Wow! What an awesome experience this past Sunday as we attended the Chris Tomlin in Evansville. Initially I didn’t want to go. I had wanted something more rock, but I was changed forever last Sunday night. Standing there, with thousands of others, praising God.
You can’t imagine how wonderful it was to see your child standing there with her arms raised praising freely.
God is so good.
I simply couldn’t let this one go without posting here. As usual… the mainstream media and Hollywood think they can continue to slander Jesus and get away with it.
“Now, look, a lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. He didn’t help me a bit. If it was up to him, Cesar Millan would be up here with that damn dog. So all I can say is suck it Jesus, this award is my God now.”
Full article is here: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Kathy Griffin Tells Jesus to Suck It
It’s time to take a stand. It’s up to you though… are you going to sit there, or are you going to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT ALREADY! Jesus stood up for me, and I’m going to stand up for him!
It’s time for Christians to stand up and say, “Enough is Enough!” The name of Jesus Christ should not be mocked, nor should those who love Him be slandered for their beliefs. It is time for people of faith around the country to stand firm against religious slander, bias, and bigotry of all types including Christianity.
So, here are 3 simple things you can do to make a difference.
Simple, easy, powerful. One Voice
Additional Links:
http://www.miracletheater.com/
http://www.voanews.com/english/Entertainment/2007-09-24-voa36.cfm
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j7tOaP6cK9zqSPR6KnqJNxyVWCzQ
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09122007/tv/censor_kathy_griffin.htm
Over the past few months, and more dramatically the past few weeks, I’ve been going through a change. It’s hard to say that I’m a changed person since I’m looking from the inside out, but I feel different and I see things differently than I did just 4 months ago. I know I have many more steps to take before I get where I want to be, but I do feel I’m moving in the right direction. Who knows… maybe my wife will comment and tell me it’s all in my head. 
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in my Bible as much as I have been lately. It’s been an equally long time since I talked to God for more than just a few minutes. Our conversations were usually about me thanking him, then asking for stuff. It wasn’t really much of a conversation as much as it was a laundry list of things I wanted to happen. In the end, while I realized that God wasn’t some restaurant attendant who was sent to wait on my every need, thats exactly how I was treating Him.
I may have learned these things a long time ago, but after backsliding for many, many years I finally understand them again. God’s not here for me, I’m here for Him. The more I realize that, the easier life gets.
I’ve learned that God gives us all spiritual gifts. Some people have the gift of serving and go into ministry. Some people have the gift of prophecy and carry the message of God to others. Some gifts stretch far outside the church walls. Teachers may have the spiritual gift of teaching. Doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel may have the gift of healing, or helping. But just because your gift isn’t considered “spiritual” doesn’t mean that God didn’t give it to you for his purpose.
If everything is from God and to be used for His glory, then everything we do well is more or less a spiritual gift from God. A friend of mine that I game with has often asked me out of the blue if I was on a 3 day rotation at work. He can sense the tension in my voice and has often talked me down from being angry or upset. For all I know God may have given him the gift of counseling. My wife definitely has the gift of levelheadedness. Even though it may take a while for me to realize it, she’s usually right and has many times kept me from shooting my mouth off about situations that I wasn’t happy about.
So where’s all this going. Well, I’m at a crossroads now. For a while I’ve felt like I am supposed to be doing something. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I feel like I’m supposed to be doing something for God. While I’m not fearful, or hesitant about what I’m supposed to do, there is a bit of anxiety surrounding this situation. I know that I’m not supposed to move until directed by God. I know that if I don’t do what He wants then I’m doomed to fail. I know that my main goal should be to spread Gods word and to further His kingdom. The question is what…
God Gave me two things that I really enjoy doing in which I’m also pretty good at. One is working on computers, the second is hiking. Personally, while I enjoy working on computers in some aspects, I don’t think that’s where God is calling me to move. I get too frustrated and have been known to throw mice and keyboards when things aren’t going as they’re supposed to. I know, I know… I definitely need the spirit of patience, but thats another subject. That leaves hiking. I’ve got some ideas in mind but I really need to know that this is Gods will.
