Word of the day

Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

-John 21:16 (NIV)

AFTER Judas betrayed Jesus, he was filled with remorse and went out and hanged himself (Matt. 27:3-5). Judas' greater betrayal, however, may have been that he apparently could not believe that Jesus would forgive him and that the Holy Spirit would help him forgive himself.

But Judas was not the only one who failed Jesus. After having promised he'd never desert Jesus, Peter denied him three times. When Peter heard the rooster crow, he remembered what Jesus had foretold and went out and wept.

Later, the risen Christ came to Peter and asked him three times, "Peter, do you love me?" After Peter answered yes each time, Jesus responded with an assignment. He gave Peter his own ministry: "Feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep." (See John 21:15-17.)

The memory of what we've done can be redeemed for good. The new covenant sealed with Jesus' blood is the promise of God's forgiveness. In that covenant, the Holy Spirit is able to bring us to rebirth, re-creation, renewal, and redemption. We can be used for God's purposes, no matter what we've done.

Mike Ripski (Tennessee, USA)

Prayer

Dear God, forgive us our past. Help us to spend our future serving you. Amen.

Thought for the Day

No matter what we have done, God can redeem us and use us.

Not even sure if anyone reads this "blog". I wouldn't so much call myself a "blogger" but I do like posting things that I find inspiring, helpful, and intersting to me. 

one love,

cb

Word of the day

Expectations

. . . the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen (Luke 19:37 ).
Few places are harder to live than in the gap between what we expect and what we get, that barren stretch that separates what we think we deserve and what our lives have actually delivered to us. We can barely tolerate being there and we’ll do anything to find a way out.
Sometimes that means we adjust our expectations. The pain of disappointment is alleviated by lowering our sights. But with every downward adjustment hope is diminished, and eventually we find we’ve stopped dreaming altogether.
Another strategy moves in the opposite direction. Sometimes the tension between what we expect and what we get pushes us to do whatever we need to do to secure our own happiness. We lash out at whoever or whatever gets in the way of what should have been.
Of course, we often ricochet back and forth between both of those responses: resignation or anger, passive acceptance or violent force. What we find most difficult is what the Psalmist urged. “Wait on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14 ).
Holy Week is bracketed by shouting crowds. On the front end of Holy Week we remember the day Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem. Luke tells us that the crowd that welcomed him that day “praised God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen” (19:37). Their shouts were grounded in past events, but those past events had shaped their expectations of what would soon be.
The miracle-working Jesus was their King. The very manner of his approach to Jerusalem, mounted on a colt, spoke to his identity as the one of whom Zechariah had prophesied (Zech. 9:9 ). These shouts carried the weight of expectations shaped by the hope of what a warrior king would do.
By the time we get to the end of the week those expectations are thoroughly shattered. This celebrated King has failed to deliver and now the crowds are shouting something different. “Hosanna” has morphed to “Crucify.” Holy Week is the story of what it means to walk with Jesus in the midst of unmet expectations.
We find ourselves in good company. This kind of disappointment isn’t unique to the godless or the wicked. Even Jesus’ closest followers struggled during those final days of his life. And they failed. Some of them failed big: Judas’ disappointment with Jesus, and then with himself, was so deep that he took his own life. Peter caved to his fear and denied Jesus. Eventually, by Friday afternoon, all of the disciples have scattered.
And as for us – plenty of us live every day with unmet expectations. Some of them are minor: a driver in front of you failed to use his turn signal; you assumed your spouse had made the bank deposit when you wrote the check, or the kitchen completely messed up your order when you happened to be on a tight schedule.
Of course, some of our expectations go to the core of who we are. A single adult approaches another birthday marking yet another decade without the dreamed of mate and the dreamed of children. The long-awaited retirement brings a deadening boredom and feelings of uselessness. The new purchase becomes a draining burden rather than the status symbol it was supposed to be. The promotion proves to be a wrong fit for your best skills. In short, things are not working out like you had hoped they would.
That gap between what we expected and what we actually experience is the place where faith wanes. During this week – or for that matter during any week – when the tension between what you hoped for and what you’ve received feel unbearable, hear the invitation of Jesus. Stay with him. Listen to his words. Watch what he’s doing. Don’t get swept up the noisy demands and expectations of the culture. God is at work. Such hardly seems to be the case, and you may not see it now. But God is at work.
To all who feel the ache of something that hasn’t worked out according to plan, welcome to Jerusalem.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, keep us close to you in the final days of this Lenten journey. Our expectations so easily become demands. We stop praying and start giving direction. Keep us attentive to what you are doing, especially when life unfolds in ways we didn’t expect or ask for. Teach us trust, even in the shadow of the cross. Amen.


