Blog Change

I am tired of this old look. I am going to come up with a new design and implement it soon. Actually, it will be incorporating a concept from other pages I have been working on.

When 1W-13L is actually good

I am a Miami Dolphins fan. And while this has been a tough season... scratch that. While this has been a pathetic season, I am happy that the only team to go undefeated and win the SuperBowl did not set a new record and have a winless season. I was hoping for a 30-28 win over the Patriots; but I at least got the 28 right. LOL!

GO DOLPHINS!

The Jesus Test

A couple of weeks ago, I was blessed with a beautiful email that showed many of the portraits of Christ that I was accustomed to seeing as I grew up. They showed many of the different accounts in the Bible. It was very nice. It was very nice until I got to the end of the email. That's when a beautiful email turned crappy! Now, this post is to help Christians who have dealt with this in the past. At the end of an email that reminded me of the love my Saviour has for me was a reminder as to how we Christians can really screw things up. This is what it read:

Jesus Test
This is an easy test, you score 100 or zero. It's your choice.
If you aren't ashamed to do this, please follow the directions.
Jesus said, 'if you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father.'
Not ashamed Pass this on . . . only if you mean it.
Yes, I do Love God.
He is my source of existence and Savior.
He keeps me functioning each and everyday.
Without Him, I will be nothing.
Without Him, I am nothing but with Him I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. Phil 4:13
This is the simplest test . . If you Love God, and are not ashamed of all the marvelous things he has done for you. Send this to ten people .

Now, I initially was mad, but then ashamed. I was ashamed because at the earlier stages of my faith as a Christian; I would not have seen anything wrong with inserting a clause like this in an email. So, what was my response? I am glad you asked:

We really need to inspect ourselves when we put clauses like this in an email. I know earlier in my faith; I would have seen nothing wrong with this. Forward this response back to the people who sent this to you and hopefully it will get to the originator of this email. Let’s honestly, survey our walk and devotion to Christ and ask ourselves the following:

• How many unbelievers did we forward this email to?
  1. Of that list, how many were unbelievers that specifically filed grievances against us in the workplace because of our ‘Christian faith’?
     • Of that list, how many were justified because we did not extend the same grace and mercy God extends to us every day?
  2. Of that same list, how many lives were ruined because we failed to `live` the Gospel before we `earned the right to share the Gospel`?
  3. Of these lists, how many jobs have we lost because we chose to forward these emails to atheists, CEOs, HR departments, non-Christians, etc.?
  
  
• How many neighbors do we actively listen to? Actively, witness to? Actively love on, so that they would want to know the Christ we love and serve? (Notice the order? We listen to them first.)
• How many family members have accepted Christ on the basis of the walk they have seen in us. (Granted, many will reject Christ regardless)?

There are many more questions that could be asked, but I hope we will all see the direction I was going with this. We should not go into a litany of all the things we actively do. The purpose is not to justify ourselves, Christ will do so. The purpose is see if we have truly shown the love of Christ without sending any emails. The quest here is to see if we can we truly confess that we:

• Have honored Christ in our workplace (more than screensavers and emails)?
• Have honored Christ in our communities (before our neighbors and fellow church members whom we ‘serve’ with)?
• Have honored Christ in our homes (before our spouses, children and kin)?

That is where the true love comes from. The Scripture says “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”. Email forwarding is not a commandment, it is a man-made construction that assumes the authority of the Holy Spirit. I still want to receive many of these encouraging emails because they do just that “encourage”. And some rightfully admonish. However, in the end; we may lose more Christians who are actively serving and loving Christ because we insensitively added a `clause` that our flesh added more than our spirit.

At the end, I added my email for those who would take issue with what I said. If, you have a concern; comment and we'll go from there. If you find this line of questioning useful; by all means use it.

Sorry, I have been out

About to break 86K words and have been really busy. I have had many things to write about as well. Merry Christmas (it's never too late and remember that there are twelve days! LOL!)

Closing Book One

My co-writer and I are at 83,000+ words. Trying to close it soon and promise it to be a blockbuster! Look out Lewis, Tolkien and Rawlings; here comes Baxter and Prunier!

Changing of the Guard

Yesterday was election day and there were many upsets at the polls. Incumbent Democrat Mayor Bart Peterson was voted out of office and a new inexperienced servant has come forth. Even in the City Council, there is a higher Republican presence. My only concern is that my election constituents not drop the ball like they did after the huge victory in 2004 where our elected officials turned their backs on us. I do not know how it was in other districts around the country, but I pray for an awakening to fix this nightmare.

Truly Experiencing God`s Love

I spent this last weekend at a Christian retreat called the "Great Banquet". It has many other names like

Emmaus Cursillo Chrysalis Happening Tres Dias Journey Teens Encounter Christ

Methodist Cursillo Via de Cristo Awakening Kairos Koinonia Epiphany

All I will say about it is that it is a 72-hour love fest. You get to see what the first church was like. It is not about color or denomination. It is about loving one another at a level most Christ-like. If anyone ever invites you, don't turn it down. For more information, see lampstand.org.

