Without Women, Life on Earth Would End

It's true. Without women, life on earth would end. And, yes, physically, this is true. You need the oppossite sexes to create future generations. But let's go back to the beginnings.

Eden. God. Creation.

Surely, in his ultimate power, God could have created us as asexual being, able to reproduce without use of another being. He didn't, and for that we should be thankful, but he could have.

And why? For compansionship? For love? For (His) humor?

Sure, all of those might be true ... but in reality, it's for survival.

Man cannot survive (longterm) on his own.

Take me, for example. My wife goes out of town today, just for a one-day trip to see her mom. What's the first thing I do? Grab a couple extra pieces of greasy garlic cheese pizza and slam them down. Then, after vegging out in front of NCAA Basketball games all day, I take the hour off between games (arrgh! why didn't I get the Miami-Oregon game???), to prepare food. What kind of food, you might ask? Deep fried food. Popcorn chicken, tater tots, and fresh fried tortilla chips. And chased it all down with a Corona (that I got for free from Rachel's gramma).

And while I know this isn't good for me, I continue to do these things. Greasy food, less than healthy beverages, and movement enough to grab the remote and get more to eat.

And, I'm not alone. Check out today and yesterday in the life of Bill Simmons.

I'm telling you, sin or not, Eden or not, men alone would have found a way to deep fry stuff in the garden and kill ourselves off.

Thank God for women.

Modern Day Samaritan

Today, I tell you a story that I think is fictional, although it may reflect actions and behaviors of actual real people. This is not intended. The story is for illustration purposes.

One day, a man fell into the hands of the wrong crowd of people. He was beaten and robbed, and was left laying on the side of the road. His injuries left him incapable of moving to get help, and the gang that had beaten and robbed him took from him any means he had to contact someone for help.

Soon after the attack, a very prestigious ordained man walked past the beaten and bruised man. Seeing his pain, he stopped, and stretched his vocal chords. He spoke to anyone within hearing distance, willing or not.

"Clearly, this man has sinned against our God. Clearly, has taken a stance on abortion, homosexual marriage, poverty, war, immigration or the environment that is not pleasing to our God. And, now, we see that God is punishing him. Let his sad, sad story be a lesson to all of you, that you will repent, and follow me as I follow God, always being on his side of issues, so as to avoid punishment."

Having finished his speech, the prestigious ordained man left, and the beaten and bruised man was left no better than he was before the prestigious ordained man arrived.

Not long after this, a holy man arrived, fresh from leaving his place of worship, where he spoke to like minded folks about his faith. He saw the hurt, wounded, and broken man lying on the side of the road, and he could feel a part of his heart break. He walked over to the men, knelt and stretched his hand out towards him.

"Holy God, we put out trust in you. We see the terrible burden you have placed on this man's life. Lord, I know not the circumstances that lead to him being placed here, hurting and wounded, but I thank you for them. And I pray that this burden you have placed on him will lead him to salvation through you, will lead others to salvation in you, and will bring glory, and honor, and power to your name. Amen."

Having finished his prayer, the holy man stood up, and left and the beaten and bruised man was left no better than he was before the holy man arrived.

A short time later, a man with no identifiable clothing nor any identifiable bumper stickers showed up on the scene in his modest car. He saw the hurting man, and brought his car to a complete and total stop. He left his car and went to the man, checked his vitals, and seeing that he was alive but in pain, scooped him from the ground and put him in his car. He drove him to the nearest hospital, and went to the administrative assistant behind the desk.

"I do not know if this man has insurance or money, but here is my bank card information. Whatever charges are incurred to treat, heal, and nurse the man back to health, please charge to me. Here is my credit card, as well, and a phone number to reach me, if my bank card runs out of funds. Let me know when the man is healthy enough to be moved to a hotel, and I will return for him."

And the man with no identifiable marks left, and the beaten and bruised man was able to have his wounds healed, and able to return to full health.

And which of these three do you think truly served the Lord?

Head Games

I've now missed a day-and-a-half of work thanks to a migraine headache. I hate these things, but even more than that, I hate the effect the medicine I take has on me. Almost no strength ... boy, isn't that fun.

On the bright side, I still love my job. Haven't had a ton of success, but I'm getting better. I've improved from getting a single "no" from business owners to getting 15 or so. I guess that's improvement. Also, I do have a couple of appointments set up, so things are looking up, at least a bit.

