Chris's Musings

I have had this verse (title, please) circling in my head on my way back from Toastmasters today... you know, the one about God giving us the words to say when we are asked to present our testimony.  While not on trial, I felt that He was doing that through me today and I've been meditating on that since I left the meeting. Today, I had my first official meeting role as the "ah counter" - meaning that I count all of the verbal filler words that people use in their speeches.  I tried to have some fun with that.  For anyone that hasn't been to a Toastmasters meeting before, one of the items on the meeting is "Table Topics" where three volunteers are taken to give a 1 to 2 minute impromptu speech about something that the "table topics master" provides.  I am really working to become a great speaker so I usually volunteer for these things early, but because I had the "ah counter" role today, I didn't immediately throw my hand up.  But, no...

As we all know, in places all over the State of Pennsylvania today, Democratic voters are making their voices heard as they choose between their two candidates today:  Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barak Obama.... Or as I'd like to call it, Round 15 of an ugly (but entertaining) heavyweight (in terms of dollars raised, not necessarily in terms of character) bout.  If the votes are being tallied in Philly, then let's cue the Rocky movie theme music.... bam, bam, bambam bam, bam bam bambam, bam, bam... On this corner, hailing from New York... but not really from New York (where is she from, really?)... the wife of former President Bill Clinton, who is actually a liability to her campaign rather than an asset (go figure that out).  The woman who knows more polls than CBS News or USA Today, who's got more faces than the State of Texas, who's got more positions on Iraq than even John Kerry...  who WILL socialize health care in America if she had the chance... the esteemed (or n...

I have a lot of things that I could blog about, but perhaps the most valuable thing I can bring to the online community would be a recommendation of the book that I am currently reading. Jeff Jackson, who is in my mentoring group at Buckhead Church, recommended this book during one of our discussions, and at a whim I picked it up from the resource room one Sunday after church and have been slowly getting through it.  I spent a lot of airplane time between Atlanta and Austin reading and have really gotten a lot out of it.  In fact, I will probably redo this book in an accountability or small group setting to really internalize what I am reading.  It is really good stuff.   The 4:8 Principle is a book by Tommy Newberry, who is a life coach and runs a practice for teaching success principles to folks wanting to succeed in business and in life.  It is based on Paul's exhortation to the Phillipian church where he says: Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is r...

I'm watching Hannity and Colmes right now, and they are recapping the Pennsylvania Democratic presidential debate from last night. And as has been an occurrence that has happened quite a bit lately in this campaign, another shocking revelation about Saint Barak has come out. Like his association with Jeremiah Wright, this one was shocking and character-revealing... except this one is a little more disturbing!!! A question was asked about his association with Bill Ayers, a 60's radical who admitted to bombing the Pentagon, NYC police department, and some other government buildings; and very soon after 9/11 unrepentantly said that he thinks that they didn't do enough (bombings, that is). Apparently , it is documentable that Barak and him were "on friendly relations" - meaning that B.O. and B.A. have served on boards together, collaborated on speeches together, etc. I don't know about you, but would you associate with a man like this, as a citizen, much...

I saw a couple of blog post; either with quotes or oddities of life that could not be explained... so I thought I would contribute my own. No order here, of course... just some thoughts on my own paradoxes.... On Dining Out and Restaurants 1.) Ever notice that McDonald's, despite: having an executive chef preparing new innovative menu items all of the time, arguably the best gourmet salad options available for a fast food restaurant, and numerous commercials communicating healthy/active lifestyles to kids... They continue to get lambasted by the media and by experts for contributing to the epidemic of childhood obesity and the decline of health in America;  When on the contrary, Burger King (and Jack-n-the-Box and Hardees, etc.) continues to exclusively sell and market artery clogging crap with their creepy plastic (and now robotic) "king" character and "meat, and cheese, and meat, and cheese" (does this come with an angioplasty?)  - and no one says anything? 2....

Some of my past weekend plans were shot. I was looking forward to getting out to Piedmont Park again and playing softball and hanging out with my teammates, but to the contrary the rain forced us all inside. So, instead a cooked myself a buffalo chicken omelet (which I was going to do anyways), spent some time with God (ditto), and watched a movie. You can make fun of me now, but the movie that was in my DVD player that I watched was "When Harry Met Sally." It's amusing, especially the dynamics between Meg Ryan (Sally) and Billy Crystal (Harry) and their mutual oddities. One conversation that I recall went like this (the Casablanca phone call)... Sally: "So what kind am I?" Harry: "You're the worst kind. You think that you're low maintenance, but you're actually high maintenance. 'Waiter, I'll have the salad with the balsamic vinigarette, but I'll have the vinagarette on the side.' 'On the side' is a big thing fo...

I suppose that, if you read, what the whole Frosted Flakes post was all about. Given that the rain has cancelled my softball game today :) and I'm in a contemplative mood, I'm obliged to blog on this... I was reading in my quiet time the other day (again, in Matthew tracking a few posts ago) about this dialogue that Jesus had with the Pharasses about "hand washing." Apparantely, there was a ceremonial "washing" that was part of the Jewish ritual at the time that required your hands to be washed in a certain way before you ate a meal, and Jesus and his posse wasn't doing this to their specifications (Matt 15:2). Then Jesus calls them out - telling them about another, very dispicable, tradition that they had started up... in a way creating a hedge fund for themselves in the name of God that would give them a loophole in their obligation to take care of their parents if they were to become needy (Matt 15:3-7). Then he gives this short parable that c...

Last Sunday, Andy completed his series on "I want to be great!" at Buckhead Church - where he talked about how Jesus defined greatness and the difference between "being great" and that being a choice and what we consider great as "being great at something." The series was... well, great! Being great in the Kingdom of God is being a servant... and it's true that the people that we identify as truly being great people are the ones that help us when we're down, who inspire us, who live beyond themselves. That's what I hope to be... especially thinking about what I want to accomplish for this next year of my life. Today... speaking of birthday gifts, the video that they showed before the talk was posted on the Buckhead Church blog... I was in it :-)... as well as some really cool friends of mine. Enjoy :-)

Last night, I took a couple of co workers (I'm in a training class in town) that aren't "from around here" (Atlanta) into town to experience the city and something unique about Atlanta. We opted for Mary Macs Tea Room, about as authentically Southern as you can get :) and an Atlanta landmark. Mary Macs is one of my favorite spots in town... and having added the Fried Green Tomatoes to the sweet potato souflee as my favorite "vegetables," this evening's journey was a success. Mary Macs has had a soft spot in my heart because she (I can personify a restaurant as a woman) has helped me through at least a couple of tough relational moments and has always delivered... either in the terms of the atmosphere warming up conversation or the famous "backscratcher" lady coming and making my day. It is now also a favorite of my parents when they come into town too... it's got an "old time feel" to it. My colleagues, I believe, loved it too...

I've had this idea churning in my head for a while but have had no time to blog on it... But in the meantime, I'm curious, so for April Fools I'd pose a question instead of a pontification. If you were a product on the shelf at your local Publix (or Safeway, or HEB), what would you be? What would the box (bag, cannister, whatever) artwork look like? Would a cartoon character be involved :-)? What would the stuff inside the box, etc. be? More to come... looking forward to your comments...