Random Thoughts

Maine

2006-08-05T16:28:00.000-05:00

Well two days ago Ashlee and I returned from our official honeymoon in Maine. It was amazing. We got to see moose and whales. The crazy thing was the moose was skiing behing the whale...j/k. The lobsta was great. We went hiking, canoeing, kayaking, swiming, and lots of other great things. I had a full hour massage which doesn't sound manly, but was very relaxing and relieved a lot of my neck and shoulder pain. The people were nice, but at sometimes a little hard to understand. If you ever get a chance to visit you should. Peace

Living with Nature

2006-07-16T13:28:00.000-05:00

I've started writing weekly column's for our local newspaper here in Seagraves. So I'll start posting them. Here is my second article. ..

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” [1]

This past week my wife, Ashlee, and I had the opportunity to visit her parents down in San Antonio. It was a great trip, but the highlight for me was our two day adventure at Sea World. Having only been as a child I wanted to go see all the shows especially since they were new. We arrived with high expectations. However, after realizing none of the shows started until 45 minutes after the park opened and standing in a line those 45 minutes, I was pretty frustrated. It was a typical San Antonio morning, hot and humid which didn’t make my mood any better. After standing in line, sweating, and pondering whether or not I should attempt to sway the crowd to start chanting “Let us in, let us in,” the people working in the park allowed us to go and sit down. By this time I was very eager to see the Viva show with Dolphins and Beluga Whales. I was amazed at these animals. Not only was the show amazing, but if you looked closely you could see every animal with what appeared to be a great big smile. You could tell the animals were truly happy. After the Viva show we went to two more shows, seeing the same thing with the animals. All the animals appeared to be having the time of their lives. I was shocked. These animals had small spaces (as compared to the ocean) to live, were trained to do shows, and had people trying their best to touch them. Then I remembered what God said here in Genesis. How he created everything so that we could rule over them. This was his divine purpose for all creation since the beginning of the world…for man to rule creation. Looking at the animals in this light I could see their trainers cared for and protected them. I could see how they were all living in harmony with one another just as it was in the Garden of Eden. I also felt God telling me to do the same- to live in unity with his creation. I know that this sounds like something a “hippy” or “tree-hugger” would say, but I believe that this is God’s will for us all. So I urge us all to attempt to live in unity with creation, not taking all the fruits of the earth for ourselves, however, living as those who realize our children and grandchildren will one day have to live in this world whether it is good or bad. Grace and Peace
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ge 1:26). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Churches...

2006-06-26T13:01:00.000-05:00

So I was thinking about churches. It's odd how we have these huge buildings that we only use a few times a week. I mean typically we use the sanctuary like 9-12 hours a week. For our church that would be about 7 hours too many. Then there are the Sunday school rooms, the kitchen, the fellowship hall, and other places. All to be used for maybe one full day a week (excluding offices). And each of these churches cost a bit of money. I mean I would guess that most churches cost at least $100,000. If not more. I know our building which is modest and small compared to a lot of others is insured for a lot more than that. So my point is we have these huge expinsive buildings that are all over the place and not really used to their full potential. Would any other business build a building and only use it for a few hours everyday? I think not. So to me it really doesn't make that much since to spend all this money on these buildings that we only use every once in awhile. Look at Seagraves. We have about 2000 people and 12 churches. If each church cost about $100,000 then that'd be a total of $1.2 million. Do you think that using that money for these buildings or for maybe helping those who need food, or better living conditions, or clothes, or healthcare, or anything. What could 1.2 million mean for 2000? I bet it could mean a lot more than 12 buildings that only about 500-700 people use. Just a thought....Peace

A long few days

2006-06-12T17:31:00.000-05:00

Well over in my neck of the woods it's been a long week or so. Last week we had annual conference. During it an elderly member gave us a scare so we returned home for a brief amount of time. Then on Friday we had a tragedy, a lady who comes to our church son died while working. He was 21. So I've been busy working on the funreal arangements and whatnot. Then last night we had some of the youths at our house till 11:30. A question that I had is this week people keep telling me, this sudden death makes them want to question God, but they know they aren't supposed to. Do you think we can question God? Why?/Why not? Peace

