– It’s time to continue a Thursday night tradition since January 2009.
– It’s time for some spontaneous ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– 3 out of 5 therapists recommend the ‘Mini Thoughts’ over any other thoughts.
– I came home from work today and I immediately weighed myself.
– I thought for sure that I’d hit 180 pounds for the first time since 1988.
– I actually lost a pound-and-a-half and fell below 175 pounds.
– That’s despite the fact of what I did for Lunch today.
– Me and my coworker buddies raised a ruckus at The Big Cheese Of Homestead.
– That joint was jumpin’ !
– Homestead and Florida City is big pimpin’ eatin’ cheese in the ‘hood !
– I selected the whole (foot long) meatball sub.
– That included a trio of ENORMOUS Italian meatballs smothered in mozzarella.
– It was perhaps the tastiest meatball sub that I have eaten in modern history !
– I can’t wait to try those meatballs out on a bed of tender spaghetti.
– I also enjoyed 3 garlic rolls, and the garlic was so heavy and yummy !
– I probably could have eaten a dozen of them – right then and there.
– Lipitor – CHECK !
– I can’t compare The Big Cheese with Mamma Mia Pizza.
– I hope that they both survive and prosper here in the city.
– Want some signs of Autumn here in Florida ?
– How does the upper-50s in the morning sound to you ?
– Well if you want that then travel to Tallahassee next week !
– The upper-60s could reach as far south as the Tampa area.
– I can forecast no better than the lower-70s for inland pockets of our area.
– Just wait a month and then we’ll get in on some of that cool relief as well.
– I’m trying hard to squeeze in a short holiday weekend excursion.
– I’d like to visit the Naples / Fort Myers area for Columbus Day Weekend.
– It would be my first visit over there since Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2008.
– I’d like to check out a rock concert that my friend Casey is putting on.
– It’s Jubilee, Horizons Fall, and Manic Drive.
– Manic Drive headlined that concert of January 20TH 2007 that started it all.
– The next morning I went to church for the first time in over 30 years.
– I hope that I can make it over there.
– Don’t forget that tomorrow night is Disco night here at Studio C.M.D.
– Grab your lava lamps and bring the fondue so that we can kick it like it’s 1979 !
– You won’t regret it pal !
– Until then – check this out !
Category: God
Prior to 37 months ago when I was rescued and saved from the world by God I really thought that I wasn’t good enough to be saved by Him. I thought that only longtime Christians (since birth or childhood) were worthy of being guided and directed by Him. The occasional inspirational messages that I heard on The Call (radio station) at the time advised me otherwise, and they suggested that I check with the ultimate Truth – The Bible – for confirmation. I did so, and I learned more and more about Him than I ever imagined. Everything that I was reading within the Truth was contrary to what the world had told me over the previous 39 years of life.
The journey intentionally started slow and careful with baby steps, as it took me about 5 months to even acknowledge my newfound faith in God in public by attending a church-sponsored event (rock concert) at night and then attending a formal church service for the first time in over 30 years the very next morning. My church turned out to be totally unlike any semblance of what I always thought a church was supposed to be.
So I’m not the lifelong follower of Jesus Christ that a lot of my close friends on this fantastic journey are. I’ve only been following God for about 37 months, and I’ve only been doing so in public for about 32 months. I lived over 39 years on His Great Earth before I even knew who He was.
It’s been a constant learning process over the past 37 months – a growing process – as I strengthen and intensify my personal relationship with God by learning more and more about Him so that I can be more and more like Him. This is certainly not an easy journey, and it’s very easy to be sideswiped and blindsided by the random surprises of the world. I’ve been pushed, pulled, and shoved over to the sides and the edges of the retaining wall of this journey. I’ve learned that bad things actually do happen to followers of God, and some of those bad things are actually done by followers of God. None of us is perfect in any way.
Luckily God keeps extending His arms out, rescuing me, and pulling me back in before I fall back into the culverts of evil and darkness. You know something. I only have one “Hero” on this journey and in this new Life of mine.
It’s in the lyrics:
– It’s my 32-month anniversary at the Homestead campus of Life Pointe Church.
– But who’s really keeping track of these statistics anyway ?
– I am – so that makes it relevant to me.
– That’s 32 months of hangin’ out with my best friends in the entire world.
– We hang out in a corporate gathering as we praise and worship Him.
– As we sing and talk to Him we learn more about Him so we can be more like Him.
– Lead Pastor Travis concluded our ‘Red Wagon Leadership’ message series.
– This week’s topic – ‘Pulling The Wagon With People In It’.
– Jesus Christ wants us all to pull a wagon with people in it.
– The goal is to get those people in the wagon their own wagon to pull.
– If you’re not pulling a wagon then what is your purpose on this journey ?
– If you’re always in the wagon then you’re not growing by taking any chances.
– The Bible: ‘Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.’
– If you’re in the culture but you don’t totally trust Him then you’re powerless.
– You’re basically just doing your own thing and calling on God when it’s convenient.
– If you totally trust Him but you’re not in the world then you’re uncaring.
– You have an empty wagon, and you think you’re too good to lead the unchurched.
– One who believes and brags on Him to the world is leading the transformation.
– The wagon is full, and the Kingdom is expanding.
– I have problems.
– I have issues.
– I have bills to pay.
– Things don’t always go my way.
– I’m far from perfect.
– I need God.
– Look at me.
– See what God has done for me to totally change my Life.
– I once was lost, but now I’m found.
– I could not be who I am today without my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
– If you think there’s no hope for you then think again because God thinks otherwise.
– There are no impossibilities with God leading the charge.
– Give God a chance, and let Him show you the way.
– Get in my wagon, and I’ll show you what God can do for you.
This week’s teaching was based on the following scriptures out of The Good News: Matthew 28:19-20, John 3:16-21, 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1, and Acts 17:30-31.
Be sure to check back here this Wednesday afternoon for another inspirational edition of ‘My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics’, and next Sunday morning at 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM at the Flagship Cinemas in Homestead Florida we kickoff a fresh new message series that’s loosely based on the long-running series here on this blog – ‘The Fortune Cookie Message Of The Week Club’. It’s ‘Misfortune Cookie: Proverbs That Didn’t Work Out So Well’.
Check it out:
During the week I listen to The Call at home and in my car, and I listen to one of my iPod Shuffles at work that constains about 60% Christian music and 40% Secular music. On weekends I mostly listen to ‘90s On 9‘ on XM (Satellite Radio).
The 1990s was the greatest decade of music as far as I’m concerned. It was the soundtrack of my crazy life at the time (age 22 to 32). Thanks to God my Life today is far more superiour and worthwhile than it ever used to be; however, I shall never forget where I came from and what I used to be. It is an integral part of the constantly growing root and trunk system that comprises of my Life.
Personally the 1990s wasn’t particularly joyful or even professionally successful for me, but it did have its high points. Orlando was the place to party with my little brother during the late-1990s. It was our central meeting point when he lived up in Jacksonville. The Summer of 1993 was perhaps my personal Woodstock up in the Melbourne / Cocoa Beach area. Luckily it didn’t last very long, and I eventually went back to workin’ for a livin’. And then there’s the Summer of 1990. Dateline: Panama City Beach. It was the Summer of White Sands and Hard Rock. It was my extended Spring Break – long before it eventually became the college vacation destination that it is today. Although I would never do today some of the things that I did back then I will also never forget the times that once existed. It’s hard to forget when the music of the time plays on and on again.
Here’s one of those hard rockers that pulsated through the airwaves, into the bars, onto the dance floors, and through my ears back during that most memorable Summer of 1990. It was quite the “Epic” Summer as told by Faith No More:
CountUp 