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God People Politics Television

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

1.  David Corrado and Richie Nieves arrived at the movie theatre long before anyone else did this morning. They were there long before Pastor Travis, Pastor Paul, Anne J., and myself were there. They wanted to get a head start in transforming a public place of Hollywood movie magic into a public place of praise and worship for God. David and Richie are so assimilated into our living and breathing body that is our Life Pointe Church family. That’s what it’s all about.

2.  There is no ‘summer slump’ in-progress at Life Pointe Church. I think that Flagship Cinemas Corporate Headquarters (up near Boston Mass.) would have been totally ecstatic to have a crowd show up at any one of their movies during the week that showed up for our 9 AM service. It was ‘bumping in to other people room only’ all throughout the main lobby just before the 9 AM service, and then again just before the 10:30 AM service. It was surely our busiest Sunday morning since Easter Sunday morning in March !

3.  Pastor Travis spoke on ‘The Funk Of Suffering’ as part of our summer-long ‘Got Funk ?’ message series. Suffering exists because sin exists. God sees and hears all of the suffering in His world that He created. He is compassionate about it all. He endures it all. He never avoids it. Everyone suffers, but will you suffer in a way that God can do something through you ?  Will your suffering compel you to love Jesus more ?  Will your suffering reprioritize you toward the mission of Jesus ?

Next Sunday morning Pastor Paul will speak on ‘The Funk In Death’. Tim Russert’s death has hit me rather hard. I was a big fan of him. He was an important part of my extended Irish family. I got very interested and knowledgeable in politics and the world around me because of him. I’ve been a 16-year fan of “Meet The Press” on Sunday mornings because of him. I never met him in person, but if I had a TOP 5 list of Americans I’d most want to meet and have dinner with he would have definitely been on that list. He’s up in Heaven now. God needed his Moderator and Managing Editor up there, and He got him. He’s probably staying up late and doing his extended research right now so that he can finally discuss the important issues of the century with Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. up there around the big table after all of these years. It’ll be the most intelligent and topical hour of LIVE television that the angels have ever seen. Rest In Peace Tim. Because if it’s Sunday – it is “Meet The Press” – but it will never be the same without you. This is BIG – Heaven’s got you now !

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Blogging Driving Food God Health Life People Shopping Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

If it’s Tuesday night then look no further than here for a glimpse into what’s happenin’ in my world:

1.  Earlier this afternoon we surpassed the 13,000 mark in total (cumulative) views since this blog’s inception late last November. We keep shattering brand new daily, weekly, and monthly view records on here. I say ‘We’ because without you (reading this) there would be no exciting statistics to write about. Thank You for blogging with me, and for being a part of my Life !

2.  It’s currently raining just a little bit over the Homestead / Florida City area, but there’s a whole bunch of rain (torrential downpours) just to the west of us in the Everglades. We could use several feet of rain – not all at once, but spread out over the next three months or so. The more rain that we receive here in South Florida the less likely hurricanes are to come our way.

3.  Last week I surpassed the 50,000-mile mark in my car, and I was on Homestead’s Speedway Boulevard southbound approaching Campbell Drive when it all went down. It’s the first time in 15 years that I’ve owned a car for its first 50,000 miles. I previously did so in a 1989 Geo Spectrum (my first car here in Homestead).

4.  I enjoyed a MASSIVE Lunch at the White Lion Café this afternoon. It’s the closest that you’ll ever get to fine dining here in Homestead. Last time I ate there I admired Pastor Paul‘s fried chicken and mashed potatoes from across the table. This time around I got my own ENORMOUS fried chicken breast – no bones about it. I KNOW THAT’S RIGHT !

5.  I ate Lunch at the White Lion with Marge R. I’ve known her for over 20 years – longer than anyone else (who isn’t related to me) in my entire life / Life. She was telling me all about God back in the late-1980s and throughout the entire 1990s when I wasn’t really interested in Him. She never gave up on me though. She kept on bragging on Him. My Christmas 2006 gift to her ? – It’s when I revealed to her (at Applebee’s of all places) that I’ve been saved by Jesus Christ and reborn. A month later I walked through the front doors of Life Pointe Church for the first time ever. It was my first entrance into any church since the late-1970s when I was in grade school.

6.  Anne J. – I just finished eating yet another MASSIVE slice of birthday cake. I figure that if I eat three more MASSIVE slices between now and Friday then it will be all gone. The cake surprisingly tastes as good now as it did last Wednesday night when you and the crew surprised me with it.

