Ready to go

Sometimes I'm just ready to go. Sometimes I'm just all set with the people in this world, the lack of feeling and compassion, my own shortcomings, pain, cruelty, war, strife, spite, rude behavior, lust, work, television, my own shortcomings....man I just raise my voice to heaven sometimes and let God know, "Now is fine with me. If you were thinking of coming back today, I'm ready to come home now."

I had one of those moments last week when I was in Las Vegas for a trade show. Uh-oh, I can feel myself getting off track here. Okay, so I had to go to Las Vegas for this trade show, and the reaction from some of my Christian friends was just hilarious. You might have thought I had renounced Christ as my savior and taken up shamanism based on some reactions I got. So here's just a little tidbit of information....I don't need to go to Las Vegas to sin. There is nothing in Las Vegas that I can't get right here in the comfort of my own home...well, other than 100 degree temperatures in May I guess.

Let me put it to you this way. When I was in college I spoke with a number of Elementary Education majors that told me that they hoped to be able to graduate and find positions with good Christian Schools. When I asked why they wouldn't want to teach in public schools, they said that the "situation was too difficult."

So what good are you then?

Don't get me wrong, I know that we need to have good teachers in our Christian schools.....but what about that unsaved kid in public school. Doesn't he need an example too?

So yeah, I went to Las Vegas, and when I walked up and down the strip at night and the Mexican gentlemen tried to get me to take their pornographic paraphenalia, I said "I'll pray for you." When they said "No se'." I said "Rogaré para usted." and smiled. Okay, I'm not that good with Spanish anymore, I confess to having to Google that.

So, don't they need Christians in Las Vegas?



So I'm walking through the Casino (which is a little redundant, because basically when you are in Las Vegas you will always be walking through the casino....or a buffet) when I saw this couple walking along. The husband was walking along in front as the wife brought up the rear. walking alonside her was what I assumed was their son, who was mentally retarded.

A couple of thoughts went through my head. The first was the thought I usually get when I see someone like this, and I also used to get when I worked in the Human Services field with all sorts of emotionally and mentally impaired populations by the way. Whenever I see someone like that, I usually get this wave of compassion that rides over me and I think to myself "I'm ready to go God."

I used to work with a guy I'll call John. John suffered from extreme Muscular Dystrophy and had a hard time with even the most basic of human functions. However, although John suffered from this physical impairment, he did have all of his mental facilities. I will never forget the night that I was tansferring him from his wheelchair to his bed and I decided that I was going to share the Gospel with him. I asked him the important questions about believing in Jesus as his Savior and was delighted to find out that John was already saved.

What sticks out in my mind most of all though was the emotion in his eyes as he stammered out "No more wheelchair," as best he could. We shared a moment then that exploded with emotion as I lifted him out of his chair and changed him from jeans and a shirt to his pajamas. Both of us had tears in our eyes as we considered the fact that one day John would be free of this body that trapped him.

And that's the thought process that goes through my head whenever I see someone afflicted like that, or mentally or emotionally challenged....man, I'm just ready to go home to heaven sometimes, so that the corruption of my sinful nature will be forever removed from this world.

It hit me especially hard in Las Vegas, because the impact was twofold. First, there was the reaction that I just described, but I also had another deeper emotional pang as well. As I looked at this young man, I could see him looking around almost in sheer terror and clutching at his mothers arm as he took all of that casino in. The lights, the weird noises, the smoke, the diabolical laughter and people of all shapes and sizes....it's overwhelming no matter what state you are in, and this poor young man was simply petrified.

I got angry then, really angry. I was furious that this couple would be so intent on satiating their vices that they would drag this young man with them to Las Vegas. I started to think even more about some of the couples that I had seen that had made a "family vacation" out of a trip to Las Vegas and had brought their young children, or even thier teens with them. Las Vegas is no place for adults, never mind children.

I just got so frustrated. I couldn't believe these people just didn't get it. I walked through that casino and I looked evidence of every kind of debauchery imaginable, all of it built on the love of money....and I just got sad. I didn't want to be here anymore. I wasn't suicidal, that's not what I'm saying. I was just all done with the world and the way it is. I know that 90% of the 90% of people that call themselves Christians in this country aren't, and I was really feeling some despair as I walked through that place and thought about what a terrible choice these people had made.

