Category Archives: blogging

by | December 17, 2014 · 11:34 pm

Random Comments Before Vacation

School’s Out!

As I sit here writing this, my mind is drifting, daydreaming (except it’s 9:06 pm) of tomorrow’s short bus-driving day.

No, now I’m eating tapioca pudding. My wife said, “You’d better eat this pudding Haley bought for you, or her feelings will be hurt.” I said, “I forgot about it!” Tapioca pudding is a favorite of mine, but for the life of me I have no idea what a tapioca is. A fish egg? Fat ball? Jello turd? I have no idea, so don’t tell me.

Anyway, tomorrow school gets out early for Christmas and New Year break. Woo hoo! Three weeks of doing honey-do lists, entertaining guests, and getting up later! Woo hoo! Three whole weeks with no pay! Exciting.

What’s the point? Well, if I don’t write so much it will be because I’m busy while on vacation, that’s all.

Random (sorta) Comments

It’s now 10:50 pm. People stopped by for a visit (that’s life in a parsonage). I’ve eaten a sandwich. Had a Coke float deezert (just spelled it the way it sounds). Time to get back to this post before I go to bed.

Cuba. I’m not too sure what’s the right response. I hate what Communism has done to that Island. I don’t trust anything Obama says regarding Cuba. I would love to have some Cuban cigars. Just sayin.

Order my book. Please, order my bus book – you’ll love it. It’s funny with some solid spiritual content, but not overbearing. Buy some copies to give away.

Logos Bible Software. I have Logos 5 (with more stuff than I’ll ever use). Why do upgrades have to be so expensive? Why separate module options for different denominations? Doesn’t that sorta go against the idea that the Bible is what it is? I don’t get it, other than it must be a money grab. Not impressed, I am. Disappointed, frankly.

baby girlClothes on dogs. Do dogs know what doggy clothes are? If not, why does my daughter’s dog love to put on clothes? Something ain’t right.

Forgetful wife. Why is it when I am the last one downstairs, like right now, my wife forgets everything she needs upstairs and then hollars at me and tells me to bring them when I come up? I just find it oddly convenient how she doesn’t seem to forget all these things when she is the last one downstairs. Again, just sayin.

Pakistan. Last, but definitely not least, my heart breaks for the people of Pakistan. My blood boils when I think of those who killed all those children and adults. I wonder who in the Taliban, or whatever, thought killing 100+ children would make for good PR? I wonder how the scumbags are enjoying their flaming-hot virgins?….wait….. What I meant to say was, I wonder how the scumbags are enjoying the hot flames of hell? Probably came as a shock.

Good night everybody. Say your prayers – and save one for me.

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by | December 1, 2014 · 6:00 am

An Interview With Mr. Monkey

It’s Monday!

Normally, in the real world, declaring it is Monday does not bring squeals of joy. However, this is the world of the Recovering Legalist, and I’m not a sour puss.

IT’S MONDAY!! Do you know what that means? Yes, it is time for a brand spanking new Monday Monkey video

The world may be burning, but there’s only so many fire extinguishers to go around, anyway. Chill out. Have fun for a few minutes. Laugh.

Yesterday, before I drove Katie (a.k.a. Piper Smokestack) back to school, she interviewed Mr. Monkey. The last time she did anything like that was when she was reporting on Mr. Monkey losing his banana.

But here’s the thing: Mr. Monkey now has a Twitter account! He will be staying in touch and answering fan mail. Just go to @MonkeyBuddy1984.

Now, tomorrow we can talk about some more serious stuff, if that kinda stuff floats your boat.

In the meantime, watch the video again, share it, then go buy one of my books. That will make us all have a great Monday 😉

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by | November 19, 2014 · 3:08 pm

Blatant, Unapologetic Hit Request

I’m on my school bus at this moment (not driving, of course), using my old-fashioned, antique iPhone 4s to write this post. You see, my internet at home has been down for a couple of days and I’m suffering from withdrawal. In other words, I’ve got to write something.

One thing I regularly do from my phone is check my stats. Let me be very honest: low visitor/view numbers can ruin my day. Why is this? Am I not supposed to be writing for the Lord? Just to make a difference? Whether people read my stuff, or not? Let’s get real, ok? Yes to the above, but I like recognition, too. Sorry, but I love the stage, whether it be literal or cyber.

