Crisis that hurts us all

Hurricane Katrina struck a very fatal blow to locations on the Gulf coast. Places that use to be bustling and full of life are now just a spot of dirt on the map. I saw pictures today that looked like a atomic bomb went off around Gulfport, Mississippi.

Unfortunately, this is a disaster that is already putting a strain on the rest of the country. I saw reports of gaoline selling for almost $4.00 per gallon in Chicago today. One reporter on MSNBC reported that she happily paid $35.00 for five gallons of gas on her way out of Baton Rouge to Houston. I will let you do the math on that one.

Tonight, I got a taste of what my parents probably experienced in 1973 and 1979. I remember the oil crisis of 1979. We had the long lines and irritated consumers. We have that again now. I experienced this tonight when I stopped to fill up my car on the way to church. Our local gasoline station was stacked three deep at each of its eight pumps. By the time that I got to the pump to fill up, they had already run out of regular and mid-grades. At $2.67 per gallon, their premium was still OK for my car, because it was cheaper than regular at any other station around.

Things will probably get worse before they get better over the next few months. This is truly a crisis that hurts us all.

Need gas?

This is a photo of a gas tank left on the interstate after hurricane Katrina passed through Mobile.

Buying a house

Well, I guess it is somewhat official. We signed the contract and put down $1000 in earnest money tonight for the home that we are going to buy once our current home is sold and the new one is completed. These are exciting times! :)

prayers are answered

During my prayer time last night, I asked God to take control of our situation with the sale of our house. If I asked Him to send someone to us if He felt it was best for us at this time.

At 1:05 p.m. today, I got a phone call from our selling agent. He had a guy driving 165 miles this afternoon to look at the house. It turns out that the man’s wife just got a job about 20 minutes down the road from where I live. She has been staying with her mother, who lives less than five minutes from me, during the week to go to work and then driving that 165 miles back home on the weekend.

Some people will say that this is just coincidence. I like to believe otherwise.

See more progress on: pray more

tags: prayer, Christ, personal growth

Who is a Christian?

Have you ever stopped to think whether or not a particular person is a Christian? Have you ever said to yourself, "No, that person couldn't be a Christian" because of the way that someone is dressed or the way they act?

A person's actions do not convey whether or not they are saved by grace. They do, however, convey one's current relationship with Christ and those very actions can weigh heavily on another non-believer. For instance, if I talked with you very seriously about the grace of God and what it means to have the joy of Christ, but later you see me how partying and drinking, what does that say to you about my witness?

We should never judge another person no matter if we know they are a Christian or not. I am sure at one time or another, we have all been guilty of this. I know that I am and I would be committing a sin here and now if I said otherwise.

Considering this, it was with great excitement tonight when I came across a link under the Technorati tag of Jesus entitled "salty dogma". This blog entry refers to a piece that Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Los Angeles, sent to the staff of his church. This piece of an excerpt from an interview that someone had with Bono, the lead singer for the rock band U2.

Update: I came across another blog entry regarding the same interview. I have linked to it below as well.


read "salty dog" | read "Judging Bono"

tags: jesus, Bono

Fantastic movie!

Matthew and I watched “The Incredibles” this evening. This movie is absolutely fantastic. I loved it. There were times when I was rolling. Since Matthew had seen the movie in the theater, I would ask him a question every once in a while. He would just give me one of those sarcastic “what do you mean” looks and then say, “Daddy just keep watching”. :)

See more progress on: Watch “The Incredibles” with my son

Spoken Word Bibles

I was looking around for spoken versions of the Bible tonight and I came across a couple of good sites. The first site is AudioTreasure. This site has the spoken Word in MP3 format. You can download it and listen to it whenever you like.

The second site is Audio-Bible. This site uses streaming Real audio that is narrated by Alexander Scourby. You can read along with the passages on the site as you listen to the spoken Word.

Neither site will ever replace sitting down with a Bible and reading, but they could come in useful for someone on the go or in a situation where a physical Bible is not handy.

Tags: bible, audio

Learning from the young ones ...

I came across a blog post on a blog that I just started reading this week. It is short, but it really hits home to what it means to put your trust in God.

Butt First

See more progress on: Grow in Christ

Dinner

My wife has had to pick up some extra work as of late due to a technical glitch at the company for which she is doing some work. Luckily, she is getting paid again for everything that she already did previously, because it was someone else who messed up. This is a bad thing because she has been so busy, but it is a good thing after she told me how much it would be worth to us this morning. :)

Anyway, because she has been so busy, I asked her to take a break for dinner and I took her and my son out for dinner. We let Matthew choose where he wanted to go and this six year old chose Chinese. He loves Chinese food. Since my wife and I both do as well, it turned out to be a very good family meal.

See more progress on: spend more time with my family

Undone

I came across a very interesting podcast about life, religion, and how to live life the right way... for God. Ryan Dobson, the author of Be Tolerant and To Die For, uses his hand-on knowledge of youth culture to relate to young people and help them understand how to live for Christ.

Ryan Dobson's Undone

Tags: Ryan Dobson, religion, Christianity, podcast

The one you love!

I really love my wife. If I said that we never have any problems, then I would be telling a pretty big lie as would any married couple. I just came across a CNN article that is just too much. I can understand wanting to get rid of your wife without doing anything bad, but this takes the cake. :)

read | marriage

Ready to sell

My home is now on the market. Our agent listed the house today. I hope it sells right about the time that the new house is ready, but hey... if it sells next week, that is good too. That would be a very good problem to have. :)