World Cup

2006-06-05T09:39:00.000-05:00

Well as you know, or may not know, the World Cup is coming up very quickly. I know that most Americans could care less, but I’ve been an avid soccer fan since I played when I was little and loved the game. In fact when I was playing when I was about 6 I was the goalie for a few games and one of my team members, a guy named Taylor, shot the ball on our goal (against me). I made the save then proceeded to gripe him out until he cried. I was always pretty intense when I played. It’s kind of how it is when I watch. A few things that sadden me are the injuries of Rooney from England and Shevchenko from the Ukraine. Both of the players are amazing and without them being 100% it will greatly hurt there chances. Luckily Ukraine has a weaker bracket and should make it out, especially since Shevchenko is set to play in Ukraine’s last pre-Cup game. However the English with Sweden and Paraguay may face a tougher struggle, with Rooney going back home to get his foot X-rayed Wed., but I still predict they’ll make it out. The Americans are looking pretty good, but facing one of the best teams the Czech Republic has ever produced, and the always skilled Italians, will be a tough one for them. It’d be sad if America did get beat out, but most Americans would never know. Well only a four more days until we play some real football. Peace

The Da Vinci Code

2006-05-26T15:13:00.000-05:00

I know I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything. My bad peeps, my bad. Well the last weeks have been busy, but this semester is finished. 23 hours of Grad work done. Only 73 more to go. Yea. Last weekend I went to watch the highly controversial film The DaVinci Code. Despite poor reviews I really enjoyed the movie. I thought the acting was decent and the story kept me on the edge of my seat, and my wife in my arms. The story, however, was truly fiction. Totally made up, except the whole Jesus was a person part. If anyone has ever looked into church history during the first one hundred years and at the writings of the early church fathers, you will see why the two “gospels,” the gospel of Mary Magdalene and the gospel of Philip, we not accepted by the church. If you really want me to go off on the reasons why, let me know and I will. So despite any inaccurate picture of Jesus, the Catholic church, and Christianity, I thought the movie was good. One question though…Why wasn’t Sophie able to walk on water? Hmmm…Peace

The end is near!

2006-05-09T11:09:00.000-05:00

The end is near! Well at least the end of my semester and the end of the school year at Seagraves ISD. Hopefully within a week I’ll have all of my classes finished, but I’m not officially out until next Friday, the 19th. Anyways recently for one of my classes I’ve been reading some books such as Colossians Remixed, Missional Church and The Shaping of Things to Come. All the books have the common theme that the traditional church is dying. There is basically no way to recover it so we must start a revolution outside the church. This is the only way Christianity can survive within the Western church. It’s pretty interesting. Since I’m “defiant, tactless, and postmodern” according to various quizzes I’ve taken, this really strikes home for me. So it’s odd that I find myself still called to the ordained ministry. Peace

Theological Quiz

2006-05-03T09:11:00.000-05:00

Well I too took the quiz. I took it twice because I lost more scores, but the only two that I think changed were the first two. I suppose it depends on what kind of mood I'm in to if I'm Postmodern or Holiness/Weslyan. I think it's a little funny that I'm as much fundamentalist as catholic. Well here they are...

Emergent/Postmodern
93%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan
79%
Charismatic/Pentecostal
64%
Classical Liberal
57%
Neo orthodox
46%
Reformed Evangelical
43%
Fundamentalist
36%
Roman Catholic
36%
Modern Liberal
25%

Hope you enjoyed. Peace

In but not of

2006-04-27T11:27:00.000-05:00

Well another day another dollar. Lately I’ve been thinking about how we are called to be in the world and not of it. It seems today that Christians have forgotten this. I mean what is the difference between a Christian and a regular person? If I was walking in a mall could I point out a Christian? No, but I think that you should be able to. We should be the people who are annoyingly loving…willing to do anything for the sake of the Gospel. But instead of knowing us by our love people know us by our knock off T-shirts (my favorite is “World’s Best Pastor” on Lark News, which I don’t own). So what to do, what to do? How can we be in but not of the world? Any thoughts? Peace

The Dark Side

2006-04-25T16:26:00.000-05:00

If you think about it the ‘dark side’ has its bonuses. For example, Darth Mal has a two bladed light saber (sorry not a big enough Star Wars person to know the real name). Also, Darth Vader has some cool tools to keep him alive, and the dark side shoots lightening at people. What does the other side have? Samuel L. Jackson. He’s enough to make me want to go the dark side…as for me working for the dark side, think about the UMC. Really it could be code for Underground Mutiny Convicts, Unpleasant Methane Corporation (which I know a lot about), or even University Medical Center. Well I suppose the Methodist church isn’t really like any of those (except maybe the methane corporation, we do have a lot of old clergy). Peace

