Monthly Archive for May, 2009

Rambling, Incoherent Thoughts On Speaking In Tongues

Posted May 30, 2009 at 4:37 pm // 7 Comments

It’s high time I came clean with everyone on the issue of speaking in tongues, if for nothing else than everyone being able to see where I come from and I get the belief I do.

First off, let me state that I unequivocally believe in Jesus Christ as the begotten Son of God, who died for the remission of the sins of humankind. He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father and he promised us the guidance and indwelling of his Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us until His glorious return, at a time of which no one can predict.

So no one can confuse my identity of faith, I do not classify myself as one specific denomination. I have asked Christ to forgive my sins, do my best to live according to His Word and in harmony with other believers and at peace with non-believers, and am anxiously awaiting the afore-mentioned day of His return.

Now let’s get started.

Continue reading ‘Rambling, Incoherent Thoughts On Speaking In Tongues’

Nine Years Post-Y2K, Jesus Ain’t Come Back Yet

Posted May 28, 2009 at 5:16 pm // 1 Comment

Boy, was Jack Van Impe ever wrong. However, I still continue to watch and wait earnestly.

Confirmed: Return Visit To Washington State June 26

Posted May 26, 2009 at 6:59 pm // 0 Comments

Great news from the land of the weirdest weather in America!

I’ll be returning to the Pacific Northwest to visit friends once again, this time spanning one-and-a-half weeks from late June to early July. This will be my second visit in four months, after not having visited in nineteen months prior to March.

A very special occasion is on the itinerary as I will once again be a part of the Washington State Church of God of Prophecy’s camping ministry…but this time it’s not as a group leader or even camp staff at all. Instead, I will be attending this year’s Young Adult Retreat at Millersylvania State Park, June 28-30.

It will be my first time as a paid participant in Washington COGOP camps since 2002, just before I turned 18 and departed for the military. It will be my first time back in Camps in general since 2007, when I worked Senior Camp (ages 12-19) as a group leader alongside my good man Corey McBee.

I will also be in town for the NBA Draft and the Fort Vancouver fireworks display on July 4th.

I am urging any friends who would like to hang out to let me know ASAP so I can get a good itinerary planned. March’s visit was rather haphazardly planned on my part (even though it was still a good vacation) but I didn’t visit a lot of the folks I had hoped to have been able to.

See all of my Northwest friends in a month!

What To Do When You’re Bored In Lakewood, Washington

Posted May 26, 2009 at 11:29 am // 6 Comments

(Above: Video from Seattle TV station KOMO of what I am about to describe.)

What do you do when you’re bored and have nothing else to do? Invent a game called Strip Rock Toss, head out onto a freeway overpass with your girlfriend and try it out.

From the Associated Press, via The Daily News:

LAKEWOOD, Wash. — Troopers have arrested a man and a woman suspected of damaging at least 14 vehicles by throwing rocks onto them from a railroad trestle over Interstate 5 near Lakewood, Wash., as a part of a bizarre stripping game.

Trooper Guy Gill says 23-year-old Joshua N. Sizemore and 18-year-old Amanda L. Madison were tossing baseball-sized rocks from the trestle early Monday. Sizemore, of Tacoma, and Madison, of Lakewood, were booked into the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma, Wash., for investigation of malicious mischief and second-degree assault.

Sizemore and Madison were tracked down by troopers on the ground with assistance from a State Patrol airplane which captured video of the couple throwing rocks. Investigators say Madison was in her underwear when police caught up with the couple.

Investigators say the couple was playing a stripping game, the rules of which involved Madison shedding a layer of clothes for every left headlight the two managed to bust. The same rule applied to Sizemore and right headlights.

Gill says the vehicles that were hit included a State Patrol cruiser. One person was injured when a rock crashed through the window and bruised his arm. He did not need to be hospitalized.

I am at a loss for words. I shall wear a football helmet while driving America’s freeways now.

Photos Of Cleanup Day & Foosball At Crimson House

Posted May 24, 2009 at 7:11 pm // 0 Comments

(Above: Ted Cowen, church maintenance manager, has a little fun throwing flourescent light bulbs against the back of the dumpster. Don’t try that at home, kids.)

Yesterday was absolutely awesome.

