tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23658322128605412332024-02-20T04:15:30.083-08:00the stay-at-home apologistWriting about books, pop culture, faith, music, politics and philosophy while raising my daughter at home. It's a hard but good life:)jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-64548345954591849702012-11-07T14:29:00.002-08:002012-11-07T14:29:18.718-08:00a lingering painThis is really good and I borrowed it from a friend on Facebook, Matthew Perry. It really put into words why I've been so overwhelmingly sad today.<br />
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">This
election marks the end of the conservative Republican party as we have
come to know it and the end of the collective individualist American
spirit. There will still be those of us who will hold these truths to
our hearts and vote accordingly, however the candidates we will vote for
will be grossly watered down versions of the Ronald Reagan Republican
model. With the coming presidential directives, our immigration laws
AND wishes will be a thing of the past. We will actually be getting
your tired, your poor, your huddled masses only without the yearning to
be free. They will be yearning for the entitlements that we so
willingly give out with only the mildest checks and balances. We will
create a nation of immigrants who do not yearn to see themselves as
Americans, but as a national of the land from which they came. These
directives along with the eroding of our actual Constitutional rights
will be upheld by a Supreme Court moved so far to the left with 2
replacements, that not only will the Constitution be a “living,
breathing document”, it will mean what those in power say it means
whenever they want it to. Our own citizens will be left without the
prospects of a brighter future as the family structure and educational
systems having failed them horribly will find themselves without any
hope for employment as all the lowest of jobs will have been taken by
immigrants. The possibility of other jobs will disappear as the
progressive party continues to push for ever higher minimum wages
forcing small business to cut back on staff so they can meet payroll.
This will force the masses to the ever-welcoming arms of the government.
We will continue to borrow from our economic foes to pay for these
ever-expanding entitlements. Businesses will be without startup capital
from anywhere but the government as those with the means to invest
search for other means to keep their wealth under the burden of massive
tax rates. The only business getting funding being ones that fit the
ideological profile of the party in power. These businesses will go
bankrupt as so many already have due to promises made with no hope of
being able to be carried out. We will forgo our own reserves of energy,
yet continually hoping that government fiat, not capitalism will
produce the energy we need. We will continue to grow more dependent on
foreign energy as our own is neglected. Once the scales have been
tipped to 52% of the people in this country receiving the majority of
their daily living from the government, it will be too late to turn
back. An electorate will not vote against its self-interests in order
to stem off disaster they are told “will not be as bad as predicted”
when even a 5th grader with a calculator can figure out that you can put
out more than you take in only for so long. Politicians will be forced
to continue these entitlements for fear of being rejected. Elections
will boil down to Facebook posts and Tweets promising more and better
entitlements where no meaningful dialog will ever take place as to how
to pay for it. The electorate will listen and believe because Jay Leno
or Saturday Night Live told them this was the reality and a 30 second
attention span is only capable of understanding 140 characters at a time
before we need to move on to bigger things like who the next American
Idol is. At some point China will demand payment, possibly around 2014
when we are expected to be downgraded because Washington couldn’t decide
how to stop us from going over the fiscal cliff. We will have a
moderate or progressive presidential candidate in 2016 who will feign
ever so slightly to the right to placate what is left of the
conservative Republican party but promise the world to unions and the
entitled when he is in their presence. The media will fawn over the
need for civility and compromise but continuously pick and chew at the
“radical” conservative we are able to put up and he/she will be
defeated. From that point on, we will be a splinter party, the
Conservative Party, relegated to the annals of history along with the
radical Founding Fathers and their wish for an America that was the
light of the World, longingly holding onto Old Glory as a representation
of not what we could have become, yet of what we are. We are Greece.</span></span></h5>
jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-92096530674889808872012-08-19T03:31:00.000-07:002012-08-19T03:31:39.342-07:00I should say this again...It's been a long time since I've posted on here, and Mom always said if you can't say something nice you should just be quiet. I think that's been the best policy for me.<br />
Now that the whole Chick-fil-a thing has died down, maybe no one will read this. But if they do, it might just be me reiterating what I've already said earlier in other social media outlets. It seems the more "forward thinking" professional Christians have attacked the movement as a bunch of crazy fundamentalists that hate gay people. I didn't see it that way at all. I saw it as people protesting against the government of the USA telling them they must agree with all lifestyle choices. But these FT people are telling them that they hate because they disagree with a lifestyle. A biblical definition of marriage, from a fundamentalists' perspective, is one that includes only a man and a woman. How do I know? I AM one. All my life, no matter how I try to escape it, that's how I was indoctrinated. And I don't hate gay people. I care for them very deeply as I get to know them and work around them and perform in community theatre with them. But I don't agree that their idea of sexual connecting is compatible with becoming more like Jesus. Yes, there are other unhealthy lifestyles and it is not my intent to discuss them here. This is related to the events of the past month only.<br />
