A Pilgrims Way

Today is Halloween and as typical fashion goes this mornings talk shows were filled with Ghost stories and supernatural experiences.

I don’t know if I believe in Ghost. I believe in the idea of Ghost though. The idea of the Supernatural breaking into our Natural world. So I suppose it’s possible. (Warning Rabbit Trail: I do recall some story in the Bible about the Witch of Endor conjuring up a Ghost that at least looked like Samuel if it wasn’t him- If you’re the kind of person the looks for what the Bible has to say about ghost.)

The stories I heard this morning somewhat surprised me though. They were not terrifying or scary moments filled with fear and fright. Some were a little spooky, but in general the ones I heard were almost all positive…comforting…refreshing. People were OK with, even welcomed this breaking of boundaries, this crossing of barriers, this intersection of the natural and supernatural worlds.

I don’t know how I would respond if I saw a Ghost. I would completely freak out I’m sure at first, but then in my rational mind I would come up with a logical reason to dismiss the event I’m sure.

I’ve never seen a Ghost, but I can say I have felt the supernatural. That is, I believe there’s been times in my life where God has broken through that thin veil between the supernatural and natural and somehow someway made his presence known to me.

I wish I could say it was an everyday occurrence, but it’s not. Oh, maybe He’s there and I’m just not aware of it. Or maybe my rational mind has a way to logically dismiss him or explain him away. But there are fond and precious memories and experiences that I have that I hold on to.

At one point in my life I was probably like those Ghost Chasers that camp out in “Haunted Houses” always looking, searching for the Supernatural. I’m not like that anymore, which is neither better or worse in my opinion…just maybe more balanced.

But I’ll confess…I could use a good supernatural ghost haunting experience right now.

I read an interesting (But Extremely Long) article in the New York Times today, called the “Evangelical Crack up”.

Eight years after our push to put a Christian in the white house, protect the life of the unborn and uphold the sanctity of marriage I think we’re starting to see a few ripples and feel a few aftershocks of the seismic Christian Conservative/Morale Majority era.

What have we learned?

How have we changed?

I think that God just might use that movement to bring about some radical reformation in the church and transformation in our country, our world. Ironically enough…just not the way it’s leaders intended.

I’m wondering though if the writer didn’t paint too rosey of a picture. Is it too soon to put the final death nail in the coffin? Is there one last battle left? This election will be telling.

I also wonder if the writer paints too rosey a picture on the state of the church and it’s leaders today. Are guys like Bill Hybels and Rick Warren going to take up that mantel carried by folks like Jerry Fallwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson for so long? (At Least in the Media)  Is the church ready to let that mantel be passed on? Or are we headed toward some sort a evangelical schism? That is, if we’re not already there?

I’m sure we’ve got a long way still left to go and I’m sure the road ahead of us is a bumpy one. But the article gave me hope that at least we’re headed in the right direction. Or is that left? Or middle? Or liberal? Or Progressive? OH…..You know what I mean!

So a while ago I posted (See Here) about all the TV shows I was going to watch this fall and I thought it was about time to update the list because I’ve made several cuts and no additions…Thank God.
Monday Nights

8-9pm : Chuck - NBC  (Watched the first episode and didn’t feel like watching a goofy comedy.) 

& Prison Break - Fox  - Still really enjoy this show.  Tonight should be interesting.

9-10pm : Heroes - NBC - Awesome show.  Maybe the best thing on TV right now.

10-11pm : Journey Man - NBC - Still Watching but on the verge of being cut.

Tuesday Nights

9-10pm : The Unit - CBS - Never even gave it a chance.

10-11pm : Cane - CBS - Watched the first three episodes and became bored with it.  Not really anything unique or compelling about it.

Wednesday Nights

8-9pm : Kid Nation - CBS & Pushing Daisies - ABC  I still watch Kid Nation with my kids when they want to.  They love it and I enjoy watching it with them and seeing how they respond.  If they forget though I quickly delete it from the DVR.  Pushing Daisies - I was impressed with the visual side of the series and made it through the first episode.  Bot I couldn’t take another quirky show.  Desperate Housewives kind of ruined me.

9-10pm : Bionic Woman - NBC - I’m loving this show.  I’d guess if you were an Alias fan you might enjoy it though the lead actress is nothing like Jennifer Garner of course.

Private Practice - ABC - Never made the cut.

10-11pm: Dirty Sexy Money - ABC & Life - NBC - Never made the cut.

Thursday Nights

8-9pm : Smallville - The CW - What can I say…I’m still a sucker for Superman.  I still watch this show as soon as I can. Clark’s starting to grow up.  Lana’s becoming evil this year though…very sad.

Survivor - CBS - I just can’t do it anymore.

