The Swift Rule Super Bowl XLI

For all you Bears' fans, this article by Kent Anderson may give you some consolation. You can read his blog by clicking here. It is a blog about preaching but he had this little ditty about the Bears.

Where the Losers Won

Did you ever wonder what happens to all the hats that were prepared for the losing team at the Super Bowl or other such championships? Within minutes of the end of Sunday’s game, Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning, and the rest of the Colts were wearing hats declaring them to be the champions. But what about the hats that were prepared in the event that the Bears won the game?

Apparently those hats were kept under tight security until the end of the game when they were immediately shipped away before any of them could be sold on ebay. The hats were sent to an African village that has never heard of American Football. There, apparently, the Bears will forever be known as the champions of Super Bowl XVI (sic).

Small consolation for Rex Grossman, I’m sure.

The Lord and the Storm

Disaster hit close to the Bliss home here in Central Florida. At least one tornado (and possibly 4 others) touched down and did a considerable amount of damage. At least 20 people are dead, thousands of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed, one church destroyed (the Church of God in the Villages), and who knows how many cars and trucks by the F3 tornado. The Church of God church building was built to withstand winds of 150 mph. Apparently this tornado exceeded this building's ability to handle high winds.

This coming Tuesday members from the area churches of Christ will meet at the Leesburg Church of Christ to unload a truck that will arrive from the Disaster Relief Effort (click here) in Nashville, TN. This organization provides a variety of items for such a time as this. I'm looking forward to helping out and seeing this organization (and our local congregations) in action.

Our family from California and several from the Tabernacle congregation (and some from the Randolph congregation) called or emailed to see if we were okay. This destructive force hit only a few miles from our home. We slept through most of it. The storm woke us up about 4:30 AM but had been raging since before 3:00 AM. At the time we didn't know a tornado had touched down. I think we will be getting one of those weather alert radios for future use.

All of this brings up a question in my mind. We in modern times tend to downplay God's role in the destructive side of events like this but praise him for his protective role. In other words we are glad that God protected us from the storm but we hesitate to claim that he may have caused the storm. Why is that? We know that he can and does cause disasters to happen. In the Old Testament many of the disasters were used to discipline Israel. The faithful in Israel saw God in all that happened even the storms (Psalm 29). Even though we can't today claim to know what God is doing in the storm (because we have no prophet to tell us) we can still know that he is in charge even of the storm and its destructive force. James tells us to rejoice when trials occurs (Jas.1:2). The problem to me is that we haven't defined very well what is good and what is bad. We think that damage and destruction from a storm is bad but if the storm misses us that is good. Maybe we need to rethink our definition of bad and good, at least in regards to disasters.

We are quick to downplay any active role on God's part in a disaster but quick to play up his active role in protection. Is it because when bad things happen we believe God is in a punishing mode and we don't want to believe that he could be punishing us (or those around us)? As Job asked his wife, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:9 NASU) What shall we think about disasters and God's role in them? Maybe we haven't seen the good that can come from disasters.

Bowling for fun

It seems like this congregation is testing my athletic ability (what little remains at least). We went bowling as Loni pointed out on her blog. My first game was a 126 which isn't too bad considering I haven't bowled in 20 plus years. My second game went much better. I found my groove about the third frame and got 3 strikes in a row. The score board above the lane flashed my name and a turkey. I wonder where they got the idea to call three strikes in a row a turkey? I did a Google search and found out that around the turn of the 20th century during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays bowling establishments would offer a turkey to anyone who got three strikes in row. The name stuck. Anyway, I finished with a 160. It was the second highest of the night. One of the guys who used to bowl in league and probably averaged 200 plus bowled a 168. The last game they turned out the lights with blue lights on the pins. It's called Cosmic Bowling. I couldn't line up on my spot and my bowling went south. I was doing really lousy (my forearm was getting tired by now as well) and then they turned off our lane. We were bowling by the hour not the game. We had a lot of fun being with our brothers and sisters from the congregation. It was great to be with adults (no kids allowed!). I think I'll do some weight lifting for about 6 weeks before we go again.