Over twenty of us gathered to help out our church, Crimson House, in its annual Spring Cleaning day, and even though a ton of work had to be done…we finished around noon:30 and enjoyed an awesome lunch of barbecued hot dogs and cake.

We also enjoyed a great foosball tournament, set up double elimination-style. I am happy to report that Hannah Pace & I are Crimson House’s numero uno team as we had two comeback victories over Dakota & Josh. (Those guys are REALLY GOOD, by the way.)

The fact that eleven members of our youth group assisted in the spring cleaning really impressed me. I am proud of our high school folks for taking it upon themselves to be servants and help out our church with something it desperately needed help with — and sacrificing their days out of school to do so.

I have some photos I shot from the day and uploaded, check ‘em out below. Only eight thumbnails show but clicking the photo takes you to the album.

And don’t forget to check out our church sometime. Service times at 6 on Sundays and Wednesdays, 1616 N. Robberson here in Springfield (between Division and Commercial).

[zenphotopress sort=random number=8 album=7]
View the Crimson House Cleanup & Foosball photo album here.

Tough Christian Concepts To Explain, Ep. 1

Posted May 22, 2009 at 2:20 pm // 3 Comments

This is the first in a series of questions about the Christian faith that I for some reason or another cannot come up with a good answer to. It is up to you, the readers, to weigh in and figure out just what is up!

Alright folks. I believe in and love Jesus, the only begotten Son of God and our Lord and Savior. I have learned many truths from His Word that I have been able to apply to my life, and I praise His Name for that.

But we all know there are many confusing things in the Bible. Like, why did God condone killing of so many people in the Old Testament yet one of the Ten Commandments told us directly not to kill anyone? Or, how the heck does David get away with stealing a woman from her husband and having him killed, and is STILL called a man after God’s own heart?

I also wonder something.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but also for much more than that. In doing so he also took on the sins of the world and delivered a sucker-punch to Satan by, as the Bible says, conquering death, hell and the grave (see Hosea 3:4 for the prophecy).

So after all Jesus did, and knowing that he conquered evil for good…how come evil is still allowed to run amok nowadays? How come we perform spiritual warfare in church against Satan? Why for do we have to, after accepting Jesus’ forgiveness and proclaim our devotion to him, beat that dirty lummox Lucifer back constantly?

I do find it rather odd, and have all through my life to hear different people in the same prayer sessions follow “Praise you Jesus! You have won the victory!” with “We rebuke you, Satan!”

I have never been able to give a good explanation for this, so if the question ever comes up in ministry I need some help to give a rational answer to the poor dude trying to comprehend it all.

HELP ME UNDERSTAND.

We Had 67 At Church Last Night!

Posted May 21, 2009 at 12:17 pm // 3 Comments

Above: Crimson House Ministries at nightfall. The church is located at 1616 N. Robberson Avenue in Springfield, just north of Cox North.

Sixty-seven may not seem like much, especially to the AG folks around here, but for us at Crimson House Ministries it’s a pretty big deal as we’re trying to reinvent some things and make a greater push for reaching out to our community.

We routinely get over 50 people for our Wednesday night family ministries — basically a church gathering that enables folks of different age groups to break into small groups and have Biblical discussions and so forth — but last night, I believe we broke our mark for Wednesday attendance.

One of the things we do as a church on Wednesdays is serve a dinner to everyone who walks through the door. This starts at 6 p.m., and I think it and the fact we break up into smaller groups are the major reasons we’ve retained a bunch of people. Which is good in and of itself, but I would like to see it transfer over to Sundays.

Most of our crowd on Wednesday consists of people 30 or younger. Contrast that with most folks on Sunday being over the age of 30, and it shows a large disparity in what is offered between the two services. Yeah, we don’t feed people on Sunday physically, but we do worship and the Word — the way it’s done doesn’t exactly appeal to a crowd that was unfamiliar with a church setting before coming to CH (and thus it would take awhile to fully understand the move of the Holy Spirit during a service). But there are things in the works to bridge that gap, and we’re all praying it comes together quickly.

All in all, I see 67 people filling our fellowship hall as an encouraging sign. It signals the start of the summer season for us, and more importantly I think this is the ultimate proving ground for us at Crimson House to build a group beyond just the core nucleus of people that attend on Sunday night.

