The Lord's Prayer.

This is my take on The Lord's Prayer and what it means or what I think it means to me. 

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Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

We need to acknowledge that God is our Father in heaven and his name should be held in high regard. Hallowed means:   holy, consecrated or sacred, revered. We shouldn't use the Lord's name in an empty manner. 

Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We should pray for his kingdom to return and be ready for his kingdom to return.  We should pray for God's will to be done. Many times we pray "God, Help me" when we should be praying "God take this from me and your will be done in this matter". His will is done in heaven, he is in charge of heaven

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,

Make sure we get fed today and forgive us when we are in the wrong

as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil,

that we can forgive those who do wrong toward us.  Direct my life in such a way to not be tempted and give me the ability to use my brains to NOTICE when I'm stepping into a situation that might tempt me. 

 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

And again we acknowledge the Hallowed and glorious nature of God and we remember that his kingdom and power is forever

Amen.

7 Deadly Sins

According to Wikipedia, the seven deadly sins are:
1. Lust
2. Gluttony
3. Greed
4. Sloth
5. Wrath
6. Envy
7. Pride
In the Book of Proverbs 6:16-19, among the verses traditionally associated with King Solomon, it states that the Lord specifically regards "six things the Lord hateth, and seven that are an abomination unto Him", namely

1. A proud look
2. A lying tongue
3. Hands that shed innocent blood
4. A heart that devises wicked plots
5. Feet that are swift to run into mischief
6. A deceitful witness that uttereth lies
7. Him that soweth discord among brethren

Another list, given this time by the Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 5:19-21), includes more of the traditional seven sins, although the list is substantially longer: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, "and such like". Since Saint Paul goes on to say that the persons who practice these sins "shall not inherit the Kingdom of God", they are usually listed as (possible) mortal sins rather than capital vices.

(Taken from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins )

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In my life I have been close to most of the sins mentioned above. I would say Lust and Envy were at the top of my list and have caused the most trouble in my life over the years.  Now I seem to be troubled by Gluttony and Sloth, according to my ever expanding waistline.  (Who knew Sloth was such a popular sin that it has an animal named after it. ) However, Jesus has forgiven me of it all.  God's love is a wonderful thing. I'm still not perfect and yet, God still loves me.  I am truly blessed.  Jesus didn't break anyone's arm and tell them to get right with God.  Jesus was tolerant toward the woman taken in Adultery and showed mercy toward her and her situation.  Jesus always fixed what was wrong in someone's life and then told them "go, and sin no more"  

I can only imagine what that woman said to her family when she went home that day.  "Mother, I met a wonderful man who saved my life from a rock throwing crowd and then told me to sin no more."  I'm sure she was grateful for her life but I'm also sure she was affected by being told to "go, and sin no more".  

In a more modern twist, Pope Francis said of the Catholic Church:  “The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all. The confessor, for example, is always in danger of being either too much of a rigorist or too lax. Neither is merciful, because neither of them really takes responsibility for the person. The rigorist washes his hands so that he leaves it to the commandment. The loose minister washes his hands by simply saying, ‘This is not a sin’ or something like that. In pastoral ministry we must accompany people, and we must heal their wounds. (http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview). The Pope also said “We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time."

Other people's sin is not my sins, nor are my sins everyone else's sins.  It isn't up to me to get someone in a hammerlock and persuade them to turn from their wicked ways and turn to God. I am not the Judge. The simple part of Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household" is sometimes too simple for our human minds.  You don't have to carry a 17 and a half pound bible and darken the doors of the church every time it is open, you just have to believe.  I want people to see in me that I have something in my life that they might want in their lives. 

I don't see a lot of people protesting Gluttony or Sloth but it seems some people, including myself, at some point got hung up on certain kinds of sin. Sin is sin is sin.  Matthew 6: 14-15 says "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  How can we expect the Lord to forgive us and show us mercy if we can't get over the sin someone else is committing because it is on our "That's a REALLY bad sin" list?

I have seen a lot of churches in my past that seem to act like they are above sinners. They go through the motions of living a "good life" but they don't have much of an outreach program on a regular basis.  I've seen small churches say "We can't do that, we don't have enough people attending church to do that"  Remember, people, Jesus and 12 Apostle's changed the world!  The size of your congregation does not matter, it is the spirit and faith your congregation shows that matters....even the Bible says in Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

We need to look beyond other people's faults and see their needs and we need to love them, regardless of their shortcomings. We need to trust God that he will give us the ability to do these things.  We have all fallen short at some point in our lives and we need to show people mercy as we have once had mercy shown to us when we were down.  

