RSS

Tag Archives: American Idol

I’ve Created a Monster… actually, just some Bobbleheads….

14 Jan

Sometimes I get really frustrated because I fight the gifts that God gave me… what I mean is, often times the grass is greener on the other side.  Still yet what I mean is, yes, I know I have certain abilities but sometimes I think I’d rather be okay at something a bit more important… like being organized rather than being able to paint.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the gifts that God has given me… just being honest here… and when I really think about it, I am thankful for creativity but wishful at the same time…. therefore enters the frustration.   However, last night while watching American Idol and seeing the many gifted and  not so gifted people, I was reminded about the vast differences in people and how creative God is.  We are a part of a fantastic potpourri of an incredible Creator.  So, since the gentleman (General Larry Platt)  unveiled to the world his masterpiece, “Pants on the Ground”, on American Idol last night, I felt it might be a good time for me to share my creations.

Where I work, within the staff, I have been known to add a little laughter to our yearly Christmas parties.  First it was the year of “photoshopped” heads on bodies magnets.  Then it was the never forgotten clever little scheme to get loads of gifts for Christmas and  I placed my name, “Nancy”, on every slip of paper in the hat to be drawn for gift giving… and everyone on staff got my name for Christmas…though it sounds like a great plan, it backfired a tiny bit…   definitely a story for another blog sometime… Then there was the year of shirts (actually onsies for a soon to be dad on staff) that had my photo covering it and said, “I love Pastor Nancy”.  Yes, those were all good years, but this past year just may have topped them all.

In the fall my daughter reintroduced me to a medium that I hadn’t played with in quite some time, polymer clay.  After playing around with it for a few weeks I thought it might be fun to make bobbleheads for my co-workers… bobbleheads of their caricatured likenesses, that is….  so I went to work.  Though I ran out of time and couldn’t complete an actual bobblehead… they did get figurines…. caricatured figurines of themselves…. we had a great laugh this year.

Maybe this will encourage you to embrace your creativity…. it is a gift from the original Creator.

Philippians 1:3-6

3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Thanks for the reminder, Grant)

Advertisement
 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 14, 2010 in Faith, Fun, Life Stories

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well done, American Idol….

21 May

Don’t you hate when you have to choose between two good things?

You know, things like:

  • American Idol or Biggest Loser
  • Vacation at the beach or Disney (all paid for, naturally)
  • Peanut butter or chocolate fudge
  • mountain fresh scent or lavender vanilla scent (obviously, buying laundry detergent has its perks)
  • Convertible VW bug or Convertible Mini Cooper (neither are a reality in my world but they are so cute)
  • Cute puppy or sweet, humane society, house-broken, four year old dog
  • Kris or Adam

Out of all of those listed above, there is only one that affected me tonight… I wish I could say it was the convertible or vacation issue but it was the American Idol two, Kris and Adam.  If you’ve followed along with me then you know I am a confessed AI fan.  I can’t help it.  I would miss it if I have to (I’m not addicted) but I sure don’t like to miss it.

So, tonight was the finale and after a season of greatly talented and quite entertaining (Thanks to Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentile) performers, it was time for the winner to be announced.  I truly would have been happy with either contestant winning but was pleased with the result, Kris Allen.  When Kris was asked what he had to say about his win he said something to the tune of, “Adam deserves this.”  All along Kris has been very humble about his ability and his talent while Adam has gotten quite a bit of  attention and praise from the judges and has a quiet confidence in his performances.  Regardless, Kris won,  Adam seemed genuinely happy for Kris and all is well.  Both will go on to be recording artists… no doubt.kris

Kris’s humbleness is hard for some to understand.  Simon even said that he didn’t really like it.  Personally, I see it as a sign of confidence…. Kris doesn’t need the limelight to feel good inside about his ability.  He seems to believe it is a gift that he didn’t deserve and knows it can be taken away at any time so enjoy it but don’t treasure it and have enough character to honor the other person.

I’m still reading about David in Chronicles and once more, David, a man after God’s own heart, is again shown why he is called just that.  The story in a nutshell is about David and the men he leads.  David is very thirsty and says outloud, “I wish someone would get me a drink from that well by the gate.” Three men heard this and they crossed over the enemy line, risking their lives, to go to the well and get David some water.  When they returned David poured it out refusing to drink it, not because he was playing a cruel joke but because these guys risked their lives just for David.  It was an action, maybe even a well planned action, to show that these guys had earned David’s respect and he was thankful for what they had done. The men became famous for their action.

