Archive for July 2007
gender verses issues
The other day the democrats had a debate. The questions came from the general public through the use of you tube. The public was finally able to ask serious questions and demand honest answers. Yet some how there were questions that made me shake me head and ask what are they thinking. One of the questions was to Senator Clinton. She was asked if she was feminist enough. What? How does that make someone qualified to run this country. Should a person be elected because of their gender? It seems that a person’s stances on the problems of this world are no longer the basis for ones vote. I guess to be president of this country all you need to be is the right gender to become president. I am not saying that Senator Clinton is not qualified to be president. I just believe that one needs to consider the issues not the aspect of electing women to be president. Am I wrong about this?
Thomas
Light
I hope that you do not mind, but I am going to post something I wrote a little bit over a year ago.
Thursday morning while driving to work the sun was out in a blazing white ball. The light was so bright that I could not look directly at the sun with out my eyes hurting. It was at this time that I realized that the day I meet Jesus, my Lord, my Savior that I will not be able to directly look at Him as I could not look at the sun. His love, His glory, His perfection will be too much for me to face Him. It was at this time that I also came to realize that as the sun lit the way for me to see as clearly as these imperfect eyes will allow me to. Nothing could be hidden in this light just as my sins cannot be hidden from God. This light the sun provided is just like the light that Jesus provide for me as I live my life. Everything is exposed and nothing is hidden.
It was at this time that I thought of what it is like to be in the dark. It is cold and I am unsure of my steps that I am taking. There is this feeling of loneliness that is very evident when the sun is absent. I thought of all the times that I took my eyes off of Jesus and it is this feeling of uncertainly and loneliness that occupied me.
Even with these feeling that I get when I take my eyes off of Jesus, He provides light for me to walk. It is His reflection of His glory that I see as light in other people. This light is just like the moon light that is really the sun light reflected off of the moon. This little bit of light that there is allows me to see enough to walk with a little confidence until the sun and it light appears.
I know that this is sounds strange, but I believe that God has put people into my life who reflect His love and glory. These people have helped me over time to take the steps to get me back to God. I am ever thankful for blessing me in such a way.
So, as we all walk through this thing called life and if we some how end up in the dark we should look for God. We might be able see a bright blazing sun rising on the horizon or there might be a moon with its light to help use get by until we find the bright blazing sun and it light.
Matthew 17:2
There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
Exodus 34:29
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.
Revelation 22:5
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever
I know that I made some generalization comparing Jesus to the sun and it light. It seems that God will use these little and big things in life to remind me of Him and His son Jesus. I am thankful for these reminders. They help me to be grounded while building up my faith.
Thomas
Questions from last weekend.
As many of you are aware last weekend I was in DC visiting a friend from my youth and attending a concert.
A few things my friend and I discussed are still bouncing away in that hollow space between my ears. One of the things we discussed was about when I younger and I thought about were I would be in my life at this point of time have made my goals. I laughed and said no. I said I thought I would be very rich with a trophy wife on my arm. He asked what I am going to do about that. I said nothing other then buying a lottery ticket or two. He asked what my goals are then. I said to survive.
Another thing we discussed, if I there was any prospects for marrying in my life. I said no. I do not need a wife or a child to define me. If happens it happens, but I will not be devastated if it does not happen. A little bit latter he asked me if I would consider marrying a single mother. That caught me by surprise. To be honest I am not sure I would be willing to get involved with a single mother. I wonder if I could ever be a good father to someone who is not my child. I am scared that I would not be a good father to a child of my own if I were to have one. I wonder if I would I treat her child the same if we were to have children? These are questions I do not have an answer for.
One of the last things we discussed was about were I go to church. I told him I attended a non denominational church. He wanted to know who ordained my pastor. I know that my pastor went to seminary school and I really do not think that he needed to be ordained by a person to be a pastor. He teaches from the Bible and he asks us to keep him accountable. I believe this ordaining a person to be a pastor is just a legalistic thing. The again I could be wrong. For some reason I think those questions will stop bouncing around in my head until I get better answers to those questions or until people stop asking me those questions.