I, for one, am glad that Jesus kept knocking on my hearts door. I'm still a sinner but now I'm a sinner saved by grace. 

J. 

7 July 2011. Words that Have helped my journey (A Rerun from my old Facebook Notes)

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.


Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/special/serenity.html

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I knew the first verse to this prayer from being around my dad and A.A. in my youth. At one point in time I carried a laminated card around in my wallet but removed it when I went into the Air Force in 1984
During the Gulf War (1990 and 91) I recited the serenity prayer from memory before getting out of the rack/cot/bunk/bed (call it what you will) in the morning.  It kept me moving when I was halfway around the world and away from my family. What do I think I got out of this prayer?  The ability to know when to pick my battles and the clearness of mind to know when I couldn't change my situation no matter what I did or didn't do.  Trust me on this, when the Military stuffs a set of orders in your hands and tells you to GO...there isn't much you can do about it. You GO.

The Airman's Creed
I am an American Airman.
I am a Warrior.
I have answered my nation's call.
I am an American Airman.
My mission is to fly, fight, and win.
I am faithful to a proud heritage,a tradition of honor,and a legacy of valor.
I am an American Airman,Guardian of freedom and justice,
My nation's sword and shield,Its sentry and avenger.
I defend my country with my life.
I am an American Airman:
Wingman, Leader, Warrior.
I will never leave an Airman behind.
I will never falter,and I will not fail.

The current version of the Airman's Creed came out after I left the Air Force but you get the idea.

That is a pretty big thing to uphold on a daily basis.  What did that 15 years and 9 months and 1 week of Military service from 24 May 1984 till 1 Feb 2000 leave me with? A case of nerves so bad that I have IBS something awful. A mind that is in a high, hyper state of awareness some days and no ability to slow it down (that part has slowed up a bit in the years ). Believe me when I say I'm not griping at all. This is the hand I was dealt. This is the wall I must sometimes climb and this is the private battle I fight that no one goes along with me. (Randi might have a better idea than most but the storms between my ears are truly my own) It also left me with the knowledge that given the chance, I have the ability to reach inside my mental self very deeply, tamp down everything else and pull up vast sums of calm if the need arises and the ability to make a decision from my own mind with little help from anyone else.... and you wouldn't think a computer network tech would need that kind of ability but when you see a computer on a remote network that could damage the WHOLE computer network you keep running from day to day, the ability to TURN OFF THAT branch of the network to save the rest  of the network isn't easy to do but, as Spock said "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" (I have always said while working on computer and networks that our REAL job is to keep the phone from ringing and believe me when you shut off a branch of a network without their knowledge, the phone RINGS like crazy!)

We can all reach inside ourselves. We might not think we can but we all have this ability

David Allen Coe has a song called "If that ain't country" and the lyrics can be a bit "colorful" (offensive) but one verse sums it up for me.

HE WAS VETERAN-PROUD, TRIED AND TRUE
HE'D FOUGHT TILL HIS HEART WAS BLACK AND BLUE
DIDN'T KNOW HOW HE'D MADE IT THROUGH
THE HARD TIMES
HE BOUGHT OUR HOUSE ON THE G.I. BILL
BUT IT WASN'T WORTH ALL HE HAD TO KILL
TO GIT IT

Was it worth all I, and others, had to give?  I would have to say YES. (Thankfully I didn't have to kill anyone along the way!)

Both my Grandfather's were in the Army and my Dad and all but one of his brothers were in the Army or the Air Force. (one of my uncles was told he was 4F during WWII and he told me the story of coming out of the Military induction center in Knoxville, years ago and someone on the steps called him a "4F son of a bitch"...and my uncle proceeded to whip him right there!  Diabetes made him 4F and it wasn't due to lack of want that he didn't go)

The serenity prayer still wonders around in the back of my mind and quietly reminds me of the wisdom to know the difference between what I can and can't control or change...

J.

A restored photo of my Dad! Restored by my friend, Gail Buckner Strong, who graduated from Holston High School in 1967.

One of the "not so fun days" during the gulf war, late 1990 or early 1991

Christopher and I in uniform, This photo was taken in the early 1990's

One tired dog....

Dogs sacking out on the bed 10/30/2010

Sophie playing Queen of the mountain at the top of the bonus room steps

The Princess

Things you shouldn't do with a computer.

I wrote this as a Facebook note in Feb 2011 and lots of it is still true.  It deserves a reprint and a few updates.

