I am stumped. Just plain stumped. I need a title for a book proposal I’m putting together, and I have nothing. If the proposal is accepted the book will be on Christian marriages, more specifically, how to set ourselves aside to find Christ’s best for our marriages in every situation. While that sounds kind of stuffy and serious, I assure you that it’s not. My primary spiritual gift is ridiculousness, and the book will be full of it. But I’m having a heck of a time finding a title for the thing.
My friends on Facebook have been useless. Hysterical, but useless. For example, my friend Shannon suggested titling the book Did You Even Move the Milk Before Asking Me Where the Juice Is? or, No Honey, I am Okay, I just Fell in The Toilet. Kim suggested From Dinner and a Movie to Folding Tighty-Whities: My Life As a Wife. These are all excellent titles, but I don’t think they’re going to fly with the publishing team.
My personal favorite came from my own husband: Seriously, We’ve Been Married 15 Years: I’m UP HERE. So there’s a little peek into our marriage that you probably didn’t want, but there it is. Let’s move along.
You see my trouble, don’t you? Anyone who has been married for more than twenty minutes knows that marriage is hard. It requires compromises. It requires sacrifices. It’s a daily opportunity to get over ourselves for the good of another person, much like parenting. And for me, that has been possible because of the sacrifices Christ made for us. I sacrifice because He sacrificed. I love because He loved.
But how do I get that into a fun title? Any suggestions out there?
Growing up in a Christian home was not something I considered advantageous at the time. In hindsight, the benefits were many, but as a child I resented the imposition of church and faith on my life by my parents. I also hated the fact that my father was a preacher. You have to have been a preacher’s kid (PK) to understand the special bond between PKs!
Being a PK often provides a wonderful insight into the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of the church. Seeing the effect of so-called Christians on my father in one church made me feel like I didn’t want to be one. In fact, I wanted to smash their faces. I might not have respected my father much at the time (I was a teenager) but mess with my family and you mess with me!
At Spring Harvest (an annual Christian event in the UK) this year I listened to a young woman called Miriam Swaffield speak powerfully about the passion of Jesus as He took ‘a don’t mess with my family’ attitude when He turned over the tables in the Temple. She imagined Jesus saying; “This is My Dad’s house. That’s My family. Nobody hurts My family.”
Miriam compared the misuse of the Temple Courts with the church, stating; “When I bad mouth the church I am committing self-harm, because I am the church.” You could have heard a pin drop as everyone present stopped to think about the times that they had bad-mouthed the church and fellow believers. Then Miriam asked about tables in our lives and gave a challenge:
“What tables are you going to turn over?”
She also asked; “What stops you from being consumed with passion for Jesus?”
So … what tables are you going to turn over in your life, and what stops you from being consumed with passion for Jesus?
Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. (Psalm 69:9 NLT)
I will be taking the next few weeks off in order to focus on my last 2 weeks of seminary and preaching. Unfortunately, I have fallen behind on some critical assignments, so this blog must be placed in the hands of others.
I will be inviting some other bloggers to be guests over the next few weeks. So, please keep coming back, even if I am somewhere locked away in front of a Word document.
My last post was my 400th! Can you believe it? I guess it’s a good time to take a break. Maybe I will come back a little wiser.
One last thing. Our deepest condolences go out to the Shea family. George Beverly Shea died today, and that breaks the heart of millions around the world. One thing is certain, however – he is probably singing “How Great Thou Art!” face-to-face with the Savior.
The question of who is responsible will be debated for a while until all the details come out. Initial reports will place blame everywhere. The government, sadly, will probably use the sad event to push forward some new restriction on freedom as they it blames its adversaries. Of course, there will be floods of conspiracy theories. But what we should do now is pray.
Pray? Yes, pray.
Some of us may be able to immediately assist with the wounded in Boston. Others will need to track down those responsible for this cowardly act of murder (and terror). All of us will need to be a little/lot more vigilant. Yet, we still need to pray.
Some of you may not believe in God, and that’s your right. In that case, just sit back and contemplate the whole situation for a while. Dwell on the goodness of humanity and the innate love within all mankind. Then, meditate on the wonders of relativistic morality and rights of those who feel oppressed to act out bombastic rage. While your at it, blame all of this on religion. [See NOTE below] The rest of us need to pray.
Pray for wisdom. Pray for open eyes. Pray for those who are wounded. Pray for the families of those wounded and killed. Pray for the safety of those searching through the rubble for more explosives. Pray for the innocent, that they will not be blamed in an attempt to force an agenda. Pray for changed hearts.
