The Non-Essential Adventures of D'Art
I love THE city!
Leave a Comment
I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I Love THE city. Not just A city, but THE city. Kellie and I have spent the last 9 years of our collective marriage in smaller towns. Orangeburg, Rock Hill, Augusta, now we are in THE city, and we love it! So what’s so different from THE city and a city, you ask? Here we go.
A city
- Best Restaurant, Outback
- Mall Anchor stores, Sears
- Coolest Hangout, Wal-Mart
- YMCA hours, 5am-9pm
- Favorite Team, High School Football
THE city
- Best Restaurant, Cheesecake Factory
- Mall Anchor store, Neiman Marcus
- Coolest Hangout, Apple Store
- LifeStyle Fitness Hours, 24 Hours
- Favorite Team, Local NBA team
If you don’t live in THE city, then there is still hope for you. No, really, I’m glad that God places people where they fit. And I’m glad that I’m THE city guy. I’m looking forward to our journey in these cities God has put us in.
Ditch Plan B
Leave a Comment
Elisha paints a beautiful picture of what it looks like to chose to follow God. Elijah approaches him and gives him the incredible opportunity of watching God up close and personal, as his right hand man. What does he do? He doesn’t just follow Elijah, he makes it impossible to do anything but follow him. He kills his oxen, burns his plow, and follows God with everything.
“Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.” 1 Kings 19:21
Your turn, what are you going to do? Stop holding back. Burn the bridges that are your escape to the safety of the past. Push all you chips to the center of the table. Ditch the Plan B. Raise your hands. Take a deep breath. Live the dangerous life that Jesus intended you to. Kill the Oxen. Burn the plow. Follow Jesus.
The Sounds of A Silent God
1 Comment
I often wonder what the real purpose of Elijah being on that famed mountain was. You know the one where he heard that “Still Small Voice.” I have heard and even preached that hearing God though the noise was the point of this God sized test of Elijah. First Wind, then Earthquake, then Fire…THEN, STILL SMALL VOICE. The Silence of God gets overlooked for the Still Small Voice of God. We tend to focus on the words and not so much on the silence. But maybe the silence was the point. Maybe instead of teaching Elijah how to hear his voice, God was teaching Elijah to enjoy his majesty.
Elijah was talking to God before the wind, earthquake and fire experience. God asked Elijah what he was doing. Elijah gave his sob story. A two way conversation was already being had. Then God said, “go stand outside, I’m about to show up, for real.” If hearing His voice was the point, Elijah was already tuned in.
I think God likes to show off. And he did. Boom, Oklahoma style Tornado. Boom, Boom, Boom, San Francisco Bay Bridge style Earthquake. Boom, Chicago style Fires. Then that same voice he had been talking with earlier. But this time, Elijah’s face was covered, he had just seen God at work. Again the question from God, what are you doing? Again the sob story from Elijah, but this time with more humility. God had Elijah’s attention.
So enjoy the sounds of a silent God, learn from them, embrace them, be awed by them, because while his voice may be silent, his majesty never is.
Things I’d like to Complain About
1 Comment
- Gas prices–I’d like to get a job at Exxon, they have to make bank, $120 B profit last year.
- Chicks with hairy legs–No excuse, you don’t live in Germany, and even if you did, buy a razor.
- LA Lakers–Overrated. Jack take the glasses off, you don’t look cool, you look old.
- Toe nails–What’s their purpose?
13 People I’d Like to Have Lunch With
Leave a Comment
Here is my list in no particular order:
- Dick Vitale–Basketball Announcer. A Passion for the game of Basketball. The Varsity would be a good setting. However I don’t know if I could take listening to him yell at me the whole time….BABY
- Billy Graham–A living legend of the Faith. I’m thinking a burrito at Chipotle, listening to the risks he took and what it cost him to have the impact that he had.
- Rob & Big–TV Personalities. Maybe the best chemistry since Ren & Stimpey. Funny, funny guys. They could even bring Mini, their Mini Horse. Hilarious. Let’s do an afternoon picnic in the park.
- Louie Giglio–Founder of Passion Conferences. In-N-Out Burgers. Spending the entire lunch picking his brain to figure out what makes him tick, and how he seems to hear God so clearly.
