A Swift Vinson to the Face

E-Mealz Dinner #4-6

2011-02-15T09:42:00.005-05:00

Whew so crazy week at work doesn't leave much time for blogging. Anywho time for an update on our E-Mealz adventure!

Meal #4 - Guess what - chicken.

To be fair we've been mixing and matching previous week recipes that we didn't make to replace meals we didn't want each week. So I think that's the cause of the sudden influx of nothing but chicken meals, they do a good job of variety in the menu. Anyway this chicken called for cream of chicken soup, cheese (win), and Stove Top (EPIC WIN - I flipping love stuffing!) It was also our first time using an actual steamer on our vegetables and they rocked! Courtney even ate them the next day! And we swapped white rice for some cheddar broccoli rice we had on hand.

I really liked this meal. Put cheese and stuffing together and I'll pretty much like whatever you put in front of me. I couldn't quite finish mine because the pieces were just TOO HUGE! Every time we've bought chicken breast we've always made too much because them suckers are huge. So from now on we've opted to only get chicken tenders to make it a little more manageable.

Meal #5 - Beef Stew.

This was another recipe of theirs we adapted to fit our needs. They pretty much had a beef soup recipe but we swapped out some veggies for others and instead of soup mix used a stew mix and made our own. Of course it was awesome - beef + potatoes = win. And thanks to our new rockin cast iron skillet we made THE BEST cornbread I've ever had.

Meal #6 - Another chicken.

And to be honest this one scared me. Apricot chicken. They had me spread apricot preservers and onion soup mix over the chicken. I wasn't excited. But then end result was surprisingly good! The apricot preservers kind of added a sweet glaze (not too sweet) to the chicken and the onion soup just gave us some nice onion flakes like you find on fancy hamburgers buns (and Arby's...) Again very surprising - Courtney liked it! Another win!

I am really loving E-Mealz. Like I said, even if every meal isn't a homerun, the fact that I didn't have to think about what to make for dinner each night, and I didn't have to waste time going down every single grocery aisle makes this the best thing to happen to dinner! And budget wise we're pretty close to our usual budget. We may go a little over because of lunch/snack items but I think it's been worth it!

Seriously check them out!

Crazy Love - Chapter Eight

2011-02-09T07:05:00.002-05:00

Another chapter of conviction...

Actually this chapter really just reinforces the last chapter about giving. This chapter is all about being obsessed. Being obsessed with God means He is all you think about EVERYTHING you do ties back to Him in some way.

"The idea of holding back certainly didn’t come from Scripture. The Bible teaches us to be consumed with Christ and to faithfully live out His words."

It's so easy for us to give to those we love. Give to those we know. But it takes being obsessed with God to see that we need to give to those who don't have, those we don't know, those we avoid.

Frederick Buechner wrote in The Magnificent Defeat:

"The love for equals is a human thing—of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.

The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing—the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.

The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing—to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints.

And then there is the love for the enemy—love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured’s love for the torturer. This is God’s love. It conquers the world."

Ugh it's that ugly conviction again. What am I doing with my life? A crazy love for God requires crazy action!

Crazy Love - Chapter Seven

2011-02-08T07:35:00.002-05:00

Ah the chapter of guilt. If only we didn't NEED IT

"By now you've probably realized that you have a distinct choice to make: just let life happen, which is tantamount to serving God your leftovers, or actively running to Christ"

This whole chapter is about taking all these good feelings and ideas we've learned in previous chapters -AND ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING WITH IT!!

Why do we need the guilt!?!? We've seen over and over how insanely crazy (in a good way) God's love is to us. And we've seen how insanely crazy our love should be in return. And that's always where it ends. A great idea, but I just don't put it into action. This is every Sunday, Wednesday, class, sermon, book I've ever had in my life. Great ideas that should spring us into action and yet...there I sit making no difference.

What is it that stops us? Fear? Worried about what others may think?

"Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers." (ouch)

Why are we so worried about what others think!?!? They SHOULD think we're crazy! Everything we believe in goes completely against EVERYTHING the world believes. It only makes sense that we would appear crazy to the world.

Look I am the king of "who cares what other people think about me". But when it comes to doing something crazy for God I become the king of "well...never mind...maybe next time"

I don't think my personal problem is fear of what others may think. My problem is just fear. I don't even have a comfort bubble I have a comfort universe. I'm good where I am let's not shake things up.

"Christians today like to play it safe. We want to put ourselves in situations where we are safe 'even if there is no God.' But if we truly desire to please God, we cannot live that way."

"But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through"

I don't have a good answer, I don't even have a good excuse. Truly loving God the same way He loves me requires me to do crazy things. There is literally no excuse not to.

Isn't it amazing how you can read a verse a billion times and yet there is always something new to learn each and every time. How many times have we heard John 3:16. We've had to have picked that verse clean by now. Nothing new there. Wrong:

"One of the most memorized verses in the whole Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave (John 3:16). Right there we see the connection between loving and giving evidently established."

What did God do when He loved - He gave. What should we do if we love - give.

I wish it didn't take guilt. I wish it didn't take conviction. I just wish I did it.

E-Mealz Dinner #3

2011-02-07T09:17:00.005-05:00

So someone more interesting/funny than me is doing the exact same thing I'm doing with E-Mealz. Read Jon's blog here

But one thing Jon said that I agree 100% with was:

"My marriage is better, when my wife and I spend lots of time together."

That is EXACTLY what this dining adventure is doing. Usually I cook everything. Not out of requirement but because I like to. I like to feel needed. I like being able to successfully make something. And normally it's not an issue. It doesn't take much to successfully make a frozen pizza, so I've never needed much help.

Well these e-Mealz require a little more work than 1) preheat over 2) insert frozen entrée 3) kind of enjoy. So I've needed help in the kitchen. And it's been a blast to just spend time with my wife. I love it. We even sat at the dinner table for like a half hour after eating. True we were just watching TV like we normally would do while eating on the couch, but there we sat at the dinner table.

Who knew!?

On a side note - I hate chicken. Chicken is barely a meat to me. It should count itself lucky to be called meat. Chicken has no flavor whatsoever unless it's deep fried or smothered in Sweet Baby Ray's.

So on Friday our meal was Cheesy Chicken and Spinach. Cheese = win. So we cut up the chicken into bite size pieces, sautee it in some Worcestershire (thank you God for spell check) and olive oil, add the spinach, melt the cheese, serve over rice, done.

THERE WAS SO MUCH FREAKING CHICKEN! These were without a doubt the biggest pieces of chicken I've ever seen, which means once cut up into bite size pieces I felt like I was literally eating the entire chicken.

It certainly wasn't a bad meal, didn't have a whole lot of taste (bland chicken + white rice), but again 1) I didn't have to think about what to make 2) It was all fresh 3) It was food we normally wouldn't eat. Every meal you make even if you weren't on e-Mealz wouldn't be a flavor explosion. I must say I HATE throwing away food. Not even in a holier than thou children are starving way. I hate it in a I'm a freaking cheap skate and chicken is one of the most expensive meats out there for some unknown reason and there goes money in the trash.

THERE WAS SO MUCH CHICKEN!!! Could we have done left-overs? Absolutely. But after that meal I didn't even want to see a cartoon chicken for at least a week...

Today is the first night of a new week. They had a "Quick and Easy" meal schedule of hot subs and chips. Well I have a turkey or ham or chicken sandwich every single day at work for the past 4 years. I don't want them for dinner. So lo and behold meatballs are BOGO at Winn Dixie + Sweet Baby Ray's = Meatball subs substitution!

Crazy Love - Chapter Six

2011-02-07T08:35:00.002-05:00

Ah to be in love. Whether your married, dating, or even single. You know what it means to be in love. Those feelings. Those crazy things we do because we're in love - either out of compulsion (walking in the rain) or because you'd do anything for the other person (watching The Man From Snowy River). All because you're love's got me looking so crazy right now...

If those feelings and actions are so natural when you're in love...why aren't they natural when we're in love with God...

There's a quote from John Piper:

"The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?"

And that bring me to a question my pastor once asked, kind of the inverse of this question. If you lost everyone, absolutely everyone you knew or loved, if they all just disappeared and it was just you and Jesus - would you be content? I've asked this question before and got a myriad of answers. But I was surprised at how many people have said - no. God made us social beings, He gave us people to love and be with it, so of course we wouldn't be happy if He took that away.

I think people hear that questions and say "that's crazy! Of course you wouldn't be happy!" But think about it! This whole thing is called crazy love. We've been talking about how crazy it is that God actually loves us and how that love demands a love from us that's just as crazy! So yes it is crazy to think that you would be happy if it was just you and God. That's the point! He IS that amazing! (ask Job)

If we truly loved God why aren't we running around saying:

"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you." - Psalm 63:1-5

I know we all sit here and say yeah that would be awesome if I did that, and then we see someone post that on Facebook or tweet a verse like that and we think - give it a rest guy we get it. You love Jesus. So do I but I don't have to shout it every 5 seconds on the internet.

YES WE DO! If we REALLY loved God like that we would be shouting this every time every where. And then we feel guilty...

"But the solution isn't to try harder, fail, and then make bigger promises, only to fail again. It does no good to muster up more love for God to will yourself to love Him more. When loving Him becomes obligation, one of many things we have to do, we end up focusing even more on ourselves. No wonder so few people want to hear from us about what we ourselves feel is a boring, guilt-ridden chore." (ouch)

Just do it! And this is the part where anything I say pales in comparison to how Francis puts it so I'm just going to paste a bunch of quotes. "But Craig if you're going to do that why don't I just read the book myself?" Exactly! Go do it! Now!

