Of course, since Kristine brought out the muppets, I've just gotta throw in with a classic...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Swedish Chef and Lobster Bandidos...
Seriously?... the Swedish Chef and lobsters with guns? How could that combination not be GOLD.
:D:D:D
:D:D:D
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Sound of Silence
How many people breath a sigh of relief when they have achieved a moment's quiet? Mothers, fathers... wish for the blessed peace that comes after their children are tucked away in bed. College students pack libraries during exam time for a place to study without distraction. At night, a silent room is more often preferred when attempting to fall asleep than a noisy tv or radio.
Me? I enjoy noise. I want to be distracted. Distract away, oh great noise! Please keep me from getting private time, because trust me... I get enough. Being a single woman in her late twenties who enjoys being a homebody tends get a girl a lot more of that quiet/private time than she'd like. So whether it's longing for the sounds of engine whistles and rumbling train cars to pass by on the nearby tracks, or turning on my stereo the minute the engine of my vehicle roars to life.... or listening to the bubbling of my turtle tank as I lay in bed, I find myself always looking for ways to fill my ears. If I don't have something to distract me, the lack of sounds suddenly remind me that all I have is me. And then suddenly...the sound of silence becomes deafening.
So it's interesting after reading the scripture, 1Kings 19:9-12, the perspective God gives on silence.
"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came the fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper."
As Elijah stood at the mountain of Horeb, he was in a depressed place. He longed to hear God. Wanted His noise. Wanted to experience the sound of nature at its most frightening. Standing there, seeing their power and destruction, he expected it. Expected the roaring judgment on the mountain where the Israelites were judged once and given the 10 commandments by the Lord. No longer did he want to worry about the shambles he believed his life to be. He just wanted the consequences. And yet the Lord, in all the noise was absent. It was in the end, when all had settled, in a whisper, in the sound of silence... that He finally spoke.
Can we only find that kind of silence in the wake of something so dramatic as what Elijah experienced? No, I don't think so. I don't think God needs to quiet our environment or nature to speak, I think He longs for the silence in us, so then we may hear Him. And I can imagine that is so very hard to find. Our minds are so busy with family, friends, jobs, bills, we rarely experience real silence. But I've come to realize, whether we intentionally hide from it or not, it is in the stillness within us that He speaks most clearly. Really speaks. And unfortunately for me, I find that I hear Him in the less than happy times, like Elijah did. Maybe it's because it is when we are most humbled. We are finally in the place where we realize we are alone without Him. No matter whether you're married or not married or have tons of friends or are surrounded by children, without Him? You're alone. And sometimes we need to get past ourselves and our lives to see that.
I think for me I want to find God or hear Him when I'm happy. I want to maintain this humility and need for him I feel when I'm depressed and apply it to the good times too. In the times when I'm surrounded by noise. Because He can speak then too. I mean He's God, right? He can speak whenever He chooses to. He doesn't need it to be quiet, we only need to hear Him. And it's not His fault if we're making our lives so noisy that were not listening.
Doesn't it make you wonder if He's speaking more than we even realize, but that we're just too involved in our lives and ourselves to care? It make me want to be more attentive and less self- involved that's for sure. Maybe if I spend more time trying to quiet down my noisy head, I won't feel so lonely. In the moment it gets quiet, instead of hearing the 'sound of silence,' maybe I will hear Him whisper to my heart.
Me? I enjoy noise. I want to be distracted. Distract away, oh great noise! Please keep me from getting private time, because trust me... I get enough. Being a single woman in her late twenties who enjoys being a homebody tends get a girl a lot more of that quiet/private time than she'd like. So whether it's longing for the sounds of engine whistles and rumbling train cars to pass by on the nearby tracks, or turning on my stereo the minute the engine of my vehicle roars to life.... or listening to the bubbling of my turtle tank as I lay in bed, I find myself always looking for ways to fill my ears. If I don't have something to distract me, the lack of sounds suddenly remind me that all I have is me. And then suddenly...the sound of silence becomes deafening.
