This is Number 50! I can't believe it. Nor can anyone else who really knows me! This silly little thing was not supposed to go past a couple of months, at the most. All in all, it's been fun. I am constantly making mental notes as to potential topics. Some posts have over-lapped with others. You have pointed that out in your "comments." But I am very pleased that I have stood firm in my resolve to 1) Not beat you down with my insignificant running exploits. 2) Entertain any of your requests for a topic.
Each week, when I link CTT to my Facebook wall, I am hopeful that it will be for the VERY last time. Alas, that never seems to be the case. Without fail, some thought gets into mind, and I am certain that my TENS of readers need to be educated on the topic!
Which brings me to clichés! The truth is....I could get the next 40-50 weeks of posts out of old, tired clichés. It would be a beating. But, I would have fun. Don't worry! I am going to resist that temptation. You're welcome!
This morning, I am simply going to address two....the most IRRITATING and the most DANGEROUS!
I did not watch the Golden Globes last night. I don't get the Awards Show! I am certain, though of one thing. At some point, one of those MORONS, in accepting their award, said the following: "It's been one h*lluva ride!"
NAILS ON A CHALKBOARD! That simple little saying absolutely makes my skin crawl! I promise you this. When I write my final post to CTT (hopefully very soon), I will not insult you by signing off, "It's been one h*lluva ride!" VOMIT!
WHEW! I feel much better now that I've gotten that off my chest!
Now, to the matter at hand, and the real motivation behind this post. During the Phil Robertson/A&E imbroglio, I heard for the brazillionth time, the most dangerous cliché that people throw around.
I truly cringe and sometimes feel the need to seek shelter from lightning strikes when my fellow Christians are brazen enough to utter, "Love the sinner! Hate the sin!"
A word of caution, be very CAREFUL if you find it necessary to to let this pass through your lips. They KNOW! They REALLY do know! And they really DON'T like being LIED to!
And yes, they have been lied to. It's interesting to note that the Carpenter issued the litmus test in John 13:35, when he said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
I mean this is EASY, right. Jesus wasn't talking about loving the sinner. He was talking about His followers loving each other. The good guys! Right? If you, the good guys, will simply love each other, then ALL men will know that you are my disciples! Easy, peasy! Right?
WRONG! Step into almost ANY congregation and see what kind of vibe you get. And before you BLOW up my comments section, be very careful! Because I might just show up next Sunday. And just by walking into the place, I will obviously look for things that are no where mentioned in the Bible, but I will be on a mission to look for evidence that will make me conclude that, "Man, oh man, this bunch sure does love each other!"
Time after time, our places of Worship reflect a general dislike of the preacher, leadership that is disconnected, kids who hate the old folks, senior members that despise the kids, and everyone is mad at the Hispanic members, because they are typically the most active Christians and use the facility every day, but won't pay their fair share of the rent!
In general, we have failed at loving each other. How in the world are we going to convince the Sinner that REALLY love him? It's a VERY tired cliché! And it is so VERY dangerous! They know. Trust me, they know!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
Outrage Seems To Be the Modus Operandi
Even after espousing the greatness of satellite radio, I found myself back on "free radio" briefly this week. The Musers, of Ticket fame, were coming off vacation and the Cowboys had just lost the day before. Curiosity got the best of me and I thought I would see what was on their mind.
It was during "Gordo's Corner" that the great mind of Gordon Keith expressed an opinion that I have thought about all week. The lads were catching up on the whole A&E/Phil Robertson imbroglio, because they had not been on the air when that news broke. It was almost as though Dunham had read CTT, because he just kept repeating, "Why does anyone care what Phil Robertson has to say about anything?"
Gordon Keith's response was short, concise, and probably the most interesting comment he has ever made. He said:
"Because we are a nation that runs on OUTRAGE!"
Wow! Is he right? Could this be true? In one short statement, did a goofball on Sports Talk Radio sum up the current human condition?
I can only come up with two possible responses. 1) YES! and 2) GUILTY!
I don't have to do a lot of serious reflecting before the reality sets in that OUTRAGE pretty much runs my life! I go about my day just trying to find something to be pissed off about! Sadly, it's starting to hit me just how EXHAUSTING this modus operandi truly is!
Most recently, I have been watching the Global Warming Nuts who are stuck in the ice and it's making me insane! In 2007, the ice was disappearing because of global warming. In 2013, there is too much ice because of global warming! This year, they recorded more ice in the ice caps than they have ever recorded in the history of ever! But the global warming studies indicate that the situation is much worse than they first feared.
What does an aneurysm feel like? Cause I'm pretty sure this kind of stuff makes me feel like I'm having one!