Pray. Pray for boldness, for courage, and for endurance. Pray for the strength not to yield to those who want us to hide and cower in a corner. Pray for renewed awareness that there are enemies of freedom and peace. Pray for clarity to understand who the enemy is.
And while you are praying, on behalf of your nation, before a Holy God, confess and repent. Then, as so many of our fathers have done before us, we can pray with a clearer conscience, “God bless America!”
NOTE: Any notion that I have attempted to label atheists as terrorists in paragraph four is misguided. I am sure there are terroristic atheists just as much as there are terrorists who kill in the name of any number of gods, but I am not labeling all atheists as terrorist any more than I would label all deists terrorists. The accusation that I would do so is silly. However, my apologies go out to all of the atheists who might have been offended by any offhanded or unintentional mischaracterization.
Most of you, especially if you are new subscribers, probably aren’t aware of my photo blog, i4Daily. I’d love for you to check it out sometime.
Here’s the Story…
The iPhone has been a wonderful tool. I have used it for school, work, study (I can access my whole LOGOS library online), video, and photos. It had proved nearly indispensable to my blogging. Therefore, because I take pictures that usually never end up in this blog, I decided to create another one to showcase some daily pics.
Now, rarely do I just post a picture without first using an editing app. The pictures taken on the iPhone 4s are good, but it usually can be tweaked. So, for the most part I use BeFunky for editing.
Therefore, if you have a moment, browse my photos. I have no theme, or anything like that, but some are pretty dadgum good if you ask me. But of course, I’m prejudiced.
Click HERE to visit i4Daily.You can go to the “archive” tab at the top and browse through all the photos from the past. Each has it’s own little story, too.
As I get ready to head off to the land of slumber, let me leave you with a precious poem which will encourage, strengthen, and uplift your spirits. It’s like one of those you see on Facebook every day.
Roses are red and violets are blue.
I’ve always known that, and so have you.
Puppies are sweet and faithful and fun;
The world would be sad if we had none.
So share this sweet poem with all your friends.
Hit the “like” button again and again!
If you love God, your mother, your children, puppies, kittens, or the Baby Jesus in a manger, you will now forward this poem and post it on your wall. If you don’t, millions of demonic monkeys will arise from the abyss, come into your kitchen, and then dirty every stinking dish in your house!
For the love of all that is holy and pure; for the love of children; for health and decency; “like” and share this poem – a precious poem which made you feel warm and fuzzy – or you just might find yourself in everlasting torment wishing you had at least one more Facebook friend to message.
Remember how I just wrote about writing for the sake of writing? Well, here we go again, but on a smaller scale.
The other day I wrote a post about my wife’s grandmother’s 90th birthday. I even included some pictures. What I didn’t include was my favorite picture of the day – Mr. Monkey and the guitars.
In a break between playing music and eating cake, I took this picture of Katie’s guitar and my bass, along with Mr. Monkey striking a pose.
Two Weeks (or so) Left
In two weeks I will be presenting my final paper to my last seminary class. Believe me, I am stressed – it’s nowhere near done! Even worse, I have to present my paper in front of a PhD with a thing for punctuation (“Have you never heard of an Oxford comma?”).
OH! Guess what? My class ring just shipped today! Now, if I don’t pass, I’ll have a ring with the wrong date! Good grief!
To my shame, I forgot what yesterday and today were. Wrapped up in my own little world, I forgot the significance of April 7-8, and for that I am sorry. Just because I am not Jewish is not an excuse.
Yom Hashoah is the day in which the people of Israel and Jews around the world remember the millions who died during the Holocaust.
Below is a video I watched on a website called UnitedwithIsrael.org. Here is a description of the video from the website…
At 10am the following morning, sirens are heard throughout Israel for two minutes. Israelis every where stop what they are doing and stand up out of respect. It does not matter if one is driving ones car, taking a train or bus, walking to the grocery store, working, studying, sleeping, etc. Every one drops what they are doing in order to commemorate the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust within Israel and show their respect to the Holocaust victims and survivors.
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” – Genesis 12:1-3 KJV
“Grandmommy” is my wife’s grandmother on her mother’s side. Her actual name is Helen, and we celebrated her 90th birthday with a big party at our place (in the fellowship hall of our church – I’m the only guy on the block with a gym in his back yard).