7.  I currently weigh 165.5 pounds. That’s my ideal weight. Can you believe that I actually weighed in the mid-180s back when I was in my early-20s ?  I took all of that excess weight off a few years after that, and I’ve been holding steady ever since. Thank You Jenny Craig !  (Just kidding.)

8.  If I had to give up one of the following 5 devices for an entire year – TV(s), VCR(s), Computer, iPod Shuffle(s), or Cell Phone – then the answer couldn’t be more simple and easy – the cell phone. I typically don’t use my cell phone to make or receive calls (even though it works just fine). I pretty much only use it to send and receive the occasional text message. Other than that it gets little to no use at all. The telephone (standard or cell) is my least-favourite electronic device.

9.  I’m experimenting with homeopathic Murine Ear Drops for Ear Wax Relief. I have a recurring ear wax buildup problem inside my right ear. Sometimes it can get real bad. The worst that it’s ever been in my entire Life was last May in the worst place at the worse time – during the week that I was with my family in The Bahamas to attend my little brother’s wedding. I pretty much could not hear out of my right ear during the entire week. It made for a miserable week.

10.  Forget about the little kid in the candy store – check me out anytime I’m inside an Office Depot or an Office Max !  Let me run loose and buy things !

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Food God People

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

1.  Memo To Self – In the future if I arrive at the movie theatre bright and early on a Sunday morning, and all of the front doors are locked shut then look for Pastor Travis‘s car in the parking lot. If I see it then call him on his cell phone, and kindly ask him to open a door to let his eager staff in from the elements of outside !

2.  Lessons Learned – As per Anne J. we do not skimp and use curtains, bedsheets, mattress covers, or extra-extra-extra-large black tee-shirts in lieu of actual table cloths on any of the Information Booth tables. If that happens then the convenient excuse – ‘I’m a guy’ – will work just fine; however, she will still yank everything off of the tables and redo everything properly. She’s conscientious like that.

3.  That’s What I’m Talkin’ About – The promotional videos following ‘Praise & Worship’ and Communion were absolutely gutbusting hilarious (and yet strangely informative at the same time). They received numerous pops from the crowds. Alex and (the other) Jesse were the wacky hosts of ‘R’ Show – Life Pointe‘s version of ‘Wayne’s World’ – and their special guest this week was this really cool, hip, and up-and-coming megastar by the name of Chris Day in the role of a lifetime – as himself. Those cool kids over at Fuser Films Of Homestead have a real promising acting future !

4.  Got Funk ? – Pastor Travis’s message this morning was all about ‘The Funk Of Loneliness’. Everyone has been lonely at some point in their life, but when you have a personal relationship with God you should know that although you may be alone – you are never lonely. God will never allow you to be lonely. God is our Father, our Son, and our Holy Spirit. We must have a ‘Gospel Partnership’ with Him where He is the center of all of our relationships. He must always be our # 1 priority above everything else. Our human relationships should be patterned after our # 1 relationship with God. The Good News says ‘Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” (Genesis 1:26 – NLT, 2ND Ed.)

5.  Fully Engaged – We had our bimonthly membership luncheon at The Capri in Florida City (where all of the food is) this afternoon, as we welcomed nearly 40 of our loyal and faithful regular attenders to become official members of their church by signing the membership covenant. That’s what assimilation is all about. It’s my job at Life Pointe Church to ensure that our first-time guests become second-time guests, and that our second-time guests become regular attenders and get plugged in to the entire church experience to include serving on Sunday mornings and participating in a Life Group during the week. The church is not the movie theatre. The church is you and me. We are disciples of God. We are His hands and His feet – created by Him – here on Earth. My goal is to ensure that you are fully engaged on His fantastic journey here in Homestead. We want you to become members, and we want our members to become leaders in order to expand His kingdom here on Earth. We do it all for the Lord Almighty !

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God

Bedtime Stories

God loves you more than you’ll ever know. He loves you unconditionally. He loves you no matter how much you love Him back. God loves you even if you don’t even know Him. He loves you more than you could ever love Him. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been in your life or what you’ve done with it. God gave up His only Son on that bloody wooden cross so that you could live. That’s how much He loves you. There is not a person in this world that is so far removed from His love. God’s reach is infinite. His reach is unstoppable. Since God can reach you with His love you can reach Him with your love. You should love Him more than anyone else and anything else. Show your love for God. Let Him know how much you truly love Him.