So it's interesting after reading the scripture, 1Kings 19:9-12, the perspective God gives on silence.
"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came the fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper."
As Elijah stood at the mountain of Horeb, he was in a depressed place. He longed to hear God. Wanted His noise. Wanted to experience the sound of nature at its most frightening. Standing there, seeing their power and destruction, he expected it. Expected the roaring judgment on the mountain where the Israelites were judged once and given the 10 commandments by the Lord. No longer did he want to worry about the shambles he believed his life to be. He just wanted the consequences. And yet the Lord, in all the noise was absent. It was in the end, when all had settled, in a whisper, in the sound of silence... that He finally spoke.
Can we only find that kind of silence in the wake of something so dramatic as what Elijah experienced? No, I don't think so. I don't think God needs to quiet our environment or nature to speak, I think He longs for the silence in us, so then we may hear Him. And I can imagine that is so very hard to find. Our minds are so busy with family, friends, jobs, bills, we rarely experience real silence. But I've come to realize, whether we intentionally hide from it or not, it is in the stillness within us that He speaks most clearly. Really speaks. And unfortunately for me, I find that I hear Him in the less than happy times, like Elijah did. Maybe it's because it is when we are most humbled. We are finally in the place where we realize we are alone without Him. No matter whether you're married or not married or have tons of friends or are surrounded by children, without Him? You're alone. And sometimes we need to get past ourselves and our lives to see that.
I think for me I want to find God or hear Him when I'm happy. I want to maintain this humility and need for him I feel when I'm depressed and apply it to the good times too. In the times when I'm surrounded by noise. Because He can speak then too. I mean He's God, right? He can speak whenever He chooses to. He doesn't need it to be quiet, we only need to hear Him. And it's not His fault if we're making our lives so noisy that were not listening.
Doesn't it make you wonder if He's speaking more than we even realize, but that we're just too involved in our lives and ourselves to care? It make me want to be more attentive and less self- involved that's for sure. Maybe if I spend more time trying to quiet down my noisy head, I won't feel so lonely. In the moment it gets quiet, instead of hearing the 'sound of silence,' maybe I will hear Him whisper to my heart.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Holy Spit!
Why in the world would we call our blog ‘holy spit?’ And how does one make spit holy? Is it the product of using holy water as mouthwash? Or is it simply the clean version of a curse? Well…yes I suppose it could be…but really? It isn’t.
Clear as mud you say? Why yes! That's it exactly! … Okay…I’ve only confused you further…let’s rewind a bit.
So Eric, my fellow blogger, and I were up late one night watching an archived Jerry Gillis sermon (JG being my local pastor) via The Chapel at Crosspoint website. He was speaking on John 9…and it included the story of a blind man who was healed by Jesus. You’re probably thinking…*shocking* Jesus healed someone? Yeah I know. I’m full of all sorts of revelations today… but this story is a little unique. This man had been blind his whole life and when he came across Jesus…he, like anyone who had heard of Jesus during this time, probably imagined a few words to be spoken and voila! “I CAN SEE!” But no siree…Jesus took a different approach. He spat on the ground beneath his feet, made a mixture of mud with his hands, and wiped the mucky substance over the man’s eyes. The man, in his blindness and covered in mud, was then told by Jesus to seek out water and wash his face on his own. He did. And of course…his eyes opened and he was healed. A man who had been blind his entire life was suddenly gifted with sight with only a bit of dirt, some holy spit (yep…this is where the holy spit comes from), and the touch of Christ.
The story stayed with us, along with other scripture and thoughts Pastor Jerry shared in his sermon. The idea that we may have to suffer trials and be covered with mud before our eyes are opened to the glory of His blessings really resounded deeply within us… or within me at least. It only takes a bit of holy spit and dirt from Him to make our lives and our purpose clear, and a little bit of faith and obedience on our part too. If the man hadn’t followed Christ’s directions, he may never have experienced the miracle he did. And while we can hardly expect a miracle to drop out of the sky anvil-style, we can appreciate the message that leaves us. Follow Him…and we will be blessed.