Maybe not a deep flowery discussion of how things should be, but a frank discussion of how they really are. I disagree with the hatred and closemindedness of some strains of fundamentalism, but it's not all bad. I'm cool with it being my spiritual foundation.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-82918686370873772082011-11-25T12:50:00.001-08:002011-11-25T12:50:46.522-08:00MeWorldI thought <a href="http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2011/11/manners-morals.html">this</a> was a great post by a blogger I follow. Give it a quick read.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-55200782269029999222011-10-27T05:05:00.000-07:002011-10-27T05:08:52.688-07:00back to work?I don't know. I have an interview for a job I think I'd like, but mostly I'm like any fresh from college kid right now. Completely unnecessary and with the 10 years to wait for the economy to improve. Only I don't have 10 years cause at 51 I WILL be past my prime(mom). Read <a href="http://keithdrury.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-do-we-do-with-unneeded-generation.html">this</a>.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-23613591233789002782011-09-13T10:28:00.000-07:002011-09-13T10:34:30.862-07:00which Republican?<a href="http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2011/09/michele-bachmann-on-rick-perrys-errors.html">This</a> was a good post and I really like Michelle Bachmann. I'm scared she won't get the nomination but I know she is the kind of person I would support for President. Remember, unless conservative, thoughtful Jesus followers vote the chasm continues to grow between what we once were even as far back as the 80s to what we are now.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-41608337503688511032011-08-29T12:15:00.000-07:002011-08-29T12:26:38.735-07:00no perfect workI just had a job for a day. I neglected to tell people about cause I didn't know if I should be excited or worried. It was at Costco and I worked(for the day) front end. Now I knew that this was a retail business and even though I've tried to avoid retail, times have been tight, for everyone, and I haven't worked in a while due to residency issues. So, after standing in a job fair line for over an hour, I got an interview that called me back for a second interview. And I was hopeful that I could do it.<div>Obviously I interviewed well the second time and I liked the warehouse manager and was offered the job. But while there are some things I know I can do that are out of my education and experience, this wasn't one of them. My time as a glorified bag boy, hurried packing awkward giant boxes into a cart or boxes like a game of Tetris viewed from the top, was miserable. So many people, so fast, such impatient managers, and I knew upon leaving for the day I probably wouldn't be back. I want to work but this was just overwhelming.</div><div>Now before you consider judging me remember I'm not like you. We all have different personalities and gifts and sensitivities. This job was just outside of my range. I hope to find something soon. I learned something about myself so I hope that was the important thing.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Onward and upward</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-8183418216072320772011-07-28T08:42:00.000-07:002011-07-28T08:43:03.649-07:00just a littleHow sweet are words of encouragement from friends. Thanks.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-8678013935768810922011-07-16T11:21:00.000-07:002011-07-16T11:29:56.719-07:00don't be an egg-no-ray-mooseI don't want to write the whole great article I just read, like some pastors that would reteach their sermon in the closing prayer, but this is one of the most important things I've read about the church as it is today. It seems you're either one of two churches, one that does things as they've been done since the 1950s and one that wants to attract people that have never been to church before. But if you're the second one what do you do with the people that aren't historically part of the culture? Biblical ignorance is rampant and it really affects the church because ultimately people's daily lives aren't being changed.<div>Anyway, <a href="http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/article/entry/984/empowering-christians-through-biblical-literacy">here's</a> the article. My biggest passion is empowering people to be unpaid pastors, at work and in their local church. Not knowing the Bible is the biggest impedance to doing that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Onward and upward</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-30119433186582961832011-07-14T12:34:00.000-07:002011-07-14T12:42:36.414-07:00Your resurrectionSince going to Beulah Camp Meeting this last week, this revelation has changed my life. It really shouldn't have changed my life, since I've been reciting the Apostle's Creed for years, but I guess you can say something from memory and not connect with it in any meaningful way. But Dr. Steve Lennox preached really deep sermons on the Creed and I feel like my faith has gained something new. Nobody ever talked about a bodily resurrection at any time during seminary and I guess I've truly stayed the faith of my youth, and we certainly never talked about it.<div>Well, I just finished reading <i>Miracles </i>by CS Lewis and look forward to Keith Drury's <i>Common Ground </i> and Mike Licona's <i>The Resurrection of Jesus.