Phil Collins

I"ve always been a Phil collins fan. I mean who didn't sing along to groovy kind of love while saying take a look at me now as you felt it in the air tonight? And who hasn't had at least one girl that stayed on your mind named, Su su sussudio? Kendra and I played "separate lives" at our wedding for Pete's sake!!! (jk, it was love stinks=)

I was pretty shocked to see an interview with Phil where he revealed he'd been contemplating suicide for years but decided against it because of his children.
Here is a small part of the interview....

"I wouldn't blow my head off," he says. "I'd overdose or do something that didn't hurt. But I wouldn't do that to the children."

The 59-year-old Oscar and Grammy-winning solo artist has five children from three marriages.

"A comedian who committed suicide in the '60s left a note saying, 'Too many things went wrong too often,'" Collins says. "I often think about that."

"I sometimes think I'm going to write this Phil Collins character out of the story," he says. "Phil Collins will just disappear or be murdered in some hotel bedroom, and people will say, 'What happened to Phil?' And the answer will be, 'He got murdered, but, yeah, anyway, let's carry on.' That kind of thing."

Sometimes it's so easy to associate talented wealthy people with having it all together. After all, they have money, fame, and world wide recognition, what could possibly be wrong? The truth is that people are searching for something and may not even know what it is.

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken---Psalm 62:4-6

David understood something our world has not figured out. Rest, hope and salvation are found only in God. No matter what you may have accomplished in this world, everything that is not grounded in Jesus can and will be shaken. Your life amounts to very little outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I pray that Phil Collins finds the hope and rest for his soul available only in King Jesus.

Don't stop there

As I mentioned, I'm meditating on what it means to put off the old man and put on the new according to Ephesians 4:22-24. If you keep reading the following verse Paul talks about not lying, but speaking truth, then he says

"let him who stole steal no longer, rather let him labor, working with his hands that he may have something to give him who has need" vs 28

I find it interesting that many times as christians, were satisfied with only the absence of bad habits or sins in our life. If we heard about someone who used to steal but now doesn't, we would all celebrate. Paul however, instructs us not to stop there. It's not enough to just not steal, you need to now go further and give. Too often we ask God to "take off" our bad habits and sins, but we rarely ask him to help us "put on" godly virtues.

I think one reason for this is that sinful habits make us feel guilty and defeated in our walk with God, but the absence of Christ like character doesn't always have the same affect and provides less motivation to make changes in our lives.

Becoming like Jesus must be the reason for everything we do, and to make it about not feeling guilty or not wanting a blow to your "spiritual pride" is wrongly motivated and will lead to frustration. Remember that the process of "putting on the new" is just as important as "taking off the old."

--don;t just stop coveting, be generous
--don't just stop being bitter, but put on extravagant forgiveness
--don't just tolerate those you consider enemies, love them
--don't just stop blowing up in anger, develop patience
--don't just stop lusting, but put on holiness in every area
--don't just show up for work, but be the best employee there
--don't just stop complaining, but start being thankful for what you have
--don't just stop putting people down, look for ways to be an encourager.

what's my part?

Lately in my devotional time, I have been meditating on Romans 12:2 as well as Eph. 4:22-26 and how they relate to what is influencing my decisions, thoughts, and choices. I am also trying to pray and determine the balance of my role and the Holy Spirits role in being able to remove the "old man" and put on the "new". Who's responsibility is it to "not be conformed to this world", but rather "have your mind renewed through transformation?" Here is some thoughts I have upon reading "joy in fearing the Lord" by Jerry Bridges.

1. Many Christians think living for Jesus is training yourself to "not sin" This is usually done in their own strength and it makes overcoming temptations and living for Jesus about their own performance and willpower. No one is righteous in themselves and we are saved by grace alone.

2. There is also the mistake of thinking that any "effort" on your part to live for Jesus is attempting to "earn" your salvation, thus depending on human effort.Our responsibility is only to sit back and "let the Lord live through you"

We do have responsibility as believers, but we also must be totally dependent on the power of God.

In the incredible book of Nehemiah, the men of Israel faced great opposition as they tried to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. When they had succeeded in rebuilding the walls to half of their height, the bible say that their enemies plotted together to come fight them and stir up trouble among them.

Here is the response in Neh. 4:8-9 "but we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat"

Notice how they prayed AND posted a guard. There is a temptation to handle this one of two ways. One church camp would go the "spiritual" route and call an all night prayer meeting. They would consider posting a guard to be relying on your own strength and not God's ability to deliver.

The other camp would execute an incredible military strategy by deploying guards on every pivotal spot on the wall, but would be too busy to pray. "What do you mean have a prayer meeting, we have important posts to guard!!"