"When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear. As long as you are running you are safe."

"God wants to change us; He died so that we could change. The answer lies in letting Him change you. The fact is, I need God to help me love God. And if I need His help to love Him, a perfect being, I definitely need His help to love other, fault-filled humans. Something mysterious, even supernatural must happen in order for genuine love for God to grow in our hearts. The Holy Spirit needs to move in our lives. It is a remarkable cycle: Our prayers for more love result in love, which naturally causes us to pray more, which results in more love….”

"God tells the priests that if they don’t want to give Him excellence, others will. [Malachi 1:11] God says His name will be great among the nations. Right now a hundred million angels are praising God’s name; He certainly doesn’t need to beg or plead with us. We should be the ones begging to worship in His presence."

E-Mealz Dinner #2

2011-02-04T07:54:00.008-05:00

So Wednesday is fast food night because of church so no E-Mealz that night. But last night was Enchiladas!

Now I'm a huge Mexican food fan. Courtney...not so much. Her version of a taco is a shell, meat, and...the end. So this recipe was a little challenging because not only did it have salsa but it also had spinach...and cream cheese?

I was all for the salsa and the spinach (you can't really taste it anyways) but cream cheese...what is that doing in my Mexican food. The filling was beef, cream cheese, salsa, spinach, and cumin (now I know where taco flavor comes from - cumin!)

I must say it felt really weird stirring ground beef with a big brick of cream cheese...but once it all came together it was DELICIOUS!

I didn't get to take many pictures as this one kind of took all my attention but here is the final result

It made 6 of them and I could only eat 2 (leftovers FTW)! They just had a side of chips/salsa so I added some Mexican rice we love to get this!

Yes I realize it doesn't LOOK great (but when does Mexican food ever look good) but trust me it was!

Courtney had issues with the salsa (doesn't like crunchy vegetables...I know) so I think if I ever made it again I would just make/buy some enchilada sauce...or queso...oh man

Tonight - Cheesy Chicken and Spinach

*Courtney's note: I am a texture gal...what can I say? If I'm eating a creamy, deliciously smooth enchilada, my mouth just kind of freaks out when I crunch into a pepper from the salsa. I'm sorry! The crunch aside, the meal was really good and I'm looking forward to my leftovers today (after I scrape off the salsa on top :)

Crazy Love - Chapter Five

2011-02-04T07:24:00.002-05:00

This chapter is how you know Francis Chan is a pastor. It's about giving. Now I'm not being fair, it's a lot more than just giving, it's about loving God so much you'd be willing to give up anything. It's just funny that a bulk of it is about giving/tithing and we had the same sermon this past week (a great sermon by the way which can be found...HERE)

Anyways, this chapter is basically backing up the previous chapter - God doesn't want lukewarm Christians. You look at all of these passage where people claim to want to follow Jesus but first they have to _____, or the book of Revelation that shows all of these great churches who still think they're great but they lost their way. "Jesus’ call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a ‘Christian’ without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd"

Like I said this chapter just emphasized a lot that I heard last Sunday. Especially this example. Malachi 1:8 says "When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty."

"The priests of Malachi’s day thought their sacrifices were sufficient. They had spotless animals, but chose to keep those for themselves and give their less desirable animals to God. They assumed God was pleased because they had sacrificed something.

God described this practice as evil.

Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God’s point of view (and lest we forget, His is the only one that matters), they’re evil. Let’s stop calling it “a busy schedule” or “bills” or “forgetfulness.” It’s called evil. (ouch)

God is holy. In heaven exists a Being who decides whether or not I take another breath. This holy God deserves excellence, the very best I have. “But something is better than nothing!” some protest. Really, is it? Does anyone enjoy token praise? I sure don’t. I’d rather you not say anything than compliment me out of obligation or guilt. Why would we think God is any different?"

But Craig you sound like a preacher, I thought this whole study was about love, what does giving have to do with love? Did you not see it!? Do you love your spouse? Would you eat the best food you could find and give your spouse whatever money is left over to go eat at McDonalds? Of course not! But we do that with God. We fill ourselves up first and then give God what's left over once we're comfortable. That's not crazy love that's just crazy!

But if you want to talk about love check this out:

"But Paul writes that even if “I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2-3 ESV). Wow. Those are strong and unmistakable words. According to God, we are here to love. Not much else really matters."

I LOVE this exercise Francis describes when it comes to the most famous passage about love (that we often skip over because we've heard it so many times)

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.... faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

-1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

"I was challenged to do a little exercise with these verses, one that was profoundly convicting. Take the phrase Love is patient and substitute your name for the word love (For me, ‘Francis is patient…”). Do it for every phrase in the passage.

By the end, don’t you feel like a liar? If I am meant to represent what love is, then I often fail to love people well.

Following Christ isn’t something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and are.

If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream."

Great closing thoughts:

"But the fact is that nothing should concern us more than our relationship with God; it's about eternity, and nothing compares with that. God is not someone who can be tacked on to our lives"

"Like the parable of the sower, don't assume you are the good soil; don't assume you are one of the few on the narrow way."

Crazy Love - Chapter Four

2011-02-03T05:59:00.003-05:00

"It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity."

Frederic D. Huntington Forum magazine, 1890

Remember how I sound I love harsh truths, and I love how this book is full of them. Ok do you also remember the part where I said I don't like harsh truths if they apply to me...yeah so I hate Chapter Four

It's an entire chapter of harsh truths for the lukewarm Christian (aka me)

I can't post many notes without posting the entire stinking chapter (and thus running into copyright issues I'm sure...) Fair to say, Francis makes a giant list of characteristics of a lukewarm Christian and just about all of them hit a little too close to home. He talks about how Jesus talked in parables so the people who WANTED to hear it would get it and those who were only half-hearted wouldn't understand what he was talking about. Jesus didn't have time for the half-interested, "The fact is, He just wasn't interested in those who fake it."

"Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for ‘extreme’ Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call ‘radical’ what Jesus expected of all his followers."

But doesn't this always happen? We hear a great speaker or read an amazing passage that reminds us (and guilts us) to not live a lukewarm life. And we say "amen"! I'm going to make some changes in my life! I'm tried of living like this! And then......nothing. Monday comes a long and it's business as usual

How in the world do we stop talking and start doing!?

I love Craig Ferguson. If you don't know what is, do you remember the Drew Carey show? He was his Scottish boss. Well he's hilarious. Potty mouth but hilarious. Anyway, last night on his Late Night talk show he did an entire show about Black History month with the AMAZING Dr Cornel West (quite possibly the smartest man alive). I must say huge props to Craigy Ferg who as a Scottish national takes his America citizenship so seriously he takes an entire day to NOT do corny jokes and interview boring celebrities but instead uses his resources to hold an honest discussion about some of the darkest times in American history

Wow where am I going with this? Well when asked over and over how do we move past the wounds created by our ancestors Dr. West said one thing over and over. Courage. Courage to move on from past mistakes. Courage to love one another regardless of our differences. Courage to love one another in spite of how others will see it. And I first I thought "that's a cheesy, flowery, answer". Courage isn't an actual act to help cure intolerance. But the more I thought the more I realized...he's right. Whatever act you choose to take to counteract intolerance...it took courage. It took the guts to get up and just do it.

That's how we stop being lukewarm. Courage. Have the courage to just do it! Have the courage to live a CRAZY God-like love no matter how "radical" or "extreme" the world will call you (and more importantly how weird other comfortable Christians will call you). Just do it!

Francis has a great illustration about when he wanted to join the Marines:

"When I was in high school, I seriously considered joining the Marines; this was when they first came out with commercials for “the few, the proud, the Marines.” What turned me off was that in those advertisements, everyone was always running. Always. And I hate running.

But you know what? I didn’t bother to ask if they would modify the rules for me so I could run less, and maybe also do fewer push-ups. That would’ve been pointless and stupid, and I knew it. Everyone knows that if you sign up for the Marines, you have to do whatever they tell you. They own you.

Somehow this realization does not cross over to our thinking about the Christian life. Jesus didn’t say that if you wanted to follow Him you could do it in a lukewarm manner. He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”

God give me the courage to just do it. Let me love you with a crazy love.

Crazy Love - Chapter Three

2011-02-02T07:51:00.002-05:00

This was a chapter that would seem hard to comprehend if you weren't a parent, but I love how Francis explains it. This whole chapter is about seeing God as your father. He talks about the bad relationship he had with his father built on fear. And a lot of the times we think we have the same relationship with God - don't make dad mad.

But everything changed when Francis had his first child:

"For the first time I got a taste of what I believe God feels toward us. I thought about my daughter often. I prayed for her while she slept at night. I showed her picture to anyone who would look. I wanted to give her the world."

That's EXACTLY how God feels about us! He's our dad! He's always thinking about us, He's always praying for us, He's running around to all of the angels saying "did you see what they did! Those are MY kids! Look at them!" Just beaming with pride!

I think we have to unpack the concept of "reverent fear" (but that would be a whole different post entirely) and understand it's place, but NEVER forget this image of a loving father.

"My own love and desire for my kids’ love is so strong that it opened my eyes to how much God desires and loves us. My daughter’s expression of love for me and her desire to be with me is the most amazing thing. Nothing compares to being truly, exuberantly wanted by your children.

Through this experience, I came to understand that my desire for my children is only a faint echo of God’s great love for me and for every person He made. I am just an earthly, sinful father, and I love my kids so much it hurts. How could I not trust a heavenly, perfect Father who loves me infinitely more than I will ever love my kids? "

And there we go again focusing on how it makes us feel to have such a loving father, but think about how it makes God feel! How amazing it is as a parent to feel wanted by your children. And again, we're talking about God here, THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING! He actually longs to feel wanted by His children!

