No Camera!!!

I need to start remembering to bring a camera with me when Danae and I go on a hike.

Tonight Danae and I went on a hike through Garden of the Gods again, but we went off the trail a little ways. We had a wonderful time, and along the journey ran into some interesting creatures.

First we saw a gigantic spider. Not as big as a tarantula but it was still huge. It was just sitting there on its web. After that we saw a doe laying on the ground. It was only about 25 feet away from us at the time. It just sat there watching us. As we got closer it looked like it wanted to get up and run so we stopped and just watched it for awhile. Such beautiful creatures.

We eventually got to the end of the path that we had found and saw a lot of mountains and trees that were silhouetted in the darkness. God is such a great creator, isn't He? Creating all the animals and life that we know, and creating mountain ranges, and the moon and everything else. I don't see how it is possible for any intelligent person to not believe in a designer for our greatly designed planet and universe...

On the way out of the park (after wondering around in the darkness with just one flashlight for 20 minutes before finding the path back) we saw a couple of bucks (male deer, not money) eating grass near the road. So we stopped in the middle of the road to just watch.

Watching nature is just so amazing! A great reminder of the power that God has, just a single word and everything sprang into existence. Now that's what I call the big bang!

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Fellowshiping among believers

Today was an interesting day. Since I had to work the weekend I had the day off and spent a lot of it running errands with Danae. One place that we had to stop by was near a Christian bookstore that I like going to but have neglected to go by lately. It was great because we were able to have an uplifting and positive conversation with another Christian! That is getting so rare today it seems. Most conversations that we have with other Christians ends up being a knock down fight over doctrine because we don't use the right kind of Bible or something unimportant like that.

Why can't Christians fellowship with each other and lift each other up? I am not talking about those who live in sin, the Bible commands us to point that out to the person and tell them to repent. I'm talking about giving up some minor differences that we may have in theology and fellowship! The Bible warns against those that try to divide the body of Christ. How effective can a body be to help people if one arm is trying to rip the other arm off!

Well the conversation that we had today was great. We talked a little about doctrine and how church was going, what new things were happening in our lives and discussing some good, and bad books. We spent probably an hour or more there just talking. I think Danae and I both feel like we are just starving for that Christian fellowship. In the past we have gotten that from ETM but lately it has been dead. In the past few months, the only Christian that has been active in Biblical discussion (except for Danae and I) has been someone spreading false doctrine about Jesus Christ and salvation. We had to finally tell that person to leave and then we were joined by 3 atheists. It is completely discouraging and every day the thought crosses my mind of if God is wanting us to close down ETM and pursue our ministry elsewhere. ETM is costing me money and a lot of time just for me to feel bad after visiting! I have not had much time to combat the atheists arguments like I should, and even when I have had the time I just don't have the desire. I know the evidence is out there, and I don't mind researching it and posting it except for the fact that I KNOW that no matter what evidence I post, they will reply with something that discredits either the author or the evidence directly.

Talk about discouraging!

So bottom line about that whole rant is that Christians need to get together just to fellowship with each other. Build up one another in the Lord, don't do things to tear them down. If they need to be corrected for something that is obviously Biblically wrong (and not just a personal conviction) then by all means you must correct them, but if it's over a disagreement... there is a time and a place for that, but it is not every time you get together. Just fellowship! Christians should not be in constant battle with other Christians!

After we left the store and got something to eat we went to Home Depot to get some things. We had fun looking at granite counter tops and several other nice things that we could not afford until Malikai spit up all over me! After that, it was just gross and I wanted to get out of there. It starts out all warm, and then turns cold but the entire time my shirt was sticking to my skin and smelling and... yeah, it wasn't fun.

So after doing a few other things tonight we decided to go to the movies. We went to see Ratatouie, and since we don't have a baby sitter we brought Malikai along with us. Everything went great at first, Malikai just stared at the screen and I got my hopes up too high... Malikai didn't cry at all, but he did start his high pitched squealing so in order to be polite to the other guests I carried him out into the hallway for awhile. As soon as we were in the hallway he was quite and looking around a lot, so I thought it was safe to bring him back in.

Nope, I was wrong, again he started making a lot of noise. Even if I put my finger in his mouth, he would chomp down really hard while making high pitched noises! So I had to leave the movie altogether. I did get my money back and then I proceeded to go to Borders book store in the mall. There I found a copy of the book that I am reading and sat down to read while Danae finished the movie. It didn't take long for Malikai to start crying, but I didn't care so I let him cry himself to sleep while I continued to read.

After the movie Danae and I decided to go for a drive (we were going to go for a walk but it was raining). We drove way up into the mountains behind Garden of the Gods park. It was really cool, but the shocks on the car probably didn't like the dirt road. We went a little ways up, and we saw a sign that said "No shooting next 18 miles". It was at this time we decided that we wouldn't make the end of the road (it was a quarter till 11) so we started to look for a place to turn around. It was shortly after the last sign when we came to another sign that said "shooting range 2.5 miles". Hmm, a shooting range in an area where shooting is not allowed.. I bet that is a fun place to go! Reminds me of another similar, contradicting sign that I saw today. At the pet store it said "No refunds after 5 days" and then later down it said "No refunds for checks before 10 days". So if you write a check, you are not allowed to get a refund I guess...

I was going to write some more tonight, but it is late and this is long enough, so I think I will sign off now.

May the Lord be with you as you go through your week, and may you focus on His will in your life instead of your own wants and desires. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all other things will be added....

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Simpsons Version of Me

I'm not a huge fan of "The Simpsons" anymore, for reasons I'm not going to get into right now, but my wife did come across this funny site where you get to design your own Simpsons like character of yourself. So here is my shot at it.

Other than the unibrow I don't think it looks much like me. I couldn't find the right hair style, my hair is kind of long (not in a ponytail though) but also balding up top...

Those of you who know me, does this look like me at all?

Hmmm, I think I will go make one of these for Danae now.. see what she turns out to look like when yellowed.

Those of you would would like to make one of these, check out SimpsonsMovie.com. If you do make one, post it in the comments section here so we can all see it.

But for now, you can watch me take a walk around Springfield...



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