latest ponderings

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead four days after Lazarus died. Why then, in America, are the majority of funerals three days after someone dies?

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Church names. I'm somewhat amused and somewhat disgusted as I continue to observe this whole "marketing thing" going on in the American Body.

One of the places I've noticed this lately is in church names. There's become this obsession to name churches and programs with some kind of Christian pizzazz fairy-dust, to show other Believers how hip some church or program is. Ties in to the whole image/identity thing blogged recently.

One of the humorous (sad) things is the churches that try and put the whole gospel in their church name.

Victory Grace in Christ Church on the Rock of Holiness Overcoming by the Blood of the Anointed Lamb of God and Sanctified Spirit of Life.

I saw one not too far off from this parody last week, on a school bus containing the name of a church and its private school. I think the entire alphabet was on the side of that bus...twice.

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heh heh heh. This came up at a recent gathering. Somehow the word "predestination" came up in conversation. One of the folks there said "I've been thinking about predestination a lot lately, and am embracing it more and more".

Then me, with my crass humor, said "Isn't it interesting that folks who bring up the topic of predestination are always saved? They're on the right side of the fence, so of course they're okay with discussing it!"

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I love watching commercial airplanes land. They are fascinating to watch. They're coming in at 225 mph or somewhere in that neighborhood. It seems like they are coming in so slow, but once you see them in comparison to vehicles driving parallel to the plane you see they are not going slow at all. That's an optical illusion I find fascinating.

I like the sound of the plane as it flies overhead approaching the runway.

I like to see if the planes actually make a one-point landing. I like to watch the white smoke whisp into the air after the wheels touch, and if I'm close enough to also hear the "skirch" noise that is made. I like to see the inertia of the plane's body come down once the wheels have touched. I like to hear the power when the engines are reversed to help the plane slow down.

I live about five minutes from a commercial airport. In the last few weeks I've gone twice to just sit and watch landings. I've really enjoyed it. I've got the inkling to start doing that more often.

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I wonder what goes on in God's heart when I tell Him my heart is growing weary. I don't know if I've ever expressed that to Him before. There have been weary periods in life before, but none like this.

Speaking of God's heart, I really don't think we stop to think about God's heart often enough. I know I don't. It is amazing what goes on in my spirit when I do consider what God's heart might be about things that happen. Whew.

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I recently acquainted someone who I'm considering adding to the "breaks the woman mold" list. I've been thinking lately of this list, which is extremely short, given the number of women in the world.

I think the list is up to four now. The new addition is still in pencil, not pen, pending more data (heh heh, snicker snicker).

(My tongue is mostly in cheek here, folks. Those of you who know my situation understand. Don't be "offended" or stumble if you don't know me or my current life chapter real well.)

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I made my buddy Steve laugh so hard recently he was almost crying. We went out to dinner, and I said something that really tickled him good. It really struck a good nerve within me to be able to cause him such mirth.

That moment really refreshed me to know my humor caused him to laugh so hard, given what's been going on.

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Saw a really good movie recently with some script nuggets I am continuing to savor:

“We have a chance to make a miracle that could strip all masks away forever”

“You seek facts when you should be seeking the truth.”

“I have come to ask you whether you believe that just as one lie can destroy a life, so one truth can put it together again.”

“What about it, all those years in prison? Were they for nothing? Or have they given you reserves of strength unlike ordinary men?"

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I have been asking God why He has me living in the 21st century. I think I would have been much better suited to have lived in the Old Testament days or in the 1800's.

In the Old Testament, God smiled on killing His enemies. And in the 1800's, justice didn't have all this sensitivity b.s. associated with it.

For example, one of the things they did to rapists in the 1800's (in West Texas, at least) was take the rapist into the desert and find an ant colony. The lawmen would then stake the rapist to the ground, naked, right smack on top of the ant colony, and leave them for dead.

I love that kind of justice.

And so I read where Jesus says "I have come to bring fire to the earth, and oh how I wish it were already kindled!" And then I read Him saying "I give you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions".

I read these things He says and I wonder "when? how? where do I get in line for this footwear? Show me. I'm ready. I'm already getting burned down here. What's a little more heat?"