Oh, I know it’s a pride thing I suffer from; I’m not an idiot. As a matter of fact, I love applause, awards, etc. But on the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying something. I’d be a pathetic preacher if I hated to speak in front of crowds, wouldn’t I? So, I know there’s an element of pride involved, but I do try to keep things in their proper perspective: “and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

But here I am. I’m writing. I’m on my phone. The kids are about to come out and load up, and I’m asking for numbers. I want to see how many views and likes I can get on this post. Why? Just for the heck of it, that’s all.

And, because I deserve it – I’m doing this from a phone, people!IMG_2595.JPG

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by | October 28, 2014 · 10:01 pm

Blogging Withdrawal and Psalm 40

I have so much to do, but here I am, late at night, writing something on this blog – just to be doing it.

Have you ever had this feeling? Those of you who are fellow bloggers, have you ever just been so busy…so overwhelmed…so caught up with things that are more important…that you look at the tab on your computer that links you to WordPress with a sense of longing?

Pitiful, isn’t it?

Frankly, there are so many things I’d like to write about, but I’m too stinking tired to formulate my thoughts. I’d love to share what I think about politics, the Mayor in Houston, and Ebola, but there’s just too much – and my opinion wouldn’t make that much of a difference.

photo (31)But I did have an idea. Today I was reading from Psalm 40, a passage of Scripture I read to my congregation last Sunday morning. Remember how some others and myself went through the book of Proverbs one proverb at a time? I thought that it might be beneficial and interesting, at least to some, if I were to break down that chapter a verse or two at a time.

What if I pushed aside all the other distractions of this election cycle and spent some time expounding on Psalm 40? In my opinion, it’s a revival-focused psalm that we all could benefit from applying.

What do you think?

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by | October 11, 2014 · 12:04 pm

6 Ways You May be Raising Your Kids With an Oversimplified Faith (Re-blogged)

Important!

Every once in a while I lay aside my own thoughts and substitute them with the thoughts of those more brillianter than me, such as Natasha Crain at ChristianMomThoughts.com.

This morning I had planned to write about the new atheist churches (Sunday gatherings) popping up around the country. I was going to share some observations meant to encourage you to go to a real church, especially if you are a believer (if atheists believe gathering together in “community” is important to combat the effects of loneliness, why do Christians think they can “forsake the assembling” of themselves?).

But instead of writing a post about what was on my mind, I am going to share a post that  – well, the idea has been on my mind for a while, but this beautifully sums it up. This is a VERY IMPORTANT post!

Please, especially if you are a parent, pastor, or youth leader, READ THIS! (click on the picture)

oversimplifiedfaith

 

Now, after reading what Natasha Crain wrote, what are we going to do about it?

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by | October 9, 2014 · 10:35 am

Pricey Tongue, Worthless Heart

The following is derived from a post I wrote for my other blog, Proverbial Thought. It can also be found in Proverbial Thought: Your Daily Word of Wisdom from Proverbs (Parson’s Porch, 2014).

A Proverbial Thought

Let’s take a look at the following verse from the tenth chapter of Proverbs.

The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth. – Proverbs 10:20

Contrast

When we look at this verse, it is important for us to remember that there is a comparison/contrast being made. An “opposite parallelism” is being used to make a point that one thing is valuable, while another is worthless.

In this case, it is easy to notice that Solomon is contrasting “the tongue of the just” with “the heart of the wicked.” The tongue of the just person (the words that he speaks) is something beautiful and of great value, while the wicked man’s heart is just the opposite. But if we were to look a little deeper, there is more than meets the eye, or first impressions.

The Heart

What is really being contrasted are the hearts of both the wicked and the just. You see, what comes out of a person’s mouth is directly related to what’s in his heart. Proverbs 16:23 says, “The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.” In the book of James (3:11) we read, “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?”

Essentially, you can tell what is in a person’s heart by what comes out of his mouth. Jesus said, “It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” – Matthew 15:11 (NLT)

Do you like to tell dirty jokes? Then there must be lust in your heart. Do you always talk hateful? Then there is hatred (and maybe murder – see Matthew 5:21-22) in your heart. Do you ever talk about God? About Jesus? About your love for Him? If not, maybe He’s not in there.

On Display

Do you realize that your heart is on display? No, I don’t mean that your chest cavity is transparent, nor do I mean that everyone can see your bloody, beating heart muscle. That’s sick!

What I do mean to say is that there is no hiding what is in your heart; because your words, the words from your mouth, tell the whole story.