Darth Vader

2006-04-23T12:56:00.000-05:00

So I was sitting eating breakfast this morning…or yesterday morning…when I noticed something very odd. When my coffee maker’s lid is up it very much resembles that of Darth Vader. So I’m wondering what exactly does this mean. Am I working for the dark side? I know the “force” is with me, but which one is it. Am I destined to be good or evil? Then I realize it’s a stupid coffee maker and go on with my day. Peace

Good Friday?

2006-04-14T09:09:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered why it's called Good Friday? I mean really what's good about the day (Except we get off of work). It's the day that our LORD Jesus suffered a most painful death for the sake of our reconciliation to the Father. Hmmm...as I typed that maybe that's the key. Jesus' death not good, us being reconciled to the Father, very good. Peace

Haiku

2006-04-10T14:21:00.000-05:00

Consumerism
Red, white, blue. American
Buy more. Buy More! Slave

Reading

2006-04-06T17:49:00.000-05:00

Reading, reading, reading, it’s what I do all day long
Typing, typing, typing, making my fingers more strong
Midterms, again? Can you have more than one midterm a semester? Just doesn’t seem right…

a peaceful day...I wish

2006-04-03T19:15:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a day that you just didn’t want to do anything? You know the day that I’m talking about. You want to sleep until noon. Then lay in bed for a few hours until your bladder requires you to get up. Since you’re already up, you decide to go ahead and feed your starving, spoiled child (your stomach). After the unfulfilling food you simply long, once again, for your all-to-welcoming bed. So you crawl between the sheets and rest in your soft haven. Maybe you stay there all day, or get up after a few hours. It doesn’t matter; you’re not going to do anything this day…for this is your mental vacation from the perplexing, condemning world which normally surrounds you.
Right now I long for a day like this. However, a word comes to my mind when I think seriously about it…sloth. Laziness, idleness, it’s all the same. The fact that it’s deemed a deadly sin doesn’t make the justification for my rest filled day any easier. It just makes it worse. Then I think about those kids, on the other side of the world. You know, the kids who made my jeans for probably 20 cents, the jeans which I bought for $40. The jeans that Levi or Gap or someone else made a huge profit by getting that cheap child labor. Somehow thinking of those kids helps me get out of bed. My longing to shout “screw you” to the world for a day subsides. Suddenly that day, the lazy, restful, peaceful, day…it becomes a longing for one of those kids. Maybe they could have my lazy day. Or that they could maybe just for one day be a kid. Play, learn, eat, then play some more. But thanks to the great American economy, you know the one that says buy me even though you have ten more at home, basically forces these kids to work. But hey, at least they can eat now because I needed a new pair of jeans. Unless the child is working so they can send most, if not all, of the money to other members of their starving families. Man, and I started off today thinking I was having a bad day. Poor, selfish me. Just because a few things don’t go “right” your world gets turned upside down. All the while these kids are there, just working…wanting to eat, to play, maybe even to love. Maybe these kids can become my cure for my need for sloth…my need for me. Peace…I hope

it's all about me...

2006-03-31T09:59:00.000-06:00

You know, I realized that about 99% of the time I think about this one person…I get absorbed in what they’re doing. I devote all my attention, devotion, and time to this person. This person is no less than me. Have you ever realized how egocentric we are? Everything, at least for me, revolves around me. How was my day? What will I eat? Where am I going? We, at least for me, have been told this is for a long time. “I am the most important person I know.” Even in Christianity we are supposed to care for our own soul before that of others. Everything is focused on me, and man does that suck.
By just focusing on me all day (except for those lucky moments my wife enjoys when I’m devoted to her) I miss out. I miss out and what the lady in my office is doing. What the kids around me are up to. Most importantly what God is doing. The thing is I’m so egocentric that it’s hard for me to realize that I am. It’s just normal to think about me all day. Just imagine all that we could do if we could get over ourselves and realize what is going on in the world around us. Maybe then people would see us as loving, as caring, as the ambassadors for Christ that we are called to be…peace

