Rather than wrap up the year with a post about the impending fiscal cliff or rant about the past year, I've decided to post a video that I saw on TV the other day that is an incredible feat of kicking (pardon the bad pun).The ESPN program I was watching at the time (and I don't recall which program it was) featured this video and said the Norwegian soccer player is getting a look by the NFL's New York Jets.This post also makes two consecutive months of posting everyday! It's a personal record that I don't foresee breaking in 2013...but who knows?Enjoy... ...
Monday, 31 December 2012
Saturday, 29 December 2012
It is just past midnight on the second to last day of the year.It's Sunday morning so I'll be in church in a few hours; I hope that you will be, too. 2012 has been a pretty good year for me. I was at four different camps this past summer and had a grand time at each of them. I served as Camp Pastor twice and showed up for a one night magic show twice. I had the pleasure of preaching in a number of churches on Sunday mornings and evenings (including a rare opportunity to preach at Hopedale), preached in a couple of revivals, did a few magic shows...
Friday, 28 December 2012
What if...I'm not talking about the fiscal cliff that our legislators in Washington DC are driving us towards.I'm not talking about a doomsday scenario or mythological ending.No Nostradamus like prediction or anything like that.A quick time-out...I should start by saying that this post is primarily directed to my fellow followers of Jesus. If you are not a follower, I invite you to read anyway, but you may not find that it fits your world. On the other hand, there is plenty here that you can choose to do. The teachings of Jesus on how to live...
Thursday, 27 December 2012
I know that The Old Farmer's Almanac is one of those outdated publications that just keeps hanging on. I would guess that the information in the annual publication is available through the online site, but I've never been to their website.On the one hand, they still have the hole punched in the upper left-hand corner of their printed publication so that you can hang it on a nail in your barn or gardening shed. On the other hand, they have mobile apps, a website and are on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.Something for everyone!I...
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
As we enter into the final days of 2012, I return to looking back at my favorite posts. I've already covered some favorites from early in the year and a couple of favorites from all of my posts. Looking back on 2012 I see that I didn't post very much during late spring and early summer. After that it was election politics in full swing and we really don't need to re-live any of that, do we?If I had to pick a couple of posts from 2012, I go with these two that were widely read and are more about explaining my positions. Even though they received...
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Now that Christmas 2012 is past (okay, so we still have a little more Christmas with Aaron and Jenny this weekend), it's time to talk about......baseball!Baseball is never far from the hearts and minds of many people. I know that for many, football is the sport of choice. But how can a real sports fan be satisfied with a season of less than twenty games? Basketball? Okay, I get it. Not bad, just too many prima donas for my taste.In a normal off season, I say that the NFL is what I watch between the end of the World Series and the beginning...
Monday, 24 December 2012
...and on earth, peace among those with whom He is pleased. Luke 2:14 ESVMerry Christmas.Today's post is short and simple. My prayer for today is that God would grant you peace as He takes pleasure in you.I leave you with on of my favorite Christmas songs. It is one that I have never heard played on the radio. I've never heard it sung any where other than on a collection of Christmas songs CD that we picked up sometime ago. Chances are good that unless you heard it here a couple of years ago, you may not have heard it either. It's a great song...
It's early in the morning on Christmas Eve and I've just finished working a mid shift at the tower. The house is quiet and I thought I'd take a few moments reading a few blogs and writing a quick post before getting a little sleep. Air traffic facilities will be staffed for tonight's midnight shift and will take special care to keep the fat man in the red suit safe as he navigates the night sky.But more than looking for Santa, I hope that there is a greater reason for your holiday celebration.Rejoice! Jesus is born.Merry ChristmasJohn <>...
Sunday, 23 December 2012
Have you ever been watching a movie and then just as the whole plot that has been building for nearly two hours is about to climax, somebody comes in, sits down and asks what's happening. You are left with the task of trying to quickly explain the entire movie so that they have some understanding of what is about to take place.Or you can just tell them to be quiet and watch the end of the movie and then try to explain it to them afterwards.Neither of these solutions gives the person a very good understanding of the overall theme or an appreciation...
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Each day of December that passes moves the US one day closer to the "fiscal cliff" that was created by our own incompetent politicians.As a Federal employee, I have been watching with job security in mind. One would think that the powers that be would be certain to keep the air traffic control facilities fully staffed and operational...and they will, at least for the time being. But across the board cuts cut, well...across the board, and we are a part of that board.Where I have some control, I have made some changes in my thrift savings plan to...