Okay, lets put this is modern day terms…..I say to my kids, I sure would love a cold Diet Ale8 (local ginger flavored soft drink).  So my daughter gets on her sandals and makes a mile long walk to the store.  When she returns she is thirsty and tired but has brought me the drink.  I am impressed by her thoughtfulness,  but feel like, because she went to the trouble that she did , I should reconsider drinking it in front of her.. or drinking it at all.  I should instead dump it.  So I do… So did David.

Kris somewhat did that same thing tonight. He was humbled by a winning vote and I think would rather have shared the American Idol title than to see his friend and competitor, Adam,  leave with nothing.  Kris didn’t actually dump his title but he was willing to give Adam recognition for his talent and abilities.  As it usually works in the history of this show, the runner-up ususally does well too.  Adam will be on the radio in no time, I’m sure.  To me, tonight, Kris showed the gift of respect and humility toward another.

The show was great but that made it worth saving on my DVR.  Thanks, Kris! Well done.

1 Chronicles 11

15 Three of the thirty chiefs came down to David to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 16 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 17 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” 18 So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. 19 “God forbid that I should do this!” he said. “Should I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives?” Because they risked their lives to bring it back, David would not drink it.
Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on May 21, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Fun, Life Stories, Videos

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Everybody Loves Anoop……. and Susan Boyle…..

23 Apr

anoop-and-rayEverybody loves Anoop… I mean Raymond, no, I mean Anoop… Gosh, I get them so confused!   Apparently Ray Romano and American Idol contestant, Anoop Desai are not related but bear a striking resemblance and apparently, it is only Ray that everybody likes.  Anoop was voted off of American Idol last night along with Lil Rounds. I’ve really tried to like Anoop and he seems like a nice enough guy, but I will have to say I was glad that he went home.   My favorites are still in the running.  Next week’s genre…. rap….. Not really, but my family had a good time leading me to believe that one.

Another interesting singer was introduced to the world, via internet and television, this past week or so.  A lady by the name ofsusan-boyle-b_0 Susan Boyle stunned an audience of disbelievers in her singing ability and led them to a surprising standing ovation.  Her younger, Mrs. Doubtfire look raised eyebrows and shook heads from those who tend to believe that appearance is what creates ability.  Her singing debut was on a British television show which Simon Cowell also plays an all too truthful judge.  However, there is a rumor that this lady was planted by Simon and maybe so, you’ll see the look on his face when she sings… his smile is wonderful… but not quite convincing that he had known she could do what she was there to do.

So, if he placed her on stage for ratings… who knows?  And I’m not sure it really matters…. She did a beautiful job.  The crowd didn’t believe in her but because she was given the chance, she was able to prove herself and the audience learned a lesson.

But I noticed something as I was reading the other day that took me back to this video.  I’ve often wondered why someone who set up the death of another for a lustful gain..David… would be called a man after God’s own heart.  I stumbled on scripture the other day that may lend some explanation of it.  David was trying to honor Jonathan and Saul and asked for any descendants of Jonathan to be brought to him.  Jonathan’s son was crippled and David gave him a royal inheritance that might never have been his due to his physical appearance.  Looking through scripture we see that God always seems to highlight those that others think are not worthy …. David himself, Moses, Jacob, Esther, Levi, Fishermen, children, Mary Magdalene, etc, etc, etc (The King and I is on in the background…etc.)… so maybe that is the heart of God… believing in those who the world sees as less than…

In the video, watch Simon’s smile in two parts.. first, the smile with his face resting in his hands… I picture that smile being on the face of God as he looks at us as we are in the place where he wants us to be… in his will… It is a look of satisfaction and love……Then there is the second smile (A part of me hopes he did plant Susan Boyle on that stage)… the smile of pride in knowing that others finally see what he does… I picture that smile being on the face of God when he places us in a position that either we don’t think we can live up to or others don’t think we can live up to…and he smiles when others see what he sees in us….We have an incredible God who looks beyond appearance and sees the person….Thanks for smiling, Simon!

