Chocolate exists.
Therefore there must be a God and he is clearly a benevolent God to make a luxury as wonderful as chocolate for us to enjoy.
Chocolate is soooo good. There's just no way it could be a happy accident of evolution!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
aaaaaaaa!
Remember the movie, "It's a mad mad mad mad world"? Well, it is.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1181170
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1181170
Friday, September 3, 2010
A night out
Dear Midway, Congratulations on spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a nice new stadium. And on the very clever idea of making general admission seating and then selling more tickets than there are seats. I guess you can use the extra money to get all your campuses on the accelerated reader program. You could even advertise it as such. "Come stand for 2 1/2 hours so our new schools can have AR." I think people here care enough about reading to do it.
While it may have been a little misguided, I have to admit that the new stadium is very spiffy. And even though the game was boring it was a pleasant evening. I enjoyed parking half way to Lorena and then hiking to the field in order to stand the whole time. It actually was not hard to see around the extra wide gentlemen standing in front of me except that they wouldn't be still. Lean left, lean right, lean left, lean right. I'm a little sea sick now.
Thank God for the good ol' BMBC yutes. They stopped by periodically and kept me entertained. Way to go y'all!
While it may have been a little misguided, I have to admit that the new stadium is very spiffy. And even though the game was boring it was a pleasant evening. I enjoyed parking half way to Lorena and then hiking to the field in order to stand the whole time. It actually was not hard to see around the extra wide gentlemen standing in front of me except that they wouldn't be still. Lean left, lean right, lean left, lean right. I'm a little sea sick now.
Thank God for the good ol' BMBC yutes. They stopped by periodically and kept me entertained. Way to go y'all!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Summer time
We had a good trip to Houston last weekend. We visited my folks and sister to celebrate Independence Day and Jonathan's birthday. It was a good time. Thankfully, for a change, everyone stayed healthy.
On the drive back, I had one of those strange, sudden revelations. I realized that the older I get the less I need mountain fixes. Really not sure why that is. I suppose it has something to do with my decreased cold tolerance and increasing laziness. Still, I never dreamed my affection for mountains would diminish. Maybe if I just spent a week in NM or CO it would come back?
The week before the holiday weekend was our Vacation Bible School and it too was a lot of fun. One night we studied Titus 2:11-14. It reads, "11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
Wow, what a great passage! I'm not sure why I never really noticed it before, but I sure like it. Don't you? What do you suppose Paul is talking about when he speaks of saying "No" to ungodliness? I'd be curious how many different ideas are out there.
Speaking of ungodliness... Here's is a very timely and important article from Sue Bohlin at Probe Ministries. I highly recommend it. Read the whole thing because she makes a plethora of points.
I'll try to get back to some thoughts about kid's sports soon.
On the drive back, I had one of those strange, sudden revelations. I realized that the older I get the less I need mountain fixes. Really not sure why that is. I suppose it has something to do with my decreased cold tolerance and increasing laziness. Still, I never dreamed my affection for mountains would diminish. Maybe if I just spent a week in NM or CO it would come back?
The week before the holiday weekend was our Vacation Bible School and it too was a lot of fun. One night we studied Titus 2:11-14. It reads, "11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
Wow, what a great passage! I'm not sure why I never really noticed it before, but I sure like it. Don't you? What do you suppose Paul is talking about when he speaks of saying "No" to ungodliness? I'd be curious how many different ideas are out there.
Speaking of ungodliness... Here's is a very timely and important article from Sue Bohlin at Probe Ministries. I highly recommend it. Read the whole thing because she makes a plethora of points.
I'll try to get back to some thoughts about kid's sports soon.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Some Memorial Day free time
Ahhhh. Finally a chance to relax a little and write something. First, thank you! Thank you to all who have served in our armed forces, and their families, who must also make sacrifices so we can live in a free society. Thanks especially to those whose loved ones paid the ultimate price. Thank you and God bless you.
Krista took Kris out for a birthday outing. Jeremiah is at a friend's house. Jonathan is at a friend's house. I have some precious peace and quiet. Well, except for the sounds of me coughing up my lungs. Still, its good to get a little break. Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!
Now, back to what I started several weeks ago. I was talking about how sports have really become an idol in American culture, for sure here in the south. My thesis stems from that. It is that we have really created a monster out of children's sports. We have made sports for kids so ridiculously serious that it is not good for the kids or the parents or the coaches. It has become a place in our society where our depravity frequently gets the best of us.
I gave a couple of examples in the previous post and I feel they are very typical of where we are in America with kid's sports. There is a lot more to say about the issue. However, before delving into more of it, lest you think I'm anti-sports, I want to offer a little personal testimony.