Friday, 21 December 2012
It's been almost seven hours since the Earth past that point in its orbit where the days (in the northern hemisphere) start to get longer and the sun begins to make its way higher in our daytime sky. Having friends, relatives and blog readers that are in the southern hemisphere, it occurs to me that the name "Winter Solstice" really only describes the event for half of the Earth.It's funny that I've never really thought about that before now. I guess...
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Do you remember my very first post?No?Maybe you should read it here. Go ahead. I'll wait.Joy ManagementIt's been a long time since I've really thought about purposely spreading JOY. I'm not sure why that's the case, but it is sad that a guy that is called to share the Good News still has to be purposeful about spreading Joy.I know that I preach about God's plan of salvation in Jesus. I know that I'm a pretty positive, upbeat guy. I know that there is real Joy in Jesus.The thing is this; we (followers of Jesus) don't always give the idea that we...
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Several weeks ago I noticed a roadside electronic sign by MoDOT. It said that there had been 694 highway deaths in Missouri in 2012 and that 64% were without seat belts. Today, about six weeks later, the highway death total was at 786! That's over 15 deaths/week and if the rate holds, we'll top 800 for the year.I mention this information because I was thinking about the December 21st end of the world event that is only a couple of days away. While many can joke about the impending doom and comment about how we are spending our final days,...
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
I wish that I could tell you that this is going to be a well thought out, well researched post; but it's not. It's just the ramblings (or rantings) of a confused, but concerned citizen in the US in the shadow of another tragic shooting event in our country.I know that there are those that would argue that any regulation on gun ownership is a violation of our Second Amendment rights. I am definitely not in favor of a ban on gun ownership, but recognize that we live in a far different world than the framers of our Constitution.I believe that we can...
Monday, 17 December 2012
I am looking for some input from my international friends.Many of you live in countries that have fairly strict regulations on gun ownership. How have these restrictions affected you? Do you feel more safe or less safe as a result of them? Has gun crime increased or decreased? I know the propaganda that various groups put out, but I would like to hear from you, the citizens.My analytics show that I have regular readers from the UK, Germany, Russia, Malaysia, France, China, Australia, the Philippines, Canada and others. The right to bear...
Saturday, 15 December 2012
Last week I published a post about our annual Christmas reading meeting. It was getting an abnormal amount of traffic and then I figured that people may be doing a search for "Christmas Readings" which was the title of the post.I'm sure that they were disappointed to find that there wasn't anything there for them to use in a Christmas program of any kind. I've done two things that may help people that will be doing similar searches in the coming days.I've modified the title to the post from last week.And I've included "Christmas readings" in the...
I'm not really not feeling like posting today. Yesterday was filled with much sadness and too much talk about the political third rail of gun control.As I viewed the various news broadcasts, listened on the radio and read on the internet, I was surprised at how often the tears just seemed to fall from my eyes. There was no sobbing or heart wrenching emotional feelings, just tears.A talk with a young boy about eternity was more significant than such a conversation usually is. Viewing kids at our church's live nativity was more welcome on a night...
Friday, 14 December 2012
As far as I can remember, it was never Mommy. It wasn't Mama or Ma.It's always been Mom.To Dad, it's Bebe (that's two short e sounds, emphasis on the second syllable).To relatives and very close family friends, it's been Bebe to my aunts and uncles and Aunt Bebe to all of the cousins (and there are a bunch of them).To her seventeen grandkids, she is Grandma.To everybody else, she is Leticia.Today is her birthday!Her Facebook profile says she is 75, so I guess it is okay to post that here, too. I know that mentioning a woman's age is a...
Thursday, 13 December 2012
I've been enjoying looking for some of my favorite posts. This one is from posts with the label Christmas.It may not actually be my favorite Christmas post, but it does have on of my favorite Christmas songs.It's not a Christmas hymn or Christmas carol. Chances are pretty good that if you didn't read the original post three years ago, you may not have ever heard this song......unless you happen to be a Jackson Browne fan.Enjoy it here.John <>&...
Ever have those days that just feel like good days? Days that simple things happen to make you smile?Yeah, it's been one of those days...and it will carry over into tomorrow to make tomorrow one of those days, too.It hasn't been a big deal or anything, just some simple things that happened today and some simple pleasures that I will enjoy tomorrow. First, I've been looking forward to the meteor shower tonight. The Geminid shower is generally pretty good and it's been a while since I've really been able to enjoy a meteor shower. I'll be working...