And this place, this blog, is where Eric and I would like to continue to share that message. With silly humor…with randomness…with comments on pop culture, the state of our world…with deep intellectual musings on Jerry’s sermons or other scriptures we happen to fall upon…and simply with our goofy personalities.
The directions and paths we take on this blog are completely in His hands. Because we seriously have no clue as to how or when we will be inspired to post. Simply that we intend for Him to lead us. And hopefully amuse you with our silly selves along the way. Feel free to comment and question and give us affection. Being writers, we long and love feedback. And to the left of our postings always feel free to click on any scriptures, links to Jerry’s sermons, and other such things we put up there. I’m sure they will be chock full of interesting things to see and will often relate to our musings.
So yes…our Holy Spit blog is a strange and wonderful place… with much randomness laced with deep Christian influences and musings. The ‘strange’ part of the site is purely in reference to the OTHER blogger on this site. It has absolutely nothing to do with me. I exemplify the wonderfulness, as you will soon see as I continue to post ;)
And with that promise I leave you with this lovely…
Clear as mud you say? Why yes! That's it exactly! … Okay…I’ve only confused you further…let’s rewind a bit.
So Eric, my fellow blogger, and I were up late one night watching an archived Jerry Gillis sermon (JG being my local pastor) via The Chapel at Crosspoint website. He was speaking on John 9…and it included the story of a blind man who was healed by Jesus. You’re probably thinking…*shocking* Jesus healed someone? Yeah I know. I’m full of all sorts of revelations today… but this story is a little unique. This man had been blind his whole life and when he came across Jesus…he, like anyone who had heard of Jesus during this time, probably imagined a few words to be spoken and voila! “I CAN SEE!” But no siree…Jesus took a different approach. He spat on the ground beneath his feet, made a mixture of mud with his hands, and wiped the mucky substance over the man’s eyes. The man, in his blindness and covered in mud, was then told by Jesus to seek out water and wash his face on his own. He did. And of course…his eyes opened and he was healed. A man who had been blind his entire life was suddenly gifted with sight with only a bit of dirt, some holy spit (yep…this is where the holy spit comes from), and the touch of Christ.
The story stayed with us, along with other scripture and thoughts Pastor Jerry shared in his sermon. The idea that we may have to suffer trials and be covered with mud before our eyes are opened to the glory of His blessings really resounded deeply within us… or within me at least. It only takes a bit of holy spit and dirt from Him to make our lives and our purpose clear, and a little bit of faith and obedience on our part too. If the man hadn’t followed Christ’s directions, he may never have experienced the miracle he did. And while we can hardly expect a miracle to drop out of the sky anvil-style, we can appreciate the message that leaves us. Follow Him…and we will be blessed.
And this place, this blog, is where Eric and I would like to continue to share that message. With silly humor…with randomness…with comments on pop culture, the state of our world…with deep intellectual musings on Jerry’s sermons or other scriptures we happen to fall upon…and simply with our goofy personalities.
The directions and paths we take on this blog are completely in His hands. Because we seriously have no clue as to how or when we will be inspired to post. Simply that we intend for Him to lead us. And hopefully amuse you with our silly selves along the way. Feel free to comment and question and give us affection. Being writers, we long and love feedback. And to the left of our postings always feel free to click on any scriptures, links to Jerry’s sermons, and other such things we put up there. I’m sure they will be chock full of interesting things to see and will often relate to our musings.
So yes…our Holy Spit blog is a strange and wonderful place… with much randomness laced with deep Christian influences and musings. The ‘strange’ part of the site is purely in reference to the OTHER blogger on this site. It has absolutely nothing to do with me. I exemplify the wonderfulness, as you will soon see as I continue to post ;)
And with that promise I leave you with this lovely…
Courtesy of LOLcats
Friday, May 2, 2008
John 9 - Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9Some claimed that he was.
Others said, "No, he only looks like him."
But he himself insisted, "I am the man."
10"How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded.
11He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."
12"Where is this man?" they asked him.
"I don't know," he said.
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