It was a real treat to be able to take part in such a rare occasion. 90th birthdays don’t come around too often. As a matter of fact, living to 90 is nearly 20 years beyond the average. So, it was a privilege to be able to play music with my daughter as she sang for her great-grandmother.
One of the greatest moments (in my mind) was when Mr. Monkey sang happy birthday. Of course he would only sing when my face was covered. For some reason he couldn’t sing when I was looking.
Another great moment was when she sat there staring at the candles as they slowly burned, dripping melted wax onto the icing of her cake. “Make a wish, Grandmommy!” they would say. “I don’t know what to wish for,” she replied.
“How about another 90 years?” I suggested. Nervous laughter, like an “lol” that is never really “out loud” filled the room.
New Family
Besides getting to celebrate a birthday, I got to meet a wonderful young couple, Ian and Lisa, who is now part of the family. Both of them are graduates of Liberty University and love the Lord. We had a lot of things in common, even though I was 20 years older. They even laughed at Mr. Monkey, so how bad could they be, right?
Crosses
As I was talking with Lisa I found out she had a website and business. She makes little cross necklaces out of horseshoe nails. Below is a link to her website. Check it out, and if you buy anything, let her know you found out about her on this blog.
It’s Friday. It’s April. And this was written on a Friday 2 years ago, long before many of you began following this blog. So, step back in time and enjoy!
BTW, I’m glad to see Rebecca Black is doing well, recording better music, and has a real future – unlike the mean and hateful losers who bullied and made fun of her. Where are they, now?
“Friday, Friday…”
What would be the chance that we could convince the calender people to change the names of the days? Could we change Friday to something like Frickabrack? How about Flurble? We have to do something, or every time the weekend comes around I’m gonna be singing that song. DANG IT!!
If you have been fortunate enough to have never heard this song, then that is about to change. You are going to submit to the temptation and click the link below. You have to share in the pain. You HAVE to!
Why Me, Lord?
Just because a song is popular, doesn’t make it good. An example would be “Why Me Lord” by Kris Kristofferson. I HATED that song. However, a song I hate more is “One Day at a Time.” Kris co-wrote that, you know. The part that I hated the most was the second verse…
Do you remember (Are you kidding? Ever heard of Omniscience) When you walked among men Well Jesus, you know, if you’re looking below(If? What’s He doin’, cleaning harps?) It’s worse now than then(like when the Romans were feeding lions) Pushin’ and shovin’ crowding my mind(Mental breakdowns are worse than martyrdom) Lord for my sake(It’s all about me, isn’t it?) Teach me to take One day at a time (Just go take a nap, and you’ll feel better)
Well, “Friday” is a popular song, that’s for sure. What started off as an 8th-grader’s dream project has turned into a multi-million dollar success. Once it was posted on YouTube, it went viral. Now, as of this article, it received over 88 million hits (views). I just want to know why I had to be one of the unlucky ones to hear it.
It’s Cute
It could be worse, you know. Rebecca Black could be singing a song about teen sex in the back of a convertible, or drug use while worshiping Satan in the bathroom of a public school. So, from a content perspective, it’s not that bad. The tune is annoying, but catchy, and the lyrics are clean. In short, it’s a cute song. But who on earth thought it was a poetic stroke of genius to end a line in a song with “afterwer-erds?”
The Worst Example for Teens is in the Video
If I really wanted to point out the negatives, it would have to be in the video. Here you have a song about a girl who goes to the bus stop, but instead hops a ride in the back seat of a convertible driven by a 10-year-old. Did her parents say it was OK to ride to school with her underage “friends?” Were any of them wearing seat belts?
The second verse presented some disturbing images. The last time I checked, it was not only illegal for 8th graders to drive alone, much less without an adult, but shouldn’t they sit IN the car, not ON the car? She said “on the highway” while waving at her friends from the trunk of a convertible. Can you say “Girls die in tragic accident after falling out of car – News at Eleven!?”
But there’s another thing – who is this gangsta’ rapper that knows so much about little Rebecca Black and her partying? What’s the deal? If it was my little girl, dude better watch where he parks that ride. I don’t think ANY grown man with gold teeth and “bling” needs to be concerned with my middle school girl, her parties, OR her fun fun fun. Got it?!
Wishing Rebecca Well
I wish her the best. I hope this is the start of something big for her. God bless her, really! She seems like a sweet kid with a monotone voice that grates through my soul like a recurring chalkboard nightmare. All I ask is that she leave all the other days of the week alone – and for Heaven’s sake, find another writer.
The Recovering Legalist 