Chris's Musings

I've had this blog in my head for nearly a week now... time hasn't permitted me much time to write lately, but this is an experience that the Internet viewing public needs to hear ;-) On Monday, finishing up on my first exam at boot camp, several (12) of us decided to do a good lunch out to celebrate the milestone, socialize, and to relax.  When O'Charleys was brought up, vision of hot buttered rolls danced in our heads and two carfulls of people trucked it over to the restaurant in Conyers , GA (off of Exit 82 on I-20) for lunch.  Our table arrived at the restaurant first and I believe ordered first.. our second carfull (and table) arrived a few minutes later and ordered as well.   My table of battle-tested professionals were talking, sharing stories, and laughing... in the meantime, the other table I started to notice was doing the same, except with food.  Given that we had a deadline to get back to the office for the afternoon's classes, I checked my watch and no...

Hilarious. Very sarcastic. Didn't think I'd like it at first but laughed my way almost through it all. Good times.

Given the historic- ness of today, it would probably be inappropriate to not mention Barak Obama's inauguration on my blog, huh?   First of all, thank you to President Bush for finishing the race and leading us over the last 8 years.  While many in America did not agree with your decisions, they could never question your heart.  I wish you the best as you pass the mantle to your successor today.   Second of all, to the new steward of the office, congratulations on finishing a long and hard-fought campaign.  The office you are about to receive from the American people and from God almighty is one that carries a huge amount of responsibility and accountability, and we are trusting that you're ready today for the job.  I'm praying for you... that you seek wisdom's call, remember who you serve, and wish you success.  The economy has given you a big challenge as you take office and I know that everyone is looking to you for leadership today.  I trust that you are leading...

I'm sitting here at home waiting for my small group to arrive as we continue through the "Balanced" series (part 2) that we've been moving through at Buckhead Church, watching the drama of the inauguration , and reading up on some materials for work on Tuesday.  In that process, a couple of things hit me: 1.) Obviously, when you hear the word "stewardship" in a church/Christian setting most people automatically assume that you're talking about tithing, giving to the church, etc.... but it's not really what the word means.  It really is a realization that while you possess talents, money, time, career, etc. that you aren't the owner of those things.  Instead, they are, on loan from God.  Wouldn't it make sense that if we truly grasped that, the way we used the stuff, time, etc. we had would change... or would it stay the same?  As I was looking through my spending for this week, I imagine that I'd make a few adjustments... like fewer ...

If you've been tracking along here, I share my musings from time to time on my quiet time and what is coming off the page to me... and I've of course been tracking through 1 Kings for the last few weeks (forgive me if my thoughts jump around here a bit) Before I say anything, it seems that I have had multiple conversations now or have seen/read in a bunch of places about how people think America is (insert your negative adjective) -or- on the backside of it's prime as a moral force for good.  It seems that we can't say much good about our culture, and while I'm not defending our shortcomings I do believe that a lot of this negativity is unwarranted.  What's gotten to me is how a lot of these comments about "sin" or "wickedness" in our culture seems to be very hostile, especially toward the groups that are being talked about.   Now... I haven't written much about 1 Kings lately because to be honest there hasn't been much in my micro-Bi...

You won't believe what I saw on FoxNews  when I was at the gym today working out?  You know now that I've become (at least on this blog) a pundit of ridiculous government bailout stories, but this one takes the cake: The PORN industry has gone to Washington asking for a bailout!  Seriously.  I couldn't believe it at first either: http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/01/08/flynt_porn_bailout.html (in case you need proof for yourself) Okay, let's assume that these guys are actually serious... my question is:  So what?   I can see it now...  the economic disaster of thousands of strippers on the street having to work for a living...  the national debacle of not having nude bodies in magazines to lust over... the horror of men not having access to material to visually cheat on their wives... the devastation of being deprived of sexually-explicit reading material at the bookstores!  This is a CRISIS people!    Okay, seriously.  This is one of those indus...

Can I tell you that I'm now hooked on The Biggest Loser?  I watched the season premiere last night and was completely inspired, and saddened, by the stories and the motivation of the competitors on this year's show.  The drama and sacrifice during and after the ending weigh-in was riveting.   What was neat, and inspiring, was that a lot of these folks have probably never picked up a weight in a life or perhaps ever step foot in a gym... and for the first time they follow everything that Bob & Jillian says and lose 11, 12, 25, and even 30 pounds in a SINGLE WEEK!   For someone with less aspirational weight loss goals this new year, I'm thinking... How do you do that?   The first answer is, you work your tail off and spend about 10 hours a day in the gym (which I'm sure they did). However, the second answer is... you have to be motivated, I mean really motivated, to go from complete couch potato to the Michael Phelps workout program in one week.  Whe...

As most of us that follow college football know, Thursday is the day of the "official" BCS Championship game... determined by polls, computers, and pontificators alike.  And as in every season since the "championship game" has been in place, two teams that may or may not be the real champion are playing for that Mythical National Championship (MNC) trophy. To put this in perspective, imagine if our political system still played out like this, and the party bosses and "smoke-filled rooms" picked candidates as they did back in the early days of our country's politics:   Most likely, we would have been picking between Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton Sarah Palin would still only be known to her fans in Alaska... do you think Mitt (or Guiliani, the other "party boss" favorite) would have risked to pick her? I'm sure we'd all still be disallusioned (Well, that goes without saying... :) ) Not at all what we picked... or would have picked. Bu...

I saw this posted on another blog I read... thought it was hilarious.   And yes, I do think that commercial is annoying...  Look what happens in the 21st century when you put out stupid advertising ;-)

2009 is here! 2009 is here! 2009 is here! Okay, if it isn't so obvious, I'm happy that it's a new year!  I'm looking forward to what this new year will bring.  I'm awaiting a friend to get to my place to head to a Sugar Bowl watching, so my "year in review" will be put on hold for now but I figured I should start working my accountability angle for my resolutions with a quick blog. 1.) Lose the holiday weight and keep it off.  My quantified goal is to lose 15 pounds by Memorial Day. 2.) I started budgeting from a spreadsheet this last year, and my goal is to continue creating margin and to maintain a habit of itemizing my spending through all of 2009. 3.) Read at least 3 marketing books this year and 3-4 growth-oriented (professional/personal/etc.) books.  4.) Get involved in student ministry in some way (college or high school).  This has always been on my heart but the doors have not opened... I am resolving to pray for open doors and to watch for what G...