Archive - October, 2009
Bats, Laughs, & One Cool Costume
In honor of Halloween I’ve got a few videos for you. The first one is one of the stupidest videos I’ve ever seen but for some reason I can’t stop watching it. I saw it the other day and it makes me laugh every time I think about it.. Please know in advance there is absolutely no spiritual significance at all to this clip. It’s just stupid….and funny. 
I’m trying to come up with some kind of idea to scare the kids in the neighborhood tomorrow night. I might have to find a costume like this and get up on the roof or something.
The second video I stole from Brad Ruggles. Just praying my kids don’t see this costume. It totally blows away the costumes we’re wearing tomorrow night.
How about you? What are your kids wearing?
Can Christians Celebrate Halloween?
Usually this time of year there are all kinds of debates about “should Christians celebrate Halloween?” Of course if you’re a really good Christian it seems you will simply have a “Fall Festival” where you will do exactly what everyone else does on Halloween (costumes and candy) except you’ll only invite Christians which somehow makes it okay.
Please note, I believe this is a personal decision. If you and your family don’t celebrate Halloween, then I totally respect that decision.
As you can probably tell from last years Halloween picture, we do. Our kids dress up, we carve a pumpkin and take ALL the candy we possibly can from our neighbors. You could say we celebrate Halloween but I think we celebrate our kids, friends and neighbors.
1) My kids. My kids love to dress up. Jett’s going as Satan, Gage is going to be an evil spirit, and Brewer the angel of death. Just kidding!! They’re going to be a Jester, Frankenstein, and a Skeleton. They’ve been fired up all week about designing their pumpkins and running around the neighborhood. We’re going to have a blast.
2) My friends. We usually have two other couples and their kids come over and enjoy the evening with us. We’ve actually gone trick-or-treating with one couple for 9 years in a row. It’s kind of become our little tradition.
3) My neighbors. This is an awesome chance for me to build a bridge with my non-Christian, non-church going neighbors. Think of it as Tuesday night visitation, only this time they’re coming to you. Many will drop by the house and we’ll get a chance to talk about all kinds of things that might serve as a bridge to future conversations and future opportunities to build relationships. I’m probably not going to drop a “Christian tract” in their kids’ bag, but I do want to drop a little sincere Christian love their way.
I know I’m probably opening a can of worms but what do you think about Halloween? Any exciting plans?
Right There
I was going through my pictures from last week’s camping trip when I stumbled across this picture. Brewer, my three year-old son, is getting to the age where it’s important for him to feel a little freedom. He didn’t want daddy’s help to cross the bridge. He slowly, calculating every step, moved across the bridge. I could hear the fear in his breathing pattern. He was shaky, yet determined to make it across. What he didn’t know is that at no time was he really in any real damage. I was right there ready to snatch him should he start to fall.
But here is what I couldn’t stop thinking about as I looked at this picture. I wonder how many times in my life this has been a picture of me crossing the bridge of life with God right there waiting to catch me.
Let’s just be honest here. Time and time again in your life you’re going to feel as if God isn’t showing up. You’re going to feel as if God isn’t healing, He isn’t restoring, He isn’t releasing His mighty power. You’re going to feel like He doesn’t know or care and you’ve been completely abandoned on the bridge.
Do you know what the most frequently stated promise from God in Scripture is? God promises us over and over, “I am with you.”
You may feel all alone, but please know you’re not. Despite you’re feelings He’s right there with you. He’s ready to snatch you should you fall.
Do you see yourself in the picture above?
October Gave A Party
This past week I had the opportunity to get a away for a few days with my family and a handful of friends. We spent lots of time sitting around the camp fire, fishing, hiking and just enjoying the unbelievable beauty of the Smoky Mountains in October. It has to be one of my favorite places on earth. Here’s a few of my favorite pics from the trip and part of a great poem I found the other day.
Do you have a favorite place in the fall?
Octobers Party
by George Cooper
October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came-
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand…”
The Noise In My Head
I recently heard something from John Ortberg that I can’t get out of my head. He said, speaking of our culture….
“It has never been easier to obtain the scriptures and never harder to absorb.”
We live in a day of unprecedented opportunities to stimulate our minds. We have blogs, television, podcasts and 24-hour news. We have ipods, dvd players, and radios in our cars. Everywhere we go there is some kind of message that is trying to attach to our minds. You can’t even go to the bathroom without being bombarded by an advertisement.
So even if you’re taking time to read the scriptures, when do you have time to absorb the scriptures? How are you dealing with this challenge?
Let’s learn from each other!
Speaking of noise, I’m headed out of town for a few days to do some camping in the Smoky Mountains. In an effort to escape a little noise I’ll be blog-less for a few days. I’ll see you Sunday at Cross Point for the continuation of Faith, Hope & Love or I’ll see you back on the blog probably Monday.
Twitter, Football, and Pansies?
If you follow me on twitter you know that I routinely get my man card revoked by friends. It seems that sometimes things come out of my mouth that are somewhat questionable.
Last night sitting on my porch I was floored by the beauty of the pansy sitting next to me. I took a picture of it and made the mistake of saying this on twitter….
One of my favorite things about fall is the pansies on our porch (and I included a link to this picture)
The responses I got were hilarious. A few of my favorites were:
@pwilson hahahahahaha!!!!!! I misread pansies for “panties” hahahahahaha..the picture of the flowers was beautiful (still wondering why he so quickly clicked on the picture. )
@pwilson I really thought this was going 2 be the picture that came up: (and he attached this photo).
Now that is FUNNY. I’ve had a lot of people giving me a hard time about my Titans. I want to go on record as saying that I still love and believe in them. You have to go through some rough seasons in order to really appreciate the good ones. Go Titans!!
So, Whose your team and how are they doing?
