My least favorite book of the Bible...can I say that?

I have always had a hard time with Revelations. What is it that I don't care for? Is it the prophecy bit? Not so much. Although I don't get chills when I read it, I do like the forthtelling bits.

Is it that everybody and their brother has a television show about prophesy and are positive that they have the answers? Not really. Though some of them are really weird and fun to make fun of.

I think I know what it is: How it makes people think and react to, well, life.

I was at prayer meeting the other night and I was listening to one of the men talk about religion and politics and he really related it to "End Times" and how mankind(Americans) have sold out morality for what benefits them the most. I turned to the man next to me and said, "Wow, people selling out their beliefs. That is really only been true the last ten years or so..."

He looked at me with a mixed expression that said..."Is he serious and huh?", but he was nodding because he wanted to be nice.

I let him off the hook too quickly. I smiled and told him that I was being sarcastic. I was a bit fired up, but I let it go.

Here is my problem: Prophesy gives us a picture of the future, however, it does so kinda Salvadore Dali-esque. There is a picture, but there is no real perspective, especially time-wise People have thought that the Lord's eminent return was really eminently happening for years now. The church in Acts was fired up for the Savior's return and so have people throughout the ages. I remember hearing a preacher(on tape) when I was in college tell his audience that he believed that the Lord was Returning because the world was becoming more and more wicked. Doesn't 50's wickedness sound good?

Is the world any more wicked now? I don't think so, though I believe that wickedness travels faster so we all know about it quicker. We can probably blame that more on Fox News or the Internet than we can prophesy unfolding. On the other hand, maybe the stage is being set for Christ's Return?

Does it really matter?

It probably should, but it doesn't for me. Here's why. It doesn't change anything for me. My responsibility doesn't change. I am to watch. I am to go. I am to teach. I am to make disciples. I am to remain faithful.

I'm sure some of you can come up with reasons why this is wrong, but guess what? I don't care.

Revelations makes people weird. They read it and they can't get past the Seals and the Horses. I'm not saying this is true of the individual who I was talking to, but usually, the person is immature and drawn to the sensationalism of Revelations. It isn't the basic tenets of Christianity that get them fired up...seeing helicopters, Russia or China or North Korea or Iraq, and nuclear bombs in the Scripture that moves them.

I'm not saying that I am mature because I'm not like that and I'm not really concerned about anyone mixing that up either, because anyone reading this blog knows me and knows that I have lots of maturing to go. I'm just saying that Left Behind is a good story, but even they don't know and that may be one of the more vivid examples of what it would be like.

What we do know is that we are to be humble. And love our neighbor. And help those in need. Pray without ceasing. Take up our cross daily. You get the point...

Spend some time doing the things we know we need to see in the world NOW, not see Scripture through was the world is doing NOW.

Jesus Camp

I have watched this movie twice in the last two days; once through and then with the commentary on. I have to tell you, it was a compelling movie. There are some major themes at work in this movie:

-The conflict between church and state - Specifically W's current reign.
-Fundamental militancy
-How evangelicals are viewed

Since the group in question is Pentecostal, there are a number of times that they speak in tongues and I have to be honest, having not seen anything like that, except in zombie movies, I was freaked out at times.

Pre-Meth and gay scandal Ted Haggart shows up and plays the idiot that he is. I could care less for Haggard, even if he was on the up and up, but here he is at his Evangelical best - combative and arrogant.

There is also some theological hiccups that allow the subjects, children, to say some things that are a little offbase and thus, little kooks. Unfortunately, I think that the majority of the population thinks we are like that too...some of us are, unfortunately. The two major problems center on Believer's ushering in the Kingdom and The Spirit/Worship. Homeschoolers aren't painted in a positive light either.

If you get a chance, watch the flick. It was interesting enough for me to watch twice and I usually won't do that...Star Wars, X-men, and Serenity...and now Jesus Camp.

Here are a few more clips.

Big Boy is Stupid

So, Emma is gone to Grandma's and Amanda and I feel like we can handle one kid and decide to head out to get something to eat. We don't do this very often, especially since money is tight, but we wanted to go out and Big Boy is about as fancy as it gets in this town.

