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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Nearly 16 months of historical statistics reveals that Tuesday is by far the busiest day here on the big green blog. I think that we all know why that is so:

1.  We may actually receive some significant rainfall here in America’s Rivera between tonight and Sunday as a couple of old cold fronts from the north ease closer to us. Don’t expect a flood or anything close to that, but don’t be surprised if we manage to receive up to an inch of the much needed rain that we so desperately need. There’s also a very remote possibility that I may actually issue a late-season ‘Homestead Cold Weather Alert’ for both Saturday and Sunday mornings as wind chill temperatures may approach the upper-40s for a brief period of time.

2.  I’m not exaggerating here when I state that most motorists here in America’s Riviera totally ignore the green traffic light arrow that points to the left that states that you have a protected path to make a left-hand turn. I guess they don’t teach that in traffic school down here. GREEN = GO !

3.  Weight Check – I’m slowly easing down into the lower-170s. I just weighed in at 172.5. My goal is to get back into the more comfortable upper-160s. Yes I can !

4.  We probably won’t find out that the recession has ended until at least six to nine months after it has actually ended. It may have ended already, but we won’t really know for sure until perhaps Thanksgiving or Christmas. Politics and policies aside I’m rooting for a strong and robust economy in 2009 and beyond. How can you not root for that ?

5.  It’s St. Patrick’s Day in 2009, and I wore virtually all green today. I’m proud of my Irish heritage. My ancestors on the paternal side had a last name of ‘O’Day’. The ‘O’ was dropped when they emigrated from Ireland to The U.S. back in the late-19TH Century. For over 17 years our beloved cat Fluffy – a Manx – was an integral part of our family. The Manx breed originated from The Isle Of Man in the Irish Sea. I lived in the U.K. for exactly two years from 1985 to 1987, and I did quite a bit of traveling during that time. But one regret is that I never got to visit either Northern Ireland (part of the U.K.) or The Republic Of Ireland. Some day I hope to visit both countries. While living in the U.K. two Irish bands – The Pogues and The Dubliners – joined forces to become one, as they performed a traditional Irish song about a MASSIVE ship in the sea. Check out this 1987 performance of “The Irish Rover”. It was a U.K. TOP 10 pop smash back then, and I present it to you as a very special St. Patrick’s Day edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’.

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God

Bible Stories

Patricia alerted me that I’m teaching our Life Group this Wednesday night. It’s time to kick it into high gear, and go in to preparation mode.

We’ll be discussing the following passage out of the Book of John. In it Jesus sees a lot of things that he doesn’t like. He gets angry and throws a temper tantrum. He cleans House. Check it out: 

Jesus Clears The Temple (John 2:13-22)
13
  It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem.
14  In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money.
15  Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.
16  Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace !”
17  Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”
18  But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing ?  If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”
19  “All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20  “What !” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days ?”
21  But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body.
22  After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.

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Monday Night Countdown

Here are the TOP 5 things that I’m looking forward to this week:

5.  St. Patrick’s Day – Believe it or not I’m 50% Irish (on the paternal side), and I always look forward to showing off my Irish heritage by wearing lots of green on this date every year. Look for me in my flame retardant leprechaun outfit tomorrow on the streets of Homestead !

4.  Life Group – That’s this Wednesday night, and due to a wide variety of reasons I haven’t attended in exactly a month. I can’t wait to get back to the group again to discuss The New Testament of The Good News !  We also need to reschedule our Key West ‘Bike-A-Thon’.

3.  One word – Publix – It’s my playground. I don’t know how to cook, but then again I don’t need to know how to cook as long as I know how to shop for food – and I do that very well thank you. Whenever I’m at Publix I’m as happy as can be. It’s all of that food staring at me and begging and crying out for me to buy it. Oh yeah and the pop, rock, and disco music that usually blares through the sound system. It makes me wanna dance up and down the aisles like a crazy man.

2.  Dentist Appointment – Believe it or not I actually look forward to this cleaning appointment every six months. I always get scolded by my dental hygenist for (allegedly) not flossing and brushing properly. Six months ago after my last scolding I slightly altered my flossing and brushing routine and made it even more all-encompassing. (Right now my brother is giggling because he just read through an inside family joke there.)

1.  Vernal Equinox – Spring begins at precisely 7:44 AM EDT this Friday morning, and that means that the Sun is on our side of the Equator for the first time in nearly six months. That’s real important to me because when I’m confused I check with the Sun. I carry a compass to help me along. My feet are going to be on the ground. My head is there to move me around …

Categories
God

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

It was another glorious Sunday morning at Life Pointe Church in Homestead Florida. Here are my takeaways in 15 words or less:

– God said ‘Let there be rain !’, and so it did – if only for a few minutes.
– The 9 AM service was a bit more crowded this week than last week.
– Everyone must be on the same Daylight Saving Time zone now.
– Mike B. led ‘Praise & Worship’ as we all sang to God and He listened.
Mark S. hosted during that first service, and he was loud and confident.
– It was his best hosting performance to date.
– He later revealed that he had been up since 1 PM yesterday.
– I’m thrilled that he’s blogging again. I need the company.
– Dan B. led the teaching this morning for the first time ever.
– He did an outstanding job leading us through His Good News.
– If I’m on trial for obeying God would there be enough evidence for conviction ?
– I will never ever be just like Jesus Christ.
– I will however move to become more and more like Him.
– I must continue to grow towards His likeness.
– I must continue to permit God to mold me in His likeness.
– God should be able to easily reach me.
– I must protect myself from evil and darkness and those who relish in it.
– I do not wish to go back where I came from nearly 31 months ago.
– I do not wish to be a puppet of this world.
– I wish to see what’s around the corner for me on God’s fantastic journey.
– Stay away Satan. You did nothing for me. I have no use for you.
– This morning’s teaching was based on the following 28 verses:
   – 1 Timothy 4:7-8
   – Romans 12:1-2
   – 1 Corinthians 15:32-34
   – Philippians 4:8-9
   – Galatians 5:22-23
   – 1 Corinthians 11:1
   – 2 Peter 1:3
   – 1 Timothy 6:6-20
– This is my favourite – Romans 12:1-2:
A Living Sacrifice to God
1
  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.
2  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.