Jaron and the Long Road to Love

Everyone who reads this ought to know upfront that I love three things in a big way (I love other things too in a big way but they're not currently relevant to the conversation):

1. Country music

2. Biblical & theological accuracy

3. Humor

While this song (which is likely my new favorite song) is both country and humorous, it is not biblically and theologically accurate, so don't get your panties in a twist when you hear it. But it made me laugh and I like to share things that make me laugh.

Enjoy.

Talk Thursday // Pick a Side...We're at War

For years, war has been brewing. People are picking sides, fighting vehemently for what they stand for, giving no ground to those who oppose their view. During this time, I have stood idly by, not sure how to expound on the overwhelming nature of the fight. Leaders on both sides of the fence are doing their best to tell America, and the world, how to cast their vote, where to place their loyalties.

But as promises are made and many are broken, I can keep quiet no more. Americans need to take a stand! It's time for the Hephzibah reading community to stand and assert their stance!

The war that I'm obviously talking about is Mac vs. PC.

I gotcha there, huh? You guys (you know who you are) were getting riled up to talk about health reform or the troops in Iraq or gay marriage. But before your steam lets completely out, take a moment to declare your stance on the Mac/PC topic.

With the announcement of the new iPad and the flurry of Vista commercials, Justin Long and that guy with the glasses are probably rollin' in the dough and America is torn usunder. Do I buy a Kindle or an iPad? Should I use a Zune or an iPod?? Which will be better for school: a Dell or a MacBook??? Windows Media Player or iTunes???? Blackberry or iPhone???? SO MANY CHOICES!!!!!!

So which are you? Are you a Mac or a PC? Do you have life-size posters of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates hanging in your bedroom? Do you text on your Windows compatible Blackberry or go i-style with the iPhone 3G? (or are you like me and have a Sony-Ericsson that only types about one letter/minute because it's been dropped about 12 too many times?) Would you rather have a cup of coffee with the bespectacled guy or with Justin Long?

If I were to ever have enough money to feed a 3rd world country for a week (well, first I'd try to feed a 3rd world country for a week) THEN I would buy an iPhone 2G (because it'll unlock for T-Mobile) and a 16GB iPod (because the batteries on those iPhones aren't so great when you listen to music all the time).

Obviously, I'm a Mac.

What are you?

Talk Thursday // I Am...

"Describe yourself in 3 words..."

That was the first Talk Thursday we ever did here.

The whole point of Talk Thursday is to open up conversation. Sometimes it's silly; sometimes it's reflective; sometimes it's just a topic.

But today I want to know you.

Finish the sentence "I am..."

Let's get to know each other a little bit.

You are...?

Penguin Awareness Day

Here's a little fun-fact: today, January 20th, is Penguin Awareness Day.

For many of you, you think "oh! Penguins are so cute!"

For others, you don't care and now wish you could take back the 42 seconds it took you to link to this blog and read that sentence.

For me, I just don't care for penguins that much. (Please direct all hate-mail to sarniclew at gmail dot com.)

So instead of raving about how cute penguins are and their non-existant contribution to my life, I thought I would share with you:

7 Things That Are Better Than Penguins

Thing 1: Sandwiches

This might make me sound like Joey Tribbiani, but really? What's better than a sandwich? They have bread, they have meat, mine have mustard. What's not to love? And they provide great taste and sustenance. Can you do that, Penguin? I don't think so.

Thing 2: Justin Timberlake

Sexy, charming and humorous are three words I can use to describe JT. I don't wish to use any of those words on penguins.

Thing 3: Amazon.com

I like things that are resourceful. I like books, DVDs, and music. Amazon.com provides all of that. Penguins can give me the bird-flu. No bueno.

Thing 4: Wings

Sorry penguin, but honestly, what's up with you? You have wings but they don't work? Sure, you could say, "Ostriches have wings but they don't work, why don't you pick on them?!" Well, ostriches are ginormous and they are mean. I'm not about to pick a fight with them. Plus, flying is awesome; I totally wish I could.

Things 5 & 6: Sharks and Killer Whales

The underwater enemies of penguins are sharks and killer whales. And I love both of those things. Have you seen them?! They're massive and powerful and awesome and other amazing adjectives! Plus I'd so rather watch "Free Willy" or "Jaws" before "March of the Penguins" any day.

And the final thing that is better than penguins....

Thing 7: The Bible

Yeah, I had to toss that out there. No offense, penguin, but you just got the ultimate smack-down. Jesus-style. In all fairness, Jesus probably thinks you're pretty cool, but I don't see it in the Bible. So there!

You might really like penguins. And that's fine. But $5 says you can name 10 more things that are awesomer than penguins. Go on...I dare you. =)

Haiti

There's a lot going on today in the world. And there's a lot of hardships. I don't pretend that you don't have yours as well.

But if you can, think about the devastation that just occurred in Haiti earlier this week. And after thinking and praying about it, if you can, help from here.

Give here.

Or here.

Or here.

Some of you can't give monetarily or with your time. I know I can't right now. But help other people know how they can, if they can. We are all part of this global community...let's help one another out.

Talk Thursday // Harry Potter

So I know I'm a little late to the party, but I've just started reading the Harry Potter series for the first time. I started reading "Prisoner of Azkaban" last night and am intrigued to say the least. I haven't even seen the movies so this is all new to my Muggle brain! =)

I don't want to use this blogging format to stir up controversy, but there has been a lot of discussion over the last 12 years regarding this series. And I'd like to know your thoughts (in a completely respectful and gracious manner to all other opinions). The main thrust of the controversy is over now (since most of it has been aimed at the Twilight series), but likely the vast majority have read the books or at least seen the movies.


As for my two cents, there is a clear picture of good vs. evil theme throughout the book and evil is depicted by greed, pride, selfishness and control whereas good is depicted as loyalty, honesty, working towards something greater than your own means, and risking your own life for the people you care about. These are universal themes of goodness that are simply set in a backdrop of wizardry.


So, what are ya'll's thoughts on the Harry Potter franchise? Good/bad/indifferent? No spoilers!!!

Talk Thursday // Arctic Freeze

Well kids, I'm off to the glorious metropolis that is Louisville in the morning for a preaching conference with the Academy of Preachers. Other well-known guests such as Chris Dodson will be there, as well as Dwight Moody. Not so much the dead one, but the alive one. (That joke is only funny to the 3 of you who know who Dwight Moody is.)

And as excited/nervous I am about the opportunity to preach this weekend, I'm more disturbed by the freaking freezing weather I will have to deal with while there.

(If you can't see that small, it says 28, 21, 18 as the highs for the days I'm there.)

So this led me to wonder what was going on weather-wise in your part of the world. There are places that are having "deadly cold" and are shutting schools down for the cold. Up here in the NW, it's been in the 50's and just rainy.

As a secondary question, what is your perfect weather? For me, it's anything that allows me to drive around with the windows down, country music up and the sheer joy of wearing flip-flops. For Missouri, that's late-spring/early-summer, before it gets uncomfortably hot. For Washington, if it's even possible, smack-dab in the middle of July/August.

Mmmmm....I'm so ready for warm weather again! Let's hope this weekend doesn't freeze me out completely!!

PS: any prayers you want to pray for me, I'll be preaching on Friday at noon EST; I would really appreciate them. =)

PPS: if anyone is interested in reading my sermon, I will be posting it on SereYodh when I return.

Have a great weekend, friends!!

Random Thoughts

Sometimes I want to make my computer background/screensaver something really weird just to see if anyone would respond. (Weird - i.e.: Robert Pattison's headshot or all the boys from NSync.)




How would you respond if you saw something like this on a co-workers computer?