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
My last post was time stamped before midnight so I haven't actually had a post for this day, 12/12/12. I was thinking that I miss an old blogging buddy, It's a Numeric Life. She would have had something interesting to say, I'm sure of it.In any case, I wanted to make a quick post to cover the day as I continue to write more often.However, I'm not really writing anything new here. In yesterday's second post, I shared a few of my favorites from 2012. Today I thought that I would share my favorite of my 761 posts. It originally ran in August...
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
In the past few weeks, several of my blogging friends have shared some of their favorite posts. I thought that I would do the same at some point, but it is pretty difficult to decide between my favorites and reader favorites. Some of the ones that I like have few hits or comments and others have many hits and comments even though they are perhaps more controversial than good posts.In the end, I'm just going to look through 2012 (for now) and pick a favorite from each month.For January February March(click...
Monday, 10 December 2012
I love this video. I shared it on Facebook but also wanted to post it here at Out of My Hat for those of you that are not my Facebook "friends" list.It is a great story of bringing music to a group of poor kids. A story of building instruments out of garbage. A story of recycling materials into instruments that make beautiful music. Please watch it ...John <>&...
To keep up with the theme of good news about good guys, I want to share a bit about our group of youth at Hopedale.Yesterday was Youth Sunday at Hopedale and our kids taught in several of the Sunday school classes, greeted people as they entered the sanctuary for service, led worship in the Neos Service, read scripture, received the offering, played an instrumental special for the offering time and a very challenging message was delivered by our Youth Pastor.I know that I'm an extremely biased person when it comes to my church family, but I'm just...
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Saturday, 8 December 2012
The December meeting of the Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers (OCACW) is our annual Christmas reading meeting. Member write and read about Christmas or winter.WOW! We have some great writers.The readings included poetry, prose, some fictional stories and many stories that were recollections of Christmases past. These stories reminded me of Christmases from my childhood and also of Christmases from when my kids were little. As you would expect from a group of Christian writers, the story of the birth of Jesus was included in many of the...
Friday, 7 December 2012
When it comes to a Christmas wish list, mine is pretty short. Chris and I have been blessed to have the things that we need and many of the things that we want. We don't have smart phones and my tablet is a cheap clone. We have a single laptop that was a cheap sale computer from a couple of Christmases past. My car is more than 20 years old.We have what we need.I am looking forward to going out for coffee or lunch with Hannah when she is home during her short semester break. I hope to go out for some hot wings with Aaron when he and Jenny are here...
Thursday, 6 December 2012
There are only a few minutes more than an hour to get a post in for today's date. I'll just make a couple of quick observations on the so called War on Christmas and the impact that has on me personally.The War on Christmas has had no impact on me at all.I suppose that I could just leave it at that but that really isn't my nature, so I'll add a few more comments.First of all, the only places that I've heard about this War on Christmas is from Fox News programs, people that watch Fox News programs or people that make fun...
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
A few days ago I posted about Black Friday and what it costs us. Obviously, I'm not a fan.Having said that, I am opposed to the law proposed by Missouri State legislators that would restrict stores from being open on Thanksgiving Day. In spite of the fact that I think it is silly to spend a holiday at the store instead of with your family, the reality is that for some people, holiday shopping is a family event.I doubt that you will see me in a store on Thanksgiving Day, waiting in line for a great sale on a "door buster" special. However,...
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
This morning I had the privilege of meeting with the Search Team and the Administrative Team of the TriCounty Baptist Association.I've got to say that I really enjoy serving with these men. Most of them are pastors, although there are a couple of exceptions. They allow me to serve with them as an "at large" member out of their goodness and graciousness. They each bring great strengths and giftedness to the teams in order to serve the churches of the Association.The Search team is charged with finding the person called to serve as our Director...
Sunday, 2 December 2012
I know that pride is one of the seven deadlies, but it is one that I sometimes struggle with. In this case, it's not self pride; it's that I am really proud of my church and church family. I love my pastor and I brag on my church family every chance I get. Last fall I asked a visiting evangelist what he thought of my church. He responded by saying, "Now I know why you always brag on your church!"I bring this up today because of a post by Ed Stetzer, pastor, author, speaker, church planter and President of Life Way Research. The post deals with...
Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus. It is the time that covers the four Sundays prior to Christmas.From the time I was a kid, Advent has been about preparing for Christmas. This year, Advent will be different. After reading this article from The Gospel Coalition, Advent takes on a whole new meaning. It makes my focus on the Return of My Lord Jesus.The author makes some good points about living without the expectation of His return vs. how we live as an expectant believer. Remembering that He is coming again...
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Okay, so it's late in the day but still December first and I'm in for a short post. Maybe this daily posting thing is getting to be a habit.I have been taking additional time (although not every day) to do some writing. Some of it has just been free writing kind of stuff, but some has been in story form. I don't know how long the story will end up being. It maybe short story length or it may be a little bit longer. At this point, I would doubt that it would be book length. In any case, it is nice to work on the habit of writing.In other news that...
Friday, 30 November 2012
The end of November is finally here!At the beginning of the month, I decided that I would post everyday at Out of My Hat. I've managed to do that--sort of. On the fourth and again on the seventh, I actually posted twice--once in the morning and then again late at night. I could have scheduled the posts for early the following morning, but opted to just publish them as I finished them. One day (the second) I did post twice. That makes this my 31st post for the month.Reviewing the posts from November and late October, it is easy to see that...
Thursday, 29 November 2012
It's not too many days until Christmas--less than a month.With the passing of Black Friday and the Christmas shopping season into full swing, the signs of the coming holiday are everywhere. Radio stations are playing Christmas music. Christmas decorations and lights line the streets of the business districts. Homes are sporting the seasonal decorations. Parties and family gatherings are being planned.It is Christmas time!For those that recognize the holiday as the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus (that's the Christ part of Christmas), we often...
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
It's a rare night that I have trouble falling asleep. I really don't know what's up tonight (other than me), but it appears to be one of those nights. As long as I'm not sleeping, I figure that laying awake in bed is a waste of time. I decided that I'd get up and do something for a short while and perhaps sleep will come.As a sleep aid, I decided to look back at posts to Out of My Hat that come up when I type "Christmas" into the search bar. Wow! There were some good posts. Some of them were a bit repetitive (I guess I should do a quick search...
I'm a little bit crazy. I know it.I'm the guy that took a day off work, pulled the kids out of school for a day, and traveled several hours to make a day trip to be within the path of total annularity during the annular eclipse of 1994.I'm the guy that called home to wake everybody up to view the Leonid meteor shower of 1998 ...at 2 in the morning.I'm the guy that people call to ask about night sky events. They call on their smart phones that can give them expert answers rather than the regurgitated information that spills from the...
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Is Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah?Is He the appointed one?The one whose coming is foretold throughout the prophesies of the Old Testament?We've already looked at evidence that this Jesus really did exist (here). Though there are some varying accounts of the details of his life, there can be no doubt that he did, in fact, live and die in Israel around the time indicated by the gospels of the New Testament.But is this same Jesus the long awaited Messiah?There is much that has been written of the messianic prophesies, far more than I could ever read...
Most of the people that know me, know that I am a follower of Jesus. Most know that I am an evangelist. Being a "Christian" is who (or what) I am.However, I wonder just how long it takes people to figure that out. How well do people need to know me before they discover that I am a disciple of Jesus?Do I guard that part of my identity?Do I want to get to know people before I open up and share my belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior?Evangelical Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. We believe that until one confesses Jesus as Lord...
Saturday, 24 November 2012
I know that there are many Black Friday shoppers that make a sort of weird sport-like event of the day. For some, the long waiting in lines or strategic planning of which stores to hit when has become a family tradition. Even before this year's early start on Black Friday with retailers starting door buster sales as early as 8 pm on Thanksgiving day, the big shopping day had a way of encroaching on the family celebrations of Thanksgiving.Okay, so let's just say that I'm not a shopper. I can't say that I've never been out early on a Friday morning...
Friday, 23 November 2012
This post wraps up the re-posting of last year's thankful list from November.I don't want to give the impression that I didn't have anything to be thankful for this year.2012 has been a great year.Chris, Hannah and I had a great vacation near Tulum, Mexico in May.We've been able to spend some time with Aaron and Jenny.I had some part in four different camps this past summer as well as opportunities to share the gospel at several churches throughout the year....And I am eligible to retire! To avoid tax penalties and still be able to get at my thrift...
