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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

I.  This afternoon during the 1 PM hour I returned home safe and sound from my short road trip up to ‘The North Pole’ / ‘The Great White North’ of Florida. I’m talking of course about the Jacksonville area – AKA ‘The First Coast’. I got everything done that I needed to get done (and then some), and I brought back home a lot of great takeaways from all of my various meetings and taskings regarding the legal acquisition of my home up there. I was skeptical / pessimistic before the trip as well as during the drive up, but everything worked out as perfectly as can be. I have a lot less stress to deal with now.

II.  Our long historic cold spell continues here in Florida. This is Day 11, and it’s coming to an end real soon. On Thursday we return back to normal with the long-awaited return of our easterly ocean breezes, maximum late-afternoon temperatures in the mid-70s, and minimum early-morning temperatures right around 60°F (starting on Friday morning). This morning up on Fleming Island in Clay County my car was covered smothered in thick frost. Luckily it started right up, but I pretty much had to sit in it with the heater and the defroster on full blast before I could actually see out of the front windshield to drive it away. It was in the mid-20s early this morning (right at sunrise) as I departed, and parts of the landscape west of St. Augustine looked like a vast winter wonderland with a thick layer of frost whitening the otherwise brown and dead ground.

III.  Is it just me, or do the various service plazas along Florida’s Turnpike look like the’re going out of business and declaring bankruptcy ?  Of course the’re not, but to me they appear to be just a mere shell or skeleton of what they used to look like. The’re still rather busy with people, but it just seems like everyone is wandering around in circles in a long-neglected mall that’s seen its better days. I actually ate a really nice cheeseburger and fries Lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger Express at the West Palm Beach service plaza. It’s located in the former location of Burger King. I guess BK pulled out (or was pulled out) – along with Starbucks and various other former favourites at the various bustling stops along the Turnpike.

Be sure not to miss my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in just 2 days !

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Monday Night Funnies

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God People Weather

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

– It was clearly the coldest Sunday morning in Life Pointe Church history !
– It was 35°F at 8 AM, 36°F at 9 AM, 38°F at 10 AM – with wind chills in the 20s !
– Everyone ran into the movie theatre to get in on some HEAT !
– Lead Pastor Travis arrived all by himself without his wife and kids.
– It was rad to have Trav back on stage for the first time since before Christmas.
– He concluded our long-running “LoveWorn” message series.
– This morning’s message was subtitled “Love Worn In Community”.
– Community is not cheap or easy.
– It is foundational to the character of God.
– God created us in His image.
– He created us for a community-based Life.
– He gave us a purpose to live Life with one another.
– The church should not be a building.
– The church should be the living breathing body of a diverse group of people.
– Racial and financial status should be irrelevant within the church community.
– We must always be the church no matter where we are.
– A Godly community creates Life change and the miraculous.
– Now is the time at Life Pointe where you can take part in such a community.
– Life Group registration is happenin’ now !
– I registered for a Life Group on my connection card at the first service.
– You can also register online at life-pointe.com/lifegroups.
– There are about a dozen Life Groups to choose from on nearly every night.
– Pick one that’s convenient for you, and commit to it.
– It’s a critical part of your spiritual growth following Jesus Christ.
– You can’t walk this fantastic journey alone, and there’s no need to do so.
– Walk this journey with those who follow, believe, trust, and love Jesus Christ.

This morning’s message was based on the following Scripture out of the Good News of our Lord – Acts 2:42-47, Acts 20:20, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 28:3, Genesis 35:11, Hebrews 10:24-25, Philippians 2:4, Psalm 133, Romans 12:9-10, Romans 12:13.

Acts 2:42-47 (NLT, 2ND Ed.)
The Believers Form A Community
42  All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
43  A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.
44  And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.
45  They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.
46  They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity –
47  all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

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Career Driving History Home Life Music Radio Travel

Saturday Night Retro

Where were you in ’94 ?  16 years ago at the start of a fresh new year we all knew as 1994 I was living and partying in the heart of Melbourne Florida from Friday nights to Sunday afternoons – and living and working on the other side of the state in Tampa Florida from Sunday nights to Friday afternoons. It was about a 2½ to 3-hour drive in each direction, but it was my cool life at the time. I did it for about 7 months from August of 1993 through March of 1994. That was after Hurricane Andrew had destroyed Homestead Air Force Base and it was being partially rebuilt.

I had gotten out of the USAF (Active Duty), and rejoined on the Active Reserves side over at MacDill Air Force Base. They were the first to offer me a job back then while I was unemployed and looking for a job over in the Melbourne area. I served over there as an aircraft maintenance statistician – a fun job during a fun time of my fun life. A couple of months later in March of 1994 my Air Force Wing and myself moved back down to Homestead Air Reserve Base – where I remain today as a number cruncher.

Here’s a quirky song that built its momentum ever so slowly – one radio station at a time – over the course of an entire year. From college radio to modern rock radio to mainstream TOP 40 radio it eventually became a U.S. TOP 10 gold pop smash as well as a huge hit all around the world. As far as I’m concerned it’s one of the greatest songs of the entire crazy decade that was the 1990s.

From the first few months of 1994 here’s Beck with “Loser” !