Amateur Musician

This is absolutely amazing. I can't even imagine how many hours this guy must have taken to put this together. Do yourself a favor and watch it twice. Be sure to carefully read the text at the very end of the video.

Strange days for the church

We live in a strange day. On a daily basis, I find myself feeling quite appalled at how far we are drifting away from the things of God while we gravitate toward worldly and even satanic notions.

Even sadder is when the "church" begins to adopt these ways of thinking. I'm fully aware that Christians aren't perfect, nor do I expect us to be completely perfected as of yet. I recognize that we are born with a sin nature, yet at the time we trust in Christ, we are given a brand new nature. The challenge from Scripture is to live in that new nature, the nature of Christ, instead of reverting back to our old nature.

So what can we say for the fact that as Christians we have learned to justify nearly every vice introduced to man. It pains me the more it becomes apparent that the church no longer condemns:

abusing alcohol
vile entertainment choices (ie, most movies, popular music and TV)
homosexuality
gambling
divorce
taking innocent life

I'm starting to wonder just how many people who call themselves "Christian" have truly had a new-birth experience through trusting in Christ Jesus alone for salvation. Take the article that I read today for example. Apparently, not only has the Church of England come to the point of condoning homosexual activity, but they now are advocating killing infants who are born with birth defects.

This is not the kind of thinking that displays the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Click here to read the article.

Creepy Phone Messages

Very often since entering pastoral ministry, I have experienced the strange side of people.

Some people seem to have this impression that as a pastor, I have unlimited church funds at my disposal. On an extremely regular basis, I get requests for all kinds of financial assistance. People request money for food, gas, rent, turkey, medicine, Christmas presents, etc. Most of the time, they're lying. What they really want is money for cigarettes, alcohol or drugs.

Sometimes, they can be very persistent. Take "Cliff" for example. Over the course of last week, Cliff called me over and over again, requesting money for gas. He claimed that he was living out of his car and didn't have money for food or gas. He "desperately wanted to get home," but did not have enough funds to get there.

Cliff pretty much stalked me for a few days. He left message after message on my cell phone. He insulted my ability to pastor a church because I wouldn't give him money or return his phone calls. He called me ignorant. He claimed that if he was a pastor, he would be thrilled that people called him looking for regular financial assistance. (His implication was that I should be overjoyed that he was calling me).

I took the liberty to save his messages to my phone. I thought you might enjoy hearing one of them. I think you'll agree that Cliff makes it very clear that I'm just a big, mean, jerk. Sorry to disappoint those of you who were under the mistaken impression that I was compassionate and just a little bit nice.

Click here to hear Cliff

Good Monsters

I am frequently looking for a new album to add to my collection. I tend to get bored with music very quickly.

Yesterday, I bought Jars of Clay's new album, "Good Monsters." I have to admit that I'm usually hesitant to dive right in and buy whatever is hailed as the new ccm "buzz" album. But lately, I have heard a lot of good things about "Good Monsters," so I broke down and bought it.

All that to say, "it's a great CD." If you're looking for something that isn't trite, bouncy or childish, this is an album you will probably enjoy. It ranges from rock to folk. The lyrics are insightful. I like the way a few of the songs are put together, in that they aren't the typical verse-chorus-verse arrangement.

Go check it out, but don't bite my head off if it isn't your thing.

New Dumpster

Pastor John & Pastor James pulling the dumpster back down after the bear tipped it.

At PMBC, we have a dumpster behind the Dining Hall. It seems like we're always in a constant battle with trash and the animals that love to eat it.

I'm not a big fan of our dumpster. It doesn't lock. Frequently, bears have ripped it open or tipped it and ripped all the trash out. I discovered a way to "bear-proof" it using a locking strap and I have watched as bears have tried unsuccessfully to get past it.

In recent days, compounding my hate of the dumpster, the bottom has been rusting out. Now that the bears have given up hope of getting inside, the smaller woodland creatures have been ripping trash out of the rusting bottom.

But alas.... all is not lost.

I called the trash removal company this morning and they are replacing it.

Share my joy.

Click here to see what it looks like when the bears get into the dumpster. It isn't pretty.

Election day

Today is election day. Go out and vote.

If you can't get to the polls, please take a moment to vote for this child (my son Daniel) to be included in Guinness under the category, "Most pretzels ingested at one time by a two-year-old."

Dates

For the past few weeks, Hannah, my 6-year-old daughter, has been asking me if we could go on a date. From time to time, I try to take her out so we can spend time together. It's a wonderful father/daughter time. In addition to this being a nice time for us, I also want her to learn what it's like to be treated with respect with the hopes that when she's older she will recall these times together and hold the guys she dates to a higher standard. (This will also help me not to have to destroy them for being idiots).

I'm taking Hannah to see Santa Clause 3 and then to Johnny Rocket's for some food (and strawberry shakes, of course).

Later tonight, I have a Monday night tradition with my 4-year-old son, Jay. On Monday nights, he is allowed to stay up past his bedtime and watch Monday Night Football with me. We let him stay up until halftime. It's a blast. Before each game begins, he always wants to know who the coaches are. He tests my coaching knowledge.

I have learned that when you have children, it's easy for them to get lost in the shuffle of busy days unless you take time to spend with them individually. With my wife's help, I'm setting up some of these routines so I can look back over each week and know that I've worked hard to be a good Dad to each of them.

Mundane

Without truly realizing it, I have been slacking with "Stump the Pastor." I was shocked when I realized that I only posted once in October. That's not so good. I think my problem is that I often think I have to have something especially funny or poignant to post with each and ever entry. But that's not reality. Sometimes there isn't all that much of interest occuring on a given day.

I'm going to try to fix that this week by posting something, even if it is terribly mundane, each weekday. I can't promise that I'll continue this pattern next week, but I'm going to do my best to be consistent for the work week of November 6-10.

It's the least I can do since I am always reading everyone else's blogs.

So get ready.
Get set.
Get bored with the first full week of November.