"I feel like God does make everything happen for a reason."
So God made her drink and drive...and then He made her drive without a license...twice...and then He made her feel victimized.
Things that make you say, "Hmmmm."
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
If you're ever in Southern California...
Try out a great sushi bar in Del Mar named Matsu Gawa. Except for my hand cramping because I don't know how to use chopsticks that well, the food was super fresh and the portions were large.Last night we ended up going to Carlsbad to eat at a Mexican restaurant. We weren't about to fight the traffic headed to San Diego for the Padres game. Hey, we live in Atlanta and we're not stupid, OK?
Anyway, it was a great trip that paid off big time for our marketing department. Hope to see most of you at church tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Gone to San Diego
I'll be in San Diego tomorrow through Saturday. If you need me, email me, text me or call me.
Just remember that I'll be three hours behind. In 72 degree weather. On the beach. Eating seafood that's billed to the company credit card.
See you Sunday at 11:30am.
Just remember that I'll be three hours behind. In 72 degree weather. On the beach. Eating seafood that's billed to the company credit card.
See you Sunday at 11:30am.
The first month of 47five17 has been pretty amazing...
Why? Well, let's just enumerate, shall we?
- Not many students knew me that well.
- It was announced it at church, but not much more than that advertising-wise.
- A lot of students were coming off a pretty crappy senior year at church.
- We're not a college town, per se. (But then again we are the home of Oakwood University!)
- We haven't thrown a bunch of money at it.
- Pastor Jeff has been behind it from before day one and has supported it big time.
- You guys were way ready for something that wasn't HS, but was young adult.
- A lot of you were coming off a pretty crappy year at church and were ready to engage.
- There were more than a few that decided to stick around GSC...sweet.
- The students and young adults of Chestnut Mountain like my hair.
- Prayer.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
StumbleUpon
If you want one of the best time killers for surfing the web, go to StumbleUpon. Put in your interest, click on the little globe in your browser, and stumble upon some of the coolest, eclectic, and obscure websites ever.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Spiritual beings living a human existence
Our pastor, Jeff Benefield, has recently and frequently used the phrase "We are spiritual beings living out a human existence." Or at least something really close to that. Fact is, it's a very true statement, especially proven in recent conversations that I've been involved with. For instance...
A couple of days ago when working at BestBuy, one of my favorite managers was passing the time with me (we were brutally slow), and was telling me that he had found a great movie about vampires. I asked him why, and he said it was because that the movie a lot of the cast of Aliens in it and that immediately made him a fan. He said it was just cool. So how is that spiritual? People innately gravitate to spiritual things. It's not the first time someone said they loved a vampire movie. The whole vampire thing is, to be sure, a spiritual topic. Demons, crosses, Holy Water, life after death, etc. It's fascinating stuff to a lot of people. We are spiritual beings living a human existence, even if the most popular spiritual topic isn't "Christian."
Another example can be found in my oldest daughter. She's enamored with the thought of the spiritual, sometimes with spiritual stuff that isn't founded in a Biblical worldview. Just last night, I went downstairs to grab a book and found her watching "The Exorcist III." While she had only watched just a few minutes of it, I was a bit ticked off and made her change the channel. I chose to use the event as a chance to disciple her....We ended up having a great discussion about the reality of demonic activity and the misrepresentation of the majority of Hollywood's portrayal of spiritual things. My ultimate response was that she couldn't watch crap like that without knowing exactly what the Bible says about it.
Since Christians are spiritual beings living a human existence, we should take advantage of the insight that Scripture gives us into the spiritual. It's just plain lazy to let Hollywood or the journalistic establishment drive our worldview of spiritual things. So get on Biblegateway.com and search demons, angels, heaven, hell, and anything else that movies like The Grudge, The Ring, Underworld: Evolution, or Constantine portray as truth. While there may be entertainment value for some in those kind of movies, it's important to remember the following:
As a spiritual being living out a human existence, you've got to know and understand the Truth.
A couple of days ago when working at BestBuy, one of my favorite managers was passing the time with me (we were brutally slow), and was telling me that he had found a great movie about vampires. I asked him why, and he said it was because that the movie a lot of the cast of Aliens in it and that immediately made him a fan. He said it was just cool. So how is that spiritual? People innately gravitate to spiritual things. It's not the first time someone said they loved a vampire movie. The whole vampire thing is, to be sure, a spiritual topic. Demons, crosses, Holy Water, life after death, etc. It's fascinating stuff to a lot of people. We are spiritual beings living a human existence, even if the most popular spiritual topic isn't "Christian."