God’s moving, thats a given. The question is; is it time for me to move, and if so is this the right path?
Over the past few weeks I’ve been browsing blogs that other people have. Most of the time I search for hiking or backpacking blogs. I’ve found lots of good information about climbing mountains and seen some beautiful pictures. Something today led me to search another category; Christianity.
I typed in the word Christian and was almost immediately overcome with grief. I don’t understand why, but only about 1 in 15 reports were pro Christian and while I didn’t read the blogs in their entirety, it was easy to tell that Satan was using people to do his bidding online.
We all know that God has already won the battle. We’ve already seen his grace and mercy. The problem is that many haven’t. It’s time to pray and pray hard! We need to realize that there is a generation of youth who are being influenced by what they see on the net.
Let me make it a bit more real for you; my kids, your kids, your siblings… It’s this generation that need our prayer most of all.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working through Rick Warren’s book Purpose Driven Life. I have been able to see some areas in my life that really need improvement, and since I began reading I have made a concerted effort to change those areas in my life.
Yesterday I witnessed a video at work about the fire service given at a conference. The video talked about Pride, Valor, Honor, Integrity… unfortunately words that haven’t been in the forefront of our minds until lately. Over the past few years, there have been some problems with the administration and a lot of firefighters, myself included, didn’t feel like doing anything more than was absolutely necessary. That has changed a lot lately.
I’ve learned that there are always going to be people at any job who just want to skate by. I’ve understood the fact that there will always be officers who don’t care about doing things the right way, just like there will be firefighters who don’t care about doing anything at all. The question that I had to answer was; do I want to be like them?
I’ve always had a love for the fire service. Approximately 15 years ago I attended Daytona Beach Community College where I became a certified firefighter. I had pride in my profession then… why did I lose it? I can blame it on the environment, but thats only part of the problem. If I don’t have my priorities right, and realized that everything I do is for God’s glory, then I’m not going to do my best.
And that’s exactly what I need to do; my best.
While I’m not a card carrying, pocket protector member of the geek culture, I still consider myself a geek to some extent. I’m a linux phreak, tech junkie, email addict, and all around computer nerd.
I ran across this guys page while looking up solutions for a problem I’m having with iTunes. I especially like his title “Tech / Faith / Life”. It’s real cool to find other Christians out there who share the same interests as me. God knows Kristie doesn’t understand my desire to recompile kernel drivers to properly integrate my Treo into Evolution.
The Supreme Court today upheld a law passed by Congress in 2003 and signed by President Bush banning partial-birth abortions. Quite honestly, any form of abortion should be banned in my opinion unless the procedure is done SOLELY to save the life of the mother. However, as we have to take these things one step at a time, the ruling by the Supreme Court gives the anti-abortion movement one of its biggest legal victories.
Doctors and others who challenged the law maintained that this procedure minimizes damage to the uterus and therefore is the best to use in late term pregnancy. Honestly, if you’re having an abortion simply because you decided motherhood wasn’t your thing, then your uterus should be damaged. Maybe this would cause people to think about motherhood a bit more before knocking the bottle back and hopping in bed with the guy at the end of the bar.
Oh…. and by the way. I will NOT be voting for Obama if he’s nominated for the office of President of the United States. He’s quoted as saying “I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women… I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman’s right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women.“
Personally…. I hope state legislators take whatever measures they need to outlaw abortions. If I don’t have the right to go out and off someone, why does a woman have the right to off her own kid?
No, thats not exactly right either. Lets use the right word… “…why does a woman have the right to MURDER her own kid?”
It amazes me that if someone tries to injure themselves the law will lock them up in a mental institution, yet the same people won’t even bat an eye at organized murder. What is this world coming to?