9-10pm : Grey’s Anatomy - ABC - I still enjoy this show.  I don’t know how to react to the whole George/Callie/Izzy thing.  My prediction is the George and Izzy thing will last about 3 weeks and they’ll decide they’re better as friends.

The Office - NBC - I still laugh incessantly out loud every time I watch this show.  Last weeks show messed me up though was it a 1/2 hour again.  My DVR said so…but every episode has been an hour long this year and they ending was pretty abrupt.

10-11pm : Big Shots - ABC - Never gave it a chance.

Friday Nights

8-9pm : The next great American Band - Fox - Never gave it a chance.

9-10pm : Friday Night Lights - NBC - Still enjoy it.  Don’t know how I feel about the start of this season.  First few episodes have been chaotic…setting up the story line possibly for a little while.  The old coach is back in town and now the new coach…I think things will settle down and get back to normal.

Moonlight - CBS - Watched the first two episodes and had to cut it, which broke this vampire lovers heart.

Sunday Nights

10-11pm - Brothers and Sisters - ABC - Good show to wind down on Sunday night.  My wife and I usually watch it together.

Total TV Time = 9 hours.  Which is much more manageable then my ambitious 16.  I still catch up with most of them Friday night and Saturday.  I think I’ve over committed myself somewhere a little bit.

Monday night - Recreational Basketball 7:30-9:30pm

Tuesday night - Worship practice for Middle School Program 7-8:30pm

Wednesday night - Small group 7-9pm

Thursday night - Middle School program 6-7:30pm & Indoor Soccer league afterward (Anywhere from 8-11pm) 1 hour games.

Friday night - Nothing…Aaaaahhhh!  Crash…Catch my breath and Catch up on tv shows I’ve DVR’d.

Saturday - Conner’s Soccer games & my Men’s basketball league in the morning & video games all afternoon.

Sunday - Church, Lions football, then Video games until I can’t see or feel my thumbs anymore.

I saw this today and thought I’d pass it along.

Here’s 110 resources for creative thinkers needing inspiration.

I’ve been feeling blah a lot lately. Looking for things to inspire me. Let’s be honest…I’ve got enough things and they’re not doing the trick.

I know what I need is God. If you see him or talk to him let him know I’m looking for him.

Hey if you need a laugh check out this post about a little Doggie love gone wrong.

I just hope my little Schnauzer doesn’t need any kind of that help from me.

I heard about Google’s information (1-800-GOOG-411 ) number and I tried it out this weekend just for kicks and it’s pretty awesome.  I’ve added it to my cell’s contact list.  It’s done by voice recognition and it even connects you directly to the desired number.  Even better…it’s free.  Try it out.

I haven’t really felt like blogging lately, but I felt like I wanted to say something today.

I had a good weekend for the most part.

My son (Conner) scored 3 goals at his soccer game and they won 3-1.  It was great seeing him do so well.  I’m so competitive by nature and I want my kids to be the best…but I’m always fearful of pushing them to hard and being that insane parent that everyone hates, including your own kid, but I think I find a good balance.

It’s funny I’m getting to the point where I enjoy watching my kids play about as much as I enjoy playing myself.   I play in a basketball league on Saturday mornings and I missed the game to attend my son’s soccer game.  I did it because I wanted to, not because I felt obligated.  Don’t worry I’m not trying to impress you with my parenting skills…I just think it’s a cool thing for me personally that I wouldn’t have done say, last year.  Maybe I’m starting to grow up a bit.

I bought FIFA 08 this weekend and played it quite a bit Saturday and Sunday.  I’ll say I love it.  It’s odd that I HATED the demo so much, really weird how it felt like a different game.  Be the Pro mode is pretty amazing.  Take clips of your replays is pretty cool too.  Unlike Halo you can actually download your clips.  However, there must be some bug right now because the .flv files will not play on my computer and I cannot upload them to youtube.  I’ll have to figure that one out.

I really wanted to call in sick today.  But I’m getting through the day, it’s moving fast and I’m doing alright.  It’s that time of year, soar throats, cloudy head, ear aches.  We’ll see how the week goes…I can see myself calling off one day if things don’t improve.

If it’s true that a picture says a thousand words, then these pictures should adequately express how I feel.

I couldn’t help but jot down this pet peeve that is really annoying me right now.  I usually try to be loving and full of grace with people, but I’m running out of patience.

My pet Peeve - It’s people at work that always complain how busy they are.  There’s one person in particular I’ve been dealing with a lot lately.  And every time I have to communicate with her I have to listen to at least 5 minutes about how busy she is.

Maybe if she stopped telling everyone how busy she is, she’d actually get some work done.

Get over it… everyone’s busy.

Manage your time.

Prioritize your task.

Get done what you can get done and leave the rest for tomorrow.

Stop Stressing.

And most importantly…Stop Whining!!!