Help Me Out

I am tasked with planning our men's retreat. I am to present 3 or 4 themes to the eldership. Here are 4 themes I thought to be appropriate. Rank them in order of your preference.

Theme: Men's Christian Service
- What is expected of me?
- Why is it expected?
- Am I Reaching expectation?
- How do I get started?

Theme: It's Not About Me
- Unity or Disunity, that is the question.
(Essentially unity is 'to be', or to live as one body in Christ, and disunity is 'not to be', or to die as a church)

Theme: Dealing with temptations and sin - Based on James 1
- Every man's struggle - lust
- Pre-marital sex, post-marital extra-marital sex (in mind or matter)
- The problem and accessibility of pornography
- A law issue or a heart issue (Scripture says that law increases sin; therefore, we must reach our heart; this is the 'heart' of the matter.)

Theme: Why men don't like church - What it means to be a Christian man?
- What does it mean to be a masculine Christian?
- Lies of the effeminate church.
- Touchy-feely versus brotherly love.
- The headship of the man.

Ah, the luck o' the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm wearing a green t-shirt that reads "IRELAND - RUGBY LEAGUE - DUBLIN ATHLETICS". No pinches for me. In fact, I found a picture of it online; here it is:


I plan to find me some Harp's Irish Lager in remembrance of ol' St. Pat himself. I've been meaning to try it anyway, just because of the name.



Grace and peace from the Holy Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

(read in an Irish accent)= God bless ya me lad!

Refreshed

Taking the advice of a friend, I got up yesterday and went for a walk at White Rock Lake. I walked and read from my pocket ESV. I'll post some thoughts on my reading later. But for now, I just wanted to update on my feeling of leprosy-like isolation.
After walking, reading, thinking, and silently talking at the lake, I came home and gathered up the family and headed out for a picnic. This was the beginning of an amazing day. We came home, and I studied for a while. After studying, we all played so hard. I was Doc Oc and Eli was Spiderman. Kai was Spiderman as well, since he usually does what his big brother does - haha! When Doc Oc would grab the two Spidermen, the Spidermen's mom would rush in and rescue them. The boys loved it. It was much needed time for all of us.

Thank God for my awesome wife! Last night we spent great time in worship; singing, reading Scripture, and praying together. It was amazing, and again, much needed. Things are getting back to normal, or what we consider normal, what most people would consider very unnormal - haha!

Speaking of normal, this morning I feel normal again! I will gather all of my books in a moment, and head off to the coffee shop to study. Then, after Kelli returns from a Bible study with friends, we will make it a point to have another great evening together.

more later...gotta get started on the day...

Praise God!

Ughhhhh...

I feel like a leper. After waking up sick somewhere between 1:00-2:00AM Monday morning, I sealed myself up in the bedroom for the entire day hoping to isolate the sickness to myself alone sparing the rest of my family who is already suffering from a pretty serious cold. Tuesday morning I was feeling a little better, and by lunch time I had made the decision to practice mind over body and get up and enjoy the rest of the day. We did enjoy the day, and I felt great. Last night, however, I woke up again sick. So, here I am, sealed once again in the bedroom of our apartment.

I haven't wanted to do anything while laying in the bed. I have so much to do: a test, an exegesis, a presentation, a book report, reading assignments, preparation for Sunday morning class; but I feel completely unmotivated. In fact, I feel a little despairing. A million thoughts have gone through my head while trapped to myself. Not many have been great. I've tried to clear my mind and study, but I can't focus, on anything at all. I don't know what's going on, but I pray for strength and wisdom as I travel what will be just another shadow through which I've passed.

I'm fearful. Sometimes I feel like the pretender. A familiar fear returns; it scares me that I have no idea what I am going to do in the next 2 years. It scares me that I can hardly see myself doing anything at all. Maybe it's a lack of confidence in myself, which I know boils down to a lack of trust in God. Whatever it is, I have to stop thinking about it and feeling this way. It only drags me down further and further. I hear my Shepherd calling, but I'm stuck in a trench. But I know that he'll find me soon and pull me out. I'm confident in that. I just wish I would remember the trench when I see it and stop falling into it everytime. Foolish sheep.

Woe to us when the day declines and the shadows of evening lengthen.

It's just a little longer until the cloud and darkness move and the sun once again shines to light the day and the path ahead. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.

Christ return.

Curious George and Jack Johnson

Curious George is now officially one of my favorite movies. We took Eli and Kai to see it last Sunday, and we all loved it. It's rated about a G-. The best part about it is that all of the music is by JACK JOHNSON! So of course, I had to splurge and buy the soundtrack. It is awesome! I highly recommend it. Of course, I wouldn't have expected anything less than awesome from Jack.