More information can be found here: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/04/supreme_court_f.html and here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/us/18cnd-scotus.html?em&ex=1177041600&en=3427ebb38274c478&ei=5087%0A
Remember that Easter isn’t about the eggs, the chocolate, or the bunny.
It’s about the Lamb of God.
You may remember reading about the firefighter I know with who had a loss in the family due to cancer. Unfortunately, this same fire fighter’s wife has been diagnosed with cancer also. Because he is quiet and reserved about family matters, no other information was given. Please pray for him and his family, and remember how important your own family is.
In a discussion we are having on Kampfire, a “catch-all” discussion group that we BGTers use to keep our editors from yelling at us for posting irrelevant information in the wrong group, people were talking about Jesus and the Law of Moses. As part of the discussion I posted a link to the group that
“Elaborates a bit more clearly and in depth than I can on Jesus and the Low of Moses.”
Needless to say, with all the editors that frequent Kampfire, someone picked up on the “Low” part and responded
“Moses was depressed?”
And of course, someone else hopped on that bandwagon too. Heres the response that was too funny not to post here.
“Are you kidding? Think about it. You grow up as a Prince of Egypt. Life is good.
Then God shows up and tells Moses that he’s going to go on a backpacking trip with 500,000 Jews. If that’s not enough to give a man a seizure, these Jews turn out to be miserable, complaining, ungrateful whiners. The good news is that after the backpacking trip, they would enter the Promised Land and everything would be good.
Maybe Moses thought that a nice backpacking trip would be OK, and the Promised Land sounds nice, but then this backpacking trip LASTS 40 YEARS WITH 500,000 JEWS BREATHING DOWN HIS NECK THE WHOLE TIME!
Then, at the end of it, God takes Moses up to a high mountain and says, “Hey, Moses, you see all that? That’s the Promised Land! That’s what you’ve been dragging my Chosen People around for 40 years for, and THAT, my friend, is the reward.”
“Well, THANK GOD!”
“You’re welcome. One small catch. You can’t go there. Neither can anyone who was alive when you left Egypt. Real sorry about that and all, but I’m God, so there. Ha-Ha!”
You’d be depressed too.”
Every year it seems like Christmas is getting here faster and faster. I can hardly believe we’re already 7 days into December. Wasn’t it just two weeks ago that kids were getting dressed up in their Halloween (All Saints Day) costumes for a night out? I seem to recall just yesterday we were sitting around the dinner table having Thanksgiving turkey; it was BBQ for me though. With age 32 approaching this February, and 40 grasping at my heels, I can’t afford to have time pass this quickly! As our daily lives get lost in the shuffle of buying presents, after school activities, and work it’s no wonder we tend to forget the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe that’s why it has become so easy for retail stores to remove the word Christmas for their advertising campaigns.[1] Lets take some time out to remember why we celebrate Christmas, reflect on the meaning, and realize what CHRISTmas is all about.
Something hit me the other day that really struck a nerve about the true meaning of Christmas. We all know that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ: God’s son sent to earth to pay for our sins. He was the one true sacrifice that could finally bridge the gap between our eternal Heavenly Father and mankind, essentially transforming all our past sins and transgressions into nothing more than “water under the bridge”. Have you thought about the intricacies of this statement though. Through Jesus we can now talk directly to God, give him praise, ask for forgiveness, pray for our loved ones, etc.
I got to thinking about this after watching the local news station last night and simply couldn’t believe some of the things that I was hearing! News about an Ohio couple who have been charged with keeping their adopted “special needs” kids in cages has been all over both world and local news for the past few weeks. To think that someone would essentially torture a child is utterly incomprehensible in and of itself, but to do this to to a child thats been placed in your care because it needs special attention and love is all but unforgivable.
What about the woman in MI who gave her injected her 12-year-old newphew with heroin, have you heard about her. No guys, I’m not making this up, it’s all in black and white. Who could even conceive of this as being a good idea? Have we deteriorated as a society to the point that this is becoming acceptable behavior?
