grace, refresh, accept, approved, queso, crunch, complimentary, root beer, joy, family, fun, belong, peace, caffeine, football, groove, chocolate.

here are some of my LEAST FAVORITE words:

compare, insufficient, appropriate, height requirement, wait, sweat, rash, audit, progress report, normal, fear, delayed, lima beans.

so...what are some of you favorite/least favorite words?

 there is a long list of places  that she has looked and a longer list of lovers that she has left behind. she doesn't stay with any one man for too long because somehow the grass always looks a little greener on the other side of the fence. as part of her desperate search she has spent years trying to recapture her youth, maybe the answer is hidden in her past. besides when you are"40 something", with lots of baggage, your opportunities for real love seem pretty limited, so sometimes it's just easier to live in the past. and so she lives to party like it's 1983. she longs to go back to high school and try to recapture something that she has lost. ( as someone who barely survived the hell that is high school i don't know why ANYONE would want to go back and relive one of the most confusing and conflicting times of life.i think that for some people the ideal must outweigh the reality). i think that the girl wants to relive those days because that is when she felt the most alive. her responsibilities were few, she didn't have kids or a mortgage. she spent her days cruising around in the passenger seat of a camaro with a guy with a mullet. they would drive around listening to journey and drinking beer. for a brief moment she felt alive and free and loved. she has been desperately trying to recapture that moment  ever since. she has sacrificed everything to try to regain that feeling. she has sacrificed her family, her children, her self respect, her reputation and her dreams. she gives herself away  to men with liquor on their breath and violence in their hearts. she bears the stain of too many bad choices and too many broken promises (both made and recieved) but deep down in her heart, beyond the stain and the pain, there is still hope and a thirst for a love that is bigger than this life. the thirst is there because her creator planted it deep in her heart. the thirst is meant to drive the girl to her creator. only he has what she has been looking for. love and freedom are only found in one place, by living in relationship with the designer of life. the girl is used to being looked at with disdain or lust, but the creator looks at her with love...love in it's purest form he looks past the stain and see his child. he sees a little girl in a frilly dress full of wide innocence, laughing and running through fields of grace. her creator loves her with a love that is true and unyielding. he longs for her to live in his love. a love that gives and doesn't take, that heals and doesn't hurt. if only she would surrnder to his love he would give her what she has been looking for! he would be the champion of her heart. i pray that she would discover that love!

i know this girl who is looking for love....

luke

"has anyone ever told you that you look like someone famous?"

for instance countless people have told me that i look like that guy from the movie "TWINS". i would have to agree that i do bear a striking resemblance to arnold ! i had somebody tell me that i look like a chubby billy joel! that's sweet! so how about YOU?

this disturbs me on several levels...first, i wear baggy pants and it's not my fault! it has nothing to do with fashion or an unnatural desire to expose my underwear to strangers. i wear baggy pants because i have a BAGGY BODY!! i'm 5" tall (and almost the same width) so EVERYTHING looks baggy on me! up until this point in my life i have been a law abiding citizen (with the exception of a couple of speeding tickets in east texas) but if this passes i will automatically be forced into a life of crime. i will be lumped into the criminal element. i will become a threat to society roaming the streets in my baggy jeans!

i  ALSO think that it's really stupid to try to legislate conformity! it's wrong to try to force someone to look like "US" (even in the name of "decency"), who determines what style of dress is decent or acceptable...the fashion police?  what's next? no sandals? no blue socks? everyone must wear khaki dockers? if we take away freedom of expression then we run the threat of becoming a "cookie cutter, prefabricated, boring" world! anytime that there is freedom to express ourselves through speech, art or a fashion statement, someone is going to probably get offended but it's that very freedom that makes this lovely little planet so colorful and interesting. it really is time to judge people based on "the content of their character" rather than the height of their pants! i really don't think baggy denim is a threat to the moral fabric of our city. (pun intended) i think that the city council could probably find bigger fish to fry!