Another example can be found in my oldest daughter. She's enamored with the thought of the spiritual, sometimes with spiritual stuff that isn't founded in a Biblical worldview. Just last night, I went downstairs to grab a book and found her watching "The Exorcist III." While she had only watched just a few minutes of it, I was a bit ticked off and made her change the channel. I chose to use the event as a chance to disciple her....We ended up having a great discussion about the reality of demonic activity and the misrepresentation of the majority of Hollywood's portrayal of spiritual things. My ultimate response was that she couldn't watch crap like that without knowing exactly what the Bible says about it.
Since Christians are spiritual beings living a human existence, we should take advantage of the insight that Scripture gives us into the spiritual. It's just plain lazy to let Hollywood or the journalistic establishment drive our worldview of spiritual things. So get on Biblegateway.com and search demons, angels, heaven, hell, and anything else that movies like The Grudge, The Ring, Underworld: Evolution, or Constantine portray as truth. While there may be entertainment value for some in those kind of movies, it's important to remember the following:
As a spiritual being living out a human existence, you've got to know and understand the Truth.
Friday, June 08, 2007
New header design...
Huge thanks to super-freak artist Jonathan Maloney for the new header design. How cool is that? As much as I love the pic of the old blue truck, it was time for a redux.
Thanks again Jonathan...all I can say is, "Wow!"
Thanks again Jonathan...all I can say is, "Wow!"
Another Paris Hilton blog entry...
I wonder how much time humanity lost today in following Paris Hilton's re-incarceration? The court did today what her family failed to do...enforce boundaries and show her the consequence of living outside those boundaries. Her courtroom antics were more like a chided toddler than a grown woman. Go figure.
One of the most refreshing things I heard today was from an 11 year old girl visiting our home. After our family's conversation about Ms. Hilton ended, the girl asked, "Who's Paris Hilton?" I responded, "It's really good you don't know." I wondered out loud to myself, "Why did I waste so much time listening to other people talk about it?" Perhaps I'll waste less time on stuff like that in the future.
Paris Hilton is a thumbnail of what's wrong with pop culture.
Wow, that's a great sentence if I may say so myself. I should have just left it at that. I'm too lazy to delete the other paragraphs.
Later...
One of the most refreshing things I heard today was from an 11 year old girl visiting our home. After our family's conversation about Ms. Hilton ended, the girl asked, "Who's Paris Hilton?" I responded, "It's really good you don't know." I wondered out loud to myself, "Why did I waste so much time listening to other people talk about it?" Perhaps I'll waste less time on stuff like that in the future.
Paris Hilton is a thumbnail of what's wrong with pop culture.
Wow, that's a great sentence if I may say so myself. I should have just left it at that. I'm too lazy to delete the other paragraphs.
Later...
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
Why is there pain, evil and suffering? (for Sunday, June 10)
Add to that, 1) Why do bad things happen to good people? 2) is God punishing me for things I've done? 3) Why Sanjaya? (just kidding).
Everyone has asked at least one of the above questions to themselves. The human response runs the gamut of, "I don't know" to "God is punishing me" to "I hate God for letting that happen." None of the responses is an clear Biblical response. The goal of this Sunday's discussion is to help you get your head around the basics of the question and build an understanding of evil and suffering that results in a Biblical worldview.
The college courses that touch on evil and suffering (philosophy, humanities, sociology, psychology, ethics, etc.), will rarely be taught from a Biblical worldview. They will, more than likely, be taught from a completely humanistic view of the world. So, your choice is to 1) Go to class relying on an uneducated "pop" Christian understanding of the deeper questions of life, or 2) Have an educated and Biblical worldview and be able to discuss it with more confidence. With that being said, let's choose the latter.
Here's some stuff to research: (You can post questions!)
Google the following important dead guys and their basic thoughts on pain and suffering:
- Albert Camus
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
How do the following nonevangelical faith systems view evil and suffering?
- Hinduism
- Christian Scientists
- Buddhism
- Zoroastrianism
- Manicheism
How did Plato view evil and suffering?
Look up and find what you can on the following Biblical principles (views) of evil and suffering:
- The Punitive principle
- The Disciplinary principle
- The Revelational principle
- The Redemptive principle
- The Eschatological principle
Here are some Biblical passages to meditate on:
- Genesis chapters 1 and 3.
- Romans 5 (verse 15-18 then 1-5)
- Romans 8 (verses)
Later...
