Yep there it is. on my right forearm. I know that several people love it and several people hate that I got a tattoo, but I just wanted to share why I did and the reason for where I did. So,
1. The tattoo is of a window in a church that my brother and his wife attend before he passed away. My brother told me he felt called into ministry at his annual conference, and right before he could get started on track to actually be a minister in the UMC he came down with cancer. So, I felt this was a wonderful reminder for me of how much I loved Jay, how much he loved me, and to allow him to be with me as I follow Christ in the ministry.
2. The window its self is a Trinity Window. It represents the Trinity (Father, son, and Holy Spirit) I have always been a huge Trinity kind of guy, and love the understanding of relationship, and mystery found in the understanding of the Trinity! So, this Tattoo represents God in all the forms that God has chosen to reveal himself to his creation.
3. The Tattoo is on my right arm. In the Old and New Testaments, the right hand has always had the imagery of someone’s actions the “doing” of someone. (hence Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father because he was the ultimate actions of God) And we are to keep the ways of God on our right hands and on our foreheads) to remember that our being/thoughts and actions are to be those of God’s in the world. I desire to be the hands and feet of God in all that I do, so every time I look down an see this tattoo I pray that it reminds me to attempt to live out this passionate desire in my life and in the lives of those around me. I actualy wanted the tattoo to be on my hand, but Craig would not do it because we use our hands so much that it would eventualy just fade away and i would have to get the same tattoo over and over again.
4. When I went to Guatemala on the mission trip one of the things I noticed when we were doing prison ministry to the gang members, was their respect and immediate connection to anyone in our group that had a tattoo. I did not think about this until afterwards, but I also pray that through this Tattoo I may be able to develope relationships with others that I might not have normally been able to by finding some common ground of a Tattoo and possibly being able to have a chance to exaplain the meaning and purpose behind my tattoo and maybe have the honor of finding out about the same meaning and purpose behind thier tattoos.
Well, I am blown away by the responses I am getting from the Tattoo, and surprised that my Father and Mother got over the shock fast. (only 2 small moments of awquard silence over the phone. ha ha ha ha) I am sure that many others will be shocked, and mad over time, but all the more reason to be able to develop relationships and get to love others. If anyone is interested I got my Tatto from a good friend that I went with to Guatemala named Craig. (In Guatemala he was doing tattoo cover ups for gang membersthat wanted out of the gangs and covered up their gang tattoos with Christian art…amazing) Anyway Craig owns two Tattoo shops here in northern KY called:
<–click picture for the link
Craig is now actually going through a 3 year process to go into the ministry as well in his own church, so ministry all the way around, heh.
Here are a picture Tiffany took on her iPhones of the work getting done:
Well, I have been busy trying out living life with different and new ways to think about how to live in this amazing world we live in and lately I have been enjoying Twitter and podcasting.. so let me give yall some links and some info on them all:
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1st up is Twitter:
Twitter is like a Blog, but its purpose is for allowing everyone you know to know what you are doing right now. (just like the “status” under your name in Facebook). And so the cool thing is tha tyou can post to Twitter online but also through texting on your cell phone. And then you can follow others and get reports from them of what they are doing or thinking…and you can even get those messages on your phone too. (be sure to get unlimited texting, heh) So if you have been wondering that is the daily post that is showing up here on the blog.. it is a summary of my “Tweets” from the previous day! So, if you would like to sign up for Twitter (try it out) and follow me (and others) there go to my Twitter page and look for the signup link.
D.G.’s Twitter
BTW: I really believe that Twitter could be an amazing technology for churches and ministries!
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2nd up is The Guys’ Podcast:
The Guy’s Podcast is two of my friends (Brad (in Florida) and Court(here in NKY with me)) and myself that talk about the latest technology news, movie and video game reviews, and anything else that might be Sci-Fi or Fantasy in nature! We are very broad, but we have ton of fun and who knows you may just learn something as well. We try to keep the podcast to less that an hour each week. Please tell you Geek friends and spread the word and ask others to subscribe to our podcast via iTunes.
