Not That I'm Complaining....

Well the last day of November and so far not a speck of snow. Now I will tell you I like snow. The look of a fresh snow fall is beautiful. Things right now look dirty and messy.

However I will take the warm air for now. Its easy on the oil and lights. Since we have moved the house we are currently living in , the price to fill our tank has gone up about 300%.

Plus now we are officially into the Christmas countdown. Decorating tomorrow . Looking forward to it .

To Blog or Not to Blog...That is the Question

I have a clear challenge to myself . As of tomorrow I will blog everyday. They may be short or long. Personal or a review or whatever pops in my mind . So I hope the Lord gives me the discipline and wisdom to write.

Just Sick of Hearing About ..

You ever have a day you just get sick of hearing about certain things . Well here a few of them for me in no real order.
1. Twilight- I sick to death of seeing headlines,TV commercials etc..throw this piece of juvenile garbage in my face. Its stupid and beyond dumb.
2. Bono- Every bodies favorite do gooder, even among Christians (to whom he seems to be a poster boy for Christ). First off he is a marginal Christian at best and a chameleon type worst. I'm just sick of hearing how great he is .Sick I say.
3.Atheist- Dawkins,Hitchens etc.. and their hatred filled spew against Christ and His church. The arguments they engage are the same old rantings , nothing new.
4.Classic Rock - Is there really such a thing . If I have to hear the same song a thousand times in a week , that doesn't make it classic , just annoying. Any AC/DC,Kiss,Tom Cochrane ,Loverboy etc... I don't tune into the radio but everywhere you got some idiot in a store playing some awful classic rock station . Enough!
5.Celebrities- I don't care what Matt Damon , Brad Pitt,Madonna or whoever it may be thinks about any given subject. Why should their opinion be any more important or enlightened then the regular Joe down the street.

I will stop for now before my blood pressure continues to rise . Have I had a bad day , not really but sometimes you just have to let off a little steam.

Breath in ,breath out .....

Now something I'm looking forward to . Going to see the new Christmas Carol tomorrow night . Will post a review that night.Ok I'm calm now .....

A Personal Journey Revealed .....

Anyone that really knows me will know I have one artist that I play more than any other . Yes its Steven Curtis Chapman. I have been a long time fan and have found his music a blessing . It has convicted me,encouraged me and spoke to me like no other.
I blogged about the horrible tragedy that happened to his family over a year and half ago when he lost his little girl Maria when she was hit by accident by her older brother Will Franklin when he was driving into the drive way.
The journey of his pain and families journey through the valley of the shadow of death was shared by all his fans around the world and now with the release of Beauty Will Rise , Steven gives a glimpse into a very personal time in his life and what his family went through.

The album starts off with Heaven is the Face , a upbeat bitter sweet tale of longing for heaven and to see little Maria again. It has been compared to Clapton's song about his little boy Tears in Heaven , but unlike Clapton's that has no answers , no real hope , Chapman anchors his hope in God and seeing his daughter again. The next song Beauty Will Rise is an anthem of sorts , declaring that God can will make beauty out of pain. The album also has some of rawest , and most personal lyrics ever to come from his hand. Sharing intimate stories like the day little Maria surrendered her heart to Jesus (February 20th) and the song called See . He is brutally honest in all the songs. In Questions it is a truthful cry to try and understand why things occur if God is good and all powerful but ultimately its anchored with a triumphal trust in God's sovereignty and love as featured in songs like Faithful and God is in Control. Its hard to listen to this album without being moved emotionally , tears will come . But like in the song Jesus Will Meet You There , where Steven weaves the sufferings of this world in different scenarios with the hope that Jesus will be with you through them all , the whole CD is one of faith,trust and hopeful joy . Ending on a beautiful note , a victorious song called Spring is Coming , reminding us as believers that things will be made new , that death is not the end .
Steven has called this collection as his personal Psalm's , for just like the Bibles Psalms, they contain both lament and praise. Anguish and Joy. I don't understand why this man and his family had to walk this road. Just like I don't understand why I had to watch my Mom waste away , well before her time it seemed to me at the time , of cancer.However in Christ we have hope and what this very personal CD is a gift, form the heart of a man that deals with the question of suffering and pain honestly taking us on a journey form darkness to the light . This CD gets my 10-10 .
God bless this man and his family .