"God knew you and me before we existed [Jeremiah 1:4-5]. When I first digested this, all of my other relationships seemed trivial by comparison. God has been with me from the start - in fact well BEFORE the start."

That's all well and good Craig but He's still God, he can't care THAT much. Read Jeremiah 1:6-10. Go ahead go do it now. You look it up and come back here...

"When Jeremiah voices his hesitation and fear, God – the God of the galaxies – reaches out and touches his mouth. It’s a gentle and affectionate gesture, something a loving parent would do. Through this illustration I realize I don’t have to worry about not meeting His expectations. This is the God we serve, the God who knew us before He made us. The God who promises to remain with us and rescue us. The God who loves us and longs for us to love Him back."

You're right He is God. He doesn't need us. But he WANTS us!

“The very fact that a holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful, fair and just God love you and me is nothing short of astonishing. The wildest part is that Jesus doesn’t have to love us. His being is utterly complete and perfect, apart from humanity. He doesn’t need me or you. Yet He wants us, chooses us, even considers us His inheritance (see Eph. 1:18). The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.

That really is amazing beyond description. The holy Creator sees you as His “glorious inheritance.”

Do you get it yet? Do you see how much God loves YOU! That's the crazy part in crazy love. But how do we respond. The absolute minimum. We think going to church or having a quiet time is an equivalent amount of love in exchange for this amazing, crazy love God shows us.

"Most Christians have been taught in church or by their parents to set aside a daily time for prayer and Scripture reading. It's what we are supposed to do, and so for a long time it's what I valiantly attempted. When I didn't, I felt guilty.

Over time I realized that when we love God, we naturally run to Him-frequently and zealously. Jesus didn't command that we have a regular time with Him each day. Rather, He tells us to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. He called this the first and greatest commandment (Matt. 22:37-38). The results are intimate prayer and study of His Word. Our motivation changes from guilt to love.

This is how God longs for us to respond to His extravagant, unending love: not with a cursory quiet time plagued by guilt, but with true love expressed through our lives. Like my little girl running out to the driveway to hug me each night because she loves me."

Yes, this is what conviction feels like. The all-mighty, all-powerful, creator of all things doesn't need us. No. He wants us, He longs for us! We can't even wrap our tiny minds around that! Doesn't that deserve a crazy love on our part?! More than a church service, more than a quiet time, heck more than insanely awesome prayer life. That kind of love deserves nothing less than the same from US!

*mind blown*

Go dwell on that... preferably with Him...

SIDE-TOPIC:

Hopefully you took some time to worship God for His love for us. But I just had to share this last thought from Francis. He talks about a student that asked him why he should love a God that forces us to love Him (with the threat of hell and punishment if we don't)

"Now that I've had time to think about it, I would tell that student that if God is truly the greatest good on this earth, would He be loving us if He didn’t draw us toward what is best for us (even if that happens to be God himself)? Doesn’t His courting, luring, pushing, calling, and even “threatening” demonstrate His love? If He didn’t do all of that, wouldn’t we accuse Him of being unloving in the end, when all things are revealed?

OK so let's say God JUST gives us all these amazing things that we love (and He does) as His way of showing love to us:

"Are we in love with God or just His stuff? Imagine how awful it would feel to have your child say to you, 'I don't really love you or want your love, but I would like my allowance, please.' Conversely, what a beautiful gift it is to have the one you love look you in the eye and say, 'I love you. Not your beauty, your money, your family, or your car. Just you.'"

Harsh truth'd

Our First Real Dinner

2011-02-01T19:10:00.006-05:00

So I mentioned earlier I'm going to be blogging 2 journeys - 1) Reading Crazy Love for my Sunday School class and 2) Starting the E-Mealz dining schedule (see 2 posts below for more)

Tonight was night #1 and the menu was Ranch Chicken Tenders with Green Beans and Rolls.

The ranch part consisted of soaking the chicken in milk and ranch dressing mix and then dredging them in flour. This was our first attempt at frying anything so it took a little longer than we expected.

It started to look a little dodgy at first

But then things finally started to crispy up

Now when it came to the green beans we don't have a steamer...so we improvised with a strainer and a pot. They started taking a little too long so I nuked them for a minute and then we were good to go!

Just throw in some HAWAIIAN ROLLS and you got yourself one great meal.

Overall I think was a great first meal! Certainly took a little more work and time than warming up a frozen pizza but I think it was worth it! Best part was I didn't have to think about it - there was the menu, here are the parts, mix and enjoy!

Tomorrow - Enchiladas (...with cream cheese?)!

Crazy Love - Chapter Two

2011-02-01T07:44:00.002-05:00

I love harsh truths. I just love it when people don't hold anything back and tell it like it is. Unless they're talking about me of course...

Anyway this chapter is one giant harsh truth. In the grand scheme of things - you are nothing.

Ouch

Obviously we don't mean this is the - "you're nothing as a person, you're a waste of life, etc." We as humans are such selfish beings. All of us. Don't believe me? Have you ever worried about something? Ever been stressed?

“Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, or powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives. Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or out tight grip of control.”

Ouch. I have never thought of it like that. I've heard that about worry before, but stress - "the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience." Yup - that pretty much nails it. What do we have to stress about! Bills, relationships, work, etc. Is that really important enough when looking through the filter God sees - lost, dieing, hurting people?

And it hurts even more when we read this:

"But then there's that perplexing command: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Phil. 4:4). You'll notice that it doesn't end with "...unless you're doing something extremely important." No, it's a command for all of us, and it follows with the charge, "Do not be anxious about anything" (v.6).

That came as a pretty staggering realization. But what I realized next was even more staggering.

When I am consumed by my problems - stressed out about my life, my family, and my job - I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities."

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE HEARD THIS!?!? We hear it in church, we read it in the Bible, it's everywhere and we always say AMEN. And then Sunday afternoon around 1pm rolls around and we start stressing! Maybe we're worried about the next week at work, maybe we're stressed about someone or something at church, maybe we're stressed about what restaurant to eat at!!

WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THAT! We are COMMANDED to REJOICE! "Oh but I've got *insert your current struggle*" Doesn't matter - compared to the lost dieing souls God sees and the amazing power he gives us you have no reason NOT to rejoice. We could lose our jobs, our families, everything and if we just had God - rejoice! These are all earthly things!

Harsh? Absolutely! I love my things, I love my family, but we are still thinking so narrowly. In heaven are things going to matter? Nope. Are family going to matter? Sorry but no. As great as families are (God gave them to us!) compared to the eternal, compared to a life in heaven praising and just being in the presence of God, they mean nothing.

"Basically, these two behaviors [stress and worry] communicate that it’s okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we’ve been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won’t be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God’s strength, our problems are small indeed."

Francis gives the example of picturing the Bible as a movie. Start from Genesis and go all the way to Revelation, picturing the settings, ALL of the actors (if you see a name or even a pronoun that person is an actor in the story), and then figure out how much "screen time" you personally get in the movie.

"We have only our two-fifths-of-a-second-long scene to live. I don't know about you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to be about my making much of God. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, 'So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.' That is what each of our two-fifths of a second is about."

So when we say you are nothing - we're saying our personal opinion on how important we are (our life, our problems, our successes, our failures) means absolutely nothing when you compare it to the entire picture that is God. You know what the means? You've got nothing to worry about. NOTHING. What's not to (crazy) love about that? How much should we (crazy) love the person who made it possible?

Here are some more harsh truths from the book:

"Frankly, you need to get over yourself. It might sound harsh, but that's seriously what it means."

"The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift"

"The truth is, some people waste their lives. This isn't meant to bash those who are gone, but rather to warn those who are alive."

"His work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames (1 Cor. 3:13-15)

Perhaps that sounds harsh, but harsh words and the loving truth often go hand in hand

Friends, we need to stop living selfish lives, forgetful of our God. Our lives here are short, often unexpectedly so, and we can all stand to be reminded of it from time to time. That's why I wrote this chapter, to help us remember that in the movie of life, nothing matters except our King and God.

Don't let yourself forget. Soak it in and keep remembering that it is true. He is everything."

Crazy Love - Chapter One

2011-01-31T09:01:00.004-05:00

So this month in Sunday School (did I mention I'm teaching now? Yeah...it's kind of nerve wracking) we're looking at love. After all it is February so we're going to look at what true love looks like. And we get to read one of my favorite stories - Hosea and Gomer! Oh those crazy kids...literally...

And wouldn't you know it our lesson recommends you read...Crazy Love by Francis Chan! One of my favorite books! Who knew!

So I'm kind of taking this personal journey to re-read the book, tie it in with our Sunday School lesson, and share it with you :) (WARNING: I'm pretty much summing up each chapter and then posting my thoughts. All the "smart stuff" comes from Francis Chan *copyright*)

Today I managed to get through the introduction and chapter one and it's just kind of setting up what we're going to learn through the book (you know....an introduction....). And of course on page 1 I get hit with one of my favorite quotes ever

"We need to stop giving people excuses not to believe in God. You've probably heard the expression 'I believe in God, just not organized religion'. I don't think people would say that if the church truly lived like we are called to live. The expression would change to 'I can't deny what the church does, but I don't believe in their God' At least then they'd address their rejection of God rather than using the church as a scapegoat"

It doesn't really have much to do with love (except that what the church should be doing is LOVE) but I just love it. Anyways back to love

Chapter One

One of the key things about loving God is we forget why we should. We get so used to being a Christian and God just becomes another "thing" in our lives. Instead of I don't know THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING.

