Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

Over the years there's been a lot of debate over whether Christians should participate in Halloween or not. I'm not here to debate the reasons why a believer should allow their children to participate or not. That's their conviction. I do think for a church to say we don't do Halloween, but we're going to do a carnival, trunk-thingy, etc. where kids dress up in costumes and do something for candy, is, if nothing else, ironic. I have been on staff at three churches where we offered an alternative to traditional trick-or-treating. At all three we have said that we would like to provide a safe place for families to come, have some fun, get something to eat, and, yes, grab a bag full of sugar while you're here. I like the last part!! We also used the opportunity to connect with our community. We also used it as an outreach event. We provided tracts in the bags, we have done follow up letters, cards, phone calls, visits, etc. to let them know how much we app...

Not liking Mondays is beginning to grow on me. I especially don't like this Monday. I'm tired. My house is turned upside down - I cleaned out my office to pull the last of the carpet out of my house, paperwork is scattered all over my house (my fired secretary's doing), stuff is everywhere - and it's driving me crazy!! I still have a lot of things to do to get ready for the wedding (only 19 days left and a whole lot of stuff to do). North Mobile is getting ready for our Fall Funtastic and I'm helping get stuff ready for that. And on, and on, and on, and on. . . Know what I mean? So this morning I'm going to sit back, catch my breath, down a couple of boiled eggs, get organized and run at this day like it's my last. How 'bout you? You hatin' today, too? Don't sweat it. The Lord said He wouldn't allow anything in our lives that we couldn't handle without Him. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that the Boston Red Sox won the Worl...

Boston Red Sox 2007 World Champions Yep, in spite of the many predictions made by Rockies fans that Colorado would take the series, the Red Sox swept Colorado - 4 games to 0 games. You got it. In the east coast's wee morning hours Boston closed out the World Series with a 4-3 victory bringing it to a close for another year. Thanks to incredible starting pitching - giving up only 3 earned runs in 22-plus innings in four games - and hot bats in the right spots, the Red Stockings made easy work of the Rox. My only frustration was Oki-what's-his-name coming in from the bull pen and serving - yes, serving - up home runs to batters in back-to-back games. Each of those dingers made the games way too close for my comfort. I thought relievers were supposed to get guys out, not give up runs. Aaaahhhhggggg!!!!! Congrats to the Rockies for making it to the series in the first place. My hat's off to them. Way to go Boston!! Celebrate and enjoy your championship! Mike

Well, sports fans, the Red Sox did it again, they beat the Colorado Rockies, making it 3 games for the Sox and 0 for the Rox. And the hero of the game, in my lowly opinion? Dice K!! Any surprise? Actually, I'm sure there are a lot of us who are surprised. Dice K was supposed to be hittable, at least that what I've read and heard from Rox fans. I've also heard from Rockies' fans how much they couldn't wait to get past Josh Beckett and get back to Coors Field. Now you guys have done both and have yet to post one in the win column. Last night, as I recall, Dice K held the Rockies to 2 runs. It was the bull pen who gave up a 3-run homer (yes, both the guys on the bases were Dice K's responsibility, but a reliever is not supposed to give up a first pitch homer to the guy with a a.340 batting average, the best in the NL). NOW will you stop giving the Red Sox starters such a hard time? Then again, I guess you need all the mental confidence you can must...

Ran across this story this morning on a fellow blogger's blog. May not be true, but it's still one of the funniest things I've ever read. For some reason I can picture some guy really doing this. Probably not a woman, but a guy? DEFINITELY! Enjoy!!! A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Taser for their anniversary submitted this: Last weekend at Larry’s Pistol & Pawn Shop I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Toni. What I came across was a 100,000-volt pocket/purse- sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on an assailant. The idea is to allow my wife — who would never consider a gun — adequate time to retreat to safety. WAY TOO COOL!! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded in two triple-a batteries and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. But then I read (yes, ‘read’) that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal...

My friend, Grant, predicted the Rockies would sweep the Sox . That was yesterday. He hasn't posted today, so I'm not sure where he stands today. In his defense, he did say that if the Rockies didn't sweep the series that they would eventually win. Well. . .sports fans, you can forget the broom and grab that mop. They Boys from Boston made a mess of things last night dropping the Rockies 13-1. Beckett was hot and the Sox bats were smokin'! It didn't help that Rockies pitching gave up a couple of runs with walks, but they didn't lose because of really bad pitching. They lost because the Red Sox are smokin' and pumped, and well let's just face it, they're a better team. Could be World Series jitters for the Rockies. They definitely have it takes to be there. They could easily recover and get back into it and make it a series. Hopefully they will. I'm glad they are in it, but I'm just not sure they have what it takes to take the series...