Maybe we should listen to ourselves. Maybe we should ask others to tell us what they hear. Maybe we should be like King David and pray this prayer…

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”– Psalm 19:14

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by | September 9, 2014 · 11:37 am

Depressing Speech

Another Computer

Last night my wife broke one of her big toes (ouch!). Aside from turning me into the sandwich-making, cool-aide making, laundry-carrying, dog-walking, and anything-that’s-downstairs-that-needs-to-be gotten-and-brought-back-upstairs getter, I am now the official chauffeur for my daughter, Haley.

It’s been a while since I’ve had to spend all day driving my little girl to different classes and co-ops (we homeschool, but we don’t lock our children in closets). At this moment I happen to be sitting in the waiting/free-coffee area of one of the stops. So, after doing some reading, after attempting to do some additional writing for my next book, I decided to write a post for this blog based on pictures in the hard drive of this old computer.

You see, I have used this computer many times in the past, but more recently my writing has been done at home on my desktop. From that computer I pull photos for posts after I download them from my phone. This computer, however, has nothing recent, only photos I’ve used in posts over 2 years ago, if not longer. Yet, after glancing over the files, I found a good one – one that could make a good post.

Tongue Depressors

depressorsThe picture to your right was taken by me a several years ago while sitting in a doctor’s office. I edited the photo with an app on my iPhone and then published to i4Daily (an old photo blog of mine). For some reason, maybe because being sick was depressing, I found the idea of depressing tongues a little humorous.

But sitting here, thinking about all that is going on in the world, especially with all of the attempts to silence free speech, especially the Christian type, I refuse to have my tongue “depressed.”

I hate it when a nurse or doctor inserts one of those nasty-tasting wooden sticks in mouth! They do it to hold my tongue out of the way, just enough to glance at my throat before I gag. But there are a lot of non-medical professionals out there who want to immobilize the tongues of any who would speak their mind, and the tools they use aren’t always wooden sticks. As a matter of fact, all they have to do is convince us that things are hopeless, that there’s no use in speaking out or speaking up, and the result is “depressed” tongues.

Don’t let anything depress your voice. If you feel you have something to say, say it. I don’t expect every one to agree with what I have to say, nor do I expect them to listen. However, I have to open my mouth and let my tongue fly to find out. In this case, my fingers are my tongue and I am talking as fast as I can type.

I am not mad…but speak forth the words of truth and soberness (Acts 26:25).

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by | August 28, 2014 · 9:42 pm

5th Anniversary!

Can you believe that it was five years ago, today, that I first started this blog?!

anniversaryYes, today is the 5th anniversary of The Recovering Legalist. I wish there could be a little more fanfare. Oh well.

2012 was my best year. I did a lot more writing then, so I got a lot more views. That was also the year when Building 429 linked one of my posts to their blog – big boost in views. This year hasn’t been bad, but I’m currently running 22% less than last year. Guess I need to be a little more active…or write more intriguing posts.

Friends

In the five years that I have been doing this, a lot of friends have been made. Believe me when I say that some of you have really been more of a blessing and encouragement than you will ever know this side of heaven. There are several of you whom I will probably never meet on this earth, but I praise God that He has allowed me to come to know you through this medium.

Since it has been five years, I’d like to send a special shout out to the first blogger who encouraged me, Heather Joy (Vires). She was the first blogger to comment on my blog. And, if I remember correctly, hers was the first blog I followed, and a blog we certainly miss. Thank you, Heather.

Non-Friends

Blogging can also introduce you to folks who are not necessarily on your side. In fact, when one chooses to put one’s thoughts on the world wide web, one should expect conflict, if not to make enemies.

One such person whom I fondly refer to as my “token atheist” is actually a pretty decent guy. However, being that I am a solid believer in Jesus Christ as my Savior, promote a Christian worldview, and ardently oppose the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex unions, Andrew Marburger, at one point, elected himself to be the one person, if no one else, to protect all my groupies from my narrow-mindedness. But, you know what, I still pray for him.

Top Posts

I have written nearly 600 posts over the last 5 years. Some have gotten good response, while others simply bombed. However, the top posts over the last half-decade show how wide a range my writing covers.

The #1 most frequented post is “What to Wear to Church.” Evidently, I struck a nerve with this one; people are constantly being linked to it as a result of Google searches. Obviously, people don’t know how to dress for church.

The #2 most frequented post is “Dinosaur Bones Found On the Moon!” I don’t know for sure, but I really think that this post helped to create an urban legend. Why else would anyone type into a search engine, “Were bones really found on the moon?”