And one of the things I love about this book is that it has an internet companion (SYNERGY!!!) Francis posted a video on just how amazing God is.

If you've got 15 minutes check this out

If you've only got 3 check this out

And if you've got 30 minutes CHECK THIS OUT! (saw it live - amazing)

If there's one person who deserves to be loved it's God. But like I said we just forget that way too easily. Francis says:

"There is an epidemic of spiritual amnesia going around, and none of us is immune. No matter how many fascinating details we learn about God’s creation, no matter how many pictures we see of His galaxies, no matter how many humongous white clouds we see in His vast blue sky, and no matter how many sunsets we watch, we still forget. Most of us know that we are supposed to love and fear God; that we are supposed to read our Bibles and pray so that we can get to know Him better; that we are supposed to worship Him with our lives. But actually living it out is challenging. It confuses us when loving God is hard. Shouldn't it be easy to love a God so wonderful? When we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is.”

He gives a great human example. His wife. He talks about how people are always amazed that his wife married him. And then he looked at a picture and realized - yeah! What is someone as beautiful as that doing with me! That's pretty awesome! (I hear you man)

It's the same thing God. Someone SO AMAZING has chosen to be with US! That's pretty awesome! We just keep looking at everyone else and forget about what we have already. THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING.

So he says let's remember what God is like. He's holy - we don't get to define Him. He already did. He's holy. The end. He's eternal - God exists OUT OF TIME. Wrap your mind around that nugget *head explodes*. "Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating, but it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we’re capable of comprehending." He's all-knowing - Don't think of it as a scary "he's all knowing" but think of it as a caring "THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING took the time to know EVERYTHING about me". He's all-powerful - Harsh truth #1. Technically he doesn't have to answer to us for anything. But...he took the time to. He's fair and just - Harsh truth #2 "Because God hates sin, He has to punish those guilty of sin. Maybe that’s not an appealing standard. But to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards. When we disagree, let’s not assume it’s His reasoning that needs correction."

After ALL OF THAT we should literally be in awe. Dumbstruck at the awesomeness of God. And this is just a HINT of who He is. Wrap your mind around THAT! This is just a HINT!

Doesn't this sound like someone we should love?

One Giant Leap for Vinson Kind

2011-01-31T08:47:00.004-05:00

OK so I'm embarking on 2 journeys this month and you know what that means! I finally have a reason to blog again! Huzzah (or BOOOO if you hate me and my thoughts - it happens)

So one journey is I'm re-reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Our Sunday School lessons for this month are focusing on love (get it - February - love - clever) So my class and I (hopefully) are going to embark on this journey on learning what it really means to love God, why He deserves our love, and the whole crazy thing.

Fundamentalism and The Emergent Church - A Match Made In Heaven (pun)

2010-11-18T09:55:00.005-05:00

Just so you know I REALLY wanted to name this blog Rob Bell and Bill Graham - A Match Made In Heaven...but well you know...

And just to preface this blog - this is just a random stream of thoughts popping in my head. This is NOT a well thought out, researched, theological essay. I won't be quoting authors, experts, or even Scripture. So this is all 100% opinion as they fall out of my brain.

So I can't stand the emergent church. I don't think that's a secret. They drive me nuts. I also can't stand modern day fundamentalism (aka legalism). I think it's safe to say no one can stand legalism. But what I REALLY can't stand is the absolute brainwashed zombie like absorption of both sides. As Will Smith would say "Let's Break It Down"...

The Emergent Church - A Personal History

I think I really came to loathe the emergent church during college. For those of you who don't know I attended a small Christian college in Ohio. And much like any private, Christian school it was full of hipster Christians. The Christians who were different simply to be different.

"The man says I can't drink or smoke on campus? Ha, I'll show them. I'll go off campus and drink, smoke, cuss, and have relations. Take that right wing conservative Christian education system."

Needless to say they were the coolest kids on campus...(sarcasm'd). Now all of that applied to their personal lives, but when it came time to talk spiritual (as in for class assignments, to impress Christian girls, etc.) it was time to get emergent.

"You mean you haven't read the latest Rob Bell?" "You still haven't memorized Blue Like Jazz cover to cover?"

It was just the cool thing to do. It was like drinking the freaking Kool Aid! And obviously if you didn't adhere to the emergent guidelines you were a strict, legalistic, Baptist, Republican, nut job. Good times. My favorite game to play with the emergents was try to have an actual theological discussion where they expressed themselves without quoting from the book of Rob Bell or Donald Miller. As in an original thought of their own. It never happened.

I'll be the first to admit my distaste for the emergent church STARTED with the previous annoyances. But I honestly took the time to read all of the sacred tomes of Miller and Bell to understand this post-modern (am I the only one who gags at this term. Not for what it stands for but just the pretentiousness it's used for...anyway) movement.

The Emergent Church - A Personal Cliff Note

So I'm going to reduce everything I learned about the emergent church into tiny, manageable, snarky bites (don't worry, fundamentalism has it come-uppins soon)

Basically what *I* gleaned about the emergent movement is thusly:

The modern (aka right wing, legalistic, Republican, uptight, etc.) church is full of hypocritical, two-faced, rule following (and rule breaking), broken but hide it, emotionless robots. The modern church doesn't care about the lost, hurting, widow, poor, etc. They sit in their big-fancy buildings chanting and judging the world from inside their safe Christian bubble.

Are they right? ABSOLUTELY!!! So what's the solution? Well it's to not really read the Bible, just ignore those parts that say what NOT to do (that's what makes you legalistic). Let's just sit in a circle in our home church, holding hands, drinking beer/wine, swearing, and listening to Sufjan Stevens.

It's all about emotions, feeling good (not letting that sin stuff be such a drag), and trying to fit in with the world SO hard that it's impossible to tell the difference. Basically, the current church system is broken so let's just throw EVERYTHING out and start fresh. The baby and the bathwater if you will...

OK so that's how *I* feel about the emergent movement. Now it's your turn fundamentalism...

Fundamentalism - A Personal History

I was born and raised in the Southern Baptist Church. Did I live it? Sure didn't. Not until Sophomore year of High School. Did I love it? Absolutely. I finally belonged. I knew all of the things I should do and all of the things I shouldn't do. I also knew how to tell everyone else about the do's and don'ts.

That's about it.

I know I wrote a small novel about what I didn't like about the emergent church and here I am saying one paragraph about being raised in the modern church they hate so much. But there's not much to say. I lived it and I loved it. Every part of it. I was a sinner and a saint. I was everything the emergent church said we were. I was a hypocrite, I was two-faced, I lived a different life outside my safe Christian bubble, I did all of it.

The Emergent Church - A Personal Cliff Note

And all the while I was learning and growing in my own faith challenging the emergent church in college, I also came to realize some things about my faith. Not necessarily my home church, but the modern Baptist, mainstream church as a whole was legalistic, hypocritical, secluded, etc. But that didn't mean going emergent was the answer. Just because everything wasn't working as it should be doesn't mean the whole thing is wrong and needs to be destroyed!

Does the emergent church have all the answers? No. Does fundamentalism? No. That's where this beautiful marriage comes together.

Here Comes The Bride (Biblical Pun)

So the modern church I grew up in and love is broken. What do we do? Well I think the emergent church is right - we do need more emotion, more honesty, and more love in the modern church. We do show up every Sunday and say "Hi how are you? "Oh just fine thank you" while inside we are torn apart with sin, depression, struggles, loss, and heartbreak. We DO need to be more honest and open with one another.

We DO need to be more involved with our community, with the hurting world outside our brick walls. Let's stop assuaging our guilt about the lost and hurting world by throwing money at a faceless organization and saying we're doing our part. Yes I do believe 110% that we should be financially supporting local and foreign missions, good hard working charities, Christian radio....and others. But let's stop using money as the be all end all. Let's start getting our hands and feet dirty! Let's go out into the community and physically help the lost and hurting. Let's GO to Africa and DO something. Let's BE Christ.

The modern church has dropped the ball BIG TIME and the emergent church has got that part nailed! BUT that's where the emergent church wants to stop, and THAT is where they drop the ball.

BEING A FUNDAMENTALIST IS GOOOOOOOD. Unfortunately that name, that title has been sullied by "famous" "Christians" in the media who take it to the extreme and give it a bad rap. The core idea of fundamentalism is sticking to the FUNDAMENTALS. Aka 100% honestly reading, following, and living God's inherent and INFALLIBLE Word!

But Craig isn't that called being legalistic? Do you know what legalism is - it's a fundamentalist who let his emergent side die. It is someone who is devoid of the love of God, the emotion, the feeling, and replaced it SOLELY with the fundamentals - the law.

Are the 10 commandments bad? Absolutely not! Is getting drunk bad? Bible says so. Is adultery bad? Bible says so. The emergent church doesn't want the world to know that. It's going to harshen everyones buzz! But IT IS GOD'S WORD. We can't just throw that away because it makes us feel bad. But we also can't be fundamentalist who ignore the entire focus of the New Testament - JESUS IS LOVE. Is getting drunk bad? Bible (the law) says so, but Jesus says it's because we should be getting drunk (full) of His Spirit! Not ONLY because the law says so, but because there is something BETTER to fill ourselves with! Don't twist or even ignore parts of the Bible and say they're wrong because it makes you feel bad. It's not guilt it's conviction. We know better (or we would if we followed the fundamentals).

So what that's perfect Christian? If you ask me it's the child of a hipster and a yuppie. A Democrat and a Republican.

