Category: personal

we got power back earlier today and i am finally able to post an update on the blog. baton rouge was spared the biggest part of the storm. we had some wind damage (trees downed, shingles blown off, etc.) but very little water damage. the biggest issue we now face is handling the evacuees from new orleans. baton rouge is the closest metro area to new orlean and thus we are getting the lion’s share of the evacuees. it is bringing some amazing ministry opportunities with it. i spent most of my day, after getting my family taken care of, at a couple of the area shelters. we’re taking youth tomorrow to two different locations to help in the recovery effort.

if you would like to see pictures of what we are experiencing from the storm you can view them at my flickr site and you can view my announcements to the youth ministry at my youth ministry blog.

everyone is preparing for hurricane katrina around baton rouge. because of the huge possibility of electricity being out for a few days to two weeks i can not say for sure when i will be able to post again. i’ll try to whenever the storm is gone and the power is working.

this one is from the ’92 republican national convention:

[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. —Pat Robertson, 1992 Republican National Convention

i find it interesting again that a supposed CHRISTian leader justifies his problem with an ideology by saying that it hurts “capitalism.” since when should “hurting capitalism” be a reason for a follower of CHRIST to oppose an idea?

come on if you going to supposedly speak out “for” CHRIST please give a better reason than it will hurt capitalism. i can just see JESUS looking down from heaven and saying “why in the world would i be upset about american capitalism being hurt?” heck if it’s going to hurt the really messed up western capitalism that we are experiencing maybe i should really begin to support the feminist allot more.

it’s nice to see that the vast majority of CHRISTian “talking heads” are handling robertson’s stupid comments correctly … condemning them.

here’s what the world evangelical alliance said about his statement:

This kind of statement, by this well known American Christian leader, is in complete contradiction to the teachings of Jesus Christ who evangelical Christians believe and seek to demonstrate,” says Geoff Tunnicliffe, WEA International Director. He goes on to add, “Robertson does not speak for evangelical Christians. We believe in justice and the protection of human rights of all people, including the life of President Chavez.

you can read the rest here.

CLICK HERE to read the new york times article – robertson is pilloried for assassination call
would some one please tell me how “assassination” fits into CHRIST’s plan for the kingdom?

i just can not get it through my mind how a supposedly CHRIST-honoring show can make bold statements about assassinating a non-hitler type ruler. chavez is no saint and personally i think it was great if he wasn’t in power. some say he’s driving his country economically into the ground. yet he’s not committing human rights violations on a huge scale. whose lives will be saved by killing such a man? the only thing that will be saved by assassinating him is money and oil. in my opinion this is not a very good reason for toppling a government and almost a blasphemous reason when it comes from someone who professes to be a follower of CHRIST.

i’m really ready for some sane CHRISTians to start being the public mouth-pieces of the religious right. i’m tired of being “lumped in” with these psychos.

i love when my youth have blogs and they don’t realize that i read them. anonymous reading of teens blogs gives me real, honest feedback concerning what we do. here’s what one of my teens posted today concerning the 24 hours of prayer we did today.

sooo… today i went up to the church to pray and man oh man! i was in there and it was just me and God. that was something i really needed. some one on one time with my Dad in a place that i love so very much. a place that i have seen Him move over and over again. i just got the reassurance that everything was going to be ok. that He is going to take care of us, of my family. it might take a little time, but He will make everything right again.

of course, sometimes the statements aren’t as positive. such as this one from the visiting preacher we had at church two sundays ago.

It was at this point I was getting enraged. i seriously almost lost it right in the middle of church. WHERE DID THIS GUY COME FROM? He was clever in using Louisiana terms to get people to buy it…even saying he lived in LA “way back when.” i seriously couldn’t believe such a false Christian could appear right in front of me and actually declare what he said to be true! I know what I believe…I know the truth, but I felt sad for the people who actually WENT and bought his book.

even the negative stuff helps though.

as a famous philosopher once said … “you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life.” truer words have never been said.

our church is seeking GOD’s direction and doing it the only way we know how … an extended time of prayer. starting this morning at 12:01 a.m. i opened up the church sanctuary for prayer asking that church members would “man” it continually asking the FATHER for help in understanding HIS will. it’s been 4 hours thus far and during the roughest part of the 24 hour period the sanctuary has not been without at least one person in there praying. it’s been amazing. it seems that almost every other person that comes out of the sanctuary starts talking about how know they remember that GOD is in control. funny how spending time listening to GOD seems to calm us, HIS children, down.

saw this on flickr and i thought it was funny. it’s fake of course but still funny.

here’s a real interesting piece of fiction concerning JESUS being found in a closet at a megachurch. when you read it look to the side and read the other posts concerning megachurches. some excellent thoughts.

true in advertising – i am an associate pastor at a church that runs 1,500 in worship each week and thus my church could be accused of some of the same things.

last night was “crud war” which is something i look forward to every year. “crud war” would be called a food fight if anything we used was actually edible. of course, what we use is by no means edible. instead of wasting new food i ask everyone to bring all the food that has been rotting in their refrigerators and pantries. people bring more mess than you would ever believe. this year we had one family bring crayfish that had been in their frig since april (that’s four months people) and another family brought three week old spaghetti.

two years ago i announced in church during worship that we needed food for “crud war” and i was presently surprised the next day when i received a “prayer request” form that had been turned in sunday. it said this:

with all the people starving in our state you still find time to waste food. now that’s religion!

pretty typical. thankfully i was able to get my pastor to make the following statement the next sunday.

the youth ministry held it’s annual “crud war” this past week. for those who don’t know it the “crud war” is done with rotting food that is donated, except for one bag of flour and one bag of rice. robert said if you were worried about any of this food being wasted when it could be eaten by people who are starving then you are welcome to come eat it. i don’t think you’ll find it very appealing.

i haven’t heard a complaint since then.