I believe we must do both. In the new testament Paul told the Church in Philippi, "I have learned to be content in every situation" (phil.4:11) He didn't just turn it all over to the Lord and hope his heart would become content, he realized he had to "learn" this response which would require a measure of spiritual maturity and growth on his part.

Yes we are called to "work out" our salvation, but to do so in absolute surrender and in reliance upon God enabling us to do the work. What God has done thru Jesus does not make our effort to now live for Him unnecessary, but rather it is the only thing that can make it effective.

2 Peter 3:18--"grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ"

I realize there are instances where God miraculously intervenes with no human effort at all (2 Chronicles 20 has an awesome example of this) but I believe it is the exception and not the rule and we are responsible for now "putting on" this new man available to us because of the work of Christ.


What are your thoughts?

top ten worst halloween handouts

I remember as a kid, there were a few houses known for putting the ween in halloween. (I have no idea what that means, but it's supposed to be good.) It was the house that every t and t er (you catchin my oct. 31 lingo here?) got super pumped about because you knew that the goodies were gonna be flowin like the salmon of capistrano.

Then there were the other dreaded houses that although they had the light on, you knew that they were notorious for BUNK treats that scared children far worse than any werewolf or vampire.

Here is my own personal top ten list of worst halloween handouts.

10. cleveland cavaliers Lebron James jersey's---Yes I realize you can't eat these, but I had to throw it in their anyway. Probably because they are the most useless item on the planet right now and the only way to even give them away would be to sneak them in the unsuspecting bucket of a defenseless child.

9. dum dum suckers.---what is this, the bank? dum dums are the saddest excuse for suckers and look like someone spent two hours licking a real sucker, and then wrapped it back up. They shouldn't even be classified as loli-pops and I can only imagine the crestfallen face of tricker treaters as you smile and pretend that you actually gave them real candy.

8. a penny---seriously, we had a lady (big red house on wa****lsh street) who handed out pennies. I realize they are technically legal tender for all debts private or public, but at least take into account inflation and bump it up every year. I can't even buy a dum dum for a penny.

7. little star mint thingies-----You know what i'm talking about right? Those red and white star mints wrapped in plastic that look like they belong in a mens room urinal? Newsflash--no tricker treater is worried about their breath and nobody wants you or loves you red and white mint. You are worthless and now that I think about it, you may actually belong lower on this list than dum dums.


6. apples--yes this sort of tragedy does happen. Am I also the only one who heard the same story every year about some kid who got an apple on halloween, cut it down the middle and smoke/mist/poison leaked out? It was like a modern day sleeping beauty. I could barely eat apple pie without lifting the crust up after that. Here's a halloween hint, don't hand out fruit, of any kind. Anytime I got an apple it hit the road before the next house.

5. mystery round candy wrapped in that all orange wrapper----I think they were meant to taste like peanut butter, but they were more like chewy turds.

4. mystery candy wrapped in that all black wrapper.---This is the evil brother of the orange wrapper candy and way more sinister. It made the orange turd candy taste like a king size snickers. I think the main ingredient was cod liver oil and I would throw them away before they got in the wrong hands and someone used them to cast an evil spell or something.

3. smarties--possibly the worst candy every. Whoever named them smarties should have licked more dum dums. Half the time they would open themselves or split down the middle and spill all over anyway. My daughter is a sugarholic and even she thinks smarties are terrible.

2. toothpaste, toothbrushes, or dental floss---come on people. It's candy night, not push your cavity creep agenda night. If you want to opt out, its cool, just turn your light off and no one will judge you. Being a halloween hater is unacceptable.

1. Anything homemade---This is up there with handing out pecans or walnuts you gathered from your lawn. That popcorn ball my have been made by your sweet grandmother, or maybe Freddy Krueger. No child should take that risk. Instant trash status.


Did I miss any? Aren't you glad you didn't grow up in my neighborhood? =)

bullying

I have a confession to make.........I was a bully in grade school. oh yea, and maybe a tinnnnnny bit in middle school too. I was huge into professional "wrestling" and because I was bigger than most kids I felt obligated to try to put them in a sleeper hold or perfect my figure four leg lock on them. It was really more in the spirit of "playing" with friends than hard core hateful bullying for the sake of being mean, but I'm sure there were some times it got out of hand.

I ran across this article about a school in ohio that has had four suicides allegedly in response to bullying. (I say allegedly because as much as I hate bullying and believe it could easily lead to suicide, you never know if there are other factors like untreated depression or family history that could also play a part) The story of brutal attacks endured by a young girl whose family moved here from Croatia literally made me cry. I've included an excerpt from an ap article about the incident here........

"Sladjana Vidovic, whose family had moved to northeast Ohio from Bosnia when she was a little girl, was pretty, vivacious and charming. She loved to dance. She would turn on the stereo and drag her father out of his chair, dance him in circles around the living room.

“Nonstop smile. Nonstop music,” says her father, Dragan, who speaks only a little English.

