Quizes are back!!!!

Some of you might remember the good ol' days when quizes consumed our free time. Well they are back in full swing baby, and you should be the first to take mine!!! Here is the link: http://mntbkchica.friendtest.com/

It's silly but fun!!!

Seeking whom he may devour.

When I was a camp counselor a few years back, there was lots of discussion on "Satan's foothold". We would often pray against the foothold that Satan had on our campers and our counselors. This really annoyed me at the time. I was a little bit of a hyper-Calvinist and wanted to shove everyone's sinful nature in their face. I joke now, but it did and does bother me when we don't acknowledge as part of the problem. (much like it bothers me when court cases turn into "what made him do it" instead of "did he do it". I just recently watched E's True Hollywood Story about the Menendez Brothers) Anyway neither one of those points is what I intended to Blog on.

My question is for those more knowledgeable than I. What role does Satan play on a day to day basis. I have a friend that is consumed by the idea of evil and Satan's role. A recent conversation sent me back to those frustrated times at camp. Honestly I really don't care what Satan is doing, I don't think it is relevant. But it must be a little I guess. I figure I just have more important things to consider when things get rough or I'm struggling. First, I do think that my sinful nature has a lot to do with it, but I also think that ultimately Christ is more powerful than any Satan.

That just skirts the question for anyone that really wants an answer. I don't recall talking about this much growing up or now as an adult. I did look Sproul's thoughts up in Essential Truths of the Christian Faith. He had some interesting things to say.

"Satan is after all, a creature. He is finite and limited. He is limited to space and time. He cannot be in more than one place at one time. He is never to be regarded in any way as an equal with God. Satan is a higher order of being than human; he is a fallen angel. But he is not divine. He has more power than earthly creatures but infinitely less power than almighty God."

The thing that really sticks out to me is that he can't be in more than one place at a time. I never thought about that. Man he must have been really busy at camp. All joking aside, I really don't understand what role Satan plays in the world today. I guess I don't really understand any source of evil besides the evil in me that comes from the fall.

Please shed some light on this issue.

My return!!!

I apologize to my fans for my absence. I realize that my insight, that you so often look towards for guidance, has been missing for far to long.

I am currently writing you from Katy, Texas, the new home of my brother and his family. I must say that my trip has been quite hectic so far. As I type, my little nephew Fenton is being stripped from his church clothes because he had an accident, one that would normally be prevented if he weren't so preoccupied with his cousins. Screaming, crying, spanking, threatening, please-don't-spank-me, poop, wipe-my-bottom, mom-i'm-hungry, mom-can-we-play-outside!!! Oh yeah, we are talking some serious birth control here. I love children, especially my nephews and nieces, but enough is enough.

I will say that my brother's sermon this morning was wonderful. The theme was community, complete with illustrations from C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. I'm really proud of my brother. He was recently called to be the head pastor of a church down here in Katy. The reasons I enjoy him so much are: one because I am supposed to, two because he is just brilliant, three because although he cen be incredibly hard to talk with sometimes (do to his inablility to focus on more than one thing at a time), his love for scripture, truth, and grace is more than I can handle sometimes. Also, I think that maybe he is a little too smart for his own good, much like his oldest son.

We are all heading to Sea World tomorrow, Lord be with us. It should be lots of fun. I must go now, we are eating a Sea World theme lunch provided by some sweet ladies from the church. "Octopus on the beach" anyone?


I will say that I wrote an incredibly eloquent blog this morning, that was erased when the laptop ran out of batteries. So there is plenty more where this came from, I just have to find a free moment.

I'm a sick sick person!!

Okay, I'm sick. Sick physically and emotionally and spiritually. I relish in my sinfulness when no one is looking and I straighten up quickly when there are observers. I don't admit my sin to God or anyone. I hold it as my own and I am proud of it. I like, no I love it. When driving to Oklahoma City, I light up, don't where my seatbelt and speed. I look cautiously to see if I know anyone who will see me smoking, when I see a cop I quickly slap on the belt and slam on the breaks. When I get out of my car, I spray some spray to cover up the smell and pop some gum in my mouth. No one has to know, it's no big deal!!!! Oh yeah well if its no big deal, why do you act so sneakily?