His & Her Spatulas

This post is inspired by Lisa's His & Her Ice Cream Scoops. The spatula on the bottom is a woman's spatula. It is quite useful It flips burger, pancakes, French toast, and all kinds of things. The one on the top is a man's spatula. It has a cover because it has sharp edges (I know because I've cut myself trying to pry apart frozen burgers). It came with directions (directions actually appear to the male spirit because we want to prove that we're not as dumb as those who need directions, so anything with directions is considered a challenge to us), which I've lost. It has a bottle opener, which is good for those bottles of Coke that are sitting in the cooler in lots of ice (yes I know that other men use it for other kinds of bottles). It can do a variety of functions - meat tenderizer, slicing into meat to see if it's cooked properly. Oh yes, it flips burgers as well. So it's a man's spatula because it's dangerous, provides a challenge, and just looks like it takes a man to operate (at least that's what we men think). :-)

Off Kilter

While Pat and I were at Epcot we just happened upon a band playing in the World Showcase area. They were specifically in the Canada area. One of the guys had an electric bag pipe and they all wore kilts. Their name - Off Kilter. They were great! Click here for their site. The guy with the bag pipe did Amazing Grace to close out their session. Fortunately for me they had CDs on sale at a kiosk next door. Unfortunately for me the CDs cost $20.00. I just ordered four CDs from BMG and paid $35 (with shipping). I think I will add them to my Christmas list and let someone else spend the money. But these guys were a hoot.

Paul & Sandie - This one's for you

Thanks for calling Pat on her birthday. Paul told Pat that he goes into work early to read family blogs. So I thought I would say hi. For those reading who may not know Paul and Sandie, they are our daughter's in-laws (Lisa's in-laws). Since being asked to leave Tabernacle they were extremely supportive of us. They started sitting with us up front during services. They called or wrote or dropped by every now and then. During hard times you discover the true nature of those around you. Paul and Sandie are spiritual family and proved to be very good friends. We love you two and appreciate very much your love for us. We are proud that Lisa married into your family. We know that our good relations will continue, we just hope we get to see you a little more in the future. You both know that you are always welcome in our house and we hope that Disney is on your list of places to visit. We are only about 40 minutes away. We can be great tour guides since we know our way around (at least a little bit). Thanks again

Basketball

Last night I played basketball for the first time in at least 20 years. I was sure I would be huffing and puffing during the first game but I didn't. Anyway, in an effort to get the men together and to invite their friends we are playing basketball twice a month after Sunday evening services. Now we can afford to do this because our PM services start at 5:00 PM (yes you read that right!).

10 of us got together last night and played for almost 2 hours. We each shot a free throw and the first five to make a free throw was team one and the others were team two. After each game we shot free throws again so the teams were different each time. We played to 21 (had to win by at least 2). Each basket was 2 points unless shot outside the 3 point line. I was surprise at how well I did considering I'm 53.

The youngest guy was about 25. The oldest was about 62. Three of us were over 50, I think everyone else was under 40. What a blast I had! I'm looking forward to the next game night. It would be nice if our group grew and we got a lot more outsiders to come and play. All for the glory of our God.

The "Bob" Diet

In July 2005 (the month I was asked to leave) I weighed over 240 lbs (probably close to or over 245). This morning I weighed myself and I'm at 217.4 lbs. With the stress I experienced over being asked to leave, I didn't eat much for a couple of months. In September I noticed that I was below 230 lbs. So I determined to keep it up. Here are my principles for the "Bob" diet.