Since it is Friday night, there is an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet going and being the kind of guy that I am, I don't see this as a meal, but more as a challenge. Amanda gets her usually Slim Jim Combo and I hit the buffet. Now keep in mind, I worked at a Big Boy in Petoskey as both a server and a manager, so when I criticize a BB employee, it's not because I am impatient or ignorant(well about the service that is); however, it seems like every time we go in this particular BB, our server is either high on meth or just had a stroke. This time we had a girl with a newly burst blood vessel in her brain... I was good though and didn't say anything, though Amanda kept telling me to "Be Nice!". Apparently I don't have as good of a poker face as I thought.

After plowing through some salad, clam chowder, smelt, shrimp and clam strips, I called it a night and we went home. I wasn't even out of the booth when I realized something wasn't right, but I made it until 2:30 that night before it hit me...

I ended up throwing up ten times. The first five weren't bad, but the next five were enough to crack a few ribs and make me cry out for my mommy. Needless to say, we won't be eating at BB for awhile, if ever again.

Finding a Home

I don't know why we started talking about this, but we are seriously looking for a new home. Truthfully, I have just got this one where I want it to be, especially the garage and backyard. I even planted some hostias and tigerlilies back there this evening(thanks Steph). So, if it is finally getting "there" why would we want to get rid of it? Well, that is a good question. "Because Amanda wants to" would be my main answer. Mine would be, it is nice, but it really doesn't meet our needs and doesn't fit what we want.

We got the house originally because it was cheap and we were sick of sleeping at my in-laws. Thankfully, we will be about to turn a decent profit on the house and have little to no other debt to tie us up in getting a new one. Now, we aren't looking to "move up" like the Jeffersons, but we want an investment that we can continue to improve on. I still have a lot to do on this house, but that is getting it up to spec and it really doesn't adds value to the house. With all that said, we should walk away with $10-20 thousand, depending on the market and what we are willing to settle on. I'm happy with that considering we know at least 5 of our family/friends that pay dual house payments and it is killing them financially.

On a side note, Phil and I decided to by ten acres and start a gated community where all our friends can live communally and build equity with some help from each other. So far, besides the housing, we have a pool and chapel planned for the "Community of Ravenspur". Anyone want to help us make a down payment?

Amanda and I started a little Pro/Con list for what we want in a house and why we want to get out of this house:

*Cons(For this house):
-Not fond of the neighborhood. Not that we think that drug dealers, prostitutes, and sex offenders are horrible neighbors, but we have them all in a one block radius.
-Can't really build any more equity in a manufactured home and most of the improvement are just repairs.
-We hate City taxes and amenities. I hate paying for water. I can't even water my grass without seeing money flowing out of the sprinkler. Plus, the taxes in the City are 2/3x what they are in the outlying areas.
-It has limited rooms. Before the have the next kid, we would like more space, especially if it is a boy. We could double the girls up, but Emma has little room for just her stuff right now.
-We are not really building equity, since the house was originally meant to be thrown away when used up, not fixed. There are a lot of nice manufactured homes out there now; this just isn't one of them.
-We are too close in proximity to other houses.

*Pros:
-I love my garage.
-The payment is so do-able, even if I have a job at McDonald's.
-The backyard, which is fenced in, is very nice for the girls.
-It is convenient living in town

Now, for buying a new house.

*Cons:
-Bigger payment. However, it would only be an increase of $100-200 a month in the price range we are looking at.
-Basically, that is it

*Pros: This will be a little more of what we want to get, so it will be more of our personal lists.

-Amanda: She has already said that she wants a house with a basement, a dishwasher, and is well insulated(I agree with all of these, especially the last. This house has no insulation.) She also wants something she has her heart set on, not just something she has to tolerate...which basically sums up our relationship, but not what she wants in her house.)

-Me: TREES=Shade, breeze, and beauty. Our yard has one tree and it is ugly. I want something that if I sink money into will return it when the time comes to get it back. Seclusion would be awesome. I just don't like looking out my living room window into someone elses living room.

