Duper Bowl
2/2/2004 5:51:44 PM
What dupes we've become in America! There is a stir among the ladies and gentlemen concerning the half-time show at this year's Super Bowl. It seems the bumping, grinding, and stripping tingled the sensibilities of some. The amazing thing about that to me is that these same people seem to be oblivious to the fact that our culture degenerated into that putridity long ago. MTV simply put on the sort of show they produce for our children every day. It was even tame for the MTV crowd. "Shaking Your Thing" has long ago become the natural response to music in this generation. Try a little experiment. Turn on one of the music dance shows one day and put the sound off. What you see will remind you of a bunch of animals with no control over their own lusts. The Super Bowl is not a step down some slippery slope that we are in danger of traveling but is simply the revealing of what our culture has become. At least we should admit that much.

The Object Of His Love
2/5/2004 8:44:40 AM
To be the object of His love... of His affection. To know that my name is carved upon His hand...His heart. To awaken each morning at His gentle touch...To be tucked in each night with His reassuring voice. God loves me. Imagine that! He who said, "Let there be..." let me be! Nothing else registers on days like this when I remember I am the object of His love.

The Anchor Holds
2/10/2004 1:02:24 PM
Sometimes, you just want to pull anchor and let this ship dash off into the unknown, wherever it may. Sometimes the poor are just impossible to help. Sometimes the broken and lonely refuse to be consoled. Sometimes the dust won't settle and the storm won't calm. This ship, battered and beaten, keeps surviving the storms, remaining intact. If this anchor would let go, there is no telling where my faith would sail this day. But the anchor holds...just like the song says.

Children's Laughter
2/13/2004 8:15:31 PM
If there is one thing that heals the calloused, wounded heart, it is the singing and laughing of children. Tonight we conducted our children's banquet, and the laughter was non-stop. They loved everything we did... even getting ready to do the things we did. As the night wore on I forgot the war in Iraq, the poverty in Asia, the AIDS in Africa, and the terror in our midst. All I could think of was how wonderful it would be to be running a hundred miles an hour, popping balloons, ice-cream crusted on the side of my face, as I laughed at the top of my lungs.

I'm Tired...
2/16/2004 7:10:29 AM
Cause my mind is distracted
Cause my heart is leaky
Cause my faith is crusty
Cause my soul is scabbed

Of peace disrupted
Of love denied
Of joy usurped
Of justice delayed

When the broken embrace shambles
When the lonely refuse consolation
When the innocent discover ruin
When the dead gallop pass life

I drink dangerously deep of clatter’s caldron
Cause
Of
When
I’m Tired

Gay Marriages
2/18/2004 9:14:11 AM
Someone whose opinion matters to me stated the other day that although he didn't agree with gay marriages he felt like we should just "let them have their equal rights." Equal rights? Gay and lesbians have the exact same rights each of us have today. They can marry a member of the opposite sex if they so choose, just like I have done. And I can't marry a member of my own sex, even if I wanted to. So, we have the exact same rights. What is being suggested by the gay agenda is not "equal rights" but "extra rights." They want to be allowed to reap the benefits of marriage without actually marrying in its traditional sense. There are many wonderful people who choose to remain single for myriad reasons, and these people are not clamoring for the rights granted to couples who marry. Why should those who refuse traditional marriage simply because they prefer sex with someone whose anatomy resembles their own be granted such rights? In fact, most of the so-called rights married couples have can be obtained through a lawyers legal maneuvers. Make no mistake, there is a deeper agenda at work here, even if all gay and lesbians are not aware of it. The enemy's goal, as always, is the destruction of our moral fabric. Always remember that.

Spring!
2/21/2004 9:46:53 AM
It won't be long. I can sense it in the air. (And see it in the mercury of the thermometer.) Soon, winter's cowards will merrily come forth with new hope. The first flowers will dare to be first...dare to blaze a trial. I'm excited for the arrival of spring this year. It reminds me of a poem I wrote for a friend.

Whistle a tune
A Springly jingle
A song of a journey
With bees all a' whirly
Where flowers do mingle
With vines all a' curly
A Springly jingle
A jingly tune

Double Standard
2/24/2004 6:50:58 AM
The double standard employed by many considered "liberal" is astounding. Should a Christian dare to express his views in the public square he is often attacked personally and accused of bigotry. People can consider him a bigot if they so choose, but isn't it also bigotry to attempt to silence that Christian? It isn't so much bigotry some despise as it is opinions other than their own. What makes a person so unsettled by the views of a Christian that he resorts to personal attacks? Most likely, it is the result of being on the losing side of an argument. The double standard goes unchecked by most media. Christianity is the last target of bigotry that is socially acceptable in their ranks.

The Need To Need
2/27/2004 9:21:50 AM
Humans are strange critters. I keep finding myself struggling with the need to be noticed. To be acknowledged. To be successful. To be appreciated. To be validated by the adulation of others. This may be acceptable to us since it is common to us all. But in spiritual terms, these feelings work against our cause. Our need to be considered successful, big, good, or right sometimes will conflict with God’s will for our lives. Sometimes God isn’t looking for big, but for real. Sometimes God isn’t worried about appearances but about obedience. We will never impress God with our bigness, goodness, or success. How can one impress God? I remember Jesus marveling a couple times in the gospels. A couple of those times were over the faith of those who simply believed in the bigness of God. We “need” so much as humans. The need to need is a battle we face continually.