You can find the video of Susan in the right column on this page.

2 Samuel 9

David and Mephibosheth

1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“Your servant,” he replied.

3 The king asked, “Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet.”

4 “Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, “Mephibosheth!”
“Your servant,” he replied.

7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.

12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was crippled in both feet.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 23, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Fun, Videos

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

American Idol …. Stay Away From Me..,,,Well, You Don’t Really Have To….

09 Apr

Don’t you hate it when you tell yourself, “I will never…. ”  and then you do it? Like for instance-

“I will never gain that weight back”- 20 pounds later while sipping on a milkshake you wonder why your pants feel tight

or …

townandcountry“I will never buy a red car much less a minivan”- “Ma’am this van has everything you want and at this price it won’t last long…”  SOLD!

or….

“I will never keep the puppy if I constantly have to tell you girls to take care of him”- He is four years old.. you know where I’m going here

or….

“I will never be like  ‘cough,cough’ and be hooked on some reality show”- I get sucked into the American Idol tunnel two nights a week and can hardly wait for the next week’s show…

In my defense I like American Idol for several reasons-

  • Our whole family can watch it and worry very little about being surprised with foul mouths or sex talk
  • You can actually see some great singers as well as unbelievably eager but not so great singers
  • You can pick a favorite and watch how far they go(I actually picked one winner from his very first audition and I think I have again this year)
  • My favorite reason- the stories behind the people

I love watching the stories of the people who are participating.  Sometimes it is of hardships they have overcome or sometimes it is a little something about their life that helps them stand out. Like a few years ago there was a contestant whose father was in prison and she was raised by a loving grandfather, or like this year a contestant is young but is a widower… or even another one this year, Scott, who actually went home tonight, is the first contestant to ever be on the show that has been visually impaired.  As he left tonight he was praised for his encouragement for others.  Scott’s story, shown on the big screen week after week, showed that Scott isn’t that much different from anybody else…. He lived the life that was given and was grateful for the good and worked around the inconvenient. scott_macintyre_210x202

I think that is the great thing about faith… it has a way of turning the bad into the inconvenient.  Inconvenient is something that kind of messes up things or is that road that you really didn’t want to have to travel but it still gets you where you need to go.  Without faith, it is hard to see beyond the bad. It is in those bad times though that we are able to decipher if our faith is real… it is easy to have faith in the good times… that is the genie in the lamp kind of faith.. or then again, maybe that is not faith… our faith shows up in the dark times….faith is believing what you can’t see… yep, dark times… it is the hope in the midst of the faith that turns that bad into inconvenient.

We all have a story.  We all have traveled the road of inconvenience or darkness… some maybe even are traveling it now.  As we say goodbye to Scott this week on American Idol we can hold on to the “never” that God has promised us….

Deuteronomy 31:6

6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God’s “nevers” are true…. Have faith and be blessed

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 9, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Life Stories

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m forgettable…. that’s what I am…

24 Mar

Not too many weeks ago, I was watching American Idol and Simon told one of the contestants that she was forgettable. Ouch…  I hurt for her.  What a terrible thing to say to someone…..I can’t remember her name but ….. Okay, I guess he proved his point… ugh.  simon_cowell_pauls__457703a

I think it bothered me so much because I’ve been in that forgettable boat lately too…. twice on facebook and once in person.  While shopping at the nearby Meijer one day I ran into a high school classmate.  He passed right by me having no clue who I was.  After I freaked him out by calling him by his name, he said with a smile, “Nancy, I haven’t thought about you in years” … Now  you might be thinking that I’m going overboard with the whole forgettable thing with just that one comment but bear with me here….