</i> Good cigar books probably but I look forward to them.</div><div>Anyway, if you want to know more, here's a brief synopsis of my excitement on a <a href="http://www.str.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PL_article_dead_or_alive_1">site</a> I often visit. Hope it changes you too.</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-12447258529339646722011-07-14T09:26:00.000-07:002011-07-14T09:30:03.993-07:00CH Spurgeon on booksOne of my cigar smoking brothers that I'll be excited to meet in heaven, <a href="http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2011/07/charles-spurgeon-on-reading.html">CH Spurgeon</a>, believed in the value of books. I've got lots of them. I think they're of great value for smart people as well as people that want to be smart. I'll get rid of lots of things with my next move, but my books won't be one of them.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-44538086323406767192011-07-14T07:30:00.000-07:002011-07-14T07:34:55.231-07:00Mark DriscollThis doesn't encourage my hope in the megachurch. Apparently <a href="http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/4863/evangelical_writers_take_homophobic_hipster_pastor_to_the_mat,_sort_of/">Mark Driscoll</a> can say whatever he wants. Now I'm not exactly following this guy or holding him up as a banner of the faith, but I do believe men need to be men. But just what are we going to do to teach the ones that aren't our children or part of our youth ministries? Surely not what Driscoll does.<div>No bully pastors. I don't see it in the Bible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Onward and upward</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-5532963258554080662011-06-29T13:01:00.000-07:002011-06-29T16:35:36.832-07:00what were you thinking?If you'd never been to church or had any friends or history there, what would you expect it to be like? It seems the only attention the church is given in movies and TV is the Catholic church, and I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've been in one in my life. So, what is a place you would want to go and just hang out?<div>I bet it would be like a combination concert/sporting event/bar. Cheers always said a place "where everybody knows your name." For me, it would have to have great music. I mean, at least semi professional level musicians-people that wouldn't be out of place in a bar band. There would need to be general excitement and proper publicity for when these meetings were going to take place. There would also need to be elements of my world there-a little of the regular music I love, the TV and movies I watch-that kind of stuff. This would be included in the sermons, and we'd all get to preach if we wanted to. I mean, not all at the same time but there shouldn't be significant separation between the people and the staff of the church. Sermons would cover growing as a follower of Jesus stuff as well as becoming a follower.</div><div>There would also need to be places where we could get together apart from these big group meetings. Places and times designed to help people really get to know each other and be open and honest. Getting together over good food and adult beverages and maybe an after dinner cigar. Opportunities for people to let their hair down in a Jesus-following environment. I'm kind of an academic type so I like to read really good books on philosophy/apologetics-type stuff and I'd love to talk about them with other like minded people. Seems it might be nice to me to do this with other guys since I know my wife might like a similar experience with other women.</div><div>Anyway, pleasant dreaming, no?</div><div><br /></div><div>Onward and upward</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-2136562690226249022011-06-28T01:03:00.000-07:002011-06-28T01:15:16.841-07:00on being the new kidEveryone will probably be one once. The brand new person that nobody knows anything about. Nowhere to sit in the lunchroom-you don't know what other kids are like you. But it happens all your life. And so few of us will ever have a chance to let people know who we really are without an extended introduction period that lasts until the natives say it's over. And that can last literal years. But isn't it so nice when one of those natives accepts you ahead of time? Maybe you've had that experience-when someone reaches over and makes you feel welcome before their friends think you deserve it. Or starts including you in things before you have proven yourself worthy to other friends and colleagues.<div>If you're a Christ follower, be that person. REALLY love your neighbor-at work, at school, at church, and that club/thing you lead.</div><div><br /></div><div>onward and upward</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-69342573348079424592011-06-26T00:55:00.000-07:002011-06-26T01:02:50.334-07:00a package dealI don't know which is harder for people, going through bad fundamentalist phases as a Christian kid or finding out there are parts of the Bible you don't like as an adult. I know the cold alienation I got as a high school kid that told his friends they were living a wrong lifestyle. I didn't get invited to many parties where I would get the opportunity to turn down drinking, drugs, and premarital sex. But it must also be hard to have lived a life where most things were acceptable to find out since connecting with Jesus that some of your current lifestyle has always been holding you back. Or finding that you can't be as open minded as you thought you needed to be to be the coveted "politically correct" person you so value. Jesus never said being a Christian would be hard. He said it would be impossible. We do it with God and other Christians.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-67821346097295502592011-06-23T14:01:00.000-07:002011-06-23T14:03:34.558-07:00Why Worry, Atheist?I thought <a href="http://www.conversantlife.com/belief/much-ado-about-nothing">this</a> was a good article for those of us accustomed to being accosted by the atheist's fight against anything reeking of faith in God.