Mark H. Crumpler
Pastor for Teaching and Spiritual Formation

Sarah's first music video!!!

Sideways Smiley Face :-)

:-)

Sideways Smiley Face 

(1982-2010)

Sideways Smiley Face died on March 14,2010, surrounded by his loved ones. The cause of death was over-use. Born on a Computer Science on-line bulletin board at Carnegie Mellon University, Mr. Face devoted his life to pointing out that the previous sentence was meant to be funny. He also gained worldwide recognition for his tireless efforts as a glib substitute for the words "I'm amused." His other interests included frowning and winking. He is survived by his children, Sideways Surprised Face, Sideways Glasses Face, Sideways Abraham Lincoln Face, Sideways Santa Claus Face, Sideways Pope Face, and, of course, his beloved wife, XOXO. In lieu of flowers, Mr. Face's family has requested that people use actual words to express their feelings.

Line Afterbangs - my next ski purchase?

These bad boys look amazing!

Weezy F. Baby stays out of jail for now. maybe the 'F' is for FIRE!!!

Lil Wayne Sentencing Postponed AGAIN Due to Courthouse Fire!

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This is getting ridiculous.

Thanks to a mysterious fire at Manhattan's Criminal Courthouse that left eight people with minor injuries, Lil Wayne's sentencing on gun charges has been postponed once again. (The Daily Swarm, via The New York Times, AP.)
It was only a few weeks ago that Wayne's original sentencing date was pushed back thanks to emergency dental care, i.e. eight root canals. One thing is clear: If there is a God, he does not want Lil Wayne to go to jail. No word on Wayne's rescheduled sentencing date just yet-- at least he can shoot a few dozen more music videos before going in now.
Weezy's "Fireman" clip is embedded below:

Posted by Ryan Dombal on March 2, 2010 at 12:45 p.m. 
[Pitchfork] 

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!

No. 15 UT Dallas to Host 2nd Round of NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament

THE COMETS WILL BE MAKING THEIR THIRD TRIP TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT, WHERE THEY ADVANCED TO THE ELITE EIGHT IN 2009.

THE COMETS WILL MAKE THEIR THIRD VOYAGE TO THE "BIG DANCE" THIS WEEKEND

3/1/2010 9:26:51 AM

RICHARDSON, TX (03.01.10) – The UT Dallas men’s basketball team received an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Division III Tournament, punching its second straight ticket to the “Big Dance.”

The Comets (23-5) will host the winner of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Wheaton (IL) on Saturday, March 6, at the UTD Activity Center in Richardson, TX. UMHB (22-6) and Wheaton (18-8) will square off in a first round contest on Thursday, March 4, at the Cru’s Mayborn Arena.

On Sunday, UTD was clipped 80-70 by UMHB in the American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship, held in Belton, TX. The Comets will be making their third appearance at the national stage since 2005, and the Cru will enter the tournament for the third time in four years.

Last season, UTD advanced all the way to the Elite Eight of the national tournament, falling in overtime to Guilford College. The Comets, who also earned a “bye” in 2009, are 2-2 all-time in NCAA postseason play.