1. I don't eat in the morning until I'm hungry. I'm up at 5:00 AM every morning. I have a sip (yes just a sip) of juice. Just enough to rinse out the morning breath. I put on coffee (about 2 mugs' worth). I used to put 2 or 3 spoons of sugar in as well as creamer. I have weaned myself off the sugar. I switched to light cream instead of creamer (Tom Shuff told me that Dunkin Donuts uses light cream and that's why everyone loves their coffee - including me). However, here in Florida you can't buy light cream in the quart size so I'm using half & half. So I have coffee in the morning and nothing until I'm hungry. I take some 7 grain cereal (or something nutritious) with me to the office. I usually wait until after I do my daily Bible reading and Greek vocabulary stuff to eat. By then I am hungry (usually around 9:00 AM).
2. I try to have a nutritious snack sometime after breakfast. I usually get hungry again a couple hours after breakfast. Fruit or 7 grain bars.
3. I eat lunch when I'm hungry - not until then. Usually around 12:30 or 1:00 PM. I take lunch to the office. Sometimes leftovers, sometimes a sandwich, or whatever I might find in the kitchen.
4. I again have a nutritious snack a couple hours after lunch because usually I'm at least a little hungry then.
5. I can't control dinner time (not complaining, because our schedules are hectic and who knows when it will all come together), but I'm usually blazingly hungry by the time it comes around.
6. I will eat dessert later on in the evening. Usually I'm hungry again by 9:00 PM or so.
7. I try to not eat sweets during the day. By eating fruit or a 7 grain bar I control my sugar intake and my sugar highs. I think this has helped regulate my hunger.
8. I want to eventually make sure that I don't eat anything after 9:00 PM each night.
9. I also drink more water now. But I need to drink even more.
10. I also limit my portions during the three main meals and try not to eat seconds (I saw a sign at a gym one time that read, "It's not the minutes you spend at the table, it's the seconds.").
11. I weigh myself almost every morning. I know that other diet plans say to weigh yourself only a couple times a week but I've found more motivation to keep up with my plans by weighing myself every morning (before breakfast).
12. I've started walking every morning after I put the coffee on. I'm hoping to eventually start riding my bike and maybe even get a Total Gym.

So that's the "Bob" diet. Simple rules, simple plan. I haven't lost loads of weight but I have lost over 25 lbs and kept it off. I hope that the beginning of next year finds me under 200 lbs. I mention my diet because I was reading a planning guru's blog and he talked about his diet. I think I've done a better job than he in losing weight. At least I'm headed in the right direction.

My new look

Some folks here at Mt. Dora feel that I have fit in quite well. They wanted to do something for me that would make me fit in even better. They gave me western boots for Christmas. You can see for yourselves just how western these boots are. Of course we will have to call them southern boots since we are on the east coast. Anyway, now I really look like the "crackers" of Florida.

My Accent

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West
The Midland
North Central
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I was exploring other blogs and ran across a link with a quiz that tells you what kind of accent you have. Apparently I have a Boston accent. Let's see if I can explain this. I was born in Colorado, raised in 5 states (Colorado, Texas, Washington, Kansas, and California), schooled in Los Angeles (2 years), lived in San Diego (1 year), schooled in Texas (2 1/2 years), lived in New Jersey (28 years), married to a Texas gal who also lived in Burlington, Massachusetts (outside of Boston for 6 years) - okay, I got my accent from Pat (my wonderful wife of 30 years)! She lived in the Boston area for 6 years, developed her accent, and then gave it to me. Seriously, I wonder if the Boston accent includes people from Northern New Jersey. I hope no one tells the folks here in Mount Dora, Florida that their new preacher has a Boston accent. They might wonder where I've really been for the last 28 years. I was sure that I would have been a more neutral accent. So click the link and take the quiz and tell me what kind of accent you have.

Aiden Robert Mackey

Even though Lisa has posted a picture of Aiden Robert Mackey, I thought I would do the same just to keep in practice of uploading pictures. Kevin was born in California and his two kids were born in North Dakota. Here is Aiden's big sister, Alexis. The first is obviously taken when she was born. The second is a more recent photot. She's a cutie. One of these days I may get to meet her. It's hard to believe that my youngest sister, Andra, is a grandmother - twice over!

