Fatty McFatstein…

That’s what I’m going to be after the Holiday season!  This is the third day in a row that someone has sent a goody basket of some kind to the office.  Yesterday it was cookies.  I had two sugar cookies.  Today there has already been more cookies, divine moose munch from Harriet and David, bagel sandwiches for breakfast.  Last night the boss ordered pizza for us since we were working so late.  Free coffee, free coke, free everything.  There is a gift basket that is sitting less than 10 feet from my desk.   NATHANIEL,  NATHANIEELLLLL.  Can you hear it?  It’s calling my name.  AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

I’m so done with work for the rest of the year…except for the fact that I’m not!! I am taking the entire week between Christmas (sorry all you atheist’s) and New Years to do absolutely nothing.  Unfortunately there are a few more days of work in between then and now! 

All of my friends from the south are cracking me up!  I see that it actually snowed in places like Houston, Lake Charles, etc.  You would think that this was the greatest single event in the history of mankind!  I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time.  I’ve seen pics of people up at 4 am to go play in the snow!!  Hope that was fun for you.

Back to the food….I’m hungry.  What shall I have for lunch today?  Hot link?  Pizza?  Subway?  There is such a plethora of choices that my mind is boggled for the moment!

FAIL!!

I hate cats

I’m not sure why but I’ve hated cats for a long time.  I’m convinced that when evil spirits are cast out of someone that they immediately take up residence inside of the nearest cat.  I think cats are ugly.  I think they are stupid.  I think they all should be eradicated from the face of the earth.  I’m for having a “kitty cat roundup” so that we can find all of the cats in the world and send them to cat hell, better known as your local Chinese restaurant! 

Here are the ways you know that your cat is planning on killing you.  BEWARE.

random little nuggets of goodness

Things I love:

1. Words and books.  I absolutely love to read.  I will read almost anything (within reason).  I was reading earlier this morning and I came across this very descriptive phrase. “He was as fearless as a hungry crocodile in a muddy river.”  That instantly evokes some pretty awesome imagery.  Can you imagine that?  In your mind is a pretty good idea of what that means.  There is nothing fancy.  No 25 cent words there but still….

2. California.  And the people that live here.  Let me set the scene for you.  Here in San Jose yesterday it was about 55 degrees and very foggy all day long.   There wasn’t much wind but it was a little chilly.  I was walking to get some food and I realized that everybody, and I do mean everybody, was bundled up like we were living in the Arctic.  I heard little snippets of conversation complaining about how “bitterly cold and wet” it was.  Ha!  Normally we live in an almost perpetual state of 75 and sunny but the last couple of days its been foggy and chilly!  I’m actually really enjoying the clouds.  To much sunshine is depressing!

3. My church.  Church has been more awesome than normal lately and that is really saying something.  Pretty cool stuff going on around The Pentecostal Church.  I just noticed that the website now has over 3 million hits on it.  That is just slightly more than I have had here on this blog. 

4. The Holiday season.  This is my favorite time of year.  I know it may be cliched but it’s still true.  I’m not a Scrooge like some of my friends…raise your hand down there in Louisiana, Mr. Dean.  People are more friendly, the music is fantastic.  I love Christmas trees and decorations.  From now until January 1st is just almost perfect. 

5. My iPod.  I have trashed some of my old music.  Some of that stuff I’m not even sure how it got on there.  Little ninjas were sneaking into my iPod at night and putting “music” on there.  I would be sitting here in my office and all of the sudden something would come on that would make my ears bleed!  No seriously, really awful terrible stuff.  However, I have donned my Superman shirt and worked tirelessly to purge this really awful terrible stuff off of said iPod.  Now while playing on shuffle I am constantly uplifted by the wonderful music that continually flows from my little stereo to my ears.  For all of you who scoff at the marvelous invention that is the iPod surely you are living in the 18th century.  What could be better than having 3000 songs in the palm of your hand?  Only salvation I say!

5. God.  He continually blows my mind. 

6. Life.  It just keeps getting better and better.

Motivational Posters IV

I don’t know why these make me laugh so hard.  Hope you enjoy!!

Home again, home again

Wow!  I finally have some time to sit down and write about my insane weekend! 

