Because I’m Full of Myself and You Should Also Come to the Next HYPF Meeting on March 29th I Think We’re Having Nachos

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Well, That’s Just Not Pleasant, Is It?

I know that there’s a war going on. I hear the constant political bickering. I feel the weight of the rising gas prices. I, too, wonder about our future in light of rogue nations and their nuclear armament. So many, many problems.

However – this video has got to be up near the top of the list of human atrocities.

My sweet Lord, make it stop!

I know a lot of things differ according to a person’s taste but that song/video is objectively bad. You know it is, Sir Paul… and you were supposed to be the last Beatle with talent.

If you think that song is terrible nod your head.

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Hallelujah!

Thanks, Kitt.

What’s your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God’s grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 82% Emergent/Postmodern 68% Neo orthodox 57% Reformed Evangelical 46% Fundamentalist 39% Classical Liberal 36% Charismatic/Pentecostal 32% Roman Catholic 21% Modern Liberal 14%

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Beware the Ides of March

Because… it’s, like, the ides of March… now… today.

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Can’t Get It Out of My Head

Last week, my good friend Aaron Svenby told me about a worship band from a church in California known as Bethel Church that was quite fantastic. I didn’t get a chance to check it out right then but a couple of days later Neil Miller showed me the following video on YouTube and it turned out to be the same group.

I can’t get over how good the song and how much I love it. I really do. And just to show how great I think the song is, the first three people who comment that they want it, I’ll gift them the song from iTunes. I like it that much.

Man.

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For Pete’s Sake

I’m sitting here on a couch next to my long-lost friend Pete. You see, Pete and I lived on the same floor in college (actually, I lived on the same floor for four years and Pete just lived there for only one year. Traitor.). There was a special bond that grew during that year, one that couldn’t be broken by time or distance though that’s exactly what we faced.

Let me tell you a little about dear Pete. He’s 27 28, he’s married to a lovely lady named Marie and has two kids, Chandler and Addy. They live in Tulsa. Which is not near Houston.

Pete’s real name is Realto. Reall(t)y.

I haven’t seen Pete in two years.

Pete looks exactly the same as he did two years ago.

Pete asked me to play guitar at his wedding two years ago. That was the last time I saw him. Another guitarist and I practiced for the wedding but at the last minute he backed out. So I found my friend Charles Hofer to save the day. We met and rehearsed the morning of the wedding and I think Pete and Marie were pleased with how it turned out. I don’t think I ever told Pete that story. Sorry, buddy.

Pete is diehard OU fan though he really studied at and graduated from ORU (Traitor).

Pete is deathly afraid of/vehemently hates cashews.

Pete is here in Houston for work. Or so he claims.

The Houston Rockets have now won 19 games in a row.

OU’s basketball team haven’t won 19 games in a row.

Pete once tried to teach me how to drive a car with manual transmission.

I promised Pete that during my time at ORU I would attend at least one ORU sporting event.

I ultimately broke that promise.

Pete, our floor chaplain, Jon and I would occasionally have a night during a semester where we’d spend the night in someone’s room and talk and laugh and do other manly things. We may or may not have called it a “sleep-over.”

I once hid cashews on Pete’s pillow before he went to bed. He didn’t like that.

I don’t remember what he did in return but I somewhat remember a ton of papers scattered all over my room.

I may have then spread shaving cream all over his room.

All that to say, I’ve missed Pete and it’s good to see him again. It’s midnight but he’s hungry so we’re going out to eat.

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17

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Neighborhood Watch

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Last night, as I drove home from work, I realized that I was ignoring the teaching of Christ to love my neighbor. And, of course, he didn’t say, “Love your neighbor if/when…” So what’s my problem?

At FedEx, there’s a whole system in place in getting packages sorted for the night – one of which is handling and properly documenting dangerous goods and hazardous materials shipments. Another guy at the station and I are responsible for that. We both attended the same week-long training class for it a couple of weeks ago. I know we learned the same stuff because I sat right next to him all week and listened to the same instructor. But since we’ve been back from class he’s been strangely absent from his new duties. He struggled a bit in class. Granted, there’s a lot to take in. And he’s self-admittedly not computer-literate which doesn’t help his confidence in that area. I did pretty well in the class. I’m not that far out of school so maybe my mind is still stuck in learning mode. In any case, I’ve been having to do the bulk of the work each night while he comes around near the end of the night, when his help isn’t really necessary. Our manager believes he’s probably been ducking out of some of his responsibilities. Not fun for me.

The same thing happened last night, except that we had a larger number of packages to inspect and less time to do it. Again, he didn’t appear until late and even then his help was limited by what he remembered from class and from his confidence (or lack thereof). I was a bit frustrated with the evening. Everything got done, but it was rushed, a bit chaotic. I left that evening thinking that this guy isn’t doing his job or even his fair share. It’s not that he’s lazy and doesn’t want to do it, I think he’s nervous about it and, therefore, runs from it. I think I was frustrated that even though he wasn’t confident he hasn’t taken it upon himself to learn and catch up and make sure that he eventually knows this stuff. I wondered what he would do if one day I wasn’t able to make it to work and he was on his own. Part of me was tempted to call in sick one of these days and then send a ton of Dangerous Goods shipments so he’d have to face it the hard way. I’m terrible, I know. As I drove home from work, I realized that I was ignoring the teaching of Christ. “Love your neighbor when…” “Love your neighbor if…”

I’ve decided that I was being stupid (after spending a lot of time telling myself that I was right) and have since decided to do everything I can to make sure I help this guy learn how to do this part of his job well. I can tell myself that it isn’t really my job to teach him this stuff again and that he’s on his own, but I believe it is my job to love my neighbor. If I were in his shoes I’d be scared to death of doing something I wasn’t completely confident about and then worry about having to shoulder any responsibility that came with it. I’d love it if someone took the time to help me out when I needed it. I believe it’s what Jesus would do and He’s who I’m shooting to be like so why do I bother considering anything else?

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