Food for Thought

 

Saw this letter at the Forbes website, and agree with the author’s sentiments enough to want to share it as a gut-check for my conservative Christian friends, particularly the last paragraph, to remind them that God is still in charge (edited for grammar, spelling, and punctuation because I really am that finicky):

“I am an evangelical Christian living in Texas, and what I see happening in America is really a travesty and a rebellion against God, I dare say. I do not agree with many of Obama's policies, but he is the president. The Lord God was not taken by surprise when Obama became president. Indeed, Romans 13:1 says that "there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God." Jesus himself clearly states that "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." Mark 3:24-25.

America is hopelessly divided with infighting, and if anyone thinks that this division benefits anyone then they are in for the shock that is coming ten to twenty years from now. If the Republicans win the presidency in 2012, the Democrats will fight the Republican president with the same ferocity that the Republicans are fighting the current Democrat president. This cycle is likely to continue until America is utterly ruined. Meanwhile, China, India and Brazil will be forging ahead.

During the presidency of George W. Bush, leading evangelicals always implored Christians to pray for the president. Now they demonize Obama. This means that we really do not believe that the Lord is in control. If we did we would read Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases" and pray to God to direct the heart of the president to do what is right before the Lord and not before men. We have power in prayer, but we have chosen to fight in the flesh. The flesh cannot win any battle. I dare tell those who are fighting this battle in the flesh: you are bound to lose, and with your loss you shame the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because you did not really believe Him.”

 

Remember folks: we’re supposed to be Christian conservatives/liberals, not conservative/liberal Christians. There IS a difference.

 

Love to all.

 

Mr. Owl

Status Overload

 

Reading other people's statuses, I believe, gives me a very small idea of what it's like to be God:

the ability to see other people's thoughts
and wonder if they realize I'm reading them;

the happiness of other people's joy
and the sadness of other people's sorrows;

the joy of love accepted
and the frustration of love rejected;

the pleasure of having others ask you for help
and the pain of others running as far away from you as possible.

It just makes me that much more thankful that He sticks with us and continues to love us regardless of our opinion or belief (or lack thereof), unconditionally, and without us ever having to ask Him to do so.

I’m even gladder that He doesn't take my approach, which is to log off, say to hell with it all, and stay away for a week or so. Which I think I’ll go back to doing because I’m *not* God.

Thank God.

Love to all.

Mr. Owl

Notes for the Journey revisited

 

Intended for no one but me, but written here in case something here speaks to you.

Keep reaching out. Never stop. The one time you stop will be the one time the other hand was reaching for you.

That voice that keeps second-guessing you? That voice is not of God. Ignore it.

Say hi to as many kids as possible. They've grown up and they think you're a doofus. Be the doofus who said HI to them and don't worry about how they react or if they even react. Do it because you love them and because you've watched many of them grow from little kids in kindergarten to the teenagers they are now.

You will see a lot of people you know over the next four years that you used to be close to, and you need to acknowledge that those relationships have changed. Regardless, when you see them, hug them. Talk to them. The reason you even know these folks is because they reached out to you, they love you, they aren't afraid to let Christ's love flow through them. You shouldn't be afraid, either.

Focus on the people who are happy to see you, and believe that they truly are happy to see you.

Be a pest for God. That's not your decision. If you think someone needs you, chances are you may be right. There's enough loneliness in this world without people living in fear of reaching out to others. And if they reject you, that's not your call either. Let God handle it; He knows a few things about rejection.

Do what you can when you can with the time you have. If that isn't enough for some people, that's not your problem. Let God handle it; He knows a few things about people who are never satisfied.

If the opportunity to be kind presents itself, seize it. Don't let it go by into that netherworld of regret and might've-been. Be the person who stands out in the crowd with your kindness. Don't be just another person, another face in the crowd.

Do something, don't just sit there. If you feel it move inside you to do good or to do something good, very likely God put it there. Don't deny it or Him.

Tomorrow's another day. If the sun doesn't come up tomorrow, it only means God's called it a day and it's time to go Home. Isn't that where you want to go anyway?

Keep doing what you're doing, let God take care of the rest.

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Finally, promise me you'll come back and read this as often as necessary. Jesus loves you, this I know; for the Bible tells me so.

Love to all.

Mr. Owl

This Night Was Reeaally Bizarre! (How Bizarre Was It?)

Exhibit A: VH1 showed the movie “Tommy,” based on the album by The Who (us oldsters already know this; this is for the kiddos who might know who The Who is (no, don’t start that up, either)). To say this movie is deranged is paying it a compliment. This is the proverbial train-wreck; it’s so bad, you can’t NOT watch it. How did these people have careers after this (Ann-Margaret, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner.... The Who)? Nathan wandered in during Tina Turner’s performance as the Acid Queen.... he’s now scarred for life. He said, “What the heck” but it sure sounded like he said something else, for which I really can’t blame him. Y’know, I’ve never taken any illegal drugs or any other kind of hallucogenic; after watching this movie, I no longer need to.

Exhibit B: My sister is dating a guy with a pretty sizable collection of records. When I found out that he was moving and was going to be putting a lot of his stuff in storage, I generously offered to “store” the records at my house. I figure, even if only 30-40% of the records are good, it’ll be worth it. Well...... I spent tonight boxing them up. (I should make it clear right here that these records actually belonged to the boyfriend’s dad, so I don’t blame him for the selection. There are also some real gems in here, too. Of particular delight is this record called “Welcome to the LBJ Ranch,” where these guys took actual interviews of major political figures of the 60’s (Eisenhower, Bobby Kennedy, Mr. & Mrs. LBJ, Nixon, etc) and made up new questions resulting in the answers sounding funnier than originally intended. There’s also this lovely record called “No String (with Strings),” which is a score for a Richard Rodgers Broadway play from sometime in the 60’s. It’s definitely a product of its time, but I love that kind of music.) There are still a few others I haven’t gotten to yet, but the questions remain: how many Anne Murray records does one need? How many Olivia Newton-John records does one need? Does ANYONE need TWO copies of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Gord’s Gold?” Or two copies of "Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits?" Or two copies of that “Nadia’s Theme” record, which has by far *the* creepiest record cover ever printed? I mean, I felt like I was doing inventory at Half-Price Books with all the Herb Alpert records, Helen Reddy records, Glen Campbell records, BS&T records, etc.

Exhibit C: Favorite game show of all-time is Match Game and I’ve been so happy that Game Show Network has been showing reruns of it lately. Now I can finally understand all those double-entendres I didn’t get when I watched the show as a little kid. But that’s not the bizarre part. No, the bizarre part, the thing that still makes me break into convulsions just thinking about it, the one thing that made me laugh so hard my mouth went dry, my sides ached, tears streamed down my face, my nose was running..... you’ve probably already seen it in my status but it’s worth repeating here: the ShakeWeight. Now, there is no way I can accurately describe this thing without making it sound like.... well, basically a sex toy disguised as a physical fitness product. The more this commercial went on, the more I howled simply because I couldn’t believe I was seeing this on commercial TV. Out of respect for the younger audience (who’ve probably already seen the commercial anyway), I’m not going to post the link to the website or any YouTube videos. If you’re that curious, you know where to look, but be forewarned: if you try not to laugh, you might seriously injure yourself! I can honestly say I have *never* laughed so hard in my life, and those of you who see me on a regular basis know: I laugh a lot. This one had me going for a solid half-hour before I got my composure (or what’s left of it) back in place.

I hope your night was slightly more normal than mine!

Love to all.

Mr. Owl