Rounding out the top 10 of all time (the last 5 years) are the following:

Honorable Mention: The most hated post of all time had to be episode 28 of the Monday Monkey series, “What do you get when you cross a monkey with time?” OMG! The comments were absolutely hateful.

So, thank you for reading my posts and watching my stupid little monkey videos. It has been a joy meeting and encouraging so many people from all over the world. My prayer is that God will continue to use this medium to bring glory to His name and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of grace, to even more computer screens.

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by | August 16, 2014 · 9:36 pm

Up-coming Posts

For several weeks my brain, or at least the part that initiates writing, has been numb. I have been wanting to sit down and write about things that interest, concern, or humor me, but life has had a Novocaine-kind of effect. All I’ve been able to do is look at my computer and then say as shake my head, “I’m too tired.”

There are, however, a couple of things about which I want to write, especially within the next couple of days. One has to do with my daughter going off to college. Another has to do with going to church on Sunday nights. On top of that, I am working on finishing another book I’ve been working on: a shorter, mostly humorous collection of thoughts from driving a school bus.

I did recently write about Robin Williams. I would like to share a few more thoughts regarding depression, suicide, etc.

By the way, just the other day a young lady – a teacher – came up to me and personally thanked me for the first volume of Proverbial Thought. She said it made a big impact on her life and drew her closer to God. Seriously, now THAT’S a compliment.

Please, friends, try to go to church somewhere this Sunday morning (if it’s not already Sunday morning where you are). And, if possible, go somewhere to church in the evening.

Until my brain gets a little more feeling back, may God be with you all!

Oh, and please pray for those being killed because of their faith, looted because of race, and sold because of their gender.

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by | July 23, 2014 · 6:28 pm

Forsake Foolishness, Or Else

A Lost Post

It has been a while since I last wrote a new post for ProverbialThought.com, but in the process of re-posting entries I found that Proverbs 9:6 had never been addressed! Not only was it not published on the blog, but it never made the book! (Click HERE to purchase) That’s terribly embarrassing, especially since all of the editing that has been done. How did we miss it?

Therefore, this is a web exclusive!

Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. – Proverbs 9:6

Forsaking

The first word in this verse is an imperative: forsake.  It’s not a word that suggests temporarily turning away, but abandonment. To forsake something is like saying “to heck with you,” turning on one’s heels, walking out the door, slamming it, going to the airport, buying a plane ticket, arriving at the destination, then burning one’s passport.

Why are simple words hard to understand?

Foolish

If you have been reading Proverbs at all, even the least bit, you should be aware of what foolishness is. Foolishness is man’s wisdom, not God’s. Foolishness is acting stupidly, even when you know there is a better way. Foolishness is rebellion, selfishness, seeking one’s own way, and never caring where the road leads, just as long as the trip is fun.

The “foolish” we’re commanded to forsake could be a combination of things. The “foolish” could be people, ideas, actions, philosophies, worldviews, attitudes, etc. There are foolish friends, foolish plans, foolish job opportunities, foolish desires, and foolish dreams – all of which lead down a bad road.

Forsake the foolish, and you might survive; don’t, and you’re in trouble.

The Way

The “way of understanding” can be interpreted as the “right” way, or even the way on which wisdom has already walked. It is the way in which people walk who walk in wisdom, seek wisdom, and love wisdom.

When we walk in the “way of understanding” we consider the consequences of each step and the direction we are going. The direction is a 180 away from foolishness.

Living

But why is it that so many are more likely to hold on to the “foolish” rather than travel in the way of understanding? Instead of walking out the door and leaving the old ways behind, why is it that so many are more apt to slam the door from the inside, lock it, and turn up the music? The reason is based on one’s understanding of “living.”

playstationOne beer company is famous for touting the “high life.” Another shows people partying away the night saying, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Everything from hotels to video game systems have encouraged consumers by promising, “This is living!”

Funny. Even kind of ironic, I must say. It’s hard to go down any path when you’ve locked yourself inside with computer game.

Timely?

Yes, this post is technically 2 years late. On the other hand, God knew exactly who would be writing it and what would be going on. As my daughter Katie looked over my shoulder and read the proverb about which I was to write, she said, “Well, that’s timely…”

This week we’ve dealt with foolishness, the foolish, and an unwillingness to forsake it. I have personally witnessed a close family member, blinded by a lack of wisdom, detail a specific plan for destruction. I’ve even faced down a foolish physical threat. Foolishness…simply foolishness.

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. – Proverbs 16:25

Forsake foolishness and live, or shut the door and die. The way is up to you.

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