These are just a few illustrations of a bigger problem. If I do all this to hide these seemingly insignificant things from you all, think about what I pretend to hide from God. Excuse me while I go to the bathroom and vomit.

Adventure

Where does the desire for adventure come from? Does the bible talk about it?

Kim and I went to a mini-lecture thingy at Backwoods tonight. This really amazing man showed slides of his adventures to Mount Everest. He has broken several records for climbing mountains super fast, doing things with out oxygen, and all kinds of really crazy things. While he didn't quite inspire me to climb anything, he did get my imagination going.

Some of my favorite books and movies revolve around the theme of adventure and discovery, in fact I am reading a book right now called Humboldt's Cosmos, which is pretty interesting, you should check it out. As I am reading it though, I wonder what is it about adventure and discovery that is so appealing. It is similar to the excitement of learning, but for me there is a certain thrill of the unknown, or thoughts like "this is kind of dangerous", "I hope I have good stories to tell."

Take for instance my solo trip to Kentucky and the Carolina's a few summers ago. I wanted to camp by myself, meet people, and just do something that was out of the norm. Then that big trip to Europe. Some people are into that kind of thing because of the history or the food, I just was "just up for the adventure". More often then not I enjoy just dreaming of the possibilities and never make anything happen, but man, this guy tonight had me convinced I could do anything and go anywhere. I think my next big adventure is going to be sailing threw the Galapagos Islands and living in a tree house in the Amazon.

What are some of you adventure dreams? What inspires you to take adventures?

House Church

I recently joined some of my new friends for church. It was different from the church I am used to, we didn't meet in a Catholic school for one thing. It was actually in a house, hence the name "House Church. The church is a group of about 20 people, mostly young married or college age. It was started or actually planted about 6-8 months ago. One of the couples had helped plant another church in McAllen, Texas and is now here heading up this plant. The wife, Leslie, and I talked for a while about where or why the idea of a house church came about. I got the impression that they don't intend for it to remain in the house but that ideally it would grow, much like how the church I go to started in a bar and now has moved on to the Catholic School. This house church in particular is similar to Journey Church, I believe it is actually affiliated with Fellowship Church, which I know little to nothing about. Anyway.... I enjoyed my time there. Everyone was great, good conversation, good food, children running around, and laughing.
As far as the set up went, it was much like a Bible study in my opinion. We focused on a verse, meditated on it, went around the table and talked about what stood out to us, focused on it some more, and of course prayed. Meditating on scripture is a great and very important, I wish that I did it more often. It was similar to CAPTOR. (is that right? Man I should really have the acronym right if I'm going to bring it up) So, while I found the my time there worth while, I think I went into the situation with lots of questions. My friend and I discussed it briefly.
One of my concerns was that the structure of the night was something that happened every week, with no other elements of the traditional church service that I am used to. Why is this important? I'm not sure that I know how to explain. Mainly because I am not knowledge in this area. All I know is there should be more to it. I'm not saying this out of judgment, right now I am just saying it out of feeling. I'm pretty sure if I did some research or reading on the subject, I could explain why there is or should be structure and traditions in a church service. I do barely remember Mike talking about why we structure our service the way we do, but the only specific thing that sticks out is that the Bible doesn't have a detailed description of what formal worship should consist of. So why do we do it? I want to know. How did we come to the traditions we have today?

One other thing that I wasn't sure about and need insight on.....
These three "elders" of the house church, how are they being held accountable? Who is keeping them in check so they don't start pushing views that may not line up with scripture?
Shouldn't there be some sort of authority over them that doesn't go as far as calling it a heirachy?

These are my questions. May I just reiterate that I really had a nice time, and I think these people's love for Christ is beautiful and genuine. I need to understand this for my own sake, so that I can understand my church and other churches.

So hit me!! What ya got?