we sleep

ministry

11th grader S has been a part of our youth group for several months. He accepted Jesus as his Savior in November and joined our church the following week excited about serving as a full-fledged member of aefbc and the larger body of Christ. Before he has even been baptized (which is scheduled for a couple of weeks from now), he has been looked down upon, chastised, and just plain insulted by adults who have a problem with the fact that he wears shorts and a hat to church. I could not be more disappointed, hurt, angry that they have so attacked MY student with their petty lists of dos and don'ts. And I could not be more proud of S for continuing to live out his faith in the face of such contention from within his own church.

What does the Bible say about worship attire? Well, when it comes to shorts, nothing. And on the issue of hats, men are told to uncover their heads whenever they prophesy or pray. (for the record, S has never prophesied, and he does remove his hat whenever we pray.) BUT, the overwelming message of scripture is that God's focus is on the heart. I can almost guarantee those adults could learn a lot about respect and reverence from S if they'd just pay attention to his heart.

This kind of picky, prejudicial criticism from church members is completely inappropriate and intolerable. Our students are young and otherwise unchurched. Teaching them appropriate respect and reverence is an ongoing process that requires that we first earn their respect and then lovingly introduce them to our Savior, which will, in time, itself lead to a natural awe of and reverence for who He is. But to criticize them with legalistic lies about how worship is "supposed" to look or feel is unbiblical and inexcusable and does nothing to point them to Jesus.

The call of the Church is NOT discipline; rather, the call of the Church is discipleship.
-mo

what children do. :)

sweet panther begged to lick the beaters the whole time I was cooking. at last, it is her time!

poor baby

the construction noises from next door are so scary. dori hides from them.

sharing

Grumpy Cat on the 'Today' Show

Grumpy Cat on the 'Today' Show

i love this cat! keg regularly shares with me some of grumpy's newest stunts, and they always make my day.

1 room, 3 sweet kitties

:)

molly loves working from home

Charlie busts a move.

Amanda bought this solar snowman for me. I named him Charlie. Charlie makes me very happy.

Christmastime at the Glen!

This is my first year Christmas decorating alone. I think it's shaping up nicely.

Dori + Christmas tree = happy, happy wissa

one of two lamp posts outside by the steps

snowflake window + peace wreath

mantle. not quite finished here. waiting for cats' stockings and my manger scene.

in front of TV

entry table

kitchen counter

baskets under entry table (sorry the pic is blurry; this is my favorite part.)

star on the wall

Black Thursday?

Sandersville Walmart 8pm Thanksgiving Day.

how far I've come from going far!

just found in my room these lists I made in February 2000 (9th grade). where I wanted to be in 5 years and then in 10 years. fun to read!

I am so glad God took over my dreams and is working to make His dreams come true for my life. Can't imagine more joy than this!
-mo

little helper

one of Panther's favorite times of day: helping me tie my shoes!

kitty ring

this made my day today

thanks for sharing, keg.

instincts

I am fostering a kitten in my home. She is approximately 7 months old, and I have named her Panther because she resembles a black (actually gray) panther both in appearance and behavior. She is beautiful and quite pouncy.

Last Friday, I was video chatting with Immy when I heard some strange cat noises behind me. I turned around to find Panther and Dorito (my big boy cat) on my kitchen counter, Panther attempting to seduce Dori. *sigh* she was in heat.

So, over the last few days, I have watched her closely and observed the ridiculous behavior of a cat in heat. Everything she does is intently focused on one goal: to mate. She cries for attention, she struts around with her tail in the air, she darts toward the door anytime I head out, and she paws at windows in the night to get out to find her man. From time to time, I see glimpses of the kitten she was before, and it is as if that poor kitten is trapped at war with her biological impulse to mate. I can almost see in her eyes her desperation to be able to control her own behavior. Alas, she cannot. Her internal biology has total control of her external behavior.

I have thought to myself how happy I am that humans do not experience such hormonal slavery.