The Woman's Remote

I saw this and realized that this is an accurate remote. But, I am just a guy. Maybe the women can confirm the accuracy of the options.

My Little Angel

There was another woman in my life who I had forgotten in my selfishness. She is Elise Ryne Rochman, born 01DEC04 to Tim and Kerri and older sister to Eden. She is so amazing that she has her own myspace page. Let me borrow the words from her parents to tell you why she is so important to me and should be for you.

Elise is our miracle blessing. From the first day in her Mother's arms to the first time she played clapping games with her Daddy, she has been full of life and laughter. Elise is now also an innocent ambassador for genetic disease awareness and screening. Around 7 months, Elise stopped achieving the basic milestones recognized in most healthy babies. Tragically, after many tests, trials and tears, Elise was diagnosed with a fatal and widely unknown genetic disorder called Tay-Sachs disease. Tay-Sachs is a cruel and relentless disease that systematically robs beautiful babies of each of their physical abilities until they can no longer survive. At present, there is no cure or effective treatment for Tay-Sachs disease; only awareness and prevention. This devastating disease can affect any family but safe and simple screenings are available with a blood test. Elise's smiles and laughter have decreased since her diagnosis, but each is treasured and stored in our hearts. Elise touches every life she comes in contact with and even those who only glimpsed her beautiful smile in pictures. She is a true angel, and each minute with her is and will always be cherished.

I met Elise and she is one beautiful little girl. I remember when her parents let me hold her and talk with her; she touched my face and my heart melted. I know without the shadow of a doubt that when you visit the links I post; you'll fall in love too. Thank God for the little angels!

Elise on Myspace; Elise on Caringbridge; Tay-Sachs awareness

Let God Be Sued!

I am sure you have all heard about the lunatic who wanted to sue God for the simple fact to show that anyone can sue anyone. At first I laughed because I thought it was a joke. I was a little indignant when I learned that it was serious. But, then the funniest realization waved over me, "let them sue"!

Now, before any of you try to contact my church or start praying for me; I have not renounced my belief that Jesus is the only way for a fallen, depraved, humanity to find forgiveness for their sins and be redeemed to a right relationship with God; which is solely based on His work on the cross and nothing we could do ourselves.

So, now that I have established that I am still a believer; let me show you why I like the idea of the case proceeding. If, the court acknowledges the case, and God is found guilty; atheists don't have a foot to stand on any longer. God being acknowledge means He exists! So, many people say that all "religions*" are the same; yet the denial of the existence of God cannot coexist the acceptance of the existence of God. Maybe, just maybe this case can nullify the absurdity of atheism. Atheists have a right to their opinion; however when there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary; it is clear that reasoning is no longer the excuse for clinging to such a mindless ideology.

* - Christianity has been classified as a religion; however it is better understood to be a relationship that the follower has with the Followee.

Can They Blame Us?

Is was reading this news article is about the lack of support Evangelicals are giving to the GOP. Obviously, it is not an issue because they would have honoured their commitments to their evangelical base. Fortunately, my trust is in Someone Who has a very good track record in keeping and fulfilling promises. I really want to see what comes of these Values based debates. They better have something substantial and something consistent to sway the tide that they have lost.

Will we ever learn?

I am sure by now, you have heard about O.J.

This is really sad because he did not learn from his previous endeavours. Let's pray for him. He must have been really needy.

Plausible Deniability?

Let me set the stage as to how I learned about the poor choice of words my person T added on the internet. She added one of my buddies to her friends list on myspace and forgot to remove him before posting her blogs attacking my character. So, my buddy stumbles across these blogs and sends them my way to be informative to the person I lifted so high to him, friends and family. He can be a witness that I may have shared my disappointment, but never attacked her character or openly told lies about her.

This all made me think about 1 Corinthians 4:5, where it says:

"Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts." (emphasis added)

And that is what exactly happened here. We see it time and time again with corrupted officials on the bigger scale and lowly people like me on the small scale.

This really makes you think about the next email or blog you write. It also makes you think about the things you say and whether or not it was recorded.

Now, I have to go over everything I had written in the past to see what will bite me in the end. OUCH!!! I definitely added stupid comments in retaliation and there is no justification for it! Period! Angry or not, we need to rethink every decision before committing to it. I failed, to sift my thoughts last night through the Holy Spirit. So, I will suffer the consequences for my words and thoughts. So, remember my stupidity and hopefully it will help you not do the same.

Almost fully back

Sorry, it has been long since I have been around. I have been co-writing a book since last October. By last Friday, I was at almost at 78,000 words and ran into a couple of snags. One was a couple of posts ago and the other could be a post for another time. Well, my goal is to finish editing the book by this week (three weeks after my deadline). But, I am ready and raring. I have a lot to talk about and I will try to make my last post to be the last expose of the last mistake I made. I don't want to reciprocate the viceral hatred that was spewed out against me.