Yea, I know what you are thinking; anyone can look across the country and find an incident that is unconscionable. For those of you on that fence we’ll look at a story that broke last night in Evansville, IN (about 40 miles away). Somehow Ransom “Ty” Vanlue thought it would be a good idea to watch porn naked with at least four, ten- and eleven-year-old female girls in the room, in addition to various other sex acts he’s committed over the past year.
But wait, I’ve saved the worst for last. Straight from CNN: Mom charged with baby’s microwave death. Yes, you read it right; she put her own baby in a microwave oven and killed it. In no way can this be attributed to an accident. That would be absolutely ludicrous. This was cold blooded murder of her newborn daughter.
Maybe this is nothing more than a rant or maybe I’m going off the deep end here, but with all the negativity in our world today I can’t help but feel that there is another meaning to Christmas that people so often forget; something that we miss when ripping the paper off our new Playstation 3, or setting up the Widescreen HDTV for the first time. It’s been said before, but it is worth mentioning again.
The reason wasn’t for religion, but for a relationship; and what we don’t often realize is the fact that the relationship isn’t just about us.
Jesus died for my sins, for your sins, and for the sins of the world but in doing so he’s also opened a way for us to approach the Father on behalf of others. You may donate to Goodwill, drop a few dollars in the Salvation Army bucket outside your local retailer, or even adopt a Tree Angel and help someone have a happy Christmas, but please remember this; above all pray. Pray for the children who can’t take care of themselves, pray that God wraps his arms around the innocent and shields them with his love, and pray that our world stops worry about who we’re going to offend by saying Merry Christmas and start worrying about who we’re going to save.
For those of you who have been listening to WayFM on 101.5 in Madisonville, you’ve probably noticed that the clarity of the station has been quite poor at times. Others of you may have not been able to listen to WayFM at all because of the signal strength or constant static.
I have good news! WayFM has changed frequencies and is now broadcasting on 90.5. I hopped in the Jeep this morning heading out to do errands, tuned the station to 101.5 and all I got was static. At first I wondered if the station was down yet again, but after remembering that they were switching frequencies, I turned to 90.5 and heard the most beautiful sounds ever. No Static, No drop-outs, just pure clean Christian music!
Thank you WayFM for sticking it out in Madisonville!
Tired of dealing with the Devil Bill Gates?
All joking aside, I found this online and was really pleased to see that there are Christians out there who are willing to promote Godly moral values. If you’re looking into linux and want to promote a good cause.
Ubuntu Christian Edition is a free, open source operating system geared towards Christians. It is based on the popular Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with both community and professional support.
The goal of Ubuntu Christian Edition is to bring the power and security of Ubuntu to Christians. Ubuntu Christian Edition is suitable for both desktop and server use. The current Ubuntu Christian Edition release supports PC (Intel x86).
Ubuntu Christian Edition includes more than 16,000 pieces of software, but the core desktop installation fits on a single CD. Ubuntu Christian Edition covers every standard desktop application from word processing and spreadsheet applications to web server software and programming tools.
I was driving up to Louisville to pick up Abby for her fall break yesterday when I heard this song for the first time. Over the past few years I have bought quite a few new Christian Cd’s to listen to. Most of them are a bit harder than the usual contemporary Christian music you hear on the radio. Quite simply, if I can find a musical style that I like without sacrificing the Christianity in the music, I’m going to listen to the most alternative, electronic, and rocking Christian music I can.
Because of this, I’ve got quite a few Cd’s that I’ve not been able to listen to in their entirety yet. Seven Places Lonely For the Last Time is just one of these Cd’s. However, I popped it into the CD player on the trip yesterday and heard this one song that had me in tears by the second line.
Now I know some of you out there already think I’m too emotional, and there are probably some of you who don’t even have a clue. However, I want you to listen to this song. Don’t just hear it, but actually listen to whats being said. Let the words float through your mind and realize what happened solely for you. Realize how this affects your life, and realize what true love is.