Should UTD claim a second-round win, the Comets will face the winner of a North region that includes Hope College (21-7), UW-Stevens Point (23-4), Carleton (19-9) and St. Norbert (22-3).

To view the an interactive bracket at ncaa.com, follow this LINK.

Navigate to cometsports.utdallas.edu throughout the week for more updates, and game times, for this weekend’s action.

[UTD SPORTS]

Word of the day

Getting Practical

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31 ).
Several years ago Pastor John Piper wrote an article for his church newsletter titled “How to Drink Orange Juice to the Glory of God.” The article, as is clear from the title, is a meditation on the words we’ve been reflecting on this week, and especially Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians to eat and drink to God’s glory.
The glory of God, like much of the religious vocabulary we hear and use, usually evokes a polite smile but fails to truly inform the mind or shape behavior. We sense that somehow it’s important, but we’re not really sure what to do with it when we’re seated at Turner Field instead of a church pew. For that matter, we’re not entirely clear on what to do with it in the church pew.
For those of you who are prone to ask “so what?” and have an appreciation for the practical side of the Christian faith, I’d like to borrow heavily from John Piper’s article and explore in detail what it means to drink orange juice to the glory of God. I’ll take the liberty of changing the scenario: how do you throw a dinner party to the glory of God?
For the sake of simplicity I’ll offer my answers in a list:

1. God is glorified in the way we purchase and prepare food . If your plans require you to shop for food, recognize that you are not merely a consumer. That the foods we purchase were grown in the earth and provided for us by the labor of others reminds us that we are not at the center of the universe. Everything around us involves someone else. If your plans involve cooking, realize that the act of preparing food for friends is a form of service and ministry. After his resurrection Jesus prepared a breakfast for his disciples after they had been out fishing all night. To see cooking as sacred is to cook to God’s glory.
    
2. When it is time to eat, receive the meal with thanksgiving . This is not simply a matter of saying a “blessing” or “grace” before everyone dives in to whatever has been set before them. A prayer may be spoken, but the glory of God doesn’t demand it. What this means is recognizing that the meal comes as a gift. The food, as mentioned above, comes to us as a gift. For the guests, the meal comes as gift from the hands of others who prepared it. What we’re confronted with at the table is the truth that all of life comes to us as a gift and God is glorified whenever we receive life’s gifts with a thankful heart.
    
3. God is glorified in the relationships that form around the table. Jesus gave his followers a new command – that they love one another as he had loved them. At the table you bring the love and presence of Christ to your friends. Jesus said loving God and neighbor topped the list of God’s commandments to us. What transpires around the table makes the meal an occasion to glorify God.

You can probably take it from here. Substitute the orange juice or the dinner party with anything else you’ll do today. Living for the glory of God isn’t hard and we need not complicate it with theological jargon or esoteric emotions.
How will you deal with clients to the glory of God? Surely truthfulness and basic respect are involved. Taking business ethics seriously will do it as well.
How will you take an exam to the glory of God? Maybe that’s about good preparation and your best effort.
How will you drive in Atlanta traffic to the glory of God? Relax, give others drivers a break by being courteous, and refrain from the angry explicative and profane gesture.
How will you parent to the glory of God? Teach your children to know and love God and see your interactions with your child as a mirror reflection of God’s own interactions with us – that includes tender love and tough discipline.
Your turn. What do you have planned today – and how will you do it to the glory of God?
Prayer:
In all I do today, O God, help me to do it well – to the praise of your glory and for the sake of your name. Let the most ordinary tasks and plans bear witness to who you and what you’re like. Amen.
Mark H. Crumpler
Pastor for Teaching and Spiritual Formation

new Boston pano's

Did a little work on my resume' tonight. Added a few new pics of Boston skyline at night

who needs 8 root canals? Lil Wayne apparently.....