I really like sports. I would say that I "love" sports, but that is part of the problem. I have great parents and they gave me a wonderful childhood. My father really likes sports too. He was an all around athlete in high school. In fact, I'd venture to say he is still one of the best 84 year old golfers around. Because of his interest in sports they were always on in our house on weekends (remember this was back when there were just three channels and sports only aired on Saturdays and Sundays). Actually, one of my fondest childhood memories is that of lying in the living room beside Dad on Saturday nights while he tuned his old transistor radio between college football games. We lived in Oklahoma, but with careful tuning he could listen to several Southwest Conference games in an evening. It was fun!
Couple that with the fact that the kids in my neighborhood were always playing football or basketball or baseball or kickball and the result is that my first grade teacher said I knew more about sports than any little kids she had known. I don't say that to brag but to make the point that I am a sports fan. I am not against sports. They can/should be fun. They can/should be healthy.
However, there can be a dark side to sports as well. By the time I was in junior high football was my idol. I can remember if the Cowboys lost a big game I would become incredibly upset; even to the point of crawling under my bean bag chair and crying. Crying over a game is ridiculous. Thankfully, though, God convinced me of my sin. Between eighth and ninth grades the Holy Spirit really got my attention and showed me that the position of sports in my life (specifically football) rightfully belonged to God. With His help I repented and actually quit football.
Now, I cannot honestly say that I never again gave sports an improper place in my life. However, that was the first big step in getting my priorities straight. The more I have matured intellectually and spiritually the better I have become at keeping sports in their proper perspective.
So, please don't think that I dislike sports or that I look down on those who idolize them. Been there done that. I'm not making these posts to condemn anyone. Hopefully, God can use the ideas here to help put sports in perspective for someone else who needs it. In turn, hopefully, that will allow some children to play sports for the right reasons and in the right atmosphere without overzealous parents and coaches making it a miserable experience rather than a fun one.
Krista took Kris out for a birthday outing. Jeremiah is at a friend's house. Jonathan is at a friend's house. I have some precious peace and quiet. Well, except for the sounds of me coughing up my lungs. Still, its good to get a little break. Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!
Now, back to what I started several weeks ago. I was talking about how sports have really become an idol in American culture, for sure here in the south. My thesis stems from that. It is that we have really created a monster out of children's sports. We have made sports for kids so ridiculously serious that it is not good for the kids or the parents or the coaches. It has become a place in our society where our depravity frequently gets the best of us.
I gave a couple of examples in the previous post and I feel they are very typical of where we are in America with kid's sports. There is a lot more to say about the issue. However, before delving into more of it, lest you think I'm anti-sports, I want to offer a little personal testimony.
I really like sports. I would say that I "love" sports, but that is part of the problem. I have great parents and they gave me a wonderful childhood. My father really likes sports too. He was an all around athlete in high school. In fact, I'd venture to say he is still one of the best 84 year old golfers around. Because of his interest in sports they were always on in our house on weekends (remember this was back when there were just three channels and sports only aired on Saturdays and Sundays). Actually, one of my fondest childhood memories is that of lying in the living room beside Dad on Saturday nights while he tuned his old transistor radio between college football games. We lived in Oklahoma, but with careful tuning he could listen to several Southwest Conference games in an evening. It was fun!
Couple that with the fact that the kids in my neighborhood were always playing football or basketball or baseball or kickball and the result is that my first grade teacher said I knew more about sports than any little kids she had known. I don't say that to brag but to make the point that I am a sports fan. I am not against sports. They can/should be fun. They can/should be healthy.
However, there can be a dark side to sports as well. By the time I was in junior high football was my idol. I can remember if the Cowboys lost a big game I would become incredibly upset; even to the point of crawling under my bean bag chair and crying. Crying over a game is ridiculous. Thankfully, though, God convinced me of my sin. Between eighth and ninth grades the Holy Spirit really got my attention and showed me that the position of sports in my life (specifically football) rightfully belonged to God. With His help I repented and actually quit football.
Now, I cannot honestly say that I never again gave sports an improper place in my life. However, that was the first big step in getting my priorities straight. The more I have matured intellectually and spiritually the better I have become at keeping sports in their proper perspective.
So, please don't think that I dislike sports or that I look down on those who idolize them. Been there done that. I'm not making these posts to condemn anyone. Hopefully, God can use the ideas here to help put sports in perspective for someone else who needs it. In turn, hopefully, that will allow some children to play sports for the right reasons and in the right atmosphere without overzealous parents and coaches making it a miserable experience rather than a fun one.
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