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ACK! I work with computer all day long and I see people doing A LOT of things with their computer that they wouldn't do in person with ANYONE.

Things you SHOULDN'T do with a computer:

1. answer, click, reply, read an email from someone you don't know.

     Sometimes SPAM has code in the email that will tell the person that sent the SPAM to KNOW you have opened this SPAM even if you DON"T answer the email in question.

2. Incredimail/Rich Text Email might look nice BUT it is a large source of malware on computers. Email was not designed with pretty pictures in mind.  Plain text email is MUCH SAFER.  A plain text email can't run any underlying code on that email.

3. ANY (read that again) ANY post in facebook from ANYONE that claims to allow you to see who is visiting your profile are all BUNK. These type of post are against the Facebook terms of service. DO NOT CLICK ON THEM.

4. Even if you get an email from a long lost friend or son or daughter that is filled with dozens of misspelled words and/or a link that says something like "you look FUUNNY in this f!lm" and you haven't seen your friend, son or daughter in a very long time and there is NO WAY IN HELL they have a film of you, DON'T CLICK ON IT.  I once got an email like this from my daughter that has a Masters Degree and I KNEW there was no WAY it was really from her. She spells better than that on a bad day!

Do NOT pass on any email about a virus that is SO new that you need to contact all on your contact list.  Those email's just make your Internet Service Provider GO NUTS. Trust me on this...Anti-virus companies NEVER contact users by email and encourage you to contact your friends about this new virus. 

REMEMBER!

If you didn't play the lottery in England etc..., there is no way you can WIN the lottery in England etc.....

Someone in Nigeria didn't just pick your name out of the millions of people on the Internet to share millions of dollars with.

If your grandson calls you and he doesn't sound like himself and he claims to be in Spain and has been in a car wreck, make sure you call his parents to check if it is the truth before sending him one thin dime. A couple in SC got taken for $10K by this scam.....

THINGS TO DO:

1. get some kind of anti-virus on your computer and keep it updated (this is very important). Norton and Mcafee BOTH are quite bloated and will slow your computer WAY DOWN and both of those anti-virus program are targets for viruses that disable anti-virus programs. Norton and Mcafee are on most computers that are purchased new.  There are free Anti-virus that can be downloaded from download.com or cnet.com.  I myself use AVG antivirus free edition and or Microsoft Security Essentials on most all of my computers here at the nuthouse. I do believe I have 8 or 9 different computer running around here right at this moment. (To update this, I now use avast anti-virus.  AVG is still a good choice but they have added items to their program that causes your computer to use more bandwidth [it phones home without you knowing about it] It is better than NO Anti-virus at all..I just think Avast is a better program)

2. Go download FIREFOX web browser and USE IT. Or Google Chrome Browser. Both of these browsers are MILES better and safer than Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE).  Be aware you can't uninstall IE and some websites will only allow you to use IE on them.  Because of the way IE is tied to the Operating system, it is tied to system calls using permissions that other browsers can't use.  Many viruses infect Windows computer through security holes in the browser.

3. Go to http://browsercheck.qualys.com and check your browser plug-ins. Be aware, IE version 8.0 won't check good and there isn't a fix for it yet from Microsoft. Yet another reason to use another browser other than IE.  (IE is now up to version 11 and I still don't trust it or like it but 11 is better than IE 8 is.  I now use Google Chrome because it allows me to have the same bookmarks on my phone and computer.  )

This is by no means an exhaustive list. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm preaching. Forgive me.

ANY COMPUTER CAN BE INFECTED WITH A VIRUS, be it Macintosh, Windows, or Linux. Some might be attacked less but all can be infected

*stepping off my soap box*

J.

A friend who will not leave

John 15:12 -14 NKJV: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down ones life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatsoever I command you.

I read this as part of my daily Bible reading. I've read this verse a bunch over the years but this time I was impressed with Jesus being my friend.  That thought made me think about the Son of God being my friend. On a daily basis, day in and day out..... A deep and interesting thought. 

In church this morning, Rev. Beth McConnell, the new pastor at Kathwood Baptist Church read                  1 Corinthians 1:18-25: 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The verses above were to the members of the church at Corinth.  The author was trying to get the whole church to stand on the cross as the foundation for their faith.  Not to rely on their own smarts or their own ways BUT to stand on the foundation of the cross and no matter how smart you are, the foolishness of God is wiser than any smarts man can come up with and that God's weakness is stronger that our human strength.

