SLACKER!!!!

well, yeah, i missed a day... (Tuesdays are TRu's Days, by the way, so yes, it's only one day)... in fact, i didn't even do all that much in terms of productivity in my time off... i was pretty busy doing "actual" things... that sounds kind of silly even as i write it, but it seems more and more that my life is clearly divided into two departments of activity... writing, which most people i know consider frivolous, and work, which is what most people i know think i should "grow up" and focus more seriously on... of course, above both of these is my family and throughout all three runs the vein of my faith...

So, perhaps i'll address that notion a little later, but right now, i need to move on... yesterday we had our office party which was about 3 hours out of the way and 2 hours in length... it was supposed to be for families, but was scheduled for a very inopportune time such that my family could not attend... i'm told that it was a coincidence, but i'm not buying it... anyway... that was fun... we went to Maggiano's and pigged out... there are layoffs looming within our company/organization... so, i suppose it was a nice departure from concerns and whatnot... perhaps distraction is better... whatever... either way, by the time that i got home, i really had no energy to put words together...

Also this week, we've been cleaning up our office space in preparation of a office-wide paint job... i've had to move around some bookshelves and desks and such and basically clean up a ton of my own paper work and such that proves how disorganized i really am... i'll admit it... i have my areas and i slide in many others... last night i finally sat down and watched the Packers game from Sunday and i enjoyed it thoroughly... i can't believe that there's only 3 more weeks left in the NFL season... and now... to the rest of the entry...

WORD OF THE DAY

Back to Joshua... finally... Joshua 2... i think most people who have been through Sunday school are familiar with this passage... it's one of those Old Testament stories that we all cling to because it shows that God can use the worst of us to accomplish His plan... here we have a pretty nice military strategy put into place by the new leader, Joshua... they've got their sights set on Jericho and he sends out some spies to check out the lay of the land... i'm a little confused as to why they end up staying with a hooker, but i've heard some explanations that kind of make sense... mainly that they were trying to blend in and Rahab's home was right at the entrance to the city and she apparently dealt with a lot of out of towners...

Clearly God led them here though, because when they get ratted out, she protects them... and i realize the quandry of this passage... the question always raised is, why is it okay that she lied to protect these guys? well... i'm not going to focus on it too much, but clearly she's not been given the ten commandments since she didn't just come from the desert with them and she's not an Israelite... therefore, she's not operating under their laws and she's going with what she knows to do... whether it's right or not... well, i don't really see it as applicable... we know that it's not right to lie... therefore, i fall back to my favorite saying of Jesus... "What is that to you?" (basically, worry about your own actions and your own life, not what others may or may not be "getting away" with)...

that takes us up to verse 8 and i'll continue with that next time...

IN OTHER WORDS

well, i did my homework this time and i've finished reading Why a Shepherd?... somewhat surprisingly it ended with an altar call and instantly transformed into a bloated tract... perhaps that's what it was all along and i just didn't realize it... i don't necessarily dislike the direction it took and now that i know, it's possibly some sort of sacrilege for me to criticize the book, but... (sigh)... but, i wish that the first 60 pages were written well enough to ensure that readers would make it to the "sales pitch"... i don't think i would have made it if i hadn't have been writing about it... that said, there was a nice summation of the lessons learned right before the altar call... and i really enjoyed it... so all in all the book wasn't exactly a loss...

Starting tomorrow, i'll be working through When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg, though perhaps not at the same pace as Why a Shepherd? and perhaps with an occasional interjection of comments on Un.Orthodox by Tommy Kyllenon and/or Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus...

SMITTY'S SILVER BELLS

Michael W Smith has made some pretty great Christmas albums in his time and this year is apparently no different... his latest Christmas album is called It's a Wonderful Christmas and according to USA Today, it as well as Jars of Clay's Christmas Songs contain potential Christmas CLASSICS... nice...

GO GO GADGET, PLEASE!!!!!

So, over the past week and a half i've slowly become more and more interested, nay, preoccupied with wanting this fancy little Sony device here... i love to read and i'd love to be able to carry around my books on this little device that, hey, i think will fit into my pocket... i think... well, i'm pretty sure... i have pretty big pockets... unfortunately, they're not very deep and they're mostly empty, so it looks like i won't be getting one of these bad boys just yet... and that offer for 100 free classics is really calling me... and the free engraving... oh... i had better move on... ps. if there's anyone out there who wants to be my sugar daddy.... i'd prefer the blue one...

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

okay so tonight is the Broncos and the Texans... it is, in a sense, a playoff game, because both teams probably NEED to win if they expect to show up in the playoffs... after tonight, though, the bell will toll for the Texans and Din-VAH, sans the MHO will be victorious...

BEFORE I GO

i posted an interview with Leeland today at theTRu... it's probably not the best interview i've done and it's from back in April, but it's still a pretty fun thing...

COMING SOON

i'll talk about heroes.... i'll talk about Blake Lewis... i'll talk about MORE FOOTBALL... i might talk a little about politics... and i'll post more interviews, reviews and features at everyone's favorite website called theTRu...

peace... love... bdg..