Sleep

2006-03-30T13:42:00.000-06:00

Sleep is a tricky thing. If I don’t sleep enough then I’m tired. If I sleep too much I’m tired. Finding the balance between the two has been a life long struggle. It seems more often than not by the time about 9:30 roles around I’m ready for bed. If I fall asleep then, and end up sleeping until 7 then I’ve slept too much, and will want to go to bed as early or earlier the next day. Then the whole process seems to start again. Makes me think of a Riley Armstrong song that says, “sleep I never get enough, always waking up tired.”
Sleep is also tricky because when you’re asleep you don’t realize it. I get caught up in dreams, killing dragons, saving the world, watching a house get destroyed by lava. These are some of my dreams from the last several weeks. They’ve actually been pretty good. But when I’m asleep I don’t know it. When I wake up, I realize it was a dream. So it’s odd to me the only time we can understand sleep is when we’re not doing it…hmmm…peace

new vrs. old

2006-03-28T17:31:00.000-06:00

Well hello you few and faithful that I know are just longing for another blog posting. Low and behold a whole day went by and I was relatively busy at work. Wow, I know. Today I was made to think about stretching your faith. The question was posed should we attempt to stretch theology, morality, and ethics. I think this is a great concept. Thinking about things that we normally wouldn’t consider, seeing what the outcome is. For example, stealing it’s wrong, right? What about a mother stealing to feed her family? A single mother who could not find a job that paid enough money for her to put her children in daycare, a mother who doesn’t want to see her family die. Would that be wrong? Hmm…
Anyway, I believe that by thinking about more than just what we’ve always been taught that we can discover new things. What would have happened in Christianity if Martin Luther would have just accept the teaching of today. What would have happened in America if the northern states wouldn’t have tried to abolish slavery? By testing the waters, we can achieve new ideas, not just ones that are said by someone else and we say them another way. I know that I am the king of that. Taking an idea from someone else and saying it in another way is easy to do. Finding something original, new, meaningful, that is not so easy. I believe that is our task.
At the same time we must not fail to forget the now unoriginal things from the past. There is great truth and wisdom from the past. We must find the balance of seeking advice from our ancestors and looking on towards the future. peace

The road of life...

2006-03-26T14:00:00.000-06:00

Reading the post of a friend, I would have to agree that Elizabethtown had several issues that I thought were key. The road trip to me was a moment of self-realization for Drew’s character. The trip was so detailed and planned by Claire, it was almost a little creepy. The end, which if you haven’t seen it I won’t ruin it for you, reminded me of something else though. It reminded me of how God plans everything out nicely for us. You know, he gives us the map, the directions, the music, even the people for our journey. In the end if you follow the map you get what you want, God.
In a world filled with self-satisfaction the one thing that I find myself longing for is a need to know that my life has a meaning, you know…that my life really IS important. I try and fill it with other things, my family, my job, my friends...the list could go on forever. I find it hard to be still and hear that small quite voice that I need so badly. However I know (like Drew) that God (like Claire) has it all planned out and everything will be okay. One day I will end up in his arms totally surrounded by his love. So just as the music and people were in accord with the trip that Drew had, are the music and people in our lives in accord with what God really has for us. If they aren’t we should ask ourselves what the words of Switchfoot in Stars “Maybe I’m the problem. Maybe, I’m to blame.” Peace

getting the kinks worked out

2006-03-23T09:20:00.000-06:00

Well last night I was attempting to figure out how to post my picture, and well I did. Only it appeared as a blog. Alas. Hopefully one day I'll have all the kinks worked out. Anyway...Recently I've been pretty busy. Working two jobs and being a full-time Seminary student doesn't leave too much time for other activities. I suppose one has to work to live though. Hopefully one day my time will come when I don't have to depend upon "regular jobs" for income. These other jobs do provide chances for meeting new people so I suppose that's good. I think I need to work a little more on working on finding the positive in all situations. Then again I think humanity could benefit from trying to find the positive in everything. Just a thought...peace

2006-03-22T19:25:00.000-06:00

It's Me

in the beginning

2006-03-22T09:30:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm starting the blog off. I'm doing so because I know there are people out there like me who have too much free-time at work. So this is the beginning of the my blog life...
Today I sit here with this question on my mind. Is morality relative or absolute? I'm causing quite a stir in a class because of this question. I'm simply questioning why it's absolute for all. I know that if you claim yourself as a Christian it should be absolute. Does this make it absolute for others though. Just my random thought for the day...peace