AtwoodZoo

Important Memo to Wal-Mart

Important holiday memo to our good friends at Wal-Mart.

Dear Friends,

I was in one of your stores today. As I walking through the Easter section, I came upon this large display of Easter books. I knew they were Easter books because you had written, in giant letters, EASTER.

But I as looked around the display, I saw a stack of books that seemed a bit out of place. There were several copies of the new best-seller, "The Secret," by Rhonda Byrne.

Perhaps you hadn't heard, but Easter is about Jesus.

"The Secret" is not about Jesus, so I think that maybe you have those books in the wrong section.

Hope this was of assistance.

Oh...in case you were looking for a book about faith that might be right for your stores...I hear that there is another new book, this one called "Our Big, Big God", that might be a good choice.

Dr. Francis Collins

CNN.com has posted a very interesting piece by Dr. Francis Collins and how he reconciles his faith in God with his training as a scientist.

Dr. Collins is the diretor of the National Genome Research Institute.

Ten Bucks to see Joel Osteen "LIVE"

is it just me, or is it a little creepy that Joel Osteen is charging $10.50 to see him?

Of course the upside - as noted in the email announcement - is that

"At the end of the event, Joel will proclaim a special blessing over everyone in attendance so be sure to stay to the very end."

So if you go, at least you got that going for you...

An evening with  Joel Osteen Friday, May 18, 2007; 7:30pm Gaylord Entertainment Center Ticket Price $10.50 On Sale Saturday, February 17, 2007 @ 10:00 am *Tickets purchased through Ticketmaster are subject to additional service charges.

NOT QUITE THE WITTENBERG DOOR

Let me just preface this, disclaim it, and mostly make it more than abundantly clear, anything that follows in this post is directed mostly at me. If you find that some of it applies, that's OK with me.

But I am not standing here pointing fingers at the world, just asking a handful of questions.

So imagine with me for a minute. You are walking down the street, and there on the corner is a "Tell your gut honest truth about your Faith, your real, real Faith" machine. (Yes, the name is still working its way through the marketing department.) And you think, "hey, I've got a couple of extra minutes, I'll hop in. I've been to church a bunch recently - feeling pretty good about my Faith."

So you hop in the machine, and out pops a sheet of plain paper with a handful of questions. The only catch is that because you are in this "Faith, your real, real Faith" machine you have to answer the real, real truth. Not the "Sunday School answer," or the "my pastor/deacon/elder, etc. asked answer," but the "I am in this stupid machine and no one will know except me, and probably I am afraid to tell myself" answer.

And it really boils down to...are we as "church," and am I as "Christian" living the life I want to think I am, or am I just...not.

So again, these are mostly for me. (big breath)

1. When was the last time that you were really, really, really intimately involved in leading someone to a life changing faith in Jesus Christ? (note to self...this could be painful...)
2. Do your neighbors/co-workers/acquaintances know more about you/your faith than just "there is something different about him?
3. Are you really, really, really using the gifts that God gave you, or just "serving in the nursery once a month?"
4. Are you really, really, really honest about "big questions?" (mostly about the heartaches and mistakes in your life) Or are you just content to slather on some good church talk and forget about it.
5. When was the last time that you wrote a letter to the editor, or made some other public type of statement about how your faith intersects with life/social issues? (boycotting Disney World does not count, especially if you kept watching ESPN the whole time)
6. Has God ever nudged you to do something "uncomfortable" and you didn't write it off as the results from bad Mexican food?
7. Assuming you have at least one copy of "The Purpose Driven Life" nearby...what is your purpose? What are you doing about it? What have you done about it in the last six months?
8. Do you really, really, really pray for people when you say you will?
9. Do your kids see/hear you pray? As often as they see you read the paper/watch TV/work on the computer?
10. Do you keep track of what God is doing in you/around you/through you? (in spite of you???)

This is the list I am going to chew on for a few days.

I am open to suggestions on other important things I have missed.

Cool thoughts

I heard a couple of really challenging things at a men's group last night.

1. Our kids think that we are "irreplaceable." Whenever their Dad is around everything revolves on what he thinks/does/says. I think that is so true.
2. Question of the day...are we human "beings" or human "doings?" Too many times I think that my value/worth/significance comes in my "doing." God said that my value is in "being" His child. I can't do anything to make me any more or less loved by Him.
3. Note to self...God will give you the stuff to do...put your energy in the "being..." next to Him, close to my family, etc., and etc.

Road signs

i saw these two signs within a hundred feet of each other. They were somewhere along the way, maybe around the 367th showing of "The Incredibles."

I know they were in the same town. I am just not sure which town it was, but I think maybe Florala, Alabama.

Wish I had stopped to take pictures.

Sign 1 - "Turn or Burn." - Pretty straight ahead church sign stuff.

Sign 2 - "Miss Betty's Fireworks. Best Bang in Town."

Ohhh...I get it- play on words.