Time

....zoom....madness....insane....but controlled by God....just the same....Praise Him!

Maybe I'll think of something to post soon.

LOVE

How much love there isn’t in this world is far more amazing than how much love there is.

Imagine if all the churches got together and came up with a giant/overshadowing mission statement. “Our goal is to SHOW you LOVE!” Talk about a unifying and Biblical concept.


1Corinthians 13: 11-12
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.


I’ve been in a church with a great preacher, but who happened to have a real problem with loving people.

I’ve been in a church desperate to love, but hindered from that goal by the “straw-man goals” set up by leadership.

I’ve been in a church so obsessed with presentation and “feeling” that they fall into the trap of believing they are loving, when really they are just imitating.

I’ve been in a church where the love was so abundant that no one knew what they had and then in a flash it was gone.

I’ve been in a church where the love is there, ready, apparent, but sometimes just left lying on the table due to a lack of leadership.

I’ve been in a church where the love is so overwhelming that it drowns out all other concerns, to the point that those pouring out the love accidentally begin to pour out conditions with their love and don’t even realize it.

I've been in a church in the throes of "active drowning".

I’ve been in a church where, amazingly enough, hate palpably seeks to take the place of love.

But far better than all of these, I’ve read about a church that simply is LOVE!


1 Corinthians 13: 13
But now faith, hope, love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.


Matthew 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your Heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.

“The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Transformers

Awesome movie! Granted, it's based on the 80's TV cartoon and comic book, and the concept is entirely preposterous, but that is what makes it great. Unfortunately, that's why some of the more "intellectual" movie critics can't wrap their puny minds around the glory of the dorky insanity that is Transformers. In spite of this, I've still seen it getting "thumbs up" from around 75% of the critics. That pretty much makes it a landslide victory for the Transformers in my book. Just try getting better!

I was blessed enough to get to see it on opening day with a huge theater full of fans, which is always fun. For a summer action movie, there's nothing better than the clapping, the laughing, the cheering, and getting to be part of an audience getting exactly what they expected, and loving it.

AUTOBOTS RULE!!

The Offense of the Mind

Here's a question: Who among us cannot claim to have at one time or another been “offended”? I’m not trying to imply that there are some out there that very well may hold on to such a claim to fame, but they are definitely rare among the rare.

I believe that it would be a fair statement to say that we have been, and are being, programmed to find offense in our day-to-day lives. We are taught that offense is a real, tangible thing in this world, and that it can do real, tangible harm.

Children in today’s world are especially prone to such teachings, and perhaps the current collegiates are the biggest active participant in allowing such teachings to be perpetuated. Those of us not falling into one of these two groups are still subjected to the woes of the world brought on by the breeding of such a culture of offense via the media. The media broadcast the message that offense is easy and widespread. Offense is readily consumed by a media machine built to feed on such manufactured anti-news.

So here’s a different question: How many times were you offended today? Did you catch yourself even once saying “WHOA!!, that guy shouldn’t have said that! How could they say that?” I did catch myself saying such things, at least 3 times in the last two days. Hence the inspiration for this blogry.

I have to say, probably to the choir and/or the vacuum, that to be offended is preposterous. To further proclaim to the world that one is offended is an absurdity. And to then carry things even further and actually blame someone else for the fact that one has taken offense is downright ignorant. Offense is a choice, and to ALLOW someone to offend you in any manner is an absolutely puny and self-righteous attitude to take.

If you are offended by anyone at anytime, regardless of how outrageous or ignorant something they said or did may have been, reflects equally negatively on you the offended as much as it does the offender. And yet, because the media, and the educational system at large, coddle the offended as if offense is some sort of REAL crime, we thereby allow people to victimize themselves at will. And can there be any real defense when the offense is solely the product of the offended’s mind? Nope. Therefore the offended is always right. How quaint: Guilty with no chance of being proven innocent.

And so, the real question for everyone (children, collegiate, professor, reporter, anchorman, politician, parent, etc…) to ask of themselves is “How long before I offend someone?” Then, once you do succeed in offending someone, all you can do is wonder, how bad will the punishment be?

In a perfect world, we could simply all stop being offended by things we can’t control: the thoughts and actions of others. This doesn’t mean we can’t punish the perpetrators of real crimes and be disgusted and repulsed by their words and actions. But it does mean that we don’t need to be “offended” by them. I believe there is a difference, but I worry that the difference is being lost.

Dandy Lions

The softest grass blades always seem to work their way right up between the big toe and toe number 2, leaving behind the slightest of tickles on top of the foot as you step. What was that?

The darkness can creep up on you, stealing away your peace of mind.

The dandy lions are swarming the grass tonight, moving alive as they burst out of their dark winter homes seeking to satiate on the call of the glowing beacons dotting the houses up and down the street. Spring is draining out and summer is beginning its yearly blaze.

The storms are aging, the rain returns to the clouds, and the clouds drift away on the winds. The stars are turned into position.

posting...

Talk about an easy habit to get out of....I'm turning my posting brain back on right now. I'm sure something is out there waiting to get posted, and I'll get it posted as soon as I come across it.

Breathing Rain

Presuming the preeminence of God and His Word over all, I can’t think of anything better in this world, anything that renews my spirit and soul, more than rain. No matter what it is you are doing, rain changes perspective, and not in some lame intellectual way, but in a base, underlying manner.

It is like food for the soul. I think the rain replenishes us as a living part of this planet, just as it does everything else. Rain even seems to have a refreshing, cleansing effect on the manmade stuff of this world.

God’s ways are perfect. At one time or another, we all lose sight of this. Rain restores some primal understanding of who God is, and who we truly are in comparison. Perspective.

I hope it’s raining where you are right now.

*****

"I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit." -- Leviticus 26:4

"Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm ... " -- Job 38:25 ...
"Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?" -- Job 38:28

" ... the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel." -- Psalms 68:8 ...

"He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills." -- Psalms 147:8

"You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it." -- Isaiah 45:8

"Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this." -- Jeremiah 14:22

"When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses." -- Jeremiah 51:16

"Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime; it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone." -- Zechariah 10:1

" ... that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." -- Matthew 5:45

"Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." -- James 5:17