Friday, September 15, 2006

Bumper Sticker

I saw something incredibly sad the other day while driving down the road.

There was a lady in front of me...maybe 45-50 years old...in a little beat up Ford Fiesta. That's a bit sad, but not that sad. What was really sad was her bumper sticker...it read...

"God is a Myth"

My first reaction to reading that bumper sticker was that I must have read it wrong. The words God and Myth were big and the rest were small so I inched up to I could re-read it. To my amazement I had read it correctly the first time.

The bumper sticker was faded and old and I wondered if it had just come with the car. However, it occurred to me that if you bought a used car with that bumper sticker on it, even if you didn't have any deep feelings about God you would most likely remove it unless that's how you felt.

Once I realized that the bumper sticker said exactly what I thought it said I had to get a look at who would make such a statement to the driving world. Probably some goofy kid that doesn't know any better...just as I was thinking that I realized it was a full-fledged adult.

What does it take to make someone turn their back on God? To deny their existence? To look around at this ordered universe and say...oh it just happened?

I can't imagine a life without God, it would be empty, void, cold, dark...hopeless. Sure, as humans we sometimes have doubt or questions in our minds and sometimes we even express these thoughts. But to proclaim to the world that God is a myth...

I can only imagine what sort of terrible thing happens to someone to make them turn their back on God. I pray that she turns around...because He will still be there waiting for her and if she takes just one step she'll be in his arms, his warm, loving arms.

"...But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was
filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him...the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. Matthew 5:20,22,23

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Minefields

My parents divorced when I was about 3 years old. I have never met my "father", but I know he's pretty much a deadbeat.

One of the questions I get asked from time to time is "what's it like not having a father?". For a long time in my life I have answered that question the same way..."you don't miss what you never had". I can honestly say at 43 years old that statement is a bunch of baloney - one made up to make it sound like it's "no big deal".

Well, it IS a good thing that he was not a part of my life during my formative years so he did not influence me in any way (it would not have been good). However, I really could have used a REAL father to guide me through the minefields of life.

As a father myself, I want nothing more than to see my two boys grow up to love the Lord and be successful and happy. I look forward to helping to guide them around the landmines and point them toward the flowers as they grow up.

Yes I did miss having a father, but I often think that God had a plan for me and that it included getting me as far away from that man as possible.

So...my heavenly father just moved one big landmine out of the way... Wow...he is awesome.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Notes from this weekend II.

A long weekend...Labor Day. I heard a funny story Sunday evening, a little girl told her mother that she was excited about the upcomnig Labor day because there would be a lot of baby's born on that day. Her mother was pregnant and the little girl had been hearing her talk about going into labor...

Ups and downs, kind of like a rollercoaster.

More notes:

  • I don't think I will ever grow out of my clumsiness on stairs. At least I only fall UP the stairs. I just about broke my big toe...again.


  • God sends people into your daily path on purpose to help you. That happened to me yesterday when I was really down, I ran in to some friends from Church at the lunch deli and it's really cool how much it helped the rest of my day. I'm sure they have no idea there was a problem (that's would be hard for my wife to believe - but it's true).


  • Sometimes to hang on to something you love, you have to ease up on the grip.


  • I'm still learning how to handle hearing "crazy stuff" in Church every once in a while. My dillema is trying to decide if I confront it head on or just let it go. I honestly think that the guy that is teaching our class right now believes that there are those on this earth today that have some of the gifts of the Spirit that were made available to the apostles and the leaders of the early Church. What bothers me even more is that when he makes statements that leave this impression no one in the class bats an eye at it. More study needed on this...


  • I'm going to have to learn to rely on myself. My whole life I have leaned heavily on others, but those days are over.


  • God answers prayer in his own time and in his own way.

Well, that's enough for now.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Just for fun.

Somewhere along the road here I have developed a real taste for techno/trance music. I love it, I can't hardly get enough of it, I use it a lot while I am coding because it's very energizing and doesn't distract me.

Funny thing, I occasionally look at my music library for my Dell DJ (I love it) and I sort by how much music (in hours) I have for each artist. Over the last year or so Paul Oakenfold has quietly slid into the second spot in front of Van Halen(!) and distantly behind Rush. I have 14 discs of Oakenfold and I still don't have any of the Global Underground discs yet!

Anyway I don't really think too much about individual tracks when I think about trance music, I think about whole albums (great discs you listen to all the way through without thinking about hitting the skip button). Anyway, I thought it would be fun to come up with a short list of my favorite trance tracks (I don't really think of them as "songs", even though they are). Here goes...in no particular order:

"Superbooster" (Voyage Into Trance - Paul Oakenfold)
Ibiza - Oakenfold:
"I Feel Loved"
"The Feeling"
"Open Your Eyes"
Creamfields - Paul Oakenfold: (best continuous section of trance I've heard)
"Como Tu"
"12"
"Living the Dream"
"Switch On" (A Lively Mind - Oakenfold)
Swordfish Soundtrack - Paul Oakenfold:
"Chase"
"Planet Rock"
"Password"
Transport - Paul Oakenfold:
"Enervate"
"Rendezous"
"Purple"
"Ready Steady Go" (Bunkka - Paul Oakenfold)
"Burning For You" (Kreo)
"Hammonds Signal" (One:O:Four)
"Sandstorm" (Darude)

Out of these my 3 favorites are "12" (this is trance at it's very best), "Switch On" (Awesome) and "Planet Rock" (I've heard a dozen versions of this song and this and the "original 12 inch instrumental mix" are the best).

For all of you that have no idea what I am talking about, you can wake back up now, this break in reasonable thought is now concluded...
Chestsound (Out of Date)
"...Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:7-18