It started at 3:45 am….well it should have started!  I hit snooze a couple of times to many.  This resulted in me almost not making my plane.  The ticket counter would not check me in and they would not check my bag.  So I had to run through the terminal carrying my bag which I was not planning on checking.   Of course the airport is in massive reconstruction so they drop you off a quarter mile from the area you need to be in when you take the long term parking shuttle, only have one security checkpoint, and then at 6 AM only have two of the lines open.  They took away my shaving cream, shampoo and starch.  Have you ever tried to run through the airport holding your shoes, your belt, holding your pants up while pulling a fully loaded suitcase and dodging people with little children who are oblivious to the danger of a 6′5″ 225 pound man running at full speed in his socks on a slick tile floor?  It should be an Olympic sport!  I would pay money to see how many people could skillfully negotiate that rather dangerous route!  Anyway, I made my plane.  I finally got some coffee in Denver at a great little coffee stand called Caribou Coffee.  Really really good stuff. 

I landed in Dallas at 1:22 pm.  Greg Henry, my older brother, (inside joke for all of you who don’t know) picked me up and we went straight to Heaven, er I mean Pappadeaux’s!  Oh my good Lord in Heaven!  I almost killed myself!  Within about thirty minutes of landing I was face down in a plate of cheese and oyster fondues loaded with shrimp and crawfish!  AHHH.  It was fantastic.  And then I added the crawfish trio etouffee, fried and some other kind of crawfish dish that was incredible.  I could barely stand up when I finished that HUGE dinner. 

We made it to Wichita Falls about 7:30 pm.  Late as usual because Greg took forever getting dressed.  Since it was the installation service of a family member I couldn’t just slip in and sit down on the back row.  Oh No!  We had to make the walk all the way down to the second row.  I really enjoyed the service though.  Bro. David Bernard did a fantastic job and as an added bonus it was short!!! 25 minutes.  Surely the presence of the Lord was in that place!  HA.  Anyway there was a great reception afterward with chocolate fountains, a live band and a myriad of different food and beverage choices.  It was really a lot of fun being able to see people that I hadn’t seen in 4 years or so.  In fact, I have some new cousins that are 3 years old that I had never seen before. 

Saturday was a big dinner at the Roadhouse.  That poor poor waitress!  There was a lot of peanut throwing, yelling children and loud boisterous conversation.  It was a blast to sit at the “kids” table and just chat.  Of course the “kids” are all either close to 30 or over 30 with children!  In some cases multiple children.  No, not me!  haha.  We talked about how we will always be the kids no matter how old we will get.  It was a crazy, fun, loud time! 

I woke up at 3 am PST to get on an airplane in Dallas and fly home.  I made it home at around 10:30, got my bags and headed off to Hollister.  I made it home after a quick stop at In and Out and got dressed and made my way to church just in time to preach!  We had an awesome service!  I was exhausted and made it to bed about 9 that night! Wow, what a wild and crazy weekend.  It was so much fun and I vowed not to let it be 4 years before I see everybody again.

More funny stuff

Sigmund the Sea Monster goes to jail

Just for fun

 

In response to the comments…..

That the previous post generated.  I wanted to write one post in response. 

First let me say that there may not be an easy answer to this question.  Each and every person has to make a decision at to how they will proceed on this issue.  I do feel rather strongly about the church being a place of salvation and helping people become the best Christians possible.  However, this is America and you have the right to your own opinions and systems of beliefs. 

In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, the apostle Paul, makes this statement: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified”.  If you read the entire chapter Paul expounds on the difference between God’s knowledge and mans.  I do not think that I am taking this scripture out of context.  People were always trying to trip up Jesus and the apostles with questions and conundrums.  It seems to me that the world would like to use the the same type of tactics to get us off point.  Paul, one of my favorite’s in the Bible, was the apostle to the Gentiles.  That is all of us who are not Jewish.  So I believe that this passage of scripture is vitally important to us even in the modern day. 

I honestly believe that the best way to influence people into changing their views is to preach and teach them about the love and redemptive power of Jesus Christ.  If you have ever watched the conversion of a person from sinner to sinner saved by grace you are aware of the awesome changes that Jesus brings about in a person.  They change from the inside out!  If we believe that the Gospel message we preach is indeed the most powerful message of change and hope in the world then we have need to stand up on our platform’s and expound on issues outside of what our mandate is! 

Let me break it down even further.  Here in California we just had to vote on Proposition 8, an amendment to the constitution of California to say that marriage is between one man and one woman.  This is the second time that we have voted on this issue.  I feel very strongly about this issue as do almost all of the saints in my church.  However, I doubt very seriously, that anyone who has visited my fathers church for any length of time has any question on what he believes in regards to homosexuality.  Why then would he take the time to speak about an issue that everyone already knows he supports (ie voting yes on Prop 8)? 

