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...
Friday, 30 November 2012
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Christmas Challenge
Posted on 04:03 by Unknown
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
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Posted on 23:06 by Unknown
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...
Our Amazing Solar System
Posted on 04:55 by Unknown
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
Who is Jesus? ...and Why Should I Follow Him? (2)
Posted on 22:09 by Unknown
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...
How would they know?
Posted on 14:15 by Unknown
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
Black Friday: What does it cost us?
Posted on 09:40 by Unknown
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
More on Thanksgiving (part 3)
Posted on 16:20 by Unknown
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
More on Thanksgiving (part 2)
Posted on 15:47 by Unknown
After a good meal, I'm just spending some quiet time before cleaning up the kitchen.It's been a good day.Here is the list of my next 10 things from last year's post.I hope that you have had a great day, too.Be thankful.John <>&...
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
More on Thanksgiving ...
Posted on 14:23 by Unknown
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
Thanksgiving Re-runs
Posted on 16:59 by Unknown
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
The Weekend in Review
Posted on 08:31 by Unknown
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
On the Road
Posted on 03:14 by Unknown
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
Moving On ...
Posted on 09:22 by Unknown
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
Men of Reason: Where have they gone?
Posted on 10:43 by Unknown
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
Returning to Northern Missouri
Posted on 02:24 by Unknown
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
Under the Weather
Posted on 12:46 by Unknown
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
Who is Jesus? ...and Why Should I Follow Him?
Posted on 06:44 by Unknown
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
Go ... Make Disciples
Posted on 08:55 by Unknown
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...
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Lazy, Dreary Sunday Afternoon
Posted on 15:13 by Unknown
It's raining in the Ozarks this afternoon.It feels like a good day to do ... well, nothing.I've sent Veterans' Day texts to my Navy brother and Army National Guard (retired) sister and called my dad (Navy). Thanks to any of you readers that have also served in our country's military forces.Now I'm just putting off working on rearranging the garage clutter so that I can actually get my car into it before the winter sets in. I also have the continuing project of getting all of my magic stuff into place in my room in the basement.I have also been...
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Writing
Posted on 01:52 by Unknown
Today is our monthly meeting for the Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers.These monthly gatherings of committed writers always inspire me to write. I've been trying to force myself to publish something every day this month here at Out of My Hat. It may not look like I'm actually writing every day since I sometimes write in the morning one day and then late at night the same day for the following day's post. I know that I can schedule each post to appear at a set time, but I usually just hit "publish" when I'm finished writing.Today is a...
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Clowns to the left of me; Jokers to the right...
Posted on 22:07 by Unknown
Now that the 2012 elections are over and our duly elected reprehensitives head back to DC to continue with the ever maddening partisan gamesmanship, is it time for the reasonable Americans that find themselves center-right, center-left or pretty much in the middle and without representation to form a solid, moderate third party?I'm not talking about a fringe element of the left or right like the Tea Party. I'm talking about an organized party of reasonable thinking, define the problem/find the answer kind of citizens; the kind of people that are...
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
A Final Word of Encouragement
Posted on 20:44 by Unknown
There have been many posts that deal with the outcome of Tuesday's election. Some have been thoughtful and encouraging. Many have been negative, angry and hurtful. There have been posts from sore losers and poor winners.The most troubling ones have been the posts from Christians that seem to face the future with a sense of fear and doubt. How can children of the King be hopeless?The letter that follows was written to encourage a small group of friends and is posted here with permission. I hope that it also encourages you.John <><... just...
Election Day: It's not what you think
Posted on 10:49 by Unknown
One last comment about election day--Okay, so it's probably not my last comment about election day, but then again, I'm not talking about a political election.I'm talking to my fellow followers of Jesus and encouraging them to be certain of their election.Read this short passage from 2 Peter 1:5-11.Did you get that? Look at the qualities that Peter tells us to add to our faith: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. He says that possessing these in increasing measure will keep us from being unproductive...
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Playing Church: A Change of Heart
Posted on 14:17 by Unknown
I've said it myself.I've heard others say it.It's always said with a tone of frustration or weariness.It sounds something like this -- I'm just so tired of playing church.We say it like the environment at church has something to do with our state of being.Have you ever said that?Have you ever felt that way?I understand that any community of people (including a local church) has issues of politics, leadership, finance, etc. Some of that can be frustrating. Some of that can distract us from God and distract us from our relationship with God. I can...
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Facebook Wisdom
Posted on 17:58 by Unknown
You and I both know that there is a great deal of information and misinformation that finds its way to the grand social medium of Facebook. Sorting through the piles of manure to find the gems of truth is a daunting task. Fortunately, one of my Facebook friends has done the hard work for us.He posted this as his status and gave me permission to copy and paste it to my status. In giving his permission he said, "Copy, copy, copy away. I hope it gets a million hits."I few others have copied it and posted it as their status but it deserves to be read...
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Christmas 2012
Posted on 22:01 by Unknown
It is difficult to believe that Christmas is just a couple of days more than seven weeks away. I've noticed the local Christian radio station has already started playing Christmas music.I think that it's odd that they will be playing primarily "Christmas" music for the next eight weeks when they always play songs about Our Lord and Savior. Throughout the year, they never play secular songs, but during the Christmas season they will play seasonal songs like Frosty the Snowman, Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, etc. Not a big deal--just an oddity.Each...
Friday, 2 November 2012
Decision 2012
Posted on 23:22 by Unknown
For anybody that is still undecided about which candidate they will vote for in Tuesday's Presidential election, I want to share these two interviews that were done by Ed Stetzer and published on his blog.The first is Why Vote for Governor Romney and the second is Why Vote for President Obama.I hope that you find these to be informative.John <>&...
Getting to the Polls
Posted on 14:10 by Unknown
As we enter into the weekend prior to election day (and to the end of this cycle's annoying political ads), I hope that everybody (that hasn't already voted) is making plans to get to the polls.Several weeks ago, I requested to have Nov. 6 off at work. I've done this to make myself available to help people get to their voting places. If you live in Southwest Missouri and know of somebody that needs a ride to their polling place, have them contact me. They can leave a comment here, send me an e-mail, or give me a call.In spite of the fact that Missouri...
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Non-partisan Disaster Solutions
Posted on 22:30 by Unknown
The past few days have shown many pictures and clips of President Obama and Governor Christy working together to take care of the Superstorm Sandy destruction.In the aftermath of 9-11, both parties came together to work together to rebuild NYC and to direct our military efforts in retaliation to the enemies of the USA and those that harbor them.It is clear that we work well when the citizens of our country are facing a crisis, whether by natural disaster or by attack of an enemy. I'm just wondering how long it will be before our elected representatives...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