Outrage! About global warming, of all things! Seems kind of insignificant, huh? Especially to those of you who can't sleep at night because our current POTUS can't produce a valid birth certificate!
Let's be clear. I am not a fan of our current POTUS. But if Gordon Keith is right, we've got the perfect guy up there to enable us to continue under this modus operandi!
A few weeks ago, I pointed out on someone else's FB page that a college ID of the POTUS was a fake. I got 100% pure outrage in response. It was something like this:
"He lies to us. Why can't we lie about him? He is trying to kill me by taking away my health insurance! How slowly do you have to kill someone before it is not deemed premeditated murder?"
I saw no need to respond because this person needs much more help than I am capable of offering. I don't really blame the guy, though. I actually love him very dearly. I have come to understand that he's operating on outrage! And since the cliche is true that "if you spot it, you got it," I realize that I'm operating on outrage, too. We are really not that different and have much more in common than I would like to confess to.
The problem is clear. So, is the solution. It was addressed in CTT very early on when I tackled the "wisdom to know the difference." If so inspired, look in the archives. I'm not going to rehash it.
But I am going to do one thing. I am going to try as hard as I can to remember the comment of a goofy sports talk radio host. I am going to continually ask, "Kev, why are you running on outrage?
Because at the end of the day, this running on outrage leaves me running on empty!
It was during "Gordo's Corner" that the great mind of Gordon Keith expressed an opinion that I have thought about all week. The lads were catching up on the whole A&E/Phil Robertson imbroglio, because they had not been on the air when that news broke. It was almost as though Dunham had read CTT, because he just kept repeating, "Why does anyone care what Phil Robertson has to say about anything?"
Gordon Keith's response was short, concise, and probably the most interesting comment he has ever made. He said:
"Because we are a nation that runs on OUTRAGE!"
Wow! Is he right? Could this be true? In one short statement, did a goofball on Sports Talk Radio sum up the current human condition?
I can only come up with two possible responses. 1) YES! and 2) GUILTY!
I don't have to do a lot of serious reflecting before the reality sets in that OUTRAGE pretty much runs my life! I go about my day just trying to find something to be pissed off about! Sadly, it's starting to hit me just how EXHAUSTING this modus operandi truly is!
Most recently, I have been watching the Global Warming Nuts who are stuck in the ice and it's making me insane! In 2007, the ice was disappearing because of global warming. In 2013, there is too much ice because of global warming! This year, they recorded more ice in the ice caps than they have ever recorded in the history of ever! But the global warming studies indicate that the situation is much worse than they first feared.
What does an aneurysm feel like? Cause I'm pretty sure this kind of stuff makes me feel like I'm having one!
Outrage! About global warming, of all things! Seems kind of insignificant, huh? Especially to those of you who can't sleep at night because our current POTUS can't produce a valid birth certificate!
Let's be clear. I am not a fan of our current POTUS. But if Gordon Keith is right, we've got the perfect guy up there to enable us to continue under this modus operandi!
A few weeks ago, I pointed out on someone else's FB page that a college ID of the POTUS was a fake. I got 100% pure outrage in response. It was something like this:
"He lies to us. Why can't we lie about him? He is trying to kill me by taking away my health insurance! How slowly do you have to kill someone before it is not deemed premeditated murder?"
I saw no need to respond because this person needs much more help than I am capable of offering. I don't really blame the guy, though. I actually love him very dearly. I have come to understand that he's operating on outrage! And since the cliche is true that "if you spot it, you got it," I realize that I'm operating on outrage, too. We are really not that different and have much more in common than I would like to confess to.
The problem is clear. So, is the solution. It was addressed in CTT very early on when I tackled the "wisdom to know the difference." If so inspired, look in the archives. I'm not going to rehash it.
But I am going to do one thing. I am going to try as hard as I can to remember the comment of a goofy sports talk radio host. I am going to continually ask, "Kev, why are you running on outrage?
Because at the end of the day, this running on outrage leaves me running on empty!
Monday, December 30, 2013
They Can't Be Angels! Can They?
Okay! Okay! Okay! Such backlash! Not really! Only THREE of my TENS of readers expressed disappointment with the absence of a post this morning. Actually, three out of ten ain't bad. In the Major Leagues, batters with a .300 average are All-Stars! There is little hope of this little experiment ever gaining All-Star notoriety! But, we digress......
Trust me! I had no idea I would still be irritating you with my rantings at the end of the year. This thing started in February, with very little hope of making it past March. Topics are still swimming around in my head. But I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I just tackle the next topic on my imaginary list? Do I do a year-end review? Do I threaten to quit (again), in an obvious attempt to garner faint praise from my tens of readers?
