Live Out Loud

Pirate day is here, however, Pirate talk day is over.  Woooo Hoooo! 

   Well, it's here.  The release of the third and final installment of Pirates.  Hate to burst your bubble, but I went and saw it last night at a special sneak preview here in K-town.  Much like another summer blockbuster(Spidey3), it tried to cram to much into one movie, the blasted movie is 3 dad-gum hours long!  I thought it would never end.  I will have to say, the special effects were very special, well worth your $8.50. 

   There is one valuabe lesson I learned last night, and without giving the story or the plot away I can warn you.  Pirates are Pirates, nobody picks sides or is loyal, everyone is selfish because, well...they're pirates!  Everyone is in it for themselves, selfish....pirates.  Everyone betraying everyone after acting like they will be loyal, when ultimately they are only loyal to themselves.  Thus goeth the entire movie!  I felt like I was spinning my wheels the entire time waiting for something to happen.  But, no, nothing, another twist and another betrayal.  Get on with it already.  Special effects good, an overall movie fullfillment....without being let down....nope.  Enjoy though. 

"We are never more like Christ, then when we are giving." -Dr. Johnny Hunt

"What God's Word commands us to do is simple, really.  Love God with everything you've got, and love others like Jesus loved you." 

"You are offered a free gift, all you have to do is take it.  All Jesus wants you to do is tell others about their free gift." 

Yesterday we lost a voice...our missonary to the media.  Dr. Falwell, like him or not stood up for truth.  Bodly, unashamedly, and in your face.  He was a fish that swam upstream, and when you do that, you're bound to bump into some rocks, or some other fish swimming the other way saying...What are you doing?  Some of you may have asked now and for many years, why so controversial, why so in your face about it.  Jesus was controversial, Jesus went against the crowd and offended people.  Did Jesus unite people and bring them together...NO!  HE DIDN'T!  Jesus divided people by proclaiming the truth, He drew a line in the sand and told them to choose which side they were going to stand on, and then said that His way was the only way.  Hello?  That's gonna offend some people.  Jerry Falwell did the same thing.  Try to wrap your head around this just for a second, as Christians...we're supposed to be controversial.  That's right.  Go against the flow.  Will you have less friends, and people in your face disagreeing?  Yes.  Get over it.  Put your big boy pants on and grow up.  Start taking a stand for Christ today, be controversial.  Jesus did. 

"When Jesus was here on Earth He did a lot of awesome things.  He preached, He taught, He made hospital visits, and He even led a small group.  But the greatest thing Jesus ever did, (other than dying for us) was hanging out with people like you and me." 

Remember that today, you may be the only Jesus someone will ever see, don't let Him down".- Dr. Richard Holden

    “How much stuff do you really need?  I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer.  You can’t take any of it with you.”- Dr. Richard Holden

"God told us NOT to fear 365 times in the Bible...I think He meant it." 

"Next time you're having a really bad day...just remember, it's no cross."-LSH

God's word said that in the end times that all that people will want to hear are things that puff themselves up.  Things that make them feel good.  It says that people will no longer care about the truth, the things of God.  They will no longer want to reach out to the hurting, the ones dying in sin.  They will only care about themselves and their selfish desires.  We are in these end times.  Today, my father, Dr. Richard Holden was told by his congregation that he is no longer wanted.  Simply because he proclaims the truth.  A truth that can set you free, but it is also a truth that constitutes change, a change that people today are not willing to make.  Pray for Dr. Holden, his wife, and his minsitry.  Pray for Northside Church, pray that they will realize that it's NOT all about them, but it's all about HIM. 

Did you ever get one of those moments where you suddenly realise that something you've always known to be true is, in fact, wrong?

I call them Sudden Realisation Moments, or SRMs for short. You know how it goes: an old song comes on the radio and you realise that for the past twenty-five years you were wrong in thinking that John Travolta was singing about shoes that were made of plywood. You get SRMs a lot when watching movies and television - "Oh... He's the killer!" - but they're quite rare in real life.

 I started wondering what else I might have been wrong about, but then a safety device attached to my ego kicked in and put a stop to it; thinking like that is the first step down the one-way cul-de-sac of madness.

So instead I decided to have a little think about other times in my life when I had SRMs. This I did, and now I'm going to share some of them with you, all from childhood. 