Then on facebook, two of my guy friends who I spent time with and just adored in school  … one even gave me a nickname and called me by it for years… well, they acted (or ” for realled”) as if they didn’t know who I was… I will have to say that my ego was completely bruised.  I thought that all of these guys would have the same  memories as my memories.  I thought the one would automatically call me by my nickname again.  I thought the other would have thought about the whole 8th grade crush thing because I was pretty obvious about it.  Better yet,  I thought the other would strike up conversations about the church events that we went to together or the pranks we played on others… I will have to say that I was disappointed to see all of their little chat conversations with others were way friendlier than those that they sent me….  I’m thinking they either truly don’t remember me or don’t remember how connected we were… or at least how connected I thought we were … No, I’m not playing the violin of pity (well, maybe a little) as I write this, because I realized that the American Idol girl and I are still not in this forgettable boat alone… this is not some little fishing boat… we are talking an enormous cruise boat… the SS Forgettable… large enough for everyone to get on board… forgettable
Pretty much what I’m getting at is that everyone is forgettable.  Think about it…. can you name your great-grandmother’s maiden name?  What about your great great great grandfather’s name?  Do you know how many siblings your great grandmother had?  What about a former President?  Do you know the names of  Abraham Lincoln’s children or at least the name of the one son that lived through adulthood?  Okay all of this may sound pretty depressing or hopeless but hang in there… good stuff is coming….

Unless you have an extraordinary place in history (and even if you do, Mr. Lincoln) being forgettable is inevitable.  In Genesis, the story of Joseph is told.  He saves Egyptians and Israelites from lack of nourishment during a drought and is deemed a legend/hero and yet when you read the first few lines in Exodus you’ll see that a new king took the throne and didn’t know about Joseph… Joseph, pretty much a hero, was forgotten… it’s just going to happen… but there is some hope and some good here.

Luke 13 was part of my reading today… It begins with Jesus telling a parable about a tree and how the land owner tells the caretaker to cut down the tree that is bearing no fruit… the caretaker pleads with the owner for one more chance to help the tree produce at least once before it was cut down… the meaning?  It is simple …..A tree that produces no fruit is forgettable… worthy of being chopped down… a tree that produces fruit lives on and on…and we are not talking a physical fruit tree but a spiritual one…

Makes you think about the fruit that you may or may not be producing…

I am a product of a person who was producing fruit…I won’t forget that tree nor the nourishment it gave… ever… and hopefully I will produce fruit too and  nourish it in the same manner continuing the cycle…

So, we’re all forgettable … that’s what we are….. but our fruit always seems to remember where it came from… leave the forgettable to the naked trees and take advantage of the second chance…. go produce!

Luke 13

6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8” ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.‘ ”

 
2 Comments

Posted by on March 24, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Life Stories

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What??? Oh no, he didn’t!…

05 Mar

after-american-idol-its-time-for-vietnam-idol_14After finally getting home around 9:00 this evening, the girls and I settled down to watch the recorded elimination of several more American Idol contestants and the bringing back of a few for a wild card night.  (By the way, if you have never watched a recorded American Idol in triple speed it is totally worth the effort…. the dancing is way fun to watch) As the contestants were narrowed down we were disappointed to see that our favorite female of the evening was going home… “Oh, nuggets”……As we continued watching we were biting our nails in hopes that our personal favorites would have one more chance.   Suddenly, they announced “Tatiana.”  What??? … but we let it go…  It came down to the last open spot… and Simon announced the one final person to have one more American Idol chance… “Anoop”… What???? No Nick/Norman???  Oh no, he didn’t just pick Anoop over Nick… How frustrating… how boring Idol will be now.  I’ve got my top three favorites but I wanted Nick to be in that top three… So now that my fun favorite is not in the mix I will have to root on my top three and my absolute favorite, Danny, and enjoy the rest while I can…..I guess the reality of Idol is not everyone in America can be pleased… we can’t always get what we want..american-idol-nick-mitchell-a-k-a-normund-gentle-20090205054356

You know,  that is the reality of life in general….

In continuing the story of Balaam (Numbers 23-25),I have wondered several times if the author used this little story to bring some humor into the picture… First, there was the talking donkey  and now we are at the place where Balak is hoping for the curse on Israel… You can probably imagine the scene…

Balak, the king/prince, is eager to hear that Balaam has cursed the Israelites.  He waits in anticipation for Balaam to come back down from the hillside and say his evil deed is done. But Balaam has news of his own… I picture the conversation like this…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him not to curse these people…

Balak, possibly thinking that Balaam had misunderstood, sent him to another place… same routine of altars and sacrifices.. Then Balaam goes back to Balak…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them and they will probably kill you guys”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him these people were going to harm us!