The iTunes site to subscribe to The Guys’ Podcast
http://theguyspodcast.com
The Guys’ Podcast Facebook Group
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3rd up is the Praxis Podcast:
The Praxis Podcast is me and my friend Kevin Rains interviewing fellow ministers who are doing and being the church in old and new ways. We interview them so that other pastors or people in ministry can be encouraged and challenged to live out their faith individually and in their faith communities. For them to talk about Praxising in the kingdom and helping others to do them same. If you know of people that like the Emergent/Emerging/Organic/Simple Church then this is the podcast for you… and even if you do not know what those thigs are… you might find a new world of living out the Kingdom by listening to these interviews. As always please tell others and have them subscribe via iTunes.
The iTunes site to subscribe to the Praxis Podcast
http://praxispodcast.com
The Praxis Podcast Facebook group.
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4th up is About The Church:
About the church is just me and a new friend Chris just sitting in a room talking about faith and Christianity. It really is a podcast for anyone that might not be a Christian or looking into Christanit, or Christians for that matter, but we are going to get real about our faith, questions, and challenges we have with the bible, the church, Chrtistianity, and Christians. We are both Christains, but goming from different backgroudns and will be encouraging others to send us topics for discussion or questions. Chris has started his own network of podcasts (something like 17 different podcasts!!!) And several of his podcasts are live online shows discussing TV shows like Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, etc… anyway the two podcasts I have done so far (starting with Episode 31) were good, and it looks to be a fun and opinionated show, heh. tune in and point others to check this one out as well. Oh and this is the only podcast I am not doing myself. this is Chris’ show, but he asked me to be a co-host!
About The Church’s Podcast website
iTunes subscription page for About The Church
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Well if yall are bored, and looking for some stuff to listen to on commute drives or just want to listen to my sexy voice, please subscribe via iTunes and thanks for supporting me and these endeavors! Blessings to you all!
The last round of shots did not work. So no pregnancy. Where this leaves us? Sad. It sucks, and it is frustrating like nothing I have ever felt before. It is so hard to ever write this. This was our 10th time to try to have a baby through the help of infertility clinics/Doctors. Tiffany has been poked and prodded, and I have give way too many “samples”. and we are just tired. We tried to take the day off and just spend some time together and that helped, but not near enough. This will be a grieving process just like Jay was those years ago. i still tear up every now and then when I or god brings him to mind, and I have a feeling that the lack of our own baby will be the same way for a few years. We will make it through it. The one thing I wish is that people would know how to talk to us. Everyone and I mean everyone is well meaning, but sometimes they should just love on us without words. Please if you know of someone who is going through this do not try to take care of them by saying:
1. Well my (instert relitative/friend) went through that same thing. just keep trying.
2. Well you know that if you adopt that you will then have a baby.
3. (say anything cheesy)
The fact of the matter is, the best way to love someone while they are going through a loss of a loved one, of the lack of a loved one is probably no words at all, unless they ask for them. But a simple, “sorry” and a hug is all that most people really need (and of course I would add in a ton of prayer, heh heh)
But I must tell you that it is torture going to church or any place else that there are several people that will ask you about it. It is a catch 22, you want tons of people praying for you, but when it does not work out, you do not want to tell them the sad news because you know that one of the three “saying” will occur, and every time you talk about it you tear up and that just makes for a crappy day.
And the real kicker…… Two Sundays from now is Mother’s day. probably the hardest day of the year for both Tiffany and me (because I don’t like seeing my wife’s soul hurt) and it is Pentecost Sunday, and it is Confirmation Sunday! I have a feeling we will be running from the church building as soon as the 2nd service is over, heh.
But, thank you for your prayers, and i want you to know that through the tears we praise God for helping us know a little more direction of where He desires for us to go when it comes to children. Now we get to look forward to what ever God has in store for us in the future! maybe adoption, but we have no idea when or how, but I promise we will be loving God through it.
