Relocating!

Hey Katherine, Mrs. Jerri & Mike & other readers...

I'm relocating my blog to www.nccoc.org/blog/murray 

It's officially attached to our church's webpage, and a bit more attractive, easier to manage comments, since I get so many you know.  :)    

THANK YOU all for reading, and I hope you'll still read it in it's new location.  

Thanks for the memories...

Murray

I am a way, a truth, a life

Nah, I don't think so!

Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, is the only way we can access the one true God.  He is THE Way, THE Truth, THE Life.  

Somewhere along the way, that truth has gotten fuzzy for a lot of people, even well-meaning life long believers.  All in the name of tolerance!  

I ranted and raved a few months ago about one of our favorite children's video characters, Boz the Bear.  www.bozthebear.com  We still like him a lot and buy their stuff.  But he rarely mentions Jesus.  He talks about morality a lot and good behavior, but he doesn't reference Jesus' teachings.  And they are marketed mainly through Christian bookstores.  

I think we Christians need to launch a new campaign about Jesus...getting people back to him, and He will show them the Father.  

These are random unfocused thoughts, so I'm sorry about that.  But have you heard people end prayers with "in your name we pray, Amen."  And they began the prayer with, "Dear God".  Now I know what they mean, and I'm good with that.  You hear that a lot in Christian churches even.  But my B'hai friends pray to God in God's name, and so do muslims.  What's unique about Christianity is the fact that we pray to GOD in JESUS' name, not any other name, not even God's name himself.  

My point, let's start standing up for Jesus.  He stood up for us.  And let's take opportunity when we hear people talking about "ways to get to Heaven".  

Other forms of transportation

I rode my bike to work today!  Take THAT all of you wealthy oil company executives, George W. Bush, and most of Saudi Arabia!  How does THAT feel?  We're learning to live without you and your silly oil.

Ok, I exaggerate, but you get my point.  We live 8.4 miles north of the church building in Carmel.  We are close to the Monon, so I hopped on just below where the Monon ends at 146th. UNfortunately there are 2 construction detours right now on the trail, which added significant time/a couple of miles to my commute.  

I'm no Lance Armstrong, mind you.  Man, my seat is not comfortable at all!  And I couldn't stop for coffee, because how could I hold it?  But the weather was perfect this morning, sunny and cool...absolutely beautiful.  And the Monon trail is really beautiful...lots of trees are in bloom.  It was a great alternative to driving, except that it took me 50 minutes instead of 15 minutes, and now, unlike the blooming trees,  I smell awful and we have NO showers here at the building.  

All in all, it was a great start to my day.  

Speaking of other forms of transportation, I just got a bid from a local fireman who does off duty handman work.  He gave me a bid to repair the neighbor's chain link fence which was damaged by one of our huge hackberry trees that was downed in the May 30th storm.  What was he driving?  A 1989 shiny red Porche Carrera.  

Do not covet.  Do not envy.  Do not covet.  Oh, forget it.  

He said he was preparing to sell it to upgrade to a newer, bigger model.  I'm thinking, man, I should have been a fireman with a job on the side!  ;)  I said I would buy it if he would take $500 for it.  :)   He said the going price was $20,000....

"This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through, my treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue..."  

I'm back!

Man, I am in serious neglect of blog world.  My two little ones just keep me too busy.  But here's some very disconnected random thoughts for you.

Ok, Hillary, enough.  Enough of both of you guys already.  Thanks for playing.  

I'm enjoying my $25 free gift card from Starbucks just for signing up for the Duetto Visa card.  I will cancel the card shortly, and be much more awake because of their generosity.  

Dunkin Donuts, a paltry shout out to you for having a drive through in Carmel, and thank you for letting me have 1 large coffee free today.  

God, what an amazing show of your power last Friday night here in Indy via the tornado & storms.  You didn't intentionally cause harm, nor did you sweep down & prevent it.  You just created an incredible world with an atmosphere and biosphere that we can hardly comprehend.  Help us to praise you on the sunny days and the stormy days.   Help us to do what we can to relieve the suffering of our fellow humankind.  See www.nccoc.org for more information.  To whom much has been given, much will be rightly expected.  

I love the new worship group "Fee".  Check them out on Itunes.  

I also just downloaded Watershed Worship's album, I Know You Love Me.  It came highly recommended to me by my worship leader buddy Terry W in Franklin, IN.  I'm excited to hear their arrangements.  

If I could just get this in my head!

Jesus said,

"Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and
with all your soul and
with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.

And the second is like it:
Love your neighbor as yourself.

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

New for 2008

Love this from Psalm 70 today...may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be exalted!"

Our small group is taking a stand against complaining this week, based on the book we're studying called "Anxious for Nothing" by John McArthur. It's amazing once you say "I'm not going to complain anymore" what happens...I believe our permanently-defeated enemy enjoys the fight and starts creating new potential reasons for complaining. he (no capital letter for the enemy) is the father of lies and also the father of complaining/whining. The Holy Spirit of course timed that study perfectly for me, as I had slipped into a nasty cycle of whining about health insurance and financial issues. It's such an egregious thing to whine & complain in the face of such abundant blessing. (See former Israelite complainers dead on the sand.)

Psalm 70 tells me to be glad in the Lord, and to always exalt Him. So I think the oft-learned rule takes over...instead of concentrating on not complaining, I'm going to focus on thanking and exalting God.


On a lighter note, turns out, I'm really good at Guitar Hero. ;) It's so much fun, but I think I know why God has me leading worship in an a cappella setting!

Where I would be (besides Indy) if I could be anywhere else right now: DETROIT! why, you say? www.naias.com

December 2007

Thanksgiving was great, thanks for the visit Dad & M. We had snow flurries on T'giving Day!

Trip to Montana for the Winter Rendezvous Retreat was incredible. I love snowmobiling!

Time in Dallas en route to Montana was totally fun. Mom & Mel & Briggs, it was some of our best family times ever.

We've had 12 to 14 inches of snow so far this year, I'm loving it! The ground is still covered in 3 inches of snow from last Sunday morning's snowfall. Even though it warms up above freezing, the snow still hangs on.

"Clash of the Choirs" - ok, I love this show. I don't care, I overlook all of its awkwardness and apparent staged sentimentality. I just love large groups singing great songs (I've got friends in love places was the show's low so far...) If it comes to Indy, and it should with Sandi Patty directing, then I'm auditioning...

www.gofishguys.com Check out their Christmas release, Snow. The song "It's about the Cross" will not leave my head, I love it! Props to Lee Ann who has put together an incredible video for our Christmas Eve Service.

Eli & Faith continue to be the highlight of every day. They are so precious. Eli is sleeping through the night much better (sounds of his crying emerge as I type that sentence, literally...it's midnight)

Faithy is so funny, we taught her to say "I'm sorry, Kimmie" a few days ago when she did something to Aunt Kimmie, and now she thinks "Kimmie" is part of what you say when you apologize. So when we tell her to apologize to Eli, it's "I'm sawee Kimmie". Ok, I guess you have to be here to appreciate how cute & funny it is.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Life is good, because God is good.