Who am I to be god?

The death penalty has always been something that vexed me. I didn't know how i really felt about it. On the one hand i firmly believe in justice and the responsibilities of one's actions resting on their own shoulders but something never seemed to sit right with me concerning taking someone's life as punishment. Before I go any further I would like to give the disclaimer that I have never had or even known someone who had wronged another person so much that the law was imposing a punishment of death on them. I cannot honestly say how I would feel if one of my loved ones was killed by another and the possibility of the death penalty came up. With that being said I realized something today. The occasion for having such a realization was a very small moth. I was sitting and working the desk at my job when a small moth started fluttering by my computer screen annoying me. As soon as the moth landed to the left of my lap-top I swatted, it forever ending it's existence. The realization I had was the fact that I took life away from something. I decided that the life that was flowing through something was less important than my annoyance level. In turn I played god to a moth and took it upon myself to decide the fate of another creature. This realization brought me again to thoughts of the death penalty and i asked myself, "Who are we, any of us, to be god to another's life?" With this realization I cannot help but come to the conclusion the killing someone for justice is wrong. Incarcerate them, remove them from society, yes but killing them is not the solution to the problem.

Randall Gallaway

Tuesday night I was working at Cracker Barrel and Randall Gallaway came and sat in my section. I immediately noticed who he was remembering that he had spoken at one of my high school chapels. The most striking things about Randall are his hands. Upon seeing him for the first time in high school I was somewhat shocked to see that he had one mechanical and attached to place his right hand would have been and a pinching hook mechanism attached to the place where his left hand would have been. In high school I had heard his testimony of surviving 13,500 volt shock and 38 surgeries. Since that time he has become a successful motivational speaker and has recently taken a job as leading and training mission teams for short term mission trips.

When I walked up to him and had introduced myself and reminded him of the time he had spoken in chapel he told me of a problem he had. He said that he had been driving to the Dallas and the air conditioner had dried out his eyes and he was unable to drop eye drops in his own eyes. He told me he had been praying for a place to stop for dinner where someone could help him with his eye drops and he just happened to stop at Cracker Barrel and sit in my section. I gladly helped him with his situation, took his drink and food order only after promising to come back for more discussion. When I finally had a moment to again talk to him I explained to him about my life in Abilene and Hardin-Simmons. I told him of the calling on my life to pastor and that I had been on short term mission trips recently.

It was a nice conversation but nothing extraordinary, just a nice conversation between old acquaintances. I told him goodbye and wished him well in his trip to Dallas and the Lord's blessing over his ministry. When I returned to his table to bus the dishes and clean it for the next quest I noticed that he had left two twenty dollar bills on the table. In my six years of waiting tables this the second largest amount I had ever received. At first I was overjoyed with the abundant provisions the Lord had blessed me with but as the night went on I felt the Lord leading me to an opportunity to bless someone else.

After Asking Ashley's Dad for Her Hand in Marriage...

It will be a reliefe to finaly get some sleep tonight.

Sidekicks

Recently I had one of the strangest dreams I have ever experienced. While most everyone at times has those dreams that when you wake up you are disappointed to find out were only dreams, this dream was not one of them. I cant recall many details about the dream itself all I know is that in my dream I was the sidekick. I was not the hero. I did not get the girl. And I received little or no glory for the accomplishments that were made. I woke up from this dreams pissed off. I mean I was there working my but off so that someone else could receive the glory because lets face it, sidekicks are the peons in the superhero world. Think about poor robin. First of all while batman got to be fully clothed Robin was force to prance around in his green underwear. They always forced Robin to say the stupidest things like, "Holy priceless collection of Etruscan snoods!" (and I am not making that one up.) And probably worst of all his nickname, "The Boy Wonder!" How would you like that nickname to stick with you when you are 24 and fighting crime. Ladies you can go on a date with, Iron Man, Batman, Spider Man, Superman, or The Boy Wonder!! It got so bad that in the comic books he actually had to leave batman and after going through a serious super hero identity crisis reinventing himself as Nighthawk. I don't have to much left to say on the matter so I will leave you with one more thought followed by a few more Robin quotes. It flat out sucks to be the sidekick.


Holy bill of rights, Batman!

Holy haberdashery, Batman!

Holy atomic pile, Batman!

The way we get into these scrapes and get out of them, it's almost as though someone was dreaming up these situations; guiding our destiny.

The opposite of a girl is a boy!

Scrubs

The one break between school and work that I enjoy in my everyday life are the two episodes of Scrubs that my Tivo shares with me. I don't know if it is the witty writing, actors, or the fact that I can connect with the main character J.D. (Zach Braff). J.D. is a nerdy, emotional, needy character who is a constant search of how to better his life while trying to do the best job he can at his job. His constant daydreaming and life narration in his head hit close to home. There hasn't been a show that has ever made me laugh more. The hundreds of inside jokes that continually run through the episodes (and pop up when you least expect them to) leave the faithful views on the floor in stitches and the occasional viewer confused as to why something is funny. Though there were rumors that Scrubs was to be canceled the executive producers at NBC have signed the show for one final season, running eighteen episodes. This is truly a show that I never get tired of watching. Though I have seen most every episode I still look forward to watching them and laughing all over again. Scrubs is my source of humor on days when i am tired from work, stressed out over money, or just need a good laugh.

TPCC

TPCC

I can remember the day very vividly. I was sixteen and it was my a junior at Trinity Christian High School and I drove a 1998 green Ford Ranger. I walked through the rear entrance of the Science Spectrum and quickly turned right into the large exhibit room. At the front of the room there was a stage that had been erected holding several musical instruments waiting for a band to begin playing. Flowing from the left and right of the stage large white curtains were raised to the ceiling spaced about two feet apart each. On two of theses curtains (one on each side of the stage) the logo of Turning Point Community Church was being broadcast by beams of light. As I made my way through the rows of chairs to the front of the sanctuary the air of excitement could be felt as several people busied themselves, getting ready for the beginning a celebration that is the climax of months of preparation. As the group of near fifteen made a circle each taking a short moment to ask for the blessing of the Lord on a church. Not a building, for we had none of our own, not an organization for it was much more than that, but a community but one question still remained in our hearts and minds, who will take part in this community? That morning two hundred people chose to be a part of our community.

Sunday, I had the privilege once again into a building that our community occupies. Once again, stage erected. Once again, instruments waiting. Once again, curtains hung. And once again, the feeling of excitement in the air. On Sunday July, 22nd 2007 at the intersection of 114th St. and Quaker, Turning Point Community Church, itself, achieved a turning point, when six hundred people entered a building but it was not the building that was the church but those who occupied it. The same community that had occupied the science spectrum four and a half years previous had now grown but the community of our church remained, not in a rented or temporarily occupied space but one we could finally call our own. One we could finally call home. Welcome Home Turning Point Community Church.