livin' la vida baggy,

luke

i'm just terribly grateful for air conditioning!!! i was thinking about this and i realized that there are other ways that we can control our "climate". we all face "hot spots" in our lives. you know what i mean...somebody says or does something that bugs us. it doesn't take much to make us reach our boiling point! that person says something that really "rubs us the wrong way" or they don't say anything at all and that really ticks us off. suddenly things get hot and we see red! we get offended!

what can we do to control our climate? we can refuse to get offended! offenses will come,but they don't have to stay! we live in an offensive world and you are going to have endless opportunities to get your feelings hurt or get mad! someone was rude or mean, that guy cut you off in traffic, you feel left out , etc. etc. offenses WILL come  but you can CHOOSE to not take up the offense! choose to leave it! sometimes when things get hot in our lives it's not the HUMIDITY, but the HUMILITY!

  PROVERBS 13:10 (TNIV) says: "where there is strife there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice"

humble yourself, don't take yourself so seriously. learn to laugh (at yourselves and the stupidity of others)  and when you are tempted to get mad or hurt take a deep breath and ask yourself " will this really matter in a year or ten years or when i'm in heaven?"  you ever notice that when you do get hot and bothered it almost never phases the "offender"? they are usually clueless, that's why so many of them are "repeat offenders"!by getting offended you are really only hurting yourself and that's no fun! 

it's getting hot in here but you CAN control your climate!

waiting for october,

luke

I know very little about the "emerging church" movement.  Viscerally, it appeals to me, however, experts, pastors, theologians, etc seem to have fear and disdain for the movement.  This of course makes it more intriguing.

Is the Mission in the emerging church mold?  At this point, don't know, don't care.  The Mission is the Mission.  What ever God has in mind will happen, if we listen.

For a variety of reasons (OPINION) we are now going through "church planting classes", under the auspices of our "denomination".  I guess ya gotta start somewhere, but I personally hold it all at bent-arms length, to avoid being dragged into programs, personalities, doctrine, etc.  But I eagerly devour the introspection, fellowship and bible learnin'--so there is definitely an upside.  In fact I believe (OPINION) all churches, be they 10 people in a living room, or Joel Osteen's, need to, regularly and consistantly,  drop back and re-evaluate their core, as seems to be done at the beginning, or planting.  Perhaps Joel, Ed Young, and others do this, which might help explain their growth.

(OPINION) What's the Mission mission?  Strangely enough, I'm not sure.  Holy spirit filled, arms raised, dancing in the aisles, individual and corporate worship?  Yes.  Open and free discussion of God, Jesus, The Bible, doctrine, theology, prayer, needs, wants, desires and so forth?  Yes.  Fellowship?  Yes.  Revival? YES!  Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, clothing the "naked"?  Probably not as a focus.  After all, the poor wil always be with us, and there are many fine  ministries dealing with these social ills.  (OPINION) I believe this particular ministry can quickly become all-consuming and divert most of our energy, but aid and involvement in those other ministries should be an important outreach.  One can look at the Salvation Army, and see that this good work is vitally important, but who goes to church there?

Bottom line, don't know if a mission statement can really be prepared yet.  And that, at this point, excites me.  As soon as all the beliefs are codified in a five-line statement, you risk losing the fire.  But without direction, a gathering of believers and followers will soon either wander or succomb to a charismatic cult of (a) personality.  (And those within the core may know what I'm hinting at)  So I keep my bent-arms length from both sides and continue to watch, question, and contribute.

Well, took a short cigarette break*, and realized that was enough drivel for now.  Will return to my thoughts on the re-merging church.  Have lots of other thoughts, but will return later (Thank the Lord there is no "theme" to this blogsite!)

davek

*Yes, (OPINION) I believe one can worship our Lord and have a lungfull of nicotene.  Is it right? NO.  But that is MY battle.

d

out of the mouth's of babes:

Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.

Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day but a ball of fire by night.

The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.

The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.

Jesus was born becuse Mary had an immaculate contraption.

The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 decibels.

Christians have only one spouse.  This is called monotony.

A few more thoughts;

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing.

HECK is where people go who don't believe in GOSH.

How many of you believe in telekinesis?  Raise my hand.

He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.

Thank You...Thank You....I'll be here all week.

davek

--Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors

davek