At school, life was very different. She was ridiculed for her thick accent. Classmates tossed insults like “Slutty Jana” or “Slut-Jana-Vagina.” A boy pushed her down the stairs. A girl smacked her in the face with a water bottle.

Phone callers in the dead of night would tell her to go back to Croatia, that she’d be dead in the morning, that they’d find her after school, says Suzana Vidovic.

“Sladjana did stand up for herself, but toward the end she just kind of stopped,” says her best friend, Jelena Jandric. “Because she couldn’t handle it. She didn’t have enough strength.”

Vidovic’s parents say they begged the school to intervene many times. They say the school promised to take care of her............

Sladjana Vidovic’s body lay in an open casket, dressed in the sparkly pink dress she had planned to wear to the prom. Days earlier, she had tied one end of a rope around her neck and the other around a bed post before jumping out her bedroom window.

The 16-year-old’s last words, scribbled in English and her native Croatian, told of her daily torment at Mentor High School, where students mocked her accent, taunted her with insults like “Slutty Jana” and threw food at her.

It was the fourth time in little more than two years that a bullied high school student in this small Cleveland suburb on Lake Erie died at his or her own hand — three suicides, one overdose of antidepressants. One was bullied for being gay, another for having a learning disability, another for being a boy who happened to like wearing pink.

Now two families — including the Vidovics — are suing the school district, claiming their children were bullied to death and the school did nothing to stop it.

If there has been soul-searching among the bullies in Mentor — a pleasant beachfront community that was voted one of the “100 Best Places to Live” by CNN and Money magazine this year — Sladjana’s family saw too little of it at her wake in October 2008.

Suzana Vidovic found her sister’s body hanging over the front lawn. The family watched, she said, as the girls who had tormented Sladjana for months walked up to the casket — and laughed.

“They were laughing at the way she looked,” Suzana says, crying. “Even though she died.”---------


Has human life really been so devalued that people could seriously laugh at a young person who took her own life? Has "the love of many grown cold" to this level?

My opinion is that extreme cases like this are not merely a symptom of kids being kids, but a reflection of the moral decay of our society.

Here is my two cents,

Cent # 1. Although bullying has always existed, the ability to engage in character assassination using things like social networks and websites designed specifically to attack individuals, lets the torment continue 24/7 and also allows for a level of anonymity.

cent #2---I can't help but believe that we are creating an environment in our culture where this is becoming acceptable. we have turned public humiliation into entertainment and kids watch HOURS of programming (even on "family friendly" channels" where they are schooled in how to be cruel and rude under the guise of family entertainment.

I'm not trying to be anti technology and I'm not saying we can raise kids in a bubble, but I pray by the grace of God that a generation of Jesus Followers is raised up who will recognize this for the evil that it is, and let Philippians 2:3-4 be their standard!!!

Do you think bullying is worse now than when you were young or am I way off here? I'd love to hear your thoughts or bully stories.

scare tactics

short video clip of my wife and Jenny both getting scared at work =)

All dogs go to heaven?

I've been asked before if I think there will be animals, or even more specifically pets, in heaven. While I am unaware of any scripture verifying that as factual, there is the old saying nothing is impossible, so who knows. I also realize that people become very attached to their pets and want the absolute best for them. I'm all for that too.

I want you to imagine yourself in your living room watching Kurt Cameron and the left behind series with your family. Your so grateful that being a christian and all, there is no way your getting caught off guard when the believers get whisked away. Suddenly you find yourself staring at fido on the floor and you wonder........"what would happen to good ole fido if I were to be raptured???????????

Whatever your position on pets and the after life, what I'm about to share is going to blow the doors off of not only your theology, but the entrepreneur spirit of American commerce.

I bring you, "eternal earthbound pets" --"The next best thing to pet salvation in a Post Rapture World." Yes you heard correctly. For only 110 dollars, you can be assured that if the rapture should occur anytime within ten years of them receiving your payment, your pet will be rescued and cared for by those who are left behind. (one pet per residence, each additional pet is $15 more)

Again, you heard correctly, "christians" are actually paying 110 dollars so that a "screened" animal loving atheist in the midst of a chaotic world where presumably one plus billion people will have vanished from cars and planes instantly, is going to track down your cat and nurse it back to post rapture health.

There are so many things wrong here I don't know how to process this. Can you imagine someone calling (presumably a christian) and asking "how can I be sure you hate Jesus?" "You better call me if you ever get saved, I've got a cat I'm worried about!" We seriously have a world to reach with the truth of Jesus, and I'm not trying to make a complete joke of this, but it is a little crazy. I would be super interested in finding out how many people have actually coughed up the dough.

I've included a link to the "frequently asked questions" (which includes how they will care for your "special needs" pet) so that you can have all the facts before you consider purchasing this valuable service.