Every Friday, I’ll be posting a favorite failblog entry from the week, so enjoy this week’s Friday Fail:
see more pwn and owned pictures
What Does God See?
•April 7, 2009 • 2 CommentsWhen I was a teenager, there was only one time I can remember really being angry at my church and at my youth minister. I was so mad that I didn’t want to go to church, and that meant that I had to be pretty mad, because I loved, no craved, being at church. What was the anger over? The issue of dress code. Let me explain. At the time, I was the lead singer for a Christian band, and after a few weeks of talking about music at our youth group, my youth minister agreed to let us come play. So, we came, set up, soundchecked, and then went home to get ready. The night before I had bought a bottle of hair gel that also contained some coloring, so that when the hair dried in place it would be a different, crazy color. I picked green, my buddy Joey picked pink, and our friend James picked blue, with which he intended to do his goatee and be the pirate Bluebeard.
Well, we did the dye job, and headed back to the church. No sooner did we get there than two ladies walked up and began to tell me and Joey how awful we were, and how they couldn’t believe we were mocking God in his house and that we couldn’t worship at all with that color in our hair. I told them I didn’t think they had anything to back that up with and headed on to the sanctuary, where our youth minister met us a few minutes later and told us that we would either go home and wash it out or not play at all. We tried to protest, but he was adamant about it, and we left, coming back humiliated and feeling like we had no dignity. It’s not wonder our show sucked that night. That night ignited a huge debate between our group of friends, our youth minister, and many others in our church about what was appropriate dress. Personally I felt attacked and stifled.
So, that question has come to my mind again lately. When God looks at me when I’m at church, or when I’m serving him, what does he look for? Does he look at my clothing, does he care what I wear as long as it’s not immodest? Or, is there something more to the story? To find the answer, I think we need to look no further than 1 Samuel 16:7, which says:
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
See that? The answer is clear. God doesn’t look at the outside, but at what’s on the inside, the heart, the most important part of us, where all the good stuff is. But what we find too many times is that we are judged by our outward appearance. We are held to some imaginary standard, as if there is a more holy way to dress, and we apply Scripture, yet not this one. That’s why a man in blue jeans and a tshirt can be closer to God on a Sunday morning than a man in a $10,000 suit that hides a rotten heart. Judging ministers, and fellow Christians based on their dress is nothing but tradition and legalism, neither of which has any place the church.
Upset about this? You bet.
Give me a revelation
•February 26, 2009 • 1 CommentLately I have felt a bit lost. I haven’t had anything that I felt like I should write about. I get up and go to work, come home, and before I know it, weeks have passed. I have had hopes that I had crushed, and I have found that I have come to a place where I have become very bitter and upset. Tonight, as I was working on the sermon I will be preaching at Highland Baptist Church in Metairie, LA, I could not stop thinking of this song by Third Day, “Revelation”. That song has come to have great meaning for me lately amidst the confusion of my life. So, I wanted to share the lyrics with you below:
My life has led me down the road that’s so uncertain
Now I am left alone and I am broken
Trying to find my way
Trying to find the faith that’s gone
This time I know that you are holding all the answers
I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances
On roads that never seem
To be the ones that bring me home
Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying to find my way
I haven’t got a clue
Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without you
I’ve got nothing without you
My life has led me down this path that’s ever winding
Through every twist and turn, I’m always finding
That I am lost again
Tell me when this road will ever end
I don’t know where I can turn
Tell me, when will I learn
Won’t you show me where I need to go
Let me follow your lead
I know that it’s the only way that I can get back home
This is amazing
•February 6, 2009 • 1 CommentI nearly fell out of my chair laughing, almost woke up the kids:
2008 in Review Part 2
•January 12, 2009 • 1 CommentToday, I break down my favorite television, movies, and videos of 2008. Enjoy!
Television:
Heroes
Lost
Human Wrecking Balls
American Gladiators (sadly cancelled!)
Anything that wasn’t the presidential or vice presidential debates, news about the election, or election commericals
Movies:
Juno
Wall-E
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Kung Fu Panda
I am Legend
The Happening
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Prince Caspian
Cloverfield
Fireproof
Videos
Dallas’ “O Holy Night” parody
Kung Fu Hillbilly
Jesus Is My Friend by Sonseed
The Dark Knight – Joker Interrogation Spoof
Bible Stories With Graham – The Battle of Jericho
The Turtleman
The Four Squeezins – Flintstones/Funiculi Funicula
Japanese Binocular Soccer
Andrew Peterson – “Family Man”
99 Balloons
Isaac “Feeds” Annaliese
Isaac and Annaliese Play
2008 in Review Part 1
•January 7, 2009 • 1 CommentMy good friend Jeremy over at burnlikestars just reminded me the other day that I hadn’t done a recap of 2008, and that he always enjoyed those. So, for his benefit, and you other readers, I’m going to run down my favorites of 2008, including my favorite blog posts and moments. These are going to come in installments this week, one a day, so today I am going to start with…..blog posts.
January 2008
Practice What You Preach
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
Words fail me…
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
Grammar You Probably Use That I Hate Part 1
November 2008
The Christian Response to President Obama
December 2008
So those are my favorite posts from this blog…but I can’t just be that conceited. Here’s a list of my favorite blogs, visited daily:
Grace in action.
•December 10, 2008 • 2 CommentsFollowing the tragic accident earlier this week in San Diego when a military jet slammed into a home in the city’s University City community, a man who lost his entire family has stepped forward to give something that this world oftentimes doesn’t understand: grace.
SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) — A Korean immigrant who lost his wife, two children and mother-in-law when a Marine Corps jet slammed into the family’s house said Tuesday he did not blame the pilot, who ejected and survived.
Firefighters and military personnel sift through wreckage Monday in San Diego, California.
“Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident,” a distraught Dong Yun Yoon told reporters gathered near the site of Monday’s crash of an F/A-18D jet in San Diego’s University City community.
“He is one of our treasures for the country,” Yoon said in accented English punctuated by long pauses while he tried to maintain his composure.
“I don’t blame him. I don’t have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could,” said Yoon, flanked by members of San Diego’s Korean community, relatives and members from the family’s church. Video Watch Yoon discuss relatives’ death »
Authorities said four people died when the jet crashed into the Yoon family’s house while the pilot was trying to reach nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Another unoccupied house also was destroyed.
Yoon named the victims as his infant daughter Rachel, who was born less than two months ago; his 15-month-old daughter Grace; his wife, Young Mi Yoon, 36; and her 60-year-old mother, Suk Im Kim, who he said had come to the United States from Korea recently to help take care of the children.
Fighting back tears, he said of his daughters: “I cannot believe that they are not here right now.”
“I know there are many people who have experienced more terrible things,” Yoon said. “But, please, tell me how to do it. I don’t know what to do.”
Marine Corps authorities said the pilot, whose name was not released, was hospitalized after he parachuted from the jet, and an investigation into the cause of the crash has been launched.
The jet had just performed landing training on a Navy aircraft carrier before the pilot reported having trouble, according to the Marine Corps. Authorities described the jet as disabled.
Three bodies — those of two adults and an infant — were recovered hours after the crash on Monday. The fourth body — that of a child — was recovered Tuesday, as firefighters sifted through the rubble of the Yoon house.
Authorities said they did not expect to find any other victims of the crash.
The area’s congressman, Rep. Duncan Hunter, said after a briefing from the Marine Corps that a power failure was the likely cause of the crash, not any structural problem with the aircraft.
“At this time, my deepest sympathies are with all those who have been affected by this incident, especially those who lost loved ones,” Hunter, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement from his office.
Yoon’s minister, Daniel Shin, told reporters the Yoon family had moved into the house a little more than a month ago. He said Yoon came to the United States in 1989 and had since become a naturalized citizen. Yoon works as manager of “a variety store — a store where they sell a variety of things,” Shin said.
Yoon’s wife came to the United States about four years ago, Shin said.
Yoon spoke softly when he talked about his wife.
“It was God’s blessing that I met her about four years ago. She was a lovely wife and mother,” he said.
His voice fading, he added: “She loves me and babies. I just miss her so much.”
The Marine Corps said Tuesday it would take “a minimum of five to seven working days” to clean up the crash site.
San Diego resident Ian Lerner said he was heading to lunch at a shopping center about a half-mile from the neighborhood of about 20 homes when he saw the jet flying low.
“It was, oh, gosh, maybe a couple of hundred feet off the ground. And it was quiet; I think the engine was off,” Lerner said. iReport.com: See Lerner’s photos
“Then all of a sudden, we saw the canopy of the jet explode and go up, and then we saw the pilot blast out of the plane and the parachute open,” Lerner said. Video Watch a witness describe the pilot’s main concern »
Another witness said the jet was flying at a low altitude and “just spiraled, right out of [the movie] ‘Top Gun.’ “
A photograph taken at the crash site showed the pilot, after ejection, sitting on the front lawn, making a call on his cell phone before he was taken to a hospital. Video Watch burning debris near crash site »
The pilot was the only occupant of the two-seat aircraft, according to the Marine Corps.
The Union-Tribune spoke with Steve Diamond, a retired naval aviator who said he found the pilot in a tree behind a house. He told the paper he helped the man, who Diamond said was a lieutenant in his 20s, down from the tree. See satellite photo showing crash site, airfield »
The pilot told him that after he lost power in one engine, it was decided he would try to get the jet to Miramar on the single working engine, Diamond told the paper.
The pilot was in communication with military air traffic controllers before the jet crashed about two miles from the airfield, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the pilot ejected moments before the crash and landed in a tree. Jason Widmer said he talked to the pilot, who said he had tried to steer the jet from the homes and into a brushy canyon.
“He was pretty shook up and pretty concerned if he had killed anyone,” Widmer told San Diego 6. “He had seen his bird go into a house.”
A retired general, a pilot who has flown for 40 years and more than 270 missions in Vietnam, said the decision to eject is up to the pilot. F/A-18D planes are very dependable, but any aircraft is subject to error.
That model has two engines, and it can operate with one engine. But if one engine malfunctions, it’s possible that a blade can break off and fly into the other engine, causing it to malfunction, too. If both engines are inoperable and the plane descends below 10,000 feet, it’s likely the pilot will soon lose control.
When the pilot pulls a ring-like lever, a series of automatic actions is set off: The pilot’s harness comes loose, and he is pushed through a canopy, which is rigged to facilitate him breaking through it without causing injury. A pilot can opt to manually activate his parachute, but if he doesn’t, the parachute will open on a timer.
The plane would crash randomly once the pilot is no longer in control. Photo See photos of fiery crash site »
Inside a house in the neighborhood, Robert Johnson sat in his living room with his daughter, Heather Certain, and her 2-year-old son, Nicholas, according to the Union-Tribune. They heard the explosion and then saw a giant fireball in the picture window facing their front yard, the newspaper reported. They ran out of the house. Video Watch aerial footage of crash site »
“The house shook like an earthquake,” Johnson said. “I saw the flames right there in front of my house.”
Just reading this article, my stomach felt sick, because I realized that I don’t know if I’d have enough grace and love in me to do what this man did after losing his family. My thoughts flash to my two little ones, and tears come to my eyes as I try to put myself in his place, feel what he’s feeling. What a challenge it is to me, to show this kind of grace everyday in my life. Let us all learn from his example, and pray for him as well.
