Archive for December 2008
highlights or maybe the lowlights of the year
It sure has been an interesting year. Here are some of the highlight or maybe the lowlights of the year.
I spent the year evaluating the ministries that I support. I have become a larger fan of Compassion. Shaun was right when he said that I the sponsor will have my life changed by sponsoring a child. I find that I look at thing differently since sponsoring Binosh. I still am a little careless at times with my money, but I find that I do not waste it as often as I use to. As of now I plan on still supporting the Finger Print Initiative. This continue support will come to an end if I do not see a progression of the organization. Two years ago the founders intern told me that a new website was coming and it will have a way to make donations on line. The old website donation page was being hit with massive amount of spam so they had to take down the online donation part of the site. The founder of the organization said in a interview that a new website was going on line yearly next year. Lets hope that they will follow through on this statement. The organization has done great stuff in the past, but you do not hear about it. The founder of the organization spent the last couple of months of a young ladies life, who was dieing of cancer, and helped her reach her goal of recording a song. I have decided to end my support for Food for the Poor and World Vision. They are wonderful ministries, but I have limited resources and I prefer to give the money to Compassion and Finger Print Initiative.
Early in the year I had the chance to see a Shaun Groves show. I am not sure if I enjoyed the show more or the chance to meet and spend a little bit time with Cristy, Justin, Beth and her kids. It is great putting a face and voice with the people with whom you meet through the blogging world. I was lucky to see Ginny Owens twice this year. Each time I see her show I get lost in the beauty her of music.
My trip to DC was a blast. I realized that I will probably have to go out there every year for the rest of my life before I can truly see and take in all that DC has to offer. It was great meeting up with my friend Curt and spending some time with him even though he tried killing me by making me getting on a bike for the first time in twenty years. I wonder if he told his wife he tried o kill me by making me get on a bike. One of the neat things about my trip to DC was seeing Ginny Owens record a show for XM radio and having the chance to chit chat with her after the show. I hope that the next time that I make it out to DC that I will have the chance to break some bread with Charley.
I finally broke down and bought a car. It sucked adding a car payment to my monthly budget. Boy does that hurt. I am extremely happy with the car purchase though. The Ford Fusion is well worth the money I spent for it.
It was great seeing a minority being elected President of this country. I thought that I would not see that during my life time. It is one great moments in this countries history.
I thought that my walk with God would have gotten easier by now. Instead it has gotten harder. Maybe it is harder because of things I was not aware of in the past but I am now aware of them now. I more aware of poverty around me and I am beginning to understand what God desires of me. I spent so much of my life living and worshiping everything other then God. I wonder if my walk and life would be easier if I grew up in the church.
As many of you know, I took a break from my home church. I wondered who would miss me first. Would it be the ministry team or the book keeper who kept track of my donations. It ended up that it was the people who sit around me who missed me. Last weekend one of them came up to me and made a point in how I missed.
Over the last year I have become a big fan of six bloggs. I try to make sure that I read them daily. They are: Cross Driven Radio, My Friend Amy’s Blog, Boomam, Pioneer Women, GovGab, and Incase you are wondering. I hope that if you are not reading them that you will take time and read them.
Over the last year I have begun to notice my age more and more. What use to be minor injuries seem to linger longer now a days. I have more daily ache and pains then I use to. I need reading glassed if I am going to spend more then a couple minutes reading something. I no longer can spend all night up burning both end of the candle and hope to be a productive member of society the next day. Getting older sucks!
I am extremely thankful for the friendships that I have. You all are a blessing in my life. I am thankful for the regular readers of this little blog and the comments you leave. I am even thankful for all you lurker. I hope that one of these days you will be comfortable leaving a comment.
I hope and pray that everyone’s new years is filled with a lot of love and laughter. See you all next year.
Blessings
Thomas
(picture found through usasearch.gov)
Who am I to question God?
Many of you regular readers of this very small blog know that I struggle with my faith in God at times. For me this is one of the most powerful sections of the Bible.
Job 38-41:34 (New International Version)
Job 38
The LORD Speaks
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: 2 “Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death ?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no man lives,
a desert with no one in it,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who endowed the heart with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mind ?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Job 39
1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied his ropes?
6 I gave him the wasteland as his home,
the salt flats as his habitat.
7 He laughs at the commotion in the town;
he does not hear a driver’s shout.
8 He ranges the hills for his pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on him for his great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to him?
12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse his strength
or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?
21 He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, ‘Aha!’
He catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread his wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build his nest on high?
28 He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is his stronghold.
29 From there he seeks out his food;
his eyes detect it from afar.
30 His young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there is he.”
Job 40
1 The LORD said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the LORD :
4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at every proud man and bring him low,
12 look at every proud man and humble him,
crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Look at the behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16 What strength he has in his loins,
what power in the muscles of his belly!