Was there any good?

Often we focus so much on the bad, months after a break up that we're too jaded to think of the good or even share it. We would rather focus on the bad (or falsified reports). So, what good came from my last relationship with person T:

1. I learned that I had major bitterness issues with my ex-wfie and was able to move on and get beyond it by God's grace.
2. I learned how to try to better understand women who have bitterness issues. (Might be more reticent in those situations).
3. I learned how to stretch myself with difficult people. Not her, but other people who would have severely hurt me in the past.
4. I learned how to take my love for my son to the next level. We already had an awesome relationship, but a new dynamic added allowed God to open more doors for me with my son.
5. I learned how to be continually patient with people who are offensive towards me. Especially, the Christian ones who take advantage of you and lambast you.
6. I learned how to not over commit myself and hold my ground to my decisions. I was definitely serving in too many areas in church and this year is more freeing in that I can still teach and sing and have fun serving without being burned out.
7. I learned about a really cool Christian ministry in the Orange County area that I pray will continue to have an awesome impact to society. (I won't mention the ministry name but will let God get the word out about the ministry. If you happen to land there and I never know; I am just glad you got a chance to be a part of something really cool).
8. I learned about some really nice places in California to revisit in the future. Balboa Island, Knottsberry Farm, Long Beach, outdoor mall in Irvine.
9. I learned that it pays to be faithful to that one person you are dating. In so doing, I avoided many crazy situations here locally while person T was abroad. I had many advances made towards me and the desire to be faithful (always have been), had spared me the possibility of yielding to convenience and not honoring my commitment.
10. I learned that you should make sure that the person is really serious about commiting before continually giving of yourself. The more serious sacrifices are required when you are married, but that does not remove you from the responsibility of setting the example in the relationship.

I know without the shadow of a doubt, that God used person T in many ways to make me a better man of God (granted it is all the work of the Holy Spirit).

Now, the onus is on you. What good things have you learned from the past relationships good and especially bad. Like I said, it is really easy to write the bad; but it is many-fold more difficult to write something good. For me, coming up with this list was basically a review of what I have talked to my closest friends about. I just finally took time to write it down. I encourage you all to do the same.

A Refusal to Let Go!

Life never goes the way you want and sometimes for the best. Back in December of 06, I had the pleasure of mentioning that I thought I found "the one". I made the mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial investment into something I really thought was going somewhere. Unfortunately, the stupid idiot I am, I fell for the lies again. Worse yet, this one topped the charts on hypocrisy. She basically does not want to reciprocate the sacrifices required in a relationship and says she was dragging me along. I made two trips to Califormia (which shows commitment), which costed some cash and when it was her to turn to reciprocate; COLD FEET.

She basically says hasta no vista and then cyber-stalks me. She wishes me no ill will but basically lies to her family and friends about me and assassinates my character online.

Addendum:
She says these were private thoughts the were brought to my attention. Yet this was definitely by God's providence see this diatribe against me. And then she apologizes for being caught rather than for writing the lies. Supposedly this doesn't go throughout the world but if my friend stumbled on these words of hate and he gets the real story from me; what are the people going to assume who do not have the whole story on her side. Worse yet, any discerning person could see the contradictory statements in the messages, but choose to say "You were so much better" instead of "Your statements are inconsistent. You talk about him being a nice guy and a jerk in the same story."

Now, I have a question for you ladies?

If you tell a guy to bounce (leave you alone and go your own way) and while you have hurt him, he basically respects your wishes; Why stalk and insult him for doing so?

Now, I have to deal with the immaturity of someone who said they were a Christian to turn around and behave so foul. Please people help me understand how is it that when a guy tries to show integrity, he basically gets labeled everything understand, to console a guilty conscience?

God is Good!

28JUN07

My Son received Christ as personal Lord and Saviour! Praise be to God!

ADDENDUM: (09/17/07)

God even allowed me to step in the pool and baptize him.

Cleaning the Gene Pool

You know, I believe that we all have our moments of stupidity. I, myself, cornered the market a couple of times. But, I must admit the the Darwin Awards was definitely worthy to extend this Grafitti Artist. I just thought that dying because of a concept that should have died out in the days of breakdancing is just plumb dumb. Am I that out of touch with reality or has tagging made a way back in? Anyone out there?????????

Can We Bring Back Elvis Please?

I liked some of his music but to tell you the truth; I'd rather hear about Elvis than another stinking article about Cindy Sheehan and her anti-American campaign. I think that she has now completely crossed over from bereavement to betrayal. Maybe, she can get caught in a firing squad in Cuba. She lost steam in America, went to Venezuela and now is in Cuba. How about Iraq next, Cindy? I am sure the terrorist will welcome you with open bombs, I mean open arms.