Strange and Disturbing Halloween

O.K. folks. I have discovered the winner of the frightening Christian propaganda contest in the form of a Jack O' Lantern Poem. Maybe you didn't know about the contest. Well, I didn't know about it either until I found this. Maybe some of you will find it inspiring so I suppose I am sorry for offending you. I find it strange and slightly disturbing. So here it goes:

Jack O' Lantern Poem

I am a Jack O' Lantern
My lights will shine so bright
For I'm a Christian pumpkin
My symbols tell what's right

My nose is like the cross (I thought it was a triangle)
On which our Savior died
To set us free from sin
We need no longer hide (I would like to hide inside the Jack O' Lantern especially since it's a Christian.)

My mouth is like a fish (? what?, doesn't really look like a fish)
The whole wide world to show
That Christians live in this house
And love their Savior so! (I must not be a credible witness of Christ because I haven't even carved my pumpkin. In fact, today I noticed that it was lying on the ground with a huge hole chewed in the side infested with bugs. I wonder what message that is sending to my neighbors.)

The story starts at Christmas (didn't know the Christian year ended on Halloween. Man, the really conservative Christians are going to be mad they didn't get the memo because they think Halloween is the devil's holiday.)
My eyes are like the star (no they really aren't)
That shone on baby Jesus
And wise man saw from far

My color, it is orange
Just like the big bright sun
That rose on Easter Day
Along with God's own Son

And so on Halloween
Let's set our pumpkins out
And tell the trick or treaters
What God's love is all about (I am sure the little devils' will fall on their knees and repent right on your front porch.)

Something Earth Shattering

"We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that makes our closest realtionships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything and give it to the poor.
But we don't want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. So we rationalize these passages away. "Jesus wouldn't really tell us not to bury our father or say good-bye to our family. Jesus didn't literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor. What Jesus meant was..............."
And this is where we need to pause. Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him in to a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.
A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closest realtionships so that he recieves all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger all together. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American Dream.
But do you realize what we are doing at this point? We are molding Jesus into our image. He is begining to look a lot like us because, after all, that is whom we are most comfortable with. And the danger now is that when we gather in our church building and lift up our hands i worship, we may not be worshiping the Jesus Christ of the Bible. INSTEAD WE MAY BE WORSHIPING OURSELVES."
-"Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream" by David Platt

Humbled Knowing

I keep having the same experience over and over again in every part of my life. Every situation that occurs in my daily life and every conversation I have fill me with an intense flood of opposing thoughts and emotion. When this happens I start with anxiety, sadness, anger, hurt and frustration. As I think through things more and pray to God for clarity I move to a place of hope, action and an intense drive to change things. Then I come to a place of "knowing". Most people would say that this is a sense of peace and in the past I would have agreed. I call it "knowing" because it is filled with resolve, justification, sureness and goodness. When I get to this place something happens to where I am knocked to my knees by my foolishness. It is devastating and life changing. I now realize that the "peace" I always thought was so important is really just my selfishness. That place of knowing is what causes the most hurt in all my relationships. I am learning that the moment I feel so right and sure about something is the moment I need to be falling to my knees in love for another person.

Astro Man in Wilmington, IL on the original Rt. 66. Horrible place to eat but fun statue.

Sweet faces of Autumn

Another photo of me. This was taken after bible study.