Tis the season to be jolly

It's that time of year again. Pat loves the Christmas season. We just finished putting up the lights around our new (rented) house. We've had a couple of traditions in the Bliss household. The first began in Northern New Jersey, On the second Saturday after Thanksgiving (oftentimes the first Saturday in December) we would get up early, make some hot cocoa, put it in a couple of thermoses, and drive to a tree farm in Pennsylvania. On the way we would count the number of cars coming back with trees. Maybe we would sing some songs or listen to Christmas music (usually everyone else but me, I focused on driving). Once at the farm we would begin our search. Sometimes it would be very cold, sometimes rainy, and sometimes slightly mild. Sometimes we would argue over which tree and sometimes we wouldn't. Sometimes it would take us hours to find the right one and sometimes we would find one in a relatively short time. Once we moved to Southern New Jersey we found a tree farm within 10 miles. We kept our tradition alive. But once the kids began to go off to college, our trips to that tree farm grew less and less. We finally we went to the farm stand about 1/4 mile down the road. We usually found a good tree so we were happy. Pat discovered icicle lights and talked me into climbing onto our roof and stringing the lights. So we've been hanging those icicle lights ever since. And we have continued the tradition right here in Florida. I put up a little fuss over doing it but I'm happy to make Pat happy. So we are jolly this season, even though it was 75 today (and probably will be on Christmas day).

Weird is as Weird does

In the spirit of faddishness, here is my list of weird things about me (I was able to use a zip compression program to do 2 months of prayer and research in about 2 minutes).

1. When I dress, the buttons on my shirt, the buckle of my belt, and the button on my pants must all line up. Don't know where I got this from. I remember seeing Roger Moore in a James Bond movie and all three of these were not lined up (yes I noticed it!). I thought, that looks bad. To this day every morning I make all three line up.

2. I want to wear my hair long! How long you ask? Long enough to have a ponytail. I thought my retirement job could be as a tour guide for a historic site where long hair would be a plus - I would look authentic.

3. I get up early (5:00 AM) every morning (all seven days) and go to bed late (usually after 11:00 PM). I don't want to miss anything.

4. I'm nervous about flying. In the 80s I used to lay awake the night before a flight and sweat bullets. When my Mom's Mom died (Grammie) I let my fear of flying get the better of me. I've always regretted not flying out, mostly for my Mom's sake. Pat and I flew almost once a month since November of 2005. I actually think I'm a little less fearful these days.

5. I hate to sweat in nice clothes. Even nice causal clothes. I will avoid doing anything that will break me out in a sweat while dressed this way. But if I can go change to jeans and a t-shirt, I don't mind at all. In fact, I enjoy sweating when properly dressed.

6. I tend to play the devil's advocate in Bible study (not always but occasionally, okay more often than I am willing to admit). It doesn't matter where I go. If I'm in a conservative congregation I tend to play up liberal ideas. If I'm in a liberal congregation I tend to play up conservative ideas. I don't rock the boat, I just jiggle it some to make sure everyone is holding on tight.

Well that's my list. Pat you are now tagged if you haven't already thought of this. Of course your list will be short (yes I do know how to score points with my wife of 30 years). I won't tag my son (Trey), because he's dating right now and I'm sure he doesn't want the young lady he's dating to know that he's got anything weird in his personality. Of course he should keep her away from his family's blogs so she won't find out about all our weird stuff. Who knows how she might react.

Evangelism

Years ago a prominent figure in our brotherhood came to speak to our preacher's group in North Jersey. During his talk he made the statement that our exclusivity was killing our evangelism. Afterwards I happened to be in the car next to him headed for lunch. I took the time to disagree with his statement. I said that our inclusivity is killing our evangelism. I pointed out that ever since I've become a Christian (1973) I've heard that Churches of Christ were one of the fastest growing churches during the 50s. I have often wondered why no one suggested that we recapture the attitudes and message that was present back then. Some may not have liked that our brotherhood was decidedly exclusive in its message but back then we knew who was lost and who was saved. I don't believe that this alone made us evangelistic, but it certainly helped. When we become overly inclusive there is no need to evangelize because everyone appears saved.