Something to ponder going forward.

J. 

I love you ANYWAY.

Life is a funny thing. Ever changing, ever morphing from one emotion or situation to another.  Sometimes the changes are quick, sometimes the changes are slow in taking shape and form.

This morning at work we were watching the weather reports and the report that the local power company was doing rolling blackouts across our part of the state with no warning for 15 to 30 minutes at a time.  Suddenly shutting down an enterprise mainframe computer isn't an easy thing to deal with and will make grown men want to pull what little hair they have OUT.  We were also trying to figure out why we had a sudden power outage in two areas of the state before we saw the news report about the rolling blackouts.

My cell phone rang. It was my wife, Randi. She had a need to vent about a private matter that didn't concern me but I was happy to listen to her and to offer her my support.  After I listened to my wife, we got off the phone.  About 20 minutes after we got off the phone I sent her a text message saying "I love you anyway"

We have been married just short of 14 years. I can't fix the rest of the world but I can offer my love on an unconditional basis, which is what "I Love you anyway" means....no matter what else is happening and no matter what life is throwing at you, I still love you.....

It wasn't a great day for either of us but we still have each other. I'm pretty happy about that.

J.

Giving Back

Today my status on Facebook says:
"Ok folks, I've went and done it this time. I've offered to play guitar at my favorite bistro, Garden Bistro next Tuesday (12/24/13).. The staff there has always been good to me and I decided to give back to them for the kindness they have shown me in the recent past. PRAY for me!"

I admit, I've played guitar since age 11. I, at one point, wrote music and sang in Washington Pike Baptist Church with a guy named Mark (who's last name escapes me at the moment). It isn't like I haven't played in public in front of *gasp* PEOPLE...however, I'm not 17 anymore. I'm 51 and fear is a force in my life.  Having IBS will make you fear the strangest things.  

In one way, in my mind, I wanted to stand outside the crowd but in another way, I had this whole Walter Mitty thing going on in my head.  There just wasn't tons of good examples of setting out on your own and doing your own thing in my life as a kid.  There was fear to spare. Fear of being laughed at or fear of falling on my face in front of God and everyone and the shame those things will make you feel when you haven't developed the sense of self or self worth of your own abilities at a young age.  There are times you have to break a hell of a lot of eggs to make a perfect boiled egg and when you are young you just have no feeling for how many time you have to fail to REALLY get it right.  

While I sit here and write this, my mind is going about 4 or 5 different directions.  I guess the biggest thing in my mind is this: How do I break out of my comfort zone and HAVE FUN.  I'm a bit too serious and life should be serious...SERIOUSLY FUN and I still haven't figured out how to pull that off on a daily basis.  I seem to thrive talking one on one to a person but I'm a stiff old white guy when I'm in a group of people!  Haven't I played that roll long enough? YES! 100% YES.  Kind of reminds me of The Geezinslaws Help, I'm white and I can't get down . and I can't jump either.....Sad, isn't it.....

My friend Robert Oswalt (no relation to Lee Harvey at all....) seems to be the FUN in being SERIOUSLY FUN. I see Robert once or twice a week at church and no matter what, that guy always has a smile and if he looks a bit goofy, that is OK too....nothing seems to ruffle his feathers much at all.  We swap a laugh or two on Facebook and when he post something 99 times out of 100 it is a zinger of a laugh.  To do Robert justice, he can be serious in a serious way if the situation needs that, however, he slips back to his fun self with great ease and is more comfortable in his own skin than anyone I know.  I am grateful to have him as my friend and brother in Christ.

To get to the point of all this writing. I suggested doing this out of my own mouth while talking to the owner of Garden Bistro.  It was almost a joke with a push of seriousness behind it.  I ask Mike, "When are you all open next week?" and the answer was Monday and Tuesday.  I am working Monday but Tuesday I'm free and Randi is working half a day.  The staff at the Bistro know me by name and always treat me right.  When I order my food, they always know how I like it even if I don't order it the correct way...(Thanks Becky! ). I ask all the staff..."Where do you go to get away from work? I come here for lunch and you guys WORK here.." at that point I decided I could give some back, beyond a tip or a Christmas card.  I wanted to give those fine people something special....ergo...I wanted to play for them. They are my friends and I admire the work Mike and the staff do on a daily basis. They are food artist and sell a quality product in a quick manner with a friendly staff.  

How will it all turn out?  Only the good Lord knows but I seriously want to have a great deal of fun, mistakes, warts and all.  

J.