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-28156120727165507612011-06-21T11:25:00.000-07:002011-06-21T11:37:21.769-07:00assume the bestI think the internet has been really tough on personal relationships. I believe that those among us that are introverts and passive-aggressive conflict avoiders are much quicker to interpret what's been said as posts on twitter, Facebook, and blogs like this one. I would rather you dialog with me as to what I mean exactly rather than jump to conclusions that you know what I'm talking about. This blog is just me and my sometimes internal ramblings which may be raw and nervy at times. If we're really friends in the first place just talk to me if you think I'm going crazy. Having said all this...<div>I go to a great church. Ministry as a staff member AT ANY CHURCH has not been a good thing for me. All churches are limited by what they can do with secular, non-Jesus familiar people and therefore can't really do ministry as the New Testament speaks about. After all, we don't have community possessions and live together. That might make working out problems with each other a little easier. And a little harder. Working out problems with others is just hard, but if they're brothers and sisters in Jesus it's what we have to do. And hopefully we all care enough to do that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Onward and upward</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-3887364430903310532011-06-20T11:05:00.000-07:002011-06-20T11:15:45.434-07:00whatever is necessaryI kind of wanted to follow up on a post the from the other day. I don't know if the unrest I'm feeling is that I'm getting ready to start a church or just dissatisfaction. I just see ministry being done so poorly it just really makes me want to do it myself. As I said before, for me ministry is not in the church, and if all my work week is spent planning worship services, am I really hanging out with people that need to know Jesus? I don't think Jesus or Paul spent all week planning a worship service or their next series of sermons. I think it was spent hanging out with people that wanted a life change. I know pastors have to stick with denominational standards so they can't exactly hang out with non-followers of Jesus in a bar or where "evil" things might happen. I and others that feel like me don't have those hangups. I feel that I learned a lot of these ideas from <i>Blue Like Jazz</i>, which as I understand will be out in theaters as a movie soon. I think it changed me forever, maybe some not in a good way.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-34330100241363273052011-06-09T07:54:00.000-07:002011-06-09T08:06:31.431-07:00not legitI have a lot of friends who are in the ministry full-time, as a life and career choice. It was a choice that I thought I'd made too at one time in my life, but God had other plans, and I was driven off from almost every ministry job I ever had. Maybe I never had the personality to be a pastor, because I'm sure they know that the sheep are not always docile. I felt a need to confront people on their attitudes and behaviors, but maybe that's not what one does. Anyway, for me, I did not feel it was a legit career. Let me explain.<div>I did not like planning and reading. I loved preaching a weekly sermon but I still feel that the average church attender thinks pastoral staff only works one a day a week. I also wanted to be around non-Christians more, even though many of the people attending are nominal or non-Christians. So, if I ever do it again...</div><div>It won't be my day job. I will work at something that allows me to build relationships with those that don't know Jesus. I will eat with them, drink and smoke cigars with them, be a friend and confidant, and hopefully their preacher on the weekend. My faith will never be watered down and my character won't be compromised. Because this is my understanding of the early church fathers and even Jesus-they stood out for being different in character. But they related to normal people on their level, whatever they happened to be doing.</div><div>Singing tonight in a voice recital. My first ballad.</div><div><br /></div><div>onward and upward</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-17733963422876670132011-06-08T08:14:00.000-07:002011-06-08T08:25:40.918-07:00Ministering from the OutsideI hope this topic stays with the theme of my blog but I'm writing it on here anyway. It's very difficult to have been in professional ministry, whatever that is, and go back to being a church paean. I have so many ideas about things that would make the mission of the organization fulfilled, but no one to talk to about them. Or if there is talking there is no implementation.<div>I just read an interesting article by Perry Noble, the guy who pastors a complex of churches in South Carolina, about the things he wants from the people he works with. Where does that leave the people outside the professional staff? Did Paul or Jesus only work with the professionals or all those who were committed to the cause of seeing people become Christians and grow in that life? I'll bet it was the second one...</div><div>So, to all the pastors out there, remember those who were in ministry full-time but had to leave it for good reasons; maybe we have some good advice to offer. Or maybe we've already offered it and you haven't followed through. If you want those people to hang around maybe you should involve them. If not maybe they'll go somewhere they can be more involved.</div><div>But maybe this is just advice from someone that desperately needs a job to stop thinking about dead end issues, like what I used to do and where I used to be. I sure hope not.</div><div>Onward and upward.