thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy this video and remember…no matter what your family’s like, at least you’re not in Carmen’s family. 🙂

 

worship

What is worship?

A song?

A service?

That’s what we tend to call it.  But I have a different definition:

Worship is our response to the collision between our sin and God’s grace.

What is your response to a collision?  Shock?  Awe?  Surprised?  Startled?

Think about your sin.

Think about God’s grace.

Can you experience the collision?

Now you’re getting close to worship.

life is short

I’ve been reminded through a couple of different circumstances this week that life is short.

We all face death all day long.

Our next breath could be our last.

Live this breath with all of your soul.

Love deeply, let differences be short-lived, and live abundantly.

It’s not worth a breath to hate, despise, reject, or condemn.

Live and love.

blake’s car – update

I rode in Blake’s car today for the first time since he “cleaned” it.  I have to admit, it does look better although not what I expected.  There are still some random things in it (a Yoggie, toenail clippers, diploma, casserole dish, among other things), but you can see all of the seats and more of the floor.  According to Blake, this is a work in progress and will happen in phases.  Time will tell.

my boys will never understand…

I started looking at how different it was when I was growing up versus now (that’s what old people do) and realized there are a lot of things that my boys will never understand no matter how much I try to explain it to them.  They are only 9 & 6 and it doesn’t seem like this stuff is THAT long ago.  Here is my list so far:

• Taking a nap in the back floorboard of the car
• Listening to an 8-track and having to fold paper just right to wedge in between the tape and the slot so it would play.
• Listening to a cassette
• A swatch (not a piece of fabric, but the watch)
• Putting pennies in loafers
• Wanting to be Michael Jackson (Jackson 5 & Thriller days – not creepy, plastic surgery, wearing makeup days)
• Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs, Cheryl Ladd, Jaclyn Smith, and Lynda Carter (enough said)
• Playing Pong (and LOVING it)
• The Atari 2600, 5200, and Intellivision
• Not having internet
• Owning a Mac that was boxy and had a green screen
• Riding bikes and running off wherever we wanted as long as we were within earshot by dinner time
• Spending most days not watching TV at all
• Only having 4 channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, & PBS) and no one knowing what cable or satellite TV was
• Having a rotary phone or a corded phone
• Using a pay phone
• Having a TV in a cabinet the size of a freezer
• A remote control with a cable tethered to it

That’s what I have so far.  What would you add?  Send a comment and let us know.

poll results

Thanks to those of you who voted in last week’s poll about how long Blake can keep his car clean.  Here are the results:

<1 week:  45%

1-2 weeks:  36%

3-4 weeks:  18%

>1 month:  0%

It will stay clean:  0%

I understand from Blake that the cleaning is taking place in phases so it’s not quite cleaned out completely yet.  So you still have a chance to vote in the poll if you’d like.

random things in blake’s car

Here’s what I found this week:

• Book – Speaker For The Dead
• Mesh bag with geometric foam shapes
• Claw machine
• Antique chess set

If Blake’s tweet is true, this may be the last installment of this series for a while.  He claims he is cleaning out his car.  I hope to have pictures next week.  Tell me…how long do you think it will take for Blake’s car to have random things in it again?  Take the poll and let me know.  I’ll post the results on Monday or Tuesday.

sunday recap, etc.

Set list:

• Let God Arise
• All Because Of Jesus
• Beautiful Jesus
• Take My Life
• We Are Rescued

Cliff spoke on a topic a lot of pastors get nervous about because it makes people uncomfortable – money.  Now, it’s not a bad thing to have money but it is up to us to control our money and not let our money control us.  Ultimately, finances are a spiritual issue.  To hear the full message, go here.

On a related note, our co-pastor Donny has begun a blog.  I wasn’t sure this would ever happen.  (He still isn’t on Facebook or Twitter, but who knows what might happen?!)  Donny’s blog is going to provide resources related to the weekly message as well as some other insights.  I’d encourage you to read it.