Lil Wayne Has EIGHT Root Canals

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Undergoes EIGHT HOURS of dental surgery Photo by Ryan Dombal
Last week, Lil Wayne's impending prison sentence was postponed due to his need for immediate dental surgery. And while the delay sure sounded like some legal loop-holing of the highest order, it turns out Wayne's oral situation really was in need of some serious care.
According to TMZ, the rapper underwent eight (!) root canals during an eight-hour procedure. And that's not all. A Miami dentist also fine-tuned Wayne's $150,000 diamond-encrusted chompers, redid and added some tooth implants, and repaired what's left of Wayne's original set of teeth. That's a lotta laughing gas.
Wayne is now due to head to prison March 2. It's all ice cream and smoothies until then.

Posted by Ryan Dombal on February 19, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. 

[Pitchfork] 

Word of the day

Lean into Life

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife and likewise the wife to her husband (1 Cor. 7:3 ).
Following Jesus and living a life of faith begins with saying ‘yes’. We say ‘yes’ to God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. We say ‘yes’ to what Jesus did for us on the cross. We say ‘yes’ to the grace that forgives sin. We say ‘yes’ to a new way of life in which self is no longer the center of the universe.
On more than one occasion Jesus posed direct questions that invited a simple answer: yes or no. After healing a blind man Jesus asked him “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (John 9:35). After washing the feet of his closest followers Jesus asked “Do you understand what I have done for you?” (John 13:12). The call to those first disciples was simple, “Come, follow me” (Mark 1:17). This called for more than a spoken answer. It called for a lived ‘yes’ or a lived ‘no.’
The Christian life is launched with ‘yes.’ Yes, we believe. Yes, we understand. Yes, we will go with you. Yes, yes, yes. Given that the Christian life is launched with yes, it is puzzling how quickly and easily we begin to live it with ‘no.’
True enough, Jesus proclaimed the arrival of God’s kingdom by calling for repentance, a word that implies turning away from something, a change of course. To say ‘yes’ to Jesus will inevitably mean saying ‘no’ to something else. Embracing God’s Kingdom means abandoning false kingdoms and rejecting lesser claims to our heart’s affections.
But something has gone seriously wrong when the ‘no’ begins to eclipse the glad ‘yes’ of following Jesus. Far too many people have abandoned the Jesus way because it came to be defined by ‘don’t’ and ‘can’t.’ Don’t do this. Don’t do that. The tradition in which I came to faith has too often been caricatured as nay-saying, particularly with regard to anything that seemed fun. You can’t dance, you can’t play cards, you can’t go to certain movies. I’m convinced that the Presbyterian Church is heavily populated with refugees from can’t and don’t.

********

As we read the New Testament, and especially Paul’s letters, we discover that the Christian community has struggled with this tension from the beginning. In Corinth, the tension was disrupting marriages. The specific problem was two-fold. First, some of the Corinthian Christians thought that being spiritual meant that the physical intimacies and passions of marriage were not consistent with their new-found faith in Jesus. They were remaining married but depriving the spouse of marital intimacy (7:1-5 ). A second matter had to do with Christians who were married to non-Christians and seeking to divorce their unbelieving spouse (7:12-16 ).
1 Corinthians 7 is Paul’s corrective to both of these issues in the Corinthian church. His approach to both issues is rooted in the conviction that the Jesus way is more about ‘yes’ than ‘no.’ Paul encourages these Christians to stay married to their spouse, even if that husband or wife is not a follower of Jesus. Paul encourages married Christians to embrace marriage in its fullness, and that includes enjoying each others’ bodies.
Following Jesus means leaning into life. The Jesus way is not distant and aloof. In sending his son to this earth God refused to remain distant and aloof from us. God entered our world. Jesus lived a fully human life, working with his hands, obeying his parents, getting hungry and thirsty, experiencing friendship and rejection, suffering pain and dying a violent death.
To follow Jesus is to willingly encounter and engage the world in which you live. You will not embrace and affirm all that this world offers you – but a spiritual life is not lived by constantly saying ‘no.’ The life of faith is never defined by can’t and don’t
Lean into life today. Love your spouse. Play with your children. Call a friend you haven’t seen in a while. Do your best work. Give yourself to your studies. Enjoy the creation. God looked at all he had made and said “it is very good” (Genesis 1:31). How can we say less?
Prayer:
Gracious God, I want to lean into my life today – every part of it. Let my walk with you be an adventure in embracing all that you have placed in my life: my family, my work, my neighbors and co-workers. Grant discernment in saying ‘no’ and boldness in saying ‘yes’ as I follow you throughout this day. Amen.