Our society today as a whole has moved to the left in its quest to be tolerant. Tolerance means that we accept everyone and their message. No one is lost. So if we evangelize any group we insult them and society jeers at us. Remember when the Southern Baptists were lambasted in the media because they believed that Jewish people in general were lost? I believe firmly that if we don't know who is saved and who is lost then we won't evangelize. I'm not suggesting that we necessarily believe that we are the only Christians but I am saying we must have a clearly articulated message that gives a clear indication of what we believe is the message and the response to it. Without this as a minimum we will have an unclear path for evangelism.

God's dwelling

In going over the Scriptures on the Holy Spirit I noticed something that I had never noticed before. I don't know if any author has ever pointed this out. I don't remember reading it anywhere before. Well here goes.

In the Old Testament God tells Israel that He will be their God, they will be His people and He will dwell among them (Ex.29:44-46; Lev.26:12). When Jesus came to the earth, John records that the word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). And lastly, the Holy Spirit dwells in us (Rom.8:9,11). I think this is significant that each member of the Godhead took turns dwelling with us. I also believe that this should have an impact on how we understand the "indwelling of the Holy Spirit."

I mentioned in an earlier post that in our fellowship there have been two distinct teachings concerning the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. One believes that the Spirit indwells us representatively through the word. The other believes that the Holy Spirit is personally dwelling in us. I think both teachings miss the point of "dwelling." Dwelling isn't about location, it's about relationship. In the Old Testament God isn't telling the Israelites that He is only located among them (He's omnipresent) but that He has a special relationship that He has with no other nation. The same is true of the Christian. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us isn't about His location it's about Him having a relationship with us.

Look at Num.5:1-4 God has the Israelites send out unclean people from the camp because He dwells in their midst. When they send the people out of the camp, these people really haven't been removed from God's actual presence since He's omnipresent but they have been removed from Israel, with whom God does have a relationship.

When Solomon completed the temple, God demonstrated His presence by filling the temple with a thick cloud just as He did with the Tabernacle (1Kgs.8:11-13). Solomon later said that heaven and earth cannot contain God much less this temple (1Kgs.8:27). Surely this has to impact out thinking about the Holy Spirit. We must understand that when the New Testament speaks about the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, just as the Old Testament spoke about God dwelling in the temple, that what is in view is not location but relationship.

We might also look at this from another perspective. Instead of dividing the Bible into three historical dispensations (patriarchal, Mosaic, Christian) why not see the Bible in terms of ministerial dispensations - the Father's with Israel, Jesus' with the apostles, and the Holy Spirit's with the church. This is why each member of the Godhead dwells with us - it is part of His ministry.

I do believe that the miracles performed in the early church were proof of the Holy Spirit's dwelling in God's new people the church. The miracles in the Old Testament (the plagues in Egypt, the miracles during the period of the Judges, and the thick cloud in the Tabernacle and Temple) were proof of God's dwelling among the Israelites. I also believe that miracles are no longer necessary. But I believe that in the Old Testament God empowered people for service in non-miraculous ways (Ex.35:31-32) and the Holy Spirit continues to empower us in non-miraculous ways today (Rom.12:6-8). The continuing proof today of the Spirit's dwelling in us is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22-23). This is the Spirit's continuing ministry for the church.

Flustered

Yesterday I experienced something I've never experienced in the pulpit, I got so flustered I had to stop, say something, regain my thoughts, and then continue on. Now, I've lost my train of thought before, I've gotten flustered before, but I've never felt the need to say something. I've always just pretended like it was all part of my lesson. In essence I bluff and find my place. But yesterday I felt so lost that I was sure everyone else was seeing it as well. So I stopped and said something like, "I'm sure Barry Bonds has stepped up to the plate and not been able to swing, and that's what I'm experiencing." Then I got back in the "game" and continued on. Everyone afterwards was quite sympathetic and gracious. Some told me that I shouldn't have said anything because they certainly didn't notice. A lot of them told me it shows I'm human. Of course I already knew that. I just don't like my humanity popping up in front of the congregation. One visiting preacher shared with me a gaff of his from last week. It turned out to be a good experience - for me and the congregation.

