Five Spiritual Buoys

A little while ago, Lon Solomon was sharing some messages at Frontline on knowing God's will. He referenced five spiritual buoys that you need to align yourself with when trying to determine God's will. Let me give you the quick rundown (and some notes I made while listening):

1. The Written Word of God
*God never leads contrary to His Word
2. The advice of Godly people.
3. The circumstances (orchestration) of God
*there is no such thing as coincidence
4. Sanctified Common Sense
*this involves being spiritually in-tune (see Romans 12.2)
5. Guidance of the Holy Spirit

Feel free to check out the podcasts for yourself on the website. It's a series of three messages from back in December.

Tony Dungy

He's a coach that I really respect. He makes no attempts to hide his faith. There's a good article about him in today's USA Today. I am thankful for the platform he has been given to show the world his faith. Not necessarily in words, but definitely in actions.

I miss the NFL Network..

Especially this week. All the interviews and commentary. I miss it. Rich Eisen. I miss him too. Suprisingly.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Fred baby!

So I finally got around to watching "Breakfast at Tiffany's" yesterday. Loved it. That Audrey Hepburn is something else. George Peppard and Buddy Ebsen were in it too (the former you may recall from "The A-Team" and the latter from "The Beverly Hillbilies"). And in the stretch of all stretches, Mickey Rooney played an Asian landlord.

I had never understood the title, but that was quickly resolved once the film started. I loved how everything was mod and everybody called everybody "baby!" And I loved the storyline and how Fred/Paul played it cool throughout the entire ordeal.

If ya haven't seen it, I'd recommend it.

I like sleep

I just wanted to share that I've been in bed by 10:30pm the last three nights, allowing me to clock 8.5 hours of sleep each night. Woo-Hoo! And I think I should be able to keep that up through the weekend.

In other weekend plans, I'm going to the Pizza Grille tomorrow.

Feel free to refer to me as Mr. Excitement.

Thought for the Day

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what the nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." Romans 8.5

So I'm reading a book

Actually, I'm currently reading three books, but I'm talking about The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges. I've been reading this book for way too long and hopefully I'll be able to finish it up in the next few weeks.

I wanted to talk about the most recent chapter I've read. It discusses kindness and goodness. The two are intertwined and I wanted to give you the definition that Bridges gives.

"Kindness is a sincere desire for the happiness of others. Goodness is the activity calculated to advance that happiness."

This is the foundation that I have tried to build my friendships on. If you call me friend, I hope that you've seen evidence of that. You can be a friend to somebody without being good to them. Your friends are people who you share common goals with and have similar interests. There's no "requirement" that you have to be good to them. And when we think about it, there are lots of people who we consider friends, but we aren't good to them. We talk to them and do things with them and put up with them, but we aren't good to them. And like I said, there's no obligation to be good to them. But who better to show the love of Christ than the people important enough to you to be considered a friend?

But you can't just contain this stuff to your friendships. You've got to show it and live it all the time. Whether it's being good and kind to your co-workers, or your family (even the members who are hard to love), or even strangers, we've got to learn to let the love of God flow through us and out of us and into others. I'm certainly making no statments about how easy it is do this. Rather, I'm saying that we have to attempt to do this because God commands it.

Thoughts?

Let's Go Colts!

I am pleased to report that the Colts have finally made it to the Super Bowl for the first time in a very long time. I have to admit that I was a little concerned at the end of the first half. Honestly, I was actually a lot concerned. The Colts D looked more like it's regular season self than it's playoff self and Brady and the offense seemed to be having it's way. And that Manning pick didn't help matters any either. But they mounted a comeback and sent the cut-off sweatshirt packing.

In talking to my dad, I told him that if the Patriots had won, I would actually root for rain. I don't like the Bears and I don't like the Patriots. So I would hope that there would be a monsoon in Miami. Ya know the NFL is scared of the weather. They make it a point to schedule the Super Bowl in warm cities or cities with domes. For the comfort of all those corporate-type sponsors. I don't think the 2500 or so "real fans" wouldn't mind being out in the elements. But I digress.

The Colts are going to the Super Bowl and I'm having a Super Bowl party. You're invited, but you need to RSVP. You can do so by using the email link over there on the right.

Look at da plane!

My sister left for Israel yesterday and I found this really cool feature on the Continental website which tracks the flight's progress and let you know where the plane is on it's flight path. Here's the location of her flight last night at 9:41pm.



Neat, huh?

A quote for your atheist friends...

I actually know only reader who has an atheist friend, but maybe there are some others out there.

"If you don't believe in God and the devil, I wouldn't say your crazy, but you're intellectually malnourished, because I defy anyone who doesn't believe that something created us to give an answer to how we got here."
-Norman Mailer (in the 01/19/07 Entertainment Weekly)

Happy Birthday Ben

Happy Birthday to Mr. Benjamin Franklin, inventor of the bifocal.

He also came up with that quote about beer.

