One Pastor's Perspective

The walls really proved to be more of a problem than I anticipated. When you hang wallpaper on unprimed drywall, you REALLY are hanging it there for life. The problem is, when it starts delaminating and aging in a bathroom, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to remove. I mean, it WILL come off, but it brings part of the drywall with it!!

Then, you have to work and work to get a wall that looks halfway decent. And when you paint it with the kitchen/bathroom paint they recommend at Lowes, it brings out EVERY flaw even though it is semi-gloss.

In the words of Charlie Brown, GOOD GRIEF!!! Hopefully I will be able to finish everything after work tonight and get that thing put back together!! My guests are tired of having to go hide in the backyard to use the restroom!!!!

Yesterday I took a day off. I have vacation time that I will lose on Dec 31st, so I have planned to take a day here and there before the end of the year. However, there was a purpose for yesterday — A leaking toilet in our half-bath!!! FUN!! The toilet has apparently leaked since the flange was cracked on installation TEN YEARS AGO when the house was built. And, the wax seal didn’t seal. And the floor and subfloor was rotten.

Thanks to Olin Bullock (helping me with another situation like this five years ago), I knew what do to. I pulled the toilet, cut out the rotten wood, built a little more joist support for the patch, put in the subfloor, cut and replaced the flange, and then replaced the top floor. I am now waiting to finish painting the bathroom before installing the final floor covering.

Today, sanding, priming, painting, flooring, and if I get ALL of that done, I get to CAREFULLY seat the toilet back on the flange, paying careful attention to the wax seal.

Okay, if Ebenezer runs me off, I could do more than computer work.

Morris ran into Jacob while shopping at the mall the other day in front of one of the jewelry stores. Noticing a conspicuously small gift wrapped box in his hand, Morris asked if was a gift for Jacob’s wife Becky.

Jacob told Morris, “With Christmas coming up, I asked Becky what she wanted and she said, “Oh, I don’t know just give me something with lots of diamonds in it.”

“So what did you get her?” Morris asked.

Jacob smiled and replied, “I bought her a deck of cards.”

today’sTHOT============================
How does Santa Claus take pictures? With his North Pole-aroid.

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It seems our economic woes continue . . . Experts say we can look for a rocky ride into mid-first quarter of 2009. CAN WE TAKE IT?? People are really starting to sweat this one. Jobs are lost. Retirement is lost. All is NOT well.

Where will it all end?? In an article I read from George Barna, he did not have an answer, but he expects the local church to be the next to suffer. Barna claims a coming trend is that church giving will be the next cut in many minds. Some have already made that cut. Ebenezer has been fortunate to this point . . . We are AHEAD of our budget in giving, and that is a rare thing right now.

My prayer is that we will continue to be faithful, because now more than ever people need Christ. Our community NEEDS ministry. There are many people hurting, both inside and outside of our church. They need us. We need to keep our eyes focused on Christ. He will lead us through.

Where will it all end?? I don’t know, but I serve the One that DOES. And, last time I checked, He is STILL in control.

I don’t know WHAT was going on yesterday, but it was a rare day at Ebenezer. Both services felt like I was standing in front of a dark cave opening, preaching as hard as I can as the words floated into darkness with no return. I thought it was just a stinker of a sermon . . . Those DO happen, you know. Ed said he felt the same way as he led worship. It was either the rainy day blues, or one massive turkey-hangover. I have no idea which.

Add that to a sleepless night and it will be really hard to go into the office today. But, life goes on!!!

I SAW THIS with my own eyes and I HEARD THIS with my own ears . . .

Bobby Knight, as a television broadcaster in a college game last night (I think it was Kansas-Washington) COMPLIMENTED the referees. Yep, COMPLIMENTED them in his broadcast.
Then, he TOLD THEM TO THEIR FACES what a great job they were doing.

In the book of Revelation, when John wrote about the Lion and the Lamb together, THIS MIGHT BE WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT.

Okay, just kidding on that one, but if you knew about Bob Knight like I know about Bob Knight, you would be in the same shock I am in right now.

Everywhere I turn, CHRISTMAS!!! Christmas music, Christmas decorations, ideas and commercials for Christmas gifts. Like it or not, Christmas is HERE!!

BUT . . . We haven’t yet seen the Macy’s THANKSGIVING Day Parade . . . Or football on Thursday afternoon . . . Or cajun fried turkey (which is the ONLY way to eat turkey now) . . . Or cousins that I probably won’t see until NEXT Thanksgiving!

I love Christmas, but let the season start in the proper timing . . . THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING!!!

LIVENING UP THANKSGIVING DINNER:

1. Load your plate up high; take it to the kitchen, toss it all in the blender and take your “shake” back to the table. Announce that it’s the new Thanksgiving Weight Loss Shake.

2. When everyone says, in turn, what they are thankful for, say, “I’m thankful I didn’t get caught,” and refuse to say anything more.

3. Bring along old-recorded football games and pop them in the VCR (or DVD) when Dad’s not looking. Make sure it is set to the last two minutes of the game. When he comes into the room, turn off the VCR and turn on the regular TV.

4. Bring a date that only talks about the tragic and abusive conditions known to exist at turkey farms.

5. During mid-meal, turn to Mom and say, “See mom, I told you they wouldn’t notice that the turkey was past the expiration date. You were worried for nothing.”

today’sTHOT============================
These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, “For fast relief.”

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