Category: random thoughts

i love the irony of some commercials.

the above audi commercial is one such ironic advertisement. i love the initial points of the commercial – that we have been told to believe certain things: that a certain car will give us meaning, or declare us worthy, etc. even worse we often believe these things that we are told are true. “thankfully” (read this with irony) audio is the product we need to “break the spell” and no longer believe these lies. ahhhhh. now life is good again.

thanks for saving us from blind consumerism audi.

a long time ago i taught adam and noah to always remember that commercials are trying to sell you something. part of what i taught them was to shout at commercials “that’s a lie” when you see an obvious commercial claim concerning something that can’t be true. we don’t do it all the time because not ever commercial is blatantly lying. yet when we see a commercial that makes claims of purpose and meaning coming from the consumption of a product you will often hear someone in the terrell house shout “THAT’S A LIFE!”. the above hersey’s chocolate commercial is an example of one of the commercials we would shout at.

first, let me say that i am a huge fan of hersey’s chocolate. i love me a hersey’s bar with almonds. mhmmm. yet this commercial is a complete lie. what are hersey’s bars made of? apparently pure togetherness and  friendship that spans the world of skinny people. come on!?!?!?!? have you ever had anybody call you and say “hey, i’m going to go grab a hersey’s bar, would you like to come along?” i doubt it.

i hate it when commercials make claims about metaneeds. it’s just a candy bar folks.

i’m not sure why but adam and noah love this thing.

this past week i finished the mid-career workshop of my d.min work. this means i am now halfway through the course work of my degree (of course, i then have to do a dissertation which might take longer than the course work). this workshop was held at the meriatta nobts satellite campus. the campus holds most of its courses within the rooms of johnson ferry baptist church.

in 1994 when i was graduating from swbts i interviewed with johnson ferry for their middle school minister position. i would love to tell you that i wowed them and didn’t go there because i was convinced that it was not where GOD wanted me but that’s not what happened. the truth is that i was VERY excited about interviewing for the position but i didn’t impress them enough to rate a second interview. c’est la vie. johnson ferry is a BIG chuch and at the time i was convinced that a church like johnson ferry would obviously be the type of church that GOD would want me ministering in. it had to be that way because it would be the manner in which i would be able to reach the most people. right?

when i enter the doors of johnson ferry this week i was overwhelmed with thankfulness that i had not gone down the route that i had thought would be best. i wouldn’t be the person that i am today if i had been at johnson ferry. this is not meant as a cut on johnson ferry. i’m sure it is a great church. i don’t have anything against megachurches. i just know that a large church is no longer the route that GOD wants me on. instead i am convinced that HE wants me to be a part of a church that grows to divide only to grow again and divide again (the tapestry plan). if i had gone down the path that i thought was best at the end of seminary i would probably never have been moved by the call of social justice within the gospel of CHRIST, or the thought of growing to stay small, or overwhelmed by the trinitarian importance of community. so when i entered johnson ferry i thanked GOD that i had not wowed the interviewers enough o rate a second interview.

sometimes we need to reflect on and thank GOD for the doors HE closes. those closed doors may have more to do with who GOD shapes us into than the open doors do.

SIDE NOTE – if you are a “24” fan and you like a good snide remark every now and then you should do yourself a favor and follow dave barry’s 24 live blog each week. it’s great.

i’m posting this mainly for chris perkins. this is a website that list the probably or claimed religious affiliation of comic book superheroes. its pretty fun.

a thread wrote me a note this week that made my month (possibly my year). the note was really great but i wanted to post the above photo which is a scan of the card the note came with. it is a handmade watercolor made by the person who wrote the note. i just think it is so cool that she took the time to produce something personal rather than just sending an email or even a note card. it was so much cooler knowing that she took the time to paint something to then write on.

i may just have to learn from jan and try to write a few notes in 2010 on the back of things that i have produced. these will probably have to be photos since i don’t really paint. 

a long time ago socks would have been some of the worst CHRISTmas gifts i could have received. invariably i always received a few pairs from my parents but i was never excited about them (sorry mom and dad but i was a kid). it really must be a sad statement concerning my age that i was excited about receiving two pair of socks this CHRISTmas (thanks parents and in-laws).

i have truly become old when warm socks bring a smile to my face.

SIDE NOTE – the above socks are x-socks winter run socks. while i haven’t run in them yet and therefore can’t speak to how good they are on a cold winter run, i can say that wearing them around the house they feel amazing. kind of like compression socks. and added benefit is that the are labeled “l” for left and “r” for right so as long as i’m not wearing shoes i will always know what side is my left side.

unfortunately i did not notice the “l” & “r” when i was putting on the socks for this photo 🙂