So Balak sends Balaam to another place in hopes of a different story.. same routine of altars and sacrifices.. Then Balaam goes back to Balak…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them and he curses you instead”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him to bless them and curse us!

Balak had enough and sent Balaam on his way.
Seems that if Balak would have listened to what God had to say and not worked so hard to change God’s mind he could have been blessed.

Numbers 24:9

9 Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse them?
“May those who bless you be blessed
and those who curse you be cursed!”

Wonder how many great things I’ve missed out on because I was too stubborn to slow down and listen?

 
1 Comment

Posted by on March 5, 2009 in Devotions, Faith

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Super Communicator …. Helping the Misunderstood and Saving the World

26 Feb

American Idol is one of those shows that I said I would never watch…. Never say never.  I’m not addicted but I sure don’t like to miss it.  Several weeks ago there was the airing of auditions at their stop in Louisville.  Well, as a Kentuckian, naturally I wanted to watch…. as if I wouldn’t have watched any other city… but you know what I’m saying. I wanted to watch people from my region have their 15 minutes or less of fame.  mark-mudd-jrOne guy, Mark Mudd, definitely got his 15 minutes.  He was in multiple commercials and highlights giving what looked to be the look of death (Say those last three words with a deep, melodic voice for a more dramatic reading)  I, like the rest of America, was on the edge of my seat waiting to see exactly what happened and what we Kentuckians are like.

The time came for American Idol to focus on the life story about this guy who would eventually give the doomed evil look.  From that biography we found out that he was really a pretty sweet guy who had actually gone through a lot during his life.  He came in, sang his little song and didn’t make the cut.  As he left he told the judges, “Take care and be careful.”  The judges went ballistic… or at least Paula did. Well, I think they all did to a certain degree.  They took his words as a threat…. as if the guy was telling them to be careful where they go because he might “git ’em” ….Paula jumped at the guy and told him that “you don’t say that to people…”   I started thinking about it. You know,  I say ” Be careful” quite a bit to people.  It is an endearing goodbye as I want the recipient of those words to know that I want to see them again.

I became a little frustrated. I wondered if Paula had gone into another country like Italy and someone said, “Ciao,” would she have the nerve to say, “You don’t say that to people, you might make them think you want to eat them”?  I doubt it.  Good grief, we live in a huge country. Even though we are a United States, I’m thinking it wouldn’t hurt for these folks to do a little studying up on the cultural sayings of the area before they head into a region…. super-communicator

Regardless, the guy was just misunderstood.  I would have liked to have swooped into that room, just like a superhero (I shall name me, Super Communicator) and taken that young man back in front of the judges and explained to them that he was being endearing… a gentleman.  They would have seen the error of their ways and apologized before the guy was made out to be some weirdo in front of millions of people watching.

Super Communicator must have entered into the picture somewhere because American Idol posted an apology for their misunderstanding.  Unfortunately for Mark Mudd, it came after the airing and more so, came quietly where most won’t even know it happened… and probably don’t care.

The American Idol judges misunderstood the intentions of a young man and in doing so they seemed to have missed out on an opportunity of warm Southern hospitality from a regular good guy.

Okay,  so I’m not really Super Communicator out saving people from their state of misunderstanding but maybe someone else is (though I do like my Superhero alter ego outfit)

I’ve been there before and I know being misunderstood stinks…

In Mark 5:1-20 there are a couple of incidents of someone being misunderstood…

The whole incident is about Jesus ridding a man of a legion of demons.  The guy was off living in the tombs (burial caves) by himself because of his demon possession.  The community around him had given up on him and he could not be subdued by anyone nor bound by chains.  So there he was among the caves literally tearing himself apart in misery.   When Jesus arrived he cast out the demons into a herd of pigs.  The pigs…. lots and lots of pigs …went running down a steep bank and into a lake where they drowned.  Those watching the pigs (would they be considered pigherds?  just curious) ran to tell the townspeople.  When they went to check things out they saw the cave guy sitting up, dressed and acting normal.  Others who had seen all of this take place started telling the story about what happened… verifying it… and the townspeople became frightened and begged Jesus to get out of town.