Thomas
Car talk
[SG]
Beer and the ball game.
Last night I went to a baseball game with a group of people I work with. As soon as we pulled into our parking spot the cooler was opened and the beers were handed out to everyone but me. For I do not drink. While we stood there for about fifteen minutes everyone seemed to have two beers and then we started the walk to our seats. As soon as we were in our seats everyone but me had another beer in their hands. The one thing I could not understand why it was so important to have a beer in your hand while watching the game. What makes the game more enjoyable then let say having a soda in your hands watching the game? The game it self was an enjoyable game. The score was tied until the top of the 8th inning. As I was driving everyone back to work to pick up our cars one of the guys stated you need to be very careful because most of the people are drunk leaving the ball park. I wonder why?
Thomas
8 Reasons I Don’t Share My Faith
Thomas
My very short vacation.
My vacation was a blast but also a little boring at times. The blast part happened to be the Shaun Groves show and the LaWanda / Shaun Groves show after the official show. It was great to hear some great music, great teaching, and meeting up with some friends. The interesting thing I almost did not make it to the show. My friend Curt gave me a tour of the monuments in DC before the show. I had a couple of hours free to see DC so my friend Curt tried to pack the most in for those few hours we had together. By the end of the tour of DC I was shot. In fact, my right leg cramped up while he drove us back to his house. I am so glad that he found that so funny….
The boring part was the drive to and from DC. There are only so many things one can do when spending fourteen to fifteen hours driving to DC and then back from DC. The one thing that I did enjoy about the drive was the scenery in Pennsylvania and Virginia. The scenery at this time of year is so beautiful.
One of the regrets that I have is that I did not have enough time to visit with everybody. I hope if I have the opportunity to do this again that there would be more time to visit with everyone.
Thomas
Getting ready for vacation.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been getting ready to take a short vacation. I am going to take off next week Friday and drive to DC. As of now, I am going to spend Saturday morning and part of the afternoon with a friend that I grew up with. Then that night, I am going to a Shaun Groves show. I might be able to meet Charley the host of Cross Driven Radio at the show. I am hoping to meet up with my brother somewhere between DC and Florida before heading home.
As I have been making hotel reservation and printing my map quest direction, I have been thinking about buying a laptop computer. I would love to get a 15” MacBook Pro, but the price has been stopping me. Today at Best Buy I almost bought a Gate Way demo that they had discounted to $629.00. I just can not seem to get past it is an awful lot of money and I rather not spend it mode. I seem to have run into that mode looking for a new car. I was hoping to have one before this trip, but that is not going to happen. Luckily my parents have offered to exchange cars while I take this short vacation. I just wonder if I am going to need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Lol.
Thomas
My Failure
There is one thing that I have struggled with and I am ashamed of it. It is my inability to discuss my faith with my family. My family knows that I go to church and believe that there is God and His son Jesus died on the cross. The problem is I just do not know how to say what it means to me. I can talk to strangers and friends alike about my faith, but when I try to explain it to my family I become stupid. A little bit over a year ago I tried to explain why it is important to give your life to Jesus. I could not make my mother understand the importance of this discussion and ramifications of not giving your life to Jesus. I tried once to talk to my father about my faith, and all I could do was stutter.
I just wish I could explain to them that there is this calmness inside of me. There was a time in my life when I became angry I would be angry for days on end. Now when I do become angry it is short lived. Most of the time I end up apologizing to the person I was angry at. There is contentment with knowing that I might never be rich or have the best and newest of stuff. That is ok. I just know that there is a purpose for my life even if I do not understand it at this given time.
My prayer is that there will be a day I will be able to clearly speak to my family about my faith and that they will see and understand God’s truth and the salvation that He brings.
Thomas
