While we're using song lines

Paranoia paranoia, everybody's coming to get me...

Not really, but I do have my "religious discussion" blog up and ready.

No, I won't post a link.

If you want to go over there and read/discuss religious stuff, then e-mail me at jkf96a@acu.edu and I'll probably send you a link if I trust you not to share it.

Since we're doing lists...

1. You've got the money, honey, I've got the time
2. Money for nothin' (and chicks for free?)
3. Can't buy me love (or anything else)
4. Turn out the lights, the party's over
5. They say that money isn't everything, but I'd like to see you live without it

Can anyone name those song titles and artists? What's the common theme?

The well has run dry.

Options:
1. Sell some stuff
2. Get a second job
3. Use credit cards for two months until salary kicks in
4. Crack into the CD that doesn't mature for two more months, but that represents our emergency fund.

Opinions?

101 Object Lessons From Chapstick

A Presbyterian minister came into Academy the other day asking for chapstick with sunblock. He ended up buying 35 tubes for an object lesson with 5-8th graders. Just for kicks, I thought about what kind of lessons could be done with chapstick with sunblock. Some are good, some not so good...
1. Jesus keeps you from getting your lips sunburned
2. Jesus makes you feel better when you're chapped
3. If you leave Jesus in your pocket, you'll get burned
4. If you leave Jesus in your pocket, your mom will wash him and he'll melt and be useless
5. If you share Jesus with your friends, you can get fever blisters
6. Jesus protects us from the harmful effects of the environment
7. Jesus conditions your lips to speak truth
8. Jesus is small enough to carry with you everywhere
9. Jesus only works if you use him
10. If you don't share Jesus with your friends, they'll get burned
11. Jesus is useful year round, but especially in the summer time
12. There's no sense in carrying around two Jesus' at once
13. People all over the world need Jesus
14. Jesus doesn't discriminate based on ______________
15. Jesus also works when your nose gets chapped from too many Kleenexes
16. I don't really have 101 of these, but hey, I tried.
17. If you think of some more, feel free to add them in the comments.

Jason

On this day in 1998

I shot some prairie dogs, had Burger King for lunch, and passed out at church.

Oh yeah, and I got married :)

I love you, Shana. It's been a good 8 years.

Jason

Mike

For the past few weeks I've been building a relationship with Mike. It's not much of a relationship really, but it's a start. Mike is a homeless man in a wheelchair who sits at the corner of Buffalo Gap and Clack. He's there several days per week. About a month ago, I got stuck at the light right next to Mike's post. I didn't have any money to give him, as I rarely carry cash, but I figured I'd do the next best thing. I took off my sunglasses, turned off the radio, rolled down the window and asked him his name and how he was doing. We had a 45 second conversation about his health problems and the weather, then the light changed and I went on. Before I left, he said that he appreciated being talked to. A week or so later, I talked to another man on that same corner, Jim. Turns out Jim is Mike's brother, and Mike was in the hospital with the health problems we talked about the week before. I mentioned that I had talked to Mike, and Jim said that Mike had talked about me. I've talked to Mike three other times since then, including today. Today was a bit different. Today, I actually had some money in my pocket. It wasn't much, or enough, but I had it. I ended up three cars back, so I got out of my car, greeted Mike, gave him my dollar, and got back in the car. Before the light changed, a lady from the other lane came over with some money, and also picked up some from the second car in line. I don't know how much I can do for Mike in 45 second snippets, but at least I can talk to him, treat him like a person instead of some homeless creature, and give him what I can. Who knows what will come of it.
Jason

Happy days are here again

I finished school for the semester with two finals on Tuesday. My guess is four A's and a B, but it could be three and two.

We went to Austin this past weekend. We went to my ten year class reunion on Saturday, which was actually quite fun. Got to see alot of people I hadn't seen in ten years. Sunday evening we went to Meemaw's and visited. It was good to get to spend some time with my grandparents. We saw a fox in their back yard, and Jonathan went to look at it. He can't say "f" or "x," so it was a "pock."

Monday morning I went fishing at Lake LBJ. For those who haven't heard, my cousin Jesse that won the tournament several months ago won another one. He is in first place in his division, in line to get Angler of the Year and Rookie of the year if he can finish 18th or better in the final tournament. Anyway, Jess told me where to go at LBJ, so I went. Chris Rylander came up and fished with me. We ended up with five black bass, one Kentucky bass, and five white bass. Here's a picture of the good one I caught. It weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and I think it's the third biggest I've ever caught. Here are a couple of pictures.


And in other news, I finally was given a timeline of sorts on the management gig at Academy. I'm going to be training for the next two months so that I can do well at the manager interviews the last week of July. If I pass, then I'll be an official "manager in training," a title that comes with a salary. Not as fast as I had hoped, but at least now we know something.


Today was the first Thursday I have had off since the semester started. Instead of Tuesday tournaments, they have them here on Thursdays, so I fished. About 8:40 I was fishing this little point and got a good bite. I set the hook hard, and it was a big fish. It fought hard, and I got it to the top and it was about a 5 pound gaspergou. Figures. It was the only fish I caught, although I did have another bite that I missed. Can't win them all, I guess. Four fish were weighed in, and one guy had two four pounders, so he took home the money this week. Because I'm out of school and some of the other workers aren't yet, I have great hours next week. I only have to close once, and I'm 8-5 the other four days. I may fish again next Thursday, if I can pre-fish a little on Tuesday night.

I guess that's it for now. God bless you and yours.
Jason

We are the sermon day

We recently had "We are the sermon" day at our church. We participated along with several other churches, including one or two Baptist churches. The premise was that instead of hanging out at the church building all Sunday, we'd have a quick worship and go out and do work in the community. Houses were painted, yards were mowed, and the like. Here's what the Abilene Reporter News had to say about it.

I wondered about how a family of four with two little people was supposed to mow grass or paint houses. I wanted to find a project that the whole family could do together, and so we signed up for shut-in visits. We ended up taking the boys to visit two of the church's shut in members. One we had been to see about six months ago, and we had a good conversation. The other seemed not even to consider himself a member of Southern Hills any more, and wasn't particularly friendly.

About those visits... I really don't like nursing homes, or the homes of people who can't get out of bed. They smell. They're creepy, or dirty, or both. Even so, people live there, people who need attention and affirmation just like everyone else. I was hauled around on many a visit as a child and teenager, which no doubt gave me the courage and skills to make similar visits. Thanks to my dad for that one. I hope Jonathan and Jared get similar treatment and similar results.

On the other hand, what does it mean if we are the sermon for a day? What about all those other days? Do we really need to be a sermon, or should we be something else?

Another thought, that makes me smile and probably makes some folks cringe... We served next to Baptists. We wrapped up the day with a worship service (a capella, of course) for all who participated, and we took communion. Church of Christ Christians and Baptist Christians worshipped together and communed together, and the roof didn't cave in, and no one was struck by lightning.

I was turned off by the statement that we were doing these things as "evangelism." The same guy who said "evangelism" from the pulpit on Sunday also said, ''We have members of our congregation who weren't members before we did this project." That's fine and dandy, but what ever happened to service just for the sake of serving? What about Matthew 25?

If we make service about evangelism, then don't we make it about ourselves instead of Christ?