- Dan Marino–THE BEST QB EVER! And a Dolphin. We could grab a steak at his place, Dan Marino’s. I’d ask him about never winning a ring, and if it still haunts him.
- Marilyn Manson–Musician. Maybe we could just sit down and eat a plateful of Deviled Eggs. I’d like to ask him about what makes him happy.
- Charles Barkley--Former NBA player. We would probably head to some sort of buffet. We are both big guys. Charles seems like a fun down to earth guy with a great sense of humor.
- Joel Osteen–Pastor of Lakewood Church. From never preaching a sermon to having the biggest church in America, I want to talk about that. We could eat at Friendly’s.
- Sergey & Larry–The creators of Google. I’m feeling some Sushi for this meeting. I want to talk about the simplicity of their brand. And what makes it so appealing.
- Mark Driscoll–Pastor of Mars Hill Church. We could grab a bite to eat at Pikes Place Market. I’d like to talk about Jesus, and the pursuit of him in the city.
- Jeremy Jacobs Sr.–CEO of Delaware North Co…Owner of TDBanknorth Garden. We could share some donuts at Dunkin Donuts. I’d like to let him know that we are going to need his arena in a couple of years.
- JJ Abrams–Creator of LOST. We could chow down on some Dharma Initiative food, while talking about the secret ingredient of keeping people hooked week after week.
- You–Whoever you are. I’d like to hear your dreams and desires. I would like to know what God is up to in your life and what you are doing about it. We could eat wherever you chose…as long as you pay!
Super Mario Bros. 3
Leave a Comment
So, I have a Nintendo Wii and I have been playing the Original NES game Super Mario Bros. 3 for the past couple of weeks. Yesterday, I finally beat it. Old Skool style. No warp zones, no special tricks, just playing though all 8 worlds. Up next Excitebike and Punch-Out. I love to the old games.
Wii is pretty inventive, next month they are rolling out a deal called WiiFit. It’s a pretty sweet balance deal which could make games even more interactive. I came across this parody video, it’s funny junk! Check it out.
Juno
1 Comment
I love the movie Juno! I hope this doesn’t automatically qualify me for the rainbow awards. But for some reason that I can’t put my finger on, I love this movie. Maybe its the boldness of the film mixed with the subtle innocence of the main character. Or maybe its just the super rad sound track. At any cost, you need to see the film, but be warned, it’s probably not a flick you’d see on Sunday night at your church. You know the Sunday night when the pastor doesn’t want to speak….do you still go to Sunday night church? Sorry, that’s another post. See Juno. Enjoy.
Speaking for God
1 Comment
The lesson I’m trying to teach you isn’t about money, but money is the medium through which you’ll learn. I want you to trust me. I hold all the cards. I control the gas prices. I know you haven’t had a job in almost 4 months. I know. I’m God. I love you. I want to use you. But I need you to trust me. Total reckless trust. That’s what I want. If you can trust me with your money, then I know you trust me. You’re almost there. Just a few more steps. We tried this once before, and you were good. You trusted me, then when I set you in a place of influence, you got comfortable. Let’s not do that again. That was the trial, this is the real deal. Lives count on it. A city is counts on it. Take the risk. Be bold. Walk with me. And take your hand off your wallet.
A Whisper
Leave a Comment
I love the whisper. A tool used to know that you are talking just to me, nobody else can hear. You whisper because you have something important to tell me, something that’s right around the corner and you just can’t keep it in any longer. Oh I how love your whisper.
A Blog Hit Experiment
4 Comments
I have often wondered how to be a better blogger. How do I drive more traffic to my site? I have come to the conclussion that you must:
A. Pastor a church of the Awesomeness or
B. I’m still trying to figure out what B is
I have seen the trend in my own blog, whenever i link to another blogger like this guy, he’ll come back to see what is said about him. I do it too. When I see that she has linked to my site, I want to know what she said about me, so I head over to her blog. It’s the beauty of the blog world.
I would be willing to bet by linking guys to my blog like him, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him my hits will double maybe even triple today. Partially because these guys, like myself, wants to know what’s being said about them, and partially because technorati makes access to what’s being said in blog world pretty easy.
Disclaimer: There is no point to this blog and to my defense, I don’t know most of these guys, but most of them seem uber cool. Check out their stuff.