Let's get back to the fundamentals, and let's start letting our emotions get the better of us. Let us love. Let us love like God would love.

The End

Double Down...of Death?

2010-04-24T19:32:00.004-04:00

OK for some reason my friend Steve Shore and I feel it is our duty to you the general public to subject our bodies to various types of "new foods" as guinea pigs for your personal growth. If it says NEW on it we'll try it.

So obviously HOW could I afford to pass on this American delicacy that is the KFC Double Down. This obvious ploy for free advertising from outraged physicians and concerned media nuts beckoned to me as I passed a KFC on my way home. In case you didn't know the Double Down is 2 pieces of chicken pretending to be bread as the hug 2 different types of cheese, 2 strips of bacon, and a mystery sauce.

Now for the obvious - yes it was the greasiest thing I've ever eaten. But to be honest with you it's not as bad as you think. Taste wise yes it as bad as you think unless you like KFC chicken. Because that's all it is. It's 2 greasy, salty pieces of "chicken". If you've ever eaten any chicken at KFC you've eaten the Double Down, the only difference is you're eating it all at once.

Honestly my biggest complaint was it was the saltiest thing I've ever eaten. As if the chicken was salty enough they slap on salty bacon. I really didn't taste the bacon - just the salt. Mystery sauce - couldn't taste it. Cheese - barely tasted it (although it was the strongest cheese I've ever seen. It refused to melt even between 2 scalding hot pieces of chicken.

Yes I probably shaved 5 years off my life. Yes I didn't feel good the second I finished it. But all of the above would have happened no matter what I would have eaten at KFC.

If you like KFC you'll love the Double Down. If you like chicken (the greasy kind not that healthy stuff, although they do give you the option of grilled...) you might like the Double Down. If you lost a bet and/or drunk you might like the Double Down.

But don't buy the hype - it's just like eating everything all at once. I'm just proud to say I will get to be a part of what is sure to be a class-action lawsuit in the making.

WHERE DO I FIT (aka Am I A Ministry Failure?)

2010-04-13T14:31:00.002-04:00

OK let me preface this whole thing by saying this - I'm not writing this for sympathy. This is one long, whiney, complaint filled blog, but I just want you to know it's not a pity party. I'm not writing this to get 20 comments of how awesome I am (while true *sarcasm'd*), I'm just venting. This comes after a series of disappointing events and the best way I know how to get it off my chest is to vent. And for some reason my generation does it on the internet. I know what you're thinking - "If you don't want a bunch of comments why talk about this on the internet for everyone to see" Answer: I have no clue. I just do. Maybe I'm looking for company in my misery not a solution. Who knows, but here it goes anyway:

Am I failure at ministry? Like all ministry? I know the answer people - of course not. I know God has a purpose for me but I'm getting tired of failing along the way! Where do I belong!?

Youth ministry was my LIFE! I'm not exaggerating or trying to sound like an altar boy, but it was all I ever wanted. Event while I was a youth I just day dreamed about what it would be like when I was a leader. All of the great things we would do, all of the kids we would reach, and I honestly wasn't thinking in the terms of fame (who's ever heard of a famous youth pastor) I honestly had a passion for the ministry. So obviously I was supposed to be a youth pastor! That's what the church helped me understand. I had a serious passion for the ministry and therefore I wanted to be the man in charge of it.

WRONG

I don't fault my church one bit. They were the most encouraging, uplifting, and supportive group of people. They saw my passion and said - a youth pastor in the making. But when I saw everything that went into being a youth pastor during college it was a giant wake-up call! Yeah I had a passion for youth but man alive did I NOT want to be the man in charge.

And this wasn't just a fleeting moment of being overwhelmed and throwing my hands in the air giving up. I honestly, truly realized I wasn't called to be a youth pastor. Of course I still had a passion for youth, just because I didn't want to be a pastor didn't mean I have up on the entire ministry. Maybe I was just supposed to be a sunday school teacher!

Move forward to a new state, a new church, a new chance! Let's try this Sunday School thing

WRONG

Again, my new church was beyond supportive, encouraging, and reaffirming. And again this wasn't another case of being scared and giving up before I tried. I prayed. Trust me I prayed. I just did not feel led to teach. I'm not a teacher. But you went to a Christian college so obviously you know everything! Or not! Oh you work in a career where you speak publicly all the time, so obviously a small classroom is nothing! Wrong again! I just didn't feel it. And yes I know ministry isn't a feeling. It's not some whim you get, "oh I think I'll be a Sunday School teacher...naw don't like it, nevermind."

All of these decisions that I wasn't in the right place came with serious prayer. Serious soul searching. Serious questions, conversations, and debates with God. And I never felt like I let him down saying I wasn't mean to be these things. Maybe I just hadn't found my place yet.

But I love how the church (in general not singling out any church) has a funny way of making you feel bad for not feeling led to do something. Ministry leaders think you're a perfect fit for ________ and so they approach you. They tell you to pray about it before you decide. But if you every answer no (after praying of course) you get this feeling like they know better. "No you just didn't pray hard enough or you weren't listening - I really think you'd make a great ______." Not saying you're wrong but shouldn't I know what God told me? Then my favorite is when they (again speaking generally not about someone I've dealt with) sign you up for it anyway and tell you to give it a shot and see. Well if I don't feel called to do this how is making me do it going to help?

Yes I know a lot of people are just scared and if they actually try it they come to love it. But in my case I've tried everything offered to me at least once. I tried it really I did. I've preached, teached, led, etc. I'm just not feeling like that's where God is calling me.

I guess my whole point is - is that wrong?! Yeah I learned a lot of the Bible in college, and I loved learning it. Maybe my role is in learning, and sharing it in a one-on-one basis, not in a classroom setting. I honestly don't see myself as a leader in any way, I'm a big time follower. You make the plan and I'll help you achieve it to the best of my ability.

I don't know I guess I just feel like sometimes the only way someone says you're in ministry is if you're leading something. Like coming to church and learning and fellowshipping isn't enough (obviously I'm not talking about just coming to church and going home. Faith without works is useless. I'm just saying I almost feel pressured to minister in ways I don't feel are my ministry, and shame on me for feeling that way)

It feels like a cop-out to say based on what my job is but I really feel like my job is my ministry. I get to work with and speak to and minister to youth every day - even if I don't open my mouth! I present AMAZING teachers on the air every day - and they're not me! But I love it! I find it fulfilling!

So why do I feel like a failure because I don't feel led to be a youth pastor or a sunday school teacher or a leader in "the ministry"? And why does it make me feel like an even bigger failure when people tell me all day that I am supposed to be one of those things? Am I allowed to disagree or does that mean I'm just not listening to God?

WHERE DO I FIT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Want to sponsor me in the Walk for Life?

2010-02-27T20:16:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

Once again, it's time for A Women's Pregnancy Center's Walk for Life. This annual event raises money to support the pregnancy center and their mission to minister to mothers who are struggling with some big decisions. They also hold the spread of the Gospel central to their purpose while providing free services to the community that include pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, medical needs, post-abortion support groups, and many others.

The longer I work with infants and children at the daycare, the more I see the need for A Women's Pregnancy Center and other organizations like theirs. God holds all life to be sacred, and with every tiny smile, first step, and hand held out for a hug, I can't help but feel a need to do whatever I can to encourage the choice of life.

That's where I need your help. Would you consider joining me by sponsoring me as I participate in the walk? My goal for this year is $175 and I think that with your help, I can achieve it! Please feel free to e-mail me if you'd like to sponsor me:

courtney.vinson1@gmail.com

or send me a message through facebook. Please include your phone number and address if you'd like for A Women's Pregnancy Center to bill you at a later date. Otherwise,you can pay with cash, check or online at:

lifeline-awpc.org

Checks made out to: A Women's Pregnancy Center.

Again, feel free to e-mail me with your pledge and I can take care of getting it to the right place. This is one way for us to combine our faith with action right here in our very own community! I appreciate, ahead of time, you joining me in this ministry!

Love,
Courtney

Romans 4

2010-01-12T09:08:00.003-05:00

Boy howdy do I suck at this blogging thing! I look back at the old Xanga page and see looooong posts (mostly about nothing) EVERY DAY. They may have been dumb and boring but it was something. And then I start this thing. And then I stop it. And then I think about stopping it again. I WANT to get back into the habit of writing everyday, I really do. So how about this, I tried the whole "blogging AFI's 100 Movies" and failed. Well my New Year's Resolution was to get serious about reading my Bible. I'm kind of tired of treating my Bible has a fashion accessory on Sundays in order to fit in. I'm going as far as physically writing in a journal, so if I can do that why can't I try sharing those thoughts on the internet. Well mainly because they're short and boring! But hey if it's gets me blogging again, even if no one reads it, so be it. Unlike movies I'll actually feel bad if I stop writing about the Bible. So consider this my public accountability.

So I chose the reading plan the Epistles and Acts because well I love Paul. And since this is a personal Bible Study (as opposed to a scholarly study) I figured I could use The Message. I've never read the Message at length, just various verses and sections.

Today I was reading Romans 4 and the wording of the Message just helped remind me of this universal truth that I'm always so quick to forget.

So for the first 3 chapters of Romans Paul is trying to explain how the grace of God is open to EVERYONE. Because a lot of the Jews in the church were saying "By us doing all these rituals, works, etc. we are in God's favor. He has chosen us because we do X." Well for the rest of this chapter Jews is interchangable for Christians and all the "rituals" are the same as baptism, works, etc.