Then I saw it. On my way into work this morning, I watched a nicely dressed businesswoman cross the street ahead of me. She was met mid-crosswalk by an average-looking man. As she passed him, he turned. Without a blink, his entire torso was directed opposite his vector of motion. In a single, mindless motion, his head nodded and his eyes floated down the woman's suited figure and back up again before he turned back to face me and continue traversing the street.

I am convinced that in that moment, that man was abducted by his instinct to mate.

So, I ammend my previous thought: I am happy female humans do not experience such hormonal slavery. Men, in  fact, are like panthers in heat. Men are gross.
-mo

I'm a Georgia voter!

catematician

kitten played with the bookshelf last night, and it looked like this when I woke up this morning. apparently she wants to learn finite math.

this is me not texting

I got in trouble yesterday for using my phone in class. So, I got creative today.

queued up

molly waiting patiently in line while panther drinks from molly's dish.

uncanny delicious

yum

I always have an urge to blog what I cook. Granny, you can rest knowing I do, from time to time, cook. :) This is one of my favorite recipes from my mom's book.

Dorito's reaction to Molly's first doctor's appointment

found him here when we got home. lol.

molly's first doctor's appointment

newest book from my favorite new author

Flukes:

kindle
http://www.amazon.com/Flukes-ebook/dp/B009MTO970/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_4

nook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/flukes-nichole-chase/1113176907?ean=2940015590593

man cannot live by bread alone.

I pass this sign every time I go to my parents' house. love rural georgia.

my first nutrisystem breakfast

get genuine now

this notice greeted me when I picked up my laptop just now.

greatness awaits us now in eternity

thankful for Mr. Tom's legacy of Christian service and stewardship. Thankful for his heart of love for aefbcYOUTH. Thankful for this great member of the GREATEST generation.

dangerous

the theology of cardiology

The photo above is an image of a vein. Veins are designed to carry blood toward the heart. Blood is designed to go to the heart, from where it is pumped out again to take life to the rest of the body. Notice that in this picture, though, that blood flow is restricted by two dark clots. The amount of blood reaching the heart - and the rest of the body - is less than ideal.

Consider that the Church is the heart of the kingdom of God. Blood cells are individuals brought to the church through the vein of God's choosing. There, at the heart, they are given a purpose, a mission to carry life into the rest of the world - a body dead without those little Christians coursing through the arteries of its limbs, generating new cells to be carried back into the heart to begin the cycle afresh.

What happens when we allow darkness to enter the Church?

1 John 1.5-7
 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John cuts straight to the core, and without apology, John asserts that darkness has NO place in the Church. When we walk in darkness, we become clots in the veins of God's kingdom. Many of those cells that would otherwise be pumped into the heart, repurposed, and sent back into the world to bring more into the kingdom will never enter a heart clotted with darkness.

Today's Church is in desperate need of a cardiac catheterization. We must flush out the darkness (or bypass stubborn clots) to allow God to bring a fresh flow of life into the chambers of our churches and out into the far appendages of the world.
-mo

wait... what?

is this a medical center for people or pets? either way, something doesn't seem quite right.

maybe

Maybe... it's the one word i wrote down during last week's sermon. the subject was the return of Christ. i feel like we don't talk about this subject nearly as much as we did when i was a kid. on the other hand, our culture seems to be consumed with questions and fantasies about the end of the world. a ton of new books, tv shows, movies, etc. are set in a post-apocalyptic world. and, of course, everyone wants to know whether or not the world will survive the end of the Mayan calendar.

the Bible teaches that not even Jesus knows when Jesus will return. so, when i have been asked what i think about the mayan calendar thing, my answer has usually been something indicating that i don't put any stock in those types of predictions and that i don't believe anyone knows when the end will come.

those things are true, but perhaps a more appropriate answer to the question of whether the world will end before this year is maybe. it's the same answer but with emphasis on the importance of our readiness. what if the mayans were right? are we ready?
-mo

Dreams... Dreams... Dreams...

