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Archive for August, 2004
Good Quote from Alice Cooper
Aug 26th
Rocker Alice Cooper comments on the rock stars who are campaigning against President Bush:
“If you’re listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you’re a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we’re morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal.”
“Besides,” he continued, “when I read the list of people who are supporting Kerry, if I wasn’t already a Bush supporter, I would have immediately switched. Linda Ronstadt? Don Henley? Geez, that’s a good reason right there to vote for Bush.”
You can read the full article here.
My Favorite Olympic Moment
Aug 24th
My favorite moment in the 2004 Olympics was when Deena Kastor won the Bronze Medal in the Women’s Marathon. It is the first medal in 20 years for the USA in the Women’s Marathon. No one gave Deena a chance, but she ran a smart race and moved from eighth to third in the last few miles (if the race had been one mile longer, she may have captured second place). Over the last 200+ yards of the race, her family and friends were jumping up and down in the stands and cheering her on, and Deena was crying her eyes out. It was such a great moment.
Third Day at RNC
Aug 23rd
Third Day will be performing at the Republican National Convention! This is great news! Michael W. Smith and Jaci Velasquez will also be there. I will have to find out when Third Day will be on stage. Perhaps I can catch them on C-SPAN.
On a related note — it is hard to believe that President Bush is holding his own against Kerry in the polls. It may just be the liberal-slant of the mainstream media, but it seems like the entire world is against W.
Andy Stanley on Church Leadership
Aug 18th
This is excellent. Any comments?
“Speaking from my limited view I feel like so much of the problem with pastors is they are just scared to death. They’re scared of their people, they’re scared of deacons, they’re scared, they’re scared, they’re scared. You know if you’re scared of someone you can’t lead them; you can hardly even influence them. Here’s the pastor who’s been hired — I tell our business guys all the time, “You’d never go to work for an organization where the customers can hire and fire the president of the company they bought products from.” But that’s the church world. The people hire the leader and say, “We’ll follow you unless we don’t like the way you’re leading us, then we’ll get us another leader.” What other organization can the clients and the customers hire and fire the leader? So the church is set up upside-down. It’s an environment that is not conducive to leadership in some ways. Consequently to lead a church you just have to have a lot of courage because the group to which you’re saying “follow me” can get together after you leave and fire you. Well, that’s just the way it is. That’s not going to change but it requires a lot of courage — otherwise we start bending toward the people that hired us and we’re in trouble.
The irony is we stand up and talk about Daniel in the lion’s den but then we won’t even confront elders. All of these bible heroes — David and Goliath — and we love to preach those sermons and draw these parallels and then we’re scared to confront people. I think that dynamic alone is a big part of why the church is where it is. The leadership — or lack of leadership — is just so much fear of people. I don’t know where that comes from…
When I see pastors who are scared I want to tell them, “Just lead. If they fire you and you don’t think God will take care of you, then you have no message for your people anyway, because we get up every Sunday and say God’s grace is sufficient. He’s going to take care of you, He’ll meet your every needs and you’ll never see the righteous go hungry.” It’s what we preach but if our lack of faith in those practical things causes us to not to be able to lead then what’s our message anyway?”
Yummy French Toast!
Aug 14th
The French Toast turned out great! This recipe keeps it from getting soggy and mushy in the middle. It is truly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The recipe makes enough custard for about 6-8 good-sized pieces of bread, so adjust it if you need to make more.
An Important Victory
Aug 13th
Here’s a story that will make you feel good about what we accomplished in Iraq:
Any comments?
French Toast Anyone?
Aug 13th
I enjoy cooking (I don’t know what that says about my masculinity) and I saw this great recipe for French Toast (I prefer Freedom Toast) on the Food Network. It was on the show “Good Eats with Alton Brown. I’m going to try it out tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
French Toast
1 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
4 tablespoons butter
In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.
Two Americas?
Aug 8th
The Johns (Kerry/Edwards) are always talking about “Two Americas.” I like Laura Ingraham’s take on it…..
“The Johns are right in one sense about there being “two Americas.” But the important division isn’t rich versus poor–it’s about the elites like Kerry and Edwards versus regular Americans who believe that people–not government–create jobs and wealth; that the people–not judges–should decide fundamental questions that effect our country’s future; that innocent life must be protected. There also is one America where men constantly crow about their own heroic acts and one where real heroes conduct themselves with humility and modesty.”
Great Words from Rubel Shelly
Aug 2nd
Rubel’s “Fax of Life” was excellent today. In case you don’t receive his weekly e-mail column, I’ve included it below. Any comments?
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Subject: Letting the Wrong People Drive
Date: For the Week of August 2, 2004
The New Orleans Times-Picayune carried a story last month about a mother and daughter who went shopping. The girl is twelve, and the mother is — let’s just put it this way — old enough to know better.
As the pair headed for the family car in the small Louisiana town of Slidell that Tuesday, the girl said she wanted to drive home. The adult made a good decision to refuse the child’s inappropriate request. Then she made a very bad one by offering to let her drive around the mall parking lot.
So the twelve-year-old got behind the wheel, backed out of the parking space without a problem, and drove onto the town’s busiest street. “No! No! No!,” yelled the mother. “I wanted you to stay in the parking lot!” The girl went to hit the brakes — and slammed her foot onto the accelerator instead. The car jumped a curb, landed back in the mall parking lot, and crashed into two cars.
What comes to mind when you hear about something such as that? Legal liability? The good fortune that nobody was killed? How immature twelve-year- olds are? How irresponsible parents can be? All those things come to mind with me too. But it also seems to be something of a parable for our time.
We are letting the wrong people drive when children dictate family life to the adults God put there to nurture them. I’m frightened when I see how many parents seem to be intimidated by their kids these days. Give me what I want at Wal-Mart or I’ll pitch a tantrum. Let me wear what Britney Spears wears or I’ll pout and say you’re mean. On and on it goes. Immature children don’t need parents who are their buddies but who can be their role models and teachers.
We let the wrong people drive when performers and athletes or business persons and politicians put profit above principle, behave in immoral and uncouth ways, or generally corrupt our culture — and we tolerate it. We keep supporting and glorifying them. We close our eyes and let them steer us into trouble.
We are letting the wrong people drive when a denomination’s leaders point it away from Scripture to deny Christ’s bodily resurrection, ordain homosexuals, or otherwise abandon orthodoxy. Does anybody take a Bible to church anymore?
“That wasn’t the brightest thing to do,” said a police officer at the scene of the car wreck. “But at least they were wearing their seat belts.” Against the utter absurdity of what happened, that seems small comfort!
Perhaps we need to pay more attention to who is getting behind the wheel.
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For back issues and other resources please visit www.RubelShelly.com
—- The FAX of Life is a free weekly service from Rubel Shelly and the Family of God at Woodmont Hills.
Jeff Slater
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