Jimmy's 21st Birthday Party

We had a great birthday party for Jimmy today at Chuck E. Cheese!

Happy Birthday Jimmy!

Guest Post

Hey, this is Ben and I'm writing this weeks guest post on my dad's blog.
Michele and I are here from Florida for a few weeks. I smuggled my hamster Rupert on the plane. We went undetected, but he peed in my pocket as we went through security. Boo tries daily to eat him. Last night we went to Walmart at midnight to buy 300, the most amazing movie ever! We're having a great time.

Mega Church

The way church was meant to be.

T-Shirts

Here are some phrases seen on t-shirts. I don't know how to put this, but...I'm kind of a big deal. If you can read this, I've lost my invisibility cloak. Careful, or you'll end up in my novel. Crap. Crap I say. Come to the dark side...we have cookies! I almost nunchucked you. You don't even realize. If you talk at the movies, I hate you. I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park. Life is tough. but it's tougher when you're stupid. Regrettably, all the good paying jobs start before I get up. Don't make me go all Ninja on you.

Gaps 2

I'm taking a reluctant look at the gaps in my life. A gap is the distance between what is and what ought to be. One such gap is the amount of time between the latest crisis/problem/really bad thing and the point at which I finally realize that God can handle it. A big problem will arise and I very maturely freak out. I have yet to meet a mole hill in which I didn't see mountain potential. Wouldn't it be cool if my first response to a problem was, "Lord, You know this is bigger than me. But it's not bigger than You. You've brought me through much worse situations. You were not surprised by this. You allowed it for a reason. I get a front row seat to see You do another miracle! In my weakness You are strong. I can do all things through You who strengthens me." Wouldn't that be cool? I'm not there. But I see another gap to narrow.

Gaps

Lately I've been thinking about the gaps in my life. One gap is the space between what I know and what I live. We can spend our lives learning about God and His Word. And we are right to do so. But knowledge can puff us up with pride. There are many people who know far more about the Bible than I will ever know. Some of them do not know God. God is not impressed with what we know. In fact, I think we will be held accountable for the distance between what we know and what we live. The answer is not to learn less, but to close the gap by living what we know. We can do this by experiencing the presence of God every day. We get to know someone best by spending time with them. We can also close the gap by practicing what we know He wants us to do. Serve others, be holy, treat others as being more important than ourselves, love justice, walk humbly before the Lord, feed the hungry, be Jesus to others, seek His will, walk in the Light, turn the other cheek, love our enemies, give joyfully, stop judging people, forgive freely, love outrageously, and share the Good News of Jesus unashamedly. Feel free to add to this list. To know good and not to do it is sin. Lord, help me to walk my talk, to stop being a hypocrite, and to practice what I preach. Today, with Your help, I will narrow the gap.