Okay, so Cave guy, he was misunderstood…. well, maybe not so much him being misunderstood as it was people just giving up on him and being frightened of him.  He was obviously dangerous and violent.  As a parent I can totally understand why I would be glad that he was up in those caves away from my family. I can’t say they were wrong in their fear.  But there is also something else I see here…..  This guy just needed Christ in his life.  He was mean, unkept, weird and definitely scary to those around him, but Christ met him and changed his life.  He took those demons out of his life and Cave guy became Normal guy.  Sometimes I think that is how we view people… we fear them because we are unsure that they are really like us so therefore we stay far away.  We misunderstand actions or looks as mean, weird or scary when we don’t understand the demons that they are wrestling…. maybe not the exact same kind of demons that Christ sent out (or maybe they were) but similar… you know, demons of worthlessness, demons of divorce, demons of addictions, demons of abuse, demons of neglect, demons of depression, demons of eating disorders and on and on…. “Cave guy” can be a neighbor, a co-worker, a teacher, a student, a friend, an enemy…. someone who needs Christ to help him get rid of those things that keep him from being able to be close to others, being loved or loving others- in reality, living life as intended…Yes, he was frightening. Yes, he was dangerous and different than others, but Christ didn’t leave him when Cave Guy bowed before him.

Then there is the rest of the story- Jesus- he was misunderstood too… Now here is a man (actually God) who has just taken this demon possessed, scary man and turned him into someone new and the people who were originally scared of this guy aren’t pleased… the words don’t really say exactly why they pleaded with Jesus to leave but I have some speculations.  Other scriptures refer to disciples being terrified when Jesus calmed the storm or others thinking that Jesus was not doing the work of God but of Satan when he healed… I think Jesus’s work was too big to understand… too powerful and too much to grasp.  I guess they could have been upset about the pigs dying too, but I’m leaning toward the frightened theory.   Isn’t that the way we are today though? We see Christ at work but we don’t really know how to handle it.  We misunderstand the intentions of God and then  just like those people, we seem to want to put him on a boat and get him out of town….in other words, we don’t understand why we must go through something and we send Christ on his way all because we could not see the big picture….

We misunderstand people because we don’t understand them completely and we misunderstand the work of God because we can’t understand it completely.  It seems we sure can miss out on a lot of good when we misunderstand and refuse to take another look at people and situations.

Now there is one more thing to be said about the demon possessed man … he had a serious issue and we see that Christ was the only one who could help him. I think that is important.  I’m not advocating putting oneself in danger or staying in a dangerous or abusive sitution just because we are trying to understand why another person acts the way they do… Christ can open doors for professional help and treatment. Our job is prayer and listening to God for direction, protection and strength.

So that makes Christ the Super Communicator, able to take demons out with a single sentence, able to change the way we understand and able to save the world…


Have you misunderstood what God was or is doing in your life?  Have you missed out on seeing his work because you asked him to go?  What about a person who is hurting, alone or is aching and needs Christ to renew them?  Is God asking you to be the person who goes to the caves to get that person and guide them to him?   Just think what you could be missing.

 
2 Comments

Posted by on February 26, 2009 in Devotions, Faith, Fun, Life Stories

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Osmond Flashback… I’m a little bit American Idol…

29 Jan

I’m a little bit country, I’m a little bit rock n’ roll .. I’m a little bit Memphis n’ Nashville, With a little bit of Motown in my soul….

Okay, I’m admitting it… My name is Nancy and I am a recovering Osmond fan.  In my tween years I fell into the later years of the the Osmond era…the era that focused on Donny and Marie… I became a fan of purple (Donny’s Favorite) I knew every word to their songs, knew all the brother’s names and trivial bits of info about each one, had the dolls and the stage…

American Idol tonight brought back those memories when an Osmond’s son, Allan’s son, to be exact, auditioned.  I’m not so sure my girls will get on the Osmond bandwagon but I’d vote for him.

Greg the Rabbit also might get my vote… I know, I know… He didn’t really audition and his friend that he was rooting on didn’t make it to the next round…but how cool would it be to always have a 6 foot pink rabbit as your personal cheerleader? I wonder if the pink bunny’s buddy made it through to Hollywood if the Grabbit would get to tag along?  If I had a Greg the Rabbit I would name him Osmond… and he’d be purple.

costume_bunny_1092352

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 29, 2009 in Fun

 

Tags: , , , ,

 
%d bloggers like this: