tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182432472024-03-08T01:51:29.052-05:00Fortress of Solitude"There is no privacy that cannot be penetrated, no secret can be kept in a civilized world. Society is a masked ball where everyone hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding."
- Ralph Waldo EmersonChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-69431322299006094322011-11-03T00:02:00.003-05:002011-11-03T00:07:13.450-05:00I'm BAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!........ againSo I'm gonna try to revive this thing. Hopefully if I have the app I'll be more diligent.... We will see!!Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-77031408258520722302008-08-01T20:17:00.001-05:002008-08-01T20:17:45.570-05:00Just some thoughts<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">"I lift my eyes unto the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth." – Psalm 121:1-2<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>It seems to me here lately, a lot of Christians I know are coming under attack. All over the country, friends I know, even myself, have been in the trenches waging battle within ourselves. I was thinking about some of the problems and individual battles I have heard and experienced over the last few weeks and through the joys of youtube surfing, I stumbled upon this passage. It is very familiar to me, but I don't think I have ever read it quite the same way before. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>In the past, when I read this passage in Psalms, I saw it as one of hope, but always the hope that God would always be there to help me. I'm now not so sure that is this passages intent. Today it read to me as almost a challenge to an unseen force. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: lime none repeat scroll 0% 50%; color: black; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">"You want to know from where my help comes? My help comes from the One who made everything!!!"</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Now that is the kind of power I feel I need these days.<span style=""> </span>In this battle that rages within me, I feel weary and tired of fighting it. Constantly figuring out the solution to one problem, only for three more to pop up in their place. We have an enemy who knows no mercy. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Instead of being downtrodden, we should take hope and remember our help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. It is easy to forget and get bogged down trying to be self sufficient. That is not the life God wants for us. He wants us to live in His arms, safely cuddled with the One who made all of this, Who has beaten this enemy for all time, and Who suffered so much so we would not be alone in this. </p> <span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;" calibri="" serif=""><span style=""> </span>Thank you so much Jesus, I don't feel I live my thanks enough for you. Take heart and hope my brothers and sisters, our help comes from the Lord!!!</span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-1144479730882798282006-04-08T01:59:00.000-05:002006-04-08T02:02:10.906-05:00Guaranteed to Make You Laugh Out Loud<p><br /></p><p>This is not mine, but a friend of mine wrote it in October and I felt like sharing it with all the people that read my blog but not my friends'</p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I've found a new source of entertainment in my world.</p> <p>I went to Wal-Mart to buy the second and fourth seasons of West Wing in a constant war against my infinite amount of free time. Being that these were the only two items I had, I decided that the self-checkout line would be prudent. The three operation stations were occupied, so I got in place behind a guy and his wife who looked like they were about done. About twenty minutes later, the same three people were at the same three machines while the poor attendant scurried back and forth trying to walk these people through the process...it was like watching Helen Keller trying to teach Chinese to Ed Odgeron. It was so entertaining, I didn't even mind the wait.</p> <p>The one guy right ahead of me was foiled by the dexterity required to operate the touch screen. Have you ever watched a really drunk person with fat fingers trying to dial a number on a cell phone with really small numbers? I'm just giving this guy the benefit of the doubt that he was sober, by the way, because it was the middle of the day and he was with his 4 year old daugther...but this is Vickburg, so that may have been a little too generous. He was pressing not just his tip, but the entire upper half of his finger against the screen, hitting about 5 buttons at the same time causing some sort of computer nervous breakdown.