Categories
God

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

1.  The summertime slump is done and over with. We had one of our biggest crowds in a couple of months during both services. It was so great to see that movie theatre all packed up with Life Pointe Church energy and enthusiasm for about 4 hours this morning. One couple saw all of the cars out in the parking lot as they drove by, so they decided to see what blockbuster box office smash was showing at 11 AM. I greeted them and then told them that the movies didn’t start until 1:30 this afternoon. They asked what ‘all of this’ was (pointing to all of the action in the main lobby). I told them that ‘this’ is Life Pointe Church. They blew me off and walked away.

2.  Far more relevant than any movie that Hollywood could ever come up with is one of our Sunday morning services. Pastor Travis has returned for the first time since July, and he kicked-off a fresh new message series entitled ‘Loaded’. What does the Bible say about money ?  In this three-week message series we’ll be sharing a strong Biblical perspective on money, material possessions, and eternity. We’ll be using the Scriptures to approach these somewhat controversial topics head-on. We’ll be challenged to rethink our core attitudes and use our God-given resources in ways that will have an eternal impact. We’ll deal straightforwardly with issues of materialism, stewardship, prosperity theology, and debt.

3.  I won’t be at Life Pointe Church next Sunday morning, so you’ll have to check out one of our other fine bloggers next Sunday afternoon for a good solid ‘Wrap-Up’ of the events of the morning. Might I suggest this old cat or this young pup or even our fine leader – now with yellow hair !  I know I’ll be looking forward to these blogs next week to see what I missed.

The ‘Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad’ returns in two weeks !

Categories
Food God Health Politics Weather

Saturday Morning Shenanigans

What a crazy abnormal Shenanigan-filled week in August it was !

At the start of the week Tropical Storm Fay began her whirlwind grande tour de force of the state of Florida, and me and my fellow Homestead neighbours received just a tad above 5 inches of windswept rains over a 5-day time-period. Some portions of South Florida received up to a foot of rain, and parts of Central Florida (on the Space Coast) received well over 2 feet of rain which caused catastrophic damage and destruction.

I went back to work on Wednesday (after the storm), and it was cool to get back to a more normal routine again. I prefer normalcy although it is fun sometimes to reach out and step in to a place that is outside of my personal comfort level. You can’t progress forward on God’s fantastic journey for you if you are always comfortable. You’ve got to mix it up a bit and throw in some real Shenanigans in order to enthusiastically serve and follow Him with reckless abandon.

Yesterday I gave blood at the lab. They will analyze it and give the results to my Doctor to see if the Lipitor is still doing its thing. Last night I had the honour of hanging out with a bunch of my LPC friends at The Molinas’ house out in Redland. We threw a 30TH birthday surprise party for this cool blogger girl, and we shoveled in pounds and pounds of delicious food items. Living up to my reputation I may have eaten more food than anyone else – even moreso than Richie N. (who actually wanted to argue this fact with me), or even this crazy cat who also adores tasty deviled eggs possibly as much as I do !  LIPITOR CHECK !

The big news all over the cable news networks this morning is the official announcement of Senator Joe Biden being selected (and accepting) the Vice Presidential position as Barack Obama‘s running mate. Good choice. Now that we’ve got that out of the way the Democrats can throw their inevitable Bush-Bashing party in Denver during this upcoming week and I can watch pre-recorded television shows during those Shenanigans. I’ll watch the Republican National Convention the following week. That’s my party !

Those are my Shenanigans for this Saturday morning, and I’ll leave you with this:

Categories
God

The Second Day Of School

Once upon a time I went to this school …

Saint Matthias Catholic School, Lanham Maryland
Saint Matthias Catholic School, Lanham Maryland

… that’s attached to this church …

Saint Matthias Catholic Church, Lanham Maryland
Saint Matthias Catholic Church, Lanham Maryland

From September 1973 through June 1975 I was a Catholic School student for my 1ST and 2ND grades. My two teachers made quite the impression on me – literally and physically. I still remember them to this day. Sister Mary Laura was very strict, and Sister Mary Josephine was a lot of fun. I don’t think that I ever saw the former crack a smile, and the latter always seemed jovial. Back then it was quite common for teachers to scold their students with common classroom objects hitting your bare skin. My how times have changed !

My first Communion occurred on Saturday February 15TH 1975. It’s one of those dates that I shall remember forever.

I was pulled out of Catholic School following the completion of the 2ND grade, and I attended public schools for the next 10 years after that (1975-1985). We (my family) continued to attend the Sunday morning service at the church for a year or two after I stopped attending school there, but then we pretty much dropped out of the church scene as well.

It would be another 30+ years before I regularly attended another church.

Categories
God Music

Monday Night Countdown

Early in the morning during a typical 7-mile drive from home to work nearly two years ago towards the end of August 2006 I flipped the radio dial off of Y-100 (Mainstream / Secular TOP 40) and discovered CALL-FM (Christian TOP 40). Little did I know that such a mundane moment as changing the radio station in the car would signal the beginning of God’s fantastic journey for me. Little did I know that my previous life was about to come to a gradual end. Little did I know that I was about to be saved and reborn onto a new Life.

Peter 1:23-25 (NLT)
23  For you have been born again. Your new Life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new Life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
24  As the prophet says, “People are like grass that dies away; their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of wildflowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall away.
25  But the word of the Lord will last forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

This life-changing period in time was clearly documented at the time on my once popular hit music web site. This week’s ‘Monday Night Countdown’ signifies what was essentially my personal soundtrack at the time. It’s the TOP 5 songs that were on the radio at the time as God was rescuing me from the darkness and leading me into the daylight.

5.  Love Addict – Family Force 5

4.  High Of 75 – Relient K

3.  Time After Time – Spoken

2.  The Stand – Last Tuesday

1.  Desensitized – Jonah33