Mark H. Crumpler
Pastor for Teaching and Spiritual Formation

Happy National Engineers Week!

 

National Engineers Week!

Word of the day

Breath of Life

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4 ).
But each one has his own gift from God, one has this gift, another has that (1 Cor. 7:7 ).
As a college student I did a summer internship in a church, working with the student ministry, doing middle school and high school camps. It was a great summer job, but God used it to show me I didn’t have what it takes to do student ministry. Too much “nerd” and not enough cool. But that’s another matter.
What I remember from that summer as I look at 1 Corinthians 12:4 and 7:7 is a staff meeting in which we discussed the hymn “Breathe on Me Breath of God.” We had just sung that hymn in worship the previous Sunday and the Senior Pastor didn’t like it. The refrain of the hymn says “Breathe on me, breathe on me, Holy Spirit breathe on me.” The pastor commented that the idea of someone breathing on you was offensive. He said it gave him the “heebie jeebies” – whatever that is. The phrase remains lodged in my memory. We all chuckled around the table. Yeah, what a goofy thing to sing in church.

********

Last week Marnie and I were required to take a course in CPR. We had just been through an experience with one of our children where knowing CPR could have been the difference between life and death. A physician told us to learn CPR and actually signed us up for the course. Fear is powerful motivator and Doctors tend to have an authoritative presence in such matters. We gladly took the course.
In the small classroom an instructor pulled from a gym bag the plastic form of a torso and head. She then took a flat plastic bag and threaded it through the mouth and throat of the imaginary patient. As she proceeded to walk us through the ABCs of CPR, she eventually came to ‘B’ (breathing). She placed her mouth on the patient and blew air into the bag.
I’ve long known that CPR involved breathing air into another person’s lungs. But the visual impact of the inflated plastic bag and my own recent life experience hit me in a powerful way. Apart from breath there is no life.
“Breathe on Me Breath of God” may not be good poetry. It may not be a good hymn. But I’m not laughing at it anymore. It’s too true to be laughed at or dismissed. Apart from breath there is no life, either physically or spiritually. Unless God breathes on us we live our days gasping. Unless God breathes on us and in us, we won’t really live our days at all.

********

The focus of our reflections this week will be Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians in matters concerning marriage and singleness. What I’m asking you to observe today is the easily missed connection between Paul’s discussion of the church and his discussion of marriage.
In chapter 12 Paul provides a lengthy treatment of the church as Christ’s body, functioning whole and healthy as the Spirit gives “gifts” to the members. These gifts differ, but they all come from the same Spirit. In chapter 7 Paul uses the same word, speaking of marriage and singleness as “gifts.”
In both Hebrew and Greek the word for “Spirit” can be rendered “breath” or “wind.” The breath of God gives life to the church. That same breath gives life to marriage and empowers one to live in singleness. Apart from breath there is no life – no life in the church; no life in the marriage; no life, period.
Ask God to breathe the breath of life into you today. Perhaps you need the breath of life at home. You may need it in your career and vocation. You may need it in your own soul. Jesus said that when we ask for the Holy Spirit we will not be denied (Luke 11:13 ). God delights to breathe on us. And whether we choose to sing about it or not, we can’t live any other way.
Prayer:
“Breathe on me, breath of God, Fill me with life anew, that I may love what Thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do.” (Breathe on Me Breath of God , 1878, Edwin Hatch).