Too Shocking .....Give Me a Break...

Every year at end of the school year , safe grads are promoted . Usually messages and presentations are given in the hopes that it will save lives.Rightfully so , for many of the youth will no doubt be at parties that can get out of hand . Along with the the words of warning come the visual . We have all seen them ,a wrecked car with its crumpled roof that looks more like an accordion than a car. I have even read where they have even shown kids a real accident scene with all its gore to hammer home the point. Don't drink or be on drugs and drive.

I have no problem with the graphic presentations. As they say , a picture paints a thousand words. It may jolt someone who just will not listen or for that matter ,does not care.

Now here is the thing that gets me. In the fight over the atrocity of abortion , many cry foul if a woman is subjected to the real pictures of abortion. They say its unfair and cruel to do so. But how many of the same advocates who cry foul here , have no problem with showing the wreckage a real accident or those who protest war , the real victims .

The fact is the only reason that pro choice advocates do not want these pictures published is because it humanizes the abortion. It removes all the clinical , the sterile aspect of it and in graphic terms , makes in human. You are confronted that what is being brutally destroyed is not a lump of cells , a non-human "it" but a baby. A small little human being made in the image of God. He or she unique and unlike any other human being on this earth.

Evil can be so sterile and unseen if we let it be. The bottom line is if you are willing to kill an unborn child , you at least should have the courage to look at what you have done.

Miscellanous and Other Things

It has been a while , almost a month since my last entry . I have been a bit busy getting my oldest son's bedroom finished. Since he will be staying home while he hits the college trail , he needed his own room. Up till this point he has shared a large room with his brother. So that is what I have been tied up with.

So here goes a few thoughts .

I'm a hockey fan.A leaf fan to be exact and so far this year they are off to a disastrous start.I'm not surprised . They lack many key pieces that are a must for a winning team. Leadership on the ice and a game breaker are sorely lacking. But as all Leaf fans know , hope springs eternal and its still early.

At our Church we have been having a wonderful study of the Holiness of God. It has been a great time of fellowship and study about this very important aspect of God. If we fail to see His holiness at the root of all His other attributes like His justice,mercy,love,wrath etc.. then we will be messed up concerning His nature.

Listening to some some great new music from Todd Agnew,Matt Redman,Matt Mahar,Leeland and many others. This year has been an exceptional year for Christian music. Hope to review some of them soon.

Finishing up the book Christless Christianity by Micheal Horton. It is hard hitting how many churches have pushed Christ to the side and what we are getting is therapeutic centered moral-ism .When we look at Jesus as our moral example and not our Lord and Savior , we have replaced Christ with moral-ism .Great book.

Lastly looking forward to a couple of things. The new Steven Curtis Chapman Cd , Christmas Cd's from Chris Tomlin and Downhere . The new animated movie A Christmas Carol featuring Jim Carrey.

So that is all for now ....I will be back sooner than later , I promise.

One Word I Hate

One word that I hate ,despise and wish did not exist is cancer. It claimed another well known life this past week in the person of Patrick Swayze at the age of 57. Granted on the same day countless unknowns to the world lost their battles as well.Unfortunately I don't think there is anyone that has not been affected by this disease.

I lost my Mom to it back in 1992 at the age of 53 . Then just over 2 years ago my wife was diagnosed with the same cancer that my Mom had. Thankfully by the grace of God she is doing very well but it shook our foundations . It is a scary word that carries with it so much fear and uncertainty .

But it was also a blessing in our life because it brought us closer in our devotion to each other and God . It led to me turning my life fully back to Christ , after wondering in a barren wasteland of my own making for 10 years . We have grown in our faith and I have seen in my wife such strength from God that it humbles me and I thank God that he has given me such a woman.

But I hate that word . It is a wonderful thing to realize that one day it will never be uttered again . When Christ comes and makes all things new , the old will pass away and there will be no more death, no more pain and Jesus himself will dry our tears . What a glorious day for those who believe in Him who died for His sheep and rose again.

Revelation 22:1-4
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw a the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

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