(oh and you will not be able to leave comments on this post, heh heh)
Here is a quote of a quote from my friend Eric Keib! I loved it so much I had to put it on my blog.. and I am a huge N.T. Wright fan, of course!
Quote of a quote:
“In the latest Newsweek, Jon Meacham and Lisa Miller interview N.T. Wright about his latest book Surprised by Hope. Although I have recently purchased it I have not yet read it but plan to dig in in the next few weeks.
Meacham and Miller, close to the end of the article, ask him the following question:
“At the Lambeth meeting this summer, the subject of gay unions and gay clergy with top the agenda. What do you think will happen?”
Wright admits that although he believes it will be “messy” that he has hopes that people will really listen to each other prayerfully and in a spirit of humility. Then he says the following that I cannot help but adding a very emphatic “AMEN!” to:
“At the same time, I wish we could prioritize so that we were actually talking about issues of global justice and debt remission and global warming and so on. I mean, there’s something very bizarre about the rich arguing about sex while the poor are clamoring for justice“” (emphasis is Eric’s..but I fully support it, heh)
I was listening to Tiffany talk about an individual speaking to someone else about why the US flag was not in a more “visible” place in the sanctuary. And I have got to tell you that kills me! I actually have problems with the US flag being in the sanctuary period! I have a feeling somewhere down the road Christians have decided that politics and faith are so closely connected that they shoulo dnot be apart, but when I read the bible I see Christ consistently dealing with the politics and government of the day. And when he talks about a Kingdom it was meant to be a direct dig on the currently government!!! So come on Christianity, is it a democracy you have chosen to be a part of, or is it a King and a Kingdom? There is nothing wrong with our democracy and I saw Christ working within the one that he lived in where here, but when it comes to your life are you getting caught up in the King and his kingdom, or the government that you find yourself living in?
So, this made me think about a few words from Derek Webb, of who’s concert I went to last Thursday @ VC…..I was reminded how much I love his music and lyrics.. and I decided to share a few of them with yall:
Album: Mockingbird
Year: 2005
Title: A King & A Kingdom |
|
who’s your brother, who’s your sister
you just walked passed him
i think you missed her
as we’re all migrating to the place where our father lives
’cause we married in to a family of immigrants
my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it’s to a king & a kingdom
there are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him
but nothing unifies like a common enemy
and we’ve got one, sure as hell
but he may be living in your house
he may be raising up your kids
he may be sleeping with your wife
oh no, he may not look like you think=====================================
And another:
Wedding Dress
if you could love me as a wife
and for my wedding gift, your life
should that be all i’ll ever need
or is there more i’m looking for
and should i read between the lines
and look for blessings in disguise
to make me handsome, rich, and wise
is that really what you want
i am a whore i do confess
but i put you on just like a wedding dress
and i run down the aisle
i’m a prodigal with no way home
but i put you on just like a ring of gold
and i run down the aisle to you
so could you love this bastard child
though i don’t trust you to provide
with one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side
i am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers less wild
that i would take a little cash
over your very flesh and blood
because money cannot buy
a husband’s jealous eye
when you have knowingly deceived his wife
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Well what do yall think? Sadly, I have a feeling not matter how much I would love to sing these lyrics in church that I doubt there would be too many United Methodist Churchs that would allow me. But, maybe not.. 
I have spoke on this before but here are a few quotes I wanted to share from a few of them and in the next post I will give a little more about the way I see it in an United Methodist Church perspective:
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It all started with this post from Chris:
“My truck is paid off but the gas prices are killing me. I don’t drive that much and its over $300 per month, not including my wife’s car. So what does this project to as a national economy? Recession seems inevitable, will it go way beyond that? A nation already ruled by fear and over-spending with no margins by individuals and the government, what will be the consequences?
