The Blind Side and Black Friday

So in reality, I’m at home sick today and bored beyond belief with no options left but to try and find yet another thing to keep me sane on an otherwise uneventful day. Fair warning to anyone reading that today’s post is nothing more than a stab at creativity mixed with a dose of boredom. What better way to kill the bored at home blues than breathing life into an otherwise abandoned blog? (From here on out I will do my best to avoid anymore pointless alliteration of the letter “B”).

My thoughts today gravitate toward the darker side of current events and news stories of late. Reading both online and in the paper about the current state of joblessness both locally and nationally, the disappointing truth about home mortgages and foreclosures, and the feeling of apprehension as the holidays approach ever more steadily as bank accounts and job security decline more and more gradually. Will the bells and whistles and deals and bargains of the approaching Black Friday provide the financial relief that it seems to promise for the holiday shopper? I contemplate my own bank account and how I might manage to get even a little something for each of my loved ones as I struggle from paycheck to paycheck and analyze my very own job (in)security.

But somehow I am not discouraged and will not be dismayed. Deep down I know that if I am unable to afford Christmas gifts for my family members and friends, they won’t care, for even one second. Deep down I know that Christmas for me has nothing to do with presents or lack thereof, rather I know that it has everything to do with the time that I can set aside to be with them without any other worldly distractions. I know that were I to find myself in the worst of places with no job and no way to pay my bills, God will and does provide. I was reminded of the goodness that is in people just this past week as I went to go see The Blind Side with my girlfriend (http://www.theblindsidemovie.com/). I know that that same desire and calling to help others who are in need lives within me and I know that it lives in those I love as well when I find myself in need.

So as I contemplate the poor outlook that the media offers on the state of our country, our economy, and our neighbors and friends, I find myself reminded of the good that keeps things going. Today, I am not worried about whether or not I will have a job next year, I am not worried about what gadgets will be on sale this Friday, I am not worried about what I can or can’t afford to give as presents this year, and I am not worried about everything else everyday media decides to recall to my attention and the attention of those around me. I am simply content knowing that I believe in a God who saves, who endures, who protects, and who loves me.

Those are the thoughts that I have to offer today and I hope that they might serve someone out there well. To anyone who took the time to read all of this I commend you and I thank you for believing in me enough that if you kept reading you might find something valuable in what I had to say. Now, to go finish today’s crossword puzzle…

failblog.org

The greatest invention since the light bulb.

http://failblog.org/

That is all.

Revisiting an old post: SET

The word SET has the most definitions of any word in the English language. SET has 464 definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary. Here’s how the others stack up:
RUN – 396 (defs.)
GO – 368
TAKE – 343
STAND – 334
GET – 289
TURN – 288
PUT – 268
FALL – 264
STRIKE – 250

Source: http://puzzles.about.com/library/weekly/blmosdef.htm

I wanted to revisit this post because in re-reading it I was inspired. So maybe you will be inspired by my new insight…

SET your eyes on the goal. RUN! GO! TAKE a STAND! GET TURNed in the right direction. PUT your past FALLs and failures behind you. STRIKE fear in the enemies heart!

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.” – Philippians 3:12-14

The Price of Fame

Everyone wants to be famous in some way, to be recognized as special and important and different than the rest. Some are satisfied in small ways and others seek the spotlight their whole lives in big ways. Some are happy to please just one important person in their lives and others dream of being the next American Idol, the next teen heartthrob, the next Hollywood “rags to riches” success story. But what exactly is the price of being famous, being a star?

TLC runs a program called “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ following the lives of husband and wife, Jon and Kate Gosselin, and their 8 young children. Recently Jon was rumoured to be having an affair with a 23-year-old school teacher and now Kate is rumoured to be having an affair with her bodyguard Steve Neild. She says this about the situation:

“[I]n this situation, your circle grows smaller and smaller, and it’s very natural to become friends with your manager, your publicist, your security team … they’re the only people you have left. And now they’re coming under fire… [We] willingly made a conscious decision to put [oursevles] out there. Our friends and family did not. I had no idea we would potentially take down the people that we love around us.”

I think her reaction says it all. In pursuing fame, she not only lost her former friends, but the friends that she has left are being attacked and devoured by the media.

^“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8

The Worship Show

Where do I look when I worship?
What am I looking at?
Who am I looking at?
Who should I be looking for?
Where should I look?

God is omnipresent but nowhere to be seen; so where should I look during worship? Look where God is. Don’t watch worship. Where do you see God? He’s not the performers on stage. He’s not the words on the screen. God isn’t in the rafters. He’s not in the lights. He’s not in the candles. God made the trees but He doesn’t live in the leaves that blow along in the powerpoint background. He made the sky but He’s not in the clouds moving across the screen behind the words. He doesn’t live inside the hymnals and He doesn’t exude His essence out of the wooden pews.

Oh, to be blind that I wouldn’t have to worry about where to look during worship…

Paul David Washer

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=19fd9c84c942a08316e0

Watch this video… Listen intently. Ask yourself tough questions.

 

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

— Brennan Manning

Stones for Crosses

Go to my friend’s blog and read the post “Stones for Crosses.”

http://withutmostdaring.blogspot.com/2008/03/stones-for-crosses.html

osem song

Grace, a 6-year-old, wrote me a song… Here it is:

J-Shmo is a rook star
senieg like a wilbe beset
he is a 212 rooking star
ps he is are bethr
also he wrkes for Jseese
he is osem I like

[Translation:]
J-Mo is a rock star
Singing like a wild beast
He is a 212 rocking star
P.S. He is our brother
Also he works for Jesse
He is awesome, I like

To vote or not to vote…

That really is my question.

Since I turned 18 in 2005, I have told people with consistency every time the subject of voting came up that I was not planning on voting… ever. Not because I don’t care about our government or politics, but simply because I don’t care enough. I don’t think it’s fair for me to contribute my vote when I don’t take the time to research the issues and candidates and vote simply “Republican” or “Democrat” based on which mood I’m in. I’m politically apathetic for the most part so I see my vote as having really no value and probably doing more harm than good by being ultimately uninterested.

 That said, let me now say this: I might vote simply to add one more vote against Hillary Clinton. It’s not that I don’t like women, I don’t like women that give women a bad name. So you see my dilemma: to vote (for the good of all mankind) or not to vote (just to prove I’m not a liar)… that is the question.

robell and Kyle

Last night I went to see Rob Bell speak in Indy at the Murat Theatre with several friends. He spoke for probably around an hour-and-a-half and I left feeling inspired by his words. As we dragged our feet leaving the theatre talking about what we just heard, we saw Rob in the lobby so we went over to where he was to say hi and thanks. We left with autographs that said “robell” and I personally left with surprise at the fact that he was taller than me.

Change scene: a pizza place in downtown Indy. My friends and I sat and discussed Rob’s words and other things about life, love, and happiness while we ate pizza. As we were leaving we were stopped by a man sitting by himself, the only other one in the pizza place; we later found out his name was Kyle and despite all of his life’s circumstances, he was a follower of Christ. In writing I’m not sure if I can describe Kyle and the conversation we had with him for the next couple of hours. What I can say is that I was more pleased to have had that conversation I had with Kyle that night than I was pleased to have heard Rob Bell speak.

Last night I heard “robell” speak inspiring words and I had an inspiring and challenging conversation with a man named Kyle… awesome.