Crowders secret new song

I think this sounds like a good one...I'll look forward to it's recording.

Morning meds

I should be reading for my 9:30 class right now. Instead, I'm going to write about something I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me last night. Since I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, I feel that not only should it apply to me, but that I should attempt to share it.

I've been pretty ticked off in the last month with all the political crap going around. I've been frustrated with Christians who would say, "I'm not a one issue voter" rather than stand up for the rights of unborn children. I know, I know, Bush wasn't able to change abortion in the U.S. What's the point right? I don't get that. I'm not a one-issue voter, but I at least want to say "this is what I vote for: the right and value of life." Anyways, I could go on and on... I will attempt to keep the issues to a minimum.

Here's what I'm here to write about: While I think John McCain has more integrity and love for his country in his left pinky finger than Barrack Hussein Obama has in his entire multi-racial (notice the label) body, I do not believe he's going to win the election. This being said, I'm still a realist. So what then? How do I respond and live in a country becoming more and more morally decrepid every day (with or without Mr. Hussein)?

I was listening to a sermon last night and the speaker was talking about the story of the golden calf made by Aaron and the people of Israel while Moses was up on the mountain. I could also speak of the calf and it's role as a "little god" of which the people worshipped - but it was a different part of the story that spoke to me.

Exodus 32:7-10
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10 “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

Hmmm. I would have been like, "uhh, okay Lord. You and Me. Let's do this. Get rid of those foolish people and you can start over with ME!" Not that I feel God should wipe out American and start over with me, mind you. But put yourself in Moses's shoes. You might be at least tempted to stay out of the way of God's fury right? To see the Lord angry, and still showing you favor - I'll jump that bandwagon. Okay, I admit there's a part of me that wishes God would pour out His fury next Wednesday...I know where I'm going. You can now give thanks that God doesn't take orders from me. :)

But that's still not what spoke to me entirely. Here's the surprising part:

Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why doth Thine anger burn against Thy people whom Thou hast brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy burning anger and change Thy mind about doing harm to Thy people. 13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Moses "entreated the LORD" on behalf of those foolish people. What's my responsibility before AND after this election? I believe it is to "entreat the LORD" on behalf of the people.

Keep in mind...Moses went down that mountain and WHOOPED SOME ASS. Killed 3,000 of them, ground the calf into powder, put it in the water and MADE them drink it. Maybe now I know why President Hussein is trying to take away my right to bear arms. Had to get that in there as a hunter...

Time

is NOT on my side these days. I was quite disappointed to have to cancel both of my upcoming hunting trips and Andrew's wedding in FL. Sorry friends, you will not be seeing me there (that's more about money than time).

I don't really care for the pace of life right now. But that is, in mirrored essence, just part of life. We can't do it all - and we certainly can't do it all at ONCE.

Grad school is not necessarily harder than I expected, but it is definitely more consuming than I ever expected. In fact, one of the things that kept me from starting grad school for so long was my hatred for writing papers. Here I sit at a coffee shop on Friday night, still putting off this paper that's due on monday.

I know I haven't written in awhile (see above). So here's something that was quite encouraging and of course a necessary blessing when the mind wanders in search of something else. The church (universal) is supposed to be about changing lives. In America this is hard, but it still can happen. I'm not here to start a discussion about the rights and wrongs of this quote, but here it is: "Preach the gospel always, If necessary use words." ~ St. Francis of Assisi

I've changed the names and shortened this recent letter:

