moving on...

thanks to everyone who has participated in the season while pastor craig was at Christian life assembly. It has been an amazing journey!

Benjamin

The Cross Was No Accident.

being this a holiday weekend, i pulled out a coffee table book i picked up on sale a few years back as a discussion starter for morning devotions with my residents at work on friday. the book is simply titled The Cross by Max Lucado.
now, i'm not one for jumping on the latest hype bandwagon, listening to "christian leaders" harping about a particular author or book or resource, whatever. i would hope you folks know me better than that. nor do i take any author's or leader's word as solid gold....perhaps one of my biggest faults (always questioning something).
but for some reason, i've returned to this book and a few phrases within it once again....perhaps it's the unusual perspective the author presents.....painting the reality of the cross in an entirely different light. it definitely makes this quirky princess stop and think and try to grasp the reality of it all and the profound impact it has not only for the world, but for my life. makes me wonder what kind of love this truly is and why it's so difficult to wrap my simpleton pea brain around it....bah, i'm babbling.

so here's a lil food for thought from Mr. Lucado, should any of you dare to ingest.

"The cross was no accident.
Jesus' death was not the result of a panicking cosmological engineer. The cross was not a tragic surprise. Calvary was not a knee-jerk response to a world plummeting toward destruction. It was not a patch-up job or a stopgab measure. The death of the Son of God was anything but an unexpected peril.
No, it was part of an incredible plan. A calculated choice."...

"The ropes used to tie his hands and the soldiers used to lead him to the cross were unnecessary. They were incidental. Had they not been there, had there been no trial, no Pilate, and no crowd, the very same crucifixion would have occurred. Had Jesus been forced to nail himself to the cross, he would have done it. For it was not the soldiers who killed him, nor the screams of the mob, it was his devotion to us.
So call it what you wish: An act of grace. A plan of redemption. A martyr's sacrifice. But whatever you call it, don't call it an accident. It was anything but that."...

"God on a cross. The ultimate act of creative compassion. The Creator being sacrificed for the creation. God convincing man once and for all that he would give anything, pay any price to save his children. He could have given up. He could have turned his back. He could have walked away from the wretched mess the world became, but he didn't.
God didn't give up."

Where has our community gone?

I mean for real.

V for Victory not Vendetta

vivaciously villainous, yet victorious through various varietal vendibal versability. V for Vendetta.

What a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed this film.

Deep thoughts run through the veins of this film. The core contains ideas of freedom, a discussion on what kind of freedom people actually want. The main premise is that the world has become dangerous, and the so called Government makes it seem even more so, as to trick its own people into a totalitarian regime, where rights are abridged and freedom is replaced with security. The main character V fights to repeal this, not through destroying the actual framework of the government, but by awakening the passions and yearning for freedom the people have forgotten. One key reminder in this film is that, this loss of freedom was brought on by our own way of living, our own fear of death.
Of course the government is closely tied to religion, which means that religion is an oppressor of the people. This idea runs closely with me. It seems that today, people would rather blame religion for oppression. I don't blame them. I feel many people are oppressed. They simply go through the motions of religion expecting something to change and when it doesn't, they simply stay in the place of expected behavior. BTK killer anyone?
We all love the hero. Why do we love the hero so much? Batman, V, many others. We love them because they are free. They may have many cool gadgets and costumes, millions of dollars, but they show us that true freedom is not from the stuff we have but from the ability to give ourselves. Isn't this what Jesus told the rich young ruler. Drop it all, and become a hero for me. Live a life on the edge, where you don't know your daily routine, and you would be glad to give up your freedom to help your neighbor.
To buy into this world is to trap yourself, with an invisible barrier that keeps you tied down.
"I want to watch TV" but the TV becomes a habit you cannot stop, that hour long show once a night has you trapped.
"I need to save for retirement" But the obsessive saving only leads to a need for more and more, when will you have enough? Who wants to start living when they are 65?
"If I only had more time" Then your time would be spent doing what?

shameless request from the quirky princess....

it appears as though my car has officially died this week. (ok mebbe not officially, but it'll take around $1500 to get it running again....for a car 11 years old, it's not an investment i'd rather make)
in order to maintain my current employment, wheels are necessary (45 mile commute one way).
so i quirkily present this request to the community (where i hope i'm still acknowledged) and ask you fine folks to keep an ear out for any transportation or employment that might be feasably available and give me a bug at smiies_78@yahoo.com should something come available.
thank ye kindly, and have a fantabulous week.