So how do the Jews/modern Christians reconcile this fact they've received this FREE gift of God's grace. Paul says, "If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift." (v. 4-5)

It's so true. So many times we act like we've earned the right to be called a Christian because we _______. Fill in the blank - were baptised, go to church, memorize the Bible, anything! Well then it isn't a gift! It's work! But the best part is NOTHING we could do can ever EARN us God's grace. "If you're a hard worker..." well sad news is, we all sin, and therefore we've all failed at being a "hard worker". Instead we see that, "the job (living a holy life) is too big for you, that it's something only God can do..." and therefore this grace we receive is a GIFT. It's not because of ANYTHING we've done, the only thing we've done is believe God's promise!

And then Paul just goes and pulls the rug right from under all the self righteous Jews/Us. They try to say over and over "Abraham is our father in faith, he was declared right by God when he was circumcised" Well look at the scriptures again. Abraham was declared right by God BEFORE he was cirucumcised. Before any of these fancy rituals came into play Abraham was made right by God SIMPLY BY BELIEVING!!! God made Abraham a promise, Abraham believed it, and God said you are righteous BECAUSE OF YOUR FAITH. THEN the circumcision, then the rituals, then the acts of showing others that he had faith.

But too often we do the same thing. We try to say, "I'm right with God because I _____" That's us trying to earn grace, trying to get paid for our WORK. God says from the very beginning, "I have a promise for you (eternal life, eternal love, eternal purpose). Do you believe me?" In FAITH we say YES and therefore he says we are right with Him. THEN comes the baptism, THEN comes the good works. Those are what made you right with God, it was faith you had before it all started.

Am I the only one that forgets that?

Update

2009-08-10T17:10:00.004-04:00

Isn't it amazing that time goes by and you don't really think about blogging? I remember when Xanga was the stuff and you weren't cool unless you wrote something about yourself or your day all the time. And people actually made a point to say something about their life, instead of "status updates" that just tell us what you're doing. Pros and cons of technology.

So Craig is in Nashville until tomorrow evening and me and Rosco are by ourselves. It's been relatively uneventful, in the "hey, can you fend for yourself?" sense. We miss Daddy, though :( This means that I am in control of the remote, which isn't necessarily the best solution. Accordingly, I've watched Oprah and now the news. I don't know if I'll get over hearing about the "chop" conditions on the weather update. The Weather Channel has a special section of ocean weather updates. Who'd have thought?

Obviously, this is a stream-of-consciousness post that doesn't have much purpose, but being alone in your home will do that to you.

I've been working hard on our most recent Wednesday night memory verse: Philippians 2:5-11. Coincidentally, it had been a passage that I wanted to commit to memory for a long time, but finally got the "oomph" to do so when put to us as a group project.

Theresa is coming to join me for DiGiorno, chick flicks and hopefully popcorn tonight! Otherwise, Rosco is keeping me pretty good company....but most importantly:

COME HOME CRAIG!

My iPod is Dead

2009-03-23T13:12:00.003-04:00

...well not literally. I've just noticed on shuffle that one by one each band played was no longer around. Then I took a look at my artists and it's true, my iPod is full of broken up bands. And this list doesn't even cover bands/artists that are REALLY dead. It's like I have the iPod of the damned.

Audio Adrenaline
The Beatles
The Benjamin Gate
Bleach
Blink-182
Brave Saint Saturn
Chasing Victory
Cool Hand Luke
DC Talk
Dead Poetic
Delirious?
Emery (good emery that is)
Five Iron Frenzy
Forever Changed
Further Seems Forever
Insyderz
Kids In The Way
Last Tuesday
Lucerin Blue
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Mourning September
O.C. Supertones
PAX 217
Roper
Sides of the North
Sixpence None the Richer
Staple (but they are coming back!)
Stavesacre
Story Side: B
Subseven
Sugar Ray
Tait

Craig Reviews The Watchmen

2009-03-10T19:14:00.004-04:00

Alrighty be forewarned that this post contains words like sex, porn, schlong, etc. You haven been warned.

It's kind of hard to review or even talk about a movie like the Watchmen without defending the fact that you saw it in the first place. The debate has always gone on about should Christians see R rated movies. And that debate breaks into 50 million other debates (only look at things that at pure, garbage in garbage out, etc. etc.) Well this isn't the blog for that debate, maybe someday, but for now just accept that I love Jesus Christ with all my heart, mind, and soul. I also love the mediums of films, comic books, and their sometimes successful offspring. (The defense rests)

Watchmen is not one of those offspring.

The movie wasn't bad, don't get me wrong. But it also wasn't good. First of all you have to understand what the Watchmen is and what it was meant to be. The Watchmen was a graphic novel - not a comic book, in the literal sense. Yes it was released in comic book form, yes it is written and illustrated in comic book form, but it's not what you think of when you think comic book. Comic books are in the general public's mind short stories (usually in a long series) of non-normal people doing non-normal things. Whether that be aliens, super heroes, or robots - it's not meant to be real.

Watchmen is not about super heroes at all. In fact only one person has super powers. Everyone else is the novel are just normal people. Sure they dressed up in costumes and fought crime, but they were just average people. And that's the story of the Watchmen. It is one long dramatic narrative about these people, their messed up problems, and how they're all interwoven with one another.

There's really not much action in the comic, it's A LOT of storytelling. It's just done through the medium of comic books with the subject matter of a regular comic book.

NOW as for the movie. The movie is pure fan service to the graphic novel fans. If you've never read the novel before or have NO interest in a comic book movie without non-stop action, then please by all means AVOID THIS MOVIE. And more importantly, if you are none of the above, do not see this movie and the talk about why it sucked. Because frankly you have no idea what you're talking about.

This all said the movie was in no ways perfect or blew me out of my seat. To be quite honest it was simply the graphic novel completely acted out in real life almost frame for frame. EXCEPT for some stupid HOLLYWOOD trash. In the graphic novel MUCH is left to the imagination. Most of the sex and violence really isn't shown (the novel is no way "clean" it is very much R rated). The sex scenes in the novel involve a panel showing bodies together, maybe a naked butt, and if breasts are visible they don't take up the entire panel it's usually from the side. But not in the movie oh no - we are treated to full on porn scene for no reason whatsoever.

The novel leaves it to the imagination for the perverts out there. The novel pretty much says, "hey these people are getting it on...you know what happens when that goes on. We're not going to waste ink spelling it out for you...you get the idea". Without getting into another debate I would use the cliche "nudity/sex done in a artful way". Does that mean it's right in the comic or the movie? NO, but at least it wasn't gratuitous in the novel. Same could be said for some extra violence added into the movie that is NOT in the comic. It's all just there to titillate.

Which brings me to my biggest gripe of the move - THE PENIS. *gasp he said it*. OK - one of the characters in the novel is a walking atomic being who takes human form. He is shows fully frontal nude ONCE in the novel, ONE TIME. After that he is in a man thong or shown waist up. But in the movie - THE MAN IS ALWAYS NAKED. SCHLONG EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!! I don't know if it was to push the limit or what but it was pointless and took away from the movie.

*EDIT* Oh and I forgot to add - their Nixon was AWFUL. He looked nothing like the man! It was so lame it was distracting. But on the other hand their Henry Kissinger was pretty good.

Watchmen is the movie every feared the Dark Knight would be. Soooooo much hype and it would be awful. Fortunately for us the Dark Knight was awesome - for everyone, comic fans or not. Unfortunately, Watchmen is for the comic nerds and the comic nerds alone.

Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong now, or less of a Christian for seeing it. It's my blog so I can say what I want and delete comments that I don't want.

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH the power

The Really Is No Line On The Horizon

2009-03-03T12:12:00.004-05:00

Woah what's this!? 2 posts one after another!? What's going on! Well I'll tell you what's going on - the new U2 CD came out today that's what! Now I'm not going to get into the whole "U2 is/isn't a Christian band" debate. All I'm going to do is post the lyrics of my three favorite songs because I just love these lyrics. I think this whole album is a huge wake up call to EVERYONE (Christians or not, but Christians should listen up) to actually start LOVING ONE ANOTHER. Crazy idea that I remember some other humanitarian talk about a long long time ago....

Breathe

16th of June, nine 0 five, door bell rings
Man at the door says if I want to stay alive a bit longer
There's a few things I need you to know. Three
Coming from a long line of traveling sales people on my mother's side
I wasn't gonna buy just anyone's cockatoo
So why would I invite a complete stranger into my home
Would you?

These days are better than that
These days are better than that
Every day I die again, and again I'm reborn
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can't defeat
Neither down or out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now

16th of June, Chinese stocks are going up
And I'm coming down with some new Asian virus
Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man
Doc says you're fine, or dying
Please
Nine 0 nine, St John Divine, on the line, my pulse is fine
But I'm running down the road like loose electricity
While the band in my head plays a striptease
The roar that lies on the other side of silence
The forest fire that is fear so deny it

Walk out into the street
Sing your heart out
The people we meet
Will not be drowned out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
Yeah, yeah
We are people borne of sound
The songs are in our eyes
Gonna wear them like a crown
Walk out, into the sunburst street
Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I've found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it's all that I found
And I can breathe
Breathe now

Stand Up Comedy

Love love love love love... Love love love love love...
I got to stand up and take a step
You and I have been asleep for hours
I got to stand up
The wire is stretched in between our two towers
Stand up in this dizzy world
Where a lovesick eye can steal the view
I'm gonna fall down if I can't stand up
For your love

Love love love love love...

Stand up, this is comedy
The DNA lottery may have left you smart
But can you stand up to beauty, dictator of the heart
I can stand up for hope, faith, love
But while I'm getting over certainty
Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady
Out from under your beds C'mon ye people Stand up for your love

Love love love love love...