I wished that I could grab them all, one at a time, give them a good shake and try to wake them up to what is of real importance in this life. I knew most of them wouldn't get it though, and that made me even more sad.

And then it hit me.

This had to be what it was like for Jesus.

I mean, sometimes I'm one of those people that needs to be shaken. I only have the vaguest understanding of what Heaven is going to be like. I have what amounts to a childs understanding of the nature of God, the trinity, Jesus.

But Jesus knew it all.

How heavy was his heart as He walked amongst men and watched them make poor decision after poor decision? How much did it slay him when he saw an innocent taken advantage of? How did he go on when he saw injustice and greed and evil and the grim heart of sinful man around him every day? How could this perfect, loving, compassionate man stand it at all?

How can He love me?

Did Jesus Imply He Sinned

Okay, I haven't had the time to post here recently. I have one post that is still in the draft stages because I haven't had the time to finish it, and another about some stuff that happened in Las Vegas which is still in "brain-draft" status because I haven't had the time to start it. I promise (his voice echoed through the empty room) that I will get to both of those in the very near future. For now, here is a short "conversation" I had regarding a question someone had about a passage of Scripture.

Quote:

"Let the one of you who is sinless be the first one to cast a stone at her. Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?
Neither do I condemn you."

Question:

Isn't Jesus implying that he has sinned at some time in his life?

Answer:

Not at all, although I do understand why you could ask this question and it is a very good one. I see your thought process as being that:

A. Since only a person without sin should cast a stone

and

B. Since Jesus was not going to cast a stone

that

C. Jesus is then saying that he has sinned.

The problem with that reasoning is that Jesus doesn't say why He isn't going to cast a stone, He just says that He won't do it. Whether you believe in His deity or not, there are many logical reasons for Him not to cast a stone.

Most importantly, He wasn't the one that wanted her stoned in the first place. Of course maybe there were no rocks near Him and He simply didn't feel like walking to where there were rocks and lugging them all back to where the woman was (provided she stayed where she was) and then throwing all the rocks (because nobody without sin could throw a rock) until she was dead. Okay, that's a little silly, but do you get my point?

I believe His refusal to cast a stone is consistent with what He had to say about Himself in the second part of Mark 2:17:

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

It certainly wouldn't seem to make a lot of sense for Him to start casting stones at the very people He claimed to have come to minister to.

Hope that helps!

What would you choose?

Okay, so I know I'm going to take some flack from some people for admitting this, but I was driving to work today and I was listening to Nancy Leigh Demoss. Go ahead and snicker, I can take it, yes I did get up on the effiminate side of the bed this morning.

Actually, Revive Our Hearts comes on for 15 minutes after Erwin Lutzer does 15 minutes, so I listen to her when I can take it. Frankly, sometimes she starts talking about being patient with your husband and how a Godly wife should act and, being divorced, it starts working at some scabs.

You know, I didn't intend to blog about this, but I'm going to bring it up anyway. Actually, it will be a good way to segue into what I originally logged on to blog about. Anyway, you know, being a Christian doesn't solve all of your problems. I mean, the easiest way to illustrate what I am talking about is to point out that a prisoner that accepts Christ as their savior is still in prison..... it's just that he's free. Get it?

So, I am divorced, but just because I lean on God and find peace and shelter in His presence doesn't mean that some days I don't still cry. God isn't some miracle oil that just takes away all of our hurts and makes us shiny happy people. Oh, sometimes He does, but make no mistake about it, storms will come again, and there will even be times when God will not seem to be there when you reach out. Those are refining and testing times, and because we can never achieve perfection, we will be refined and tested until the day that we die. The ironic thing is that it isn't because God is a big meanie, it's actually because that is how much he loves us.

And that leads me up to what I originally intended to write about today. I was driving to work and listening to Nancy Leigh Demoss and she repeated something that she had heard that stopped me in my tracks. I immediately called my voice mail and repeated it just so that I wouldn't forget what it was. She was talking about our lives and the choices that God makes for them and she said:

"God's choices for our life are exactly what we would choose if we knew what God knows."

How deep is that?