Anyhow, money aside, there are many reasons we want out of here. I know this though, we aren't going to settle. We are going to get what we want and we are going to get it at a price we can afford. We really don't believe we should get ourselves in too deep if we can help it. If we have to live here longer to save money or if we can't find anything...we will.

We went out for a drive, just to look at house and we stumbled on a few we liked and many we didn't. We found this one (go down to the house priced $112,000 to see the specs)and we like the price, the location and the stats. I plan on calling the agent who helped us get our house and talking to him about listing our place and touring the other one. I couldn't hurt to list our house and see what offers we get. Oh yeah, I guess I need to get a job also, but we will cross that hurdle when we get to it.

Project Lists

Over the last few weeks, I have been really busy with little, and not so little, projects around the house, garage, and yard. While this might be normal for most men, it isn't for me. I have relatively no handyman skills and the confidence of a humpback at a supermodel conference when it comes to doing these times of things.

My typical project, which the guy at the hardware store tells me should be really easy, usually turns into a fiasco that goes three times as long as it should. One problem is that I have no tools, so for every project, I not only have to buy the materials, I have to buy the tools and equipment to put it in or replace said materials. Thankfully, I have a very generous neighbor who has everything and is also sick of seeing the house across from his looking like an inner-city crackhouse.

Thursday, I decide to clean and paint my faux shudders on my house. So, I needed to get a powerwasher to clean the shudders, so I went across the street and asked Bob for his. I also borrowed his step ladder, since all I have is a plastic kids stool or a Dora lawn chair to use. After spraying down the shudders, I took them down and primed and painted them. Then, after they dried, I put them back up and returned his equipment. He then continued to tell me that I could use any of his tools for my crack house..er, home... and that I did a good job on the shudders.

Anyhow, in the last few weeks I have:

-Cleaned out my garage.

-Painted/sealed the backroom

-Filled the gaping hole in my garage with 5 yds. of fill

-Changed an outdoor spigot

-Fixed the kitchen sink plumbing

-Replaced the drain in the sink

-Replaced the floor under the sink that was damaged by the leaky plumbing

-Painted the shudders

Now, in the next few weeks I need to:

-Build a deck

-Replace two kitchen lights

-Figure out what else Amanda wants done....a list unto itself

Wakely Lake and three men in a tub...minus any Rub-A-Dub-Dubbing

Mark and I have a tradition that we have failed to miss(in the years I have been in Michigan) and that is to fish Wakely Lake on June 15th. We figured that we have been fishing the opener for almost 18 years now.

Wakely Lake is a special regulation lake that only opens from June 15th to August 15th. It is catch and release, artificial bait only, with motor less boating that you have to transport almost a half mile back from the parking area. When the lake first opened, back in the late eighties, it had just transferred hands from a private group to the state and the fishing was phenomenal.

The first time Mark and I fished it, we caught 20 bass that were all over 20 inches, the largest being 24 inches, all in a four hour span!!! Back then, you were hard pressed to catch a bass under 14 inches. Anyhow, time and heavy fishing pressure have taken their toll and the lake has tapered out, however, it is still fun to fish.

This year, Mark, Pastor Wagner, and I met at my house Friday morning at 4:30-ish and headed out on the water. I have to tell you, being on the water at that hour is almost a mystical experience. With the sun just coming up, a slight fog rising off the lake, and loons diving around us...it was cool. We all mentioned that, even had we not been catching fish(we were) it would have been worth going out just to see that. During the course of the day, we saw another nesting loon up very close(we didn't know it was there until we were right up on it) and a bald eagle.

I have to tell you, as beautiful as it was, it was a little cramped with three guys (who all must weigh over 200lbs apiece), seven poles, four tackle boxes, and their lunches, but, we made it work.

Early on, Mark and I jumped to an early lead with fish. I caught three fish on my first five casts and Mark caught several in the first hundred feet. Pastor was a little slow at first, but that had more to do with being unfamiliar with the lake and the fact that he was at a slight disadvantage in the rear of the boat. Well, it was actually the front, but since I was rowing, I flipped the boat around so I could see where I was going.