How will this impact churches and mortgages and credit lines that can’t be fed? As builders pass on who are the committed givers what is left? 1/2 of boomers are there to give and the other 1/2 are driven past their financial margins with consumerism and can’t help. Gen X and Millenials have very little value in long term comittments, are all about instant gratification and consumerism is their native language. Commonly this group of up and comers are living on 125-140% of their income taking on exponential debt per year. What will be the result of these decisions having no margins when the shoe drops?
Will American churches go the way of their European counterparts? Becoming really funky coffee houses, restaraunts, art galleries and dance clubs. Just things I wonder about.”
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and this is a second round from Chris in this post:
“But what I want to re-iterate is that everything needs to be submitted before God. Our expectations of what a comfortable American living has to be submitted. Our expectations of where we hold community meetings has to be submitted. Our assumptions of what we envision our role in the church being has to be submitted. Our financial margins and use of physical resources has to be submitted. Our sense of comfort and security has to be submitted. Where God calls, God provides and that will come at least in the form of daily bread. If we claim to follow Christ, that has to be enough for us. We have to be very careful to guard against making “professional” what is a spiritual role.
It is the sense of entitlement that I am speaking against when it comes to vocational roles in ministry. I am not against the idea of being paid, I am against the assumption that its the way it always has been and always will be. God does not owe us anything! Not a job, not a title of honor, not an air-conditioned office nor full time hours a week to be a spiritual leader. Now his provision may emody all of that for you, but we have to be okay if it doesn’t. Truly, his grace needs to be sufficient for us and its not our place to demand more. Don’t run from suffering, embrace it. Let it change you. Let it bring you to deeper exeperiences of God’s hand on your life. Sweating blood on your night of Gaethsamane crying out to God to take care of your family is what dependence on Him looks like sometimes. If he desires to move in a different mode of paradigm, in submission, we have to be ready to go with him because there is no one else who holds the words of life.
So in this discussion I want to say that we as the Church need to be ready and willing to do whatever it takes to be the people of God on earth and embody his mission here.”
Chris Marshall
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Then Aaron chimes in on his response post:
“What if ministry was defined as beginning and ending with the relationships that already exist in our lives? Of course, we would begin new relationships - some intentionally so - but they are not a means to an end. We take on the role of friend as opposed to director, parent or mentor as opposed to expert, brother or sister as opposed to business partner.
Such a ministry would necessitate a different understanding of finances. Since the intent is not to build a mechanism by which to get Jesus (or get people to Jesus) or a commercial by which to promote Jesus, then we are freed to use our funds for community growth and development. By which, I mean, of course - “Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”. The growth and development of the community of faith blessing and serving the world is an inherently relational project. However that community of faith is by its very nature bound by the laws of relationship (i.e. knowing and being know). The result being that the need for managers and administrators for that community is decreased.”
Aaron Klinefelter
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Jason then chimes in on his response post:
“It’s true. We’ve got to start thinking long term about some of this. The trends do not seem to say that we can fend this off by building bigger, regional churches. Though there is limited success there, I don’t see it being a long term fix to a growing problem. I’ve said this before, but I really don’t think the experts have many answers for us. They have too much invested in the Christendom machine. So, it’s going to be up to the rank and file folks to come up with the solutions.
For example, I’ve just been checking out a few video clips of the stuff Alan and Allelon are talking about on their site. It’s good stuff. But while it seems to be covering the theological shifts necessary we’re still in serious need of how to do the practical stuff. All the while, we watch pastors that have seen the necessary shifts, follow those shifts and sink further into debt and depression trying to figure this out all alone… not a good place to be when you’re trying to reinvigorate the Body of Christ.