</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-24076554698339787982011-05-08T02:08:00.000-07:002011-05-08T02:15:30.569-07:00Still seeing the EnemyI thought I was through discussing the school I worked for here but I guess not. I seem to keep running into people that worked there or had dealings with me as principal and just wish I could disappear. I rehearse all the things I did during that one year of work and always feel that I did what God would have me do, and yet when I see someone, I always feel ashamed. I responded with integrity and prudence and still feel embarrassed. I put up a quote from Buddy Hackett recently about not holding a grudge cause it's only hurting me. The other person is dancing. I don't want them to suffer or even acknowledge that they've done wrong. I just want to feel that I did my best there and that God approves. But God is very quiet. And even those old "friends" all feel like enemies now. <div> I just want to stay home.</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-58916127441211073132011-05-03T13:02:00.000-07:002011-05-03T13:04:49.208-07:00Love Wins reviewAnother great <a href="http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2011/05/outline-for-my-contribution-to-panel.html">review</a> by a Christian philosopher of the Rob Bell book. I hope you'll like it too. I'm also looking for a great book reminiscent of the writing style of CS Lewis or GK Chesterton if anyone would like to make a recommendation.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-41452157777771568122011-04-12T04:33:00.000-07:002011-04-12T04:40:16.005-07:00a smart review of Love WinsI'm so glad someone intelligent did this, but a real Bible scholar cared to review Rob Bell's new book. I don't mind saying I'm not super Bible literate, although I've been reading it or listening to stories and sermons about it my whole life. I loved Rob Bell's sermon "Covered in the Dust of the Rabbi" that I heard years ago, but he seems to be interested in the whole emergent "we're all one family" thing. That has just never set right with me.<div>Anyway, <a href="http://www.patheos.com/community/jesuscreed/2011/04/11/exploring-love-wins-5/">here's</a> the review.</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-79557902990046921682011-03-24T02:55:00.000-07:002011-03-24T03:07:30.487-07:00the KissI guess since I'm up early, I might as well blog. <div>Well, since <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N07o-ZSBQA&feature=related">Victoria Jackson</a>, former <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SNL</span> funny lady, has blogged about the gay kiss on Glee this week, I thought I would at least support what she's saying. She may be branded as a bit of a loony but I think she's OK with that. People on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">youtube</span> are absolute sheep in the culture war and condone the "anything goes" attitude that says you can go beyond posting that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Rebecca</span> Black's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0">"Friday"</a> video is "terrible pop music" to "you should kill yourself."</div><div>Jackson is right. It's not OK for 2 men, or women to kiss each other. The Bible is clear about this and other sins. It's just tough for those of us that once thought this was a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Judaeo</span>-Christian culture to see what it is now, and that seems to not just be secular but anti-Christian.</div><div>And while you're over on youtube, you should watch and comment on my <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/jshealy?feature=mhum">singing</a>. I would really appreciate it. It's relatively wholesome.</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-58398039055418274242010-12-10T09:35:00.001-08:002010-12-10T09:39:30.531-08:00on the missing of humilityA guy I really respect, Thomas Sowell, wrote an <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/225228/gratingest-generation/thomas-sowell?page=1">article </a>on how meaningless media coverage of sporting events had become. I want to say things and listen to things that really matter, so this was just what I wanted to read.jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365832212860541233.post-84243015540094093342010-12-07T05:32:00.000-08:002010-12-07T05:43:19.334-08:00getting out thereThis has been a big season of life for me. I've begun really extending myself, I think, in hopes and preparation of my future here, whatever that is. My music is going pretty well, but it looks like the way I've done that for some time will need to change as well. Singing at church is great and it's the highlight of my week when I'm on the schedule. I'm also involved with Christmas at the Playhouse, which is waaay out of my element, since it's musical theatre and I don't really do that stuff. It's more like acting than singing.<div>So anyway, the whole Playhouse thing has been so overwhelming I almost decided not to do it. I got a solo, which I've been told is quite rare for a first-timer, and I have awakened many nights lately fretting about it. I have pretty terrible stage fright, which I intend to improve as time goes on, and the time commitment to this thing is large. I had almost convinced myself that it's not worth it.</div><div>But how much am I around non-Christian people? Almost none. I mean, I'm not working so I'm not talking to them at a job. So I guess this is where God intends me to be. I pondered the idea of working for a church again someday, but I don't think I'd ever do that. It's like Os Guinness has described "a religious ghetto." It's just not for me. So, although I'm concerned about my next job and have no idea about what it could be, I've just GOT to be around seeking people. I mean, I'm a Christian and I'm still seeking. There's got to be people God wants me to talk to.</div>jdawghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16108610306085441353noreply@blogger.com2