Advice from Bush Twins

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This was on a friend's page and thought I would pass it on. Great stuff.

Confession

I had this random thought today. "What if people wanted to confess something but have no avenue?" So I decided to write this post. If you want to confess something feel free to do so at the bottom; I believe you post anonymously (if not let me know and I'll fix that). I hope you use this as an opportunity to let something of your chest that has been eating at you. If you want advice on what to do or want a blog response write "Response" as the last thing. So have at it. Depending on the response I might have one of these posts every so often.

The Jetsons

So my friend Amber (who doesn't blog much) were talking about The Jetsons and how it would be an awesome movie, live action or CG (like Walle). So in an effort to get someone to make this movie I decided to blog, not that important people read this thing. But it is worth a shot. As we talked about it I couldn't help but think about other movies I would like to see be made. The first and most important would be G.I. Joe; heck they are the original CTU. Are there any movies you guys would like to see be made?

Blogger-blockage

So I've been trying to figure out how to blog more often and my co-worker Linda blogs every day. I know she's crazy, not really but she does blog a lot. So I asked her what she writes about on a regular basis and she showed me this site that gives prompts for you to write about each day. So next time you want to blog and can't think of what to blog about head over there and use a prompt. There is one that I particularly want to write about, aliens. I know awesome. If you have any other suggestions of places to get help on blogging leave a comment and I'll put together a list of blog helps.

Bored at Work

Had a class mate show me this game. Next time you are bored at work try it out. http://www.helicoptergame.net/

Reconciliation With Hamas???

Someone else directed me to this article. I "wonder" why this hasn't shown up in the Western press. I don't understand how people continue to protest for these people.

History Abounds

Today and tomorrow will be filled many firsts. Today Rick Warren is speaking at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church, the first white man to speak their, ever. Tomorrow we will see the first African-American president, ever, in the history of this great nation. But these two statements lead me to wonder if we have farther to go. We have come such a long way from the society of the 1800's where slavery was legal. It appears that we have become, in general, a post-racism society. But is this where we should stop? If in 15 years I explain to my little brother that these days were historic should I expect him to understand? Or should I prefer that he not understand it at all? Should I hope that he has no concept of race? That he no longer sees someone for the color of their skin but for the character of their heart, which was King's dream. If you'd like to weigh in feel free to do so. And please understand that I am proud to see this day. I am glad we have come this far. But I simply see the ability to improve. But maybe this is misguided. These days truly are great. Here is to a new era.

Comics and Toddlers

So I bought a LA Times today because they had a section on the Inauguration of Barack Obama. When I got home I opened the paper and flipped through. As I was flipping through my little brother was standing by me and I thought "I should show him the comics." Because kids love the comics right. Apparently I was wrong. He didn't get much out of them. Do you know why? I figured it out but it never would have occured to me until I tried to read one to him. He didn't get much out of them because he didn't get them. He didn't get the word plays or the thoughts behind pictures themselves. It occured to me as I read one with a guy playing football buried by a bunch of players and stating to his wife on the phone "Hey, hon, can I call you back? I'm buried." Now I expect you to get that if you are an American who speaks English as a primary language or has some understanding of the English language.

So this got me thinking. How often do we put people off or do people simply not get what we are saying because of the internal language we use. Often Christians have a set of words they use that they assume everyone else gets but really only Christians get. Now I understand that some of this is unavoidable but we can remove some of the interal language. Our message should not be hindered by our terms. So next time you are going to share something about Christianity with someone that isn't a Christian try to use as little Christianese as possible. Crazy factoid: Christianese is actually a word according to my spell check on the Mac. Just goes to show that we have internal language. Now next time you share make sure you are not preventing their understanding because of your Christianese.

Quick Reflection on Psalm 40:1-3

So Psalm 40:1-3 reads:

"1I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD."

Recently while serving at Fuse one of the girls I was serving with commented about one of the other female leaders. She said "I really want to be like her. You can just tell she loves Jesus. I really want my life to reflect that too." This got me thinking. Both of these girls love Jesus and both of their lives have been far from perfect. But the difference is that one of them is allowing the new song in their mouth to be seen. What we have to realize is that this is something that we can allow to happen or prevent from happening. When I interact with people I want to have the new song be evident and this occurs by the way I live my life. Not only in public but in private. The Christian life is not a lazy life. We need to constantly work towards growing. If we never read our bibles and never obey the words of Christ then we can hardly expect our lives to be filled with joy. We need to remember Jesus words in John 15:9-11 regarding abiding in him.

He states: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

If you notice there is a cause and effect that we can participate in. As you go about this next week I hope you partake in this cause and effect. May your joy be full.

Moving Out Of The Way Fail

So I'm working on a sermon illustration for a message I am giving at Saddleback Irvine and I stumbled upon this video. It's pretty funny.

Are You (Red)?

Most of you by now have heard of the RED campaign. If you have not, it is a campaign to help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa that was started by Bono from U2. The theory behind the campaign is to get existing companies to commit to donating a portion of their profit when specific (RED) items are sold. By doing so it brings awareness and provides money for the cause. Just recently Starbucks became a (RED) partner and they have an awesome new addition to the campaign. They released the (Starbucks)RED gift card. Every time one of these cards is used between 1/3/09 and 12/31/09 5 cents will be donated to the campaign. Now that might not sound like a lot, but there certainly are a lot of people who go to Starbucks on a regular basis. It is a great place to hangout or do homework. So if you are a regular to Starbucks I encourage you to get one of these cards and continue to use it. Once it runs out of money you can reload it by ask a Starbucks partners (employee). By doing so you will continue to help fight the global pandemic of AIDS. And if you won't reload the card pass it onto someone who will.