Mark H. Crumpler
Pastor for Teaching and Spiritual Formation

UNC v. Duke

Tonight the North Carolina Tarheels (13-10, 2-6) will battle Duke (19-4, 7-2) in Chapel Hill. 

Carolina has lost 6 of its last 7 and really needs a win if they expect to make it into the Big Dance this season. I hope Roy Williams has these boys fired up. They really need to step their game up, starting NOW! 

Good luck tonight UNC! GO HEELS!!!!!

Wayne in pain, prison delayed.

Lil Wayne Not Going to Jail (Yet)

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Sentence postponed due to dental surgery. Wow.

Lil Wayne was supposed to start a year-long prison term today, after pleading guilty to a 2007 attempted weapons possession charge. That didn't happen.

According to an MTV report, Wayne's sentencing has been delayed until March 2 because the rapper has a cracked tooth and needs dental surgery. He's set to get the oral malfunction fixed in Miami February 12.

This is amazing.

Wayne's dental troubles are pretty well documented. A Blender cover story from 2008 featured a scene in which Wayne is hit with a righteous toothache in the studio, causing him to freestyle: "I got a toothache/ The size o' Virginia/ I got a tooothaaache/ And it hurts like a muh-fucka!" The article goes on to describe Wayne's kitchen thusly: "There is no food in sight besides candy. The counter is crowded with Blow Pops, Sour Patch Kids, Snickers, Milky Ways, Dots, Skittles." (And that grill can't make flossing any easier.)

The lesson here is clear: If you (perhaps) bite too hard on a gobstobber and crack your tooth, you, too, might temporarily escape a jail sentence.

[Pitchfork]

Weezy Starts Prison Term Today

Lil Wayne Expected to Start Prison Term Today

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Well, it's that time. Last year, Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to attempted gun ownership. This morning, he'll be formally sentenced to a year in prison, based on a deal he struck with Manhattan prosecutors. After he officially enters his guilty plea this morning, he's expected to turn himself in and immediately begin his prison term, as MTV explains.

That MTV piece explains what could face Wayne in prison: He won't have to cut his hair, he won't get to keep an iPod, he may have to serve some work duties, and he may or may not be transferred into an upstate New York facility. With good behavior, he could be out in as little as eight months. Still: Prison. Lets hope that Saints Super Bowl victory keeps him going for a while.

[Pitchfork]

Word of the day

1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Have you ever noticed that when people are in love, they tend to forget everything else? Everything becomes secondary — cars, houses, money — nothing matters — it is all secondary to love. Then, when they fall out of love, as in a divorce, all of a sudden those things mean everything! They argue about all the little meaningless things they ever owned together. Each wants it all for himself.
The same is true with the Lord. Before we know Him, all we really have are possessions. But when we come to know God — truly know Him — those things mean very little — we’re in love! We’re willing to give up everything. Those people who are most in love with God and filled with His love are the least possessive and the least materialistic.
If we have been wrapped up in our possessions, we’ve lost sight of our greatest treasure! All that stuff means nothing. Let go of it. Return to your first love. Lighten your heart and fall in love again with the love of God!

Word of the day

February 4 - Complacency

The word for today is complacency.

“‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth’” (Rev. 3:15-16).

“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard” (Heb. 2:1-3).

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (Prov. 14:30).

“And say to Archippus, ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it’” (Col. 4:17).

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23).

“Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things; for as you do this you will insure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:15-16).

“Let us not allow slackness to spoil our work and let us keep the fires of the spirit burning, as we do our work for God” (Rom. 12:11 Phillips)

Prayer: Lord, I trust in Your unfailing love. I will rejoice because You have rescued me. I will sing to You because You have been so good to me.

Breckenridge, here I come!

 

Cold Boston