Bob's Intelligence Type

Here is the result to my intelligence type.

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence

You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others. Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Sermon Preparation

Kent Anderson brings up an interesting survey from Thom Rainer (Surprising Insights from the Unchurched), some preachers only spend two hours a week in sermon preparation. It sometimes takes me two hours just to find the images I want for my PowerPoint slides. Seriously, there are times when other factors in my week limit my sermon preparation time but I've always felt that at least 10 hours per sermon was a good investment. Charles Hodge has pointedly stated that preachers ought to spend one hour of study for every minute preached. That means I should spend 50 hours a week studying for my two weekly sermons (my sermons are typically around the 25 minute mark). 50 hours plus at least 20 more in meetings, visits, etc. I'm not a work-oholic. Instead I spend about 20 hours a week in preparing for my sermons, which means a little under half my week in actual time.

Sermon preparation consists of reading the text, studying the text myself (word study, context study, historical background, etc.), thinking through possible applications, thinking through the outline for the sermon (my outlines don't always have a 3 point plan), gathering images for the slides, an idea for the introduction (I like to start off the sermon with something to get the congregation thinking), and making sure I have an adequate conclusion. I think my conclusions are the weakest part of my sermons and so I struggle each week with this knowledge.

Of course the adequacy of this preparation is limited by my personality. I'm a big picture thinker and not a detail thinker. So I don't always spend time thinking through the details as thoroughly as I should. Often I think I've got the big picture covered and my optimism tells me that's enough. After I preach a sermon I always come up with ways I should have done it. I guess I can understand what Paul means when he says that our adequacy comes from God (2Cor.3:4-6). It is comforting to know that God is able to use our imperfect and meager attempts and still accomplish good results.

Today's Lessons 11/12/2006

This morning's lesson began a series of lessons on Stewardship. I started off with a look at God's faithfulness to us. The key characteristic of a steward is faithfulness or trustworthiness. I wanted us to first get a sense of God's faithfulness before we start considering our responsibility of faithfulness to God. I have always believed that our response to God grows out of His salvation and grace to us first. The next couple of weeks I will talk about being good stewards of the usual stuff - our money, possessions, time, etc.

Sunday evening I continued my series on Attacks on the Bible's Integrity. It is a difficult series since I'm not really explaining some Scripture or scriptural topic but rather talking about manuscripts, textual evidence, archaeology, and history. However, I seem to get good response. Tonight's lesson was about a web site from an Islamic group that is questioning the typical manuscript evidence that we use to demonstrate the accuracy of our current copies with what we believe to be the possible original text. I found this web site on the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog that I have linked to the left of my posts. I think I will wrap up this series next Sunday and start something new.

New Computer!!!!!!!!!!!

I now have a new computer! Long story. Pat's computer was partially damaged at the beginning of last summer while we were still in New Jersey. We were told it would need replacing. So once we moved to Florida, I got on TigerDirect and ordered a barebones kit with no hard drive. My goal was to take Pat's hard drives (complete with Windows XP) and just put it into the the new computer. It would have worked if the OS was anything but XP. No dice, Microsoft doesn't mind if you use the same equipment but not a new computer. So this computer sat and we bought a HP from Office Depot (just like the one her Dad just bought). She's happy. So when my computer died I purchased Win XP from a store on Ebay. Spent the whole day today working on it. First, I installed XP on a standard hard drive (IDE or PATA). Then I installed a new 200 GB SATA (Serial ATA) and made it my boot drive. Then I added the two hard drives from my old computer so I don't have any data loss. Now I have three hard drives plus a CD-ROM and a DVD-CD burner. I am cooking with fire! I'm pretty excited. This new computer is cool. Hopefully I will get back to regular posting.