The reality is that I've had a blast with this thing. Most weeks, it has been fun. It's only felt like a deadline once or twice. And I continue to be amazed by the number of people who are NOT in the 150 (unfortunately now 170) who approach me and tell me they never miss an episode!
This morning, however, I just wasn't feeling it. I never got around to starting it on Sunday, and I actually needed to work this morning. Business is good and it's kind of a tough time of year to be working in the housing industry and, weekly, updating a blog.
This morning, I was being my typical self-centered, self-absorbed ME and I wasn't really concerned about the Blog. I keep telling all of you with topic requests that, "Hey! It's blogger.com and it's free! Sign up and knock yourself out!"
Then, per usual, God did for me what I seemingly am never able to do for myself. He had me stop at a Pizza Joint I haven't been in since High School. In that visit, my attitudes, perspectives, and self-centeredness were all rearranged!
I had been following the fine work of Carolyn Benavides on Facebook and sensed that something special was going on at this place of business. Wow! I truly had NO IDEA!
I'm not going to quote the numbers because I am sure to get them wrong. But suffice it to say, that thousands of volunteer hours, by hundreds of volunteers, are being spent to feed Thousands of hungry kids and their families in the Carrollton/Farmers Branch area and in Veterans' Hospitals in other towns. And this former classmate of mine (who I never knew in High School) is nothing short of a FIREBALL! Her passion for this work is palpable. And her energy is ridiculous!
We spoke of the dire need. I shared some of my experiences (hating to be outdone---I CLEARLY was). And before you knew it, we were both crying!
In the ULTIMATE reach to WIN, I decided to quote scripture! As humbly as possible (what a joke!), I declared, "Well, the Bible clearly says that we "...should not forget to show kindness to strangers..." Carolyn actually had the nerve to interrupt ME and quickly finished the verse, "for by doing so many have entertained angels unaware."
Carolyn has a heart, a zeal, and a passion for those who are less fortunate. You really need to stop by and see for yourself. And to top it all off, she evidently thinks that she just might be entertaining Angels!
Here's to you Carolyn Benavides (and Richard) and to the hundreds of folks that support and volunteer at Joe's Pizza Pasta & Subs in Carrollton, Tx! WELL DONE!
Trust me! I had no idea I would still be irritating you with my rantings at the end of the year. This thing started in February, with very little hope of making it past March. Topics are still swimming around in my head. But I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I just tackle the next topic on my imaginary list? Do I do a year-end review? Do I threaten to quit (again), in an obvious attempt to garner faint praise from my tens of readers?
The reality is that I've had a blast with this thing. Most weeks, it has been fun. It's only felt like a deadline once or twice. And I continue to be amazed by the number of people who are NOT in the 150 (unfortunately now 170) who approach me and tell me they never miss an episode!
This morning, however, I just wasn't feeling it. I never got around to starting it on Sunday, and I actually needed to work this morning. Business is good and it's kind of a tough time of year to be working in the housing industry and, weekly, updating a blog.
This morning, I was being my typical self-centered, self-absorbed ME and I wasn't really concerned about the Blog. I keep telling all of you with topic requests that, "Hey! It's blogger.com and it's free! Sign up and knock yourself out!"
Then, per usual, God did for me what I seemingly am never able to do for myself. He had me stop at a Pizza Joint I haven't been in since High School. In that visit, my attitudes, perspectives, and self-centeredness were all rearranged!
I had been following the fine work of Carolyn Benavides on Facebook and sensed that something special was going on at this place of business. Wow! I truly had NO IDEA!
I'm not going to quote the numbers because I am sure to get them wrong. But suffice it to say, that thousands of volunteer hours, by hundreds of volunteers, are being spent to feed Thousands of hungry kids and their families in the Carrollton/Farmers Branch area and in Veterans' Hospitals in other towns. And this former classmate of mine (who I never knew in High School) is nothing short of a FIREBALL! Her passion for this work is palpable. And her energy is ridiculous!
We spoke of the dire need. I shared some of my experiences (hating to be outdone---I CLEARLY was). And before you knew it, we were both crying!
In the ULTIMATE reach to WIN, I decided to quote scripture! As humbly as possible (what a joke!), I declared, "Well, the Bible clearly says that we "...should not forget to show kindness to strangers..." Carolyn actually had the nerve to interrupt ME and quickly finished the verse, "for by doing so many have entertained angels unaware."
Carolyn has a heart, a zeal, and a passion for those who are less fortunate. You really need to stop by and see for yourself. And to top it all off, she evidently thinks that she just might be entertaining Angels!
Here's to you Carolyn Benavides (and Richard) and to the hundreds of folks that support and volunteer at Joe's Pizza Pasta & Subs in Carrollton, Tx! WELL DONE!
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