</p> <p>The lady next to me had a cart that consisted of 2 boxes of Midol, 3 boxes of wine, Jett Magazine, 1 box of Stay-Free adult diapers and "Ski Trippin'" on DVD (and if you don't think I had time to really get such an accurate inventory, you're kidding yourself). Well, first of all, she didn't really understand the concept that each item has a bar code on it and that is what you have to swipe across the scanner. She just brought each item and sort of showed it to the glass, like she thought there was a camera in there and somebody watching what she was trying to buy. When this didn't work, she must've thought the camera was ignoring her, because she started tapping on the scanner with her ridiculously large Gail Dievers nails and eventually threw her package of adult diapers against the touch screen. Then, the poor Wal-Mart attendent, who was busy trying to fix whatever it was Drunkie Fingers had done to the other station, came over and explained the concept of bar code to the woman...again-- Keller, Chinese, Odgeron. She had pretty much mastered the basic scanning process until she got to the box wine and it asked her to verify she was 21. She then reverted to the camera in the glass theory and held her ID up to her face and smiled into the scanner like she was waiting for someone to snap her mugshot...once again the attendent somehow staved off the urge to commit suicide and came over to fix the problem.</p> <p>By this time, Drunkie Fingers has somehow set a small fire at his station and managed to pull up child pornography on his touch screen...Ok, maybe I made that up.</p> <p>The third person was a 75ish woman who had pretty much mastered the scanning and bagging process, but was paying for the rather sizable purchase with a wad of crumpled one dollar bills which she was trying shove into the bill accepter. She just sat there, undaunted by the constant rejections, like she was playing dollar slots...she'd put money in...sometimes she got money back, sometimes she didn't and then she tried again. I think she actually asked the attendent if she was the cocktail waitress and where the buffet was at one point.</p> <p>Slow as the process was, the old woman won this Special Olympics shopping event and left her station. So, I strided confidently up to her station, scanned my two DVDs, swiped the card, and got my receipt. I then turned to Drunkie Fingers and excuted the the Hulk Hogan Pythons flex and yelled, "THAT'S how you check out, BROTHER!" I then grabbed a box of Midol off of Camera lady's stack, spiked it and proceeded to perform the Chad Johnson Touchdown Jig.</p> <p>Then, I walked out like a conquering hero. You can now place Vicksburg Wal-Mart Self Check-Out Attendent on the list of Worst jobs on Earth right next to In and Out Burger Potato Peeler, Janitorial Staff at Tiger Stadium, Larry Flyntt's Ass Wiper and Governor of Louisiana.</p>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-1139227498219038772006-02-06T02:32:00.000-05:002006-02-06T07:05:04.186-05:00Get in the game!!!<span style="font-family:georgia;"> Well I'm back. Sorry I haven't updated in a while..... actually lots of things have happened. I mean the last time I updated was mid-December. So let's see.... well first, Andrea did make it up here. Unfortunately, it didn't snow for her while she was here, but all in all it was a fun trip. We went to this candlelight thing at the Biltmore Estate. It was cool, they opened up a new part of the house so that was something interesting for both of us, as we had taken the tour before. Christmas came and it was really nice. I like a nice quiet Christmas with my parents, but I also look forward to a time when I have all that with a wonderfully boisterous Christmas morning when the kids wake up barely 45 minutes after I have gone to bed and the living room is a tornado of ribbons and paper and stockings. Anyway, other than that Andrea had a pretty boring trip. I had to work, and fun stuff like that. So Andrea spent alot of time at my wonderfully cushy apartment.<br /> <br /> Shortly before New Year's, we went to Nashville for Passion '06. I worked the event, and Andrea enjoyed the nice cushy accomodations of the Loew's Vanderbilt Plaza. Seems to be a pattern here. I know the dogs loved vacation and the Plaza loved the dogs. I really didn't think they were gonna let us take them home. Passion '06 was amazing. I have so many books to read now, and I'm enjoying my hikes everyday because it gives me a chance to catch up on all my news and sports podcasts and listening to all the sessions from Passion and other sermons I have. So we returned to Asheville and Andrea went home a few days later.<br /><br />So I've started taking these hikes in the woods. It is really cool and helpful for losing weight. Which is something I've decided I need to do. It is no fun at all, but oh well. For those of you that don't know, I also found out my Fuge assignment. I am going to be the Rec Director at Jenness Park in California. This is going to be a really exciting summer for me because I've never thought of Fuge out in Cali. I've always known Fuge in the South. I'm excited though.<br /><br />I think that's about it, except oh yeah I am doing movie trivia on Tuesday!!! Everyone tune in and play. Hopefully I will be better in the future about updating. Until then, get in the game...whatever game you happen to be near.<br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-1134442987166209232005-12-12T21:49:00.000-05:002006-06-21T11:50:41.086-05:00Workin' 9 to 5...What a way to make a living!!!!!!Here I sit at work. Wow I forgot how much fun it is!!! Looks like I get to sit for 3 weeks and pull a paycheck without learning anything new. Wish I could test out of this. Anyway, so Christmas is fastly approaching.... that's cool. Not much else is new really. My parents sold their house and bought a new one in a better neighborhood. It is like this big stone castle looking thing right across from the golf course. Pretty nice. Luckily they don't have to move until after the holidays, so Christmas at the house is still on. I forgot to send money for Andrea's puppy, so great job me!!! The breeder said she's big and fat and growling at everything (the puppy...not andrea)!! I'm almost done with school for this fall, so that's good. Andrea is coming this coming weekend, so that's awesome!!! I decorated the outside of my place for Christmas this past weekend. It looks good if I do say so myself. Anyway, here is your update, so enjoy!!!Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-1133249000182657132005-11-29T01:38:00.000-05:002005-11-29T02:23:20.193-05:00It's Thanksgiving Charlie BrownWell it has been a while since my last post. I guess I should post on my travels. I took the long trek down to Oxford for like a week and a half. It was fun, but a little too long to be there. There was always enough to do in Oxford to occupy my time when I lived there but now not so much. I had a great time going to see Harry Potter at 12:01 am. The movie is amazing, everyone should go see it. We went to the Grove, Saturday, it was great to see our friend, Mike, up and about after his life threatening illness. We decided not to go to the game as it was too cold. That was when the festivities began. After a very sad attempt by Noel at reliving glory days at Chili's, we stopped at El Charro's for margaritas and sombreros, then it was back to Andrea's cause Noel threw up in Courtney's truck. Noel cleaned it up sorta and then we played hide Courtney entirely too long, but it was funny. Last stop some guy's house where Mike was and stayed there a long time and watched 16 year olds hit on Noel. Andrew and I retired, but the girls decided they were not ready to give it up. So they went to one of Courtney's friend's place and stayed there waaaaaaaay too long, to the point that Drew and I were called to come rescue the girls from the weird guys. That was by far the most excitement of the week. Soooo much drama.<br /><br />Trae is ummm exactly what you would expect when you take a 6 year old to see Harry Potter. The funniest thing was he kept asking me when the goblin was going to show up. It took me like 2/3 of the movie to realize he thought it was the Goblin of Fire. So the rest of the movie was trying to explain what a goblet is. It was a trip. Thanksgiving was cool. Got up early, ate alot, had two dinners to go to, and saw Gale waaaaayyy too much. She was strangely nice to me, but im not fooled. I ended up moving furniture rather than going to Starkpatch, which turned out to be a good move since Ole Miss decided to be MSU's only SEC win of the season. Give me a break guys. Then the long trek back home. I'm glad to be back though. I enjoy my routine, it helps fight boredom. It is nasty here though, and apparently I missed a whole day of snow while I was gone. Oh well I'm sure there are lots more where that came from. My neighbors decorated the outside of our duplex for Christmas so they are making my side look sad right now, but this Saturday, I will decorate and it will look amazing. All in all, it was great seeing Andrea and her family and well everyone. I guess that's it but I'm gonna try to do movie trivia....anyone got a good day for me to do it on?Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-1131869995138447212005-11-13T03:16:00.000-05:002005-11-13T03:19:55.146-05:00Hail to the Chef....... Great GooglymooglyOk. So this doesn't count as a post I know. I promise to do one in the next few days, but this was on a friend's page and I thought it was kind of interesting.<br /><br /><br />1. Go to Google<br />2. Type in the word "failure"<br />3. Hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button instead of "Search"<br />4. Tell all of the cool people before Google fixes it...Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-1130919669791877902005-11-02T00:54:00.000-05:002005-11-02T03:23:21.640-05:00Stained Glass Masquerade"There is no privacy that cannot be penetrated, no secret can be kept in a civilized world. Society is a masked ball where everyone hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding."<br />- Ralph Waldo Emerson<br /><br /><div align="center">Is there anyone that fails</div><div align="center">Is there anyone that falls </div><div align="center">Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small<br />Cause when I take a look around</div><div align="center">Everybody seems so strong</div><div align="center">I know they’ll soon discover</div><div align="center">That I don’t belong<br />So I tuck it all away</div><div align="center">like everything’s okay</div><div align="center">If I make them all believe it</div><div align="center">maybe I’ll believe it too<br />So with a painted grin</div><div align="center">I play the part again</div><div align="center">So everyone will see me the way that I see them<br /></div><div align="center">Are we happy plastic people</div><div align="center">Under shiny plastic steeples</div><div align="center">With walls around our weakness</div><div align="center">and smiles to hide our pain</div><div align="center">But if the invitation’s open</div><div align="center">To every heart that has been broken</div><div align="center">Maybe then we close the curtain</div><div align="center">On our stained glass masquerade<br /></div><div align="center">Is there anyone who’s been there</div><div align="center">Are there any hands to raise</div><div align="center">Am I the only one who’s traded</div><div align="center">In the altar for a stage<br />The performance is convincing</div><div align="center">And we know every line by heart</div><div