Both planters and pastors have got to do self-image re-alignment, learn other skills/trades, learn how to be entrepreneurs, become community organizers, etc. No longer can we depend upon our previous economic paradigms within the Church…”
Jason
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And Alan chimes in with a Roman Catholic response post (but the part I put here is the end and applies to everyone):
“Things seem to be moving in a direction that might cause us all to have to rethink what we spend, what we build, how we pay our staff, etc. Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, whatever - things will change and we will all have to face it sooner or later. This all makes me remember a story an old Priest told me about something a friend said to him who had spent a lot of time in Rome, that the best thing that could happen to the Catholic Church is for an oppressive government to take over and strip it of all it’s wealth, tear the external institution down and push it back into the catacombs. OK, the catacombs part was my creative addition, but you get my point. And it’s not only the Catholic Church but much of the rest of the whole Church - let us all lose the ability to own buildings, to pay our leaders or our tax exemptions. Bring it! Where would our focus be then? Maybe on the Kingdom of God, something novel like that. It’s time for some Body of Christ creativity. Maybe we should start practicing now - maybe. Lord have mercy.”
Alan Creech
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And here a guy named Mark gives a great response post:
“The down side to this is that the mainstream church has all of its vast resources tied up in maintaining the status quo (even if they are innovating their practices, they are largely doing so in a way that reinforces the dominant Christendom paradigm). As a result, these subversive pioneers are doing a LOT with very little. And they are doing it in a way that escapes the notice of the mainstream. Why? Because the mainstream lacks the lens to notice what is happening and why these pioneers are doing a vital job.
I know this sounds dramatic. Because it is. I’d like to think I am one of these pioneers. I have, in the same week, been told by one mainstream Christian that “I have little to show for myself” and been told by one supportive friend in Philadelphia that “it is amazing I am able to accomplish so much.” I share this to highlight that people see what they are looking for. The mainstream church is looking for practitioners who can maintain the status quo. These starving ecclesial artists are looking for ways of being faithful in the future.
Our task isn’t to keep Christianity going as usual. Instead, we need to find ways of equipping and enpowering the next generation to do ministry in a way that is sustainable, even if we are currently struggling with doing sustainable ministry.”
Mark Van Steenwky
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And even Kevin chimed in here in this post:
“There are strategic reasons why I don’t work full time in paid ministry: Namely I am around “normal” (aka non-christians) all day every day. I have a reason to be involved in many peoples lives and am available to them and I know them not as a professional minister but as a friend and co-worker. This also gives me multiple entry points into the life of my city. I am known by several on city council and by the mayor as well as the fire department (they do my permits for the shop) and the police department (I fix many of their cars).
- Others are empowered to serve and don’t overly depend on me. Because I have a full time job in the “real world” (I know that is faulty but it is where most people are and we’re trying to contextualize right?) people naturally understand that I am not available to do every wedding, counseling session, or ministry idea that they want me to do for them… it creates a high ownership environment where everyone has jobs and everyone contributes as they can to the mission in the neighborhood.
- It ain’t perfect, neat and clean… I remember a conversation I had with Todd Hunter, Mark Palmer, and Jason Evans where Todd said to us that we would likely have to “cobble something together from a job, support raising, part time staff etc… This is a transitional time and transitions aren’t tidy.” When it comes to day to day realities we all know that there is not a perfect answer or one size fits all. We have to just put the pieces together as they come to us and move toward ideals over time.
- There are prophetic reasons to not get paid by a church namely you can fully speak your mind/heart/word of the Lord and not have in the back of your mind “what will happen if I offend a big giver?” or “I can’t afford to lose my benefits and retirement so I better watch my step in this situation.”
Kevin Rains
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And i will post concerning this in a United Methodist context in the next post. it seems to be very clear that God is working on the hearts and lives of several people at the same time!!! Dang yo!
LORD have mercy…..
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Oh God, come to our assistance. O Lord, make haste to help us.
Praise the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, both now and forever, the God who is, who was, and is the come at the end of the ages. Alleluia.