I'm sitting on the couch, laptop in my lap - guess that's why they call it a laptop, eh? - with screen propped up by a pillow. It's kinda funny in a way. If I don't have a pillow or something to prop up the screen it falls flat - one way or the other. Last week I was doing some work on it when, while I was cleaning something off the screen, my remaining good hinge on my 3-year old Dell Latitude D600 finally gave way. So now my screen is either closed or open all the way - no middle ground here. If I don't have something to prop it up on I basically can't use it. Fixing the hinge is out of the question. It's three years old and I can't do without it for any length of time. So. . .until God provides another one - maybe this time He'll provide a MacBook Pro with a duo-core processor :)- I just have to prop up the screen. I may have to start packing a pillow in my backpack. Oh well. It still works and I'm still using it! Mike

Well. . .I did it. I let my secretary go. They whined a bit, but I didn't put up with it. No whining in this organization! Told them why I was letting them go and just did it - gave them the heave-ho! Now I'm the secretary and I'm looking for a new one. I am determined to do the due diligence to find one that is detailed oriented and a works independently of me - in other words, I don't want to have to hold their hand. I was wondering. . .if you fire yourself, can you draw unemployment? Mike

So it looks like it's the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. I have to admit that I kinda want the Rockies to win - call me sympathetic - since they have yet to win one. Then again the Bo-Sox are in it and I've got to with them. Obviously, Grant wants the Rockies will win and I think the Red Sox will do it. So Grant, how many games do you think it will go? Mike

That's right folks - my boys from Bean Town are still alive. Even I gave up a little hope when the Indians took an early lead in the series. But the the boys are still in it. Josh Beckett shut Cleveland down and the bats came alive in a 7-1 win. Now let's see if they can continue the hot streak. If they win the series I've got Boston over Colorado. If Cleveland wins, I've got to go with Grant's Rockies over the Indians. Stay tuned! Same bat channel! Same bat time! Mike

It's going to be tough, but I'm pretty sure I'm firing my secretary today. I've thought long and hard about this weekend and realized I didn't do the due diligence I should have up front and now I'm having to let them go. Let me tell you why. As you may know I was back in Texas leading a Men's Retreat for Atascocita Community Church. As was their responsibility my secretary made my flight arrangements - because of cost I would be leaving out of New Orleans and flying into Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport on the north side of Houston. Everything's cool so far. It's just a 2-2 1/2 hour drive to New Orleans International Airport. No big thing. I've done it before. The big thing was that my return flight was booked for 10:55 PM on Sunday. Which meant I would be getting into New Orleans about 12:45 AM Monday morning, plus the drive home. When I confronted them about it, all they could say was that when they originally booked the ...

Tomorrow I leave for Houston. I'll be leading a men's retreat for Atascocita Community Church in Atascocita, Texas (it's a suburb of Houston). The retreat will be in the backyard of my old stompin grounds - Pineywoods Baptist Camp . It's about 30 minutes south of Lufkin where I served and lived for five years before moving to North Mobile. I'm really pumped for several reason: I get to go back to Texas I get to hang out with a bunch of guys doing what I love to do - teach and hang out with guys I get to go back to a place I'm familiar with and have spent some time at I get to see my best friend, Stacey, and his family - Tammy, Seth, Aubrey, and Spencer I get to travel Did I say I get to go back to Texas? Please pray for me and for the men who will be there and the marriages/families they represent. Ask God to change hearts. I'm still under the belief that if we can change the heart of a man we can change his home, his community, and even his church (...

I realized another pet peeve this morning. It's emails sent by friends, family, and others with great intentions that warn me of some impending devastation if I don't do something. Most of these could be stopped if we take a little time to investigate. This includes emails that look legit, but it also includes emails that tell me that bad luck will befall me, I'm not someone's friend, I don't care, or I don't love them if I don't do what the email says and send it to X-amount of people in the next 30 seconds. I'm sorry, but if my future, friendship, and general relationships depend on me sending out ridiculous emails then I don't serve a mighty God and our relationship is pretty shaky in the first place. Also, BEFORE sending emails to people telling them they must do or not do something or they will be doomed, check it out - Google it or go to Snopes.com . I've been an internet user since 1993 when we used pine and gopher and everything was...

I have to admit, as much as I hate heat and humidity I love days like today. This morning's weather was sunny, cool, with breezes out of the north-northeast. I could live with this weather all day, every day! I've even left the back door open to allow the breeze and coolness of the morning to fill the living room as I met with God and did some studying. The chimes in the background are one of my favorite sounds. According to AccuWeather, this is what it looks like at noon I hope you're having good weather. It's that time of the year and I LOVE it! Mike