That just brought me a lot of peace this morning. I trust God, and I hope you do too, but I have to admit, some days I'm looking up at the sky asking, "Um yeah, okay God, just how exactly does this fit into that plan for a hope and a future??"

Well, I don't know what God knows, which makes it frighteningly silly and incredibly arrogant for me to be asking that question of him. Still, I'll ask it again I am sure.

The point is that we need to remember who God is when we're in the midst of a storm and try to understand that what we are suffering through may be the event that eventually leads us to turning a significant corner or taking a step we have long struggled with in our walks with Christ.

I've been through a lot, and this quote means so much to me because I can attest that the principle it suggests is true. I don't like being divorced, but I can honestly tell you that I am happy that it happened. God has never had my attention like He has had it for the last couple of yearsand it's because I had to depend on Him to get me through that.

Christ Lives...it's only logical.

I had to go and find this quote from Ronald Reagan so I could post it here today. So many people want to label Jesus as anything but what He was, God with us. Call Him whatever you may like, but He was not a prophet or a madman, He was the Son of God, come to earth to die for our sins so that we may know peace and joy throughout eternity with our Father, our Lord, our Friend in Heaven.

"Meaning no disrespect to the religious convictions of others, I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where...is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own hometown.

A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb.

End of story? No, this uneducated, propertyless young man who...left no written word has, for 2,000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals; all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that? ...[U]nless he really was what he said he was." --Ronald Reagan

The Gospel of Judas??? Come on!

It's not that I have nothing to write about lately, it's just that I don't have the time to write it! I'm being a very good steward with my time, but there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day lately.

Still, I couldn't pass this one up. Supposedly, a manuscript of the Gospel of Judas has been found somewhere in Egypt. This "gospel" tells a far different story of the man than that depicted in the Biblical Gospels. Amongst other things, in this work Judas is a heroic figure. But I'm not writing today to talk about that.

What gets me is that some people that were already enraptured by this story are now going to feel as if they have been somehow vindicated. That's like saying because I found an original notebook of one of the Brother's Grimm that all those fairy tales must be true.

Listen, before this gets any further, there is ONE piece of manuscript evidence for the gospel of Judas. There are over 5,000 pieces of manuscript evidence for the Bible. There is no book in history that is so widely substantiated. The Bible is the word of God. That's it, it's His book, those are all the instructions you need. Judas was a thief and he betrayed Christ to death.

I just needed to get that off of my chest. Please return to your normally scheduled Sunday.

FYI

Two minutes and Three seconds past 1:00AM on Wednesday, the time and date will be:

01:02:03 04/05/06


Just so you know.

Fever Pitch

So I woke up this morning out of a drop dead sleep at 6 AM, which most days would be 6 AM, except today it's really 5 AM. What makes it even more incredible is that I went to bed at like midnight....which was....1 AM? You know, when you need an advanced math degree in order to figure out what time it is, well, it must be early in the morning. (shave and a haircut, 2 bits) I know it seemed like a good idea at the time Ben Franklin, but it's your fault I'm confused right now.


Anyway, I have a confession to make. Part of the reason, actually probably the biggest reason that I don't give up cable television is because I like to sleep with the television on. The other part is that I think I might go crazy if I couldn't watch the Red Sox. Not crazy "I-can't-find-my-car-keys" crazy either, but crazy "I-broke-into-the-library-and colorcoded-all-the-books-on-the-shelves" crazy. I LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE the Red Sox. I feel like I should be at a 12 step program right now.

"Hi, my name is Randy and I'm a recovering Red Sox fan. I haven't watched a game in over 2 weeks."

(That could never really happen. See the part about color coding books for more information why.)

So anyway, I was sleeping with the television on for the millionth night in a row, when out of my drop dead sleep I wake up promptly at 6 AM. Okay, probably not. I don't know what time is was but it was about 20 after 6 when I sat down to write this. I realized when I woke up that Fever Pitch was on, and not only that, but that the movie was about 80% over. Being the Red Sox fanatic (fan isn't a good enough word) I am, I immediately thought to myself "If I stay awake for another 10 minutes I'll get to see the part where they show all those wonderful highlights from the 2004 playoffs."

