Bring It – Advent 3 – Dec 13 09

This past week I was very fortunate to be able to attend the Citadel’s production of the story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Of course, we all know the story of Scrooge and his change of heart from one of the miser Scrooge, to one of a humble servant celebrating and rejoicing in the Christmas spirit. My understanding of A Christmas Carol had been quite limited – my only real source had ever been through the eyes of Donald Duck as Scrooge and Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit. And while I knew of Dickens’ intent to change people from their miserly ways, I had not caught on to the depth and breadth of Dickens’ message.

Biggest and Best – Pentecost 24 – Nov 15 09

We have a tendency to pursue the biggest and best.  This past week I was in Northern Saskatechewan with 3 other men, pursuing the biggest and best buck.  This is easy for men to do; we do this quite well – the pursuit of the biggest and best.  This pursuit fits with today’s lessons.  We hope that the best rifle, the best quad, the best spot, the best hunter, the best shot, the best stuff will get us the best buck.  We hope that the biggest and best truck will bring us the biggest and best reward.  And it goes on and on.  We get distracted easily by this search for the biggest and best.

All Saints Day – November 1 09 –

This true story is titled Not-So-Blind Chang and is about a man named Chang Shen who lived in China in about 1890 from the book Jesus Freaks, vol 2 by DC Talk.

The story begins, “Chang Shen was known to those villages in the surrounding areas as… ‘one without a particle of good in him.’  He was a gambler and a thief, a womanizer who had driven his wife and daughter from their home.  The townspeople said it was the judgement of the gods for his evildoings when he was stricken with blindness.

Pursuit of Happiness – Pentecost 20 – Oct 18 2009

If I could just work a little harder or a little longer, life would be easier, and I would be happier.  If I gained a little more experience, moved a little higher on the pay scale, then life would be easier, and I would be happier.  I would be able to coast.  I was thinking about this as I read about James and John.  My thinking is that James and John were trying to solidify their place with Jesus, to ultimately give them positions of power and glory to make their lives easier, to make their lives happier.

Pentecost 18 – Oct 4 2009 – Commitment

Most of the information for the story I am reading today comes from www.newadvent.org.

Francis was born to a salesman and a mother who was very prominent in social class.  He had several brothers and sisters, and it was apparent that his parents constantly indulged his desires.  He quickly became the party animal of the town.  He was funny, handsome, musical, and dressed extremely well as the leader among his peers in charm, physical prowess and frolicking.  He was on top of the world so to speak. 

There is something better out there – it’s you!

I realize that writing a status will get people to see it, and like most people, I secretly wish people respond to the statuses I post. I am guilty of writing one tonight that I hoped people would respond to so I could get pity (thanks to the person who responded, I just didn’t feel like going on and on about my problem), and so I could express my anger at the world and the present place I find myself in…. let me explain….

Pentecost 16 – Sept 20 2009 – Ranking

May the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing to you O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Jesus did not keep the fact that He was going to die a secret.  For us, this is the second week we have heard Jesus tell His disciples this.  Today He speaks very plainly, “The son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”  Seems pretty simple, and when we read this, we might think, “Yep, that is exactly what will happen.” 

Pentecost 10 – Aug 9 09 – Tangibles

Fishing this past week made me realize just how faith-based fishing is.

It is quite a faith activity; there are a lot of intangibles.  You generally go into the activity of fishing blind, needing to be faithful that you will be successful.  You do not just plunk down a hook with a rod and know that you will catch something – although sometimes that random plunk works better than a planned, premeditated approach. 

A little diddy about Dan and Larry

A little story about Dan and Larry.

Let me set the stage… we were camping up north with the in-laws.  Papa had put in a year of work into the boat after major problemos last year,

Pentecost 4 – June 28 2009 – Family

May the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable and pleasing to you O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.

The story that I will be reading at different points comes from Tony Campolo, who wrote it in the opening of his book “The Kingdom of God is a Party”.  This version of the story comes from a blog titled “The shadow proves the sunshine”.