SRM #1: Superman can fly because he's an alien - not because he wears a cape. Six years old, pillowcase, roof of shed - you can fill in the details yourself.

SRM #2: Adults sometimes forget that kids have a different frame of reference. For a long, long time my parents thought that I was interested in sub-aqua things. You know how parents are: you show an interest in something once, and forever after they can't get that out of their heads. So... I'm eight years old, and my mother says, "Oh, there's a programme on tonight on the Discovery Chanel about the Ocean and I announce that I desperately want to see that show. They relent and we watch it, and by the time we're half-way through I'm thinking, "Ah... So a frogman is not a man with the proportionate strength and leaping ability of a frog..."

SRM #3: In the real world, you're completely wrong if you think that you can wear a Robin mask and no one will be able to recognise you. Seven years old, home-made Robin mask, Grandma's purse, switch - need I say more?

SRM #4: Vampires and zombies do not have the ability to detect children hidden under blankets. There was, of course, a later SRM that went along the lines of "vampires and zombies don't exist" but this one was much more profound: at last, I had some protection! For the first time, I knew that I'd be able to make it through the night and greet the dawn in perfect health! It wasn't long before I even abandoned my morning ritual of checking my throat for bite marks.

SRM #5: Radioactive spiders are quite hard to find in suburban areas. And not only that: It's just not possible to obtain super-powers by experimenting with the chemicals you find in your friend's dad's shed. You can't even gain "power over electricity" by holding magnets in each hand and licking the contacts on a battery, dad-gumit!

What are your SRM moments?

In the room at church where I teach my kids I have started something new.  With the help of our staff graphics design person, we have designed a poster that looks like a real, authentic, old, wooden picture frame.  In it are "things to remember."  These are are quotes, sayings, verses, or nuggets of wisdom I want my kids to remember and hopefully memorize.  When they do memorize them all, there is a special reward in it for them.  I want to share the eight I have plastered my walls with so far.  I'll do one a day this week.

1.)  Things To Remember...."Your attitude is like the aroma of your heart, if your attitude stinks, it means your heart isn't right."   

I want to apologize to my readers and all my fantastic friends here at Steeple for the lack of posts lately.  I have been overwhelmed with a ton of stuff going on in my life as of late.  Here's what's been going on.

1.) As a part time employee at my Church, I am in charge of an entire ministry where I get the awesome priviledge of ministering to Preteens(5th & 6th graders).  I have a full time job in sales where I work 40 hours a week, and this position is only supposed to be 20 hours a week...yea, right.  My dad being a pastor I know what it takes to run a ministry.  You must be selfless and willing to dedicate a lot of time to it.  It feels like another 50 hours a week sometimes.  But I knew as the ministry grew, which God has seen fit for it to do so, that it would get hectic and busy with another full time job.  I am at the point in my life where I am confronted with weather or not I want to do this for the rest of my life.  This notion has consumed me.  I feel God is equipping me for the task.  God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called.  Pray for Uncle J, that God will put him right where he wants him to be.  Going into summer is the busiest time in a student ministry. 

2.)  This last weekend was my birthday, and I must say it was one of the best, if not the best.  Not because it was my birthday, but because I got to go see my mom and dad in GA.  I don't get to see them but 4 or 5 times a year, so it was good to see them.  Dad is pastor of a fairly new church plant.  God is moving and working there.  On Sunday, He showed up in a mighty way.  God worked in ways I couldn't possibly imagine.  To see the hand of God at work was the best present I could ever imagine.  That was a good, long weekend.

3.) My beautiful little sister graduates from college this week.  So, we must pack the car once again and then it's off to see her as well in SC.  Whewww.  I'm about traveled out.  It will be good to see her finish and pursue her career.  She already has had an interview and will know by June or July weather or not she received a position.  Very exciting times. 

4.)  On Sunday, Dad had his service outside.  It was awesome, the weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky.  It was hot, and Uncle J forgot the sunscreen.  You really don't think about getting sunburnt and the end of April, ya know?  Uncle J also shaves his head, so my nugget is toasted, as a matter of fact I woke up this morning and my worst fear has come true, it has blistered.  Ouch!  But it was worth it to see God move in a mighty was on Sunday, a soul was saved from hell and the Holy Spirit there somehow made it a turning point day for Northside Church.  Praise God!