Rapture Will
I just spoke with a friend today that was heading out to meet with his lawyer to go over his wills. You read it right, it's not a typo, that's wills - plural. He is actually creating two wills, one in the unfortunate circumstance of his death (which most people should have) and an additional one in the impending circumstance of the rapture (in the awesome case that this precedes his death.)
How great of an idea is that? Think about it. As a Christian, how would I want my money spent if I was taken away due to the rapture? If I was unfortunate enough to leave family members who were unbelievers (certainly not my immediately family), what good would some extra money do them for the next 7 years when their ultimate demise has already been sealed? Wouldn't my money be far better spent supporting the evangelistic effort of reaching the ones that had not heard the gospel before the rapture, or orphanages rearing young children during a very trying time? I don't know how you would word all of that, but my friend promised to let me see it when he's done.
This was a unique concept to me, which I think is great. What a great witnessing tool to reach his lawyer! Anyway, something to think about...
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5
I'm reminded of the song "For the Love of Money" by the O'Jays. You know, the Apprentice theme song. "Some people .... got to have it. Some people .... really need it." They should have said "Some people .... aren't content with what they have like Hebrews 13:5 says to be." :-)
Why is it that we struggle with materialism? I am definitely a guilty party. It is a challenge for me to be content with what I have, even though I have a LOT. I'm always wanting the newest coolest gadget, which plays into my profession. I have so many great things and one person to thank for it. The one who said He would never leave me or forsake me. He has certainly kept that promise in my life.
New Cobra Slashcut Exhaust Pipes
So I was all excited to try mobile blogging, but after 2 days and 3 attempts, I can't get a blog to post by sending an e-mail to my secret blog e-mail address. I sent a note to MSN Support, so maybe they can figure out what's wrong. Oh well, once that's going, I think it will be very cool.
So, I got my Father's Day present installed on Tuesday night. Eli bought me some used Cobra Classic Deluxe Slashcut exhaust pipes on ebay for $200 shipped. It took me about an hour and a half to get them installed on my 2002 Honda Shadow Sabre (it completely replaces the stock exhaust, they are the real deal, not just slipons.) If you want to hear what they sound like, check them out here: http://www.cobrausa.com/content/index.cfm?siteaction=Exhaust&bikeID=46
I have some serious 'popping' (backfire) when I decelerate, so I need to find the mixture screw and adjust it, but it's kind of fun to watch people walking down the sidewalk jump when I cruise by because they think they're being shot at. :-) Brad Hofer told me where he thinks the screw should be located, so hopefully I'll get that resolved. It's fun to watch me drive by at night though, because I'm shooting flames out my pipes whenever I let off the gas!
I highly recommend modifying your exhaust if you have quiet factory pipes. It's one more way to get cars to look at you, which keeps you safer on a bike when they know you're there. I attached a photo of my bike with the new pipes. I definitely like the slashcut look.
I decided to create a "Motorcycles" category in case people want to filter all of these blogs to just motorcycle related rants. Don't worry, I'm sure this novelty will wear off and the posts will become less and less frequent. :-)
Books
So I was in Borders browsing through the Christianity section and came across some good stuff. First of all, John MacArthur has a book called "Fools Gold" which looked interesting. I read his section on Contemporary Worship in the church. It was mainly focused on the content (lyrics) of the songs and didn't go into the style. He was expressing his concern that the newer songs talk more about personal feelings and play on your emotions too much, while the older hymns (keep in mind there hasn't been a hymn written and widely adopted since 1940) contain a lot of mentally stimulating verses, which he feels is Scriptural.
Upon writing this, I discovered that there is actually a Baptist Organization that thinks MacArthur is a Hyper Calvinist. Check out the article: http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/warning-johnmacarthur.html Based on the way it is written, I'd say someone has a personal vendetta and some of the comments are completely unfounded (like "MacArthur is Hyper Calvanist.") John MacArthur said on a radio program "But universalism or annihilationism or hyper-Calvinism or Arminianism are not biblical responses to this very, very important issue of God loving the world." People also accuse him of being a Dispensationalist like it's a bad thing (supporting article here: http://www.biblebb.com/files/macqa/1301-N-6.htm)
Ok, I digress. The real reason for my post was to let you know about the two books I actually ended up with. Ok, I'm a cheapskate, so I noted the books I liked and went home and ordered them from BAMM.com, saving me $14. :-) I bought RC Sproul's "Now That's a Good Question" book. I didn't like how few supporting Scriptural verses were in the book, but I did like how much common sense was used to address the questions. My challenge will be to not just accept his answers that don't have Scriptural emphasis, and make sure they are sound answers and not just his opinion.
The second book I bought was "Church History in Plain Language" by Bruce Shelley. This looked like an interesting read. I find myself interested in figuring out how we got to the point we're at today, so this should satisfy some of that curiosity.
Maybe I'll use this blog as a diary of thoughts as I read through some of these books. Perhaps it will spark interest in someone else. I'm going to give these blogs a Category of "Devotions" so you can easily sort the blogs and just see the ones related to my comments from my devotions. I can already promise I won't have comments for every day, but I hope to post often...
It's a Start
Ok, it's a start. I liked the layout and completeness of the MSN Space as opposed to a plain blog at blogspot.com, so I thought I'd update some pictures and create a profile. I can't promise I'll be good about blogging consistently, but it's fun to at least pretend like I will and maybe this thing will be something people can actually use to keep up on what's new.
Alright, it's getting late, time for bed. Maybe more later...