Some of us plant, others water, but ultimately it’s God that gives the increase.

Crimson House on the web: Official web site | Official Facebook page

Gotta Hand It To ‘Em, Literally

Posted May 19, 2009 at 11:56 am // 3 Comments

I rarely think crime is nifty but you have to give it up for two women who made off with a Samsung flatscreen TV at a Joplin Wal-Qaeda over the weekend — because of how they went about it.

The Joplin Globe has all the juicy details:

The women got away with a 52-inch, flat-screen Samsung television worth $1,300 on Sunday night, said Cpl. Chuck Niess of the Joplin Police Department.

Niess said a woman dressed as a Wal-Mart employee in tan pants and a blue shirt, with a portable communication device on her belt, entered a back room of the store at 2623 W. Seventh St., and recruited some employees to assist her in loading the television on a cart. The woman then wheeled the TV out to a second woman, who was posing as a customer in a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot.

By the time any true employees of the business became suspicious, both women were gone, Niess said.

WWWWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that’s awesome. Talk about hiding in plain view…do the Wal-Qaeda workers there never pay attention to whom they are on the floor with at any given moment? Did they happen to think for one moment that the “workers” weren’t from their department and they had better call a manager?

Here’s more.

The woman posing as an employee was described as having dark brown hair. The other woman was about 5 feet 3 inches tall, with frosted blond hair and wearing a sun dress. She was driving a white SUV with Oklahoma plates that was pulling a U-Haul trailer.

Niess said the Pittsburg (Kan.) Police Department reported suspects matching the descriptions having pulled off a similar theft at the Wal-Mart store in Pittsburg.

TWO STORES!?!?!?!? If I were the manager of the Wal-Marts that were hit I would let the women keep the TV and fire my inattentive crew. No questions asked…I’d know who the real criminals are.

I could turn this into an anti-WalQaeda rant but let’s just focus on the hilarity of the situation.

Holy cow, I need to wipe my eyes.

Mount St. Helens, 29 Years Ago Today

Posted May 19, 2009 at 1:52 am // 0 Comments

It’s 1:43 a.m. here but I can still say “today” because I perpetually operate on West Coast time.

Twenty-nine years ago today, and nine days after my parents married, Mount Saint Helens decided to throw a party for them. Unfortunately the party was a bit much and it took out a bunch of homes and people before God told the mountain to stop.

I found this on YouTube, so I don’t really need to talk about it anymore. Just watch the full 47 minutes of this National Geographic special called Seconds From Disaster and relive the full horror of a party for my parents gone horribly wrong.

Oh, and check out this photo…it helped The Daily News in Longview win a Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting. It was a pretty big deal for such a small paper to win that thing in ‘81. Even cooler, I went to the same high school as the guy who shot it (Roger Werth, Rainier High School).

Video & Photos Of Awesome Lightning Strike In Republic

Posted May 16, 2009 at 1:40 am // 2 Comments

Yes, I shot this! Want to see it in HD? Click here.

We had a thunderstorm roll through the area and I decided to test out a feature of my work camera. So I wanted to put it on the dashboard of my car and get some footage while driving home from Springfield late Friday night, May 15, 2009.

Here is the description of what you just saw above:

I was fortunate enough to catch this incredible lightning strike on camera during a thunderstorm on May 15, 2009. I had my work camera with me, which is a Sony HVR-A1U — and I had it set to HDV 1080i. I was holding it on my dashboard with my right hand while using my left to steer.

At the time this was shot I was driving westbound on US Highway 60 and entering the main portion of Republic. Just after I rounded the curve and slowed to the new speed limit, the event occurred.

From the look of it, there was a blue glow off to the right, then a glow off to the left — just after that, there was a couple streaks of cloud-to-cloud lightning when a bright flash appeared just in front of me on the roadway. Just after that, a majestic bolt of cloud-to-ground (or was it ground-to-cloud) lightning appeared.

The entire lightning sequence took place over 23 frames of video. For some perspective, 30 frames of video equals one second.

Just another way of showing God’s handiwork and power!

Check out my photo gallery if you want to view 25 frame-by-frame images of the lightning strike. The sequence of it all is simply stunning.