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The entire United Methodist Church is being represented by almost 1,000 people, and several hunderds more this week in Ft. Worth, TX. They gather to discern the will of God for his people who call themselves United Methodists. This happens every four years, and the event is called General Conference. They represent clergy and laity from every conference all over the entire face of the earth. Who represent every local church in this humongous denomination. And I beg you to pray for them. My father is one of them and a sweet friend and fellow United Methodist Woman (yeah I know if you really want to know how I am one, just email or text me, heh.. it is one of the perks of being a UMC Pastor, heh)
For those of you who are not religious, or just not Christian readers, or maybe those who are attending General Conference this week, there is a movement going on in the church… the whole Christian church. Some call it Emergent, Emerging, post modernism, etc… But it is a movement of a cry of souls from within, for those who claim Jesus as their Lord and King, who say they now live in a new Kingdom, not a democracy, not a denomination, but a Kingdom that has been ushered in by a single man/God whom was and is called Jesus, Christ, Messiah, Teacher, Friend, Brother, Son, Lord, LORD, God, Trinity person. We who claim this man as our king and savior (from selfishness, death, and power), are calling for everyone who now lives and continues to bring his Kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven to no longer be satisfied with the status quo, or “the way we have always done it”, or even “we honestly were following God for a time and did not realize that we were loosing touch with true Kingdom reality”.
We realized that we were just as guilty as those who came before us (and are with us now), but there is something inside of all of us that is not satisfied, quenched, or feed. We are restless, unable to hear the clear beautiful voice of God! And we are willing to sacrifice our lives, our families, our careers, our reputations, and our homes to follow the LORD and King of THE Kingdom! We are OK with looking like we are insane, stupid, lazy, young, and unexperienced for the sake of our Triune God, and the people and creation that He loves!
My personal fear, is that this voice is being represented in (a VERY few) cases by those whom are laity in the UMC, and a HUGELY RARE) case (if any) by young clergy. And while there are several other hearts and souls that cry with ours that are older, we fear that they are few and far between and beg for everyone to listen to God’s still small constant voice calling us to to be the example, feet, hands, voice, and loving kindness of the one we call our King, savior, and friend.
And unless we are heard, empowered, plugged in, and joined with, then we fear that the one thing that we love and care for just as much as this creation, and those whom God loves most, is this beautiful bride of our King called the United Methodist Church. We cry out to each of us, “We Love You”, our desire is not for death, separation, or distance, but for unity, passion, authencity, peace, grace, and most of all love. The kind of love that lives and breaths. The kind of love working to bring about restoration, communication, and reformation. A love that at its core is Christ, and Christ alone for the sake of this world and all those whom live in the arms of this beautifully created earth!!!
Lord, save us! Save us while we are awake, protect us while we are asleep, that we may keep our watch with Christ, and when we sleep, rest in his peace. Alleluia!
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Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
LORD, have mercy. let us pray………………..
Here are my notes from a discussion Gary and I had with the clergy of the Louisville District here in the KY Conference of the UMC. I would love to know if yall have any reactions or would like to continue the discussion…
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• What have you done with Young Adult ministry?
• Where have you failed?
• What are your assumptions about young adults?
• What would you like to do with young adults?
YA’s are:
*passionate about community and relationships
* have an uncanny ability to see through “fake”, or “agendas”…and this is the reason that I find most “seeker services” not to be effective at true transformation. (sadly most churches think to reach YA’s that they just have to have a new worship service with “hipper”/”cooler” music.. but this is just not the case.
* passionate about social justice
* love talking about Jesus, but also about Buddha, Hinduism, etc…. live in idealism, but an intelligent reality.
*This is why we must allow messy conversation, and TIME!!!
* The Majority of this generation did not grow up in the church or even receive their fist understandings of faith inside the Christian church.
