It’s been a while since I’ve put up pictures of our new baby girl. Some of you have been asking to see her. So, here are a few pictures taken at the church garage sale last weekend.
Isn’t she precious?
I have been working on my truck. For about 6 weeks now. Yesterday, I finally got all the old paint stripped off and prepped for new paint. I started painting, laid down a nice primer, then had my base coat make runs and sags. After a little research, I found that the paint gun manufacturer suggests air pressure about half of what is really needed. They recommended 29 psi coming into the gun, when in fact it needs closer to 50. Ugh. I’ve started stripping off the paint to do it all again.
I’ll be glad when this is all over. I do plan to show all my work on here. I’ve been taking pictures and everything!
Peace.
So far, this year has shown a lot of potential for being a historic year in sports. Here’s 5 things I would like to see happen:
5. New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl. Technically, that would be for next year. That’s why it’s number 5.
4. The Utah Jazz win the Western Conference finals. Everyone now knows that the Spurs are dirty, dirty cheaters. Going down to my old favorite team would be adequate retribution.
3. Ken Griffey, Jr hits #600. He’s close, and he’s getting older, but he still has a great swing. It’s hard not to like Junior. He’s currently at #572. Plus, he’s on one of my fantasy teams.
2. A-Rod hits 75 home runs. It’s only May, and he has 18. Let’s break Bonds’ record and get him off the top of the books. Also, he has 481 homers, and looks to break 500, something even the great Jose Conseco never accomplished.
and that brings us to…
1. Bonds breaks Hank Aaron’s home run record. Let the asterisk talk begin!!! Yeah, he presumably used steroids, but if he was hitting home runs off pitchers who were using steroids, it washes out, and two wrongs make a record. We don’t know what those statistics might be, so we can never know. We can only sit back and watch the circus of one of the greatest records in all of sports history be broken anti-climatically in the midst of controversy. Then, we can watch A-Rod (and possibly even Junior) break the record Bonds sets in the next 5 years.
**Note: The World Cup is too many years away to make this year’s list**
From high school through a Bible degree in college, I’ve had multiple classes where I was taught how to share the gospel with someone. There were a few different approaches, but they almost all of them involved some path that worked it’s way through the Bible, asking pointed questions about each passage and how it relates to the person’s life.
They all made so much sense. Sometimes moving from uncertainty about the fate of one’s soul, to the fact we’ve all sinned, to the need for a savior, to how to accept such an incredible gift. A usually clear and perfect stream of thought. Other times just reading about Jesus and God’s love and calling the reader to follow Him.
I’ve heard stories about each method, and how different people had converted hundreds with each one. I remember after learning a new one, how I was excited about the prospect of trying it out.
But, they rarely seem to work.
I had some scattered opportunities before college, but most of my experience came while working in Italy. I worked with a program called Avanti Italia where we would teach English using them Bible. I averaged around 10 studies a week, so I got the opportunity to use many different approaches.
The outcome was never what was promised.
I had several instances where we finished studies, I asked questions to verify that they understood what we learned. All people are lost without Jesus. All have sinned. We need to be baptized as our act of unifying ourselves with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We need to walk with Him and live pure lives. It was all clear, and I heard so many people say it right back to me.
Yet, when I would follow the logical questions with personal questions, the responses left the realm of logic and went… someplace else. I had one student say he understood it, and even believed it, he just didn’t want to do anything about it. Others simply stated they had been their background taught something different, so that’s where they were going to stay. Others said it’s a question for the old. And many said they just didn’t want to think about it. Almost all walked away without ever getting to know Jesus beyond those few times we read together.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am very conservative when it comes the the Bible. I believe it is God’s inspired Word, and that as we read it, we are reading a message directly from Him. We are called to follow His Word without question or prejudice. In fact, the times I have been criticized for my belief or teaching (never to my face, of course), it was because I refused to teach and practice traditions churches have created and tried to make equal to Scripture.
But, Scripture is not God. It is a pathway, a beacon, a light to lead us to God. It helps us get there and know Him. I believe it is a crucial piece, but I’ve found there must be something else- something that takes place beyond logic or reason. People believe all kinds of things that aren’t logical or reasonable, yet hold firmly to them.
I think our commercial culture has made us all defensive. We’re bombarded with millions of messages every day to break into our minds and get us to buy into an idea or concept that might not even make sense. Today I ate breakfast at McDonald’s and was trying to figure out why I had a green straw until I saw all the Shrek 3 ads all over the place. My plastic straw was telling me to go see a movie. If my head is trying to sort out messages from my straw, no telling what else my subconscious is fighting off.
If a telemarketer were to call me with the deal of a lifetime, I’d miss it. I just don’t trust them. If I got a coupon for a free house in my inbox, I’d probably delete it without reading. There are just too many messages out there. I think our message about Christ’s salvation somehow gets mixed in with everything else.
There’s a connection beyond logic and reason to the human heart. There are barriers brainpower can’t cross. There are paths that good arguments and excellent points are not able to complete.
What are they? How do we get there?
I just tried to write post, but found it very boring. I haven’t given up. I’m just dry using my brainpower elsewhere.