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I know that The Old Farmer's Almanac is one of those outdated publications that just keeps hanging on.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...
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