align="center">Only when on one is watching</div><div align="center">Can we really fall apart<br />But would it set me free</div><div align="center">If I dared to let you see</div><div align="center">The truth behind the person</div><div align="center">That you imagine me to be<br />Would your arms be open</div><div align="center">Or would you walk away</div><div align="center">Would the love of Jesus</div><div align="center">Be enough to make you stay<br /></div><div align="center">Are we happy plastic people</div><div align="center">Under shiny plastic steeples</div><div align="center">With walls around our weakness</div><div align="center">and smiles to hide our pain</div><div align="center">But if the invitation’s open</div><div align="center">To every heart that has been broken</div><div align="center">Maybe then we close the curtain</div><div align="center">On our stained glass masquerade</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="left">Wow!!! Emerson and Casting Crowns in the same post. What a combination. Those are two bodies of work that have been rattling around in my head lately. Of course, this isn't the first time a Casting Crowns song has had this effect on me. I felt the same way when "If We Are the Body" came out, telling anyone who would listen that this song described the state of the church and we needed to band together to change it. As you probably realize, not much was done about my revelation guided by the band. Other than a few other Christians agreeing with me, it was pretty much business as usual.</div><div align="left">Well, they have done it again. "Stained Glass Masquerade" is an amazing gut check for the church as a whole. I love the line, " Am I the only one who's traded in the altar for a stage. The performance is convincing, we know every line by heart." Some people close to me have joked with me that my family motto is "illusion is truth", growing up with two very successful marketing and business people for parents, I learned at an early age people don't want to know your problems. They want you to tell them what they want to hear and let that be it. If all that is true, no wonder I feel so comfortable at church. We don't truly worship anymore. We put on an amazing and entertaining production every Sunday in the hopes of selling Christianity to more people to boost numbers to increase the intake of offerings. Willie Butler talked of this during the summer at Fuge PCB. He told a story of being at a church he was to speak at and asked one of the deacons when they wanted him to get up. The deacon responded you're Baptist aren't you? Then you know when to get up there. And he was right. Most of us could set our watches by our church services. </div><div align="left">The productions are nice, and very comfortable. But they arent very effective. If they were, we wouldn't see the decline like there has never been before in the amount of people converting to Christianity. See one of the problems of the production mentality is it leaves no part for the everyday Christian witness. Since we have not been cast to a part, we should be quiet not rock the boat. Let millions of dollars of research and polling work their magic and bring in the masses. What fools we all are. I got into a discussion with one of my pastors the other day about more and more pastors having business degrees. He quoted multimillion dollar budgets to be managed and without the proper knowledge they could be lost. I responded to him without a message of Truth we are all already lost. </div><div align="left">That's what I miss the most of Fuge. That's what everyone always misses of Fuge. Worship. It's not perfect, but it's as close as we ever get. For however brief of a time we get to sit and bask with hundreds of fellow christians in our Master's Glory. Then those of us there all summer go back to our church productions and feel frustrated, because not only have you lost the true worship so desperately soaked up all summer, you feel you have lost your voice to do anything about it. </div><div align="left">Jesus is coming look busy. Do unto others before they do unto you. Love your neighbor if they love you first. These were once punch lines. Now if we were honest they could be written into the New American Patriotic Translation of the First Baptist Church of Starbucks. Give it a cool cover or make it into a magazine or turn it into a podcast. Let's start the First Church of iPod. Reach millions with minimal costs. That's great, but what message are we sending? Where's your altar? Do you know your lines?</div><div align="left">****************SMILE you're on Jesus cam!!****************</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">PS 1000 pts if you can tell me what show I got the Emerson quote from</div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-1130571520008051232005-10-29T02:37:00.000-05:002005-10-29T02:38:40.013-05:00Riddle Me ThisWhat is greater than God,<br />More evil than the Devil,<br />The poor have it,<br />The rich need it,<br />And if you eat it, you'll die?Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18243247.post-1130183452303634022005-10-24T17:50:00.000-05:002006-06-21T11:53:49.180-05:00It's all Greek to meSo here we go. I finally joined the blogging world. We will see how faithful I am at posting regularly. I also plan on claiming a movie trivia day for myself, so stay tuned!!!Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09206533358789891084noreply@blogger.com4