17 His tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are close-knit.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like rods of iron.
19 He ranks first among the works of God,
yet his Maker can approach him with his sword.
20 The hills bring him their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotuses conceal him in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround him.
23 When the river rages, he is not alarmed;
he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth.
24 Can anyone capture him by the eyes,
or trap him and pierce his nose?
Job 41
1 “Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he keep begging you for mercy?
Will he speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will he make an agreement with you
for you to take him as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of him like a bird
or put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders barter for him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on him,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing him is false;
the mere sight of him is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse him.
Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 “I will not fail to speak of his limbs,
his strength and his graceful form.
13 Who can strip off his outer coat?
Who would approach him with a bridle?
14 Who dares open the doors of his mouth,
ringed about with his fearsome teeth?
15 His back has rows of shields
tightly sealed together;
16 each is so close to the next
that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another;
they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 His snorting throws out flashes of light;
his eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Firebrands stream from his mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from his nostrils
as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
21 His breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from his mouth.
22 Strength resides in his neck;
dismay goes before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm and immovable.
24 His chest is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the mighty are terrified;
they retreat before his thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches him has no effect,
nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27 Iron he treats like straw
and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make him flee;
slingstones are like chaff to him.
29 A club seems to him but a piece of straw;
he laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 His undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaves a glistening wake;
one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is his equal—
a creature without fear.
34 He looks down on all that are haughty;
he is king over all that are proud.”
Some random Questions
Why is it that the stores feel the need to have the Blue Ray Disk movies behind lock and key. I noticed that the prices were just a few dollars more then the regular DVDs. Is this a tactic to make the public to think that the movies are truly worth more then the regular DVDs?
Why does it seem that people are surprised by Israel response after being attacked by missiles for a week? How to do you make peace with someone who wants to wipe you off of the face of the earth? Why are people storming Israeli embassies? Do they think that will cause Israel stop protecting themselves just because they are trying to storm their embassies.. Jesus cannot get here fast enough.
Why is it that the night before going back to work after a few days off that I am not able to fall asleep?
I hope that you all have a great day!
Thomas
Priceless
Hundreds upon hundreds of dollars spent on toys and the first thing played with is the bubble wrap. Priceless!
Thomas
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born
Luke 1 (New Living Translation)
Luke 1
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
Luke 2 (New Living Translation)
Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus
1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Merry Christmas and a cool video
Merry Christmas to everyone who visits this very little blog. I hope and pray that your Christmas is filled with a lot of love and laughter.
This is a cool video that was on GovGab yesterday.
Lastly let us not forget why we celebrate Christmas
Thomas
wordless day: It sucks to be a cow!
Wordless day: One of the best Christmas movies of all time
Wealthy Poor and friends
Recently a verse from Proverbs caught my attention. I had read it many times before, but it never caused me to stop and think about it. Here are a few versions of this verse:
Proverbs 19:4 (New International Version)
4 Wealth brings many friends,
but a poor man’s friend deserts him.
Proverbs 19:4 (The Message)
4 Wealth attracts friends as honey draws flies,
but poor people are avoided like a plague.
Proverbs 19:4 (Amplified Bible)
4Wealth makes many friends, but the poor man is avoided by his neighbor.
Proverbs 19:4 (King James Version)
4Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour.
A simple reading of that verse is telling me it is better to be rich than poor. But, did not Jesus say:
Matthew 19:24 (New International Version)
24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
As I think about this verse I begin to wonder if one of the meanings of this verse is that as a poor person becomes rich they gain more friends? Is it saying as a rich man becomes poor that the friends he has will leave him? Is it saying as a poor person become rich he will lose his original friends.
There are plenty of stories out there of a person striking it rich and changing which causes him to lose his original friends. Also, there are stories out there of rich people losing their wealth and then losing all of their friends.
I now wonder of those comments made by the famous and rich who claim that they have their small group of friends and how cannot trust those trying to be their friend, because they do not know if they are just trying to be a friend, because they are rich and famous. Is that small group of friends they have the original friends they had before they became rich and famous or are they friends that were made after they became rich and famous?
I am thinking of friends that I have and how blessed I am. They are not my friends because they are wealthy or poor. They are friends because of who they are as people.
Maybe I need to continue to think about this verse some more and see where it leads me to.
Thomas
A new Thomas Law.
It is time for a new Thomas Law. When a business plows its parking lot, they are not allowed to pile up the snow by the entrances and exits of their parking lot. When the city, county, or state plows the streets, they have to make sure that they do not pile the snow at stop signs or lights for a cross street. A person should not be pulling out into traffic not knowing whether or not there is a car or truck coming. Someone might get killed because of where the snow is being pilled up.
Thomas
