HARMLESS THOUGHTS

I haven't been tagged in quite a while, so I wasn't sad about getting tagged from truegrit . Here are the Rules: Those tagged will share 5 things they “love” about Jesus. Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers. Those tagged will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them. 1. He loves us. I have to give this reason as number one, because the only reason why I love Him at all is because He first loved us. 2. He was one of us. I love Him because He walked the dust of this earth. I absolutely love that about Christ. He was a baby, a toddler, an adolescent... He was one of us, yet without sin. In every way He was tempted like us, but He did not sin. He maintained perfect communion with the father, even though He was a man. If that is not enough to win the respect and love of every man, I don't know what is. 3. He was moved with compassion. While He was on this earth, there are so many times that He looked on crowds of p...

I am currently reading the book titled, Not Even a Hint , by Josh Harris. It is a book that I have wanted to read for a long time, but kept putting it off in favor of other books on my reading list. I finally picked it up the other day and dove in. I am only through the first three chapters, and it has been good so far. I am sure that I will give a quick review of this book when I am done with it, but I read something today that I wanted to share with you. It isn't anything profound, but I thought that it was interesting and blog worthy. I once read the true story of a duke named Raynald III, who lived during the fourteenth century. His sad life illustrates how giving in to our lustful desires -- the very thing we often equate with freedom -- actually robs us of freedom and true joy. Raynald III had lived a life of indulgence and was extremely overweight. In fact, he was commonly called by his latin nickname, Crassus, which means "fat." After a violent quarrel, Rayn...

In 1893, the National Education Association had this to say about the role of God in the schools, If the study of the Bible is to be excluded from all state schools – if the inculcation of the principles of Christianity is to have no place in the daily program – if the worship of God is to form no part of the general exercises of these public elementary schools – then the good of the State would be better served by restoring all schools to church control. I could not have put it better. I have believed in Christian School for a long time, and it is for those very reasons mentioned in this quote. What is the purpose without God? Can we pull ourselves up by our own merits? Are we improving ourselves without Him? Do I think that the public schools should be abandoned... ? (Actually, yes.)

Ok, I know that I am a little late with a review of The Hobbit , but I just finished reading this with my boys. Their ages are currently eight and five, and I knew that the 8-year-old could handle this book, but I was a little worried about the 5-year-old. Those worries were soon quenched after I read the first few paragraphs. Anyway, here is my review... Summary: (Just in case you don't know this already...) This book is the somewhat autobiographical rendition of the journey of one Hobbit, by the name of Bilbo Baggins. The title that he gave to this book is There and Back Again . Hobbits, as you know, are comfortable creatures. They enjoy their ale, their pipes, and their many meals each day. Adventures are not a part of their makeup. This Hobbit finds himself in the middle of an adventure when a wizard, a dwarf king, and eleven other dwarves show up on his doorstep one night. Before he knows what has happened, he finds himself facing trolls, trekking mountains, fighting g...

This isn't a reference to my own garden, though I haven't weeded yet, and I need to before my wife gets home. No, this is a reference to a devotional that I just read from Spurgeon's devotional book called Morning and Evening . My sister gave me this book for Christmas I think, quite a while ago. It is a really nice hardback book that looks great on my shelf, but I hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. Well, about a month ago, I picked it up because I was really struggling with being in the Word on a daily basis, so I thought I would try a devotional for a while. I have to say that it has been surprisingly good. I usually consider Spurgeon really stern and unyielding, but as I read these devotionals, I have found his material strongly flavored with mercy and grace. But not just any mercy and grace, I am talking about the kind of mercy and grace that can only come from one who realizes how much of a recipient of mercy and grace that they are. Let me share with yo...

Ice by Shane Johnson Summary: The author is a Christian author, and writes with a Christian world view. This is a fictional story, written as if the Apollo missions had continued on through to the original plan. The story starts with Apollo 19's expedition to the southern pole of the moon, where they are searching for ice that had been detected there. Once the two astronauts are there, they find that they cannot return because of a failed rocket to get them off of the surface. In their remaining time they decide to drive off as far as they can in their rover. To go further than they originally anticipated. Once they get to the end of their road, they find more than ice waiting for them. My Thoughts: I had this book on my Froogle Wish List for a long time. I had put it there on a whim, because it sounded interesting. Also because I enjoy Christian fiction, and there isn't a whole lot of that out there. My mom must have seen the book on my wish list and bought it f...

I did a post a while ago called, This Too Shall Pass . It is my all-time most visited post. Partially because of that, but also because of life itself, I have grown to love that phrase. And because I am so bored, here is a T-Shirt... Or the Mug!

I have come to accept the fact that I will never be able to escape two fields. The teaching field and the moving field. I am not talking about destiny, I think I might be talking about a life sentence. Anyway, since I have been doomed to summerly servitude, moving people's sleeper sofas and refrigerators, I decided to make a T-shirt. (I would just go out and start my own company, if I could afford the insurance.) Here is the emblem that I created. And here is what it looks like on the back of a T-shirt. I would like to change the little tag line, but I couldn't think of anything quippy enough. I thought about, "Taking the pain out of the moving process" or "Movers that help not hurt" or something like that. But I haven't decided yet. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop them in the comments section, or to give me a quick e-mail. To see all of my other stuff just click here .

Ceasar -- Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear, Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come. William Shakespeare in Julius Ceasar

Every once in awhile, I will read a passage of scripture that will stay with me for days. My mind will keep coming back to it. It is usually a passage that I don't ever recall reading before and I don't recall anyone else reading to me. The passage that I posted about a couple of days ago has been like that for me. I know I said this in that post, but it all started with a little curiosity over the "it is written" when Jesus rebukes the Devil and says that "man cannot live on bread alone but on every word of God." This last weekend I was asked to give the devotional on Sunday morning. Our checkout time was 10:00 from the cabin that we rented , and it just wasn't possible to get all of us ready and out the door and to a church on time, so we decided to have church right there. The "service" ended up just being me giving the devotional, but that was alright, we were about out of time. I shared that passage from Deut. 8, because it was still...

All of the... relaxin, socializin, hot-tubbin, game-playin, shop-walkin, dog-rule breakin, out of park by a ranger kickin mountain trekkin, flea-marketin, traffic-sittin, go-kart racin, phone losin (during the go-kartin), food-over-eatin, philosophisin, pool-playin, dance-dance revolutionin, grocery store raidin, and grandma about viagra talkin ...that you can handle in a weekend. Click here if you would like to purchase a T.

The Castle in the Attic is the first full length book that I read with my boys. It is a book that my mom read to me when I was a kid. She even bought three extra copies of it (with the cover that is shown to the right) for each of her kids. Summary : A young boy is given a toy castle as a parting gift from nanny, who is moving back to England. The castle is unique, not only because it seems to be made out of stone and has all working parts, but also because the small lead knight comes to life the moment the boy touches him. The knight, the lady, and the young boy all need to make it back to the knight's homeland to stop an evil wizard. Sounds like all of the proper elements to a good story to me. My Thoughts : I can remember this book from the first time that my mom read it to me. It was good enough that it stuck in my mind over all of these years, and it must have been good enough for her, because she bought all three of her kids a copy of it. It is not a Christian book, b...