
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