So I'm laying there and becoming more and more conscious as Jimmy Fallon finds out the Red Sox came back in the bottom of the 9th and beat the Yankees at the first game he ever missed in 23 years because he was spending a wonderful evening with Drew Barrymore. He is of course, very stressed about that event, and Drew Barrymore, being a woman, takes offense to that because she believes that he's saying that he would have traded in the evening with her to be at that game.....well.....okay, I don't have the time right now to sit here and think about what I would have done. (I mean, he had two tickets, it's not like he wouldn't have taken her to the game with him)

Okay, just for the record, any future love interests, you need to read my blog, because I'm putting it in writing right now, you date me, you better get used to the potential for life coming to an end as you know it for 2 weeks every October. That's just the way it is.

So I'm laying there, half awake and watching with one eye open as Drew takes offense and breaks poor Jimmy's heart. After a little bit I've got both eyes open as the movie moves into the part where the Sox (pronounced Sawks) go down 3-0 to the Yankees in the ALCS. If you are not a Red Sox fan you have no idea what this part of the movie is like for us. If you're a married man, it's like remembering the moments just before you asked your wife to marry you. I'm serious, it's that sweet. My eyes almost roll back into my head and my whole body tingles just thinking about it.

So as the story goes along I'm lying there squinting at the TV, still planning on falling back asleep as soon as I get to see Drew grab Johnny Damon's butt, Ortiz get the hits and Foulke toss Alphabet the ball, when a funny thing happened. (what, you're surprised? It's a romantic comedy after all...) I started getting interested in the story all over again. It's really a well done movie. I originally saw it with some friends here in Ohio, and they liked it and had no affinity whatsoever for the Sawks. (Noooomaaaaaahhhhh. Sorry, couldn't help myself)

By the time Drew made her way to the center field bleachers, I actually had my glasses on. Even though I knew all that was going to come (before the nirvana inducing baseball highlights at the end) the story had captured me again. Okay, I'm going to admit it, when Drew jumped off the wall onto the field and then rushed the field trying to stop Jimmy before he could sell his seats I started to get a little emotional. When she ran all the way across the field and told him that if he loved her enough to give up his tickets, then she loved him enough not to let him I thought to myself that that was the most beautiful thing I ever heard. I just got another chill thinking about it. But when she looked him in the eye and told him she was getting arrested, well, a single tear rolled down my cheek.

Maybe it was because I was already confused about what time it was. Perhaps it's because I was just so relieved that he didn't give up the tickets. It could be those things, but it's not. I got emotional like that, I was stirred up because I wish I could find someone that loved me like that, EXACTLY like that. Sometimes I just wish I could take part of a movie and make it my life, and if I could, I would take that part of that movie and make it the way I met the love of my life.

Okay, I probably also get emotional because in 2004 not only did the Sawks finally win it all, but I also got divorced. Talk about your highs and lows...

I remember even feeling a little empty the night they finally put it away. Honestly, that whole year was like walking through a desert, but for a little while in October/November that year, I did at least feel something for a little while. I drove all the way from Ohio to Massachusetts that week to see the victory parade in Boston. I didn't go though, I spent the time with my friends and watched it on television instead. (Best parade I ever missed. I love you guys)

Anyway, I didn't want to bring the tone of this whole thing down by mentioning the divorce, but I had to. This morning I realized that because of all that I was going through back then, I still hadn't fully "accepted" 2004. A part of me has still been, I don't know, sad I guess. I guess as high as that was, I didn't get to experience all of it's wonderfullness because of what I was going through personally at that point in my life.

Well, on June 21st, I'm excorcising those demons. You see, I've got front row Monster seats that night, so if you happen to catch the game that night and they flash to the guy up on the Monster that's dancing like a maniac while "Tessie" plays, know that it's not because he drank too much beer.

Know that that guy is going to be up there celebrating the fact that after all those years, after watching Rice break his hand, and Dent hit the homer, after watching Yaz pop up and Esasaky go down, after having to say goodbye to Freddy Lynn and Carlton Fisk (not to mention the Rooster), after having to see Buckner miss the ball, and Buckner miss the ball, and Buckner miss the ball, and Buckner miss the ball, and Buckner miss the ball.....after watching Rogah get booted in the first inning, and after watching Mo choke, after watching the Yankees win it all 4 times and just when they had us down 3-0 and things looked as bleak as they ever did.....after having my heart broke again and again and again....well, just know that because the stone got rolled away and David Ortiz stepped out of that crypt and said "Not so fast" to the Yankees that year, because of all of that, I'll be dancing like a maniac that whole game. For me, I'll finally be letting go of that last little part of my heart that was still broken and I'll be free at last to celebrate that wonderful team.