I, and this is a totally personal opinion, will align myself with Jesus Christ and apostle Paul.  I don’t want to know anything except Jesus Christ  and him crucified.  That’s the message I preach, that’s the life I live.

Concerned

The election is over.  Thank God!  No matter what your views were/are concerning what happened this past Tuesday, I think that we are all grateful that we will not be bombarded by images and new reports of the two candidates standing in a farm in Ohio droning endlessly about their type of “change”.   However, this election cycle has brought a very concerning trend to the fore; the level of political activism being practiced churches across the country.  Before you all decide to hang me from the nearest light pole let me explain.

I have been accused of burying my head in the sand, letting the world pass me by, not being aware of the “very important issues” that were represented in this election, etc.  I am none of the things that I have been accused of.  You will probably not find a person who is more in tune with what happens in the political, financial and global arenas than I am.  Politics affects my everyday job in a way that most people will never experience.  Taxes being raised or lowered has a direct impact on my company and MY wallet.  So these accusations can not be true in any way.  I am also not advocating people not voting their conscience, abstaining from voting or anything like that.  Here are my concerns:

1. We, the church, run the risk of becoming irrelevant if we allow our houses of worship to become political platforms for either party or causes.  This is not what we are called to do!  Our mandate from God is to “go ye therefore” (Matt 28:19).  It does not say to promote a political cause or movement.  Baptizing…yes, teaching….yes, converting….yes.  But not to become a political organization.

2. A congregant should never be made to feel poorly about their political views by the pastor, ministry team member or fellow parishioner!  Never!  We must realize that we are reaching a truly diverse world.  It is not my or your place to judge someone on the basis of their political views.   It should never even enter into the equation.  Only the love of God will convince a person to change over a period of time.  Me, as an assistant pastor, getting up and speaking my political views over a pulpit that is dedicated to saving someone from hell will not change their opinion and I run the risk of doing more damage than good!  This is especially true in extremely diverse areas of the country like California.  Am I saying that I sacrifice my politics or belief systems?  NO, but I do leave them at the door and not take them to the platform with me. 

3.  Any church that pushes a political agenda from the platform runs the risk of having their 403b and tax exempt status taken away.  This would in turn hamstring many of our churches and their ability to pay the bills, give to missionaries, evangelize their communities, etc.

4.  Jesus Christ, who we all say that we are following and trying to be like, made it a point to distance himself from ANY kind of political maneuvering or posturing.  When he was asked if he was the King of the Jews he replied, “You have said so” (Luke 23:3).  The disciples and the nation of Israel were desperate for a Messiah who would return them to their “rightful place” in the world.  In fact, Jesus was rejected partly because he wasn’t a political figure.  His message of peace, salvation and love was rejected by the Jews because they wanted to throw of the political tyranny of Rome.  You can bet that if Jesus had come and organized the people to overthrow the Romans they would have lined the block trying to sign up.  When Jesus was asked by the people if they should have to pay taxes to Caesar, he replied “Then render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s”. (Luke 20:25).  You have to understand that this issue was as important to the people of Israel as abortion and same sex marriage are to us.  They believed that they had the MORAL right to oppose these things.  The business of the Church is to get people to yield the things that are God’s to God!  We have no business making political proclamations from our pulpits and Sunday school bible stands.

5.  Any person in a position of leadership should be extremely careful of stating their political views in any type of forum.  Remember, your blog, Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, Twitter, etc., are read by many different types of people.  It would not be prudent to offend a member of your congregation simply to make a point or let of a little steam.

This election has stirred up a lot of negative feelings.  Race and gender are always hot button issues that run deep in all of us.  However, as Christians/Christ imitators, our duty is to be like him.  Not to push a political agenda or issue.  We should let the love of God work on people and let their political views mature over time.  We do this with standards.  The wise pastors don’t immediately began to tell people what they have to change.  We let God and time work on their hearts.  They inevitably will come to you to discuss things that they are doing that no longer feel right.  Why do we feel like we have to change their political views as soon as possible? 

In all of this we need to remember that “the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).  It doesn’t really matter who is President or Governor.  God’s will will be done.  If we truly believe that “all things work together” then we need to leave the political arena, never to return, and get back to what we are supposed to do…….GO WIN SOULS!!