Hey Keith,
How are you doing today? I just have a couple of things to tell you. The movie Fireproof was the most inspirational movie I have ever seen. I know you know a little bit about Jenny and I, mostly some of the hardships that we have gone through in our marriage. Just one week ago Jenny and I were debating on whether or not we should continue our relationship or not. It even got as far as her looking for a place to live. From the very beginning of the movie I felt like that story was based on us. If I did not know better I could have sworn somebody was spying on us, then again after that movie I know someone was - it was God. Before we came to the wedding reception, Jenny and I were also debating on trying to take a few days away from each other. We agreed that we would spend the night with each other with out the kids, and see what comes of it.
Neither of us had any idea of what we were going to do. We decided we were going to watch movie at the last minute instead of going home and sitting on the couch. Neither of us knew any movies playing until you reminded us of Fireproof and the only thing we knew about the movie was what you told us, that it was a good marriage movie. Go figure.
When we arrived at the movie theater, Jenny and I even looked at other movies as a possible alternative, but something (someone) was telling us we needed to watch this. So this was the movie we decided on. Keith I have never cried from a movie before, but I could not stop the tears from rolling down my face. I looked at my wife periodically through the movie and seen the same tears going down her cheeks. It was as if a light bulb went off in my head. This is what I am supposed to be doing!
I have never been involved with church until Crossroads. To tell you the truth, I am just starting to learn, I know nothing about the bible, and until last night I did not know what god was doing for me and that was my problem.
The pieces of the puzzle became very, very clear to me last night. Not to long ago you talked about angels in one of your messages. I don’t know if I remember correctly but angles are here to basically guide you (I feel uncomfortable talking about things I know nothing about, so please correct me if I am wrong) and I feel those angels have guided us to this place where we are now. I just did not understand. For instance in my moms book, she talked about angels coming in the form of an old lady to tell here that she was beautiful on a day that she was feeling down. Well if this is true I have figured out who my angels are and the message god was trying to give me. Those angels came in the form of Roger and Eunice, Crossroads and you.
Roger and I talk a lot. As these pieces are coming together I look back, and the message he was giving me was so indirect, and my lack of knowledge of the bible, that I did not understand what he was saying. Well the truth is he wasn’t saying anything he was showing me; by the way he treats Eunice. Through out the movie the gentleman was told to do kind acts to his wife regardless of her reaction and not to respond with negativity. This is exactly what I have been watching Roger do to Eunice all this time (of course he does not get the negative responses that the gentleman in the movie gets), he helps no matter if he is tired our not, and does not expect anything in return, instead is fulfilled by the love he gets from his wife in return.
Crossroads has become our family; these angels have guided me to this church to learn how to be a family. Some of the puzzle was to be around positive people. I really did not understand this until now. Everybody at Crossroads treats each other like family, they smile when they great you, they are there if you need them, and most of all they love you. None of which I have given my wife. I have put up this wall of rejection, so I am not hurt, and instead of caring for her unconditionally I am pushing her away without knowing it. And for this it has created a gap.
The last piece of the puzzle is you. God wanted me to learn about him and that is what you are for. Earlier in this letter I stated one of my problems was I did not know what god was doing for me. I have come to realize now that you were teaching me to not think what is god doing for me, but rather what I am doing for him. I appreciate everything you do for us. You were meant to tell us to go see Fireproof; it was no coincidence. God wanted this to happen and he did it through you.
I am not ready to give up on Jenny nor will I ever be. Because now the light has gone off in my head and I understand. I married her because I want to grow old with her. I wear this ring as a symbol of our unconditional love. She is my wife and I will do what ever I need to, to keep it that way. I need to put my trust in god that he will help us do just that. Thanks for introducing me to god Keith.
P.S. The movie hit Jenny too, she text me this morning to tell me, “If I haven’t told you lately you are an incredible husband, and a wonderful father”. For the first time since we were married I feel like I am ready to give 110%.

Amazing Grace (with Tomlin at the end)

Hillsong Conference 2007 Opening
Uploaded by belgardandy

Ugh.

It's Ugg weather again... and I seriously dislike them. :p

Man style

When is it acceptable for men to cross their legs like women? I realize that "when" could be qualified differently, so let's go with "what age," rather than "what social setting."

There is a theory that the older a man gets he becomes less malleable and thus unable to cross his legs in the more manly fashion. This could be contradicted in the physical sense that women are more flexible and thus should be the ones exercising what I would call the "open cross." But that's not how it works in our society, so let's also restrict this pondering to the social as opposed to the physical.

Part of this pondering comes from the fact that I find myself crossing my legs "girly-style" more and more. I've been wondering if I've simply adapted my sitting style behavior to the fact that it's perceived to be the way a counselor should sit - a learning behavior adaption that most probably has a theory name, and of which I should probably know by now. I don't.

Aside from all that, I'm finding myself becoming more and more comfortable with it. Should this be a concern?

the art of suffering

Though I want to give credit where credit is due for this, some people prefer their blogs to remain between them and their close friends. In this case, because I don't know how private she is, I'm posting her post rather than a link to her post.

After experiencing two recent miscarriages, this is helping her process:

Wait
by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate...
and the Master so gently said,"Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I relate
hangs in the balance and you tell me to Wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign.
Or even a 'no,' to which I'll resign.

You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
as my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine...
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
you'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
when darkness and silence are all you can see.

You'd never experience the fullness of love
when the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
the faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,
what it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
but oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you.

So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
that the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still "Wait".


But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31