I gotta stand up to ego but my ego's not really the enemy
It's like a small child crossing an eight lane highway
On a voyage of discovery

Stand up to rock stars, Napolean is in high heels
Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas

Out from under your beds
C'mon ye people
Stand up for your love

Love love love love love...
God is love
And love is evolution's very best day

Soul rockin' people moving on
Soul rockin' people on and on
C'mon ye people
We're made of stars
C'mon ye people
Stand up then sit down for your love

Love love love love love...
Love love love love love...

And here we are - what so far might be my favorite song of the album and some of the best lyrics I have ever read!!

Magnificent

Magnificent

I was born I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after I haven't had a clue
Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn't have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise...

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent Magnificent

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts

Justified till we die, you and I will magnify The Magnificent Magnificent Magnificent

...I'm pretty sure that one speaks for itself

Things That Tick Me Off

2009-03-02T09:17:00.007-05:00

OK so you want Craig to blog like he used to? You just got lucky because it's time for another edition of things that tick me off.

"Modern" churches and I use the term very loosely.

When did we reach that point that you're judged for going to an actual church building as opposed to a school or a movie theater? Please tell me because apparently I missed it. I'm getting real tired of this modern mode of thinking that all churches are these archaic buildings that represent everything that is wrong with Christianity. This preconceived notion that you're only cool or a good Christian if you have your church inside a school or some other random place.

Am I saying it's wrong? Absolutely not!!! I think it's a great idea to hold church in a neutral setting because I absolutely realize that a lot of people hate the idea of stepping inside a church building. I absolutely think this is a great idea and am in full support of it.

My hang up is this idea that I'm a bad Christian or it's lame that I go to church in an actual building. I think this just goes along with the whole Donald Miller, Rob Bell, Emerging Church wave that recently hit that pretty much says, "Oh the way the church has been done for the past millenia is dumb and old and no one likes it anymore. Going to church in a building is stupid, having convictions is stupid." That's another post for another day but it's just driving me crazy.

I love new approaches to church. I love fresh thinking and new ideas. I HATE throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Just because there are new (and some may say better) approaches to something doesn't mean the old way is wrong. I mean that's been the debate in worship music for years (can I get an amen brother Jason!). "Oh hymns are dumb and old and the kids don't like them so get rid of them all together. At our church we only sing David Crowder songs" Well explain to me why every DCB album has at least on hymn on it. Exactly shut it.

So please stop with your "I'm cooler than you because my church meets in a movie theater". Just save it OK?

And I know this is a much bigger discussion than one short blog post. These are just my initial thoughts and it's my blog so I can do what I want. So there.

AFI Top 100 Journey - #100

2009-02-24T17:39:00.006-05:00

So Mr. Ross Free demanded that I start up this dead blog once again. There really hasn't been much to talk about, I guess I got boring once I got married - who knows.

So I know one thing I can keep writing about! Courtney hasn't seen a lot of movies...I mean A LOT of movies. So I decided to take her on a journey of some of the best movies ever made! Now I know the AFI list isn't the only choice for the best movies but it seemed like a good start. Keep in mind we're working off the 2007 10th Anniversary List. I figure once we're done with this list we'll go back and watch the movies that got bumped off the old list.

Here's a nice layout of the list with a comparison of the 1997 list.

AND SO WE BEGIN

#100

Ben-Hur

Ahh Ben-Hur, I can't remember what made me watch this movie for my first time. I guess I am a nerd because even when I was in middle and high school I wanted to see all of these famous movies. So one day I picked up Ben-Hur. It truly is an epic to watch (not to mention the whole almost 4 hour thing - what a way to kick off the journey lol) The sets, the actors, the music, the whole thing!

I really like how it's called The Story of the Christ but he only really has a couple of scenes in the movie. It's really cool to see a story of Christ, his message, his love, and his redemption as seen through the life of a completely different person. You almost forget that the movie is about him until the resurrection scene at the end. I really just get lost in its' epic-ness and forget that I've been sitting here for almost 4 hours - until it tells me to enter the 2nd disc lol This collector's edition even had the intermission and all those other fancy things.

I think it was a great way to start a look at some amazing film. So yeah I sound dumb after reading all this but whatever. Share your thoughts on Ben-Hur!

Coming up next...#99 Toy Story!!!!!!

*Courtney's Thoughts*

I agree with Craig when it comes to seeing someone else's journey at the time Christ was alive. I find that it can be easy to forget that He was a living, breathing person sometimes, getting caught up in His power and Deity. Having Judah on the road to his enslavement meet Jesus was really neat. Along the same lines, when Judah is at the Valley of the Lepers and sees the crowd going to hear the Sermon on the Mount, it felt like we were participating more in Christ's life, the way it physically happened.

Craig commented on the "epic-ness" of this film, and he wasn't kidding! The classic chariot race was as exhilarating as you would expect, and the physical stunts were shocking, even in today's standards! I have to point out that there was a definite bias towards the horses in the chariot race, which I LOVEd, teehee.

All in all, I give Ben-Hur a thumbs up and felt that I participated in something big by watching it, which is probably the point. If you have 4 hours, I'd recommend it!

1 year...and counting!

2008-10-13T13:15:00.002-04:00

Craig has been making fun of me for not contributing to our combined blog, but today seems like a good day to begin, eh? Today is our official 1 year anniversary, and I have to say that it's been a big one!

A year ago today we were going through the craziness of a wedding ceremony. I remember how surreal it was when they did the "pronounce you man and wife" part, thinking that it seemed too easy! After all that work getting things ready, putting invitations together, finding realistic fake flowers, making sure everyone who needed hotel rooms had one, all of that, it took just a few words and we were married! Amazing. Especially considering that Craig had asked me to marry him even before we started dating...that's a story for another post, however :). But it was so good to see friends that had moved away, family and colleagues come together and celebrate with us.

And then the day was over and our real, new life started. Wow! Moving here to Tallahassee, finding a job, learning to live together, being away from family for the first time, finding another job, finding friends (hooray for our amazing friends!), becoming responsible. It's been amazing to watch God bless us as we do what He's given us to do here. And even though Craig felt like he had to drag me here, I can admit that it's been good for us. And I can also admit that it'll be hard to leave someday. We've really made some wonderful friendships and are planted in the middle of God's work right now, and we have definitely seen the blessings that come from both of those.

So I think that I've reminisced enough for one post! :) But let me end up with a list, a la Lisa, my soon to be sister (since she's marrying this guy), summing it all up (even though Thanksgiving is still a ways off)

Things I'm thankful for:

1. my awesome husband who is too good to me

2. cars getting fixed for free

3. worshipping together with other churches

4. sweet morning hugs from my kiddos

5. a good book

6. fall in Florida actually feeling like fall should

7. squirrels on my roof

8. my Mac

9. sweet tea in abundance (aka I live in the South now :)

10. last but never least, the love of God that sustains me and allows me to live as one of His children!

-Courtney-

If You Love Me

2008-08-26T07:52:00.004-04:00

Now I don't know if you any of you are aware but I have been obsessed with Mystery Science Theater 3000 since the first time I saw it on Comedy Central late one night. I didn't get half of the jokes but I loved it! Now I know I'm extremely late on the train for this one, but as a teen I could never really afford the DVD box sets. Well now I'm a grown up - and I can!!!!!

So I'm making it a goal to buy one DVD collection a month until I have them all. There are 12 collections (Volume 9 is OOP and I think Volume 8 is but you can find it on ebay or on Amazon for like $50). Plus the new 20th anniversary box set (but my lovely wife has already promised to buy it for me for our anniversary).

Now you think to yourselves - "Why is he writing a blog about this?" The answer is simple - my birthday is next week. DUH

So I have compiled a lovely list of DVD's through Amazon.com of all the collections. Look at how easy it is! It's just like a wedding registry!

CLICK HERE

Now I know it sounds greedy, but I compiled the list for my own tracking purposes. If you feel led to buy me one of the collections for my birthday, anniversary, because it's Tuesday, or whatever! I won't stop you ;)

My name is Craig Vinson and I approve of this message.

The Myth of a Christia...oh nevermind

2008-08-20T07:34:00.003-04:00

Blah you know what. I just spent an hour writing a whole new blog post about the book I've been reading but I just decided to delete it. I don't think a blog is the greatest place for me to talk about this issue. I can't really figure out how to make my point through writing (not that gifted) without sounding like some extremist. This is definitely a topic I can only discuss in person where I can interact in real time. I'll post the last few paragraphs because it vaguely gets across the whole thing I was going for.

"So again let me just clarify! This whole exercise/book report I'm doing is just looking at the differences between the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God. My point is NOT to say government and America are evil. My point is - I'm seeing in The Church today A LOT of people thinking we can change a fallen government under the control of Satan and turn that government into a Christian one that excerises its Christian power over a blatantly NON-CHRISTIAN nation. That's my point - that a lot of Christians have become obessesed with this myth.

As a Christian and as an American OBVIOUSLY I'm going to act in the political realm as my Christian beliefs lead me. But I'm not going to make it my #1 goal in life because I know even if a Christian gets in power and even if Christian values turn into law - that CANNOT change people's hearts. You cannot force someone through laws to change their hearts. Only the love of Christ shown through me to a lost and dying nation can change their hearts. So let's not foam at the mouths and scream MAKE AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION. Let's let our actions do the talking and let the government do its thing."