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Yesterday I was driving past one of Springfield's all you can eat buffets that was advertising its hours for its Thanksgiving Day buffet. It brought back memories of a Thanksgiving long ago...Chris and I (this was pre-kids days) were invited to have Thanksgiving dinner with friends and their family down in the boot-heel of Missouri. Since we had been planning on dinner with friends, we didn't have any holiday type food at home. On Thanksgiving Day, Chris was sick; too sick to make the trip from St. Louis south and too sick feel like being around...
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
It's getting late in the day and I have yet to offer my post of the day. I've been reading (with many of you) the days of thankfulness statuses of friends on Facebook. Last year I skipped the daily posting and wrote several posts to cover the month. I thought about doing the same this year, but after reading last year's posts, I think I'll just provide links to those. They are still pretty good posts.If you are a long time reader, fell free to skip to something new and interesting. Maybe you are fairly new to Out of My Hat and I invite you share...
Monday, 19 November 2012
I hope that you all had a great weekend!I started my weekend by getting a little bit of raking and burning of the leaves in my back yard. The discouraging thing about the leaves are that there are still many more leaves on the trees. These crazy oaks will hang on to their dead leaves until a strong wind tears them loose or the new leaves of spring push them out.I made my first burn pile relatively close to the house so had to keep it small. I'm going to plant a small garden there and thought the ash would be good for the soil. I'll have a little...
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Giving myself a pass for today. Actually I'm up one post for the month anyways.I'm heading out to preach at Shelburne baptist in Trenton MO this morning and will be at North Central Missouri College this evening. That's about 10 hours of drive time, one service, one dinner and show (with about 6hrs in between) before I'm home again.John <>&...
Saturday, 17 November 2012
The GOP machine continues to play the blame game in trying to determine what went wrong and how Gov. Romney lost the election so badly.Romney blames the gift giving promises of Pres. Obama and the voter/takers for the loss.Red states are petitioning for secession.The President says that Gov. Romney's financial plan was rejected by the voters and feels some kind of electoral blessing to implement his plan.The GOP controlled House says they retained majority status to keep the President from implementing his plan.We are a divided nation....Still.After...
Friday, 16 November 2012
Have you ever looked at your list of Facebook friends and wondered where some of them came from?Recently, one of mine sent me a message asking how we knew each other. The truth was -- we didn't. I know that he and his wife were referred to me by a mutual friend of Filipino heritage. This mutual friend was trying to help me connect to my own Filipino heritage.Today, we met for coffee.Part of what prompted the meeting was a note asking about our political differences in the presidential election aftermath. It was nothing confrontational or...
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Hopedale Youth Project Eternity (HYPE) took a little break from our study of teens in the Bible and I got to share a few optical illusions and talk about deception--mostly self deception. It's weird how we can deceive ourselves. I mean, how can we lie to ourselves and be convincing enough that we believe the lie to be the truth? When you put it that way, it sounds impossible. And yet, we are skilled enough that we do it quite often. We also talked about following Jesus; about being disciples and about making disciples. It was a little bit of a...
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
I don't know if it's fall allergies or if I've moved to a sinus infection/cold. In any case I'm definitely a bit under the weather today and not in much of a mood to keep up with the daily blogging for November.So I'm going to give myself a pass on writing today and just share a couple of sources for the phrase "under the weather" with you.I've always enjoyed finding out how phrases and sayings came to be so here are just a couple of possible origins for "under the weather."site onesite twoBack at it tomorrow.John <>&...
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
I suppose that it is fair to address those two questions before we ever get around to discussing the things that Jesus taught. If we are not first convinced that there was such a person as the Biblical Jesus of Nazareth, we certainly are not going to get very far discussing the teaching or authority of what is perceived as a fictional character.It is fair to ask if there are any ancient texts other than the Bible that give evidence of the life of Jesus. The answer is a resounding, "Yes!"Even without looking at specific texts, we know from the history...
Monday, 12 November 2012
Yesterday's youth group Bible study was centered around the final command that Jesus gave in Matthew's gospel; the command to make disciples.I think the main problem among evangelicals today is that we cannot teach the things that Jesus taught unless we know them, and we cannot know them unless we are first disciples ourselves. Too often, we claim to be "saved" by Jesus but we have no designs to become students of his life and teachings and therefore, we are unable to fulfill his command of making disciples.I offered a challenge; an opportunity...
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