I was at the old Sandersville Pizza Hut with a random group of people. My sister Joy got mad at me and poked me in the eyelid with a CapriSun straw while spraying water into my eye. She continued to poke and spray for a long time, and I just sat there and let it happen. When she finally stopped, I went to the restroom to assess the damage to my eye. The entire eye was bloody and popping out of my head. I tried to pop it back in, but it fell out. I put it in my mouth and went outside to get help. When I walked outside, I was no longer at Pizza Hut. Now I was in the back yard of the last location of my mom's store PCE. I pulled the eye out of my mouth to check on it, and the iris fell off of it like a contact. Now I had to be careful to keep the iris and the eyeball both safe. The iris went back in my mouth, and the ball stayed in my hand. Charlie Chastain (older gentleman at my church now in Atlanta) drove up and, wanting to help, offered me his ear. He pulled off his right ear, which came off with the whole right side of his face, and he gave it to me. So, now I stand by the road with an iris in my mouth, an eyeball in my right hand, and an ear plus half a face in my left hand. Somehow, I am still able to answer the phone when mama calls to tell me that Sandra Franklin (my parents' nextdoor neighbor, who works in customer service at Thiele Kaolin Company) said that if my eyeball were punctured, I would have to come into her office to have it fixed. So, I got in Mr. Charlie's car to go to Mrs. Sandra's office to get my eye fixed.
The End.


WHAT THE HECK KIND OF DREAM IS THAT????

say ahhhh

full circle

3 years and 2 homes later, dori and I are now back in his first home at defoors glen. and molly is with us this time! other than the terrible commute to church, we are loving it.

whose idea was this?

I just wanted some Reese's pieces. :(

my first 5k

This happened yesterday! Amanda and I ran with some of our students from aefbcYOUTH.

Captain D's, please!

because Granny said so. :)

JV football, anyone?

Go Inman Eagles! Go Seth Wolfe!

doomed

someone my height would never get out if she were required to reach and flip this lever.

bathroom buddies

I love how much my kitties love me. here they are waiting for me to be done pottying.

squirrel!

amanda found this squirrel with a donut in a tree on her campus.

jealous. of amanda for seeing the squirrel and of the squirrel for having a donut.

Where would Jesus shop?

I believe homosexual relationships are Biblically defined as sin.

Why, then, will I, a Bible-believing Christian, not stop shopping at The Home Depot, JCPenney, Belk, Target, or any other company that supports homosexual couples?

The answer is quite simple, really: I believe it's what Jesus would do. Jesus spent his entire life living among sinners. He didn't sin with them, and he didn't celebrate their sin, but he didn't avoid them.  Jesus never expected sinners to act like saints. He walked into the midst of sin, and he loved sinners.

Moreover, if I stopped shopping at every store that gave to sinners' charities or that depicted sinners in its ads, I would have to become quite adept at hunting and gathering in order to survive.

Sure, I understand that while homosexuality is no different from any other sin on God's scale, it is surrounded by a unique cultural context. No festivals are held for liars' pride. And clothing catalogues do not depict models with the caption "yes, we're cleptomaniacs." Homosexuality is among a very few sins that are loudly celebrated and openly supported by whole sectors of society.

BUT...

I wonder how much of the blatant celebration of homosexuality in our society is encouraged by - if not caused by - the Church's insistence on marginalizing those for whom Satan's sin-of-choice is homosexuality. When it comes to homosexuality, we have done exactly the opposite of what Jesus demonstrated.

Jesus came to bridge the gap between sinners and a holy God. He calls us, his followers, to do the same.

How, then, can I justify avoiding sinners to make some sort of statement about my faith? What statement am I really making when I refuse to shop at a store owned or managed by sinners? I think this statement is one that pushes sinners away and widens the gap between the world and the Church.

My choice, based on my view of my purpose as a Christ-follower, is to continue to consume as usual when Christian businesspeople stand for their beliefs AND when pre-Christian businesspeople do what pre-Christians do: sin.

I choose to follow Christ in bridging the gap between sinners and a holy God.

As always, I welcome your comments.
-mo

AYS stall sign

:(

I made a difference!

last year, I wrote McDonald's corporate office to explain why it was a big problem that they sold drinks in UGA cups at the McDonald's near Tech. this year, they fixed it.