Had some deep thoughts to share after jOURney last week, but my head isn't in shape to share them right now, so I'll have to share them later.

Gotta love a life where just about the only thing out of place in my life is my finances. And I honestly mean that.

Hey God, Can We Just Be Friends With Benefits?

So, Journey was very, very good tonight. We discussed the second half of Luke chapter eight, and how God works to restore people. How he restored a man who had been possessed by assumedly hundreds or thousands of demons and been afflicted with a lifetime of pain and struggles. How he restored a woman who had suffered through 12 years of bleeding that caused her to be unclean, caused her to be an outcast, and caused her to be without physical, emotional and spiritual things. And how he literally restored life to a body.

And we discussed how it might just be important to want to seek God for who God is, not just what God can do. To seek a God to commune with, to love and live with, not just a God who can do things and a God who is a spectacle and a show to behold.

Slowly, but surely, the wheels in my head started turning. I'm not the deepest and most understanding theologian. I'm also not the most understand or knowledgeable husband in the world. But I am a thinker. And, even though I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I will never fully understand my wife (or women), I also know that I have a better understanding of my wife than I do of God.

Sure, it helps that my wife is finite, and I can have tangible interaction with her, and I can directly see the impact my words and actions have upon her. But, still, I understand her better than I understand God.

And so, this leads me to believe that I understand how to relate with my wife better than how I understand how to relate with God. And so I began to connect our discussion with a chunk of scripture. A passage in Ephesians usually read at weddings to give instructions on how we should relate to our new spouse. But maybe it's there to teach us about how to relate and seek and interact with our God.

And I started to think we should be relating to our God as we (should) relate to our spouses. Not as we treat a girlfriend, someone we commit to for a season and then consider upgrading with or moving on to someone better or different. And definatley not as we treat a "friend with benefits" (note: I hate that term and what it means in terms of relationships, but it worked so well for the examples flowing in my head), someone we get involved with only for the stuff they can do for and with us.

But how often do we (do I) treat my Savior, my Lord, and my God this way? Do I come to Him and seek His ways, until I see something that looks like it might be a better option? Or come to Him only when I need something or want Him to help me in some way.

Yet, when I honestly look at my self, and I honestly look at my heart, when I honestly look at my hopes and dreams and desires ... I see that I don't want to serve and interact with my God in those ways. I want to interact with my God in a way that I daily walk and talk with Him, and daily seek to emulate Him and learn about Him and His heart.

Sometimes, I hate my dreams

I think I've mentioned before that I rarely remember my dreams. Hence, I probably tend to overvalue meaning and significance on the rare event that I do remember one.

Well, last night was a night when I had a memorable dream, as much as I'd like to not remember it. It was a frustrating dream, dark and gloomy, but still holding onto a feeling of reality that couldn't be shaken. Those, to me, are the worse kinds.

Anyway, my dream starts with me waking up in my bed, and feeling not as a dream. The clock shows something around 2:30 in the morning. I sit up in bed to try to clear my head, and suddenly the hallway in front of my bedroom gets darker and darker.

I can't see what's going on in the hallway, but a feeling of doom and oppression comes over me ... a feeling of dread and fear, as well. I can't faintly hear what sounds like horse hoofs in the darkness of my hallway, and motions of darkness within the darkness. The darkness begins calling out myself and my wife, in a deep ominous tone, but then suddenly stops, and the darkness is gone. Everything is back to how it was.

I glance over at my clock and not a moment has passed. I look down at Rachel to see her peacefully sleeping, and begin to get back under the covers, when I hear the same sounds I heard in the darkness, but see no darkness. Instead, in front of my eyes, running down the hallway in front of my bedroom are millitant guerillas, each firing a semi-automatic weapon into my bedroom as they run past. About a dozen of them run past and fire, before I snap awake.

I hate dreams like this.

Who'd have thunk I'd long for the days of Byron Leftwich ready to beat me down?

Updates

Let's see ...

Still very excited about Aflac. Still loving the company, and really loving my direct superiors. Had my computer training on Monday, and even though it was a waste of my time, at least I'm certified to sell through an official Aflac laptop now. Still looking for my first sale though. So if you have any warm leads ...

Still serious about writing a book. Leaning towards an attempt at an epic fantasy novel. I've started outlining the tale, named the major character, and started to shape how it might tell through the lore of fantasy some of my personal religious beliefs.