The weird thing is, Pastor took that disadvantage and made it his strength. It was kinda like seeing the Bible come alive with the story of the Samaritan who was given some sour lemons, but with the help of Jesus, made lemonade...or something like that. Actually, it wasn't Jesus...it was Rene, not that anyone would get them mixed up. Rene called us to see how we were doing and when I told him how many we had, Pastor took it personal.

Strange enough, Pastor started fishing behind us, maybe ten feet behind the boat, and he started ripping them up. He ended up catching the largest of the day...shown here in the picture...well, it looked like that, except smaller and 18 1/2 inches, which is still a solid fish. I was very proud of him. I was afraid at first that Pastor was going to embarrass me, since I invited him, in front of my fishing partner Mark, but he held his own well enough that I can see some other fishing trips in his future with us. I think he would enjoy Bradford after ice out or Section 1 pre-spawn.

We ended catching over 50 largemouth and several pike and bluegills to boot and all said, it was really fun. I enjoyed the fishing, talking about Bible translations, and singing lines from Musik songs from the seventies for whatever we were talking about. It was nice to spend time with men I enjoy spending time with and for me, the fishing really didn't matter.

It was good stuff and I look forward to doing it again next year.

"Where have you been?"

That was the question someone recently asked me. They noticed that my blog was unusually slow lately and assumed I have been sick or something...well, I was, but that is for another story...

The truth is, I have been relatively busy, or at least, out and about. Thursday, I didn't have the girls, so I did some work around the house. Friday, I went fishing with Mark and Pastor, then in the evening, I spent some time with Phil. Saturday, I was sick and also went to Amanda Hulbert graduation party, then spent some more time with Phil. Sunday, today, was Father's Day and we had church and then were off to the in-laws for a cook out and general fun in the sun. Mostly laughing at the girls and playing Skip-Bo. Overheard during that time was the phrase, "It was like I had sex with Chewbacca." Please, ask me about that one when you see me.

I enjoy being busy. Especially since I seem to sit around so much. What about this coming week? Find a job. VBS in Frederic. Finish some projects around here. Write the next great Fantasy novel.

Yeah, right. I'll be happy if I can do one of them, minus VBS.

God does Change Lives!!! Amen.

http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Entertainment-News/Article/Default.aspx?idx=1018372

Storms

Last week we had a nice storm roll through our area. We were warned of 70 m.p.h. winds and possible tornados, so I took down all the hanging plants and moved all the kids toys back into the garage. There was also a giant pile of sand in the middle of the cement leading into my garage because I was using it to fill the work pit that was in the garage. Long story short, my father-in-law dumped it and I had to move five yards by hand. It was hard on my back, but I got all but a few loads done in about three hours.

There was a little left over, about a yard, that I didn't need, but I couldn't leave there because the rain from the storm would wash it into my driveway. So, I fired the wheelbarrow back up and moved the rest away.

Well, the storm came about 2 a.m that night. I was up with Mikayla who had decided to not be tired and we watched the storm together. Actually, I went in Emma's room and woke her up and eventually Amanda came out and we watched the storm as a family. It really didn't last long and when it was all said and done, it was loud, but ineffectual as far as big storms went.

It was good though. I caused me to do some things that I was putting off because the storm was coming. A new possibility opened for buying a pool(one of the 3ft one's from Wal-Mart) that we had always been talking about, but didn't because the backyard was so uneven. With the sand there, we can do it now if we chose.

I have to be honest with you, the storm the other night has been the only one blowing into my life lately. Around the same time, the storm of fear and insecurity, specifically about my future, blew in and knocked over my security and washed away my confidence. Then there have been some thunderheads of the mental funk I often battle on the horizon.

I have feared these storms in the past because they seem to follow me where I go. This time it was different though. Granted, I felt like I had been kicked in the groin, which knocked the wind out of me, but when the clouds parted, I found the sun still shining and the birds singing.

I still don't know what I am going to do, but I do know what I'm not going to do - be fearful or discouraged.

Now that the storm has blown over, there are possibilities that I hadn't thought of before. Do I have any idea what the next step is? Nope, but I'm good with that.

Emma and I were talking about what lightning and thunder was went it was lighting up the night sky the other day. When I explained what it was, so said, "Well, that's not so bad."

I have to agree.

This is for you Steph!

*Gary gave me the idea...