~Q

The canaanite woman: a dog?

21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." 23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." 24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. 26He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall
from their masters' table." 28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
~Matthew 15:21-28, NIV

a couple of acquaintances of mine were discussing this passage and were appalled that jesus would degrade her and call her a dog.
*shrugs* i dunno, but when i've read this before, i've always thought of jesus testing the woman's faith to see if she truly believed and wanted healing for her daughter, or if she would be another ungrateful one demanding an instantaneous fix for her mess. (does that make any sense??)


anyhow, enough of my babbling....i want to hear from you folks.....why would jesus use the dog analogy here? was he truly attempting to be insulting?

for my political savvy friends....

didn't think anyone would find this on my blog so i thought i'd post it here, seeing as a few of you are a bit familiar with the political realm.

i was most excited to learn that my dear bay area friend (yes Solomom....THE man that rocks the bug) had finally taken the plunge into blogland. if there is anything i've learned from this man, it is never take things at face value. i have much respect for him for not towing any party line, but researching the issue at hand and drawing his own conclusions, which are fairly sound and almost always spot on...errr, except for when they're not. (lol he can both beat his chest and eat humble pie quite well....tis what makes researching and discussing current events with him so interesting)

so, my friends, if you wish to go beyond the meanderings of hannity, dobson, coulter, limbaugh, and beck, i invite you to bring an open mind to lou cypherspace.
you might be able to debunk some of his theories...then again, we might just learn something from each other.

just the facts please

What’s the truth?
Did George W. Bush tell us the truth about the Iraq War? Hmmmm everyone seems to say no. I mean if you turn on the television, the daily body counts and headlines are always telling the horrors of war. “Today 4 marines killed in a roadside bomb attack outside Ramadi” Blah blah, why doesn’t’ George Bush pull them out so they stop getting blown up by roadside bombs? I mean our safety is the number one concern. Flip the channel, there you have Oprah talking to some ugly people who are swingers, and I’m not talking dancing. “we don’t consider it cheating because it is mutual agreed upon” So your wife isn’t getting what she needs from your lumpy white butt, my guess is that it extends further than the bedroom brotha! I mean do have any cells of manliness left? Or did they all get scraped off on your leather office chair. Get real.
So back to this war thing, yeah its wrong, all war is wrong. General Patton should crawl out of his grave just so I can slug him in his boney face for all the hurtin he inflicted on those worthless Nazi b@$Tards. I mean they didn’t really want to hurt anyone. The Holocaust is fake. I mean the Iatola of Rock’n Rolla from Iran told us this week.

---

Cindy Sheehan is back in the news, This time in SPAIN, its probably because Spain is about the only fully socialist government in the whole world anymore. Still only 100 protestors joined her. Did someone forget to mention ciesta!
The protest also was called in memory of Jose Couso, a Spanish television cameraman killed on April 8, 2003, in Baghdad when a U.S. tank fired at a hotel where many foreign correspondents were staying.
I know what Cindy is thinking. Yes I Am a mind reader. George Bush ordered the attack on the Hotel. Here’s how it happened.
9am White House situation room
GWB: Rummy, whats the situation?
DR: Not good, damn news crew keeps showing pictures of our guys shooting
Iraqi insurgents.
GWB: I thought that’s what they were supposed to do.
DR: Yeah, but with these images they will try to stir up anti-military
hatred.
GWB: Yeha I see your point. Slick thinking there Rummy. …….hmmm…..uhh…well
why don’t we just have one of those Abraham tanks over there wiz a
shell by the hotel so they duck back inside. Yeah, I like it, get me
the joint chiefs on the phone.
Minutes later “boom”

---

THE NATION
Katrina Killed Across Class Lines
• The well-to-do died along with the poor, an analysis of data shows. The findings counter common beliefs that disadvantaged blacks bore the brunt.