Still very excited about Journey. Seems like every week I go, or anytime I do anything related to it, my excitement grows. I honestly feel as if we're part of something much bigger than just what can happen in Findlay. Almost like we're following in the footpaths of Martin Luthor. And that's exciting, even if it is a bit hyperbolized.

Don't Wait for the Hearse

Don't Wait for the Hearse ...

what a horrible slogan for selling Christ, if I may say so myself.

Why are so many so unsure of what Christ has to offer in this life, that they can only hope to offer the next life and promises there that they cannot even describe?

Aren't we compelled to a higher, brighter, greater life through Christ, not just a glorious afterlife? Aren't we given more answers, more joy in this life through Christ? Isn't the journey with Christ as good as the promise of the reward?

*sigh*

I just don't get some Christians ...


(and, yes, this is a direct response to a certain church with a 30 foot Jesus escaping from the ground)

I've decided something

After some good time of self reflection, taking in the new paces of my new career path, and just taking a good look at where life has landed me, I've decided something.

I want to write a book.

I'm not sure what kind of book I want to write yet. Maybe an epic fantasy novel, filled with my own unique spiritual undertones. Maybe some sort of spiritual journey book, about finding truth or about unity (I could even title that one "There's No Hateraide in the Fountain of Christ). Maybe a series of short children's books with good, updated morals inside of them. Maybe an innovative cook book.

I'm not sure what kind of book, I'm just sure I want to write a book. Maybe as I dwell on it, I can update here and you all (like, the three of you who read this) can get updates on the type of book I'm reading and get sample chapters.

Who knows?

It's Gonna Work

Last night, the Journey begun. For real this time. After years of ground work, tears, prayers, and visions and months of sweat equity and trial runs, we flung open the doors of jOURney last night for our public launch.

And we only had 14 empty seats.

And I'm trying really really hard to not read too much into one night. But I'm excited. People seemed receptive of the style, of Trevor's leadership, and of R.C. Foshizzle's worship leading, and of the experience as a whole.

I really think it's gonna work.

And I'm excited to see it work.

I honestly feel like God has plucked me from a situation that could have been very good (St. Marks) and placed me into a situation that is perfect for me (jOURney).

Also, in the past ten days, I've officially started my agent career with Aflac. Been through product class, basic sales school, and a training day in the field prospecting with my district supervisor.

I really think this is gonna work, too.

And I'm excited to get to work on it.

I honestly feel like God has calld me out of a situation I really would have enjoyed (academics in mathematics) and placed me in a situation outside of my natural comfort zone and natural strongsuits, but placed me in a position to succeed in ways larger than I ever imagined.

And, it turns out that not only was Aflac an answered prayer for me, I was an answered prayer for some folks there, too. And that's an awesome feeling to have.

So, let me know if I can practice my sales pitches on you, if you know any small business owners, or if you want to direct buy some Aflac products!

In other news, I miss Z, I need to find a CPA, and I can't believe it was Tom Brady and not Peyton Manning who threw a game ending INT to end his team's season. Maybe this year will be different.

I think this year's gonna work.

And I'm excited for it.

Isn't There A Line?

Santa Claus, kneeling, his eyes fixed upon the baby Jesus.

The head of Santa Claus, on a pole.

A Helicopter, propeller moving, carrying Santa Claus.

Two snowpeople who appear to be ... attempting to create a third through natural methods.

A giant snowman, standing in a balcony, hands stretched out like the Pope giving an imporant address to the people.

What do these things have in common?


... I'll give you a moment to ponder your answer



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got a guess?


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If you guessed "Things scene in Northwest Ohio in people's front yards" you win!!!!

"Elf Puke" has simply gone too far. And has stopped making sense. I love houses who compiment their beauty with simple white lights on their porch, or even running across their house. I love a nice display in a front yard that is well done. I really enjoy driving down the street and seeing a wonderful and festive display.

What I don't get are people who feel the need to cram a decoration on every square inch of their property. People who mix and match with no need or desire for a theme. People who spends what i have to estimate at thousands of dollars in lighting bills (not to mention the cost of the decorations themselves).

Isn't there a line? Isn't there a point where common sense should kick in?

How I hope that I never join these people in elf puking my house. I've decided to enact a "Betts Law" (think man law, only ... just me and Rachel). Any external decorations we buy and put up, we have to give matching time and money to a charity.

I hope that will keep us from losing our senses and going overboard on the decorations.