Today was Dr. King's birthday

So my expat friend Matt, posted the entire text of Dr. King's most famous speech on his blog (see here). Didn't think too much of it and wasn't planning on posting anything about it.

I was watching the Golden Globes tonight. Things were going well until they started the Warren Beatty lovefest. That's when I had to find something else to watch. So I started flipping around. And I landed on PBS. They were showing a documentary called "Eyes on the Prize." And I was introduced to a boy named Emmett Till. The young Till was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 by a couple of white guys. It was a sad, yet fascinating story about the effects of racism and how screwed up the human race really is.

I got to see some archived footage of a 26 year-old pastor by the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. And it was really neat to watch him preach as a young pastor. And I was struck by his willingness to be bold and up-front with his beliefs. And the way he galvanized people with his non-violent ideas.

If you're interested in learning more about Emmett Till, check out this website.

Me talking about David Beckham

People who have no interest in soccer, should consider skipping the conversation, and checking out this link instead. For the rest of you....

David Beckham is coming to America. Unless you've been out of touch with the media, you've probably already heard. I believe that Beckham was a great player in his prime, with Manchester United. He's still good, but he's not great.

What kind of impact will he make here in the US? Well, MLS and the Galaxy are hoping for a big impact. Perhaps the Galaxy were looking for somebody to spell Landon Donovan. Or replace him. What concerns me is that Beckham is more injury-prone than ever. And if he brings the metatarsal curse over to our shores, it's impact will be greater than his. It'll be like Wayne Rooney all over again.

But for the short-term, it definitely bumps up the profile of MLS. People in Europe are saying "Beckham's going where?" So maybe it'll create some overseas interest. And I think that if the money that Beckham is getting is still available, then MLS will become the new pension plan for European soccer. Ronaldo will be over in another year or so. If Michael Owen can't recover completely from his knee surgery, he's coming over here. Sol Campbell and Ryan Giggs will be over too.

So that's how MLS is going to go out. We'll see how it works out. Beckham will certainly raise the sport's profile because of his celebrity status, but I don't think there's another footballer who would have a celebrity impact like that.

I'll be interested to see how it plays out. Especially now since he's been permanently benched at Madrid, so he may not be in good fitness by the time he gets to Los Angeles.

Playoff Picks

I'm picking through the Super Bowl here...

Division:
Ravens over the Colts (this pains me because I really like Peyton)
Chargers over the Pats
Saints over the Eagles
Seahawks over the Bears

Conference:
Ravens over the Chargers
Saints over the Seahawks

Super Bowl:
Ravens over the Saints

The Human Zoo

Click to see the humans (but remember their several times zones away).

Congratulations are in order

Everybody say hello to Luke

???

What the heck are we doing in Somalia?

Anybody??

It's not about me

The following isn't a new revelation, but rather a new realization.

I can't do it on my own. That's how it starts. A realization that on my own will and determination, I cannot be a Christ follower. I can attempt to be a Christian, but I cannot be successful.

So why do I try to do so much on my own?

Why do I check God at the door at certain times of my life? Or for certain issues?

I'm not completely sure yet, but I think that pride is part of it. I think I believe there are certain things that I can handle on my own. That I'm strong enough to do it myself. I can handle that temptation myself. I can make this decision without God's guidance. But I can't. I don't have that humility that allows me to step back and decrease, so that Christ may increase. He is ready and willing to come to my aid. But, I have to be ready and willing to say that "Hey, I can't do this by myself. Would you help me?"

And I don't do that often enough. It's definitely something that I have to continue to work on and be deliberate about. I'm going to try a little experiment. Every morning when I wake up, I'm going to say out loud "I can't do it myself." And we'll see how that goes.

Spring Movies

Here's the list of the movies showing this semester at Messiah:

01/12-13 Science of Sleep
01/19-20 The Prestige
01/26-27 Marie Antoinette
02/9-10 The Departed
02/16-17 Happy Feet
02/23-24 Babel
03/02-03 Stranger Than Fiction
03/09-10 Casino Royale
03/30-31 The Pursuit of Happyness
04/13-14 Dreamgirls
04/20-21 Children of Men
04/27-28 Pan's Labyrinth
05/04-05 Letters from Iwo Jima

All shows are $1. For more info and times go here.

Beth Moore on humility

Beth Moore spoke on Tuesday at the Passion Conference in Atlanta. And she spoke on humility. She made four points about humility that I thought were worth sharing.

1. Humility is an unnatural quality that requires our pursuit.
2. Humility is voluntary decrease inviting kingdom increase.
3. Humility is a powerful shield against unnecesary peril.
4. Humility is the ultimate invitation for God to fight for you.

I would love to get into her talk further, but I wouldn't do it justice. So I encourage you to go over to the website and watch or listen to Session 2.

And while you're there, check out the other sessions too!

I've got the joy,

joy, joy, joy, down in my heart.

Where?

I'm feeling pretty dang good tonight. I told a friend that I was reveling in God.

And I am. Reveling in his power, majesty and sovereignty.

Please revel with me. Our God is great!!