Holy Crap, is this for real? Because I know for a fact that credible sources such as Lewis Farrakhan, and the Honorable Reverend Jesse Jackson have stated otherwise, and with the support they get from the media, and the spots they get on TV, It would have to be legit. I mean where did Reverend Jackson go to Seminary anyway? But that’s not the point, he’s one of God’s. (wikipedia-he studied divinity at the Chicago Theological Seminary (he did not finish his divinity studies at the time, but was awarded a Master of Divinity in 2000 based on those studies and life experience) Just the facts please.)

thanksgiving redefined.

i leave for connecticut today, to spend the week with my dad and step mom. it'll be the first time we've gathered since my sister's death in april. family's always been a huge factor in our lives, and while we would frequently (well as frequently as we could this past decade) gather together, i think we sort of took it for granted that it'd always be this way.
i sit here and *everything* in the physical is telling me i shouldn't go. it's raining. my car likes gas. my bank account is having major indigestion at that thought. work screams its demands at me. even my niece is begging i stay.
had it been last year, i'd probably call them and say it's just not working out.
but this year, it's different. i truly feel i'm supposed to be there. why? i'm not quite sure. perhaps to get me away from this environment. perhaps just to remind me of the incredible blessings i do have. perhaps to remind me of the love i have for the man who once caused me so much pain. perhaps to remind him that there is no condemnation for him. perhaps to remind my mom what it is to smile (even if she's smiling and laughing at my abundant lack of gracefulness lol). perhaps just to simply breathe and heal further.
bah, i'm babbling.
we might not have a turkey. we might not have all members present. we might not have perfect weather. but we do have each other. and for that, i am grateful. and oh so very thankful.

Giving Thanks

I want to say Thank You Jesus for healing my feet!! I am 100% healed in both feet. No more shots, no more pain. I am still on the anti-inflammatory. That will soon stop in a month. So Thank you to all that have been praying. Have a Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

My Worship is Weird

OK, I'm wired so different. But I like it. Last nights H2O didn't do a thing for me. Seriously sitting in my room yesterday morning creating that short DVD intro I felt so much more connected. My praise has nothing, not one ounce to do with music! I feel nothing from music, 98% of the time! I thrive on ideas thoughts and words.

This morning laying in my bed I had some ideas streaming through. I saw people watching movies in church. Our church places so much emphasis on the theater and musicals it does, why not have a part that works on short films or videos. It's right there within our reach. Maybe God was just pushing me a little, and nudging me forward and asking me to look into it. One of my God given talents is to make the best of the tools I have to work with. I love writing stuff, and thinking out things.

I am yours Lord Send Me!

Rita Springer

Hey, I will see everyone tonight at Rita Springer. It is going to be a good night!

Benjamin

I'm Worried

SOunds weird Huh, John Williams Worrying about anything, but ever since my family moved up here my parents have been in a tough transition with my dad retiring and all. I'm asking for you guys to pray for my family and especially my dad. He's been kinda depressed from not going back to school to teach for the first time in 30 years. My mom just told me that he decided to stop taking his depression medication, and tommorow he is setting out to go canoeing by himself down the susquehanna. I'm not too thrilled with the whole deal, it has a bad feeling. He's not a Christian.

prayer request

Hello Everyone,
I know it has been a long time since I have actually posted on here. But I have a prayer request.
A handful of months ago I asked for prayer for my left foot, I had pain and the muscles and tendons were inflamed. I had two cortisone shots in that foot and lotsa prayer from you guys and I was healed. Thanks everyone!. Now I have the same problem with my right foot. I have had one cortisone shot almost 2 weeks ago and it was feeling good, no pain. Now the last two days it has been hurting. Today it has been really painful. It hurts to walk. But I keep claiming my healing. So I am asking you all to agree with me for total healing in this right foot as well.
Thank you guys for being here.