Potential is Unbelievable: They have a passion for living life in the here and now, like no generations in the past. They are HIGHLY sacrificial in their nature.. most generations take that as being lazy, but they see it as being content and passionate to live the way they feel passionate about. Put emphasis on art, community, and social justice, and Spirituality! They are willing to sell the suburb house to move on the wrong side of the tracks to live out a life that is authentic and bringing chance to poor neighborhoods, etc…
We have not been in conversation with the world! We talk AT people with bible studies, sermons, lessons. And thoses all have an assumption that we are right, and we believe we are right, but YA’s value relationships.. and in relationships the effective ones are not ones that people talk at each other, but WITH each other! It is fine to believe that you are right about beliving in Jesus, but do not assume that they think the same way. Invite them into discussion and wrestle with them in this thing called life.
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Agree? disagree? feel free to start/join the discussion.
Well, if you have a dog, and like ot chew sugarless gum, I suggest that you loose your taste for the gum, and go with gum that is filled with sugar!
Halo about two weeks ago, decided to put his nose into one of the purses of one of the youth that we were entertaining at our house. Now, this is not unusual in anyway, Halo is a Beagle and therefore his life and mind are ruled by one thing…his nose. And Halo is a smart enough dog that in the past he has been able to unzip purses to get inside and find all kinds of good “treats”. Well, this time he got into a purse with sugarless gum. And I had no idea that almost all sugarless gum has a chemical in it called, Xylitol. And this chemical, is deadly to dogs. For some reason this drug when ingested by dogs causes their blood sugar to slowly drop over the course of two days and then their liver shuts down killing them…. the sad thing is that over the course of the two days nothing is noticeable other than the dog might be a little more tired than usual, and then by the time their liver shuts down it is too late for medical care.
The drug is so dangerous, that one gram of the drug in the sugarless gum causes death, and usually each piece/stick has 2 grams of it! Well, when Tiffany found Halo with the entire package opened and they got to counting it was around 10 pieces that he had eaten.
And by the grace of God Tiffany remembered hearing somewhere that sugarless gum was bad for dogs, immediately yelled down stairs where I was playing Halo 3 with other youth telling of the fact, wel, I did not know that it was bad for dogs, so i just blew it off… well, my genius wife decides to check the internet and finds out all the info that I just gave above! And then she proceeds to take Halo to the emergency hospital in Wilder. (I was not too excited about this, because it is something like $75 just to walk in the door. But, they got halo in and immediatly induced vomiting and then put him on a glucose IV drip. and kept him on watch (suicide watch is what Tiffany and I called it) overnight… we then went to pick him, up expecting to take him home, and they tell us to take his straight to our vet for them to keep him, and they decide to keep him over night as well, and at one point that day they called Tiffany and told her they thought his liver was shutting down and they might need to call her back with bad news…. aaarrrggg.. i was in Lexington the whole day…anyway, long story shorter, Halo came home and even to this day continues to take a pill each day to make sure his liver is OK….but throughout it all it cost us $850. And I mean wow! Here is a dog that brings us so much joy everyday, but that is about to run into the money that we personally (not the help from parents or others) have saved up to pay for us to someday have a baby…and it was a very tough time for Tiffany, but decisions were made and we still have a wonderful loving Halo!
BUT, if you are a dog lover, PLEASE remove all sugarless gum from your house and let visitors know if they bring in purses, coats, etc…..
KUTPs!!!! and have a great day!
for more info on the drug Xylitol click below:
A report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association has just shown a link between the sugar substitute Xylitol, and illnesses in dogs. In fact, it is so bad, possibly causing acute liver failure that out of eight dogs found to have ingested Xylitol, 5 died or had to be euthanized.
Xylitol is a commonly used sweetener used in sugarfree gums, candies and even baked goods. So keep an eye on the ingredients when feeding your dog human treats.
Well, the blog is looking a little more like I had imagined that it could look! And a special thanks to my friend Court who showed me the wonders of firebug…a great extension for firefox! Anyway it looks much better now and I have Court to thank for it.. oh and Ben as well…he freaking rocks! Go check out their sites and support them:
ben’s site
ben’s businss (for all your design needs)
court’s site
court’s business (for all your airplane gaming needs)
THANKS yall!!!!
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