Random Stuff

Feeling foggy today.  Tired.  Lonely.  Discouraged.  

Here are some things I'm pondering:

• I've been doing a series lately on the book of Proverbs called "How's Life?"  It's been extremely challenging to my congregation and me.  Proverbs is a book full of very direct moral platitudes.  I am not a person who prefers to think in these terms.  I'm a wrestler who tangles with issues and leaves room for the grey areas.  Proverbs has no patience for this kind of thinking.  I am not a Proverbs kind of guy, but I've learned a tremendous amount from this series.  It reminds me of something of GK Chesterton's that I read: "There are many, many angles at which one can fall but only one angle at which one can stand straight."  Proverbs is a book of straight angles.
• Although this series has been really good, our attendance has declined.  Not sure what that's about, but I'm trying not to let it discourage me.  It's not working very well.
• We're trying to get Pierce's therapy covered by insurance.  It's a daunting task.  Insurance is like toilet paper: You don't particularly like it, but you're glad it's around when you need it.
• It's that time of the year when people's lives start to fall apart.  Not sure why that is, but I've found that this time of year brings with it a lot of pain.  Like the leaves fall from the trees, so the joy seems to fall from the lives of many people as the holidays approach. Part of what I do is help rake the leaves into a pile and encourage people to jump in them.
• This commercial cracks me up.
• I recently bought two books that I can't wait to read (reviews are forthcoming).  The first is "The Prodigal God" by Timothy Keller, and the second is "Jesus Wants to Save Christians" by Rob Bell and Don Golden.  Tim Keller's book is destined to be a classic.  I've read half of it, and it is in the same vein as classics by CS Lewis and AW Tozer.  It's just an amazing book.  Rob Bell's book seems like a pretty significant can of worms that I'm curious to open.  I'll tell you what I think after I've finished both books.
• I'd rather watch The Steeler's vs The Redskins than go to elder's meeting.  I'm pretty sure God doesn't like me very much.
• LSU is playing Alabama this weekend.  Nothing would make me more happy than to see the guy on the left beat the guy on the right.
• Unless Barack Obama goes on a Jeremiah Wright-style rant on Monday Night Football, he'll probably be the next president.  We'll see if hard hitting reporter Chris Berman will ask something that will turn the tide.  
• Soccer season is finally over.  Thank the sweet Lord!