Confronting Mortality

As many of you know, my Dad died suddenly this week. It was last Tuesday - a bright, sunny February day. I was at work and he was running a daily errand for my sister. As he performed a simple daily task he had an Aortic Aneurysm and died while driving down the road.

As I have thought of the events the last few days I first confront my failure to do what I believe I should have been doing and I also have to examine the frailty of life itself. I can easily reason with myself and excuse myself for our relationship. I can say that our personalities are similar in some ways - the main way in that we were both fairly quiet people and though we got along and I respected him greatly - many of our conversations were plagued with uncomfortable silences. My Dad and Mom divorced when I was fairly young and I could use that as an excuse.

What I can't use as excuses are what he has done - the weekend visits and car rides, going to Falcons and Flames games with him when I was a teen. Also letting me live with him during my senior year of High School rather than me having to leave my friends and move to a different town when my Mom and Step Dad moved to Macon. The meals he has bought. The money he loaned me to get me through some tough times in college. I missed seeing him two Fridays ago when I was in the same county because my job went a little long and I didn't want to get home too late.

Life is so frail

An aneurysm, a heart attack, a car wreck can suddenly snatch the ones we love from this life. Or sometimes lingering diseases like cancer can slowly steal the life from them. Hebrews 9:27 says that it is appointed for us to die once - it is something that we will all do and we need to take advantage of every moment we have.

There are a few things that I urge each one of you to do.

Cover you loved ones in prayer.

Take care of what you can do to protect your life - lose weight, exercise, etc.

Make the most of the minutes you have with family and friends.

See what mission God has for you today.

With Some Regrets, Steve

Batwoman - a lesbian?????

Lock up the comic books and shield your kids from the comic book rack at the store - Batwoman is replacing Batman and she is coming out of the closet.

What is DC comics thinking.

Source

Judge Orders Gang-Raped Pregnant Woman Be Jailed And Given 100 Lashes

Those fun-loving open-minded (far enough for their brains to fall out) wacky Saudis have done it again. And those are the ones we are friends with -

Source

The Tamar Project

I am the Outreach Pastor of a new church in Macon, GA in which we plan on doing an out in the community event at least once a month instead of a service. Check us out - LifeQuest

Tamar was married to one of Judah's (leader of one of the 12 tribes of Israel) son. Her husband had died and as was customary at the time, the second son was sent to marry her and raise up a son for his brother - he refused and also died as a result of his disobedience. The third son was too young at the time to take a wife and Judah sent Tamar away, telling her that he would call her back when it was time. Judah had no intention of keeping his word and as time wore on, Tamar realized this.

At that time in history most of the woman's identity was tied up in who her husband and sons are. She had neither. Judah had sent her back to her father's house - so instead of being the wife of he eldest son of the leaders of the tribes of Israel - she was nothing. She was forgotten, she was ignored - the family of her husband would not do what they were supposed to do, thus relegating her to a life much below what she was promised and had married into.

Tamar then heard that her Father-in-law was coming near her area and she prepared to meet him (though he had no plan to meet her). Her preparation was that of a desperate woman - a woman that decided that he had to disgrace herself to get what she wanted. She sat on the road as a common whore and prostituted herself to her father-in-law in an attempt to take what she thought she deserved. She couldn't see the purpose of her life, the love of God or anything else because the ones that were to example that love had failed to do what they were supposed to do.

There is more to this story in Genesis 38 if you want to read it. The point is that there are people on the outskirts of society that have missed out on the promise for one reason or another - they may have been abandoned or they may have just been hit by a lot of life's storms. Then there are others that have become as desperate as Tamar - desperate enough to prostitute themselves in a misguided effort to get what they think they want.

THE TAMAR PROJECT

On February 14, 2009, LifeQuest will reach out to these people as we go out on the streets of Macon and take these people a simple sign of love - a rose and a homemade Valentine's card. We want to let them now that no matter what has happened to them, no matter what people have done to them, no matter what they are doing to make it thru the day and thru life .....that God Loves them.

There is another group of people that we want to take roses to - read Rhonda's blog Le Waffle House Elegante to read about them.

Six Things God Hates

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
(Proverbs 6:16-19)

I ran across these in Psalms and figured " Hey, if there are six or seven things God hates then maybe, just maybe I should find out what they are." Not like I was actually doing any of them, not me - no way was I doing stuff God hates on a regular basis.

PROUD LOOK
Well right off the bat I'm in trouble - maybe not with the look but I sometimes have a pride problem. Get a compliment and file it away in the folder of why I deserve that and the rest of you didn't.

LYING TONGUE
I am safe from this one - Oh wait was that a lie.

HANDS THAT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD
OK safe - that is at least if you don't get into that whole spirit of the law stuff like Jesus got into in the sermon on the mount.

A HEART THAT DEVISETH WICKED IMAGINATIONS
Don't you just want to know.

FEET THAT BE SWIFT RUNNING TO MISCHIEF
Well the legs are a little older and not quite as swift as they once were.

A FALSE WITNESS THAT SPEAKS LIES
I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing......

SOWETH DISCORD AMONG THE BRETHREN
Who, me, never,

God hates these - a little something to think about - and maybe if you think you are ok - a little better that the rest of us - not quite the heathen I am - take a look at that first one again - the one about a proud look..........I think I will go and repent now.