Fortune Cookie or Joel Osteen?

Aug 12th, 2010 / 1 Comment

Ran across this great quiz on the website of fellow believer, Tim Challies:

Fortune Cookie or Joel Osteen? For each quote below, identify whether it comes from a fortune cookie or from Joel Osteen.

Question One

“Happiness is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.”

Question Two

“Do all you can to make your dreams come true.”

Question Three

“Take time to make a difference. Think about how you can make somebody else’s life better.”

Question Four

“Avoid focusing on the negative aspects of the past.”

Question Five

“You have something to offer that nobody else can give!”

Question Six

“When you can’t naturally feel upbeat, it can sometimes help to act as if you did.”

Question Seven

“To affirm is to make firm.”

Question Eight

“Relationships are more important than our accomplishments.”

Question Nine

“Somebody needs your encouragement. Somebody needs to know that you believe in them.”

Question Ten

“The best things in life aren’t things.”

Question Eleven

“You will produce what you’re continually seeing in your mind.”

Question Twelve

“Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.”

*****

Answers: Fortune Cookie, Joel Osteen, Joel Osteen, Fortune Cookie, Joel Osteen, Fortune Cookie, Fortune Cookie, Joel Osteen, Joel Osteen, Fortune Cookie, Joel Osteen, Fortune Cookie

Funny

Book Review – Farewell to Arms

Aug 11th, 2010 / 1 Comment

A few weeks ago, when I preached on Sloth, I had a great quote from Charles “Tremendous” Jones -

The only difference between where you are right now, andwhere you’ll be next year at this same time, are the people youmeet and the books you read.  Charles “Tremendous” Jones
This got me to thinking… outside of the books I read to the kids and the Bible, what am I reading?  The answer was, “Not much.”  So I am embarking on a journey to read more, and to start I am reading some modern classics which have a strong masculine appeal.  And what better place to start than “Farewell to Arms.”
Reading Hemingway is like reading the journal of a good friend.  You immediately get a sense of the characters and the setting with vivid detail laid out in such subtle ways.  Hemingway’s characters are both strong and flawed, with a deep sense of who they are while at the same time a quiet searching for deeper meaning.  Farewell to Arms is a semi-biographical look at Hemingway’s own experiences in WWI as an ambulance driver.  It is also a love story with a tragic ending between an American serving in the Italian army and a British nurse.  The beauty for me of Hemingway’s writing is in his ability to express the chaos of life while at the same time carrying a solid and readable storyline.  He leaves just enough story untold to give the story a real first hand feel.  He doesn’t get bogged down in side stories and leaves many questions unanswered, keeping the storyline focused on the main characters – Federick Henry and Catherine Barkley.
What bothers me about Farewell to Arms, while at the same time draws me, is the rejection of religion that is prominent.  Outside of the priest, who plays a prominent role, no one has any faith and really any hope.  It is a sad, tragic story of a man and woman lost in life and, while Henry does seem to question and even consider faith, they never discover the hope of Christ.  Sadly, I think this is the story of many in life who are interested in Christ but unwilling to give up whatever in life is holding them back.  As much as I hoped that the story would end with hope and salvation, tragedy prevails.
Overall, Farewell to Arms is a beautifully written tragedy that captures the essence of war’s effect on real people.  Hemingway is a master writer and for that alone this is worth the read to grow as a writer myself.  It also gives me new vigor in my call to share Jesus as I consider those who may be asking but are unwilling to come to Jesus.  How can I help them?  What is my prayer for them?  As I seek answers to these questions I pray that God will give me a new heart for the lost and how to bring hope to a hopeless world.
Book Reviews

Top 12 Cool Tricks to Learn

Aug 10th, 2010 / 0 Comments
  1. Tie your shoes in lightning speed! – Saves tons of time when tying your kid’s shoes.
  2. Learn to juggle 3 balls – Don’t get sucked into doing 4, it’s a trap!
  3. Make a cup out of a sheet of paper – for those times you are cup-less, but have paper to spare.
  4. Tie an alpine butterfly – quite possibly my favorite knot of all.  If you get it down, you can tie it one handed.
  5. Use your watch as a compass – Sorry, doesn’t work for a digital watch.
  6. Skip a stone – Get the angle right and everyone will be impressed.
  7. Make a dollar shirt – Makes those little tips seem a little better
  8. How to whistle loud – Still working on this myself, but a good trick!
  9. How to roast a marshmallow – Patience and good coals are the key.
  10. Tie a bow tie – Much classier than a clip on
  11. Flip a pancake without a spatula – A good kitchen trick to know.  Works great on just about anything you want to flip.
  12. Play Amazing Grace on only the black keys – Even if you are musically inept, this is a cool trick!
Top 12 Tuesdays

It’s Breakfast! In a can!

Aug 9th, 2010 / 0 Comments

Leave it to the Japanese to take two delicious things and make them un-delicious by blending them together.

Ymmm! Pancakes and Milk Shakes, together!

Food, Funny