Wednesday, April 30, 2008

No one said random thoughts couldn't be stupid

So, this morning, standing in the shower trying to wake up, I'm reading one of the many bottles of feminine beauty & cleaning products that adorn my bathroom. I'm not complaining, because I have to admit, there are not nearly as many of those products as there used to be. Having kids really helped with that. When Kris was pregnant with Jonathan she got to where many, many smells mader her nauseous. So she stopped buying all that crap you get at places like Bath & Body Works, etc. See, God can bring good things out of difficult circumstances. But I digress.

Anyway, you know how often on a sitcom or goofy movie they will get a laugh out of showing a woman in a facial mask? Its usually green and there are often cucumbers involved. It is pretty funny looking. Well, on the back of this particular bottle of cleansing face mask was the statement, "non-comedogenic". Really? Isn't that good to know? Clearly, they've created a facial mask that you can wear and people will not laugh at you. "Non" meaning not, "comedo" as in comedy, laughter, and "genic" from genesis or starting or creating. So wearing this mask will not make people start laughing at you; but it is good for your pores, I suppose.

I'd love to really be able to tell you what comedogenic means, but I couldn't find it at Merriam Webster online. So if anyone knows, please enlighten me.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Worried about your carbon footprint?

"When these activists lobby our denomination and its leaders, we risk a diversion of our attention and resources away from our commissioned purpose toward one based on an uncertain science whose advocates call for actions which inflict suffering on the 'least of these'."

So says John Christy, research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntville, in this week's Baptist Standard . His article is titled "Facing fears & global warming". Its definitely worth reading. As Christians it is important that we teach and preach and apply truth. The agenda of many environmentalists too often plays on fears rather than truth. Information like this can help us teach truth to those whose trust is in the creation rather than the Creator.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Long day

So yesterday I come home from outreach to pick the boys up for AWANA. When I get in the driveway, A, our across the street neighbor, is walking Jeremiah home and they're both holding his right arm. Seems he fell out of the play fort, which is about six or seven feet high. It hasn't been two weeks since he tried to jump of the monkey bars on a school field trip and got hurt pretty badly. His teacher was kind of surprised that nothing was broken. I guess he thought he was invincible.

Anyway, he didn't rebound this time like he usually does. We spent an agonizing couple hours trying to decide whether or not to go to the ER. Finally, we decided to tough it out until morning. It was a really long night. Jonathan is the only one who slept much. Although at some point Kris did find out that the little guy had actually jumped off the fort, not fallen. He wants to be a marine you know.

Kris and Jeremiah were waiting at the doctor's office when they opened at 8:00 this morning. Turns out he broke his radius at the elbow and dislocated his shoulder. He never told us that his shoulder hurt.

Dr. T found an orthopedic guy that could see him at 3:15. Now here's the funny part. She said, "Jeremiah I sure hope you've learned your lesson about jumping off things." And my little genius replied, "Ya, next time I jump off something I'm gonna keep my arm up."

Well, Kris was not too content to spend all day with a 5 year old in extreme pain, plus she didn't want to spend all the gas of driving back and forth. So she took the x-rays and her cell phone and called around until she found a doc that could get them in a little earlier. They went in a did paper work and then went for lunch. When they got back the doctor saw them and splinted the arm which made Jeremiah feel much better. When Kris asked about the shoulder the doctor said that the x-ray did look like it was dislocated but he was feeling it and everything was where it should be.

Turns out Jeremiah said that the last time Kris put him in the carseat he heard his shoulder pop and it felt much better after that. Funny little kid. Apparently the muscles had finally relaxed and he relocated his own shoulder, albeit accidentally. I think he'll make a good marine.

Thankfully there was no damage to the growth plate and he is sleeping peacefully now. Y'all pray for us. We need it. There is never a dull moment around here.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

An Old Friend

What a treat I had Tuesday (CW--not what you're thinking). In 1973 my family moved to Stafford, TX. The first night we were in our new house we met the family across the street. There were three brothers and it so happened that the middle one's birthday was that day. They invited us over to play and shared some birthday cake with us. That began a friendship that still exists. I basically grew up with those guys and have great love and respect for the whole family.

So, back to Tuesday. I got home from a church function and had a message on the answering machine. That middle brother that I mentioned above was in town for a short visit. He is now a lieutenant colonel in the US Marine Corp and one of the units he commands is in Waco. I sort of held him hostage at my house for four hours so we could visit. It was great fun though, to see an old friend. Thanks for stopping by.

Item two for today: Check out this story . Seems that a court is forbidding a football coach in East Brunswick, NJ from kneeling and bowing while his team prays. Makes a lot of sense doesn't it? And I remember more than one of my coaches who actually prayed for us before and/or after games. As far as I know it didn't do any permanent damage to anyone. In my mind it surely didn't constitute the establishment of a state sponsored religion. Wow, our society gets wierder by the day.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

A Pet Peeve

I've heard that Christians are not supposed to have pet peeves. I don't know why that is. Maybe I just need to spend more time with God about it because I do have quite a few of them. Here's one for today.

There are a lot of atheists and other skeptics out there. They like to attack Christianity but strangely, many of them don't seem to get too worked up about Judaism, Islam, etc. Anyway, I hesitate to say this because it might come out wrong. But, I have a certain amount of empathy for their skepticism. I mean when they ask good questions I can relate to where they are coming from and feel for them. Of course most of the time they are not really searching for an answer they are just trying to defend their choices. Never the less, I do sort of appreciate their ideas sometimes.

However, there is one skeptic's argument that bugs the hound out of me. You may of heard someone say something like, "I can't believe in a God who would send people to Hell." This is an expression of a belief that because bad things happen then either there is no God or God is not moral. Oooooo, that bugs me. How dare an imperfect human exalt himself/herself to the place of passing judgement on God's morality.

"Can the pot say to the potter, 'He knows nothing' ?" Isaiah 29:16.

Its ironic that most of these folks pride themselves on being thinking people. Think about it then. Even from a strictly theistic point of view, not necessarily just a Christian one, God gets to do what He wants. By definition God is perfect and good. Therefore, his morality is perfect and good whether we like it or not. Who are we too accuse him of being immoral?

All who would accuse God, all who would place their own sense of morality above his, all who would say that He does not do enough to alleviate evil and suffering have but to go to the cross of Calvary. And there find that God himself has done everything, infinitely everything, that could ever be done to prove himself good and moral. There every evil has been overcome. There, and only there, can we find the answers to our questions and the assurance that not only is God good, but his intentions for us are good. There we find that his intentions are good, even for those who, thinking they are better than he, reject him.

How great is our God?