Yea… maybe a month or so down the line!
My phone broke Tuesday. I have the insurance, so I called the company, Lockline, to get another phone. I was told that the phone I have isn’t made anymore and that they would have to give me a different phone. That was ok with me since the other phone is a newer model. Then they notified me that the phone wasn’t in stock that they would have to order it. This would take 7 - 10 business days. This is completely unacceptable as my cell phone is the only phone I have.
So, I call Sprint who calls Lockline back. They notify me that the phone order has been filled and that I should receive a phone within 2 days. Being the skeptic that I am, I call Lockline later to confirm this, and am informed that the information is correct, but they don’t have a tracking number for me.
I call Friday to receive a tracking number and am told that they still don’t have one, but the phone has shipped for sure and that I should receive it later Friday. I wait home ALL DAY for the UPS man to show, but for some strange reason he doesn’t show.
So, I call Lockline yet again this morning and am told that I should receive it today, but they still can’t provide me with a tracking number. Now I’m hot! I call UPS to verify this information and am told that the order wouldn’t even ship without a tracking number cause it is on the shipping label that Lockline puts on the box. Now if Lockline doesn’t have a tracking number for me, it becomes evident that this is because they haven’t put the label on the box yet. Once again, I call Lockline, this time speaking to a supervisor.
The kicker…. The supervisor doesn’t have a tracking number because the package hasn’t shipped yet. In addition, apparently the phone is still on order. They have NO IDEA when it will ship. This is COMPLETELY unacceptable!
I emailed Matt Austin a while back looking for information on the new Madisonville antenna for Way-FM. He informed me that it had indeed been installed and should be fully functional now. I have noticed a dramatic improvement in signal quality here lately. For some reason the signal doesn’t quite reach the north-east side of town all that well, but I think this is due to it’s geographical location. If I’m correct, the antenna is placed on the south, or south-west side of town near the Brentwood area. This would explain the signal degradation that I have experienced close to home. It’s my hopes that the transmitter will undergo a power upgrade to reach more of Hopkins County in the near future.
I found this tonight and just had to post it. Its a commentary that Ben Stein wrote on Christmas. I think you’ll find it enjoyable.
I received an email from the station manager of WayFM yesterday. He was thankful that someone emailed him about the problem and let me know that he would look into it. This morning I received another email from him stating that they were getting a new antenna, and that hopefully this clears up the problem. I’m hoping so, as I miss my music.
Unfortunately, WayFM seems to have been down for a number of days now. I’m not sure if they switched frequencies, or if the transmitter is just broken. If anyone has a clue, please post a comment.
Yesterday turned out to be quite a busy day. I left work about 10 minutes early, when my coverage arrived, to get home as soon as possible. I needed to drive Abby back to Louisville to meet up with Dave and Katie. It was a long trip, but it was quite an eventful one.
Sunday night Kristie told me that Abby saw the Worship Jamz cd on tv and mentioned that she wanted it. That was music to my ears! I bought her a Jaci Velasquez cd for Christmas hoping that it would be music that she would like to listen to. I’m trying to get her listening to more contemporary Christian music in an effort to show her that ll Christian music isn’t lame. I know I myself don’t care for some of the old southern gospel style music, but with the Christian bands developing faster than the secular bands it isn’t hard for me to find something that I like.
As we were driving and listening to the Worship Jamz cd, she started singing along with some of the songs and it brought tears to my eyes. God is so wonderful! I’ve been praying that she would have a good Christian influence in Indianapolis, and it seems God has placed one there for her. Her best friend is apparently Christian, and has been introducing her to the newer music. It was such a joy to hear her singing the songs right along with me as we drove.
I also had my first Chiropractic visit yesterday. It was such a weird sensation feeling all the bones in my spine crack like my fingers do. It didn’t hurt at all, and felt quite good once it was all over. I’m hoping that he will be able to correct the degeneration that is happening in my spine.