So there you go...whatevs' it was a good idea but I wasn't happy with the final product. I tell you what. I've got another book about the emergent church that could be pretty interesting [sly grin]. Who knows maybe we'll talk about that. It was just nice to have something to write about for once :(

The Myth of a Christian Nation - Introduction

2008-08-11T07:40:00.002-04:00

Well kids here we go - let's dive in! We've got a lot of stuff going on right now so I think we'll only have time for the Introduction today but it can still be fun!

Again, this book was written by Gregory A. Boyd who as a pastor during the 2004 election was being pressured by many people (both in and out of his congregation) to "shepherd his flock into voting for the right candidate." But it was much more than that, he was being asked to hand out flyers blatantly attacking one candidate over another, sign petitions, make pledges, etc. Thankfully his church board supported his decision to refuse these items. This all concerned him so much that he preached a series of sermons called "The Cross and the Sword" which became the basis for this book. And his whole point was to "expose the danger of associating the Christian faith too closely with any political view, whether conservative or liberal."

And after preaching these messages he had so many people thank him for the freedom they felt because they didn't hold the same political beliefs as everyone in their church. And on the other hand about a thousand of his members left the church! Their problem was that because God is against _____ than Christians should vote for ______ "and any American pastor...should use his 'God-given authority and responsiblity' to make this known."

And I think this is where I'm starting to draw the important conclusion that while all of those things may be true as Christians (yes we should vote for someone who upholds what you believe, that's what it means to vote!) but is it the church's job to declare these personal convictions from the pulpit.

And his thesis of the book (I think) blatantly points out a big problem in the church today. "I believe a significant segment of American evangelicalism is guilty of nationalistic and political idolatry." He continues, "To a frightful degree, I think, evangelicals fuse the kingdom of God with a preferred version of the kingdom of the world...Rather than focusing our understanding of God's kingdom on the person of Jesus - who, incidently never allowed himself to get pulled into the political disputes of his day."

And I agree with him on that point. He goes on to say that none of these things (Christian/political ideals) are wrong but he hopes to "challenge the assumption that finding the right political path has anything to do with advancing the kingdom of God." And he points it all to this problem that Christians are so gung-ho in demanding that we recoginze that America always has been and always should be a Christian nation and it is their job to ensure that it stays that way no matter what. "Instead of living out the radically countercultural mandate of the kingdom of God, this myth has inclined us to Christianize many pagan aspects of our culture."

And finally his main disctinction that he wants to make is that all kingdoms of the world seek to exercise power over people, while the kingdom of God is only advanced by serving under people. But he has three caveats:

This thesis applies to ALL politicals. Left and right alike.
Keeping these two kingdoms disctinct does not mean our faith shouldn't inform our participation in politics.
The purpose of this book is to get a better understanding of Jesus' kingdom and how it is completely different from this world's. "This book does not attempt to resolve all ambiguities between these two kingdoms."

So there we have it! An introduction! For those of you brave enough to read all of that - what do you think?

I'm glad to see his whole point isn't that Christians shouldn't be involved in politics or anything BUT it shouldn't be the focus of our lives. And unfortunately the Christians who ARE obsessed with this are the ones who seem to get all the TV time and so that's the only thing our world sees. So maybe it's more of a battle cry for us non-famous Christians to show the world that we could care less how Obama or McCain or WHOEVER stand, it's us who stand on truth and who cares about YOU and let us show you the love of Jesus Christ.

I dunno - what about you?

The Series That Could Get Me In Trouble

2008-08-07T09:32:00.000-04:00

Well my blogs on Xanga could really talk about anything because the only people who read it were my friends at school and at home. But NOW I'm a big kid and my blog is on places like Facebook and well not everyone there knows me as well as my friends and family. But I'm going to risk it in this blog I tell you what! I'm going to talk about things...scary things...things that could get me in trouble.

OK well maybe not but it sounded good didn't it?

Well it's election time once again as my good friend Diddy reminds me daily, when he's not pimping out BK

Thanks Diddy

Anyway, growing up kind of sucks. I never used to worry about such things as politics. And I'd still like to keep it that way, but stuff changes and as it turns out this politics stuff effects even me! I don't like that Raymond! And well once you add in everything I learned in church - well the whole thing becomes a mess!

Thank the good Lord (literally) that my home church and my NEW home church have never preached from the pulpit about who I should or shouldn't vote for. I mean sometimes back home pastor would say we need to watch out for this law or that, or candidates who stand for this or that, but NEVER have I heard "AS A CHRISTIAN YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR..."

But unfortunately this kind of stuff DOES happen A LOT. And even more unfortunately it usually comes from the Christians that you see and hear in the media most (a.k.a those with the biggest mouths - not all, but let's be honest most). And it has affected how the world sees us! I've been reading this AMAZING book by the Barna Research group called unChristian. They surveyed non-Christians my age and younger to see how they really view Christianity. And they list the top 5 things - one of those being: Christians are too involved in politics.

While I was in school we had to take a class called Worldview Development, where we had to take everything we learned in our Bible classes and just apply them to everyday situations. And I vividly remember one of those being - Should the Church be involved in politics? Now the thing that caught me off guard was the subject of the question. It wasn't asking should CHRISTIANS be involved in politics RATHER should THE CHURCH!

And I remember reading an article about this pastor who preached a series of messages warning the church to not get obsessed with the political realm. After preaching this series about half of his church (Several thousand) left! But the other half were so relieved that they weren't the only ones who felt that way. They were free to admit that just because they were Christians didn't automatically mean they were conservative, right-wing citizens. Because after all Christianity is not a political party!

Anywho...I write this incredibly looong intro to say - I finally bought the book that pastor wrote. And I'm finding it super interesting! Keep in mind I said interesting. I haven't read the whole thing yet (only a few chapters) and well I want to take you on this journey as well!! I'm going to start writing posts with stuff from the book and my own thoughts because I WANT TO HEAR YOURS.

So what do you think my people? YAY or NEIGH? (pun) Good idea or bad idea?

This Is The Account of Craig

2008-07-29T23:18:00.000-04:00

We will now read a passage of the book of WAY-FM which is not a real book of scripture and all and is entirely fictional and for entertainment purposes only:

"When music began to increase in number on the earth and radios were born to them, the sons of WAY-FM saw that the radios of music were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the SATAN said, 'My Spirit will not contend with WAY-FM forever, for they are doing good'...

The SATAN was grieved withe WAY-FM on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the SATAN said, "I will wipe WAY-FMkind, whom GOD has created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move inside the walls, and panels of the ceiling —for I am grieved that GOD have made them."

And that's how my morning began. I walk into work and notice a small waterfall pouring over the balcony. "Strange" I think to myself, "It must have rained pretty hard and it's draining from upstairs." And then I unlock the door to find this:

And this:

Oh right and this:

With a side of this:

(Well we did add the trash can)

So yeah some random pipe in the COMPLETELY EMPTY upstairs unit exploded and brought its joy down here to those of us on the bottom floor. Water to continue to pour from the ceiling like our own personal Niagara Falls, as ceiling tiles continued to explode throughout the day bringing their liquid joy. By the way those tiles, mixed with fiberglass insulation, and a lot of water tend to turn to goo and stink... a lot.

So yes if you haven't gathered from my over dramatization we had a small emergency at work today. Which comes at a GREAT time what with Casting Crown tickets going on sale this week and all that.

And if you couldn't tell from my completely NON-blasphemy FAKE story (all in jest I promise) at the beginning of the post Satan is totally at war with us today. But God AS ALWAYS was looking out for us and the water didn't touch our major equipment room that pretty much runs the entire station and only the carpet in the studio got a little wet. Oh and my office is OK :) (thanks Jesus!)

Anyway, we had this HARDCORE crew of cleaners come in who have this infrared camera that can see MOLD...THROUGH THE WALLS. Who knew!? So pretty much they're going to set off a giant propane powered bomb that will instantly cause all of the water to evaporate from the ENTIRE building...and then they have to run a dehumidifier because that water has to go somewhere! So I had to bring home all my personal belongings so they don't melt or get soaked.

Oh and best/worst I can't go into work for the rest of the week! Awesome because I get to work from home, but bad because well THIS WAS NOT THE WEEK FOR THAT.

So I tell you this great story to really ask for your prayers. Not just because of the damage done to the office, but because we don't know what to do now. The people we rent from are trying to get rid of the place and so they really don't want to put ANY effort into fixing the place. So we're going to need to move eventually (the lease is up soon anyway) and we have no idea where to go or what to do right now. So if you could drop a few lines to God on our behalf - we would appreciate it greatly.

Oh and I forgot the saddest site ever - our poor welcome center :(

IT HAS BEGUN

2008-07-28T18:01:00.000-04:00

HA Blogosphere you thought you could avoid the phenomenon that IS THE CRAIG. Sure we had some great times on Xanga, some great thoughts and memories, but I graduated college and everything seemed to come to a standstill...and you counted me for dead.

We all know what you're thinking. Ahh just give it time, in a few days he'll have nothing to post about, and then the posts will slowly fade away in the dark abyss which is the internets.

But I bet you didn't think I'd be back did you? And this time...this time I brought backup. That's right - there's another Vinson in town! Oh yes - I might not have something to blog about BOOM then there's Courtney talking about horses or something!

So look out internets! There's a new team in town!

Like the name of the blog? Pretty ConVinson...? Get it (sigh I know someone won't so I'll spell it out. conVinson = convincing...say it slowly. There it is) Many thanks to Mr. Brad England for his genius stroke of creativity. You know it's going to be a catch phrase. Really deep thought followed by...pretty convinson huh? Oh I am so witty!

We'll have to come up with some system so you know when it's the Craig and when it's the Courtney. Feel free to add your ideas.

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