Oh, and just for the record, I'm sick of being polite about this, THERE ARE NO FANS LIKE RED SOX FANS. I haven't been to every park to see every team, but I do have a larger sample size than most people to go by because of all of the different cities I've lived in, and I'm telling you that there are no fans that love their team the way that Red Sox fans love theirs. Over the last few years I've had to put up with people trying to degrade me and the rest of Red Sox nation because they think we think we're special and that there is no difference between their story and ours. I don't think we're special, but we are definitely unique.

I'll tell you what, when they make a romantic comedy about your team, when your park becomes an icon all of it's own and they have tours that draw more people than White House tours, awwwww forget it, Red Sox fans are unique in all of sports. I'm a Steelers fan, I chose my college based on two criteria. First, it was a Christian college. Second, it was 45 minutes north of Pittsburgh and I knew that for four years I would be able to watch every game. So in my book of priorities back then, the Steelers came right after God. Well, comparing my love for the Steelers to my love for the Red Sox is like comparing the way you feel about breakfast to how you feel about your wife. (yes, I know sometimes she makes you really mad, that's part of the analogy...)

And just so you know, it took me over an hour to write this, and the whole time I've had Tessie blasting full volume through my headphones. I'm still sitting here typing along to the beat and every now and then I still have to stop and dance in my chair a little bit.

Maybe I am crazy....

The inefficiency of our government

So, I go to Drudge last night and I am mildly annoyed to see this story about the immigration rallies behing held the last few days. You know, the rallies being held by people that have snuck into this country illegally and are now trying to tell us how to run our country. Right, those ones. (These people are represented in Washington, by the way, by the party that lost the last couple Presidential elections as well as control of both the House and Senate, and now want to tell the winning party how to run the country. Talk about synchronicity)

Anyhoo, other than being mildly annoyed, I've become a little ticked off again at the innefficiency of our government. There were at least 100,000 people gathered together all told in these various rallies, and our immigration officials apparently did nothing about it. How great would it have been had they done their jobs and rounded these people up to cart them back across the border where they belong.

Don't get me wrong, I love America, and if I didn't live here I would sure want to. What I wouldn't do though is start waving my fist in the air and start telling Americans that I had a right to live here, and that Americans had were really really mean and unfair for trying to determine the conditions under which I get to live here. Sorry, that's the kind of stuff that gets under my collar and makes me want (even more) to toughen up the security on our borders.

One final thing, just a piece of advice here. If you're marching in an immigration rights rally and you want me to "hear" your message, then it's not a good idea for you to print your sign in spanish. First rule of America, the language is English. Learn it.

BREAKING NEWS

March is the 21st annual National Frozen Food Month.

Just thought you should know.

Herbal link? The "Why is this news" story of the day.

A recent study has found that teens that use herbal remedies are more prone to using illicit drugs. In my house right now crickets are chirping and nobody has noticed I said anything at all. There is no surprise here.

Actually, that's not entirely true, I'm surprised that the people that conducted this study got the relationship backwards. What it really should say is that teens that use illicit drugs (specifically marijuana) are more likely to use herbal remedies.

You know why? Because herbal has the word herb in it. That's it, that is all there is to it. The thought processes go something like this:

1. I like the way this herb makes me feel.
2. I would like some nachos and a bowl of ice cream.
3. My stomach hurts.
4. I wonder how that herb will make me feel.

It's really that simple. And unfortunately, speaking as a former teen that smoked pot, I can confirm that the best part of using an herbal remedy is that you get to say the word herb. You get to be in the herb club.

I once knew a guy we called Herb, and whenever he entered a room we would call out his name like he was Norm from Cheers. I know they have all kinds of names for the stuff now, but back in the day we just said "Hey, got any herb?" because we liked calling it herb.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone would spend some money on something like, I don't know, actually doing something to prevent teens from smoking herb?