Ken
Everyone has asked at least one of the above questions to themselves. The human response runs the gamut of, "I don't know" to "God is punishing me" to "I hate God for letting that happen." None of the responses is an clear Biblical response. The goal of this Sunday's discussion is to help you get your head around the basics of the question and build an understanding of evil and suffering that results in a Biblical worldview.
The college courses that touch on evil and suffering (philosophy, humanities, sociology, psychology, ethics, etc.), will rarely be taught from a Biblical worldview. They will, more than likely, be taught from a completely humanistic view of the world. So, your choice is to 1) Go to class relying on an uneducated "pop" Christian understanding of the deeper questions of life, or 2) Have an educated and Biblical worldview and be able to discuss it with more confidence. With that being said, let's choose the latter.
Here's some stuff to research: (You can post questions!)
Google the following important dead guys and their basic thoughts on pain and suffering:
- Albert Camus
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
How do the following nonevangelical faith systems view evil and suffering?
- Hinduism
- Christian Scientists
- Buddhism
- Zoroastrianism
- Manicheism
How did Plato view evil and suffering?
Look up and find what you can on the following Biblical principles (views) of evil and suffering:
- The Punitive principle
- The Disciplinary principle
- The Revelational principle
- The Redemptive principle
- The Eschatological principle
Here are some Biblical passages to meditate on:
- Genesis chapters 1 and 3.
- Romans 5 (verse 15-18 then 1-5)
- Romans 8 (verses)
Later...
Ken
Saturday, June 02, 2007
FreeMind
I've always thought mind mapping was a cool thing. I bought a book to try to learn how to do it because Ed Young said it revolutionized his productivity. The book was tedious at best. Maybe my self diagnosed adult ADD had something to do with it.,,who know. One thing I do know is that I found a free mind mapping software called FreeMind and it's freakin' cool. It's relatively intuitive and has made my strategy and planning for the college ministry really become focused. It's not perfect by any stretch but it definitely is robust enough to get the job done. And it's FREE. I likey.
Back in the saddle(s)
Part One
Since the last year has been one of underemployment (understatement of my lifetime), I chose to take on a part-time job with BestBuy last September. I took three months off so I could focus on my day job. After things solidified there, I got back in the retail saddle and I haven't even broken stride. Sales are good, even in the slower part of the year. In the grand scheme of retail employment, it's a really fun job. Especially since I only work on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. The employee discount is sweet, too. I'll probably work through July for now because....
Part Two
As I've posted before, Jeff has asked me to fill in at CMC on Sundays that he's away. I'm doing it again on July 15th. Good times. As a result of my growing relationship with
the staff, they asked if I would be willing to do Young Adults (18-35) and Missions on a part-time basis. So, I'll start doing that in August. That's a lot for part-time, but because the two areas are squarely in my "sweet spot", it will be a challenge and not a chore. The big focus is on college age through the end of school year '08. Career people and young marrieds are next and then missions. I won't be able to lead mission trips until I build some vacation time at my full-timejob. Until then it will have to be vision casting and logistics.
It is a much welcome return to home electronics and ministry...I can hear Hank Williams now,...."back in the saddle(s) again."
Since the last year has been one of underemployment (understatement of my lifetime), I chose to take on a part-time job with BestBuy last September. I took three months off so I could focus on my day job. After things solidified there, I got back in the retail saddle and I haven't even broken stride. Sales are good, even in the slower part of the year. In the grand scheme of retail employment, it's a really fun job. Especially since I only work on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. The employee discount is sweet, too. I'll probably work through July for now because....
Part Two
As I've posted before, Jeff has asked me to fill in at CMC on Sundays that he's away. I'm doing it again on July 15th. Good times. As a result of my growing relationship with
the staff, they asked if I would be willing to do Young Adults (18-35) and Missions on a part-time basis. So, I'll start doing that in August. That's a lot for part-time, but because the two areas are squarely in my "sweet spot", it will be a challenge and not a chore. The big focus is on college age through the end of school year '08. Career people and young marrieds are next and then missions. I won't be able to lead mission trips until I build some vacation time at my full-timejob. Until then it will have to be vision casting and logistics.
It is a much welcome return to home electronics and ministry...I can hear Hank Williams now,...."back in the saddle(s) again."
Personal update
As my two faithful readers know, it's been challenging year for me. Transitioning to the marketplace hasn't been hard from the perspective of my ability to perform. Rather, it's been finding a place that matches my abilities and passions. My current employer, a small but very successful website and hosting company, is a great fit. I was hired because they needed someone with public speaking ability and sales experience. The company takes care of their employees in generous and creative ways. I'm very blessed to have the opportunity. Thanks, Jeff and Susan.
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