Who Knew?

The Ouija board got its name from the combination of the French and German words for “yes” - oui and ja.

Today’s Quote 2/1/07

Whenever, by exertion in any unselfish cause, health is broken or fortune impaired, or influential friends estranged, the follower of Christ is called an enthusiast, a fanatic, or even more plainly a man of unsound mind. He may be comforted by remembering that Jesus was said to be beside Himself when teaching and healing left Him not leisure even to eat.    G. A. Chadwick

Things Occurring to Me

1. If someone could come up with a diet that made Fritos or potato chips a free food, they would be rich. Why don’t you be that person?

2. Mentioning Fritos, why aren’t there knock-off brands of Fritos like there are of potato chips? Everybody and their mothers makes potato chips. No one makes mock Fritos.

3. After wondering whether or not real men get into their car feet first rather than fanny first, I had to get into the car fanny first coming home from the hospital. I have bigger issues now than I knew!!

4. I have been taught for so long that God does the impossible and the “unguessable” that I wonder sometimes if I am gullible and would make a good member of a cult. I am often surprised at how easily I give a pass to things that are stupid just because they are done in the name of God.

5. Just listening to Bill Gates wants me to buy an Apple computer. I can’t figure out why.

6. I wonder if I would preach better sermons on one of those Christian cruises.

7. I wonder if a speaker on a Christian cruise ever did a series on how much God loves the poor.

8. I wonder why I write these posts as if no one is reading them and won’t hold it against me. So does my wife.

9. Chinese cuisine – the food I love to eat, the food I hate to have eaten.

10. As I was getting an MRI at the hospital, I prayed for my son, Jon, who is studying imaging in graduate school. I am thankful for people who spend a lot of time studying things that will make me well.

11. Ronnie told me the other day how deeply the Patriot’s loss to the Colts affected him. I listened with understanding. My Ben had to wait a couple of days until he could talk about the loss with me. Nobody loves the Pats like Ben.

12. Why did Sandi, our cocker spaniel, just get up from her bed and walk into the other room just to lay down there? Maybe I don’t want to know the answer.

13. Isn’t “community church” just another way to say “we’re Baptists, but if we told you so, you wouldn’t visit?”

14. Isn’t passing a plate for an offering during a church service the most awkward part of the service? That’s usually when we have special music, whether we like it or not. It’s the most predictable part of the service – except for the amount of the offering, of course.

15. When I drink Diet Pepsi after a kidney stone attack, the kidney where the stone came from hurts. If I drink water, it doesn’t hurt. Michele is right about diet drinks. Don’t tell her she is right. I am going to give up diet drinks.

16. I have been grading papers while on pain medication. I wonder if I am in too good a mood to grade fairly.

17. I didn’t know that Gerald Ford was that great of a President, to hear the talk after his funeral. Did I miss something here?

18. No matter what you think of Jimmy Carter, the guy has courage. He says the unpopular and deals with a lot of opposition. I, on the other hand, would not want to mess with his wife, Rosalyn.

19. Hilary Clinton had a great joke about knowing how to deal with evil men. It was too good for her to pass up, and people should cut her some slack.

20. Just finished In The Beauty of the Lilies. The theme of this book is that it is all about the children – what happens to them, where they end up, how they are doing. Once you have children this is what life is about. And if you are a parent and it isn’t about the children, take another look.

21. I’ve been thinking a lot about Bono’s statement that many of our Christian songs tend toward the lying side of things. We sing our aspirations (which isn’t bad) but not our realities (which isn’t good). That is why Bono prefers the blues. I have been wondering about how to include the blues in a worship service. On Sunday we sang the Parsley song, “Endlessly,” as in loving God endlessly. It’s a beautiful song, but as I sang it I thought of all those times my love for God was trumped by my love for me. I don’t love God endlessly. Here I am singing that I do. What’s up with that? Do you think a praise song titled “I love you most of the time” would ever get play in churches?